29 research outputs found
Creating the Indo-Tibetan books and technology database: digital challenges in the study of Tibetan manuscripts and xylographs
No full textThis article is a joint effort of four people involved in a AHRC Project entitled "Transforming Technologies and Buddhist Book Culture; The Introduction of Printing and Digital Text Reproduction in Tibetan Societies" and a Marie Curie Project entitled "Tibetan Book Evolution and Technology". It recounts how the database of manuscripts and xylographs called "Indo-Tibetan Books and Technology" was created by the authors of the article, and describes the content of this digital tool. The database contains entries of about 250 xylographs from South-western Tibet dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries
On some Markers used in a Grantha Manuscript of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha belonging to the Cambridge University Library (Or.2366)
No full textThe present article deals with a peculiar system of markers used in a manuscript of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha written in the Grantha script, belonging to the Cambridge University Library (MS Or.2366). In the northern “orthodox” manuscript tradition of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha, basically only four markers are used to analyse and rearrange the text of the Saṃhitāpāṭha, i.e. daṇḍas (for separating the words), avagrahas (for separating the members of the compounds), circles between daṇḍas (for marking the galitas), and the particle iti. Besides these four, however, in the Grantha manuscript a full system of additional markers is used. These markers, all illustrated in the article, apparently served the purpose of flagging peculiar or “irregular” euphonic modifications and other alterations in the Saṃhitāpāṭha, possibly to provide the reciter with all the information needed to accurately convert the Padapāṭha into the Saṃhitāpāṭha
Walking the Deckle Edge: Scribe or author? Jayamuni and the creation of the Nepalese Avadānamālā literature
No full textColophons in fourteenth-century Nepalese manuscripts: materials for the study of the Nepalese Renaissance (I)
No full textThe present study examines colophons in fourteenth-century Nepalese manuscripts. More precisely, it focuses on manuscripts written between 1320 and 1395 CE as part of an ongoing research about the cultural history of Nepal in this pivotal century, particularly its second half. The first part of the article is devoted to a discussion of the Sanskrit terminology for colophon and an explanation of how to distinguish colophons from other paratextual material in manuscripts. The second part provides general remarks on the syntax of Nepalese colophons including a detailed analysis of sixteen elements occurring in the colophons. The third part consists of diplomatic editions of colophons from the corpus considered for this study. The article concludes with short preliminary conclusions based on the material examined
A gateway to the six languages: Cambridge, University Library, MS Add.1698
No full textThis late fourteenth-century palm-leaf manuscript from Nepal bears witness to close scholarly engagement with Sanskrit texts by speakers of the Tibeto-Burmese language Newari. It contains a Newari translation-cum-commentary of Amarasiṃha’s lexicographical masterpiece, the Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana, prepared by the scholar Maṇika. According to the author, the purpose of this Newari commentary is to provide a tool to become proficient in the Six Languages, i.e Sanskrit as well as the Prakrit languages needed to compose dramatic works. It is an example of the vibrant cultural programme that flourished in Nepal under the King Jayasthitimalla
A Fragment of the Vajrāmṛtamahātantra: A Critical Edition of the Leaves Contained in Cambridge UL Or.158.1
No full textCritical edition of the fragments of the Vajrāmṛtatantra kept in the Cambridge University Librar
Notes on the terminology for print in early Sanskrit printed books
No full textThe present article deals with liminal material belonging to both the realm of manuscript as well as print culture. Early Sanskrit printed books pro-vide scarce and ambiguous bibliographical information. The Sanskrit terminol-ogy used in their imprints is often obscure at best, if not unintelligible without having previous knowledge of the roles of the persons involved in the printing process. Conversely, a correct understanding of the Sanskrit terminology for print is necessary to assess the roles of the people involved in the printing activ-ity. This article examines the Sanskrit terminology for print occurring in the earliest Sanskrit incunabula and lithographs, in order to shed some light on the publication process of early Sanskrit prints
Change of Paradigms and Mechanical (Re)discoveries. Manuscript Cultures and Print Cultures Across Asia
No full textThis introduction summarizes the articles included in this section, at the same time presenting some fundamental aspects of the scholarly debate about the so-called ‘print revolution.’ The attempt is made to draw preliminary conclusions about the impact of printing technology in a wider context, taking into consideration the peculiarities of different Asian book cultures as compared to European book culture. The aim of this short contribution is to elicit a discussion between scholars rather than provide definitive answers
Reliability of a Speaker and Recognition of a Listener: Bocheński and Nyāya on the Relation of Authority
No full textIn the Nyāyasūtras (NS), the fundamental text of the Nyāya tradition, testimony is defined as a statement of a reliable speaker (āpta). According to the NS, such a speaker should possess three qualities: competence, honesty and desire to speak. The content of a discourse, including the prescriptions, is also considered reliable due to the status of a given author and the person that communicated it.
The Polish philosopher J.M. Bocheński similarly stresses the role of a speaker; he holds that an authoritative source (whose discourse is called testimony) should be competent and truthful. The conditions of trust and superiority also apply. According to Bocheński, being an authority entails a special relation—it has a subject, object and field. Notably, Bocheński develops his own typology of testimony by distinguishing between what he calls epistemic and deontic authority. He asks questions such as: Who can be the subject of an authoritative statement? Which features should the speaker possess? How is authority recognised? Is there a universal or an absolute authority? What is the field of authority? Moreover, which qualities should the listener possess?
The Nyāya philosophers, both the ancient ones, like Akṣapāda Gautama, Vātsyāyana, Vācaspati Miśra, and the contemporary scholars of Nyāya, such as B. K. Matilal and J. Ganeri, were also concerned with these issues.
The aim of this paper is to discuss the above points in a comparative manner. I will argue that both Bocheński’s and the Nyāya accounts share very similar perspectives and encounter analogous problems
