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7/17/2019 The Kulacuddmani Tantra and the Vamakesvara Tantra Review
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The Kulacūḍāmaṇi Tantra and The Vāmakeśvara Tantra with the Jayaratha Commentary by
Louise M. FinnReview by: Teun GoudriaanJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 108, No. 4 (Oct. - Dec., 1988), pp. 640-642Published by: American Oriental Society
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640
Journal
of the American
Oriental
Society
108.4
(1988)
Dreyer's
painstaking effort to make her
edition as compre-
hensive
as possible demonstrates
her erudition and
command
of
the proper
philological methodology. The
usefulness of the
work
lies not so
much
in
offering scholars an
accurate edition
of
a text to be
studied and translated, but in
the information
provided for further research into the problem of textual
transmission in
ancient India.
Caren
Dreyer's careful and critical work
is
a
refreshing
break from
the overwhelming
number
of
superficial,
repetitive
studies often
encountered
in
the
field. It is
frustrating,
however, to be
presented with such a
detailed piece of
scholarship which
only incorporates a small
part
of
the entire
treatise. Fault may be
found
with
earlier
editions
for
many
reasons;
but the work of the
older pioneers of
Indology
in
general
produced editions
of
complete texts,
which
give
an
overview
of the entire framework of the
author's
or
the
tradition's thought.
Students
who
undertake
new
editions as
dissertations
for
graduate
degrees are
often
forced
to
circumscribe
their work
to
fit
limited time-frames of financial
support.
These
promis-
ing scholars who have the
inclination
for
such tedious
endeavors should be strongly
encouraged
with the
necessary
funds to
complete
the
editions
of the entire texts.
In
so
doing,
lasting contributions to
scholarship
will
surely
be the
product.
KENNETH
G. ZYSK
EASTERN
MICHIGAN
UNIVERSITY
The
Kulacfiddmani Tantra
and The Vdmakesvara Tantra
with the Jayaratha
Commentary. Introduced, translated
and
annotated by LOUISEM.
FINN. Wiesbaden:
OTTO
HARRASSOWITZ,
1986.
Pp.
417.
Despite the efforts of
individual scholars in the past, the
study of
Hindu Tantric literature still leaves much to
be
desired.
Any
new
attempt
at translation of relevant texts
should
therefore
be
welcomed
in
principle. The present
book
contains
the first English translation of two 9akta
Tantras,
the
Kulaciiddmani
(KCT)
and the
Vdmakesvara
(VT; also
known
as Nitydso1daSikarnava r
VdmakeSvarfmata), pre-
ceded by a "Historical Perspective" (pp. 11-45) and an "In-
troduction
to
the
Philosophy
of
the Texts"
(pp. 46-67).
The
translations are
provided
with
hundreds
of
annotations. Both
Tantras still offer a great number of
textual problems. The
VdmakeSvara,
by far the
better in literary respect, and one of
the
most important sources
of
the Srividya
tradition, has
already
been edited several
times
with different
Sanskrit
commentaries (by
K. S.
Agase
in the
Anandagrama Skt.
Series, with the
commentary
of
Bhaskararaya
[Poona, 1908];
by
P.
M. K. Shastri
in
the Kashmir Ser.
of
Texts
and
Studies, no. 66 [Srinagar, 1945], with Jayaratha; and by V. V.
Dviveda with the commentaries by
givananda
and Vidya-
nanda [Varanasi, 1968]), but a good
comparative textual
study is still outstanding. Mrs. Finn
translates P. M. K.
Shastri's version of the text. The situation of the KCT is
worse: its only edition by G. Ch. Vedantatirtha, which
appeared in 1915 in Avalon's series "Tantrik
Texts" as vol. 4,
is philologically substandard. Especially in the case of the
latter text, the preparation of a reliable translation in the
absence of
any critical treatment of the textual transmission
is difficult, and the result cannot be more
than preliminary.
