uttaramērūr. légendes, histoire, monumentsby françois gros; r....

Uttaramērūr. Légendes, histoire, monuments by François Gros; R. Nagaswamy;Pañcavaradakṣetramāhātmya by K. SrinivasacharyaReview by: Ludo RocherJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 95, No. 1 (Jan. - Mar., 1975), pp. 142-143Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/599274 .

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Journal of the American Oriental Society 95.1 (1975) Journal of the American Oriental Society 95.1 (1975) Journal of the American Oriental Society 95.1 (1975) Journal of the American Oriental Society 95.1 (1975)

saying 'assets are to be pursued unto whatever hands' (as Colebrooke puts it), or by saying 'debts follow the assets into whosesoever hands they come' (as Strange puts it)" (p. 88). Assuredly, this kind of attitude is

responsible for the interpretation and the singular evolu- tion which "the pious obligation" underwent in the

Anglo-Hindu lawcourts. However, no Hindu text tells us that the son is liable to pay his father's debts because he receives his assets. In reality there were two interrelated

phenomena: paying one's father's debts, and inheriting his property. One of them might be called legal-in the Western sense-; the other should not. Perhaps there was

just one phenomenon: the son's obligations toward his father. These obligations were definitely not legal. The author is not unaware of these problems. My sug- gestion is to go one step further, and refuse to subject so- called ancient Hindu "law" to Western legal concepts, categories, and maxims, to the extent of speaking about "Debt in Ancient India," rather than "The Law of Debt in Ancient India."

LUDO ROCHER

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Das heliozentrische System in der griechischen, persischen und indischen Astronomie. By B. L. VAN DER WAER- DEN. Pp. 55. (NEUJAHRSBLATT, NATURFORSCHENDE GESELLSCHAFT IN ZURICH, 1970, 172. Stuck.) Zurich: LEEMAN. 1970.

Three astronomers have formulated the thesis that the earth rotates on its axis in one day and revolves around the sun in one year: Aristarchus (280 B.C.), Aryabhata (A.D. 500), and Copernicus (A.D. 1543). We know that

Copernicus refers to Aristarchus. The question examined in this monograph is: did Aryabhata know about Aris-

tarchus, and, if so, what were the connecting links ? The

connecting links are examined in four chapters: "das heliozentrische System in der griechischen Astronomie," "das Grosse Jahr und die ewige Wiederkehr," "Persische und indische Astronomie," and "die Konjunktion des Jahres- 3101." The last chapter concludes with a sum-

mary (p. 51), in which the historical development from

Pythagoras to Aryabhata is laid out in thirteen successive

stages. Although the problem of connecting links is too complex

to be discussed here, I do have the impression that the author applies the working hypothesis in the history of science: "Jede grosse Entdeckung wird nur einmal

gemacht" (p. 5), too readily to areas in which originality is not necessarily restricted to a single inventor. After

quoting the Mahabharata on the length of the Kaliyuga: 432,000 years, he continues: "Der Leser wird sich erinnern, dass im Grossen Jahr des BERossos die gesamte Re-






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gierungszeit der KSnige vor der Flut ebenfalls 432,000 Jahre betrug. Das indische Yugasystem ist also mit der

Chronologie des Berossos verwandt" (p. 27; italics mine). This conclusion disregards the fact that the figure 432,000 is reached in two different ways:

-Berossus: 3,600 x 120, -Kaliyuga: 36,000 + 360,000 + 36,000.

On the other hand, I fully agree with the author's conclusion: "Das 'System der Perser' wurde auch in Indien bekannt und dem indischen Yuga-System angepasst" (p. 51; italics mine). There is no doubt that the yuga system-including mahayuga and kalpa-is old in India; "aber ihre astronomische Verwendung laisst sich erst bei ARYABHATA und BRAHMAGUPTA nachweisen" (p. 43).

LUDO ROCHER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Bhagauatpdda gri gankardchdrya. By C. SIVARAMAMURTI. Pp. 42, 19 plates. New Delhi: SANKARA ACADEMY OF SANSKRIT CULTURE AND CLASSICAL ARTS. 1972. Rs. 10.00.

This nicely published pamphlet contains the text of a lecture presented by the author on the day of gankara- jayanti "four years ago." The text is based on a wide range of materials, but it is clear that these have been chosen and discussed with one goal in mind: sing the greatness of gafikaracarya. This is appropriate for a lecture on gaakara's jayanti, sponsored by the Sankara Academy. Sivaramamurti stresses gafkara's unifying role at a time when "sects and creeds raised their ugly heads and caused quarrel and turmoil in what was earlier a calm and unruffled atmosphere." In his opinion there is no reason to doubt "that gankara, the author of the erudite Bhdshyas, could not have written such simple verses, as compose his minor hymns." Finally, he elabo- rates on "a special blessing," which allowed him to identify a sculpture of the Airavatanegvara shrine at Kaficipuram as an 8th century portrait of Saikaracarya.


