A Commentator In Service Of The Empire: Sāyaṇa And The Royal Project Of Commenting On The Whole Of The Veda

CEZARY GALEWICZ A COMMENTATOR IN SERVICE OF THE EMPIRE PUBLICATIONS OF THE DE NOBILI RESEARCH LIBRARY EDITED BY GERHARD OBERHAMMER UTZ PODZEIT KARIN PREISENDANZ VOLUME XXXV COMMISSION AGENT FOR INDIA: Motilal Banarsidass, Delhi CEZARY GALEWICZ A COMMENTATOR IN SERVICE OF THE EMPIRE SĀYAṆA AND THE ROYAL PROJECT OF COMMENTING ON THE WHOLE OF THE VEDA Wien 2009 Gedruckt mit Förderung der Jagiellonian University, Kraków Wissenschaftliches Lektorat und Redaktion: Karin Preisendanz Redaktionelle Mitarbeit: Alexandra Böckle Judith Starecek ISBN 3-900271-41-0 Alle Rechte vorbehalten Copyright © 2010 Sammlung de Nobili Institut für Südasien-, Tibet- und Buddhismuskunde der Universität Wien Druck: Interpress Co. Ltd., Bécsi str. 67, 1037 Budapest, Hungary Dedicated to my parents Fig. 1. Fol. 1v of a manuscript of Sāyaňa’s Ŗgvedasaņhitābhāşyabhūmikā, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, Pune, MS No. 3 (Catalogue No. 15), Viśrāmbhāg Collection I (acquired in 1883/84), probably an early 19th-century copy (photo by the author) Fig. 2. A sage giving instruction to a disciple over a palm-leaf manuscript (?) Detail from a ceiling mural of the coronation maňţapa, Virūpākşa temple, Hampi (photo by the author) Fig. 3. A figure of Vidyāraňya holding a palm-leaf manuscript (reproduced from the 1880 edition of the Jaiminīyanyāyamālā by R.M. Dikshitar) Fig. 4. Probably the same figure as above, worshipped as Śrī Vidyāraňya Svāmī, in contemporary pūjā drapery with a saņnyāsin staff added Hampi, Śrī Vidyāraňya Maţha 2008 (photo by the author) Fig. 5. Śrī Vidyāraňya in a regal procession (?) Detail from a ceiling mural of the raģga-maňţapa,Virūpākşa temple, Hampi (photo by the author) Fig. 6. A contemporary copy of the above, displayed in the Śrī Vidyāraňya Maţha near the Virūpākşa temple, Hampi (photo by the author) Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................. Introduction .......................................................................................... 15 17 Chapter 1. The Quest for the Author: Looking for Sāyaňa 1.1. The imperial commentator and his legend ........................... 1.2. Scholarship on Sāyaňa and early Vijayanagara .................... 1.3. The elusive person of the commentator: Sāyaňa, his work and his moment ....................................................................... 31 35 39 Chapter 2. Images of Power and Legitimacy 2.1. Kings and gurus, sovereigns and ministers .......................... 2.2. kşatra and kşetra ................................................................... 2.3. Divine kings, kingly deities and spiritual leaders ................. 2.4. In search for an image of power and legitimacy .................. 2.5. The imperial project of vedārthaprakāśana .......................... 49 61 63 71 76 Chapter 3. Books, Texts and Communities 3.1. Manuscript culture and transmission of knowledge ............. 3.2. Whose are the Vedic bhāşyas? ............................................. 3.3. The intended audience of the Vedic bhāşyas ....................... 3.4. Circulating the bhāşyas ........................................................ 3.5. vyākhyāna: bridging the oral and the written ....................... 91 96 99 106 113 Chapter 4. A Charismatic Teacher and a Vedic Scholar 4.1. The mediating gesture of Mādhava ...................................... 4.2. Mādhava and Sāyaňa: charisma and scholarship ................. 4.3. The “sealing stanza” of Mādhava ......................................... 119 123 126 Chapter 5. Presenting the Commentary: Here Comes the Bhūmikā 5.1. The bhāşyas and the bhūmik