The author has been aware of these
problems, because of
which she has "sought the help of a Tantric
scholar in India"
(p. 9)
in
the person of Pandit H. N. Chakravarti, one of
Gopinath Kaviraj's disciples, and a few others. This proce-
dure
seems entirely warranted in the case of an obscure
ritualistic text like the KCT, provided the
critical mind is still
present and the principle of falsifiability
applied. The KCT
belongs
to a
group of Tantras professing extreme
devotion
to
Kulism. They are of strongly ritualistic orientation, tedi-
ous to read for the non-initiated and of
uncertain age. Some
of
these (e.g., the Kuldrnava and the
KdlTvildsa)
were also
edited under Avalon's direction. The KCT is perhaps the
most unclear and confused specimen of this group. Mrs.
Finn
may be right in her relatively early
dating
of
the text
(9th
or
10th cent.; p. 21). The internal evidence
adduced is
largely hypothetical but should be taken
seriously. For in-
stance, she stresses the
fact
that the
KCT
deals
with
several
goddesses on an almost equal footing.
Among
these are the
group
of the Mothers
and
the
independent Mahisasuramar-
dinT. In an argumentation which largely involves iconog-
raphy and epigraphy, she tries to show that both cults are
characteristic of an early period
of
Saktism
and
went
into
decline
after the first
millennium
A.D. (p.
25).
Another
argu-
ment
concerns
some reminiscences
of
Buddhism
in the
text.
The
questions raised
in these
pages
are
of no mean
impor-
tance for
Indian religious history
and should
be
studied
in
more
detail. Mrs.
Finn's
points
of view
might
serve as
preliminary working hypotheses
which
should, however, by
no means be
dogmatically
adhered to.
The "archaic
quali-
ties" of the KCT
(p. 32)
are
open
to
doubt
as
long
as
no
serious
investigation
of
its
linguistic
and
metric char-
acteristics
has been
made.
To
this
reviewer's
mind,
the text
also displays a deliberate, somewhat naive obscurity rooting
in an imperfect mastery
of
grammar
and
style;
in
other
places,
a frankness
bordering
on
crudity.
The
VT
is
a
totally
different
text: much
more
sophisticated
and
balanced,
its Sanskrit
entirely
correct and
at times even
satisfying
to
the
literary
mind.
Besides,
there
is the
learned
commentary by Jayaratha,
an
epigone
of the
Kashmir
Saiva
tradition
(about
1200
A.D.). Although
both
texts
(KCT
and
VT) are devoted
to the
worship
of
gakti,
they
are
indeed so
different
that
even
their combination
in
one volume seems
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Reviews of Books
641
questionable.
Instead,
a
separate
treatment
with
somewhat
more
attention to textual
problems
might
have been
pre-
ferable.
Actually,
philological
accuracy
is the weak
side
of
the
book.
In
the
case
of
the
KCT,
a
positive
note is the inclusion
of
mostly casual remarks which prove that the author has been
in touch
with the
living
tradition,
such as in n.
53
on
2.3
(p.
83): "the
vessel should
be
made
of
copper."
The
reader
is,
however, left in
the dark about their
source
(H.
N.
Chakra-
varti, or
another
authority?).
Besides,
there is no
discussion
of
the
problem as to how far
these
modern
opinions or
traditions
agree
with the
situation at
the time of
composition
of
the
text.
In
Tantric oral
exegesis, the source
and circum-
stance of
the instruction
should
because of
this
uncertainty
be
noted as
carefully
as
possible.
Such information
is,
e.g.,
much
desired
on KCT
4.56-58
(p.
110;
location
of
plthas
on
the
worshipper's
body),
where we find
correct
and
useful
explanations
such as: "the
top surface
of
the
feet"
for
devrkuta. One concludes that the reference is to oral infor-
mation;
the
system
is,
however,
also
found
in
Kdlika
Pur.
18.42f.
Moreover,
on KCT
6.2f.
(p.
