Reviews Of Diffeent Books

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

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REVIEWS
NOTES
I P. A. Grincer, Drevneindijskij épos (Moskva, 1974), pp. 166. 2 'exacte, peu littéraire' (Littérature sanskrite, Paris, 1946, p. 102). 3 'Some lexical problems in the Vālmīki Rāmāyana', Bābū Rāma Saksenä Volume (Lucknow, 1983), p. 275. 4 A. Scharpe, Bana's Kadambari (Leuven, 1937), pp. 398-446.
Australian National University
J. W. DE JONG
Constantina Rhodes Bailly, Shaiva Devotional Songs of Kashmir. A Translation and Study of Utpaladeva's Shivastotravali. State University of New York Press, 1987. X, 196 pp. Paper $12.95, Cloth $39.50.
Mrs. Bailly's book is based upon a doctoral dissertation which comprises a translation of a selection of the songs and an "in-depth inquiry into the status of the manuscripts and the preservation of the textual tradition of the Sivastotrāvali”. According to the author an examination of seven manuscripts, two in devanāgarī and the other five in śāradā, showed that there were no major variants in any of these manuscripts. The differences between the manuscripts and the text printed in 1964 in the Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series were "for the most part simply errors in samdhi or the use of synonymous terms that fit into the meter exactly." The text reproduced in this book is based upon the above-mentioned edition and does not indicate any variant readings, although in appendix B the author refers to footnotes to the text (p. 175). The only information about variant readings is found on p. 174 where the author mentions the insertion of synonyms, as svarūpa for śarīra (4.25), jagatām for lokānām (10.1), and visrto or galito for prassto (4.14) and the interchanging of vibho, prabho and sometimes nātha in the vocative. These variant readings are certainly not metrically equivalent.
The introduction deals with the spiritual contents of the verses but says very little about the literary form. The author remarks that Utpala employed a variety of complex Sanskrit metres, both syllabic (śloka, śikhariņi, rathoddhatā, and śārdūlavikridita) and moraic (āryā and vaitaliya) but fails to present a list of the metres in the songs.
The translation is on the whole faithful and agreeable to read. It gives a good idea of Utpaladeva's delight in his union with Siva. However, technical terms are sometimes not correctly rendered or explained in notes. For example, I.13a āmulād väglată seyam kramavisphäraśālini is rendered as
Indo-Iranian Journal 32: 1989.