44 research outputs found
The Mantra in Six Syllables of the Śivadharma and its Place in the History of Early Śaivism
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Of Gods and Books. Ritual and Knowledge Transmission in the Manuscript Cultures of Premodern India
No full textIndia has been the homeland of diverse manuscript traditions that do not cease to impress scholars for their imposing size and complexity. Nevertheless, many topics concerning the study of Indian manuscript cultures still remain to receive systematic examination. Of Gods and Books pays attention to one of these topics - the use of manuscripts as ritualistic tools. Literary sources deal quite extensively with rituals principally focused on manuscripts, whose worship, donation and preservation are duly prescribed. Around these activities, a specific category of ritual gift is created, which finds attestations in pre-tantric, as well as in smārta and tantric, literature, and whose practice is also variously reflected in epigraphical documents. De Simini offers a first systematic study of the textual evidence on the topic of the worship and donation of knowledge. She gives account of possible implications for the relationships between religion and power. The book is indsipensible for a deeper understanding of the cultural aspects of manuscript transmission in medieval India, and beyond
Yigal Bronner, David Shulman, Gary Tubb (eds.) Innovations and Turning Points. Toward a History of Kāvya Literature. Oxford University Press, New Delhi 2014, 816 pp., 2 b/w illustrations. ISBN 9780199453559.
No full textWriting the Histories of South and South-East Asia. Perspectives from two newly launched European projects
No full textNewsletter article on the ERC-funded projects SHIVADHARMA (GA no. 803624) and DHARMA (809994), carried out at the University of Naples "L'Orientale"This article is part of a project that has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC) under the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (Grant agreement No. 803624
Observations on the Use of Quotations in Sanskrit Dharmanibandhas
No full textThis article examines some of the strategies adopted by the authors of Sanskrit law digests (Dharmanibandhas) in dealing with quotations. Given the peculiar nature of the Nibandhas, which in the majority of cases are almost exclusively made of quotations from authoritative texts (chiefly Dharmasūtras,
Dharmaśāstras and Purāṇas), citations are here not only a method to support a viewpoint, but constitute the very core of the text. In order to narrow the topic, the analysis has been restricted to a sub-category of the Dharmanibandha genre, i.e. the so called dānanibandhas, the digests specialized on the rules for gifting. Given their chronological distribution, these texts can be considered representative of the tendencies emerging in this branch of literature. The focus will lie both on the general
rules and conventions accepted by the various Nibandha authors (nibandhakāras), and on concrete examples of the different methods applied while quoting from the same texts. Particular attention will be given to the methodological statements
detected in these works, like the incipit of Lakṣmīdhara’s Kṛtyakalpataru (first half of the twelfth century) and that of Ballālasena’s Dānasāgara (second half of the
twelfth century)
Rāmānuja. Vedārthasaṃgraha (compendio del contenuto dei Veda). Traduzione annotata
No full textTraduzione annotata dal sanscrito di una selezione di passi dal Vedārthasaṃgraha di Rāmānuj
Umā and Śiva’s Playful Talks in Detail (Lalitavistara): On the Production of Śaiva Works and their Manuscripts in Medieval Nepal
No full textThis article offers insights into the processes and context of production,
in medieval Nepal, of the so-called ‘Śivadharma-corpus’, a collection of eight
works revolving around topics related to the practices and beliefs of lay Śaiva
householders and the establishment of a Śaiva social-religious order. Our focus
is on the earliest extant manuscript containing a version of the entire corpus,
namely manuscript G 4077 of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, dated to 1036 CE.
What is exceptional about this manuscript is that it contains a unique work called
Lalitavistara as the final member of the corpus, while missing the Dharmaputrikā,
which from the second half of the 11th century onwards was always transmitted as
the last work in ‘mainstream’ versions of the Śivadharma corpus. While giving
some insights into the production of the corpus shortly before it reached its stable
form by the 12th century, we also offer an overview of the contents of the Lalitavistara,
as well as a study of its topics and sources, proving its connections with the
Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda of the Śivadharma corpus. We also show how both works
heavily draw on and are inspired by the Mahābhārata, and how the compositional
strategies may reflect the socio-religious and cultural milieu of the Kathmandu
Valley at the time
When Lachmann's Method Meets the Dharma of Śiva. Common Errors, Scribal Interventions, and the Transmission of the Śivadharma Corpus
No full textThe tradition of the so-called Śivadharma corpus is still largely unexplored.
Scholars have so far identified a large number of manuscripts, including
some very early specimens, but the relationships between them, as well as the
possibility of classifying these manuscripts into groups and families, still need to
be systematically assessed. However, recent critical studies of some texts of the
corpus have sparked interest in the topic of their transmission. On the basis of
two case studies selected from the Śivadharmaśāstra and the Umāmaheśvarasaṃvāda,
this article aims at presenting some of the advantages and limits of
applying the genealogical-reconstructive method to the study of the manuscripts
of the Śivadharma corpus
Il Buddhismo. Storia di un'idea
No full textQuali sono, in prospettiva storica, le dinamiche che hanno condotto all'elaborazione della moderna nozione di "buddhismo" favorendone, col tempo, l'introduzione nell'ambito del panorama religioso e dell'immaginario occidentali? Ricco di informazioni, il testo fornisce un'approfondita introduzione ad alcuni concetti chiave della dottrina buddhista e al modo in cui si è diffusa in Asia e in Occidente, offrendo numerosi spunti per ulteriori approfondimenti
