[INDOLOGY] bandhanāṣṭaka/bandhāṣṭaka/pāśāṣṭaka

[Alex Watson]

Dear Peter

Just in case you're not aware of it, Sanderson's (2006: 57ff.) "The Date of
Sadyojyotis and Bṛhaspati" deals with the the Haravijaya's use of the
terminology and authoritative texts of various Śaiva systems, in particular
Saiddhāntika scriptures and works by Sadyojyotis and Bṛhaspati.
About the Haravijaya he writes:
"This contains in its sixth chapter a long hymn to Śiva (6.13-187) in
which the poet has Spring praise that deity as the true nature of the
diverse highest realities venerated in India’s religious systems, using the
terminology of each and working in paraphrases of formulations found in
their authoritative texts. Among these systems is the Siddhānta, though
nothing so prosaic as an explicit statement to this effect is allowed to
compromise the obliquity required of fine verse composed for the
delectation of the court. In the verses of the hymn that draw on the
Siddhānta we can detect echoes of the scriptures
Svāyambhuvasūtrasaṅgraha, Rauravasūtrasaṅgraha, and
Mataṅgapārameśvara, and also of Sadyojyotis’ Svāyambhuvavṛtti and
Bṛhaspati’s Śivatanu."

He goes on to give specific cases, for example Haravijaya 6:161 is based on
Sadyojyotis' Svāyambhuvavŗtti ad 3:16, and Haravijaya 6:139 is based on
Svāyambhuvavŗtti ad 3:11–13.  However the article does not help with
6:170 or the verse cited in the commentary ad loc.

I have found numerous verses beginning prākṛto vaikṛtaś caiva (mostly in
Purāṇas and Āyurvedic texts) and some verses beginning sāttviko rājasaś
caiva (for example in the Śāntiparvan of the Mahābhārata) but none of these
give a list of 8.

Yours Alex


> From: Peter Mukunda Pasedach <peter.pasedach at googlemail.com>
> To: indology at list.indology.info
> Cc:
> Date: Tue, 31 May 2016 13:33:27 +0200
> Subject: bandhanāṣṭaka/bandhāṣṭaka/pāśāṣṭaka
> Dear all,
>
> I am working on the sixth chapter of Ratnākara's Haravijaya, together with
> its commentaries by Alaka and Utpala. It is an ode to Śiva in which he is
> praised with reference to a wide variety of systems and their texts known
> at that time (Kashmir, 9th century). Thus the commentaries contain many
> quotations that Ratnākara might have had in mind when composing his verses,
> quite some of which I haven't been able to identify yet so that I would be
> happy for pointers. Here is one:
>
> In verse 170, ending a pañcabhiḥ kulakam,
>
> pratipadya śaṅkara bhavantam avyayaṃ
> sukhaduḥkhamohaparihīṇacetanaḥ |
> vyativṛttatantumayabandhanāṣṭako
> bhagavan bhavān iva bhavaty aṇuḥ sphuṭam || 170 ||
>
> there is mention of a bandhanāṣṭaka escaping which the aṇu becomes like
> Śiva. Referring to which the commentators Alaka and Utpala quote the
> following:
>
> prākṛto vaikṛtaś cāpi (A, U: caiva) āhaṃkārika eva ca |
> sāttviko rājasaś caiva tāmasaś cāparaḥ smṛtaḥ ||
> dharmādharmātmakaś ceti paśor bandhāṣṭakaṃ bhavet |
> (A, U: dharmādharmamayaś ceti paśoḥ pāśāṣṭakaṃ bhavet |)
>
> It has been suggested to me that the quotation might come from a tantric
> or Śivadharma milieu.
>
> A parallel idea of eight bondages is described in Kulārṇavatantra
> 13.90-91, but the set there is completely different:
>
> ghṛṇā saṅkā  bhayaṃ lajjā jugupsā  ceti pañcamī |
> kulaṃ śīlaṃ tathā jātir aṣṭau pāśāḥ prakīrtitāḥ || 90 ||
> pāśabaddhaḥ  pāśur jñeyaḥ  pāśamukto  maheśvaraḥ |
> tasmāt pāśaharo yas tu sa guruḥ paramo mataḥ || 91 ||
>
> Best,
>
> Peter
>
> --
Alex Watson
Professor of Indian Philosophy
Ashoka University
*https://ashokauniversity.academia.edu/AlexWatson
<https://ashokauniversity.academia.edu/AlexWatson>*


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