IDEOLOGY AND STATUS OF SANSKRIT B R I L L 'S I N D O L O G I C AL L I B R A RY EDITED BY J O H A N N ES B R O N K H O R ST IN CO-OPERATION WITH RICHARD GOMBRICH • OSKAR VON HINÜBER KATSUMI MIMAKI • ARVIND SHARMA VOLUME 13 I D E O L O GY A ND S T A T US OF S A N S K R IT Contributions to the History of the Sanskrit Language EDITED BY JAN E.M. HOUBEN S '/68V EJ. BRILL LEIDEN • NEW YORK • KÖLN 1996 Published with support of the International Institute for Asian Studies (Leiden) The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the Committee on Production Guidelines for Book Longevity of the Council on Library Resources. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Ideology and status of Sanskrit : contributions to the history of the Sanskrit language / edited by Jan E.M. Houben. p. cm. — (Brill's Indological library ; v. 13) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 9004106138 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Sanskrit language—Philosophy. 2. Sanskrit language—Grammar- -History. 3. Indo-Aryan Languages—Grammar—History. I. Houben, JanE.M., I960- . II. Series. PK475.I34 1996 491'.2—dc20 96-23794 CIP Die Deutsche Bibliothek - CIP-Einheitsaufnahme Ideology and status of Sanskrit : contributions to the history of the Sanskrit language / ed. by Jan E. M. Houben - Leiden ; New York ; Köln : Brill, 1996 (Brill's indological library ; Vol. 13) ISBN 90-04-10613-8 NE: Houben, Jan E. M. [Hrsg.]; GT ISSN 0925-2916 ISBN 90 04 10613 8 © Copyright 1996 by E.J. Brill, Leiden, The Netherlands All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission fiom the publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by E.J. Brill provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 222 Rosewood Drive, Suite 910 Danvers MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change. PRINTED IN THE NETHERLANDS CONTENTS Acknowledgements vii List of Contributors ix 1. Introduction: towards a Social History of the Sanskrit Language (Jan E.M. Houben) 1 1. Origins and Creation of the 'Eternal Language' 2. Pre-rgvedic convergence between Indo-Aryan and Dra- vidian? A survey of the issues and controversies (Hans Henrich Hock) 17 3. The early history of Sanskrit as supreme language (Ashok Aklujkar) 59 4. What was Sanskrit for? Metadiscursive strategies in ancient India (John D. Kelly) 87 5. Sanskrit and reality: the Buddhist contribution (Johannes Bronkhorst) 109 6. Jain attitudes towards the Sanskrit language (Paul Dundas) 137 7. Socio-linguistic attitudes reflected in the work of Bhartrhari and later Grammarians (Jan E.M. Houben) 157 //. Transculturation, Sanskritization, Vernacularization 8. The Sanskrit Cosmopolis, 300-1300 CE: Transculturation, Vernacularization, and the Question of Ideology (Sheldon Pollock).. 197 9. The use of Sanskrit in South Indian royal inscriptions: social, political and religious implications (A.G. Menon).... 249 VI CONTENTS 10. Speech of the Gurus: Instances of treatment of Sanskrit in Tantric literature (Teun Goudriaan) 265 11. Tibetan expertise in Sanskrit Grammar: ideology, status and other extra-linguistic factors (Pieter C. Verhagen) 275 12. More on the Käraka-samgraha, a Sanskrit grammatical text from Bali (Anna Radicchi) 289 13. The introduction of Indian Prosody among the Thais (BJ. Terwiel) 307 III The Sanskrit Tradition: Continuity from the past or Con- struction from the present ? 14. 'Do you speak Sanskrit?' On a class of Sanskrit texts composed in the Late Middle Ages (Albrecht Wezler) 327 15. Sanskrit and Hindu national identity in nineteenth century Bengal (Victor van Bijlert) 347 16. The place of Sanskrit in neo-Hindu ideologies: from religious reform to national awakening (Corstiaan van der Burg) 367 17. Position of Sanskrit in public education and scientific research in modern India (Saroja Bhate) 383 18. Contextualizing the Eternal Language: Features of Priestly Sanskrit (Madhav M. Deshpande) 401 Bibliography 439 Author Index 487 General Index 495 Map: The 'Sanskrit Cosmopolis' and Centres of Sanskrit learning 501 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The present volume is an outcome of the seminar "Ideology and Status of Sanskrit in South and Southeast Asia" organized under the auspices of the International Institute for Asian Studies (HAS), Leiden, 17-19 November 1994. When working on the organization of the seminar and on the publication of this volume, the editor incurred a pleasant debt of gratitude to numerous individuals and institutions. The generous sup- port and assistance provided by the then newly founded HAS made the seminar possible, and the active and enthusiastic participation of a con- siderable number of scholars made it a success. Apart from the con- tributors to this volume, the following persons deserve special men- tion: Professors L. Leertouwer, D.H.A. Kolff and H.W. Bodewitz, Pro- fessor Hannes Kniffka, Mrs. Iwona Milewska, Dr. Max Nihom, Pro- fessor Peter Raster, Dr. Herman Tieken, Dr. J.