Papers by Ivan Andrijanić
Acta Asiatica Varsoviensia, 2023
Śaṅkara is traditionally considered the author of an exceptionally large number of works. Indolo... more Śaṅkara is traditionally considered the author of an exceptionally large number of works. Indological scholarship has attempted to filter out some of these works within traditional philological and historical frameworks. Many were, however, taken for granted to be authentic, and no serious research into their authenticity has been conducted. This paper attempts a computational stylometric approach to establish the authenticity of prose commentaries attributed to Śaṅkara. The General Imposters (GI) framework appears to be the most suitable existing method developed for the purpose of verifying authorship. The GI calculates the statistical distance between certain texts' features and estimates whether the disputed text is closer to the candidate author than to a set of texts that may not have been composed by him. The paper also presents a machine-based method for separating the words and resolving the sandhi in the Sanskrit text, crucial for the procedure. The success rate in verifying authors of undisputed texts appears to be acceptable enough to proceed to the next step, where 18 prose commentaries traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara are subjected to the GI verification procedure. The result conforms to the most conservative assessments of Śaṅkara's authorship; GI verified the authenticity of the commentaries on the principal Upaniṣads (with the exception of the commentary on the Śvetāśvataropaniṣad) and on the Bhagavadgītā. Besides these, commentaries on the Nṛsiṃha-(pūrva)-tāpanīyopaniṣad and the Adhyātmapaṭala were, rather unexpectedly, also successfully verified as genuine works of Śaṅkara.
Between Language and Literature: Hindi in Classroom and Beyond, 2024
This paper focuses on the sound changes governing the formation of cardinals in Modern Standard H... more This paper focuses on the sound changes governing the formation of cardinals in Modern Standard Hindi. Sound changes belong to the different MIA languages and their stages of development are distinguished from developments that took place in the NIA stage where many special sound changes appear. These changes display many irregularities that affect only numerals. A close inspection of sound development will reveal that not only sound laws participate in the formation of Hindi numerals, but that different types of irregularities appear in many cases. Irregularities include consonant doubling, loss of nasalisation and analogical contamination that appear only in numerals. Of these irregularities, analogical contamination played a crucial role. The unpredictability of such analogical changes eliminates the possibility to predict the form of the Hindi cardinals by relying on OIA and MIA material. Only one thing appears to be quite certain regarding analogical contamination: it appeared in the NIA period, after the Apabhraṃśa stage, probably at some early date of the NIA period.
Disputatio Philosophica: International Journal on Philosophy and Religion, 2023
The article examines the authorship and dating of Ātmabodha, a popular philosophical poem that, i... more The article examines the authorship and dating of Ātmabodha, a popular philosophical poem that, in a popular and poetically imaginative manner, expounds on the main teachings of the Indian philosophical school of Advaita Vedānta. Although traditionally attributed to the renowned philosopher Śaṅkara (8th century), the article presents arguments for placing the work several centuries after Śaṅkara. In addition to the state-of-the-art stylometric method, the General Imposters Framework, which does not recognize Ātmabodha as Śaṅkara's work, Ātmabodha also does not meet Hacker's colophon criterion. The paper places particular emphasis on instances of post-Śaṅkarite doctrinal and terminological developments in Ātmabodha, specifically in the comprehension of the concept of ignorance, alongside the introduction of later terminology and concepts. The available evidence suggests a tentative dating of the work between the 11th and early 14th centuries.
Obnovljeni život 78 (V), 2023
U članku se prvo razmatra kako se u najstarijim brahmanističkim izvorima gleda na osobnost zametk... more U članku se prvo razmatra kako se u najstarijim brahmanističkim izvorima gleda na osobnost zametka i na pitanje kada život u nj ulazi. Dalje se razmatra odnos prema namjerno izazvanome pobačaju u vedskim izvorima i u pravnim tekstovima dharmaśāstrama. One se nadovezuju na vedske izvore kada prijestup namjerno izazvana pobačaja izjednačuju po težini s ubojstvom brahmana, ali i s ubojstvom ātreyī, plodne brahmanske žene jer se pobačaj najčešće razmatra u kontekstu brahmanskoga društvenoga staleža.
