In July 10 – 14, 2006 the 13th World Sanskrit Conference was held at the University of Edinburgh . It was organized by IASS (International Association of Sanskrit Studies) & Asian Studies (LLC), The University of Edinburgh.

Organising Committee: John Brockington (Chair), Paul Dundas (Secretary), Janet Pearse (Secretary to the organising committee).

Participant from the Institute - Dr Safarali Kh. Shomakhmadov. Vasubandhu’s “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” and Buddhist Concept of Royal Power (On a material of some Buddhist Sanskrit and Pàli texts). The report was given at the Section 9 - Buddhist Studies.

The program of the Conference is as follows.

13th WORLD SANSKRIT CONFERENCE

Section 1 - Veda

Taraknath Adhikari. Some irregular features in the Sayanabhasya of the Atharvaveda

Nabanarayan Bandyopadhyay. Evaluation of Daksina items with reference to Mulyadhyaya

Soma Basu. Offensive and Defensive Weapons - Military Science in the Vedic Period

Didhiti Biswas. The Significance of Horse in the Vedic Religion and Culture Brian Black The Dialogical Self in the Early Upanisads

Joel Brereton. The Early Evolution of the Purohita Kana Chattopadhyay A Liturgic and Symbolic Study of Cayana

Shrimanta Chattopadhyay. Classification of Rgvedic Female Deities

Nilanjana Sikdar Datta. An Analytical Study of an Oral Text - The Rgveda Madhav Deshpande Predicament of the Maitrayani community in Maharashtra:Migration, Acculturation and Identity Crises

Silvia D'Intino. The Skandasvamibhasya on the Rgveda: Observations on the introductory portion of the commentary

Tamara Ditrich. Stylistic and Typological Analysis of Coordinative Nominal Constructions in the Rgveda

S. Einoo Laszlo Forizs. Dirghatamas II: Analysis of the Dirghatamas cycle (RV 1.140-164) and of 1.164.46

Masato Fujii. The Purohita and the Brahman Priest

Cezary Galewicz. On ritualized patterns of collective recitation among Nambudiri Rgvedins: the case of Trisandha

Arlo Griffiths. 'To fart' in Vedic: the roots kard and sardh

Stephanie Jamison. Sacrificer's Wife in the Rig Veda: Ritual Innovation?

M. Jezic. Kausitaki-Upanisad: its teachings and its text history

Joanna Jurewicz. The "small scale" transmigration in the Rgveda?

Mieko Kajihara. The Godana Ritual and the Vedavratas

W. Knobl. On the Concessive Meaning of Sánt- in Vedic Frank Köhler Mapping the poet in the Rgveda

Murlimanohar Pathak. Elements of creation in the minor cosmogonic hymns of the Rgveda

Theodore Proferes. Fire in the Waters and the Alchemical King

Ferenc Ruzsa. Is the Cosmic Giant an Indo-European Myth?

Adela Sandness. To open the double doors of rta: a study of dvarav rtasya in Rgveda 7.95 to Sarasvati

Umesh Chandra Sharma. The Legend of Dirghatamas

Frits Staal. Cardinal Numbers in the Veda

Jarrod L. Whitaker. Masculinity and Violence in the Rgveda: Reconsidering the roles of nar, vira, and sura

Section 2 - Epics

Vidyut Aklujkar. The Locus of the Ananda-Ramayana

Nicholas Allen. Bharata genealogy: the core parent-generation males

Supriya Banik Pal. Women in the field of education as projected in the Mahabharata: a re-interpretation

Horst Brinkhaus. The 16,108 Wives of Krsna in the Harivamsa

John Brockington. "Then in his warlike wrath Rama bent his bow": weaponry of the early Ramayana

Mary Brockington. "Surprise, Surprise!" Authors' stratagems and audiences' expectations in the Ramayana

Simon Brodbeck. Strange brides and hunting incidents in the Bharata patriline

Vita Antonella Cosi. Upamas occurring in speeches: "abusive" similes in the Sabhaparvan and Karnaparvan

Gopal Krishna Dash. Role of Krsna in the Mahabharata

Danielle Feller. Bhima's quest for the golden lotuses (Mbh.3.146-153)

James L. Fitzgerald. The Manifesto of "Samkhya-Yoga" at MBh 12.289-90

Robert P. Goldman. Rules of Engagement: War Crimes, Raksasa rights and the Political and Military strategies of the Great Sanskrit Epics

Sally Sutherland Goldman. Nikumbhila's Grove: Raksasa Rites in Valmiki's Ramayana

James Hegarty. What need has he of the waters of Puskara? Tirtha and the Narrative Construction of Significant place in the Mahabharata

Alf Hiltebeitel. Mapping Bhakti through Friendship in the Sanskrit Epics

Paolo Magnone. Uttanka's quest Angelika Malinar Duryodhana's praise

Laurie L. Patton. "How do you conduct yourself": dialogical gender in the Mahabharata

Wendy Phillips-Rodriguez. Unrooted trees: a way around the dilemma of recension

San Sarin. Question of dharmayuddha in the Mahabharata

Adheesh Sathaye. Textual Performance: The embedding of Visvamitra legends in the Sanskrit Epics

