Proposals for the Study of Quotations in Indian Philosophical Texts

Authors

  • Elisa Freschi Austrian Academy of Sciences Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v6i2.161

Keywords:

authoriality, Mīmāṃsā, originality, quotations, śāstra

Abstract

The study of quotations is a largely unexplored field within Indian sastric literature. Yet, this study may have major implications for the critical constitution of a text, the evaluation of its role within the historical development of the ideas it represents and the understanding of Indian compositional habits. Moreover, it may call into question Western contemporary attitudes to texts as authored entities by showing how heavily this view depends on specific historical circumstances and has, hence, not always and everywhere been the rule. This article examines these issues in comparative context before focusing on a case study from the Tantrarahasya of the post thirteenth-century Prabhakara Mimamsaka, Ramanujacarya. In this article, I study all sorts of embedded texts, even if not acknowledged to be quotations as such. Hence, the study of quotations coincides with the study of how Indian authors composed their texts re-using previous texts as building blocks. I argue that quotations may also be a useful device for understanding an author’s compositional habits and his/her ‘originality’. This concept is in bad need of a definition applicable in Indian contexts. In fact, Indian classical authors may be judged rather flawed in terms of modern views of plagiarism and are all by and large non-original. Contemporary scholars often look in vain for monographs within Indian sastra literature and find only commentaries and commentaries on commentaries. But, looking at the way texts are built through quotations and use quotations as springboards, one eventually understands that an Indian author’s skill (and hence originality) can be recognized indeed in his/her apt arrangement of earlier texts.

Author Biography

  • Elisa Freschi, Austrian Academy of Sciences

    Elisa Freschi leads a project on Veṅkaṭanātha's Seśvaramīmāṃsā at the Austrian Academy of Sciences. She works on Indian philosophical texts, looking at them as part of the more general enterprise of Philosophy, at the same time grounding her work on the original Sanskrit, and, if needed, on manuscript materials. She favours an historical approach to philosophical texts (both in India and in Europe) and often focuses on the development of a certain topic across traditions (mainly Kalpa Sūtras, Mīmāṃsā, Grammar, Nyāya and Śrī Vaiṣṇavism). She has published several essays, mainly on Mīmāṃsā. Her book, Duty, Language and Exegesis in Prābhākara Mīmāṃsā, entailing a critical edition and translation of Rāmānujācārya’s Tantrarahasya, has been recently (July 2012) released by Brill.

References

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Kumarila Bhatta, Slokavarttika. S. K. Ramanatha Sastri (ed.), K. Kunjunni Raja and R. Thangaswamy (revs.). Slokavartikavyakhya-tatparyatika Umvekabhattaviracita. Madras University Sanskrit series, no. 13. Madras: Univ. of Madras Department of Sanskrit. 1971.

Kumarila Bhatta, Tantravarttika. For an older edition, see under Jaimini above. For a more recent critical edition, see Kataoka 2004 below.

Mandana Misra. Vidhiviveka. Rama Sastri Tailanga (ed.). Vidhiviveka and Vacaspati Misra’s commentary [Nyayakanika]. Benares: Pandit New Series. 1907.

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Ramanujacarya. Tantrarahasya. K. S. Ramaswami Sastri Siromani (ed.), Tantrarahasya. Gaekwad’s Oriental Series, 24. Baroda: Oriental Institute. 1956. For a more recent critical edition, see Freschi 2012 below.

Sabara Svamin. Sabarabhasya. For an older edition, see under Jaimini above. For a more recent critical edition, see Kataoka 2004 below.

Salikanatha Misra. Prakarana Pañcika. A Subrahmanya Sastri (ed.), Prakarana Pañcika of Sri Salikanatha Misra: With Nyaya-Siddhi. Benares: Banaras Hindu University. 1961.

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Published

2012-12-31

Issue

Section

Articles

How to Cite

Freschi, E. (2012). Proposals for the Study of Quotations in Indian Philosophical Texts. Religions of South Asia, 6(2), 161-189. https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v6i2.161