[INDOLOGY] Sad news — Masato Fujii passed away

Mon Oct 14 06:26:31 UTC 2024

Very sad to hear this news.  Let us try to continue the great studies and
contributions  to indological  and vedic studies
Dr.Pankaja  R P

On Sun, 13 Oct, 2024, 9:48 pm Shrikant Bahulkar via INDOLOGY, <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> 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.
>>>>
>>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> --
>>>
>>> *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>
>>>
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>>
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