Medhótá śrávaḥ II: Misao i slovo, Zbornik u čast Mislava Ježića povodom sedamdesetoga rođendana, 2023
The paper discusses the Persian translation of the Īśā-upaniṣad from 1657, which is found in Sirr... more The paper discusses the Persian translation of the Īśā-upaniṣad from 1657, which is found in Sirr-i akbar. With the help of Brahmanical scholars from Benares, Sirr-i akbar was composed by Dārā Šukūh, the eldest son of the Great Mughal Šāh Jahān. A comparison of the Vedic original and its Persian translation reveals that the Persian text follows the Vedic original, but also contains numerous additions in the form of glosses and interpretations that systematically bring the text closer to Sufi teachings. The interpretations and glosses are (rather unexpectedly) only slightly in line with Śaṅkara’s commentary from the 8th century. The Persian translation shows that in some parts Šukūh understood the text quite differently than Śaṅkara, which reveals their significantly different goals and motives for interpreting the text of Īśā-upaniṣad. This supports the thesis that Dārā Šukūh did not only order, but also authored the work. The Persian transcription of Old Indian terms reveals Neo-Indo-Aryan phonetic changes and closeness to Braj pronunciation, suggesting that Dārā Šukūh might have translated the text from Vedic to Persian with the help of Brahmanical scholars through a common colloquial language.
Vedic Roots, Epic Trunks, Purāṇic Foliage. Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas DICSEP publications, vol. 7, 2023
This paper explores the use and function of the vocatives used by Bṛhadaśva to address Yudhiṣṭhir... more This paper explores the use and function of the vocatives used by Bṛhadaśva to address Yudhiṣṭhira and their possible role in fitting the story into the Mahābhārata. These vocatives, outside of the main Nala story, are a direct formal link to the main plot. Verses in which vocatives appear can be distributed broadly into two groups. The first, somewhat larger group consists of external vocatives that appear in formulaic verses used either to introduce or conclude various narrative units, such as chapters, direct speech, or flow of thought. The second group consists of vocatives that appear in the narrative parts themselves. As they are an integral part of the story, these are examined closely. Special attention is paid to stanzas with vocatives that R.M. Smith identifies as interpolations, which contain repetitions of words and phrases from the surrounding text (a phenomenon Ježić refers to as duplication repetitions). In later manuscripts, many words are replaced with external vocatives, indicating that a number of vocatives that appear as part of narration may be of such origin. The distribution and function of external vocatives and some late features of the story indicate the hypothesis that the story was incorporated into the Mahābhārata in its developed form, but that it was subsequently reworked and further adapted.
Medhótá śrávaḥ I: Felicitation Volume in Honour of Mislav Ježić on the Occasion of His Seventieth Birthday, 2023
In his papers dealing with the text-history of the Bhagavadgītā, Mislav Ježić proposes an approac... more In his papers dealing with the text-history of the Bhagavadgītā, Mislav Ježić proposes an approach based on the analysis of the repetition of words and expressions that occur in passages that appear to have been reworked or in new parts of the text that have been inserted. Ježić thus classifies repetitions into two categories: continuity repetitions and duplication repetitions. Continuity repetitions resume a topic and belong to the same text sequence, while duplication repetitions repeat something while giving new connotations to repeated expressions. Duplication repetitions indicate text expansion in terms of addition and interpolation. Based on this repetition typology, Ježić elaborates a detailed text history of the Bhagavadgītā. This paper will explore the question of whether repetitions like those identified by Ježić can also be found in examples of interpolations not included in the critical edition of the Mahābhārata. In this sense, examples of later interpolations into the didactic (examples from the Bhagavadgītā and Sanatsujātīya) and narrative (Sabhaparvan) parts of the Mahābhārata will be presented and discussed.
