vācārambhanam (ii)

7/28/2019 Vcrambhanam (II)

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VAC.,~RAMBHANAM I I )by

F . B . J . K U I P E RLeiden

I n t h e p r e c e d i n g i m p o r t a n t s t u d y w h i c h P r o f e s s o r v a n B u i t e n e n h a sd e v o t e d t o t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l i m p l i c a ti o n s o f U d d a l a k a A r un . i 's d o c t r in e a se x p o s e d in C h f in d . U p a n . V I r e f e r e n c e i s m a d e t o a b r i e f n o t e o n t h e w o r dvdcdrambha.nam f r o m a l i n g u is t ic p o i n t o f v i ew , w h i c h w a s p u b l i s h e d i nv o l . I , p . 1 5 5 f t. o f th i s j o u r n a l . S i n c e t h a t n o t e w a s t h e r e s u l t o f a n u n -s u c ce s sf u l a t t e m p t t o c o m p r e s s th e w h o l e a r g u m e n t a t i o n w i t h in t h e c o m -p a s s o f a " B r i e f C o m m u n i c a t i o n " , s o m e d e ta i ls w e r e o n l y b r ie f ly i n d ic a t ed .T h u s t h e r e a s o n s f o r r e j e c t i n g t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f vdcd- a s t h e i n s t r u -m e n t a l c a s e o f vdc- w e r e n o t c l e a r ly st a te d . A s a n e x a c t m o r p h o l o g i c a la n a l y s is o f th e k e y - w o r d vdcdrambhan, am m a y b e e x p e c te d t o p r o v i d e as o li d b a s is f o r t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l i n t e r p r e t a t io n o f th i s f u n d a m e n t a l l y i m -p o r t a n t p a s s a g e , a n d a s v a n B u i t e n e n d e c la r e s h i m s e l f u n c o n v i n c e d b yt h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s u g g e s t e d i n H J , I , p . 1 59 , I t a k e t h e o p p o r t u n i t y t oe l a b o r a t e s o m e p o i n t s i n g r e a t e r d e t a i l , a n d t o c o r r e c t o t h e r s }

T a k e n i n i t s e l f , vdcdrambhan, am a l l o w s t h r e e d i f f e r e n t i n t e r p r e t a t i o n s .I t m a y b e e i th e r a w o r d - g r o u p vdc d drambhan, am , o r a c o m p o u n d vdcd-drambhan, am , i n w h i c h c a s e w e h a v e t h e c h o i c e b e t w e e n t a k i n g t h e p r i o rm e m b e r a s t h e in s t r u m e n t a l c a s e o f vdc- , o r a s t h e s t e r n o f vdcd- , f .A g a i n s t t h e f i rs t p o s s i b i l it y i t m u s t b e a r g u e d t h a t i n th e o l d e r V e d i c p r o s et h e r e is n o e v i d e n c e f o r th e u s e o f a n i n s t r u m e n t a l i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t hs u b s t a n t i v e s e x c e p t t h o s e d e n o t i n g c o m m u n i t y , e . g . s a k h y d - " f r i e n d -s h i p " ; s e e D e l b r t i c k , A l ti n d i sc h e S y n t a x , p . 1 3 6 f . N o r i s a n y in s t a n c e t ob e f o u n d i n t h e o l d e r U p a n i .s a d s a c c o r d i n g t o t h e d e t a il e d a c c o u n t o f O t t oW e c k e r , D e r G e b r a u c h d e r K a s u s i n d e r d l t e r e n U p a n i . s a d - L i t e r a t u r . . . .p p . 3 3 - 4 8 . T h e r e f o r e th e o c c a s i o n a l u s e i n t h e p r o s e o f t h e l a t e r S f i t rat e x ts o f a n in s t r u m e n t a l d e n o t i n g t h e a g e n t (kar t ! ' ) i n c o n n e c t i o n w i t h av e r b a l s u b s t a n t i v e s , e .g . p u r d ' n y a i r d l a m b h d t " b e f o r e ( th e b o y ) h a s b e e nt o u c h e d b y o t h e r s " ~ v . G S . 1 .1 5.1 ( Sp e y e r, V e d . u . S k t . S y n t a x , p. 11) isz To the references quoted in the form er article add the recent discussion by D ebru n-her, Altind. Grarnrn., Nac htriige zu II, 1, p. 249 1.41.


