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The battle for Sanskrit : is Sanskrit political or sacred, opressive or liberating, dead or alive? PDF

542 Pages·2016·2.46 MB·English
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THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT Is Sanskrit political or sacred, oppressive or liberating, dead or alive? Rajiv Malhotra HarperCollins Publishers India Dedicated to our purva-paksha and uttara-paksha debating tradition. With gratitude to the purva-pakshins (opponents) I have learned from. May we engage in this intellectual yajna with mutual respect. Contents Introduction: The Story Behind the Book Meeting with the US-based Sringeri leader and one of the major donors Meeting with Sheldon Pollock Trip to Sringeri Sharada Peetham Who will control our traditions? What is at stake? Assault on Sanskrit goes mainstream 1. The Hijacking of Sanskrit and Sanskriti Why this book matters? Highlighting the disputes between the two intellectual camps Where is the home team? Offering my humble attempts 2. From European Orientalism to American Orientalism Origins of Orientalism The rise of European Orientalism Sir William Jones, the European Orientalist The American frontier The rise of American Orientalism Comparing European Orientalism and American Orientalism Impact of American Orientalism on the study of Sanskrit Introducing Sheldon Pollock: Pandit from America Comparing two pioneering Orientalists: Sir William Jones and Sheldon Pollock 3. The Obsession with Secularizing Sanskrit Integral unity of Hindu metaphysics Discarding the transcendent/sacred aspects of Sanskrit Sidelining the oral tradition Accusing yajnas of being linked to social hierarchy Rejecting the shastras as Vedic dogma Using Buddhism as a wedge for secularizing Sanskrit Disconnecting kavya from Vedas and shastras 4. Sanskrit Considered a Source of Oppression The crisis of Indology and a novel solution Exposing Sanskrit’s ‘poisons’ Response: Debating varna Blaming Sanskrit for European atrocities Pollock’s call to action to politicize Sanskrit studies 5. Ramayana Framed as Socially Irresponsible Pollock’s view of Ramayana as a project for propagating Vedic social oppression The divinization construct The demonization construct Sociological criticism of the Ramayana Claiming Ramayana was popularized to demonize Muslims since the eleventh century Ramayana considered secular Claiming Valmiki Ramayana came after Buddhist influence Summary: Ramayana interpreted as atrocity literature Ramayana-based political action plan of intervening in Indian politics 6. Politicizing Indian Literature A dramatic break from earlier Orientalism Sacredness removed from rasa and kavya The theory of the aestheticization of power Kavya characterized as primarily political 7. Politicizing the History of Sanskrit and the Vernaculars Overview of Pollock’s account of history of how power shaped languages Introducing the ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’ and sidelining sanskriti Grammar as a form of political power The role of itihasas in spreading the Sanskrit cosmopolis Summary of issues with the grammar-itihasa- power theory The rise of the vernaculars What led so many kings to vernacularize? Claiming parallels between European and Indian vernacularization 8. The Sanskriti Web as an Alternative Hypothesis Diglossia versus hyperglossia models Approaches suggested by T.S. Satyanath Integral unity, open architecture and sanskriti web 9. Declaring Sanskrit Dead and Sanskriti Non-existent Agenda in declaring the death of Sanskrit Claiming Sanskrit has been dead for many centuries Claiming Hindu kings killed Sanskrit, and Muslim rulers tried to save it Accusing other Indian languages of killing Sanskrit Sparing British colonialism and Nehruvianism Silence on the extraction and digestion of Sanskrit shastras into the West Chamu Krishna Shastry responds on behalf of the tradition Western academic critiques of Pollock The history of attempts to ‘kill’ Sanskrit Rejecting Indian civilization and Indian nation 10. Is Sheldon Pollock Too Big to Be Criticized? Two goals The academic ecosystem The hegemonic discourse goes mainstream Third-party echoes: Pollock’s ideas go viral The re-colonization of Indian minds The Murty Classical Library of India The rise of the American-English cosmopolis Reversing the gaze: Interpreting Pollock using his own concepts 11. Conclusion: The Way Forward The Sanskrit ecosystem must be revived in a holistic way Non-translatable Sanskrit terms must enter the mainstream Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation New itihasas and smritis must be written ‘Sacred philology’ must compete against political/liberation philology The purva-paksha tradition must be revived Well-qualified home team and institutions must be developed Defining the hard work that is needed Appendix A: Pollock’s Theory of Buddhist Undermining of the Vedas Appendix B: Ramayana Evidence Prior to the Turkish Invasion Appendix C: Pollock’s Political Activism Appendix D: Acknowledgements Appendix E: Editorial Policies Adopted Notes Bibliography Index About the