[INDOLOGY] Sad news — Masato Fujii passed away

Sun Oct 13 16:17:24 UTC 2024

Prof. Fujii's photo looks nice.

On Sun, 13 Oct 2024, 21:46 Shrikant Bahulkar, <shrikant.bahulkar at gmail.com>
wrote:

> I too feel very sad at the ununexpected and shocking news of Prof. Fujii's
> death. Thanks, Asko, for circulating that news and a list of his
> publications. Thanks, Jan, for suggesting an addition to the list.
>
> On Sun, 13 Oct 2024, 01:43 Jan E.M. Houben via INDOLOGY, <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> Very sad to read about the sudden and for me entirely unexpected passing
>> away of Professor Masato Fujii.
>> A great loss indeed for Vedic Studies and particularly for the study of
>> the rare Jaiminiya Sama Veda tradition.
>> Thanks, Asko, for this overview of his major publications, which I
>> believe is very complete.
>> We may still add the abstract of his presentation at the Seventh
>> International Vedic Workshop in Dubrovnik (2019) printed on p. 25 of the
>> book of abstracts, "Vedic *aghalá-/akhala-*", in which he refers to all
>> Vedic occurrences of this rare word as well as to the opinions of other
>> scholars (including the opinion which Willem Caland gave in his *Over en
>> uit het Jaiminiya-Bramana* [Amsterdam 1915, in Dutch], viz. that it
>> refers to Rudra). There was perhaps a handout, and it is to be hoped that
>> he has prepared and sent his contribution for publication in the
>> forthcoming proceedings of the Dubrovnik International Vedic Workshop.
>> Condolences to his family, colleagues and students.
>>
>> I attach a photo of Masato Fujii speaking at the Third International
>> Vedic Workshop that took place in Leiden (30 May - 2 June 2002), where he
>> presented the paper "The Bodily Recovery after Death (JUB 3,20-28)" (cp.
>> his 2011 article "The recovery of the body after death: A prehistory of the
>> devayāna and pitṛyāna")
>> (Don't know whether this picture gets through Indology list filters.)
>>
>> Jan Houben
>>
>> On Sat, 12 Oct 2024 at 12:20, Asko Parpola via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> I received from Professor Mieko Kajihara (Tokyo) the sad news that
>>> Professor Masato Fujii passed away yesterday, the 11th of October 2024.
>>> Having worked closely with Masato for decades, I personally feel his
>>> passing as a great and painful loss, for he was a wonderful colleague and
>>> friend.
>>>
>>> Masato Fujii was Professor of Indology at the Institute for Research in
>>> Humanities, Kyoto University from 1993 to March 2020, when he retired at
>>> the age of 65.  Soon afterwards he was diagnosed to have kidney cancer, and
>>> he spent long periods in the hospital as the doctors were able to control
>>> the cancer to some extent. Eventually, however, his cancer spread to liver
>>> and could no longer be checked.
>>>
>>> Masato studied Sanskrit, Buddhism and Indian Philosophy at the
>>> University of Osaka under Professor Noritoshi Aramaki. Aramaki suggested
>>> the Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa and its contribution to Indian philosophy
>>> as the themeforf Masato’s doctoral research. Aramaki also suggested that in
>>> preparation for this task, Masato should study Sāmaveda and its ritual.
>>>
>>> Masato spent the academic year 1984-85 as my student at the University
>>> of Helsinki. We translated into English the Jaiminīya-Śrautasūtra and its
>>> commentary by Bhavatrāta, a Brahmin from Kerala who lived around 700 CE. In
>>> 1985 Masato was part of my research team studying the Gṛhya rituals of
>>> Jaiminīya Sāmaveda and photographing manuscripts of texts belonging to this
>>> Vedic school in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. We continued hunting, documenting
>>> and photographing Jaiminīya manuscripts and history together during many
>>> years until 2006, mostly with Japanese funding obtained by Masato, who
>>> published our cumulative results in 2012. A detailed catalogue of the texts
>>> photographed in 2002-2006 was published in 2016. After our Jaiminīya
>>> project was over, Masato continued documenting the Nampūtiri Vedic
>>> traditions in Kerala with his Japanese colleagues, focusing now of the
>>> Vādhūla school earlier documented by Yasuke Ikari.
