Vādirāja's Yaśodharacarita by K. Krishnamoorthy; VādirājaReview by: E. B.Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 88, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1968), pp. 370-371Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/597290 .

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370 Journal of the American Oriental Society 88.2(1968)

Prague has now profoundly affected the analysis of languages living and dead, their functions in their respective societies, and the supralingual phi- losophies that are associated with linguistics and other sciences. No clearer or more succinct account is available in English of the important role played by the Russian, Polish, and Czech scholars in the recent history of language analysis without dis- paragement of the Glossematic (Copenhagen) or Yale School or their successors. In addition to three useful appendices containing two Czech arti- cles published in English for the first time there is a valuable selected bibliography, and an index of names and of subjects. This volume is intended as a complement to the Prague School Reader in Linguistics published in June 1964. (D. C.)

Japanese Proverbs and Sayings. By DANIEL GRUMP BUCHANAN. Pp. 17 + 280. Norman: UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA PRESS, 1965. $5.95. Mr. Buchanan was a resident of Japan for 35 years. This work represents a collection of 2,500 proverbs and pithy sayings in romanized form followed by a " literal" translation and an explanation of when each is used. English parallels are given in almost one- third of the entries I examined. The entries are grouped under 56 headings. The English parallels show an extensive acquaintance with our own re- sources in folk-wisdom. My one criticism is that the literal translations were often too loosely literal for proper evaluation of Japanese folk-wisdom. If an explanation of each proverb were not given, less- than-literalness might be justified. A 10-page index is included. (D. C.)

Van Goor's Concise Indonesian Dictionary. By A. L. N. KRAMER, SR. Pp. 8 + 359. Rutland (Vt.) and Tokyo: CEARLES E. TUTTLE CO., 1966. At the time of its original publication by van Goor in The Hague this dictionary filled a great gap in Indo- nesian (as opposed to Malay) lexicography. Prac- tically all the earlier works on the market were in Dutch and most of them were out of date be- cause of the war, Japanese occupation, and Indo- nesian political, linguistic, and literary revolution. Non-Dutch-reading students were unmercifully handicapped. Since then there have been larger I-E, E-I, D-T, I-D, G-I, and R-I dictionaries pub- lished as well as monolingual desk dictionaries in Indonesian. The logopoeia and logorrhea of the past fifteen years are not reflected in the work under review. Students of the language should now start with a larger dictionary with entries up to 1962 at least. This dictionary can be slipped into the jacket pocket and it has E-I and I-E in one volume. It is as a vade mecum for the tourist and commuting student that it will be of greatest value and convenience. For its size and date of compilation [not publication] it is excellent.

(D. C.)

The Thousand Syllabled Speech. Vol. T. By V. S. AGRA- WALA. Pp. xx + 226. 27 plates Banaras: PRrrTrITV

PRAKAsHAN, 1963. Rs. 50.00. In this work the late Professor Agrawala illustrates the symbolic interpretation of the Vedas (14gveda 1.164.1-52). He stresses that "The dictionary meanings are quite all right as found in the works of modern scholars of East and West, and also in the writ- ings of ancient commentators; but the recovery of the consistent metaphysical ideas of the Vedic thinkers has to be accomplished in full justice to those authors endowed with the power of thought. Each author is always transparent in his meaning and terminology to his contemporaries, and one should not deny this clarity to the thinkers of Vedic times. They spoke an idiom of which the meaning was perspicacious to those to whom it was addressed" (p. iii). This methodology is in- triguing and consonant in some ways with the techniques employed by some westerners influenced by schools of contemporary western psychology to interpret various sectors of Indian civilization.

I find it difficult to visualize that all the prob- lems of Vedic interpretation will be readily solved; "dictionary meanings " have been obscured by the passage of time and Vedic scholars are hampered by the degree of flexibility imposed upon them dur- ing their apprenticeship, as well as by the influ- ence of their personal predilections. On my part, I feel Professor's Agrawala's methodology is attrac- tive and may prove fruitful in throwing light upon many obscure passages. To repeat what he had pointed out: "dictionary meaning" is not enough. Moreover, no matter how invaluable the results of comparative Indo-European philology are and will continue to be, reconstructed lexical items, ex- amined singly-or even in what appear to be com- parable cultural and linguistic context- may lead the investigator in the general direction of a solu- tion of a puzzle; and, on the other hand, may direct him into a blind alley. Indologists must be equipped with more than grammatical tools. Pro- fessor Agrawala's proposal is welcome. I suggest that analytic techniques developed by western psy- chology when judiciously examined for what they may have to offer us may be invaluable in helping us separate the quick from the dead, the fruitful from the barren.

Professor Agrawala's untimely death is an in- estimable loss to the academic community.

(E. B.)

The W~onder That Was India: A survey of the history and culture of the Indian sub-continent before the coming of the Muslims. By A. L. BASirAM. Pp. xxiii + 572, with frontispiece + 89 plates, and 26 line drawings and plates. New York: TAPLINGER

PUBLISHING COMPANY. 1968. $13.50. The third revised edition of the standard work on Indian his- tory and culture. May these WONDERS never cease!

(E.B.)

Vddirdja's Yagodharacarita. With Laksmana's Sanskrit Commentary. Edited by K. K1RIsRNAMOORTIY. Pp. xv + 234. Dharwar: KABNATAx UNiqvESIT. 1963.

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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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