Dharma, disorder, and the political in ancient India: the Āpaddharmaparvan of the Mahābhārata

448 Pages·2007·1.833 MB·English

by  Bowles, Adam

Dharma, Disorder and
the Political in Ancient India
BIL-28-bowles.indd i 6-8-2007 8:50:07
Brill’s
Indological
Library
Edited by
Johannes Bronkhorst
In co-operation with
Richard Gombrich • Oskar von Hinüber
Katsumi Mimaki • Arvind Sharma
VOLUME 28
BIL-28-bowles.indd ii 6-8-2007 8:50:07
Dharma, Disorder and
the P olitical in Ancient India
$ § §
The paddharmaparvan of the Mah bh rata
By
Adam Bowles
LEIDEN • BOSTON
2007
BIL-28-bowles.indd iii 6-8-2007 8:50:08
Cover illustration: Death of Bhishma, Art of Legend India (www.artoflegendindia.com)
This book is printed on acid-free paper.
A C.I.P. record for this book is available from the Library of Congress.
ISSN: 0925-2916
ISBN: 978 90 04 15815 3
Copyright 2007 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Hotei Publishing,
IDC Publishers, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers and VSP.
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Fees are subject to change.
printed in the netherlands
BIL-28-bowles.indd iv 6-8-2007 8:50:08
(cid:3)
for Tracey and Hamish
and in memory of Nan