Sven Sellmer. The heart in the Mahabharata

Urmi Shah. A Comparative Study of Polity in the Nitiprakasika and the Ramayana

J. S. Sheldon. Homeric resonances in Sanskrit epic: a review of the evidence and its implications

John Smith. Consistency and character in the Mahabharata

Przemyslaw Szczurek. Juggling with atman: a few remarks on Bhagavadgita 6.5-6

Lynn Thomas. From the ocean bed to the rule of heaven: a comparison of the two main epic accounts of the vrtrahatya

Yaroslav Vassilkov. The boar shakes the mud off: a specific motif in the varaha-katha of the Great Epic and Puranas

Section 3 - Puranas

Greg Bailey. Misogynistic texts in Jataka S36 and Mbh.13, 38040: A Comparative Study

Alka Bakre. A glimpse into Gender inequality as reflected in the main Puranas

Peter Bisschop. Two parallel passages in the Vayupurana and the Skandapurana

David Buchta. Novelty in Bhagavata Exegesis

Shrutidhara Chakravarty. Searching the real identity of Gopis in the light of the Bhagavatapurana

Mimma Congedo. The varaha-katha of the Great Epic and Puranas

André Couture. The Emergence of a Group of Four Characters

Nicolas Dejenne. Master or Disciple? The Perpetual Oscillation of ciranjivin Parasurama between Guide and Disciple

Anita Ray. Savitri and narrative representations of the feminine

Elizabeth Mary Rohlman. Narrative Variants and Regional Identity in the Sarasvati Purana

Stella Sandahl. The Seven Oceans in the Puranas and elsewhere

Sandra Smets. When a pauranika is influenced by a bhasyakara:...

Renate Söhnen-Thieme. Ramayana stories in the Brahmapurana and other puranic sources

Lakshmi Swaminathan. Narayaniyam: The Essence of Bhagavatam

Kenneth Valpey. Bodies Monstrous, Bodies Divine: Corporal Transformations and Humor in the Bhagavata Purana

Christophe Vielle. The editio princeps of the Jaiminiyasamhita of the Brahmandapurana, Madhyamabhaga

Yuko Yokochi. From the Skandapurana to the Devimahatmya

Section 4 - Agamas and Tantras

Andrea Acri. New Data on the Vaimala Sect of the Pasupatas from Old Javanese sources

Marie-Luce Barazer-Billoret. Diptagama and installation ceremonies

Christelle Barois. Some notes on the vidyapithapratistha and the vidyadana in the Saiva tradition

Gudrun Bühnemann. Linga and Caityas in Cremation Ground Representations

Marzenna Czerniak-Drozdzowicz. Visnusamhita's classification of the devotees and explanation of the name Pancaratra

Ronald Davidson. Observations on the problem of secret signs in the Tantras: an essay in criticism

Thiagarajan Ganesan. Pauskaragama: Its importance for systematisation of early medieval Saivasiddhanta

Eva Glasbrenner. Cakra system and tantric ritual in Virasaivism

Advaitavadini Kaul. Esoteric significance of saradi

Kameshwar Nath Mishra. Vimalaprabha and the Language of Buddhist Texts

Lubomir Ondracka. The Concept of Body in Natha-Siddha Tradition

Henri Schildt. The application of the ayadi formulae in the Kerala Taccusastram

Silvia Schwarz Linder. The relevance of rupa and murti for the doctrine of God of the Padmasamhita

Vijay Rajopadhyay. A Rare Manuscript on Dasamahavidya

Section 5 - Vyakarana

Ashok Aklujkar. Patañjali's yathalaksanam aprayukte

Emilie Aussant. Proper name analysis. The points of view of paninian grammarians

Sharon Ben-Dor. The Parabhasa

Jim Benson

Sudeshna Bhattacharjya. A Relative Study on the concept of Samjna and Paribhasa in the light of Siddhantakaumudi

Maria Piera Candotti. Les laisons dangereuses: naming-prodecure and substitution in early Sanskrit grammarians

Chaitali Dangarikar. Helaraja on Eight Padarthas

Radhamadhab Dash. A concordance among Paninian, Candra and Bhoja-vyakarana: some observations

M.G. Dhadphale. On the name Vakyapadiya

Shankarji Jha. Variety of implications of Sanskrit case endings

Eivind Kahrs

Malhar Kulkarni. Malayalam manuscripts of the Kasikavrtti : A study

K. Maheswaran Nair. Efficacy of Saravasvata in lieu of Paniniya as Sanskrit Grammar

Rebecca Manring. Jiva Gosvamin's Hari-namamrta-vyakarana

Shinobu Mase. Nagesa on the paribhasa asiddham bahirangam antarange

H. R. Mishra. Attempts in Grammar by the Sanskrit Dramaturgists and Poeticians

Sharda Narayanan. Vak in Bhartrhari: Threefold or Fourfold?