Roma as an Indian Diaspora – Unbreakable Ties: Proceedings of the conference "Roma as an Indian Diaspora – Unbreakable Ties”, 10 – 12 April 2022, 2023
This article presents the brief remarks of Filip Vesdin (Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo) on the o... more This article presents the brief remarks of Filip Vesdin (Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo) on the origin of the Roma and their language in his work Viaggio alle Indie Orientali (1786), together with the reactions of the translators and editors of his work to his remarks. Vesdin advocates the theory of the Indian origin of the Roma, although he is mistaken in his belief that the Roma migrated from India after Timur’s conquest of Delhi in 1398. He also connects the Romani language with the Old Indo-Aryan language, and considers Romani a Sanskrit “dialect”. Vesdin based these conclusions on his observation of similarities between Romani and Hindustani words in Heinrich Grellmann’s word list. In comments accompanying the translation of Vesdin’s book into French, Anquetil-Duperron criticises the idea of the kinship between Romani and Old Indo-Aryan. In the translation of Vesdin’s work into English, Johnston (1800) agrees with Vesdin and Grellmann, quoting William Jones. This paper outlines the fundamental difference in Vesdin’s and Anquetil-Duperron’s approach to the idea of linguistic kinship, the history of language, and philology. Vesdin is a pre-modern forerunner of historical and comparative linguistics, unlike Anquetil-Duperron, who opposes the historical approach by highlighting broader cultural issues.
Science, Art and Religion, 2022
In this paper, Paul Hacker’s idea of inclusivism and its distinction from tolerance will be probl... more In this paper, Paul Hacker’s idea of inclusivism and its distinction from tolerance will be problematized; but not before the very notion and idea of tolerance are discussed, that might actually be conditioned by modern worldview and experience. Paul Hacker argues that Hinduism is not tolerant but an inclusivist religion and that a tolerant religion can only be one where a clear difference between ”itself” and ”other” is established. The article will present examples of Bhagavadgītā, which corresponds to Hacker’s notion of inclusiveness, and the example of Dārā Šukūh, which corresponds to the concept of tolerance. However, while tolerance is a concept developed in the Western cultural and religious milieu, in Hinduism, there are many examples of inclusivism without the hierarchization of included concepts. That is why this paper would propose to postulate two types of inclusivism, one with hierarchy and the other without. An example of inclusivism without hierarchization might be Ramakrishna. The conclusion is that the situation is complex and that both types of inclusivism, the one with hierarchization and the one without, have the potential to regulate the daily practice of toleration in society.
Oriental Studies: Global and Local Perspectives. Bareja-Starzyńska, Agata (ed.) Warsaw: Polish Academy of Sciences, Series of the Committee of Oriental Studies, pp. 11-23, 2022
In the currently unpublished study "The general imposters framework and the authenticity of Śaṅka... more In the currently unpublished study "The general imposters framework and the authenticity of Śaṅkara's prose writings", Ivan Andrijanić and Jacek Bąkowski subject the entire corpus of prose writings traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara to the General Imposters framework, a stylometric method of authorship verification. This statistical test proved the more conservative estimates of Śaṅkara's authorship correct. However, somewhat unexpectedly, the authorship of the commentary on Adhyātmapaṭala, the eighth chapter of the Āpastamba law book which has been attributed to Śaṅkara, was verified as genuine. This paper analyses the commentary on the Adhyātmapaṭala from the perspective of traditional philological criticism in accordance with Hacker and others' criteria to assess the reliability of the result obtained through computational statistical methods. It appears that the commentary on the Adhyātmapaṭala is terminologically consistent with Śaṅkara. However, the commentary on the Adhyātmapaṭala also appears to be a work with very limited circulation among traditional scholars with no subcommentaries, which is unusual for Śaṅkara's authentic works. This leaves room for doubt as to whether this is indeed Śaṅkara's authentic work.
