Indo-Iranian Journal 53,2-4 (2010)

Deshpande, Madhav M.: Kṣatriyas in the Kali Age? : Gāgābhatta & His Opponents. - In: IIJ. - 53,2 (2010), S. 95-120 [Online-Zugriff]

Abstract: This paper deals with the history of the disputes regarding the Ksatriya status of the local ruler Shivaji and the Cāndrasenīya Kāyastha Prabhu (CKP) community of Maharashtra. The origin of these disputes lies in the wider dispute concerning whether there are any true Ksatriyas in the Kali age. The CKPs of Maharashtra claimed to be Ksatriyas and thus entitled for the rite of Upanayana, while the dominant regional Brahmin opinion was that they were Śūdras and not entitled for the Upanayana. The dispute broke out a few years before Shivaji's coronation, and to the discomfort of the local Brahmins, Gāgābhatta of Banaras settled it in favor of the Kāyasthas in his work, the Kāyasthadharmadīpa. In decades after Shivaji's death, the dispute broke out again, and within Maharashtra, gradually the Dharmaśāstric opinion shifted against the views of Gāgābhatta, and toward the end of the rule of the last Peshwa, this dispute was raised again by Nīlakantha Śāstri Thatte in Pune against the Kāyasthas. I have traced the lineage of Nīlakantha Thatte, through his teacher Vaidyanātha Pāyagunde, to his teacher, the great Nāgeśabhatta of Banaras. Nāgeśsabhatta produced his Vrātyatāprāyaścittanirnaya at a śāastrasabhā in Jaipur, where he argued that there were no pure Ksatriyas surviving in the Kali age, and that the impure ones do not have the eligibility for Upanayana through some expiation. So the Kāyasthas could not claim to be genuine Ksatriyas either. It was this opinion of Nāgesabhatta, counter to the opinion of Gāgābhatta, that steadily gained popularity among the Pune Brahmins during the rule of the Peshwas, finally reflected in the activities of Nīlakantha Thatte.

Sernesi, Marta: A Manual on Nāropa's Six Yogas by sPyan snga Nyer gnyis pa (1386-1434): Tucci Tibetan Collection 1359. - In: IIJ. - 53,2 (2010), S. 121-163 [Online-Zugriff]

Abstract: Text 1359 of the Tucci Tibetan Collection (IsIAO) is a manual on the Six Yogas of Nāropa titled dPal na ro'i chos drug gi khrid yig bde chen gsal ba'i 'od zer stong ldan, authored by the abbot of gDan sa mthil, sPyan snga bSod nams rgyal mtshan dpal bzang po (1386-1434). It is a blockprint of 168 folios decorated by 80 beautiful illustrations on the margins, which offers a picture of a unique moment in the political and religious history of Central Tibet. This paper situates the work within the author's oeuvre, and attempts a reconstruction of the context of production of the blockprint. It argues that the latter was prepared in the first half of the 15th century, as part of a wider production of texts and art objects, under the auspices of the Phag mo gru ruling family, the lHa gzigs Rlangs, to which the author belonged.

Kragh, Ulrich Timme: On the Making of the Tibetan Translation of Laksmī's Sahajasiddhipaddhati: 'Bro Lotsā ba Shes rab Grags and his Translation Endeavors. (Materials for the Study of the Female Tantric Master Laksmī of Uddiyāna, part I). - In: IIJ. - 53,3 (2010), S. 195-232 [Online-Zugriff]

Abstract: The medieval Tantric literature entails many uncertainties about authorship and dating. The line between authentic and pseudepigraphical in this genre has traditionally been very fluid, and every Tantric text needs to be treated with due caution. In the case of the Sahajasiddhipaddhati, the Tibetan tradition maintains its author to be the 9th-10th century female master Laksmī from Uddiyāna. Given this work's significance, its possible female authorship and its inclusion of hitherto unresearched hagiographies of twelve Uddiyāna Tantric teachers including four women, it is most crucial to examine its provenance. If its authenticity can be established, the text would become one of the earliest hagiographical collections of the Indian Tantric tradition, predating by two to three centuries Abhayadattaśrī's standard anthology, Caturaśītisiddhapravrtti, which differs considerably from Laksmī's work.
The Sahajasiddhipaddhati is only extant in a Tibetan translation by the Kashmirian scholar Somanātha and the Tibetan translator 'Bro Lotsā ba Shes rab Grags. Since the translated work is undated, the investigation of its provenance must begin with ascertaining the date of its Tibetan witness. Through a wide-ranging reading of medieval Tibetan historical sources and colophons of 11th-century Tantric works, it will be concluded that the translation was produced in Nepal somewhere between the years 1070 and 1090. The discovery sets a terminus ante quem for the Sanskrit original, placing its composition at least a century earlier than Abhayadattaśr¯ı's compilation.

Bisschop, Peter: Once Again on the Identity of Candésvara in Early Śaivism: A rare Candeśvara in the British Museum? - In: IIJ. - 53,3 (2010), S. 233-249 [Online-Zugriff]

Abstract: The figure of Candeśa (Candeśvara) in early Śaivism has been the subject of two recent studies by Diwakar Acharya and Dominic Goodall. The present article proposes to identify a sculpture in the British Museum, hitherto identified as Lakulīśa, as representing Candeśvara. Attention is drawn to the iconographical similarities to a Śaiva deity depicted on the Cālukya shrines of Mahākūta and Pattadakal. A passage from the lay Śivadharma proves crucial in understanding the identity of Candésvara in early Śaivism, which leads to a renewed consideration of the deity invoked in the final line of the Mathurā Pillar Inscription of Candragupta. Finally the Śivadharma's descriptions of two other Ganas, Bhrngiriti and Vināyaka (Ganésa), are briefly analyzed in the light of the significant fact that both Ganas are referred to as 'son of Rudra'.

Khoroche, Peter: Kids and Colts in Pahlavi. - In: IIJ. - 53,4 (2010), S. 297-299 [Online-Zugriff]

Abstract: The occurrence in a fragmentary text in Manichaean Middle Persian of the word twštr 'goat' provides the meaning for the corresponding word in Zoroastrian Middle Persian, which, because of its rarity, has hitherto not been recognized. This in turn suggests a slight emendation, giving better sense, to a page in the Dēnkard.