Hideyo Ogawa. Bhartrhari of incommunicable things

Bhagyalata Pataskar. Yaska's Reflections on the 'meaning of a word'

Tiziana Pontillo. Once again on 'vyakti-vacane' in Astadhyayi 1.2.51

Vanitha Ramaswamy. Syntax as the basis for morphology in the Paninian system

Peter M. Scharf. Paninian accounts of the class eight presents

Harmut Scharfe. Panini's grammar as icon

Ram Karan Sharma. The Invisible in Panini

M. Wielinska-Soltwedel. The Bengali Tradition of Panini's Grammar

Section 6 - Linguistics

Hassan Rezai. Baghbidi Linguistic Peculiarities of the Sanskrit Translation of the 13th Chapter of the Skend Gumanig Wizar

Vit Bubenik. On the Rise and Remaking of the Middle Voice in Anatolian and Indo-Iranian

Eystein Dahl. The relationship between lexical aspect and grammatical tense in the Vedic verbal system

Marcis Gasüns. Approaches to the Sanskrit Root

Toshifumi Gotõ. salam as 'to live in the hut' in the Satapathabrahmana

Mark R. Hale

Heinrich Hettrich. Some remarks on the adverbal genitive in Rgvedic Sanskrit

Hans Hock. Vedic Verb Accent Revisited

Gary Holland

Jared Klein. Sequential Negation in the Rgveda

Masato Kobayashi

Thomas Krisch

Martin Kümmel. Laryngeal traces without laryngeals in Vedic metre?

Alexander Lubotsky

Boris Oguibenine. Spoken Sanskrit and Buddhist Sanskrit

Georges-Jean Pinault. About the 'double possessive' compounds in the Vedic language

José Luis García Ramón. Polymorphic Presents in the Rg- and Atharvaveda

Christiane Schaefer

Elizabeth Tucker. The 'competition' in the RV and AV between stems in -in and stems in -vant derived from thematic nouns

Michael Witzel

Calvert Watkins. Two tokens of Indo-Iranian Hieratic Language

Sabine Ziegler. The nomina converbalia in the Rgveda: Towards a functional and syntactical hierarchy of participles, gerunds, infinitives and agent nouns

Section 7 - Poetry, Drama and Aesthetics (including panels on poetics, on the theory and practice of dance and drama and on continuity and novelty)

Pratap Bandyopadhyay. Grammatical Speculations in Sanskrit Literary Criticism

Hari Narayana Bhat. The Balaramayana of Rajasekhara and later Indian literary critics

Giuliano Boccali. Ocean in kavya

Anna Bonsoli Alquati. The Structure of Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa

Mandakranta Bose. The authorship of Sangitanarayana

Mans Broo. Drama in the Service of Krsna: A Comparative Study of Rupa Gosvamin's Natakacandrika

Satyanarayan Chakraborty. Study of Sanskrit Poetics in Bengal - Ancient to Modern

Laksahira Gugoi Chutia. Vatsalyarasa in the works of Kalidasa

David Gitomer. Ethics and Aesthetics in Sanskrit Dramatic Criticism: an overview

François Grimal. Rajacudamani Diksita's Kavyadarpana

M.A. Jayashree. Gamaka as expressed in Manasollasa with an attempt to compare it with western classical music

Klaus Karttunen. Bees in Classical India

Mohendra N. Kundu. Dhvani and Tatparya

Rani Majumdar. 'Staging the Ratnavali in 9th Century Varanasi: Damodaragupta's Description in the Kuttanimatam'

David Mellins. Unraveling the Kavyaprakasa: Jayadeva Piyusavarsa's idiosyncratic sequencing of topics in the Candraloka

Klara Gönc Moacanin. Natyasastra's Purvaranga - ritual or a part of natya's performance?

Marina V. Orelskaya. Sanskrit to English Dictionary of Dance Terminology

Deven Patel. Sabhaparvan and Karnaparvan

Shubha Pathak. The Divine Character of Poetic Creativity in Rajasekhara's Kavyamimamsa

Heidi Pauwels. Metre and oral formulae in selected songs of Gitagovinda and Bhagavata Purana

Cinzia Pieruccini. Landscapes of Feelings: The Forest of the Ramayana

Mariola Pigoniowa. Some lamentation passages in Sanskrit Kavya

Chittur Seshadri Radhakrishnan. The Language of Eyes in Literature

Chettiarthodi Rajendran. Is Rasa an Illusion? A Study in Mahimabhatta's Aesthetics

Daniela Rosella. Travelogues of the Heart: The Genesis and Development of the Sanskrit Messenger-Poems

Sakti Roy Chowdhury. The Unifying Role of the Songs of Jayadeva's Gitagovinda

Peter Sahota. Mirror of Experience: Some conventions of descriptive imagery in Sanskrit fiction

Hari Dutt Sharma. The Concept of Symbolism and Sanskrit Poetry

David Smith. Descriptions of dance in the Mahakavyas

Lidia Sudyka. Campus and mahakavyas written by women: Varadambikaparinaya-campu, Madhuravijaya, Raghunathabhyudaya, Santanagopalakavya

Bruce Sullivan. Dying on the Stage in Classical Sanskrit Drama

Radhavallabh Tripathi. Rasa Theory Revisited

Section 8 - Scientific Literature

S. Balachandra Rao. A Comparative Study of the Procedures of Three Astronomers of the early 16th century: Copernicus, Nilakantha Somayaji and Gangesa Daivajña

Eugen Ciurtin. Circuit of Aliments and Metabolization of Karma in Sanskrit Ayurvedic Samhita

