atharva veda sanhitaby r. roth; w. d. whitney

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Atharva Veda Sanhita by R. Roth; W. D. Whitney Review by: E. B. Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 88, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1968), p. 371 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/597294 . Accessed: 12/06/2014 17:21 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at . http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp . JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range of content in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new forms of scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected]. . American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal of the American Oriental Society. http://www.jstor.org This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:21:23 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Atharva Veda Sanhitaby R. Roth; W. D. Whitney

Atharva Veda Sanhita by R. Roth; W. D. WhitneyReview by: E. B.Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 88, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1968), p. 371Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/597294 .

Accessed: 12/06/2014 17:21

Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of the Terms & Conditions of Use, available at .http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp

.JSTOR is a not-for-profit service that helps scholars, researchers, and students discover, use, and build upon a wide range ofcontent in a trusted digital archive. We use information technology and tools to increase productivity and facilitate new formsof scholarship. For more information about JSTOR, please contact [email protected].

.

American Oriental Society is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve and extend access to Journal ofthe American Oriental Society.

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This content downloaded from 91.229.248.152 on Thu, 12 Jun 2014 17:21:23 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Atharva Veda Sanhitaby R. Roth; W. D. Whitney

Brief Reviews of Books 371

Rs. 5.00. A brief, Jain MahAkavya, critically edited (based on twelve msas., one a printed copy), with an English translation, an assessment of its author and commentary, and an inspection of the plot of the story and its characters. The author, Vadiraja, flourished in the middle of the eleventh century, A. D., and the commentator, during the middle of the sixteenth century.

This tale, itself, whose popularity is attested by Sanskrit, Prakrit and ApabhraT?a versions, apart from its literary value, will attract the interest of students of language for the many Prakrit forms it contains, and should intrigue those " fringe " ethnologists who feel their area needs satisfied by an " ideal" depiction of Indian culture as con- trasted with the exceptions which may prove to reflect the real situation. I suggest as examples incidents in this tale, such as human and animal sacrifice or the description of a king, angered by a disappointing hunt, setting his hounds on an ascetic. These, true enough, are devices employed for the inculcation of the Jain faith. However, I submit that things are seldom what they seem, especially when the sources are institutionalized and, therefore, subject to objective scrutiny. Dr. Krishnamoorthy has expressed hope that his work may be used, perhaps in part, in Sanskrit classes. His offer should not be ignored (E. B.)

Sugandhadagami Kathl. Edited by HMALAL JAMN (JRianapitha Mfirtidev! Jain Granthamala: Apa-

bhramsa Grantha No. 6). Pp. 17 + 98 + 16, 48 plates. Calcutta: BHIRATIYA JNANAPITHA, 1966. Rs. 11.00. A collection of five versions of the Sugan- dhasam! Katha in five different languages. The Apabhramia text (Suamdha-dahami-kaha) is based on four mss., one of which is dated Sam.vat 1676 (= 1619 A. D.). Udayacandra, the author, is be-- lieved to have composed this in the middle of the twelfth century, A. D. The Sanskrit text is by grutasagara whose date is assigned to the last half of the fifteenth century, A.D. The two texts are accompanied in this edition by Hindi translations. The GujarAt! text is based on three mss., one of which is dated gaka 1641 (= 1719 A. D.). The flourit of its author, Jinadasa, is assigned to the middle of the fifteenth century, A. D. The Mardth! text is based on three mss., one of which is illustrated. Its author, Jinasagara (fl. mid-eighteenth century, A. D.), employed a dialect and vocabulary pointing to Vidarbha to be his area of origin. (The illus- trations are described by V. S. Agrawal). The Hindi text by KuiAlacandra KRld (fl. mid-eight- eenth century, A. D), who patterned it after Aru- tasagara's Sanskrit work, was published in Calcutta in 1929. The version provided here has been re- vised. Apart from its importance to those devoted to the tenets of Jainism, this book can be of great use for comparative work in linguistic and folklore.

(E. B.)

Bhlmavikrama-Vydyoga (of VyAsa Moksdditya) and DHARMODDHARBANAM (of Pandita Durge?vara).

Edited by UMAKANT PREMANAND SHAH. (Gaek- wad's Oriental Series, No. 151). Pp. xv + 78. Baroda: ORIENTAL INSTITUTE, 1966. Rs. 7.00.

One more example of Dr. Shah's valuable con- tributions to Indological studies. The relationship between these two short Sanskrit plays rests only on the uncertain possibility that their authors were natives of Gujarat. The first, a vyayoga, com- presses into twenty-four hours-a requisite charac- teristic of this type play-the account found in adhydyas 13-22 (Poona ed.) or 15-24 (Gorakhpur ed.) of the Sabhaparvan of the Mahabharata. In- formation regarding its author is derived only from what he tells of himself in the introduction. The date of composition is Saqpvat 1385 (1328 A. D.). The author of the second play is of a Modha-Brah- mana caste. Since the Modha-BrAhmanas are origi- nally from Modhera in North Gujarat, the author can be identified as of Gujarati origin. The play, which the author calls a "ndtaka "-although it does not hold to the typical pattern of a nAtaka-, is an allegory personifying different gunas, dosas, rasas, yugas, etc. Of especial interest is a descrip- tion of the deterioration of the influence of the Brahmans, reflecting the turbulence of the period, occasioned by Muslim dominance after the 14th/ 15th centuries-and possibly the 17th century, at the close of which (1696 A. D.) the emperor Aur- engzeb ordered the destruction of the temple of ViAvandth. It is possible that the play was com- posed after 1785 A.D., when this temple and others were rebuilt by AhalyabaL. (E. B.)

Studies in Iemacandra's Degindmamlda. By HARIVAL- LABH C. BHAYANI. Pp. 96. Banaras: PARSH- VANATH VIDYASITRAM RESEARCH INSTITUTE, 1966. Rs. 3.00. In this booklet, based on his lectures prepared in 1963 for the Shri Narottamlal Hansraj Lecture Series at the Shri Parshwanath Vidyashram of the Banaras Hindu University, Professor Bhayani discusses the problems of reconstructing the original forms of the underivable vocables encountered in Hemacandra's DeA4ndmamald, their proper mean- ings, and techniques for their solution. The me- thodology he proposes and demonstrates is enlight- ening and sound. Aside from the immediate value of its contribution to advanced researchers, this pamphlet is to be recommended as one of the basic tools to facilitate students' understanding of Pra- krit-Apabhramia linguistics. (E. B.)

Atharva Veda Sanhita. By HERAUJSGEGEBEN VON R. RoTir UND W. D. WHITNEY. Pp. xx + 390. (Dritte Auflage). Bonn: FERD. DUMMLER'S VERLAG, 1966. DM 39.80. A reprint of the second, revised edi- tion of 1924 by Max Lindenau. The publisher offers this for the service of a new generation of scholars. A most welcome and appreciated deed. (E. B.)

Stories from the Kathdsaritsagara. Part II. Trans- lated by S. V. SASTRI. Pp. xii + 204 (Sanskrit Academy Series No. 12). Hyderabad: THE SAN- SKRIT ACADEMY. 1965. Rs. 5.00. " The themes

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