Uttarameruir. L4gendes, histoire, monuments. By FRAN- COIS GROS and R. NAGASWAMY. With the Panca-

varadaksetramdhatmya, edited by K. SRINIVASACHA- RYA. (PUBLICATIONS DE L'INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'IN- DOLOGIE, 39). Pp. 136 + 72 + vii; 16 plates; 2 maps. Pondicherry: INSTITUT FRANCAIS D'INDOLOGIE. 1970.

This book seems to have been written by accident. The original purpose was the publication of the Pan-

cavaradaksetramahatmya, a sthalapurana of the temple of





































142 142 142 142



Brief Reviews of Books Brief Reviews of Books

Sundaravarada Perumal at Uttarameruir (47 miles south of Madras). When K. A. Nilakanta Shastri visited the town in 1930 for his Studies in C61a History and Adminis- tration (Madras: University, 1932), the existence of the mdhdtmya was mentioned to him, but he was unable to find a copy of the text. The authors obtained a single palm leaf manuscript from a resident of Uttaramerur. While they were searching in the village for elements which might be illustrated by the text, they were disap- pointed as far as this aspect of the search was concerned, but they found a number of interesting data which became the main body of the book, rather than the edition of the Pa ncavaradakse tramdhd tmya.

The French text comprises seven chapters: Le village et ses denominations, Les sources, Les jalons de l'histoire, Les monuments, Le village ancien, Vie sociale et admini- strative, Vie intellectuelle et religieuse. Although the authors acknowledge the importance of a sociological study of present-day Uttaramruir, they did not engage in this kind of research. There is, however, a short ap- pendix on "le village moderne," and one of the two maps also refers to it. The historical description, on the other hand, is treated as completely as the combination of the varied data permitted. It can serve as a model of inter- disciplinary historical research.

The PaiicavaradakSetramdhdtmya claims to belong to the Bhavisyottarapurana. It ends: iti srimadbhavigyot- tarapurane ksetrasarakhande uparibhdge paicavarada- kSetramahdtmye ...... dviiatddhikavimgo 'dhydyah. It consists of 12 adhyayas, called Bhavisyottarapurana 209- 220. A Tamil translation was prepared in 1937 on the occasion of a petition to renovate the temple. Pp. 5-9 present a French summary of the text, with brief re- ferences to the few cases in which the Tamil translation deviates from the Sanskrit original. Although the ma- hdtmya reads easily, I have the impression that the codex unicus presents a number of questionable readings which require more substantial commentary than the brief footnotes added by the editor. A complete annotated translation would help solve some of these problems. The eventual discovery of other manuscripts might also

help establish a more definitive text. In the meanwhile the editor should be congratulated for having provided us with a text as it appears in the manuscript; e.g. p. 19. 9, he prints proktva, and confines himself to a footnote:

procya iti sddhuh pathah. Too many editors have taken it

upon themselves to normalize and correct their manuscript materials; in doing so, they have covered up many interesting features of Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature.

LUDo ROCHER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Sundaravarada Perumal at Uttarameruir (47 miles south of Madras). When K. A. Nilakanta Shastri visited the town in 1930 for his Studies in C61a History and Adminis- tration (Madras: University, 1932), the existence of the mdhdtmya was mentioned to him, but he was unable to find a copy of the text. The authors obtained a single palm leaf manuscript from a resident of Uttaramerur. While they were searching in the village for elements which might be illustrated by the text, they were disap- pointed as far as this aspect of the search was concerned, but they found a number of interesting data which became the main body of the book, rather than the edition of the Pa ncavaradakse tramdhd tmya.

The French text comprises seven chapters: Le village et ses denominations, Les sources, Les jalons de l'histoire, Les monuments, Le village ancien, Vie sociale et admini- strative, Vie intellectuelle et religieuse. Although the authors acknowledge the importance of a sociological study of present-day Uttaramruir, they did not engage in this kind of research. There is, however, a short ap- pendix on "le village moderne," and one of the two maps also refers to it. The historical description, on the other hand, is treated as completely as the combination of the varied data permitted. It can serve as a model of inter- disciplinary historical research.

The PaiicavaradakSetramdhdtmya claims to belong to the Bhavisyottarapurana. It ends: iti srimadbhavigyot- tarapurane ksetrasarakhande uparibhdge paicavarada- kSetramahdtmye ...... dviiatddhikavimgo 'dhydyah. It consists of 12 adhyayas, called Bhavisyottarapurana 209- 220. A Tamil translation was prepared in 1937 on the occasion of a petition to renovate the temple. Pp. 5-9 present a French summary of the text, with brief re- ferences to the few cases in which the Tamil translation deviates from the Sanskrit original. Although the ma- hdtmya reads easily, I have the impression that the codex unicus presents a number of questionable readings which require more substantial commentary than the brief footnotes added by the editor. A complete annotated translation would help solve some of these problems. The eventual discovery of other manuscripts might also

help establish a more definitive text. In the meanwhile the editor should be congratulated for having provided us with a text as it appears in the manuscript; e.g. p. 19. 9, he prints proktva, and confines himself to a footnote:

procya iti sddhuh pathah. Too many editors have taken it

upon themselves to normalize and correct their manuscript materials; in doing so, they have covered up many interesting features of Sanskrit and Sanskrit literature.