Anthropos 54 (1–2): 13–29, 2022
This paper presents and compares different interpretations of the passage from Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣ... more This paper presents and compares different interpretations of the passage from Bṛhadāraṇyakopaniṣad 2.4.5/4.5.6, according to which one should hear about the Self, reflect, and meditate on it. In his commentary, Śaṅkara cites the view, in sub-commentaries attributed to Bhartṛprapañca, according to which this cognitive process is divided into three parts. Furthermore, different parts of the Upaniṣad are responsible for each stage of the process. According to this view, the third part, which states that one should meditate on the Self, is a vidhi, i.e., an injunction for mental action that leads to knowledge. This paper shows why this is unacceptable for Śaṅkara and his followers, why the cognitive process can neither be separated nor enjoined. The paper shows that this discussion in Advaita Vedānta is primarily hermeneutical because in fact, in the background, it is a discussion of the hierarchy of importance of the texts of the Vedic canon; The Upaniṣad must be a valid means of cognition, and thus more important than Brāhmaṇas, which contain injunctions for action.
Journal of Dharma Studies
This paper discusses the reliability of the criteria for determining Śaṅkara’s authorship establi... more This paper discusses the reliability of the criteria for determining Śaṅkara’s authorship established by Paul Hacker. His analysis of terminological peculiarities is based on only one of Śaṅkara’s works—the commentary on the Brahma-Sūtras. Therefore, doubt arises as to whether these criteria also apply to other works that we can claim to be authentic. First, it will be argued that the commentaries on the Bṛhadāraṇyaka- and Taittirīya-Upaniṣad are works that can be—with reasonable certainty—considered authentic. When applied to these two works, Hacker’s criteria work remarkably well, and the commentaries on the Taittirīya- and Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad share the same terminological and conceptual features with the Brahma-Sūtra-Bhāṣya. Moreover, in most cases, it is possible to distinguish the usage of some terms and concepts from Sureśvara and Padmapāda. On the other hand, Sureśvara and Padmapāda use some of these terms in a quite similar way as Śaṅkara, but differently than the later Advaitins, indicating that a sharp line between Śaṅkara on the one hand and Sureśvara and Padmapāda on the other cannot be drawn in many cases. Also, the writings of these authors—especially Padmapāda—represent a transitional phase in the development of certain Advaita Vedānta concepts although the outlines of some peculiarities by which the later Advaita Vedānta differs from Śaṅkara can already be found sketched by Śaṅkara himself.
Challenges of Interdisciplinary and Multidisciplinary Approach: New Horizons in Oriental Studies (Prace Orientalistyczne/Oriental Studies 44), 2021
This paper deals with the authorship of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi and the seventeen Vedānta Stotras trad... more This paper deals with the authorship of the Vivekacūḍāmaṇi and the seventeen Vedānta Stotras traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara, the author of Brahma-Sūtra-Bhāṣya. Robert Gussner subjected the same works to a statistical stylometric test in the 1970s and concluded that they could not be authored by Śaṅkara. The problem of authorship in this paper is approached from two angles; the first is a traditional philological approach in accordance with the criteria for determining Śaṅkara's authorship set by Paul Hacker. Although such an analysis does not yield unequivocal results, the use of some terms and concepts such as saccidānanda and māyā indicate that the works do not belong to Śaṅkara, but were composed at a later period. Another methodology being tested in the paper is a state-of-art stylometric methodology called the General Imposters framework. The paper first describes the methodology itself, then extensively discusses the preparation of the texts, especially the problem of separating the Sanskrit text and resolving the sandhi. The paper then reports on the reliability of the method when applied to the texts of known authors. Finally, the method is tested on Vivekacūḍāmaṇi and the 12 Vedānta Stotras by applying several different parameters which mostly indicate that the works in question cannot be attributed to Śaṅkara. In this way, the General Imposters framework confirms the results that Robert Gussner obtained in the 1970s.
