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Reviews
SURESVARA'S VĀRTIKA ON SISU AND MORTAMORTA BRAH.
MANA ed. by K. P. Jog & Shoun Hino (Advaita Tradition Series, Vol. 7); pub, by Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited, Delhi, 1996; Pp. XX + 119; Price: Rs. 150/-.
In this volume K. P. Jog and Shoun Hino have edited, translated and annotated Sureśvara's Bṛhadaraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣyavārtika' on Siśu (BrUp. 2.2) and Mürtamarta Brahmana (Br. Up. 2. 3). The two authors have already earned the gratitude of scholars in general and of students of Indian philosophy in particular by similarly editing, translating and annotating several other Vārtikas on the Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣadbhāṣya (Advaita Tradition Series Volumes 1-6).
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The importance of the Värttikas on the Brhadaraṇyakopanisadbhāṣya for understanding the thought of Sankara, the Guru, and of Sureśvara, the pupil, is recognized at all hands. As observed by Hajime Nakamura in his Foreword: Suresvara has underlined every small detail in the varied arguments in the Bhasya on the Upanisad and clarified the same with characteristic skill... The Vārtika of Suresvara on the Bṛhadaraṇyakopanisad is truly his magnum opus and needed to be translated in full". It is therefore gratifying to note that Jog and Hino have undertaken to execute the task of translating with annotations the Värttikas of Sureśvara and supply the long-feit need.
The authors observe: "There is inherent difficulty in rendering into very simple English structure the slightly (and comparatively) truncated or complex Sanskrit structure; we have yet tried at a number of places to simplify the same by avoiding as much literal English rendering as in the earlier parts of our series." (Preface). Even after admitting this difficulty of translation, one feels, occasionally, while going through the translation that the authors should have devoted a little more care and aimed at more accuracy in giving their renderings. A few examples are given below.
1. The first line of stanza 2 on the Siśu Br. reads as-aeutqfaqftıyaå तद्व्याख्या चाधुनोच्यते agearea, angaisa. This is translated as: "(Also) it was stated This is the secret doctrine of the Upanisad"." It is not clear why the authors repeat the text word Upanisad'. It confuses the reader, since the word has been already rendered as secret doctrine'. The line is better rendered as "(What) was stated as its secret teaching (viz. satyasya satyam), its exposition is now given here". The authors rightly point out that the words tasyopanisat in the Värttika refer to BrUp. 2. 1. 20 where it is stated i
Jain Education International
This is how the word is spelt in the text. It would have been better to spell it as värttika.
Madhu Vidya/715
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