LUDo ROCHER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Pataiijala Yoga: From Related Ego to Absolute Self. By GASPAR M. KOELMAN. Pp. xi + 280. Poona: PAPAL ATHENAEUM, [1970]. RS. 20.00.

The author is a Jesuit missionary, who went to India in 1932, and soon "became deeply interested in the rich lore of Indian mystical and ascetical doctrines." The volume under review was first written about twenty years ago, but thoroughly revised before publication.

This is a very readable discussion of Patafijali's Rdja- yoga, the type of Yoga to which Koelman intentionally confines himself. It is based on extensive reading of secondary materials, and on the study of a wide variety of Sanskrit texts, going well beyond the normal classics: Vyasa's Bhdsya and VacaspatimiSra's Tattvavaigdradi. Large extracts from the texts are quoted, in Roman translation, in the footnotes, so that the author's state- ments can easily be verified even by those who have no access to the Sanskrit texts. Koelman modestly states: "Our study may have little originality." Yet, good studies on Yoga have been rare, especially in English; the book, therefore, fills a real void.

While reading Koelman's book this reviewer has been struck by an interesting phenomenon which probably relates more to missiology than to the study of Indian culture. The author is undoubtedly impressed by the Yoga system, and is genuinely sympathetic to it. The Yoga technique of liberation is "a marvellously knit system." Once one admits a total dichotomy between matter and spirit, "there is perhaps no better solution than the one devised by Yoga." Pataijali's technique of stilling and voiding the mind is "a magnificent master- piece." The experiences of the Yogis have been "marvellously synthesized" in the Yogasiitras. And yet, again and again the author unconsciously compares his object of study, Yoga, with his own religion, Catholicism. In connection with the freedom of choice of the liberated self, a footnote remarks: "Even in Christianity ......" (p. 258). After a discussion of the Indian attitudes toward the relationship between wordly existence and the Absolute, the author adds: "The problem remains unsolved, and, we think, will remain unsolved if we refuse to admit real beings, real spirits, who are however imperfect beings and imperfect spirits, on account of their ontological dependence on one transcendent and absolute spiritual Being" (p. 255). Finally, about the general Indian urge to liberate the soul: "The concept of 'soul' has no exact equivalent in Indian thought" (p. 1, n. 1).

The statement: "The anti-sacrificial and pluralistic inspiration of Sdiikhya and its atheistic logic can hardly have been an authentic brahminical contribution" (p. 4), would require a longer discussion than is possible in this review. Suffice it to say that it perpetuates the idea of

Pataiijala Yoga: From Related Ego to Absolute Self. By GASPAR M. KOELMAN. Pp. xi + 280. Poona: PAPAL ATHENAEUM, [1970]. RS. 20.00.

The author is a Jesuit missionary, who went to India in 1932, and soon "became deeply interested in the rich lore of Indian mystical and ascetical doctrines." The volume under review was first written about twenty years ago, but thoroughly revised before publication.

This is a very readable discussion of Patafijali's Rdja- yoga, the type of Yoga to which Koelman intentionally confines himself. It is based on extensive reading of secondary materials, and on the study of a wide variety of Sanskrit texts, going well beyond the normal classics: Vyasa's Bhdsya and VacaspatimiSra's Tattvavaigdradi. Large extracts from the texts are quoted, in Roman translation, in the footnotes, so that the author's state- ments can easily be verified even by those who have no access to the Sanskrit texts. Koelman modestly states: "Our study may have little originality." Yet, good studies on Yoga have been rare, especially in English; the book, therefore, fills a real void.

While reading Koelman's book this reviewer has been struck by an interesting phenomenon which probably relates more to missiology than to the study of Indian culture. The author is undoubtedly impressed by the Yoga system, and is genuinely sympathetic to it. The Yoga technique of liberation is "a marvellously knit system." Once one admits a total dichotomy between matter and spirit, "there is perhaps no better solution than the one devised by Yoga." Pataijali's technique of stilling and voiding the mind is "a magnificent master- piece." The experiences of the Yogis have been "marvellously synthesized" in the Yogasiitras. And yet, again and again the author unconsciously compares his object of study, Yoga, with his own religion, Catholicism. In connection with the freedom of choice of the liberated self, a footnote remarks: "Even in Christianity ......" (p. 258). After a discussion of the Indian attitudes toward the relationship between wordly existence and the Absolute, the author adds: "The problem remains unsolved, and, we think, will remain unsolved if we refuse to admit real beings, real spirits, who are however imperfect beings and imperfect spirits, on account of their ontological dependence on one transcendent and absolute spiritual Being" (p. 255). Finally, about the general Indian urge to liberate the soul: "The concept of 'soul' has no exact equivalent in Indian thought" (p. 1, n. 1).

The statement: "The anti-sacrificial and pluralistic inspiration of Sdiikhya and its atheistic logic can hardly have been an authentic brahminical contribution" (p. 4), would require a longer discussion than is possible in this review. Suffice it to say that it perpetuates the idea of

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uttaramērūr. légendes, histoire, monumentsby françois gros; r....

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