Hi Madhav,

I wrote my PhD dissertation (hopefully soon to be a book) on the Aparokṣānubhūti and have come to think that it was probably written closer to the late fifteenth to mid-sixteenth century, as part of the growing Advaitic response to the increased output of haṭhayoga texts. While the Dīpikā commentary is attributed to Vidyāraṇya, it also seems to be later and unlikely to have actually been written by him.

This would support the idea of upanetra as referring to some sort of magnifying lens, which seems to have been introduced by the Portuguese in the 15th century (see Birch, Jason. 2011. “The Meaning of haṭha in Early Haṭha Yoga.” p. 540, fn. 98).

Best wishes,

Zoë

Zoë Slatoff, Ph.D.

Clinical Professor of Sanskrit

Loyola Marymount University

On Oct 10, 2023, at 8:08 PM, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:

In his Aparokṣānubhūti verse 81, Śaṅkarācārya says: sūkṣmatve sarvavastūnāṃ sthūlatvaṃ copanetrataḥ. Here, some modern interpreters have interpreted the word upanetra as referring to eye-glasses or some lens that enlarges the view. I am just wondering about the history of lenses and eye-glasses around the time of Śaṅkara. An allied question will be the date and authorship of Aparokṣānubhūti. Any information and references are appreciated.

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]

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