Mythic Landscapes and Argumentative Trails in Sanskrit Epic Literature Dubrovnik International Conference on the Sanskrit Epics and Purāṇas, DICSEP publications, vol. 6, 2021
This article will first investigate the position of the Vasiṣṭha-Karālajanaka-Saṃvāda (MBh 12,291... more This article will first investigate the position of the Vasiṣṭha-Karālajanaka-Saṃvāda (MBh 12,291-296) and the peculiar grouping of the Janaka dialogues in the Mokṣadharma-parvan, which suggest that many tracts are grouped around its main characters. The bulk of the article is dedicated to the text history of the Vasiṣṭha-Karālajanaka-Saṃvāda. Although the text may appear well-integrated and systematic at first glance, a careful reading reveals striking inconsistencies, indicating the text is composite or layered by nature, as has been noted by previous authors. A methodology of repetition analysis devised by Mislav Ježić during his analysis of textual layers in the Bhagavad-gītā will be employed as a double-check and formal refinement of traditional philological tools. This type of analysis will reveal the complex structure of the text, which is the result of its gradual expansion and development. This text history research may make it possible to gain insight not only into the process by which the text was composed, but also into the development of religious and philosophical concepts, bearing in mind Brockington's insightful remark on the "theistic reshaping of older material" in this text.
Indian Panorama in Wrocław: A Volume Published to Commemorate the 40th Anniversary of the Death of Ludwik Skurzak and 75 Years of Indology Studies in post-war Wrocław, 2021
The Sanatsujātīya (Mahābhārata 5,42-45) is a didactic philosophical text that forms a part of the... more The Sanatsujātīya (Mahābhārata 5,42-45) is a didactic philosophical text that forms a part of the Udyogaparvan. The Sanatsujātīya has not attracted a great deal of attention in the Indological literature, as opposed to better-known epic philosophical treatises. This philosophically noteworthy text contains a number of textual parallels with Vedic literature, especially the Upaniṣads, Ṛk-, Atharva- and Vājasaneyi-Saṃhitā. At the same time, it displays significant parallels with the Bhagavad-Gītā and the Mānavadharma-Śāstra. This paper examines metric patterns and verbal and non-verbal (mainly doctrinal) parallels in order to establish the chronological relationship of the Sanatsujātīya to the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad-Gītā. The study of parallels with the Bhagavad-Gītā, in the context of its layered structure (according to the scheme of its historical development proposed by M. Ježić) suggests that the Sanatsujātīya might be earlier than the final redaction of BhG, but later than the Yoga, Sāṃkhya, and Upaniṣad layers. Furthermore, the Sanatsujātīya is conceptually affiliated with the Upaniṣadic (Vedāntic) philosophical tradition rather than with the Yogic and ascetic thought traditions; also, Bhakti is not represented in the text.
Oriental Languages and Civilisations, Cracow: Jagiellonian University Press, pp. 103–116, 2020
This paper discusses the application of contemporary authorship verification methods to a Sanskri... more This paper discusses the application of contemporary authorship verification methods to a Sanskrit text. An appropriate example through which to explicate this issue is the commentary on the Chāndogya-Upaniṣad, which is traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara. This paper is focused on a stylometric authorship verification method, the recently introduced General Imposters framework. First, two ways of preparing Sanskrit texts are described; one is the time-consuming manual separation of words and resolving sandhi, and the other is the automatic segmentation of the text into 3-grams. The paper reports that word segmenta-tion yields better results than 3-grams in the case of texts with confirmed authorship. In the next step, the GI procedure applied to the Chāndogya-Upaniṣad-Bhāṣya itself confirms Śaṅkara's authorship.
International Journal of Hindu Studies, 2020
This article investigates the authorship of the Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya and the Kaṭhopaniṣadbhāṣya, whic... more This article investigates the authorship of the Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya and the Kaṭhopaniṣadbhāṣya, which are traditionally attributed to Ś aṅkara. The first part of the article shows that according to Paul Hacker's criteria of the specific usage of the terms avidyā, nāmarūpa, māyā, and īśvara, there are no grounds upon which to disprove the traditional attribution of the Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya and the Kaṭhopaniṣadbhāṣya to Ś aṅkara, although the analysis of the Īśopaniṣadbhāṣya rests mainly on the absence of un-Ś aṅkarian features. The second part of the article reports on the results of computational experiments based on new developments in authorship verification. This analysis, according to the recently introduced General Imposters framework, affirms Ś aṅkara's authorship of the texts in question.
