Dharma, Disorder and the Political in Ancient India: The Apaddharmaparvan of the Mahabharata (Sinica Leidensia) (Brill's Indological Library)

449 Pages·2007·2.98 MB·English

by  Adam Bowles

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.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in
a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical,
photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission from the publisher.
Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill NV
provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center,
222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA.
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