Vijaya Deshpande. Beliefs, aspirations and accomplishments of the medieval Indian alchemist as depicted in Rasopanisad

Martin Gansten. Nadiya Divination and Indian Astrology

Amrit Gomperts. The Muhurtalaksana: A brief text of Time of Day, Gnomonic Shadow and Divination from Java, compared to the Inscriptions and the Sanskrit

Atmajyotisa Makoto Kitada. The Body of a musician: Embryology and Anatomy in the Indian Classical Musicological Literature

Nand Lal Jain. Botanical Sciences in Early Jain Scriptures

James McHugh. The Art and Science of Perfumery (gandhayukti) in the Nagarasarvasva of Padmasri

Kim Plofker

B. Rama Rao. Some Unpublished Ayurveda Nighantus from Andhra

K Ramasubramanian. The Notion of Proof in Indian Science

Sreeramula Sarma. Yantraraja at Edinburgh: on a Sanskrit Astrolabe made for Manirama in 1644 AD

Gyula Wojtilla. Ratnasastra in Kautilya's Arthasastra (KA)

Section 9 - Buddhist Studies

Daniel Boucher. Gandhari and the Early Chinese Buddhist Translations: A Reappraisal in Light of New Finds

Alice Collett. Avadanasataka: the fluidity of text and the problem of genre

António Ferreira-Jardim. On the Outer: investigating the relationship between an early Buddhist description of meditative praxis and the early mainstream Brahmanical corpus

Oliver Freiberger. Blind Ascetics or True Ascetics? Early Buddhist Strategies of Dealing with Non-Buddhists

Rupert Gethin

Natalie Gummer. The Dramatics of the Dharma: Rasa in the Suvarna(pra)bhasottamamasutra

Ananda Guruge. Who was Upagupta's Asoka?

Maria Heim. Moral Agency in the Abhidharma: a close look at cetana

Shinichiro Hori. Fragments of the Lalitavistara from Central Asia

Seishi Karashima. Who were the icchantikas?

Toshihiko Kimura. The Upayahrdaya and the Early History of Indian Logic

Ulrich Kragh. Popular Images in 7th century Madhyamaka Commentaries: Candrakirti's appropriation of the Goose-King

Karen Lang. Candrakirti's prescription for treating the three poisons

Yong-hyun Lee. Re-editing the Nispannayogavali: Textual Problems

Mudagamuwe Maithrimurthi. The four brahmaviharas in the Aryavimalakirtinirdesasutra

Daniele Masset. From Taming to drunkenness: images of the elephant in Indo-Tibetan literature

Taiki Motomura. vastu and nimitta in the Yogacarabhumi: in connection with the three-nature theory as found in the Madhyantavibhagabhaya

Ramanath Pandey. The Theory of Nondistinction between the means and the result of cognition

Satya Prakash Sharma. An Analytical Study of Parittas and Paritta Suttas

Safarali Shomakhmadov. Vasubandhu’s “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” and Buddhist Concept of Royal Power (On a material of some Buddhist Sanskrit and Pàli texts)

Peter Skilling

Frederick Smith. The Use of Demonologies in the Buddhist Avistacestavidhiparavartah

Section 10 - Jaina Studies

Nalini Balbir

Satya Ranjan Banerjee

Jagat Ram Bhattacharyya. Concept of Brahmacarya in Jainism

John Cort. In Defence of Icons in Three Languages: The Iconophilic Writings of the Seventeenth-century Svetambara Murtipujaka Tapa Gaccha Monk Yasovijaya

Eva De Clercq. Krsna in the Svetambara canon

Paul Dundas. An Early Anti-Paurnamiyaka Polemical Work: Ajitadevasuri's Mohonmulanavadasthanaka

Anna Aurelia Esposito. Life before life before life: an exceptional perspective on Jina Usabha's biography

Peter Flügel. The Sammet Sikhara Case

Sin Fujinaga. On Nigoya

Olle Qvarnström. Early Jain and Buddhist Critique of Samkhya Philosophy

Jayandra Soni. Upayoga, according to Kundakunda, Umasvati and Vidyanandin

Kristi Wiley. The Significance of Adhyavasaya

Robert Zydenbos

Section 11 - Philosophy (including panels on Sastrarambha and New Directions in the Study of Yoga)

Akihiko Akamatsu. Perspectivism and its background in Indian Philosophy: Bharthari and Mallavadin

Piotr Balcerowicz. Some Remarks on the Opening Sections in Buddhist and Jaina Epistemological Treatises

Johannes Bronkhorst. The Carvakas and the Vedic tradition

Mikel Burley. The Relevance of Samkhya Metaphysics to Yoga Meditation

Jenni Cover. Bodehasara by Narahari: a previously untranslated Sanskrit text: a contribution to the emerging picture of eighteenth-century India

M. Delhey. Bauddha-Sastra

Evgeniya Desnitskaya. Grammar vs. Ontology in Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya

Vimia Devi. The Relevance of Patanjali Yoga in Modern World

Bogdan Diaconescu. Udayana on God and the Veda

Koji Ezaki. Jnanasrimitra, Udayana and Sri Harsa

Edeltraud Harzer. On the Sources of Non-Propositional and Propositional Perception