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vdcdrambhan, a m (n ) 307h a r d l y s u f f ic i en t t o p r o v e t h a t i n o n e o f th e o l d e s t U p a n i. sa d s a n i n s t r u -m e n t a l d e n o t i n g t h e karan, a c o u l d b e c o n n e c t e d w i t h a v e r b a l n o u n . T h es p e c ia l c h a r a c t e r o f t h e s Q t r a st y le , w h i c h a l l o w s n o d i r e c t in f e r e n c e s w i t hr e g a r d t o t e x t s o f a d i f fe r e n t c h a r a c t e r s h o u l d a l s o b e t a k e n i n t o a c c o u n t .

S i n c e t h e V e d i c i d i o m s e e m s to e x c l u d e t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a s a w o r d -g r o u p , t h e o n l y p o s s i b le a n a ly s i s t h a t r e m a i n s is a c c o r d i n g l y t o t a k evdcdrambhan.a- a s a c o m p o u n d ( as it is a p p a r e n t l y a l s o t a k e n b y W e c k e r ,p . 4 6 ). N o w f o r m s o f t h e i n s t r u m e n t a l d o o c c u r a s p r i o r m e m b e r s o fc o m p o u n d s , b u t t h i s u s e is c o n f i n e d t o t h e f o l l o w i n g c a te g o r i e s : a ) b e f o r er o o t w o r d s o r d e r i v a t i v e s d e n o t i n g a n a g e n t , e . g . gird-v~dh-, manast~-j~dy in- ; b ) b e f o r e p a l t i c i p l e s i n -ta-, e.g. yuvd-dat ta- ; c ) b e fo re a d j e c t i v e s ,e .g . dhiyd-vasu-; s e e i n g e n e r a l W a c k e r n a g e l , A l t i nd . G r am m at i k I I , 1 ,p p . 2 1 2 f ., 2 3 4 . T h e c a s e o f R i g v e d i c vdcd-stena- i s q u i t e i s o l a t e d (op.c i t . ,p . 2 4 9) . I n t h e u s a g e o f t h e V e d i c l a n g u a g e , a c c o r d i n g l y , n o j u s t i f ic a t i o nc a n b e f o u n d f o r t h e a s s u m p t i o n t h a t i n vdcdrambhan, a- t h e i n s t r u m e n t a lo f vdc- is c o n t a i n e d . T h e c i r c u m s t a n c e t h a t vdcdrambhan, a- h a s p r o b a b l yb e e n c r e a t e d a s a t e c h n i ca l t e r m o f t h e p h i l o s o p h i c a l s p e c u la t i o n w o u l ds e e m i r r e l e v a n t i n t h is r e s p e c t , a s m o s t ddegas, s u c h a s t ad vanam, dd i t yobrahma, ne t i ne t i a r e n o r m a l id i o m a t i c p h ra s e s. W e h a v e n o r e a s o n t os u s p e c t t h a t t h e c a s e o f vdcdrambhan.a- m a y h a v e b e e n d i ff e r e n t. I f s o , a na t t e m p t t o d e t e r m i n e it s original m e a n i n g w o u l d s e e m j u st if ie d . F r o m t h ef a c t t h a t o n s u c h a t e r m , a s a n o b j e c t o f m e d i t a ti o n , m a n y n e w c o n n o t a -t i o n s m a y h a v e b e e n " p r o j e c t e d " i t d o e s n o t n e c e ss a ri ly f o l l o w t h a t t h et e r m h a s i n t e n t i o n a l l y b e e n m a d e a s a m b i g u o u s a s p o ss i b le f r o m t h e v e r yo u t s e t .

F o r t h e r e a s o n s s t a t e d t h e s o l e r e m a i n i n g p o s s i b i l i t y t o a c c o u n t f o rvdcdrambha~.za- i s a p p a r e n t l y t o t a k e i t a s a c o m p o u n d o f vdcd-, f . D e -b r u n n e r ' s s t a t e m e n t t h a t vaed- i s " l a t e c l a s s i c a l " (A l t ind . Gramm. , I I , 2 ,p . 2 6 2) r eq u i r e s s o m e m o d i f i c a ti o n o n a c c o u n t o f v6edviruddhdg ca mano-viruddh&h, w h i c h t h e M a h a b h ~ r a t a q u o t e s a m o n g t h e n a m e s o f gan.adev~ndm. T h e m o d e r n I n d i a n e d i ti o n s, i t is t ru e , r e a d vacd viruddh6~ ca( e l. X I I I . 1 37 2 C a l c . e d . , X I I I . 1 8 . 7 5 B o m b . e d . , X I I I . 4 9 . 7 5 K u m b a k o n a me d . , vdco X II I . 2 4 . 5 1 S o u t h e rn r e c . , e d . P . S . S . S a s tr i ) b u t th i s m a y b e d u et o t h e u n c o m m o n c h a r ac t er o f vded- f o r vde- i n S a n s k r i t . B 6 h t l i n g k w a sn o d o u b t r i g h t i n t a k i n g i t ( l i k e N i l a k a . n t . h a ) a s a c o m p o u n d , p a r a l l e l t omanoviruddhd.h. A s i m i l a r c o m p o u n d i s vdcdv.rddhCh Vi.sn.upur. 3.2.41( p w . ), a l s o t h e n a m e o f a c la s s o f g o d s . ( A s it o c c u r s in a d i f f e r e n t c o n t e x tw e n e e d n o t c o n s i d e r t h e p o s s i b i l it y t h a t i t is m e r e l y a S o u t h - I n d i a nh y p e r s a n s k r i t i s m f o r t h e f o r m e r n a m e , viruddha- a n d , ,rddha- b o t h b e -c o m i n g virut tan i n T a m i l p r o n u n c i a t i o n ) . A l s o i n t h e la t e r c l a ss i c al