>>>
>>>   In 2004, Masato took his doctoral degree at the University of
>>> Helsinki with a thesis entitled *The Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa: A
>>> study of the earliest Upaniṣad, belonging to the Jaiminīya Sāmaveda. *The
>>> official opponent was Professor Henk Bodewitz (Leiden/Utrecht). The thesis
>>> comprised a number of his penetrating papers related to this text, which
>>> remained the main topic of his research until the very end. His truly
>>> monumental critical edition, annotated translation and study of the
>>> Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa has been “almost ready for publication” already
>>> a long time, and will now come out posthumously.
>>>
>>>
>>> Bibliography
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1984. On the unexpressed gāyatra-sāman in the
>>> Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa. *Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies
>>> (Indogaku bukkyōgaku kenkyū)* 32 (2): 1123-1121.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1986. The Bahiṣpavamāna ritual of the Jaiminīyas. *Machikaneyama
>>> Ronso (Philosophy)* 20 (12), Osaka University: 3-25.  [An annotated
>>> English translation of JŚS 1,10-11 and Bhavatrāta's commentary.]
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1987. The Gāyatra and ascension to heaven
>>> (Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa 1,1-7; 3,11-14). *Journal of Indian and
>>> Buddhist Studies (Indogaku bukkyōgaku kenkyū) *35 (2): 1005-1002.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1988. Three notes on the Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa
>>> 3,1-5. *Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku bukkyōgaku
>>> kenkyū)* 37 (1): 1002-994.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1989. Saishoki-upanishaddo-bunken no seiritsu to densho
>>> [On the formation and transmission of the Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa]. *Machikaneyama
>>> Ronso (Philosophy)* 23 (12), Osaka University: 13-25.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1990. Nidōsetsu no seiritsu — kōkivēda no saiseisetsu.
>>> [The formation of the Devayāna and Pitṛyāna theory.] *The Journal of
>>> the Nippon Buddhist Research Association* 55: 43-56.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1991. The Brahman priest (Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa
>>> 3,15-19). *Journal of Indian and Buddhist Studies (Indogaku bukkyōgaku
>>> kenkyū)* 39 (2): 1054-1050.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1994. On the textual formation of the Nīlamata-Purāṇa.
>>> Pp. 55-82 in: Yasuke Ikari (ed.), *A study of the Nīlamata: Aspects of
>>> Hinduism in ancient Kashmir. *Kyoto: Institute for Research in
>>> Humanities, Kyoto University.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1997. Kena-Upaniṣad (= Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa 4,10
>>> [4,18-21]). Pp. 821-842 in: *Imanishi Junkiihi  kyojukanreki kinen
>>> ronshoo: Indo shishoo to bukkyoo bunka *(Collected essays in memory of
>>> the 60th anniversary of Professor Imanishi Junkiihi: Indian Philosophy and
>>> Buddhist culture.) Tokyo: Shunjuusha.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1997. On the formation and transmission of the
>>> Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa. Pp. 89-102 in: Michael Witzel (ed.), *Inside
>>> the texts, beyond the texts: New approaches to the study of the Vedas. *(Harvard
>>> Oriental Series, Opera Minora, 2.) Cambridge, Mass.: Department of Sanskrit
>>> and Indian Studies, Harvard University.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1999. The gâyatra: chanting innovation and Sâmavedic
>>> textual development. Paper read at the Second International Vedic Workshop,
>>> Kyoto 31 Oct 1999 (handout 7 pp.)
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 1999. A common passage on the supreme prāṇa in the three
>>> earliest Upaniṣads (JUB 1,60 - 2,12; BĀU 1,3; ChU 1,2). *Zinbun: Annals
>>> of the Institute for Research in Humanities, Kyoto University,* 34 (2):
>>> 51-86.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2001. The Brahman priest in the history of Vedic texts.