Jan Houben. Mallavadin and the Grammarians

Knut Jacobsen. What Similes in Samkhya

Do Ram Nath Jha. The Theory of Meaning in Yoga Philosophy

Sung Yong Kang. Text Transmission of Nyayabhasya and its Relevance to History of Early Nyaya

Yohei Kawajiri. The Pratyabhijna school's criticism of the Sautrantika

Kesiraju V. V. Rao. Significance of the Verse 'karmany evadhikaras te' in the Bhagavadgita in Achieving Global Peace

Hisayasu Kobayashi. The Proof of the self-luminous Nature of a Cognition

Shashiprabha Kumar. Nihshreyasa in vyomavati

Oliver Lamers. Modification of ritual details (uha) in the Prabhakara-School of Purvamimamsa as depicted in the Dipasikha of Salikanatha Misra

Victoria Lysenko. The Structure of the Perceptive Act: Dignaga, Prasastapada and Grammarians

Philipp Maas. Opening the Patanjalayogasastra and its premodern commentaries

Niradbaran Mandal. The role of Yoga in various systems of Indian Philosophy

Shuchita Mehta. Practical approach of the ethical principles of Upanisads

Christopher Minkowski. Why should we read the Mangala-verses?

Andrew Nicholson. Vijnanabhiksu on the Concordance of Yoga and Vedanta

Monika Nowakowska. Artha and anartha in Mimamsa

Trichur Rukmani. The problematic of Samadhi in Sadananda's Vedantasutras

Stuart Sarbacker. Patanjala Yoga and/as Cosmology

Rajendra Nath Sarma. The Mimamsa Concept of Akanksa as the Basis of Syntactic Unity

Marcus Schmücker. Sastrarambhanupapattiprasanga in Venkatanatha's Satadusani

Olga Serbaeva. Yoga from the Yogini's Point of View

Anna-Pya Sjödin. Tarka in Vallabha's Nyayalilavati and the Nyaya-vaisesika tradition: general problems and concerns

Walter Slaje. 'In the Guise of Poetry' - Kalhana Reconsidered

Jacqueline Suthren Hirst. Who were the tarkikas?

Fernando Tola and Carmen Dragonetti. The genesis of the universals in Prasastapada and the genesis of the principia prima in Aristotle

Gary Tubb. Philosophical Beginnings in Sanskrit Treatises on Poetics

Toshiya Unebe. Bhartrhari's remark and related discussions in Nyaya and Buddhist treatises

Toshihiro Wada. A Rule of Substitution in Navya-nyaya: x-vat-tva and x

Alexander Watson. Jayanta Bhatta on the question of whether the self can be perceived

Ian Whicher. Kaivalya in the Yoga Sutra

Nataliya Yanchevskaya. Concept of Time in Bhartrhari's Vakyapadiya

Section 12 - History, Epigraphy and the Arts

Daud Ali. A fragmentary Gahadavahala prasasti at Gangaikondacolapuram

Hans T. Bakker. Thanesar, early Pasupata and the Skandapurana

Stefan Baums. An inscribed Buddhist plaque from Merv

Whitney Cox. Another look at Naralokavira's Cidambaram prasasti

Partha Pratim Das. Naga Habitation in Bengal: Epigraphic Evidences

Sadananda Das. Saudhikagama on Town Planning

Oskar von Hinüber. The Cultural Context of the Inscriptions from the Upper Indus

S.R. Leela. Foreign Trade in Ancient India as reflected in the Arthasastra of Kautilya

Vincent Lefèvre. Portraits in the Silpasastra and Related Texts

Isabella Nardi. Evaluating Indian art: suggesting a Sastric analysis of the image of Sri Nathji in Nathdvara miniature painting

Jason Neelis. Onomastic Patterns in Indian Buddhist Inscriptions

Saveros Pou. Satya, sapatha and saksi in Cambodia's tradition

Chandra Shekar Purohit. The rajaprasasti inscription at Raj Samand near Udaipur

Saraju Rath. Numerals in Grantha Manuscripts

Richard Salomon. Radiocarbon Dating of Gandharan Manuscripts: Results of New Tests

Annette Schmiedchen. Religious Patronage and Poltical Power: The Ambivalent Character of Royal Donations in Epigraphy

Bharati Shelat. The Sanskrit Inscriptions of the Reservoirs of Gujarat

Ingo Strauch. Indian Traders on the Island of Socotra (Yemen): new materials from the 2006 expedition

Michael Willis. Hero-stones from Terahi: inscriptions and the iconography of death

Section 13 - Law and Society

Madan Mohan Agrawal. Custom as legal evidence

Mikael Aktor. The 'Grammar of Defilement' Revisited: Comparing Rules of prayascitta with Rules of asauca

Torkel Brekke. The Motivation of Asvatthaman: Ethics of War in the Sauptikaparvan of the Mahabharata

Donald Davis. Maxims and Precedent in Classical Hindu Law

Domenico Francavilla. Through Words and Practices: smrti, sadacara, and the Transmissions of the Knowledge of dharma

Mari Jyväsjärvi. Parivrajikas and Pravrajitas: Mapping the Semantic Categories of Ascetic Women

