Indian Antiquary Vol 61

Author(s): Richard Carnac Temple, Charles E A W Oldham, S Krishnaswami Aiyangar, Devadatta Ramkrishna Bhandarka
Publisher: Swati Publications

Page 248

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THE INDIAN ANTIQUARY
( NOVEMBER, 1932
bibliography with a brief survey of the most im. ZUR INDISCHEN APOLOGETIK, by HANNS OERTEL. portant explorative work carried out during the Verlag von W. Kohlhammer. Stuttgart, 1930. year " in the domain of Indian archæology in the
The authoritativeness and eternity of the Vedas, widest sense." Five special contributions of this their revelation by the godhead and other similar nature appear. In the first of these M. Sylvain
questions have been subjects of lively discussion in Lévi describes how he came to interpret the sculp- India from very ancient times. The fullest discustures of the buried basement of the Barabudur by sion of them is found in Jaimini's Mindred-sútras, the light of a manuscript of the Karma-vibhanga and among later works, in Sabara's commentary which he had found in Nepal in 1922. In the thereon and in S&yana's introduction to his comsecond M. Victor Goloubew gives a brief account mentary on the Rgveda-samhita. Legs full discusof the clearing of the site of the Prah Khan temple,
sions are found in Sankara's commentary on the near Angkor Thom, and of the excavations at Pre
Brahma-sútras and also in the Nydya-sútras and
Samkhya-sútras and commentaries thereon. The Kiêu in Annam, now identifiable with the site of
authors of the two last-named Sätra works however.. the ancient capital of Champa. In the third Dr. J.
hold that the Vodas, though authoritative, are not Pearson describes the results of some recent excave
eternal, while the followers of the MimArsa school tions at Anuradhapura in Ceylon, where, besides
(Jaimini, Sankara, Sayans) hold that the Vodas the uncovering of further structures in brick and are eternal. A brief account of the views of all stone, some potsherds bearing Brahmi charac. these authors was given by W. Muir nearly eighty ters of the third century B.C. are said to have been years ago in volume 2 of his Original Sanskrit found. The next section reviews the salient results Texts. .of the explorations carried out by Mr. H. Har. In the book under review, the author has given
greaves at Mastung and Nal in Baluchistân, where a succinct account of the views in this matter of links were found with the prohistoric "Indus" the Mimamsakas. Taking as basis the discussion civilisation. The last section deals with the im. in Sayana's introduction, he has rearranged the portant explorations by Prof. E. Herzfeld in south- matter under four headings and supplemented it ern Kurdistan and in Lüristân, especially at sites
with details from Sabara's and Sankara's commentnear Nihâwand, where he has recovered ceramic
ries and Yiska's Nirukta in all places where Sayana
has not reproduced them. The author's rendering ware which he thinks clearly precede Susa II, and
of the Sanskrit sentences is generally good, but is the date of which he assigns confidently to between
capable of improvement in some places. Thus, for 3000 and 2750 R.C. Other objects were found to instance, bhawih (p. 1, n. 2) does not denote' Worenbear marked affinities to finds from Crete and Ur.
heiten' but Dinge'; similarly padarthah too (p. 3, The following striking passage quoted from a paper n. 1) denotes 'Dinge' and not 'Wortbedeutungen'; communicated by Prof. Herzfeld to the Illustrated dkhydyiku (p. 10) denotes 'story' and not 'Dialog'; Lonion News in 1929 may well be reproduced - pratigraha (p. 47) signifies 'receipt of gifts' and not " It appears that there existed, at the dawn of Empfang von Almosen'; kim nas chinnam history, a homogeneous civilisation, created
(pp. 49-50) means "What is cut off from us?' i.e., and developed by peoples of kindred race,
'what do we lose thereby ?' and not "Wie tut dag which extended from the west of Asia Minor,
(unserem Argumente) Abbruch ?'; and jarbhari
(bhartarau) and turpharfta(hantdrau) do not signify across the north of Syria and Mesopotamia,
(p. 67) ' die zwei Brüder' and 'die zwei Mordenden, Armenia, and the whole of the Iranian table
but the two masters and the two slayers.' land, as far as to the borderlands of India ; & civilisation which was opposed to and different
Such instances, however, are very few, and on the from the oldest civilisation of the alluvial
whole the book is one that may be warmly recom
mended to readers as conveying & faithful idea of plains of the Euphrates and Tigris basin
what Sayana and Sabara have said about Indian -namely, that of the Sumerians."
apologetics. It would appear, further, that Prof. Herzfeld is satisfied that Susa I developed out of the neolithic
The usefulness of the book is enhanced by several
indexes, one of which (no. III) contains a list of civilisation of the sites found by him at Persepolis,
unidentified Sruti passages. The passage ugro ha while Susa II originated from the early bronzo age
bhujyam, that is included therein, stands without culture of Nihâwand region.
doubt for tugro ha bhujyum, which is the beginning The plates are excellently printed, as hitherto; of RV. 1. 116. 3, that relates the story (akhysika) the index is full and carefully prepared : in fact the of how the Abvins sa ved Tugra. With the unwhole volume betokens efficiency and scholarship. identified passage na caitad vidmo yadi brdhmaņu All interested in Eastern archeology should keepvd smo, one should compare Mait. Sam. 1. 4. I this record on their shelves.
(p. 60, line 3 f.). C. E. A. W.O.
A. VENKATASUBBIAH.