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

[Roy Tsohar]

This example is also cited by Abhinavagupta in his Locana to the
Dhvanyaa.loka 1.4, and used for exemplifying the mere grouping of
words without a syntactical connection (anvaya). In this
respect see note 10, page 93 in Ingalls, Masson, and Patwardhan.
The Dhvany*Aloka of *Anandavardhana with the Locana of Abhinavagupta,
Harvard Oriental Series ;. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press,
1990.
Hope it might be helpful,
Best,
Roy Tzohar










Quoting Birgit Kellner <birgit.kellner at UNIVIE.AC.AT>:

> As it luckily happens to lie on my desk - Vincent Eltschinger's "Penser
> l'autorité des Écritures. La Polémique de Dharmakīrti contre la notion
> brahmanique orthodoxe d'un Veda sans auteur. Autour de Pramāṇavārttika
> I.213-268 et Svavṛtti" (Vienna 2007: Österreichische Akademie der
> Wissenschaften) contains a footnote on the passage in question with
> further references: p. 102, n. 106. According to Eltschinger, the
> example is widespread and can also be found at Śabarabhāṣya on
> Mīmaṃsasūtra 1.1.5, Nyāyabhāṣya on Nyāyasūtra 5.2.10, Dharmakīrti's own
> Vādanyāya (ed. Much, p. 43, l.14), and further in Jaina commentaries on
> the Avaśyakaniryukti, see Nalini Balbir, "The Perfect Sūtra as Defined
> by the Jainas", Berliner Indologische Studien 3 (1987), 3-21.
>
> Hope this helps,
>
> Birgit Kellner
>
> Christian K. Wedemeyer wrote:
>> 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.