Prabuddha Bharata: Visions od Advaita, Vol. 125, No. 1, pp. 219–227, 2020
This article examines commentaries on the Prayer at the hour of death traditionally attributed to... more This article examines commentaries on the Prayer at the hour of death traditionally attributed to Śaṅkara, which appear in the same form as Īśā-Upaniṣad 15–18 and Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad 5,15.1 in the Kāṇva recension. A comparison of these two commentaries reveals their striking resemblance on (a) the broader level of the interpretation of the meaning of the Upaniṣadic passage in question, and (b) on the more specific level, where remarkably similar expressions and wording appear. These commentaries show no real differences, except that the commentary on the Īśā-Upaniṣad version of the Prayer is more extensive than the Bṛhadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad version, and thus contains some additional information. Although the similarities cannot be used as a valid means to prove they were written by the same author, they still may support this thesis.
Manas: Studies into Asia and Africa, 2019
This article examines principles of Upaniṣadic interpretation in early Vedānta. Special attention... more This article examines principles of Upaniṣadic interpretation in early Vedānta. Special attention is paid to the Brahma-Sūtras 1.4.19–22. According to commentators, these four sūtras form one topic (adhikaraṇa) devoted to the interpretation of Br̥hadāraṇyaka-Upaniṣad 2.4/4.5. The last three sūtras are particularly interesting because they appear as citations of three older authority figures named Āśmarathya, Auḍulomi and Kaśakr̥tsna. These three sūtras raise the question of a way of reconciling Upaniṣadic passages, which is very important for the early history of Vedānta as a system of Upaniṣadic exegesis. Another interesting occurrence in this topic are the words vākya in the first, and liṅga in the second sūtra, two of the six means of determining the usage of ritual subsidiaries in Pūrva-Mīmāṃsā. In Śaṅkara's commentary, another set of exegetical principles appear, that might be originally Vedāntic.
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Language & History 62 (3): 195-226, 2019
Filip Vesdin, known by his monastic name Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo (1748–1806), was a Carmel... more Filip Vesdin, known by his monastic name Paulinus a Sancto Bartholomaeo (1748–1806), was a Carmelite missionary stationed from 1776 to 1789 in Southwestern India. Vesdin authored an impressive opus of 32 books and smaller treatises on Brahmanic religion and customs, oriental manuscripts and antiques collections, language comparison and missionary history. This article focuses on the field of language comparison, principally on Vesdin’s book De antiquitate et affinitate linguae Zendicae, Samscrdamicae, et Germanicae dissertatio (= Dissertation on the Antiquity and the Affinity of the Zend, Sanskrit, and Germanic Languages), published in Rome in 1798. In this rather short treatise (56 pages), the most important part consists of three word-lists where a large number of words from Avestan, Sanskrit and Germanic languages are compared in order to prove that these languages are related. The paper presents Vesdin’s three word-lists together with a description and evaluation of his views on the relationships between these languages in order to highlight his significance in the history of comparative and historical linguistics. The paper also provides new insights into the relationship of De antiquitate to Vesdin’s later proto-linguistic treatise, De Latini sermonis origine (1802).
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Papers by Ivan Andrijanić
Electronic article available on the link: http://manas.bg/en/indiya/aspects-of-early-upanishadic-exegesis
Electronic article available on the link: http://manas.bg/en/indiya/aspects-of-early-upanishadic-exegesis
The book contains a comprehensive introduction to the linguistic and cultural history of Sanskrit, a description of Sanskrit phonology, morphology and syntax, exercises and simple texts accompanied with vocabulary.