taxonomy question

Deshpande, Madhav mmdesh at UMICH.EDU
Sat Aug 13 13:39:40 UTC 2011



I think the expression dupada in this context probably does extend beyond humans, though in other places, such as the Pāli expression dipaduttamo or Skt. dvipadāṃ varaḥ, it is most certainly limited to humans.

Madhav M. Deshpande

________________________________________
From: Indology [INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk] on behalf of Artur Karp [karp at UW.EDU.PL]
Sent: Saturday, August 13, 2011 8:13 AM
To: INDOLOGY at liverpool.ac.uk
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] taxonomy question

Aśoka's Edicts again.

Another broad taxonomical division appears in the text of Pillar Edict II.

Delhi-Topra version (Hultzsch,line E): dupada-catupadesu
pakhi-vAlicAlesu vividhe me anugahe kaTe [...].

Amulyachandra Sen's Sanskritized text: dvipada-catuSpadeSu
pakSi-vAricareSu vividhaH mayA anugrahaH kRtaH [...]

- and his translation: "On bipeds and quadrupeds, on birds and aquatic
animals, various benefits have been conferred by me [...]".

It's not clear whether the category "bipeds" includes also monkeys and
apes, and whether animals such as crayfish or water insects are
included in the category of "aquatic animals".

Regards,

Artur Karp





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