126)
where
the same
system
is
alluded
to,
the
author
seems to have
forgotten
her
own
explanations
given
on
4.56-58. Other
instances of
start-
ling
inconsistency
could
be
given, which can
partly
be ex-
plained as
due to
excessive
dependence on
other
authorities.
No
mention
has been
made
of
important
parallels
to
fragments from the
KCT
in
such texts
as
the
Syamdrahasya
and
the
KauldvalTnirnaya
which
on
occasions
give a defi-
nitely better
text, as
in 2.9c
-grhlta,
Sydmdr.:
-grht~rms;
or
3.48
varam
prdpya, Sy.:
varam
prdrthya. As to the VT
little
reference is
made to
Dviveda's
edition, even
where it
con-
tains
a
better text
as
in
2.77
siddhikravya, Dviv.:
siddha-
dravya
(with
Vidyananda's
explanation
as
rasdyana ). Finn's
note on p.
306 ignores
this
easily
available
information.
But
the
most
serious
objection
which must
be made
is that
frequently the
translation is
based
upon
insufficient
insight
into
the
Sanskrit
of the
texts. In
KCT 3.50,
vayasd
jdtito
vdpi hind
should be
translated "one
who is
inferior by
age or
by
caste," not by
"an old
caste
woman, or
even one
without
caste"
p. 98). KCT
6.20
sahasram
hunet,
not "he
should offer
an
extra
thousand
(repetitions of
the
mantra),"
but "he
should offer
a
thousand
libations (into
the
fire)." KCT
6.43,
describing
the
guptisiddhi,
is
misunderstood
(p.
132).
In
KCT 7.29 (part of a MahisamardinTstava), he word mahas
(not
infrequently used in
kdvyastotras)
refers
not to the
Goddess' feet
but to
her
whole
person.
For KCT
2.24 "he
should offer
the
remainder
of the
wine to the
women
and to
himself"
(p. 87),
I
suggest: "He
should
administer to
himself
the
remainder of
(what was
offered
to) the
woman"
(Skt.
yositas tv
avaSesan tu
svdtmany
eva
niyojayet).
VT
2.12 sa
bhaved
ddsavad
vaSi:
the
translation
(p. 290)
"that
person
(i.e., the
sddhaka)
becomes a
master
as though
of
slaves" is
simply not
allowed
by Skt.
syntax and
results in
exactly the
opposite
of what is
meant, viz.,
"that
person
(i.e.,
the
sddhya) will be
in
his
(the
sadhaka's) power
like a
slave."
A
similar expression
in
2.56 is also
treated
wrongly.
In
VT
2.49, kanthe
vd
bhujamiilatah
is
translated
(p. 299) by
"(on)
the
neck from the
shoulder."
But
-tah
can have the
function
of the locative in stylistical variations, a point easily proved
by
a reference to
good old J. S.
Speyer,
Sanskrit
Syntax
(Leiden, 1886;
repr.
Delhi:
Motilal
Banarsidass,
1973), par.
103. We
should therefore
translate: "on the neck or on the
upper end of the
arm"
(second
vd
omitted metri
causa).
A
minor
point:
on
p.
288
(VT
2.1),
the
dvTpdmndya
f
the
text
refers to
enumerations
of
continents
mystically
located
in
the
sddhaka's
body
as
can, e.g.,
be
found
in
the
Kubjikdmata
(Kulduikdmndya), h.
21.
Unfortunately, Jayaratha's
commentary
has
also
often
been
misunderstood. At
VT
1.4
(p.
176), Jay.
in one
enormous
syntactical unit
repeats,
readjusts,
analyzes
and
carefully
explains
all
morphemes
of
the
stanza: a
brilliant
example
of
commentatorial style. A translator should take care to repeat
the
exact terms of the
stanza's
direct translation in
the
commentary,
like
beacons in
its
argumentative
waterway.