Ethan Kroll. Early Modern Contributions to the Sanskrit Philosophy of Property

Timothy Lubin. Priestly and Royal Authority in Hindu Law

Werner Menski. On Vyavahara

Patrick Olivelle. Images and Texts: The Visnu-Smrti and Kashmiri Art

Sofarali Shomakhmadov. Duties of a King in Brahmanical religio-legal tradition

Federico Squarcini. Punishing in Public: imposing moral self-dominance in juridical Sanskrit sources

Section 14 - Culture and Tradition (including panels on International Digital Sanskrit Library Integration, pedagogical issues in teaching Sanskrit, Russian scholars on the structure of a canonical text, and Sanskrit and computing)

Natalia Aleksandrova. Writings of Chinese Pilgrims and the Indian Textual Tradition

John Casey. The Use of Sanskrit in Modern Yoga

Christopher Key Chapple. Sanskrit for Adult Learners

Maxim Fomin. Buddhist Canonical Texts on Ideal Kingship: Morality and Righteousness

Jost Gippert. Towards an online retrieval system for the Vedic language

Minoru Hara. Hindu Concept of Sleep, nidra and svapna

Gérard Huet Parsing. Sanskrit by Computer

Malcolm Hyman. A Computational Approach to Sanskrit Morphology and Phonology

Mahmoud Jaafari-Dehaghi. Translations of the Sanskrit text of 'Suka Saptati' into Persian

Warwick Jessup. Teaching Sanskrit as part of a school curriculum

Birgit Kellner. The Indian Logic Knowledge Base (ILKB) - an interim project report

Dermot Killingley. Texts for Beginners

Suryaprakash Kompalli. Design of a stochastic framework for font-independent Devanagari OCR

Samniang Leurmsai. Metaphysics and Ethics as seen in the Bhagavadgita and Buddhacarita

Amarjiva Lochan. Champa and Vietnam: Sanskrit Inscriptions Calling

Sombat Mangmeesukhsiri. Obsolete or Essential? A Case study of Sanskrit Studies in Thailand

Òscar Pujol. A new Sanskrit dictionary: The Sanskrit-Catalan Dictionary

Shuk Dev Sharma. Narahari: the Commentator of Naisadhiyacaritam of Sriharsa

McComas Taylor. Truth and Power in Sanskrit literature: A study of discourse in the Pañcatantra

Gerd Unruh. Some results of the EU-India project: Development of an Intelligent Cognitive System for Sanskrit based on Indian Logic

Victoria Vertogradova. Image and Text in the Culture of Ancient India (Lotus rosette in relievo and verbal text)

Yevgenyi Vyrshchikov. Ambattha and the Buddha: struggle between religious-philosophical teaching in ancient India and the peculiarities of its reflection in the Pali canon

Toru Yagi. On the Kiratarjuniya 2.45: Yapayati Reconsidered

Ousaka Yumi. A new Meter Analysis in Middle Indo-Aryan on the Basis of Neuro Network Assisted by Discriminant Analysis

Yuriy Zavhorodniy. The Study of Indian Philosophy in Ukraine

Natalia Zheleznova. The Schisms in Buddhist History: a fresh approach

Dar Zhutayev. Concerning the Structure of the Early Buddhist Doctrinal Text (Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit, Pali)

Sastracarcasadas

organised by Professor V. Kutumba Sastry and including:

Ram Murti Sharma. Bharatiya darsane aksara svarupam

Kavisammelana

Radhavallabh Tripath (presiding)

 Ram Karan Sharma

Shriniwas Rath

Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra

Deepak Ghosh

ShreeBhashyam Vijay Sarath

Shatavadhani R Ganesh

Shri Jagannatha Pathak

Bhaskaracharya Tripathi

Pushpa Diksit

Haridatta Sharma

Harshadev Madhav

Ichcharam Dwivedi

Janardan Prasad Pandey 'Mani'

K. C.Dash

C. S.Radhakrishnan

Asha Gurjar

Participants attending without presenting a paper

Leonid Bolshov

François Chenet

Bruno Dagens

Elizabeth De Michelis

Paul Douglas

Michael Fahmy

Gavin Flood

Leonid Goldman

Mareike Heinritz

Angela Hohenberg

Yasuke Ikari

Tomoyuki Kono

Petteri Koskikallio

Peter Larsson

Colin Mackerras

Alana Macmillan

Usha Mehta

Nandadulal Moghe

Anne Monius

Andrew More

Primoz Pecenko

Irma Piovano

Brian Richardson

Ulrike Roesler

Bou Samyos

Rita Schubnell

Markus Schuepbach

Meera Shah

Siegfried Lienhard

Malgorzata Sulich

Viktoria Szabo

Muneo Tokunaga

Asha Rani Tripathi

Caroline Widmer

Sabina Zahn

Gabriele Zeller

Report given by Dr S.Shomakhmadov 

Safarali Shomakhmadov (St. Petersburg Branch of Institute of Oriental Studies, Russian Academy of Sciences, Russia). Vasubandhu’s “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” and Buddhist Concept of Royal Power (On a material of some Buddhist Sanskrit and Pàli texts)

The Buddhist Concept of Royal Power was originated on the basis of archaic ideas about connection of religious and royal functions in a figure of the leader of a social community, and after passing of stages religious-ideological narrative and initial logical systematization this concept found the completed form as a philosophical reflection about a picture of the world and about a role of the political leader in distribution and reproduction of Buddhist normative regulation of human activity. In the socio-political aspect this concept presents the South Asian variant of the doctrine about charismatic domination, and it is focused on a refutation of the right of Brahmanic priests on legitimation of sovereigns.