Book About the Author Praise for The Battle for Sanskrit Copyright T Introduction: The Story Behind the Book here is a new awakening in India that is challenging the ongoing westernization of the discourse about India and the intellectual machinery that produces it. Serious readers, regardless of their ideological affiliations, would benefit from open and honest discussions between experts on opposite sides. Rather than having two separate monologues, it is better to bring together both sides of such encounters into dignified conversations with mutual respect. However, any such conversation requires each side to be well informed about the other. Unfortunately, this is often not the case today on several key topics. Although the westernized side has systematically studied the traditional Indian side’s texts and practices, the reverse has not been the case: traditional Indian experts using their own categories and frameworks have not adequately studied the scholarship being produced by Western and westernized Indian scholars. My work is a humble attempt to fill this knowledge gap in the traditional camp. In each book, I take up a specific important topic with the hope of informing the traditional scholars so they can participate in the discourse as equals. This book seeks to wake up traditional scholars of Sanskrit and sanskriti (Indian civilization) concerning an important school of thought that has its base in the US and has started to dominate the discourse on the cultural, social and political aspects of India. This academic field is called Indology or Sanskrit studies (or more broadly, South Asian studies). From their analysis of the past, the scholars of this field are intervening in modern Indian society with the explicitly stated view of detoxifying it of ‘poisons’ allegedly built into Sanskrit and its texts. Often, they interpret India in ways that the traditional Indian experts would outright reject or at least question. I will start with the episode that intensified my monitoring of this field and led to this book. In August 2014, I suddenly became aware of an unprecedented threat to the integrity of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham (started by Adi Shankara in the eighth century CE), one of the most sacred institutions for Hindus. (Peetham in Sanskrit signifies ‘seat’. In this case it is a high seat which the Shankaracharya occupies to perform the duties, responsibilities and rights for protecting the tradition represented by the peetham.) There was a serious risk of a profound and systematic distortion of the teachings and mission of the peetham, as well as a distortion of sanatana dharma more broadly. I immediately stopped all my other work to investigate this and intervene. From that moment onwards, my energies have been channelled into dealing with this urgent matter. I will begin with a brief account of how this extraordinary peetham began, and then summarize the dramatic events that unfolded starting about a year ago to potentially undermine it. This book is an outgrowth of those events. The crisis it addresses is much broader and deeper than the implications for one institution; it is a crisis that threatens to undermine the foundations of authority more broadly in Hindu dharma. The Sringeri Sharada Peetham (often abbreviated as Sringeri Peetham) is one of the oldest centres of learning in Vedanta and considered one of the most important institutions in Hinduism. Adi Shankara, the renowned sage, walked across India to revive sanatana dharma. He debated and defeated the competing philosophies that dominated the discourse at the time. According to traditional accounts, one of his most significant debates was with Mandana Misra, a prominent scholar in Purva-mimamsa philosophy, a philosophy that emphasizes a ritualistic and literal interpretation of the Vedas. Mandana Misra graciously requested that Shankara pick the judge for the debate as Shankara was much younger and Misra wanted to make the terms of the exchange as equitable as possible. Shankara chose Mandana Misra’s wife, Ubhaya Bharati, as the judge, because she was known to be intellectually very sharp. She was equal to her husband in all aspects and Shankara knew she would be impartial. The debate was held over eight days. Finally, Mandana Misra conceded defeat and Ubhaya Bharati showed her true form as Devi Saraswati, and her mortal body disappeared.1 She granted Shankara’s request that she would re- manifest at a place where he invoked her. Shankara then initiated Mandana Misra, and they proceeded to Sringeri where the first of four peethams was set up.2 At Sringeri, Shankara invoked Devi Saraswati to manifest as Sharadamba. This is how Sri Sharada Devi, a manifestation of Saraswati, the Goddess of Wisdom, became the presiding deity of that institution. Hence its name Sharada Peetham. Shankara then appointed Mandana Misra – renamed Sri Sureshwaracharya – as the first acharya of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham. This lineage has remained unbroken to this day. Over the years, due to the presence of Sharada Devi and the erudition of its acharyas, Sringeri