This
principle is
only partly
kept by the
translator,
who
repeats
"splendour"
as "glory,"
"great"
stem
mahd-,
analyzed
by
Jay. as
mahatyd, viz.,
sriyd) as "because of
(her)
greatness"
(connection with
srT
does not
appear),
and
"alphabet"
(mdtrkd) as
"mother." Some
words
are
treated
correctly, e.g.,
"Goddess,"
but in the
latter
case the
reader
is
left
unaware of
the
"etymological" connection
of devT
with the
root dTv-
"to
play," subtly
shown by
Jay. with
his addition
krTdanaSTldm.
Reference
could have been
made to
Sivananda's
commentary,
RjuvimarSinT,
on VT 1.1
(ed. Dviveda, p. 9) where the
connection of
the
Goddess with
"play"
s
explicitly
made clear
(and cf.
my article, "On the
Goddess'
'Phases
of
Life'
in
Some
Hinduistic
Texts,"
in
Effigies Dei,
Essays on the
History of
Religions, ed. Dirk
van
der Plas
[Supplements to
Numen,
vol. LI;
Leiden: E. J.
Brill,
1987], 69-82).
On p. 319,
Jay.'s
expression
akhydtvdtmd
mohah "delusion
which
con-
sists of
absence
of
clarity"
has not been
understood. As
often,
Andre
Padoux's Recherches
sur la
symbolique
et
l'Nnergiede
la
parole dans
certains textes
tantriques
(2nd ed.,
Paris, 1975),
would have been the
right guide
(pp. 160,
379).
In
Jay.'s
comments on
1.
11,
the
function of
iti has
not been
correctly
grasped.
Naturally, there are several fine translations in this book,
but
the
mistakes are so
frequent that one
can
never be sure.
The
designs
included here
and
there are
attractive;
but the
small
design
on
p.
294
connected with
Jay.'s
comment on VT
2.23
sasanthdsanthasvarapaniktidvaya-
is a
misnomer. One
should correct
santha- into
sanda-, and
understand:
"two
rows of
vowels, one
with
and one
without the
neuters
(i.e., the
four
vocalic r's
and I's)".
Of the
Appendices,
Appendix 4
could have
been
made
up
with
more
precision. There
is a
Bibliography, but no
Index.
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642
Journal of the American Oriental Society 108.4 (1988)
"The translation has been through
various revisions," says
the author
on p. 10. Nevertheless, the book-despite
certain
merits and
much diligence-gives evidence
of having been
published too soon.
TEUN GOUDRIAAN
UNIVERSITY
OF UTRECHT
Kashmir Shaivaism.
By
J. C.
CHATTERJI.
Albany:
STATE
UNIVERSITY
OF NEW
YORK PRESS,
1986.
Pp.
xxiv
+ 175.
$29.50 (cloth),
$9.95 (paper).
The present book
is
a
reprint
of the
pioneering exposition
first
published
in 1914 as the first
volume
of the Kashmir
Series
of Texts and
Studies.
It was the first
(and,
for
a
long
time, the only)
account
of
certain aspects
of non-dualistic
Shaivism in Kashmir. Though quite dated, and surpassed by
the work of recent
scholars
(especially
Sanderson
and
Padoux),
if used cautiously,
this volume remains
a very
useful,
short introduction
to
certain aspects
of the Pratya-
bhijnia,
particularly
the
meaning and
evolution of the
thirty-
six tattvas, as well
as
to the
historical
outlines of one
branch
of Shaivism
in
Kashmir.
The
book
is divided
into two sections,
the first part
entitled
"The Main Doctrines
of
the System"
and the second
part
"History
and
Literature." For
some
unexplained reason,
the
order of these
two sections has
been inverted from
the
original
edition
in
which
the historical
account quite
prop-
erly preceded
the doctrinal.
In the
1986 edition,
the doctrinal
account plunges
the reader directly
into a
complex
religious
universe
that is
lacking
in
historical context.