The Buddhist Concept of Royal Power in the completed form is contained in treatise of Vasubandhu “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” (Abhidharmakosha) (IV – V AD). This text is the fundamental source of Buddhist philosophical idea, containing result of previous development of all set of socio-political ideas of Ancient India. The Sanskrit original of Vasubandhu’s “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” long time was considered lost, but it was found in Tibetan monastery Ngor in 1935. Vasubandhu submitted the Buddhist Concept of Royal Power in the third section of the treatise - Loka-nirdesha (“The Teaching about the world”). In this text the typology of Universal Monarchs (chakravartins) is submitted, criteria of the legitimate introduction of the applicant for universal domination in the status of chakavartin and finding of chakra (a symbol of universal power) as attribute of charismatic domination are formulated.

According Vasubandhu's “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” appearance of chakravartin precedes appearance of Buddha: the Universal Monarch creates the empire for the sermon of ten good acts.

In the Concept of the Universal Monarch Vasubandhu adheres to canonical ideas about similarity of chakravartin and Buddha. Both, Buddha and chakravartin, possesses attributes of the Great Person (Mahapurusha), but Buddha is higher than chakravartin because he turns the Wheel of the Buddhist Teaching. It is marked, that Buddha's treasure of chakra is the Noble Eightfold Path called “Wheel of Dharma” (dharmachakra), about it is spoken in the sixth volume of “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” – Aryapudgalamarga ("The Doctrine about the Way of the Noble Person").

About chakravartins Vasubandhu formulated a position synthesizing Buddhist Canonical ideas. The Universal Monarch has various degrees of Power which correspond to Gold, Silver, Bronze or Iron chakras. Possession of these chakras corresponds to Power over four, three, two or only one continents accordingly.

Then criteria of finding by king of the status of chakravartin are considered. It is emphasized, that these criteria were summarized by Vasubandhu according texts of Buddhist Canon. So, the applicant for the status of chakravartin can be legitimate sovereign only, he must be a kshatriya from clan of Universal Monarchs. Time appropriate for finding of chakra is the fifteenth day of lunar month, Uposhadha. King, the applicant for the status of chakravartin, should observe Vinaya, the Buddhist disciplinary code. A unique place appropriate for finding of chakra is the royal palace. The applicant, staying in the residence, correlate with god Shakra (Buddhist analogue of Indra), whose palace settled down in the centre of the world, at top of mountain Meru. Presence of experts is necessary at the certificate of finding of chakra. There are worthy ministers of sovereign that is those who should become a “staff” of the new Universal Monarch, the Buddhist charismatic leader.

Chakra itself should satisfy six attributes of visual-sign conformity. It looks like a wheel with thousand spokes, with a nave and a rim. On appearance of chakra observers are convinced of its perfection in every respect. Looking on chakra delivers the aesthetic pleasure expressed by an epithet “fine”. Chakra is not human-made object, it is “divine”.

Then Vasubandhu adduces the position about exception of synchronous appearance of two chakravartins. And ways of finding of universal domination are analyzed. The authority of chakravartin, holder of gold chakra, is established over four continents due to that small sovereigns initiatively express readiness to accept his domination over their lands. Silver chakravartin finds authority over three continents, personally coming in those lands which wish to attach to the empire, and their kings modestly obey him. The owner of bronze chakra comes to small kings of two continents and arranges the indicative battles similar to sports meets with predetermined victorious outcome. And only iron chakravartin, establishing the domination over one continent, clanks by weapon, threatening to apply surpassing military force.

The establishment of domination of any of four chakravartins gets value of the missionary action as the Universal Monarch preaches all living beings for ten good ways of activity in the won territories.

But this Buddhist concept of Royal Power formulated in the Buddhist post canonical period is based on ancient Vedic tradition and on texts of a Buddhist canon.

In hymns of Rigveda the Royal Power was interpreted as the special substance (kshatra) having a divine origin, and priesthood was interpreted as the cumulative keeper of this substance.

In the text of Mahabharata and in the text of Katyayana's Shrautasutra the Royal Power was considered as domination over the universe – space and time which cosmic completeness symbolically was affirmed in ritual complexes ashvamedha (sacrifice of a horse) and rajasuya (imperial inauguration). By virtue of it king (as donor) was endowed with the status of the Universal Monarch – chakravartin, that is king «Who, rotates a wheel».

The sphere of ideas about Royal Power included also the sevenfold state structure including, except for sovereign, also minister, people, a fortress (a multifunctional imperial residence), treasury, an army, allies (kings of allied-vassal territories).

The representative of aristocratic military (kshatriyan) clan admitted as the legitimate applicant for a throne, the lineal descendant of king – chakravartin. But the act of finding of the Supreme authority could be carried out by him only at will of Brahmins. Also king could be a representative of Brahmins class.