became famous as a centre of spiritual power and traditional learning. Many century later, the famed and powerful Vijayanagara Empire was founded under the guidance of the twelfth acharya of Sringeri, Jagadguru Sri Vidyaranya. Such is the illustrious lineage and prestige of the Sringeri Peetham. There is no Vatican or Pope in Hinduism, owing to its decentralized nature. However, Sringeri is one of a handful of institutions that has comparable importance, being an unimpeachable body of learning and austerity. It is therefore critical that the integrity and credibility of Sringeri remain uncompromised. Unfortunately, as the events I am about to disclose will show, Sringeri now runs the risk of potentially losing its integrity, all because of some short-sighted choices under consideration by some of its administrators in the USA and India. If their plans were to succeed, Sringeri would find itself in the ruinous position of having relinquished the name and legacy of its founder, Adi Shankara, and of perverting the values of erudition that are its hallmark. Most shamefully of all, such a move would place Shankara’s legacy in the hands of the very same forces that have published volumes of academic writings undermining the sanatana dharma tradition. In each of my previous books, I have taken on the leaders of specific schools of thought that are in effect undermining Hinduism, in terms of its true history and its principles. Even though such whistle-blowing creates tensions with the individuals and institutions being exposed, I consider it necessary that the public be well informed and that important debates take place openly and transparently. The US-based academic genre of Sanskrit studies that I critique in the present volume as being a threat to Sringeri Peetham in particular, and Hinduism more broadly, has been on my radar for more than a decade. As early as 2005, at the World Sanskrit Congress in Bangkok, I had raised red flags about the work of its leader, Sheldon Pollock, a prominent American Sanskrit scholar. I described how he placed part of the blame for European racism and Nazism at Sanskrit’s door. More specifically, he had written extensively claiming that ‘brahmin elitism’ was a factor in shaping the ideologies of British colonialism and German Nazism, and that social oppressiveness built into Sanskrit had contributed to the legitimation of genocide. Chapter 4 explains this further. The present saga erupted in August 2014. It was then that I learned that a group of wealthy non-resident Indians (NRIs) in the New York area had teamed up with the top administrative leaders of Sringeri Peetham in India and representatives of Sringeri Peetham in the USA to set up a university chair in the name of Adi Shankara. It was to be called the ‘SVBF Adi Shankara Chair in Hindu Religion and Philosophy’. (SVBF stands for Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation, which is the official institution representing the Sringeri Peetham in the US.)3 They had already collected $4 million for the chair, which was to be created at Columbia University. The plan was to set up three other chairs in various other universities in the US. Someone close to the group of donors told me that as soon as this precedent with the Adi Shankara Chairs had been achieved, the door would be open to approach other Hindu lineages for establishing similar chairs across the US. These chairs would serve as official ambassadors of diverse Hindu movements. For instance, there could also be chairs in the name of Sri Ramanujacharya, another great exponent of Vedanta. To appreciate why such chairs would undermine our tradition, the reader needs to understand the proposed terms of the Adi Shankara Chair at Columbia. Two committees were being formed to manage this chair. One was the Academic Committee, consisting of scholars from Columbia, to be headed by Sheldon Pollock. The second was the Donor and Advisor Committee, which would represent the various financiers and administrators of Sringeri Peetham. All the funding would come from the Donor and Advisor Committee. The selection of the scholar to occupy the chair would be made by the Academic Committee, which would have sole control over the selection, academic content and activities of the chair. The donors would have no veto right or say in the matter; they would merely be informed of the selection after it had been made. This is a common way to make donors feel good about themselves, and to allow them to enjoy some public limelight without having any meaningful influence over the actual discourse. To put it bluntly, it is a way to co-opt rich people by giving them importance, but keeping them out of all matters of substance. The implications have to be understood carefully. These chairs would be established in the name of Sringeri Peetham. The professors associated with them would therefore be speaking to the world with the voice and authority of Sringeri. The whole objective of establishing the chairs would be to represent Shankara’s teachings to the modern world. If the content and subject matter produced and taught under the aegis