CONTENTS
Preface............................................................................................ xi
Abbreviations.................................................................................. xiii
List of figures.................................................................................. xvi
Chapter One(cid:3) Introduction............................................................ 1
1.1(cid:3) The (cid:2)paddharmaparvan: A brief overview....................... 3
1.2(cid:3) A guide to this book: Propositions and directions............ 8
1.3(cid:3) A note on chronologies..................................................... 13
1.4(cid:3) Mah(cid:3)bh(cid:3)rata scholarship and the didactic corpora:
What is ‘Mah(cid:3)bh(cid:3)rata’?....................................................... 16
Chapter Two(cid:3) ‘Distress’ in the literature on
dharma and artha...................................................................... 36
2.1(cid:3) From the dharmas(cid:4)tras to the dharma(cid:5)(cid:3)stras.................... 37
2.1.1(cid:3) The dharmas(cid:4)tras...................................................... 37
2.1.2(cid:3) Manu and beyond..................................................... 44
2.2(cid:3) The Artha(cid:5)(cid:3)stra................................................................. 54
2.2.1(cid:3) The Artha(cid:5)(cid:3)stra and the dharma(cid:5)(cid:3)stras.................... 55
2.2.2(cid:3) Artha(cid:5)(cid:3)stra analyses................................................. 58
2.2.3(cid:3) The treasury ‘ko(cid:5)a’................................................... 68
2.2.4(cid:3) The weak king vs. the strong king............................. 71
2.3(cid:3) Concluding remarks......................................................... 77
Chapter Three(cid:3) Dharma................................................................ 81
3.1(cid:3) The origins of dharma: from dharman to dharma............. 82
3.1.1(cid:3) Saühit(cid:3)s................................................................... 84
3.1.2(cid:3) Br(cid:3)hmaõas................................................................ 89
3.1.3(cid:3) Upaniùads................................................................. 94
3.1.4(cid:3) (cid:6)rauta- and g(cid:7)hya-s(cid:4)tras........................................... 103
3.1.5(cid:3) Towards the dharmas(cid:4)tras........................................ 109
3.2(cid:3) The crisis and renewal of Br(cid:2)hmaõism:
the ascetic and the g(cid:7)hastha.................................................. 117
3.3(cid:3) A(cid:3)oka................................................................................ 125
Chapter Four(cid:3) Yudhiùñhira and the narrative frame
of the (cid:4)paddharmaparvan......................................................... 133
4.1(cid:3) The Mah(cid:3)bh(cid:3)rata, dharma, Yudhiùñhira............................ 135
4.2(cid:3) Yudhiùñhira’s crisis, dharma,
and the (cid:2)paddharmaparvan.................................................. 151
viii CONTENTS
Chapter Five(cid:3) Strategies of integration......................................... 155
5.1(cid:3) Integrative agents and transitional texts.......................... 155
5.2(cid:3) Frame analysis................................................................. 159
5.3(cid:3) Interlocution and framing................................................. 163
5.4(cid:3) Narrative motifs and rhetorical types............................... 172
5.4.1(cid:3) Before a narrator begins.......................................... 172
5.4.2(cid:3) Rhetorical types:
coherence as a manner of speaking................................ 177
5.5(cid:3) Concluding remarks......................................................... 189
Chapter Six(cid:3) Laws for a king in crisis:
Texts on (cid:2)paddharma I............................................................. 190
6.1(cid:3) ‘In praise of conduct procuring a treasury’..................... 190
6.1.1(cid:3) Yudhiùñhira’s questions to Bh(cid:5)ùma........................... 191
6.1.2(cid:3) Bh(cid:5)ùma’s response to Yudhiùñhira............................ 192
6.1.3(cid:3) The ko(cid:5)a.................................................................... 204
6.1.4(cid:3) Justifications............................................................. 207
6.1.5(cid:3) The king’s duty (dharma).......................................... 208
6.1.6(cid:3) The king’s salvation.................................................. 210
6.2(cid:3) ‘In praise of war’.............................................................. 211
6.3(cid:3) ‘The conduct of a royal sage’........................................... 216
6.4(cid:3) ‘A bandit’s way of life’..................................................... 224
6.5(cid:3) ‘In praise of power’.......................................................... 229
6.6(cid:3) ‘The deeds of K(cid:2)pavya’.................................................... 234
6.7(cid:3) ‘Explaining what can and cannot be appropriated’......... 240
6.8(cid:3) ‘The tale of the three fish’................................................. 243
6.9(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between the cat and the mouse’................. 249
6.10(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between P(cid:6)jan(cid:5) and Brahmadatta’.......... 258
6.11(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between Kaõiïka and (cid:7)atruütapa’......... 262
6.12(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between Vi(cid:3)v(cid:2)mitra and
the dog-cooker’..................................................................... 268
6.13(cid:3) ‘In praise of wise br(cid:2)hmans’.......................................... 280
Chapter Seven(cid:3) Diversions on a theme:
Texts on (cid:2)paddharma II............................................................ 295
7.1(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between the dove and the hunter’.............. 295
7.2(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between Indrota and P(cid:2)rikùita’................. 306
7.3(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between the vulture and the jackal’........... 319
7.4(cid:3) ‘The dialogue between the wind and the (cid:7)almali tree’..... 330
Chapter Eight(cid:3) Setting things right:
Transitional texts of the (cid:4)paddharmaparvan I......................... 334
8.1(cid:3) ‘The chapter on greed’..................................................... 335
8.2(cid:3) ‘The chapter on ignorance’.............................................. 340
8.3(cid:3) ‘The chapter on self-restraint’.......................................... 342
CONTENTS ix
8.4(cid:3) ‘The chapter on austerity’................................................ 347
8.5(cid:3) ‘The chapter on the real’.................................................. 349
8.6(cid:3) ‘The dissolution of anger and so on’................................ 353
8.7(cid:3) ‘The chapter on bad men’................................................. 356
Chapter Nine(cid:3) Coda:
Transitional texts of the (cid:4)paddharmaparvan II........................ 359
9.1(cid:3) ‘Concerning penance’...................................................... 360
9.2(cid:3) ‘The origin of the sword’.................................................. 372
9.3(cid:3) ‘The song in six parts’...................................................... 382
9.4(cid:3) ‘The tale of the ungrateful man’....................................... 391
Chapter Ten(cid:3) Conclusion.............................................................. 405
Bibliography................................................................................... 409
Index............................................................................................... 426
(cid:3)