Book Reviews

Author(s): J W De Jong
Publisher: J W De Jong

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REVIEWS
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works as is obvious from the bibliography which occupies no less than 45 pages. It lists primary sources (i.e. mainly Sanskrit texts), secondary literature, and collective works, encyclopaedias and dictionaries. In her introduction she stresses the importance of close cooperation between indology and ethnology for the study and interpretation of myths, customs and rituals of folk religion. Her work is arranged systematically, and in each section she quotes from both Sanskrit texts and anthropological literature. It is only in one section of the final chapter (Schlussfolgerungen) that the cult of the termite hill is considered in historical perspective: 7.3. Der Termitenhügelkult im Laufe der Jahrhunderts (pp. 259261). As regards the primary sources, the author limits herself almost entirely to Sanskrit sources. Two Pali texts are quoted (Dighanikaya and the Jātaka book) and one Marathi text (Bal Bharti, Marathi pustak dusre, Pune, 1977). However, the rich narrative literature in Prakrit has been completely disregarded. The same applies to texts in modem Indo-Aryan languages and in Dravidian languages. It is, of course, unreasonable to expect scholars to be competent in so many languages, but it is strange that the author has not found it necessary to justify or to explain the exclusion of these sources from her otherwise very comprehensive study. The author seems to have a high regard for the work of Eliade, who is quoted innumerable times in the course of her book. In her introduction she writes: "Der Religionshistoriker und Soziologe Eliade stellte mit seinen Arbeiten eine Verbindung her zwischen Soziologie, Ethnologie, Indologie und Religionsphilosophie, wobei die Ergebnisse seiner Untersuchungen die Methode bestätigen" (p. 2). Nobody would be willing to deny the great merit of Eliade, but one feels a bit uneasy in seeing him treated as the ultimate authority in matters religious.
Ditte König's work is divided into seven chapters: 1. Ameisen und Termiten; 2. Eigenschaften von Ameise und Termite, sowie deren Beziehung zu Wasser, Gold, Sonne, Berg, Dämonen, Tiger und Regenbogen; 3. Verwendung in der Medizin; 4. Riten und Omina; 5. Die Verehrung von Gottheiten bei - und die Askese in Termitenhügeln; 6. Schlange und Termitenhügel; 7. Schlussfolgerungen. It is not necessary to describe the contents of each chapter in more detail because the reader will find at the end of the book a very clear and useful English summary (pp. 383388). In the final chapter the author examines some themes which are important for the understanding of the meaning of the termite hill. One of the most interesting sections is the one on the termite hill as symbol of the vana (pp. 261-263). The author points out that the termite hill belongs to vana territory, as it is often mentioned in connection with such unheimlichen Orten' as cross-roads, cremation grounds, temples, ruins, etc. She remarks that all these places have a relation to the numinous and to death (p. 105). However, it is important to note the ambivalence of the termite hill, as of other sacred symbols. It is therefore not entirely justified to consider it as belonging exclusively to vana territory.