[INDOLOGY] Six calamities

Wed Oct 14 22:57:38 UTC 2020

Thanks, Tim.  It is good to know that fire is indeed included in these
other lists, expanding the *bhayas* to eight. Best wishes,

Madhav

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 3:41 PM Lubin, Tim <LubinT at wlu.edu> wrote:

> Dear Madhav, Johannes, et al.
>
>
>
> Fire is indeed included (alongside flood/water) as a disaster or (from the
> point of view of property loss) an “act of God” or “force majeure.”   Thus
> the *Arthaśāstra* 4.3.1–2: [1] *daivāny aṣṭau mahābhayāni: agnir udakaṃ
> vyādhir durbhikṣaṃ mūṣikā vyālāḥ sarpā rakṣāṃsi, iti*.  [2]* tebhyo
> janapadaṃ rakṣet*.
>
> “1. There are eight great dangers arising from fate: fire, water, disease,
> famine, rats, vicious animals, snakes, and demons. 2 He [the king? or his
> Collector (*samāhartṛ*]?] should protect the countryside from these.”
> (trans. Olivelle 2013: 228; see his note on p. 629).”
>
> I seem to recall similar lists in the Nīti literature, though I cannot lay
> my hand on a particular passage at the moment.
>
>
>
> But this sort of list has been received in the Javanese tradition.  For
> example, a manuscript entitled *Aṣṭādaśa Vyavahāra* (Perpustakaan
> Nasional, Jakarta, L. 882) quotes a Sanskrit stanza:
>
>
>
> *deśabhaṅgabhāyāt tyaktaṃ kr̥taṃ *[read:* hr̥taṃ*]* taskarapārthivai[ḥ] |*
>
> *agnidagdhaṃ jalanodaṁ pañcasadaraṇaṃ smr̥taṃ ||* ff. 2v2–3  [read: …
> *pañcasādhāraṇaṃ*…]
>
> What is abandoned from fear of destruction of the country, what is seized
> by thief or prince, what is burnt by fire, [or] what is carried off by
> water — this is known as “the five common [perils].”
>
> This is glossed in Old Javanese prose (ff. 2v3–3r1):
>
> *ka[liṅanya], dr̥vya ikaṅ saṅkeṅ rundahniṅ deśa, kanimitan praṅ katiṅgal
> ikaṅ deśadr̥vya, tinitipakən salviranya, paśu kunaṁ, dr̥vya pinet iṅ
> taskāra maliṅ, dr̥vya pinet de saṅ prabhū, katunv iṅ apūy, dr̥vya keli riṅ
> ve, kahələm kunaṅ, ika ta sahacihna, tan yogya katəmpuhanā riṁ panaṅgapi,
> titipan kaləbu riṅ pañcasadharaṇa, ṅa[ranya].*
>
> This means: Property that, on account of disorder in the locality, because
> of war, is abandoned, property of the locality of all types that is placed
> in trust, or cattle; property taken by a robber [or] thief, property taken
> by the king, [property] burnt by fire, property carried off by water or
> sunken — for things with these characteristics the receiver should not be
> liable; it is called “a deposit sunk in the five common [perils].”
>
>
>
> This classification gets applied in Old Javanese prose format to entrusted
> goods at various points in the famous lawbook (14th c.-ish?) edited by
> Jonker (1885):
>
>
>
> *Kuṭāra Mānava* 8 :
>
> *adṛve titipan, yen pinet denira saṅ amava bhūmi, yen coloṅən deniṅ maliṅ,
> yen bahakən deniṅ voṅ, yen katunon, yen keliya riṅ bañu, yen hilaṅa
> katahurag deniṅ guṅiṅ praṅ, tan vənaṅ iku palakunən denikaṅ atitip, apan
> kapañcasādhāraṇa arane.*
>
> [In the case of] property that has been put on deposit — if it is taken by
> the ruler, if it be stolen by a thief, if it be robbed by someone, if it is
> burnt up (*katunon*) [or] if it be carried away by water, if it disappear
> by being scattered in the heat of war — if the depositor asks for it back,
> he or she has no entitlement [to it], for these are known as “the five
> common [perils]”
>
>
>
> *KM* 211: *riṅ titipan katiṅgal, akāraṇa deniṅ deśa rusak binabak deniṅ
> voṅ, geger deniṅ ratu apraṅ paḍa ratu, iṅalap iṅ maliṅ, katunon , keli riṅ
> bañu, tan paṅəlenana kaṅ tinitipan yen maṅkana, pan kapañcasādhāraṇa arane,
> liṅira saṅ paṇḍita vruh iṅ āgama.*
>
> Regarding a deposit abandoned because of a village destroyed [and]
> plundered by men, [lost] in tumult on account of a king at war with a king,
> taken by a thief, burnt up, carried off by water, what was deposited need
> not be replaced if it is so, for these are known as “the five common
