Reviews Of Different Books

Page 14

260 REVIEWS CV Cy CN CS CR nos. 87, 142, 159, 431, 477, 507 (for CR: Gr. II, B), 828, 860, 890. CR nos. 6 (for CR: Gr. II, S), 227, 257, 625, 686 (intro ductory stanza), 779, 914. nos. 208, 269, 303, 610, (for CN: Gr. II, H), 678. CR no. 110. nos. 149, 665, 963. no. 260 (for CL: Gr. II, E). CL 80 Under these circumstances no one would think of reconstructing the ur-Canakya, that is, a collection of Canakya's aphorisms conceived as the ultimate source from which all the known versions can be derived. Is it, however, at all possible to assume an organized collection of Canakya's aphorisms in some form or other as the basis of later ramification? At first, I suppose, a mass of floating stanzas attributed to Canakya, a famous politician of yore, were spreading orally among literary circles. With the lapse of time the number of such verses increased, and they were then gathered and compiled into various collections in different times and places probably under mutual influence. In such a case the hypothesis of an ur-Canakya would be quite useless. Until a historical interrelation of the basic versions and the genesis and development of each version become more clearly known, one had better refrain from speaking of an ur-Canakya in a strict sense. Whether one may approve or not of Sternbach's designation, his collection of all the available Canakyan aphorisms is certainly an outstanding achievement involving a tremendous amount of scholarly labour and acumen. It should be appreciated not only as the starting point of future study of Canakya's compendia but also as an immense treasury of Sanskrit gnomic poetry in general. Tokyo N. Tsuji [2] Tsuji Naoshiro, Genson Yajuru-veda bunken - Kodai Indo no saishiki ni kansuru konpon shiryo no bunkengakuteki kenkyu -- (Existent YajurvedaLiterature - Philological Study of the Fundamental Sources of the Vedic Ritual -) (= The Toyo Bunko ronso, Series A, Vol. LII). Tokyo, The Toyo Bunko, 1970. xi + 211 pp. [1] H. S. Ananthanarayana, Verb Forms of the Taittiriya Brahmana (= Deccan College Building Centenary and Silver Jubilee Series, 60). Poona, Deccan College, 1970. XV + 368 pp. Rs. 30/-- Maitrayani Samhita. Die Samhita der Maitrayaniya-Sakha. Herausgegeben von Leopold von Schroeder. Erstes Buch. Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH., 1970. XLVI + 175 pp. DM 48.-; Zweites Buch. XII + 169 pp. DM 34,- Ibid., 1971. Kathaka. Die Samhita der Katha-Sakha. Herausgegeben von Leopold von Schroeder. Erstes Buch. XIV + 284 pp. DM 58,-; Zweites Buch. V + 193 pp. DM 34, Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH., 1970-1971. [4] [1] With the publication of his book on the Yajurveda Literature Professor Tsuji, the doyen of Vedic studies in Japan, has rendered a great service to Indian studies. Tsuji's book is not an introduction to the Yajurveda but a philological guide to the extant Yajurveda texts. It contains a systematic survey of the Yajurveda schools and their literature. The author studies the traditions about the transmission and the authorship