[INDOLOGY] Request for help - materiality of texts and textual production

[Madhav Deshpande]

Changing depictions of Sarasvatī [vīṇāpustakadhārinī] holding a book may be
illustrative of some changes. Similarly, Brahmā is shown sometimes as
holding four pothis of the Vedas. A verse like "pustakasthā tu yā vidyā
parahastagatam dhanam / kāryakāle samutpanne na sā vidyā na tad dhanam //"
is indicative of the emergence of written materials.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


On Mon, Aug 12, 2024 at 11:21 AM Howard Resnick via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Hi McComas,
>
> I will mention a point that is quite tangential to your core interest, but
> perhaps of some interest. In the Gauḍiya Vaiṣṇava tradition, we find a
> number of anachronistic descriptions of writing, in relation to ancient
> times when writing is not attested in South Asia.
>
> One example is the well know līlā from the Bhāgavata-purāṇa,
> daśama-skanda, in which Princess Rukminī engages a brāhmaṇa to deliver a
> message to Kṛṣṇa in Dvāraka, begging him to rescue her from an arranged
> marriage to Śiśupāla. The celebrated Gauḍīya sage Rūpa Gosvāmī depicts
> Rukminī as sending a written message to Kṛṣṇa. The Bhāgavatam text itself
> describes an oral message. There are other examples up to the present day
> where the Gauḍīya tradition, and probably others, describe written
> communications from events long before any evidence of such writing in
> South Asia.
>
> So, it seems that anachronistic claims of writing illustrate an
> ahistorical, contemporizing approach to ancient stories. Another example
> seems to be the well known story that Gaṇeśa wrote the Mahābhārata as Vyāsa
> dictated, a story not found in most MBh recensions. Of course, actual
> writing is a big game-changer, both in stabilizing oral traditions, and
> also creating a sense of historical dimensions and layers.
>
> Sorry for the departure from your main interest here.
>
> Best wishes,
> Howard
>
> On Aug 11, 2024, at 6:44 PM, McComas Taylor via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Dear colleagues
>
> What has been written about the materiality of texts and textual
> production in the realm of Sanskrit literature? I am interested to find out
> about the ways in which 'books' as physical artefacts and writing as a
> practical process are addressed in Sanskrit literature.  There is plenty on
> the history of writing and epigraphy, but I have not yet been able to find
> much on 'the book' etc - I would be very grateful for any references.
>
> Thanks in advance,
>
> McComas
>
>       [image: Outlook-do1rdomd.png]        [image: Outlook-cxner3ua.jpeg]
> *McComas Taylor, *Professor of Sanskrit
> College of Asia and Pacific, Australian National University
> Secretary-General, International Assoc. of Sanskrit Studies
>
>
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