Hindu idea of "hidden" verses in heaven

[elisa freschi]

Just a marginal addition: a comparable idea is also found in  
Pāñcarātra and in Viśiṣṭādvaita, when it is claimed that there  
used to be a single original Veda (ekāyanaveda), of which we only  
possess fragments. Some texts claim to be fragments of this  
ekāyanaveda and the whole theory probably aims at claiming a Vedic  
status for the Pāñcarātra (Marzenna Czerniak-Drożdżowicz spoke  
about the ekāyanaveda in the last WSC).
The ekāyanaveda-theory  is sometimes found in connection with the  
Prābhākara Mīmāṃsā claim that beside the Veda we know there is  
another Veda which is nityānumeya (always only inferable [through  
other works which are too good not to be rooted in the Veda]). Since  
this is only inferable, it does not exist as such in heaven or in any  
other "world".

Best,
  elisa freschi


Dr. Elisa Freschi
research fellow of Sanskrit
Facoltà di Studi Orientali
Università di Roma 'La Sapienza'
via Principe Amedeo 182b, 00185 Rome (Italy)
fax +39 06 49385915
http://elisafreschi.blogspot.com
http://uniroma.academia.edu/elisafreschi



On 14/feb/12, at 16:16, Dean Michael Anderson wrote:

> I first ran across this idea when reading the Kathasaritsagara of  
> Somadeva.
>
> It says that the number of verses in the extant text are only a  
> subset of a larger text that exists in heaven. Depending on the  
> situation on earth a different number of verses might manifest.
>
> I've since run across it in passing in some tantric writings as well.
>
> Does anyone know the origin of this idea of a large heavenly corpus  
> in contrast to a smaller earthly one? Or have any citations for  
> texts that mention it?
>
> Best,
>
> Dean



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