Sankara and the Authorship Issue---Thank you!

[Shyam Ranganathan]

Dear Indologists,

I'd like to thank all those who generously answered my question.

Bets wishes,
Shyam


Quoting Christophe Vielle <christophe.vielle at UCLOUVAIN.BE>:

 From a short look on the material I have at hand
 (the two popular editions of the "devotional"
 version referred to infra, and Neve's translation
 of the possible "other" version = Jones version +
 four supplementary verses numbered 2, 5, 8, 10,
 from one Paris ms), it appears that we have
 rather here different recensions of the same text.
 See
 Jones-Nève stanza no. 1 = Chinmaya edition no. 2 = Kodungallur edition no.
 II.1
 J-N no. 2 = Ch no. 8 = K no. II.3
 J-N no. 3 = Ch no. 11 = K no. II.4
 J-N no. 4 = Ch no. 4 = K no. II.10
 J-N no. 6 = Ch no. 12 = K no. I.2
 J-N no. 7 =  Ch no. 15 = K no. I.7
 J-N no. 8 = Ch no. 18 = K no. II.6
 J-N no. 11 = Ch no. 24 = K no. II.8
 J-N no. 12 =  Ch no. 7 = K no. I.8
 N supplementary 2 =  Ch no. 29 =  K no. II.2
 N s 5 = Ch no. 26 = K no. II.5
 N s 10 = Ch no. 5 = K no. I.4

 Hope it may help

 Christophe Vielle


 >It's interesting to note that the meter of the
 >Bhaja Govindam, maatraasamaka, is identical to
 >the earliest Tamil meter, akaval, which is
 >attested at the beginning of the common era and
 >perhaps before.
 >The verb akavu means to sing or dance, and an
 >akavanmakaL (akaval woman) was a female bard who
 >told the future.  One can suppose that the meter
 >was used by the PaaNan or bard caste (paN is the
 >old Tamil word for raaga) when they were
 >performing, at which time they were often
 >possessed.  Like maatraasamaka, akaval is
 >comprised of lines of 16 syllabic instants
 >divided into groups of 4 each.  Akaval is an
 >extremely flexible and eloquent meter.  Because
 >in Tamil some of the long or shorts are made by
 >position, it does not have the sing-song
 >rhythmic quality of the Sanskrit equivalent.
 >The Tamil meter is adorned by many rhythmic and
 >other enhancements that do not exist in Sanskrit.
 >
 >On Feb 26, 2008, at 12:32 PM, Christophe Vielle wrote:
 >
 >>For the devotional Bhaja Govindam  - Mohamudgara,
 >>I note the following two "devotional" editions
 >>still available, one (31 v.) with a commentary
 >>by Swami Chinmayananda, published by the
 >>Central Chinmaya Mission Trust, and one in
 >>Malayalam script with a commentary by K.
 >>Padmanabha Variar, Kodungallur, 2006 (in two
 >>parts : 19 + 14 stanzas, in a different order).
 >>With best wishes,
 >>Christophe Vielle
 >>
 >>

 Am 25.02.2008 um 21:33 schrieb Yaroslav Vassilkov:

 >By the way, dear colleagues, do you know any
 >publications bearing on the poem
 >"Bhajagovindam", or "Mohamudgara", attributed to
 >Shankara (except N.M.P.Mahadevan's foreword and
 >commentary to his English translation?

 (Disclaimer: I don't have Mahadevan's book at
 hand, so I don't know what he says in this case.)
 There is a text different from the "Bhaja
 Govindam" hymn also called "Mohamudgara". I may
 be wrong but it seems to me that it is a more
 recent phenomenon to call "Bhaja Govindam" by
 this name, too (which is rather confusing). While
 "Bhaja Govindam" is clearly a devotional hymn
 (and longer), the "other" Mohamudgara is not
 devotional at all (shorter, but with a differing
 number of verses in the manuscripts).