Reviews Of Diffeent Books

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

Page 55

REVIEWS
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of academically established facts, and that the translation as well as the discussion on each sutra will serve as a useful source of information to all" (p. 17).
It is obvious that after these declarations the reader cannot expect to find in this work, for instance, a critical analysis of Vyasa's bhāṣya which would try to determine in how far Vyasa correctly explains the sutras. Dr. Arya translates both the sutras and the bhäṣya. This is followed by a paraphrase of Vyasa's commentary and a discussion in which he refers to the opinions of the commentators. Vyasa's views are considered authoritative and only in a single instance is his interpretation rectified. In his commentary on drstaviṣaya in sūtra I.15 Vyasa mentions women, food, drink and power (striyo'nnapanam aiśvaryam). Dr. Arya remarks: "The word "women" from Vyasa's commentary is being paraphrased here as "the opposite sex", out of consideration for contemporary concerns. These texts were composed and taught in monasteries by yoga masters for whose male disciples the attraction of women must have been a common problem. Although there have been many great women yogis (yoginis) known to the tradition, it is thought that men are not as strong an attraction to aspiring women as women are to aspiring men. This is the only explanation that can be offered at this point, and wherever such allusions appear, they will be translated as "the opposite sex"" (pp. 206-207). One wonders whether the "Himalayan masters" would approve of this interpretation of the word "women".
Dr. Arya has read almost all of the commentators on the sutras and Vyasa's bhāṣya and points out their numerous disagreements on important points. This fact proves sufficiently that the exegetical tradition is contradictory in many respects and cannot guarantee a correct interpretation of the Yogasūtras. It shows also that the "experiental tradition" to which Dr. Arya appeals is not reflectled in the commentaries. It is certainly useful to read Dr. Arya's comments and his references to the commentaries which he has consulted to a far greater degree than previous translators but it is difficult for an “academician” to accept his magisterial pronouncements as the final word.
Australian National University
Indo-Iranian Journal 32: 1989.
J. W. DE JONG
Gareth Sparham (tr.), The Tibetan Dhammapada. Sayings of the Buddha. A translation of the Tibetan version of the Udānavarga. London, Wisdom Publications, 1986. 235 pp. £7.95/$11.95.
The title of this work is rather misleading for, as the subtitle explains,