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With best wishes,
Adheesh
—
Dr. Adheesh Sathaye
Dept. of Asian Studies
University of British Columbia
408-1871 West Mall
Vancouver BC CANADA V6T1Z2
+1.604.822.5188
Subject: Re: [INDOLOGY] clearer Q re: vidūṣaka?
Date: October 5, 2016 at 16.37.08 PDT
It doesn't have to be one or the other. I would propose that the word vidūṣaka embodies a pun, and "means" simultaneously both "wise[-guy]" and "spoiler." Something like the sense of "sophomore" = wise fool.
Rich Salomon
On 10/6/2016 12:38 AM, Stefan Baums wrote:
Dear Jo,
Is there any other way to derive vidūṣaka from
vidvāṁs -- perhaps involving some speculative
etymologizing?
J.C. Wright suggested just such a derivation via
Middle Indo‐Aryan on p. 21 of his 1965 (published
1966) SOAS inaugural lecture (“Non‐Classical Sanskrit
Literature”):
Other features, notably the highly stereotyped
figure of the pedant (Sanskritized vidūṣaka, i.e.
vidús, Prakrit vidū), and the basic structure of
the dramatic genre, reflected to some extent in
the theory and practice of classical Kāvya, will
have a more distant origin [i.e., more distant
than Buddhist literature].
(This is the passage referred to from Mayrhofers KEWA
s.v. vidūṣakaḥ with the unresolved abbreviation
„Wright, NCSL 21“.)
All best,
Stefan