Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra
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The Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra (BSS) is a Hindu text. It was probably written in eastern Uttar Pradesh. It belongs to the Black Yajurveda. It was first published in English in 1904-23 by the Asiatic Society of Bengal. It was first translated by Willem Caland into an European language. [1]
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[edit] Pururava-Uruvashi legend
The BSS refers to the Pururava-Uruvashi legend, a legend that is also recounted in other Hindu texts.[2] The legend tells the story of Pururava and Uruvasi, their separation and their reunion. After they were separated, Pururava wandered in the Kurukshetra region and performed sacrifices. BSS 18:45 and Satapatha Brahmana 11.5.1 suggest that the wanderings of Pururava took place in Kurukshetra.[3][4]
Pururava and Uruvasi had two sons, Ayu and Amavasu. According to Vadhula Anvakhyana 1.1.1, Yajna rituals were not performed properly before the birth of Ayu.[5]
[edit] BSS 18:44 controversy
Indologists and other scholars have noted that "there is no textual evidence in the early literary traditions unambiguously showing a trace of" an Indo-Aryan migration.[6] However, a translation by M. Witzel of one passage of the BSS has been invoked as definite evidence. This passage was the object of much controversy. It was called a direct statement in favor of the Aryan Migration Theory (AMT):
- Then, there is the following direct statement contained in (the admittedly much later) BSS (=Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra) 18.44:397.9 sqq which has once again been overlooked, not having been translated yet: “Ayu went eastwards. His (people) are the Kuru Panchala and the Kasi-Videha. This is the Ayava (migration). (His other people) stayed at home. His people are the Gandhari, Parsu and Aratta. This is the Amavasava (group)” (Witzel 1989a: 235).[7]
According to historians like Romila Thapar this passage contained literary evidence for the Aryan migration theory.[8] The historian Ram Sharan Sharma argued that this passage is "the most explicit statement of immigration into the Subcontinent." [9]
However, in 1998 the Indologist Koenraad Elst criticized Witzel's translation of the BSS passage and stated: "Far from attesting an eastward movement into India, this text actually speaks of a westward movement towards Central Asia, coupled with a symmetrical eastward movement from India's demographic centre around the Saraswati basin towards the Ganga basin." [10] He noted that "the most precise endeavour to show up an explicit mention of the invasion turns out to be based on mistranslation."[11] The passage was later examined by other Indologists like George Cardona, Hans Hock and Toshifumi Goto, who also disagreed with Witzel's translation. Willem Caland, C.G. Kashikar and D.S. Triveda also translated the passage like Elst.[12]
It has been claimed that Witzel reacted to the BSS controversy by giving misleading and mutually contradictory explanations. He asserted for example that it was a printing error that was due to the editor of the volume (George Erdosy).[13] However, the BSS passage was an important part of his argumentation in favor of the AMT, which was also published in three of his publications over a period of eight years (Witzel 1995, 1989, 1987). [14]
Elst noted that "the fact that a world-class specialist has to content himself with a late text like the Baudhayana Shrauta Sutra, and that he has to twist its meaning this much in order to get an invasionist story out of it, suggests that harvesting invasionist information in the oldest literature is very difficult indeed." [15] Since the correct translation of this passage is disputed, and because the BSS is a comparably late text[16], the BSS can not be used as definite evidence for an Indo-Aryan migration to India.
[edit] Notes
- ^ Caland's edition was reprinted in 1982.
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is There Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India?
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is There Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India? (PDF)
- ^ In some ancient Hindu texts, the boundaries of Kurukshetra correspond roughly to the state of Haryana. Thus according to the Taittiriya Aranyaka 5.1.1., the Kurukshetra region is south of Turghna (Srughna/Sugh in Sirhind, Punjab), north of Khandava (Delhi and Mewat region), east of Maru (=desert) and west of Parin. Agarwal, Vishal: Is There Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India? (PDF)
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is There Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India? (PDF)
- ^ e.g. Cardona 2002
- ^ (Witzel 1995)
- ^ Agarwal 2001
- ^ Ram Sharan Sharma. Advent of the Aryans in India. Manohar: New Delhi 1999.
- ^ Elst 1999
- ^ Elst 1999
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is there Vedic evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India [1]; Agarwal, Vishal. (2001) The Aryan Migration Theory Fabricating Literary Evidence [2]
- ^ Agarwal 2001
- ^ Agarwal 2001
- ^ Elst 1999: 164-165
- ^ Agarwal, Vishal: Is there Vedic evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India
[edit] References
- Agarwal, V. On Perceiving Aryan Migrations in Vedic Ritual Texts: Puratattva (Bulletin of the Indian Archaeolgical Society), New Delhi, No. 36, 2005-06, pp. 155-165 (.doc)
- Agarwal, Vishal. "Is there Vedic Evidence for the Indo-Aryan Immigration to India?", Dialogue (Journal of Astha Bharati, New Delhi), vol. 8, No. 1, July-September 2006, pp. 122-145 [3]
- Agarwal, Vishal. (2001) The Aryan Migration Theory Fabricating Literary Evidence [4]
- Caland, Willem. 1903. “Eene Nieuwe Versie van de Urvasi-Mythe”. In Album-Kern, Opstellen Geschreven Ter Eere van Dr. H. Kern. E. J. Brill: Leiden, pp. 57-60
- The Baudhāyana Śrauta Sūtra belonging to the Taittirīya saühitā, ed. W. Caland, Bibliotheca Indica 163, Calcutta: Asiatic Society of Bengal, 1904–1924 (2nd ed. with new appendix containing many text improvements [prepared by Radhe Shyam Shastri], New Delhi).
- Cardona, George. The Indo-Aryan languages, RoutledgeCurzon; 2002 ISBN 0-7007-1130-9
- Elst, Koenraad; “The Vedic Corpus Provides No Evidence for the so-called Aryan Invasion of India”; 28 October 1998.
- Elst, Koenraad. (1999) Update on the Aryan Invasion Theory ISBN 81-86471-77-4
- Kashikar, Chintamani Ganesh. 2003. Baudhayana Srautasutra. 3 vols. New Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass/IGNCA. ISBN 81-208-1852-0 Review
- Lal, B. B. (2005) The Homeland of the Aryans: Evidence of Rigvedic Flora and Fauna and Archaeology.
- Triveda, D. S. 1938-39. “The Original Home of the Aryans”. In Annals of the Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute, vol. XX, pp. 49-68
- Tushifumi Goto. ‘Pururavas und Urvasi” aus dem neuntdecktem Vadhula-Anvakhyana (Ed. Y. Ikari)’. pp. 79-110 in Tichy, Eva and Hintze, Almut (eds.). Anusantatyai; J. H. Roll: Germany (2000)
- Talageri, Shrikant. The Rigveda: A Historical Analysis. 2000. ISBN 81-7742-010-0 [5]
- Michael Witzel, Rgvedic history: poets, chieftains and politics, in: Language, Material Culture and Ethnicity. The Indo-Aryans of Ancient South Asia, ed. G. Erdosy, Berlin/New York (de Gruyter) 1995, 307-352. --- On the Localisation of Vedic Texts and Schools; pp. 173-213 in “India and the Ancient World” ed. by Gilbert Pollet; Departement Orientalistiek; Keuven; 1987 --- Tracing the Vedic Dialects; in Dialectes dans les literatures indo-aryennes; Publications de l’Institute de Civilization Indienne, Serie in-8, Fascicule 55, ed. by C. Caillat; Diffusion de Boccard; Paris; 1989
