Language, Texts, and Society: Explorations in Ancient Indian Culture and Religion (Cultural, Historical and Textual Studies of Religions)

419 Pages·2011·3.057 MB·

by  Olivelle, Patrick

LANGUAGE, TEXTS, AND SOCIETY
Cultural, Historical and Textual Studies of Religions
The volumes featured in the Anthem Cultural, Historical
and Textual Studies of Religions series are the expression of an
international community of scholars committed to the reshaping
of the field of textual and historical studies of religions. Titles in this
series examine practice, ritual, and other textual religious products,
crossing different area studies and time frames. Featuring a vast
range of interpretive perspectives, this innovative series aims
to enhance the way we look at religious traditions.
Series Editor
Federico Squarcini, University of Firenze, Italy
Editorial Board
Piero Capelli, University of Venezia, Italy
Vincent Eltschinger, ICIHA, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Austria
Christoph Emmrich, University of Toronto, Canada
James Fitzgerald, Brown University, USA
Jonardon Ganeri, University of Sussex, UK
Barbara A. Holdrege, University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
Sheldon Pollock, Columbia University, USA
Karin Preisendanz, University of Vienna, Austria
Alessandro Saggioro, Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Cristina Scherrer-Schaub, University of Lausanne and EPHE, France
Romila Thapar, Jawaharlal Nehru University, India
Ananya Vajpeyi, University of Massachusetts Boston, USA
Marco Ventura, University of Siena, Italy
Vincenzo Vergiani, University of Cambridge, UK
LANGUAGE, TEXTS, AND SOCIETY
EXPLORATIONS IN ANCIENT INDIAN
CULTURE AND RELIGION
Patrick Olivelle
Anthem Press
An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company
www.anthempress.com
This edition first published in UK and USA 2011
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Copyright © Patrick Olivelle 2011
The author asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.
Graphics and layout © Federico Squarcini and Stefano Miniati
Cover photography © Clelia Pellicano
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Acatalog record for this book has been requested.
ISBN-13: 978 0 85728 431 0 (Hbk)
ISBN-10: 0 85728 431 2 (Hbk)
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Contents
Preface 7
Abbreviations 9
I. Young ‡vetaketu: A Literary Study of an Upanißadic Story 13
II. DharmaskandhåΔ and brahmasa∫sthaΔ:
AStudy of Chåndogya Upanißad 2.23.1 53
III. Orgasmic Rapture and Divine Ecstasy:
The Semantic History of ånanda 75
IV. Amr¢tå: Women and Indian Technologies of Immortality 101
V. Power of Words: The Ascetic Appropriation
and the Semantic Evolution of dharma 121
VI. Semantic History of Dharma: The Middle
and Late Vedic Periods 137
VII. Explorations in the Early History of Dharma†åstra 155
VIII. Structure and Composition of theMånava Dharma†åstra 179
IX. Caste and Purity: A Study in the Language
of the Dharma Literature 217
X. Rhetoric and Reality: Women’s Agency in the Dharma†åstras 247
6 LANGUAGE,TEXTSANDSOCIETY
XI. Manu and Gautama: A Study in ‡åstric Intertextuality 261
XII. Manu and the Artha†åstra: A Study in ‡åstric Intertextuality 275
XIII. Unfaithful Transmitters: Philological Criticism
and Critical Editions of the Upanißads 287
XIV. Sanskrit Commentators and the Transmission of Texts:
Haradatta on Åpastamba Dharmasütra 301
XV. Hair and Society: Social Significance of Hair
in South Asian Traditions 321
XVI. Abhakßya and Abhojya: An Exploration in Dietary Language 351
XVII. Food for Thought: Dietary Rules
and Social Organization inAncient India 367
References 395
Index 413
Preface
The credit –or the blame– for this collection of essays goes to
Federico Squarcini. It is he who suggested the publication of some
collected papers of mine during my visit to Bologna for the defense of
his doctoral dissertation.
The papers collected in this volume span about a decade from
1995 to 2004. During the previous two decades the focus of my schol-
arly work was the ascetic traditions of India, principally those associ-
ated with the Brahmanical tradition. My papers from that period are
being published in a separate volume. The last decade, coinciding
broadly with my move from Indiana University, Bloomington, to the
University of Texas at Austin, saw a shift in my focus. The invitation
to translate the Upanißads from the Oxford University Press spurred
me to work more closely with the late Vedic literature, resulting in
several articles of this volume (I-IV, XIII). My long-standing interest,
however, has been the Indian legal tradition represented by the
Dharma†åstras, an interest that goes back to my teacher at the
University of Pennsylvania, Professor Ludo Rocher, and sustained by
my close association with my friend and colleague, Professor Richard
Lariviere. In the late 1990s I undertook the edition and translation of