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3 0 8 v . g . J . K U IP E R

language the few quotations of the PW showit in contrast with manas-, viz.vdcddaucarh ca manasa.h Aaucam V.rddha C~ nakya 7.20 and manasd vdcaydca Schol. ad K~tySS. In the Prakrits, where vdcd- generally supplantsvdc- the former word is of course quite normal in composition, e.g. Palivdcd-vikkhepa-, m. "confusion of speech". The pre-eminently Prakriticcharacter of these new formations in -d-, and the fact that e.g. died- wasnot recognized as literary Sanskrit ( I I J , I, p. 155) point to the conclusionthat didd- and v d c d - must originate in a colloquial form of speech.Debrunner, op. cit., II, 2, p. 262, rightly observes: "Diese Entwicklunggeht ira Mi. welter; wir diirfen bestimmt annehmen, dass schon mancheder hierher geh6rigen ai. Bildungen aus der Volkssprache st ammen . . . " .

Now it has long been observed that in lexical matters, as well as indetails of phonology and morphology, the Ch~nd. Upani.sad deviatesfrom the normal Vedic, and even from the grammatically correct, usage.Among the lexical particularities, it is true, we cannot reckon bhalldk.sa-IV. 1.2, which Przyluski, B S O S , 5, p. 303 ft., explained as a Prakri t formof bhadrdk.sa-. See Liiders' discussion of this word in Philologica Indica,p. 366. A Prakritic word of rather rare occurrence in Vedic texts is how-ever dahara- VIII.I.1-2 (dahra- Taitt~r. TaittUp., daharaka- Kaus.Br.dahara- K~ty~S.) of which there is only one more occurrence in KenaUp.Of the two Dravidian loanwords mat.ac?- 1.10.1 is a hapax, whereaskut.umba- VIII. 15.1 is the sole Vedic occurrence of this word, which is notcommonly used before the epics (of. kut.umbin- S~mavidh~nabr. 2.5.5).The origin of the hapa x l indu- VIII. 14.1 is unknown, but attention may bedrawn to ekala- III.11.1 which is practically unknown in Sanskrit(N.rsinhhottarat~panyupani.sad, Bh~g. Pur.) though obviously being theprototype of Pkt. ekkal la- "eminent", Hi. akeld (Turner, Nep. Dict. ,57b). Traces of Prakritic phonetical developments have been pointed outby Oertel, Stud ia Indo-Iranica (E hre ng ab ef. 14I. Ge iger, 1931), p. 134 IT.,viz. abhydtta.h III. 14.2 for abhydpta.h, and probably pradhdk~?r IV. 1.2 forpradhdk.sfd. As for the morphology attention may be drawn to the list ofincorrect verbal forms which occurs in V. Papesso, Chdndogya-Upani.sad(Teste e Documenti per la storia delle religioni VII, Bologna 1937), p. 83.Thematic new formations (bhuj~dma.h, manvdni) and active instead ofmiddle forms (vyabhetsyat, vyaj~dpa yi.syat, ma nvdni) reflect a similarlinguistic development as is found in the epic language and the Prakrits.Therefore the two unaugmented preteri ts jdyata and apahdrs.~t, which bothoccur in the sixth prap~.thaka (VI.2.1, resp. 16.1) are no doubt to beparalleled with analogous forms of the epic idiom (see Holtzmann, Gram-matisches aus dem Mahabharata, p. 20 f.). Now it is particularly interest-