>>> Pp. 147-160 in: Klaus Karttunen & Petteri Koskikallio (eds.), *Vidyārṇavavandanam:
>>> Essays in honour of Asko Parpola.* (Studia Orientalia, 94.) Helsinki:
>>> The Finnish Oriental Society..
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2004. *The Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa: A study of the
>>> earliest Upaniṣad, belonging to the Jaiminīya Sāmaveda.* (Publications
>>> of the Institute for Asian and African Studies, 4.) Helsinki: Institute for
>>> Asian and African Studies, University of Helsinki. 200 pp. Ph. D.
>>> dissertation, University of Helsinki. 200 pp.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2009. The Kena-Upaniṣad and its succeeding portions in
>>> the Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa.  Paper read at the 14th World sanskrit
>>> Conference, Kyoto, 1-5 September, 2009. Handout of 3 pp.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2009-2010. The Gāyatra-Sāman: Chanting innovations in the
>>> Sāmavedic Brāhmaṇas and Upaniṣad. *Zinbun: Annals of the Institute for
>>> Research in Humanities, Kyoto University,* 42: 1-37.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato 2010. Kodai-Indo ni okeru Ōken to Girei. Pp. 114-117 in:
>>> N. Nara and M. Shimoda (eds.), *Bukkyō Shutsugen no Haikei. *Tokyo:
>>> Kōsei-Shuppan.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2011. The Sāmavedic śākhā backgrounds of the
>>> Jaiminīya-Upaniṣad-Brāhmaṇa and the Chāndogya-Upaniṣad: A comparison. Paper
>>> read at the Fifth International Vedic Workshop, Bucharest 20-23 Sept 2011.
>>> Handout 2 pp.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2011. The recovery of the body after death: A prehistory
>>> of the devayāya and pitṛyāna. Pp. 103-120 in: Bertil Tikkanen & Albion M.
>>> Butters (eds.) 2011. *Pūrvāparaprajñābhinandanam: East and West, Past
>>> and Present. Indological and other essays in honour of Klaus Karttunen.*
>>> (Studia Orientalia 110.) Helsinki: The Finnish Oriental Society.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2012. The Jaiminīya Sāmaveda traditions and manuscripts
>>> in South India. Pp. 99-118 in: Saraju Rath (ed.), *Aspects of
>>> manuscript culture in South India. *(Brill's Indological library, vol.
>>> 40.) Leiden: Brill.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, & Asko Parpola 2016. Manuscripts of the Jaiminīya
>>> Sāmaveda traced and photographed in 2002-2006. Pp. 127-162 in: Asko Parpola
>>> & Petteri Koskikallio (eds.), *Vedic investigations.* (Papers of the
>>> 12th World Sanskrit Conference, vol. 1.)  Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2016. The Veda and the Nampūtiri society. Paper read at
>>> the Kickoff International Symposium "Brahmanism and Hinduism: Change and
>>> continuity in South Asian society and religion - prolegomena", Kyoto 11
>>> March 2016. Handout 4 pp.
>>>
>>>
>>> Fujii, Masato, 2020-2021.  Soma and Surā: The Sautrāmaṇī in the Vedic
>>> kingship rituals. Journal of Indological Studies 32 & 33: 1-20.
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
>>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Jan E.M. Houben*
>>
>> Directeur d'Études, Professor of South Asian History and Philology
>>
>> *Sources et histoire de la tradition sanskrite*
>>
>> École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE, Paris Sciences et Lettres)
>>
>> *Sciences historiques et philologiques *
>>
>> Groupe de recherches en études indiennes (EA 2120)
>>
>> *johannes.houben [at] ephe.psl.eu <johannes.houben at ephe.psl.eu>*
>>
>> *https://ephe-sorbonne.academia.edu/JanEMHouben
>> <https://ephe-sorbonne.academia.edu/JanEMHouben>*
>>
>> *https://www.classicalindia.info* <https://www.classicalindia.info>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> INDOLOGY mailing list
>> INDOLOGY at list.indology.info
>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
>>
>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/attachments/20241013/295ddba9/attachment.htm>