the earliest extant legal texts, the four Dharmasütras (Oxford, 1999;
and Motilal Banarsidass, 2000), and then the critical edition of the
Månava Dharma†åstra (Oxford, 2004 and 2005). Work on the
Dharma†åstric material resulted in several articles included in this
volume (V-XII, XIV). Another long-standing interest of mine has
been the social construction of the human body, the ways in which
the human body is conceived, constructed, and manipulated by cul-
ture. Struggling over the years to write a book on this topic, I have
only succeeded in producing a series of articles included here (XV-
XVII). These essays, therefore, span not only a relatively long period
8 LANGUAGE,TEXTSANDSOCIETY
of time; they also represent several scholarly interests and pursuits
over that period.
Collections of papers –Kleineschriften–most often lack a theme or
a focus. By necessity, papers included in such volumes are written on
different occasions, for different publications and audiences. This col-
lection is no different. If there is a unifying theme here, it is the search
for historical context and developments hidden within words and texts.
An early word study on sa∫nyåsa (included in the companion volume)
convinced me that words, and therefore the cultural history represent-
ed by those words, that we take for granted as having a continuous and
long history are often new and even neologisms and thus provide
important clues to cultural and religious innovations. My book-length
study on the å†ramas, as well as the short pieces included in this volume,
such as those on ånanda and dharma, again seek to find cultural inno-
vation and historical changes within the changing semantic fields of
key terms. Closer examination of other terms taken for granted as cen-
tral to “Hinduism”, such as dvija, †åstra, †ruti, smrt¢ i, and purußårtha, will,
Iam sure, provide similar results. Indian texts have often been studied
in the past as disincarnate realities providing information on an ahis-
torical and unchanging culture. This volume is a small contribution
towards correcting that method of textual study.
Many influences have shaped my work and interests over the years;
many friends and colleagues have given me generously of their time,
knowledge, and intellectual companionship. I can here acknowledge
only a few. I have already mentioned Ludo Rocher and Richard
Lariviere. In 1984 a cowboy named Gregory Schopen joined me at
Indiana University and followed me to the University of Texas in 1991.
His brilliant scholarship, penetrating questions, and iconoclastic atti-
tude have influenced the questions I ask and the way I approach tex-
tual data. More recently, Joel Brereton, Stephanie Jamison, and Oliver
Freiberger have been my conversation partners. My student Mark
McClish prepared the index. To all of them, and to untold others, a
heart-felt Thank You.
My wife Suman has been a collaborator in all my research endeav-
ors, especially those involving the painstaking reading of manu-
scripts. My daughter Meera, now a wonderful young woman, bore
with patience and good humor the strange activities of her parents.
Patrick Olivelle
Austin, March 2005
A 9
Abbreviations
A Åpastamba Dharmasütra
AÅ Aitareya Årañyaka
AB Aitareya Bråhmaña
ÅpDh Åpastamba Dharmasütra
Åp‡r Åpastamba ‡rautasütra
ņGr¢ ņvalåyana Gr¢hyasütra
AU Aitareya Upanißad
AV Atharva Veda
AV(P) Atharvaveda Sa∫hitå, Paippalåda recension
AV(S) Atharvaveda Sa∫hitå, ‡aunaka recension
B Baudhåyana Dharmasütra
B* BUversion of the ‡vetaketu story
BauGr¢ Baudhåyana Gr¢hyasütra
BDh Baudhåyana Dharmasütra
Bhar‡r Bharadvåja ‡rautasütra
BhG Bhagavad Gœtå.
BR Böhtlingk, O. and Roth, R. Sanskrit-Wörterbuch. 7vols. 1855-
75. Reprint: Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1990.
BU Br¢hadårañyaka Upanißad.
BU(K) Br¢hadårañyaka Upanißad, Kåñva recension
C* CU version of the ‡vetaketu story
CU Chåndogya Upanißad
G Gautama Dharmasütra
GDh Gautama Dharmasütra
10 LANGUAGE,TEXTSANDSOCIETY
GoB Gopatha Bråhmaña
Hir‡r Hirañyake†i ‡rautasütra
IU Œ†å Upanißad
JB Jaiminœya Bråhmaña.
JU Jaiminœya Upanißad.
K* KsU version of the ‡vetaketu story
Kåt Kåtyåyana-Smrt¢ i
KaU Ka™ha Upanißad
KeU Kena Upanißad
KS Kå™haka Sa∫hitå
KßB Kaußœtaki Bråhmaña
KßU Kaußœtaki Upanißad
M Månava Dharma†åstra (Manusmrt¢ i)
MaU Måñ∂ükya Upanißad
MBh Mahåbhårata
MDh Månava Dharma†åstra (Manusmrt¢ i)
MtU Maitråyañœya (Maitrœ) Upanißad
MS Maitråyañœ Sa∫hitå
MuU Muñ∂aka Upanißad
N Nårada Smr¢ti
NSm Nårada Smr¢ti
PårGr¢ Påraskara Gr¢hyasütra
PMS Pürva Mœmå∫så Sütra
PU Pra†na Upanißad
Råm Råmåyaña
R¢V R¢gVeda.
‡A ‡åõkhåyana Årañyaka
‡åõGr¢ ‡åõkhåyana Gr¢hyasütra
‡B ‡atapatha Bråhmaña
‡B(K) ‡atapatha Bråhmaña, Kåñva recension.
‡B(M) ‡atapatha Bråhmaña, Mådhyandina recension.
SBE Sacred Books of the East, Oxford.
SU ‡vetå†vatara Upanißad
TÅ Taittirœya Årañyaka
TB Taittirœya Bråhmaña
TS Taittirœya Sa∫hitå
TU Taittirœya Upanißad
Va Vasiß™ha Dharmasütra