-M. Verpoorten, Profes- sor T.E. Vetter and Dr. J.H.A. Vivekanand. Thanks to the organizational skills of Mrs. Esther Guitjens, latent practical problems during the seminar were already solved before they manifested themselves. Professor Johannes Bronkhorst (Lausanne) should be mentioned as the one who guided me through all critical phases in planning and or- ganizing the seminar and in solving organizational problems in the publication of this collective work. All participants contributed to the formulation of the concept of the present volume, which attempts to provide an overview of the historical depth and geographical and cul- tural extension of the ideology and status of Sanskrit, as well as of the major themes and theoretical problems associated with it in modern re- search. When working on this volume as an HAS research fellow, I received all the necessary support and facilities from the HAS, personalized for me in the enthusiastic members of its Staff, Prof. W.A.L. Stokhof, Mrs. Sabine Kuiper, Mrs. Karin van Belle, Mrs. Kitty Yang and Mrs. Maya Gal, and the editor-in-chief of all IIAS-publications, Paul van der Vel- Vili ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS de. It is hoped that this volume will serve as a fitting tribute to their commitment to academic quality, continuity and innovation in Asian Studies. Here I would also like to record my gratitude to Prof. Paul Dundas (Edinburgh) for writing an excellent contribution to this volume even though he could not be present at the seminar. The staff of the library of the department of South and Central Asia (Kern Institute) was always helpful in providing material and bibliographical assistance. Of all others who helped in various ways in the realization of this book I would here like to mention especially my friends Dolf J.B.F. Hart- suiker (Utrecht), and Frans H.P.M. Janssen (Utrecht), as well as Prof. J.G. de Casparis (Leiden), Dr. Marijke Klokke (Leiden), Prof. K.R. van Kooij (Leiden), Prof. E. te Nijenhuis, and Prof. T.E. Vetter (Leiden). Finally, I am grateful to the staff of EJ. Brill publishers for giving this volume a place in their series "Brill's Indological Library." Leiden, May 1996 Jan E.M. Houben LIST OF CONTRIBUTORS ASHOK N. AKLUJKAR; Department of Asian Studies, University of British Columbia; 2075 Wesbrook Mall, Vancouver, B.C., Canada V6T 1W5. SAROJA BHATE; Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages, University of Poona; Pune 411007, India. VICTOR A. VAN BIJLERT; Department of Languages and Cultures of South and Central Asia, University of Leiden; P.O. Box 9515, NL- 2300 RA Leiden, The Netherlands. JOHANNES BRONKHORST; Section des Langues et Civilisations Orientales, Université de Lausanne, BFSH 2; CH-1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. CORSTIAAN VAN DER BURG; Department of Religious Studies, Vrije Universiteit; De Boelelaan 1105, NL-1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. MADHAV M. DESHPANDE; Department of Asian Languages and Cultures, University of Michigan; Ann Arbor, Michigan, 48109- 1285; U.S.A. PAUL DUNDAS; Department of Sanskrit, University of Edinburgh; 7 Buceleuch Place, Edinburgh, EH8 9LW, United Kingdom. TEUN GOUDRIAAN; Hondsrug 123, NL-3524 BW Utrecht, The Netherlands. HANS HENRICH HOCK; Department of Linguistics, University of Illinois; 707 S. Mathews, Urbana IL 61801, U.S.A. JAN E.M. HOUBEN; Department of Languages and Cultures of South and Central Asia, University of Leiden; P.O. Box 9515, NL-2300 RA Leiden, Thé Netherlands. JOHN D. KELLY; Department of Anthropology, University of Chicago, 1126 East 59th Street, Chicago IL 60637, U.S.A. A.G. MENON; Department of Languages and Cultures of South and Central Asia, University of Leiden; P.O. Box 9515, NL-2300 RA The Netherlands.