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vdcdrambha.nam (n) 30 9i n g t h a t i n t h i s v e r y s i x th p r a p fi t. h a k a K a r l H o f f m a n n h a s d e t e c t e d s e v e r a lt r a c e s o f a l a t e V e d i c c o l l o q u i a l i d i o m ( se e Miinch. Stud. z. Sprachw., 22,1957, pp . 135, 137). W hi le upas~dathd.h V I . 1 3 . 1 - 2 a n d pradhmdyita 14.1a r e m o r p h o l o g i c a l l y a b n o r m a l , aprt~k.sya.h 1.3 and bhavi$yati 8 .3 a res y n t a c t i c a ll y p a r t i c u l a r a s t h e y s h o w t h e f i rs t t r a c e s o f a m o d a l e m p l o y -m e n t o f th e f u t u r e t h a t i s c h a r a c t e r i s t i c o f th e e p i c a n d t h e c l a ss i ca ll a n g u a g e . T h u s nedam amfdag7 bhavi.syati " n i c h t w i rd ( = d i ir f te ) d ie so h n e W u r z e l s e i n " i s o b v i o u s l y a n a l o g o u s t o t h e f r e q u e n t u s e ofbhav i$yat ii n t h e M a h ~ b h ~ r a t a t o e x p r e s s p r o b a b i l i t y , e . g . vyaktmi~ hato m.rto vdp ikacas t~ta bhavi.syati 1 . 7 6 . 3 2 " I a m s u r e , f a t h e r , K a c a w i l l h a v e b e e n i n -j u r e d o r h a s d i e d " ( c f . S p e y e r , Sanskr i t Syntax , p . 2 6 7 ) . A P ra k r i t i cp h o n e t i c d e v e l o p m e n t is p e r h a p s a ls o r e fl e ct e d b y nibhdlayase V I . 1 2 . 2 ,13 .2 , i f th i s s t and s f o r nismdrayase ( T e d e s c o , Lg. , 19 , p . 13). In v iew o f thes i m i l a r it i e s b e t w e e n t h e l in g u i s t i c u s a g e o f t h e s i x t h p r a p ~ . th a k a a n d t h a to f th e M a h ~ b h ~ r a t a n o t h i n g , i t s ee m s , p r e v e n t s u s f r o m c o m p a r i n gvdc~-drambhan, a- i n t h e c o l l o q u i a l i d i o m o f U d d f i l a k a ' s d i s c o u r s e w i t hvdc~-viruddha- i n t h e M h b h . , t h e l e s s s o s i n c e t h e e a r l i e s t i n s t a n c e s o fn o u n s i n - d - a s s u b s t i tu t e s f o r c o n s o n a n t s t em s a r e a t t e s t e d a s e a r l y a s t h eR i g v e d a (Altind. Gramm., II , 2 , p . 259 f . ) .A s f o r th e s e c o n d m e m b e r o f vt~cdrambhan,a-, h o w e v e r, m y f o r m e r c o n -c l u si o n re q u i r es s o m e m o d i f i c at i o n . O n t h e o n e h a n d I c a n n o t a c c e p t v a nB u i t e n e n ' s s u g g e s t i o n t h a t dr6mbha.nam i n R S . X . 8 1 . 2 b m a y h a v e s ti llo t h e r c o n n o t a t i o n s b e s id e s t h a t o f " b a s i s" . I t se e m s t o m e t h a t w e a r eh e r e c o n f r o n t e d w i t h a g e n e r a l m e t h o d o l o g i c a l p r o b l e m w h i c h T h i e m eh a s r e c e n t l y d i s c u ss e d i n J A O S , 7 7 (1 9 5 7 ) , p . 5 4 IT . I t c a n n o t b e d e n i e dt h a t t h e " b a s i s " i n t h i s R i g v e d i c p a ss a g e is a l s o a " b e g i n n i n g " ( a b o v e ,p . 3 0 4) , b u t t h i s d o e s n o t i n v o l v e i n m y o p i n i o n t h a t t h e w o r d drdmbhan.a-a l so means " b e g i n n i n g " . I t h i n k , t h e c h r o n o l o g y o f t h e u se o f rambh- a s as e c o n d a r y r o o t - f o r m o f d-rabh- " t a k e h o l d o f " e n t i tl es u s t o d e n y t h i sp e r e m p t o r i l y a s f a r a s t h e R i g v e d ic id i o m is c o n c e r n e d . N o r d o e s t h e ro l eo f t h e odana- i n K ~ .t h S. 7 .1 5 , G o p B r . 1 .2 .1 5 p ro v e t h a t drambhaga- h a ss ti ll o t h e r m e a n i n g s h e r e b e s i d e s t h a t w h i c h t h e a u t h o r h i m s e l f s t a te sexpressis verbis, viz . dkraman,am . O n t h e o t h e r h a n d , h o w e v e r , t h i sc e r t a i n t y d o e s n o t e x is t f o r t h e C h ~ n d o g y a U p a n i. sa d . E v e n i f U d d ~ l a k aA r u n i ( o r w h o e v e r e l s e m a y h a v e c r e a t e d t h e f o r m u l a vaedrambhan.amvikara.h) h a s d r a w n h i s i n s p i r a ti o n f r o m t h e R i g v e d ic p as s ag e , a s i n d e e dv a n B u i t e n e n h a s m a d e p r o b a b l e , h e m a y h a v e i n t e r p r e t e d t h e w o r ddrdmbhan, am i n h i s o w n w a y , e . g . a s " b e g i n n i n g " ( of . A i t B r . 3 .2 9 .1 ) o re v e n a s " a h o l d " ( e l. A i tB r . 2 . 3 5 .5 ) . T h i s p o s s ib i l i ty I h a v e o v e r l o o k e d i nm y f o r m e r p a p e r . I n t h e a b s e n c e o f c le a r cr i te r i a t h e p r ec i se m e a n i n g