A
short preface
by
William Barnard supplies
useful in-
formation
for the
general
reader about
the four upayas, only
one of the
many
key topics
which Chatterji
failed to deal
with. The foreword by
Swami Shantananda,
while useful
and interesting,
continues
the rather
curious
link that
some-
how seems
to have been
established between
the medieval
tradition and
certain
of its
modern,
neo-Hindu appropriators.
It
was
with
the
publication
of
Chatterji's
book
that the
term Kashmir Shaivism (or
"Shaivaism" as
the cover
of the
book
proclaims)
seems
to have come
into
general
usage.
Until very recently, scholars have uncritically followed suit in
using
this
designation
as
if
there were
accepted
agreement
as
to its meaning.
Recently however,
the inappropriateness
and
distortive
character
of this
appellation
have been
argued
on
at
least
two
grounds. First,
the term seems
to
imply
that
there was
a
single
tradition
of
Shaivism
in
Kashmir,
whereas
it
is
now well established
that there were several
varieties
which were
deeply
divided
both
doctrinally
and
ritually.
There were various
forms
of
non-dualistic
tantric
Shaivism
represented
by
a series of related
preceptorial
lineages:
the
Trika, Pratyabhijfia,
Kaula, Krama
and Mata, which were
by no means
identical in practice or
doctrine. In addition,
there were
also powerful lineages of
conservative, dualistic
Shaiva Siddhanta
in Kashmir, as well
as a centrist cult of the
worship of Svacchandabhairava.
Of these, it is
the first
group that seems to have generally and imprecisely been
referred to
as Kashmir Shaivism. Secondly, it is by
no means
clear that the teaching
of Shaivism as propounded
in any of
these groups
originated wholly or exclusively
in Kashmir.
Thus, the re-publication
of this book without some
kind of
explanatory historical
footnote alluding to these
problems
furthers
misconceptions as to the current
status of research
in this area.
One curious omission
is that a number
of appendices
referred to
in the footnotes appear
never to have been
published,
and are as absent
in the 1962 Indian reprint as
they are
in the present edition. Thus,
there are references to
non-existent appendices
III-XII. This is not a minor
omis-
sion because Chatterji claims to include in these appendices
the important textual
references upon which his
doctrinal
exposition
is based.
Thus the omission
of these
appendices
seriously
vitiates
the usefulness
of
Chatterji's
account
for
the
specialist.
In addition, and
not
surprisingly,
Chatterji's
book com-
pletely obscures
the tantric
and
transgressive
character
of the
traditions
whose
philosophy
and
history
he
attempts
to
summarize.
The modern
reader
must
go
elsewhere
if he is to
realize that these
traditions
were
not
merely philosophical
schools of thought,
but
employed powerful
ritualistic and
meditative
tools
in order
to
replicate experientially
the con-
ceptions
they taught.
The book includes
a short list
of books
in
English
on
"Kashmir
Shaivism." However,
some
of
the best books
on
the subject up
until
now
have
been
published
in French
and
Italian.
It
might
have been
useful
to include
some
of
these
titles as well.
Nevertheless,
if these
provisos
are
kept
in
mind,
Chatterji's
book
represents
a
useful short
introduction,
and
its
republication
is
certainly
welcomed
as
contributing
to the
wider dissemination
of studies
in
this
area.
PAUL E.
MULLER-ORTEGA
MICHIGAN STATE
UNIVERSITY
Karawitan:
Source
Readings
in Javanese Gamelan
and
Vo-
cal Music,
vol.
2.
JUDITH BECKER,
editor;
ALAN
H.
FEIN-
STEIN,
assistant
editor.
Ann
Arbor:
CENTER
FOR
SOUTH
AND
SOUTHEAST
ASIAN
STUDIES,
THE
UNIVERSITY
OF
MICH-
IGAN,
1987.
Pp. xx,
401, 1 color
plate.
The
present
volume,
Number
30
in the
series
Michigan
Papers
on
South
and
Southeast
Asia, is
the second
of
a
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