According to Kautilya's Arthashastra and Dharmashastra of Narada, the duty of imperial service (dharma of noble king) consists in maintenance of safe existence of citizens, that is in maintenance of socio-political way which promotes strict reproduction to Vedic religious-ideological tradition.

Functions of king were classified on three directions – political, judicial and military. Standards of ideal sovereign were developed by brahmanic theorists and included the list of excellent personal qualities and traditional virtues (validity, kindness, bravery, scholarship). Brahmins acted as preceptors and teachers of a king in study of basics of Sacred Vedic Canon, study of the schedule of ritual practices and science of ruling (dandaniti). This science was interpreted as a «teaching about punishment», that is to say teaching about discipline established by means of a rod (sanskr. “danda” – “stick”).

The great attention in preparation of sovereign was devoted to practice of finding of “full self-control” – restraining of excitements. This practice draws a king together with yogin (the religious ascet) and is considered as necessary by a condition in achievement of the perfect domination over citizens.

The statement of a king in the status of chakravartin meant a symbolical conquest of the universe – the act of an establishment of domination over space and time and unction of the applicant for the Supreme power by sacred waters (a ceremony abhisheka), carried out by priest.

Such structure of political problematic (ideas about royal power), formed in prebuddhist period, had great influence on formation of Buddhist doctrine about chakravartin. But substantial aspects of this problematic received new interpretation already at a stage of fixation of the first part of Buddhist canon (Tripitaka) – Sutra-pitaka.

Sutras of the first part of Tripitaka, narrating about Universal Monarchs, are classified by us in three groups for definition of substantial specificity of Buddhist ideas about Royal Power. In first of them we included the texts revealing the reasons of loss “glories and greatness” of sovereign that indicate a nature of chakravartin's power. According to these texts, the authority of the Universal Monarch is a derivative from the restraining of excitements achieved in the last lifes. And wonderful birth of the chakravartin-king appearing on light not from mother but from the certain part of a body of the father testifies to it.

The second group of texts consists of narratives about fundamental imperfection of any human activity, including activity of chakravartin because it is realized in sansara – the world of suffering which by definition can not be perfect. The religious-ideological dominant of these texts consists in the statement of the thesis about inability of sovereigns to provide reproduction of good traditions without means of Buddhist ideologists as only tradition of Buddha can not be stopped.

Into third group of texts are incorporated sutras, indicating on signs and attributes of chakravartin. The analysis of these sutras has shown, that already at a stage of fixation of the first part of the Buddhist Canon the image of the Universal Monarch mediately associated with Buddha through introduction of idea about Great Person (Mahapurusha). The Great Person is the individual who possesses from birth thirty two special attributes and can choose one of two ways of realization of the charismatic applicability: secular or religious. In the first case he becomes the Universal Monarch, and in the second – the religious leader of universal scale, that is Buddha.

Attributes of chakravartin – a wheel (chakra), the elephant, a horse, the jewelry, the wife, the treasurer and the minister/military leader are treated as «seven treasures» and testify that their owner is the Universal Monarch. Receipt of chakra, spontaneously coming to sovereign, defines him as chakravartin.

Reconstruction of Buddhist ritual of the imperial inauguration based on the analysis of texts of the first part of Buddhist canon, has allowed to establish that ritual of imperial inauguration was performed in accordance with a Buddhist sacral calendar. And this ritual comprised derivatives of Vedic inaugural ceremonialism – the rethought acts of symbolical conquest of the universe and unction (abhisheka). In Buddhist imperial inauguration priesthood didn’t play any role, military character of ritual lost the expressiveness, and unction was accomplished for chakra by king himself.

Initial conceptualization of Buddhist ideas about Royal Power has taken place at a stage of fixation of the third part of the Buddhist Canon - Abhidharma-pitaka that is to say during creation of canonical treatises. It has found the expression in development of typology of Universal Monarchs differentiating depending on extensiveness of subject territories and ways of an establishment of domination; in formation of lines of genealogical continuity of the status of chakravartin, beginning from mythological characters of sutras and finishing to real historical personnels; in religious-ideological reinterpretation of Vedic personages as ancestors of clans of Buddhist chakravartins; in an establishment of new domain of definitions of traditional old Indian political terminology (kshatriya, raja, Mahasammata).

Substantially all these directions of conceptualization of Buddhist ideas about Royal Power had the one purpose – full elimination of Brahmins from all spheres of socio-political life of a society.

Final fixation of the Buddhist concept of Royal Power was finished during early Middle Ages. In the completed form this concept appeared in the postcanonical treatise “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” by Vasubandhu (IV - V AC). Vasubandhu accentuated charismatic features of the Universal Monarch, giving an account of the doctrine about finding of chakra (symbol of authority over chakravala that is all world). The author of “Encyclopedia of Abhidharma” summarizes positions of Sutra-pitaka, Vinaya and Abhidharma, formulating criteria of definition of the Universal Monarch as the charismatic political leader not requiring priestly forms for legitimation of his authority. Vasubandhu emphasizes that chakravartin always is born in famous Shakya's clan in which Buddha Shakyamuni was born, and the purpose of their board – sermon to citizens for ten good ways of activity.