[INDOLOGY] "On the Literature of the Hindus" ?

[Walser, Joseph]

My thanks to all who have responded to my query, both publically and privately.
-j

Joseph Walser
Associate Professor
Department of Religion
Tufts University

________________________________________
From: INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] on behalf of Smith,Travis LaMar [tlsmith at ufl.edu]
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 5:33 PM
Cc: Indology
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] "On the Literature of the Hindus" ?

Dear All,

While I can't help with the rest, the quoted text is Gītā 15.1.

-Travis

--
Travis L. Smith
Assistant Professor
Department of Religion
University of Florida


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From: INDOLOGY [indology-bounces at list.indology.info] on behalf of George Thompson [gthomgt at gmail.com]
Sent: Monday, August 12, 2013 5:26 PM
To: Herman Tull
Cc: Indology
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] "On the Literature of the Hindus" ?

Dear Herman and list,

Looking at my Vedic Concordance, I see a resemblance in this passage to TA 1.11.5a, to the text or translation of which I do not have access right now.

Best,

George T

On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 4:52 PM, Herman Tull <hermantull at gmail.com<mailto:hermantull at gmail.com>> wrote:
Joseph:

I too recently was looking for information on Caul. The article, according to Rosane Rocher, is written by Caul, with a commentary by JOnes:I found just one reference: "Though he [Jones] obtained from Govardhana Caul, the Kashmiri Brahman newly appointed pandit to the Supreme Court, the brief account "On the Literature of the Hindus," which he presented to the Society on the 4 May 1787, in the longer commentary he [Jones] appended..." (Rocher, ("Weaving Knowledge: Sir William Jones and the Indian Pandits" 1995: 59)

The commentary (Jones's section) begins "The first chapter of a rare Sanscrit Book, entitled VidyAdersa, or a View of Learnings is written in so close and concise a style, that some parts of it are very obscure..."

I presume, then that the title of the book being cited is "Vidyadersa" (perhaps, "Vidya-darsha" but with Jones's odd orthography, which at the time was often based on Bengali pronunciation).  He also then quotes the beginning of the text:
[Inline image 1]
(p. 104 of Volume 2, Asiatick Researches, London, 1792 edition)

I have no idea what text this might be, but perhaps others will recognize it.

Some help, I hope...

Herman


On Mon, Aug 12, 2013 at 3:55 PM, Walser, Joseph <Joseph.Walser at tufts.edu<mailto:Joseph.Walser at tufts.edu>> wrote:
I have been reading the 1791 essay "On the Literature of the Hindus" (sometimes attributed to Wiliam Jones, but seems to be by Govardhan Caul). The first part of it seems to be a translation of a Sanskrit text that, at least in the French version of the same essay, the translator renders "Science universelle pratique & speculative." Does anyone know what text he is translating?

Cheers,



-j





Joseph Walser

Associate Professor

Department of Religion

Tufts University



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--
Herman Tull
Princeton, NJ

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