[Fwd: "Ten pomegranates" in Dharmakirti's Pramanavarttika]

[Christian K. Wedemeyer]

Dear Friends,

I received the following query last month, but am unable to come up with 
anything to help this very worthy person with their uncertainty.

Does any of this ring a bell to anyone else on the list? I will pass on 
any replies to the person who sent the question.

Thanks,

Christian



-------- Original Message --------

I am writing with regard to a passing reference in Dharmakīrti's 
/Pramāṇavarttika /to what may be a Vedic ritual. In his commentary to a 
verse on the subject of /āptavādaḥ /he makes the remark: "statements 
like the one containing the words 'ten pomegranates'" 
(/daśadāḍimādivākyāni/)/. /A subcommentary by Karṇakagomī provides a 
fuller description of the reference: “the phrase ‘ten pomegranates, 
etc.’ is such statements as ‘ten pomegranates, six cakes, a bowl, a goat 
skin, and straw (?)” (S: /daśa dāḍimetyādi daśa dāḍimāni ṣadpūpāḥ kuṇḍam 
ajājinaṃ palalam ityevam ādīni vākyāni/). Still, neither writer 
identifies the source or meaning of this reference. The passage is cited 
as an example of statements that lack "consistency" (/asambandha//ḥ/) or 
"coherence" (/anupasaṃhāraḥ/). One further piece of the puzzle is a 
Tibetan translation of a verse that appears in a commentary by a later 
Indian Buddhist scholar named Śāntarakṣita which also mentions this "ten 
pomegranates" passage. Although the exact meaning of the end of the 
verse is uncertain it may contain a reference to a type of ritual called 
/sparakratu /(The Tibetan contains what seems to be a transliteration of 
the Sanskrit words but is probably a distortion of the correct 
spelling). My best read of the line is that it says something like "the 
false daughter's (? anṛtaduhitṛ) cow, [which was the object] of a 
/sparakratu /ritual, died." It sounds like this list of items may appear 
in some Vedic ritual that is intended to save sick cows. I have 
virtually no knowledge of Vedic literature at all and cannot seem to 
locate any material that even verifies the existence of this type of 
ritual, much less provides any explanation of what it may involve.

I would very much appreciate any clarification you might be willing to 
offer.	








-- 
Christian K. Wedemeyer
Assistant Professor of the History of Religions
University of Chicago Divinity School
1025 E 58th Street
Chicago, IL 60637 USA
http://divinity.uchicago.edu/faculty/wedemeyer.shtml
http://home.uchicago.edu/~aryadeva