> [perils]” according to scholars knowledgeable in scripture.
>
>
>
> Likewise KM 95.  Cf. Kātyāyana Smṛti 178, 601 and Bṛhaspati Sm. 11.4 for
> other Sanskrit parallels.
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Tim
>
>
>
>
>
> Timothy Lubin
> Jessie Ball duPont Professor of Religion and Adjunct Professor of Law
> 204 Tucker Hall
> Washington and Lee University
> Lexington, Virginia 24450
>
> American Council of Learned Societies fellow, 2020–21
> National Endowment for the Humanities fellow, 2020–21
>
> https://lubin.academic.wlu.edu/
> http://wlu.academia.edu/TimothyLubin
> https://ssrn.com/author=930949
> https://dharma.hypotheses.org/people/lubin-timothy
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *From: *INDOLOGY <indology-bounces at list.indology.info> on behalf of
> INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Reply-To: *Johannes Bronkhorst <johannes.bronkhorst at unil.ch>
> *Date: *Wednesday, October 14, 2020 at 3:09 PM
> *To: *Madhav Deshpande <mmdesh at umich.edu>
> *Cc: *INDOLOGY <indology at list.indology.info>
> *Subject: *Re: [INDOLOGY] Six calamities
>
>
>
> I raise a similar question about the sparsity of epidemics in early
> literature, in “Plagues and Brahmins” (Zysk felicitation volume, Brill
> 2021; has just come out).
>
>
>
> Johannes Bronkhorst
>
>
>
> On 14 Oct 2020, at 19:58, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>
>
> Having experienced terrifying wildfires in California, I wonder why this
> list of ईतिs did not include something like दावानल.  Were such wildfires
> not that common in ancient India?
>
>
> Madhav M. Deshpande
>
> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>
> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>
> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>
>
>
> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Oct 14, 2020 at 9:47 AM Christophe Vielle via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Thank you much, dear Peter, for the reference.
>
> Now I can add the following article  by F. Wilhelm in IT, precisely on the
> topic ("Calamities - a dharma problem?) :
>
>
> http://www.asiainstitutetorino.it/Indologica/volumes/vol23-24/vol23-24_art38_WILHELM.pdf
> <https://nam11.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.asiainstitutetorino.it%2FIndologica%2Fvolumes%2Fvol23-24%2Fvol23-24_art38_WILHELM.pdf&data=02%7C01%7CLubinT%40wlu.edu%7Cc4e3491644f74e96e75c08d87074b0d8%7Cd1a80622a99943e58eb67873905e939e%7C1%7C1%7C637382993775352952&sdata=1f5k8KP54Jwcz3by2RgsnqhBX9S7%2BDYo7Zz0JjlhZ9M%3D&reserved=0>
>
> Anyway, the śloka below (also quoted in a commentary to the final stanza
> of Mālavikāgnimitra, according to Wilhelm) must be earlier than its
> occurrence in the Kṛtyakalpataru and Vīramitrodaya digests.
>
> bw
>
> Christophe
>
>
>
> Le 14 oct. 2020 à 12:05, Peter Wyzlic via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> a écrit :
>
>
>
> Am 14.10.2020 um 11:42 schrieb Christophe Vielle via INDOLOGY:
>
> From which (nīti?)śāstra
>
> could come the following śloka about the six 'īti' :
>
>
>
> ativṛṣṭir anāvṛṣṭir  mūṣikāḥ śalabhāḥ śukāḥ |
>
> pratyāsannāś ca rājānaḥ  ṣaḍ eta ītayaḥ smṛtāḥ ||
>
>
>
> PW gives a slightly different version with a reference to Parāśara,
> according to the Śabdakalpadruma
>
> ativṛṣṭir anāvṛṣṭiḥ śalabhā mūṣikāḥ khagāḥ
>
> pratyāsannāś ca rājānaḥ ṣaḍ eta ītayaḥ smṛtāḥ ..  Parāśara  im Śkdr.
>
>
> Hartmut Scharfe in his "The State in Indian Tradition" (Leiden: Brill,
> 1989, p. 69) refers to Kṛtyakalpataru and Vīramitrodaya. In this list we
> find: deluge, drought, rats, locusts, parrots and kings that are too near
> [to their subjects] (and thus able to satisfy their greed). He refers, too,
> to an older list of calamities in the Arthaśāstra.
>
> Hope it helps,
> Peter Wyzlic
>
> --
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> Christophe Vielle
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