of such a chair profoundly misrepresent these teachings and are directly targeted against the core principles of sanatana dharma (as I will argue in this book), then such a chair would certainly compromise the Hindu tradition in general, and Sringeri Peetham in particular. The name, power and sanctity of Sringeri have been carefully safeguarded for more than a thousand years. The adhikara (authority) to represent the peetham and speak on its behalf has always rested solely with the acharyas, who are groomed from childhood to assume this responsibility. They are required to lead lives of austerity and devotion and spend their time studying the traditional texts. They have received the mantras and powers of the lineage unbroken since Adi Shankara in the tradition of transmission from guru to disciple. It would be the height of irresponsibility to give up control of the teachings and brand name of Sringeri to outside interests. This would be especially alarming if it were done without a thorough investigation into the backgrounds and agendas of those being put in charge – equivalent to haphazardly giving away the intellectual property, trademark and custodianship of the peetham to some alien third party. Upon learning this, I immediately approached the lead donor to offer my perspective on the risks. I explained the importance of carrying out a process that investors call ‘due diligence’ before any commitment is made. I explained my background in corporate due diligence and my subsequent experience over the past twenty years in analysing how some prominent Western scholars represent (or misrepresent) Hinduism today. However, the concerns I expressed and the suggestions I offered were not welcome. I was told that the Adi Shankara Chair at Columbia was, for all practical purposes, a ‘done deal’ and that it would be formally announced within six weeks, i.e., in October 2014. I was further told that the Shankaracharya of the Sringeri Peetham had personally blessed it and that, according to the rules, the deal could therefore not be retracted or renegotiated by Sringeri. I expressed my doubts as to whether the Shankaracharya had been made aware of all the relevant information and issues before giving his blessing. All I asked of the wealthy donors was that they carry out at least the same degree of due diligence that they would conduct in any of their business deals. Before signing any strategic investment, a businessman’s professional training requires that he study the other party’s products, strategies and management philosophy, as well as the industry and its market dynamics. I informed them that I had done similar analyses of Hinduism studies and India studies in academia. Using my professional expertise, I had examined them as a specialized knowledge industry. I asked the donors why they would not exercise at least as much caution when acting on behalf of dharma and the Sringeri Peetham as they would when making personal business investments. After all, their purported motive for such donations was to help the legacy of Adi Shankara and enhance the fame and prestige of the peetham. Given the contentious nature of the way Hinduism has often been depicted within Western academics, this ought to be a matter of concern to them. It became immediately apparent that they had not done any research or due diligence whatsoever. They were simply relying on the popular media perception that the scholars who would be in control of the chair were reputed to be ‘nice people’ and enjoyed prestige and clout amongst Western academics. I was shocked that the top donor (a high-ranking NRI in the US financial industry) used Sheldon Pollock’s public relations interview in India Today as his background check on Pollock, as if this alone would suffice.4 I pointed out that no competent investor would agree to a deal relying merely on the other party’s PR machinery and the self-serving opinions of that party’s own circle of associates. What is needed in such cases is a rigorous analysis carried out by someone who is independent and outside this circle. No such analysis had been done in this instance. The lead donor defended Pollock and wrote to me: ‘With all due respect, we found Professor Pollock highly enthusiastic and excited about the CHAIR at Columbia …’ I was deeply troubled by the implications of this initiative, in part because of the cavalier attitude taken towards this important decision, and in part because of what I already knew of Sheldon Pollock’s work on Sanskrit. He is undoubtedly a brilliant scholar. However, some of his key publications undermine the traditional understanding of sanskriti (Indian culture and civilization) in significant ways. In an e-mail, I gave the following advice to the lead donor: My advice is that before the deal gets formalized, you should bring in an experienced independent industry consultant of your choice (autonomous from the parties concerned), who can help address such

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Most books are stored in the elastic cloud where traffic is expensive. For this reason, we have a limit on daily download.