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3 1 0 r . B . J . K UIPE Rc a n n o t a c c o r d i n g l y b e d e f i n it iv e l y d e t e r m i n e d b y a l in g u i s ti c a n a l y s i s . I fv a n B u i t e n e n i s r i g h t i n t a k i n g ( l ik e B S h t l i n g k ) t h e w o r d s vdcdrambha.namvikdra.h a s a s e p a r a t e ddega ( a n d f o r V I . 4. 1, a t a n y r a te , h is a r g u m e n t a t i o ni s i m p r e s s i v e e n o u g h , d e s p i t e t h e a b s e n c e o f i t i a f t e r s a t y a m , c f . B , ~ U p .2 .1 .2 0 ), i t s e e m s p r o b a b l e t h a t vdcdrambha.nam, a s th e p r e d i c a te , m u s t b et a k e n a s a t a tp u r u .s a . A s a n a l t e r n a t i v e w e m i g h t c o n s i d e r t h e p o s s i b i l i tyt h a t w e h e r e h a v e a n i n st a n c e o f th e c o n s t r u c t i o n k n o w n a s " t r is t e lu p u ss t a b u l i s " , w h i c h w o u l d a l l o w u s t o m a i n t a i n t h e i n t e r p r e t a t i o n a s ab a h u v r i h i - c o m p o u n d . T h i s c o n s t r u c t io n , t h o u g h r a r e , is n o t e n t ir e ly u n -k n o w n i n V e d i c p r o s e t e x ts , of . k.rpa.narhha duh i td A i t B r . 7 . 1 3 . 8 , m a d h ya t hhy e .sdm a~gdndm d tmd , ma dhya th chandasdJh b .rha ff A i t A r . 2 . 3 . 5 ( K e i t h ,Ai tare ya Aran .yaka , p . 2 4 0 n . 2 ). A n a l o g o u s c o n s t r u c t i o n s a r e a l s o f o u n di n O l d I r a n i a n , s e e R e i c h e l t , A w es t i s ch es E l em en t a r b u ch w 6 0 3 , K e n t , O ldPers ian , p . 8 4 n . 1, a n d i n g e n e r a l O . L a g e r c r a n t z , " I n d o g e r m a n i s c h e sP f i i d i k a t i v " (Uppsa la Univers i t e t s Arsskr i f t 1 9 3 3 : p r o g r a m 3 ) , p . 1 8 I T .H o w e v e r , w h e t h e r w e s h o u l d t r a n s l a t e " T h e v i kdra i s s o m e t h i n g w h i c h i sb a s e d o n V ~ c " , o r " w h i c h s t ar t s f r o m V ~ c " , o r ( as v a n B u i t e n e n p r o p o s e s )" C r e a t i o n i s t h e t a k i n g h o l d o f V ~ c " c a n n o t b e d e c i d e d b y l in g u is ti cm e a n s . I n t h is m a t t e r t h e la s t w o r d r e st s w i t h th e p h i l o s o p h e r - a s ,i n d e e d , i t s h o u l d b e . 1

x After this was written va n Buitenen kindly drew m y attention to the beginning ofoh. IV o f the Gu hyasamftja, where the sarvatathdgataguhyakaya-vak-citta-vajrddhipati-mentioned in the prose text is praised in a stanza as samantabhadra-vdcagrya-(parallelto -kayagrya- and -cittdgrya-). Here the use of vdca-mu st primarily b e due to the needof prosodic, lly parallel formations.

vācārambhanam (ii)

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