le karṇānanda de kṛṣṇadāsaby n. s. shukla

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Le Karṇānanda de Kṛṣṇadāsa by N. S. Shukla Review by: Charles S. J. White Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 101, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1981), p. 492 Published by: American Oriental Society Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601338 . Accessed: 18/06/2014 19:29 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 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 19:29:27 PM All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

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Page 1: Le Karṇānanda de Kṛṣṇadāsaby N. S. Shukla

Le Karṇānanda de Kṛṣṇadāsa by N. S. ShuklaReview by: Charles S. J. WhiteJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 101, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1981), p. 492Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601338 .

Accessed: 18/06/2014 19:29

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.

http://www.jstor.org

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 19:29:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions

Page 2: Le Karṇānanda de Kṛṣṇadāsaby N. S. Shukla

492 Journal of the American Oriental Society 101.4 (1981)

was an excellent one doing a fine job of keeping the plethora of laterals clear and distinct.

On the whole, this work is a major contribution which has long been needed. Dr. Sakthivel is to be congratulated.

DAVID W. McALPIN

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVAN IA

Dravidian Case System. Edited by S. AGESTHIALINGOM and K. KUSHALAPPA GOWDA. Pp. viii + 519. Annamalai Uni- versity, Department of Linguistics, Publication No. 39. Annamalainagar, India: ANNAMALAI UNIVERSITY. 1976. INR. 25.

This book publishes the papers of a conference on the case systems of Dravidian languages. As such it is a collection of ideas rather than the synthesis that the title might suggest. The twenth-nine papers use various approaches and different languages. Some deal with case theory using both Fillmorian and traditional Indian models. Others concentrate on the specific usage of a given case in a major language while still others give a morphological overview of little studied lan- guages or dialects. Anyone interested in Dravidian languages or in case systems will find this book extremely useful. Unfortunately, typographical errors are widespread and the uninitiated should be cautious.

DAVID W. McALPIN

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

ILe Karna-nan(da de KA?sndldsa. By N. S. SII!KL.A (translator and editor). Pp. x + 322, includes Devandgari text. Pondi- chery: INSTITtIT FRAN(2AIS D 'INDOLOGIF. 1971.

In an area of Indian studies about which so little has been published in Western languages, it is an occasion to rejoice that Professor Shukla has given us a translation-cum- commentary of a Sanskrit work produced by an early poet of the Rddhavallabha Sampraddyd. In format and depth of content the volume is a significant scholarly contribution. Nevertheless, the introduction seems to the present reviewer to be the most pertinent aspect of the work. The Kaunimandan

itself, if one can judge by its rendering in French prose, is a composition of varying quality poetically. Moreover. its hearty emphasis upon devotion to Krsna serves as a departure from the elegant ?riigdra of Rddhd, expounded by Harivam.na. the founder of the Rddhdvallabha Sampraddyd and the father of Krsndasa.

Dr. Shukla is at pains to establish the close affinity between the Caitanya sect and the Radhavallabha. Indeed,

he claims that Hita Harivramsa was greatly influenced by the followers of Caitanya even though the Caitanya sect, "preche l'adoration exclusive de Krsna, tandis que la secte Radhdval- labha se fonde sure la predominance de Rddhd" (p. vii). It is certainly true that for both sects the dual aspect of Radhd- Krsna is acknowledged and in the .srfigdra mode of the divine manifestation once cannot really express devotion toward either Rddh5 or Krsna without including the other. Yet, one misses the point in an analysis of Hindu sects, founded by saints who claimed direct awareness of God under a partic- ular form, through focusing narrowly on theological issues. It is of surpassing imporatance that Harivamsa "perceived' directly that Rddha was the supreme deity. This kind of "vision," made accessible in the saint's own poetry and or in the accoutrements of sectarian development, is the crucial element. Thus, in my view, an insistent discussion of influences of one sect upon another is irrelevant although one may with interest note similarities and differences.

The elements of the Rddhdvallabha scenario are well discussed by Shukla: these include Radha, Krsna, the Sakhls or Sahacdris (female companions of Radhd), Vrnddvana, and the Yamund river. As far as poetic accomplishment goes, Shukla claims, "Le grand succes du Karndnanda de Krsnadasa reside dans Pemploi d'une phraseologie exacte et &legante qui exprime ses sentiments et la conviction de sa devotion pour Radhdvallabha" (p. 57). Certainly one is delighted by Krsnaddsa's tour (le force in using 127 different Sanskrit metres in his 190 verses. But the extreme artificiality of this sixteenth century work is further evident in the fact that the poet provides not only the verses but also a lengthy commentary to aid the struggling reader.

CHI.ARIES S. J. WilIE

TlJE AMERICAN UNIVF.RSITY

Dharma in Hindu Ethics. By AUSTIN B. CREEL. Pp. Viii + 178. Calcutta: FIRMA KLN PRIVATE, LTD. 1977. Rs. 50. (Dis- tributed by South Asia Books, Columbia, MO. $10.00.)

This small volume, a re-examination of some matters first discussed by the author in his doctoral dissertaion (Reformu- lating Dharma in Contemporary Hindu Ethics, Yale, 1959) presents itself as an essay in "moral philosophy" (or what religionists call "ethics"). It explores and offers some critical observations about the theme of dharma in the writings of several representative twentieth century Hindus, for example, T. M. D. Mahadevan, P. T. Raju, Swami Nikhilananda, and, above all others, Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan. In spite of a number of organizational problems-repetitiousness, a surfeit of primary quotations adding little to the argument-the volume makes certain valid and significant observations which merit further attention: that for neo-Hinduism the

This content downloaded from 62.122.76.60 on Wed, 18 Jun 2014 19:29:27 PMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions