Vishwa Adluri

An evaluation of Textual Criticism and the BORI Critical Edition of the Mahabharata.

Thank you for the opportunity to honor Prof. S. K. Belvalkar. i His scholarly life ii and his eno... more Thank you for the opportunity to honor Prof. S. K. Belvalkar. i His scholarly life ii and his enormous contributions to various fields of Indology iii are well documented. We especially note his text-critical work here. For 18 years of his life (1943)(1944)(1945)(1946)(1947)(1948)(1949)(1950)(1951)(1952)(1953)(1954)(1955)(1956)(1957)(1958)(1959)(1960)(1961), he served as the General Editor of the The Mahābhārata Critical Edition and edited the Bhīṣ ma, Sānti, Āśramavāsika , Mausala , Mahāprasthānika , and Svargārohaṇ a parvans. In his introduction to the Sabhāparvan, Edgerton unequivocally asserts that "with due allowance for many minor uncertainties, and for errors in editing, [the Critical Edition of the Mahābhārata] is a text … which once existed, and from which all MSS. of the work known to us are directly descended. … I believe firmly in the one-time real existence of this text." However, this confidence in Sukthankar's edition has been met with skepticism from Western scholars, including Grünendahl and Bigger. While many of these criticisms have been addressed and disproven (Philology and Criticism), I will highlight two instances where Belvalkar's work supports Sukthankar's principles. Grünendahl contends that Sukthankar classified manuscripts based on the script in which they were written, such as Telugu and Malayālam, a method he termed the Schriftartprämisse. Scholars like Brockington continue to repeat Grünendahl's claims; however, the true criterion for classification was never the script itself, but the readings of the texts. For instance, one could analyze all versions of the Mahābhārata in Times Roman font, utilizing diacritics. The names "Telugu" etc. served as mere short-hand markers for the various readings collated by editorial team led by Sukthankar. Moreover, Grünendahl argues that the Śarada manuscript, being a single manuscript, cannot be treated as a group, unlike other groups such as T, M, and G. However, it is Draft. Please do not cite. 2 important to note that "a single manuscript is sufficient to posit a version, even though its relation to the others may not be immediately apparent." (Philology and Criticism,. Thus, these two criticisms could be laid to rest easily. However, Belvalkar goes further in investigating Sukthankar's principles, demonstrating their rigour and unimpeachability. He does so by demonstrating the internal relationships within MS groups collated for Bhīṣmaparvan. This extra step of analysis undertaken by Belvalkar shows that MSS were not classified by considerations of script alone; even with a group such as M, there were complex relationships between readings that could be thematized. Further, it shows the relationship between Ś as a manuscript representing a group by showing how it relates to K and other groups. The two objections of MSS classification and Ś quantification are demolished by Belvalkar. Belvalkar's stemma illustrates iv that there is no difference between treating the Malayālam

Foreword to Polytheism and Indology

Polytheism and Indology: Lessons, 2022

The corrected foreword to Ed Butler's book, Polytheism and Indology: Lessons from The Nay Science... more

German Indology and Hinduism

Handbook of Hinduism in Europe, 2020

Few European nations developed such a broad spectrum of research on India or sought so strongly t... more Few European nations developed such a broad spectrum of research on India or sought so strongly to defend the notion of a privileged access to ancient India as Germany. Yet this German interest was peculiarly restricted to ancient India, and German scholars often contrasted its intellectual and social achievements with what they saw as the degeneracy of contemporary Hinduism. This contri- bution discusses the origins and growth of the German fascination with India. It surveys the main fields of Indological engagement and scholarship and ex- plores reasons why, even today, in Indology we can hardly speak of Germany and Hinduism—except negatively—in a volume dedicated to Hinduism in Europe.

Translator's Introduction, Modernity and Plato

Modernity and Plato, 2012

The Divine Androgyne

Argument and Design, 2016

Philology and Criticism, Contents and Chapter Summaries

A complete open-access copy of the book can be downloaded here: https://www.academia.edu/36999444... more

The Critical Edition as Art.pdf

Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism, 2018

xxi i i PROLOGUE saṃ gacchadhvaṃ saṃ vadadhvaṃ saṃ vo manaṃ si janatam | devā bhaḡaṃ yath... more

The Nay Science by Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee

The Nay Science, Georg von Simson

Critique of Indology as Expertise (Philology and Criticism, Argument from Expertise and Conclusion)

Critique of Indology as Science (The Nay Science, ch. 5)

Philology and Criticism

Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism, 2018

Philology and Criticism contrasts the Mahābhārata’s preservation and transmission within the Indi... more Philology and Criticism contrasts the Mahābhārata’s preservation and transmission within the Indian scribal and commentarial traditions with Sanskrit philology after 1900, as German Indologists proposed a critical edition of the Mahābhārata to validate their racial and nationalist views. Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee show how, in contrast to the Indologists’ unscientific theories, V. S. Sukthankar assimilated the principles of neo-Lachmannian textual criticism to defend the transmitted text and its traditional reception as a work of law, philosophy and salvation. The authors demonstrate why, after the edition’s completion, no justification exists for claiming that an earlier heroic epic existed, that the Brahmans redacted the heroic epic to produce the Mahābhārata or that they interpolated “sectarian” gods such as Vis.n.u and Śiva into the work. By demonstrating how the Indologists committed technical errors, cited flawed and biased scholarship and used circular argumentation to validate their racist and anti-Semitic theories, Philology and Criticism frees readers to approach the Mahābhārata as “the principal monument of bhakti” (Madeleine Biardeau). The authoritative guide to the critical edition’s correct use and interpretation, Philology and Criticism urges South Asianists to view Hinduism as a complex debate about ontology and ethics rather than through the lenses of “Brahmanism” and “sectarianism.” It launches a new world philology—one that is plural and self-reflexive rather than Eurocentric and ahistorical.

PHILOSOPHY AND SALVATION IN GREEK RELIGION

by Vishwa Adluri, Alberto Bernabe, and Barbara Sattler

Ever since Vlastos' " Theology and Philosophy in Early Greek Thought, " scholars have known that ... more Ever since Vlastos' " Theology and Philosophy in Early Greek Thought, " scholars have known that a consideration of ancient philosophy without attention to its theological, cosmological and soteriological dimensions remains onesided. Yet, philosophers continue to discuss thinkers such as Parmenides and Plato without knowledge of their debt to the archaic religious traditions. Perhaps our own religious prejudices allow us to see only a " polis religion " in Greek religion, while our modern philosophical openness and emphasis on reason induce us to rehabilitate ancient philosophy by what we consider the highest standard of knowledge: proper argumentation. Yet, it is possible to see ancient philosophy as operating according to a different system of meaning, a different " logic. " Such a different sense of logic operates in myth and other narratives, where the argument is neither completely illogical nor rational in the positivist sense. The articles in this volume undertake a critical engagement with this unspoken legacy of Greek religion. The aim of the volume as a whole is to show how, beyond the formalities and fallacies of arguments, something more profound is at stake in ancient philosophy: the salvation of the philosopher-initiate.

Ways and Reasons for Thinking about the Mahābhārata as a Whole

by Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee, and Fernando Wulff Alonso

Vishwa Adluri, ed., Ways and Reasons for Thinking about the Mahābhārata as a Whole (Pune: Bhandar... more

“Introduction: From Supplementary Narratives to Narrative Supplements”

In Argument and Design: The Mahābhārata as Literature. A Guide to the Upākhyānas (Subtales) of th... more

Argument and Design

Table of contents from Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee, eds., Argument and Design: The Unity of... more

Argument and Design: The Unity of the Mahābhārata

by Joydeep Bagchee, Vishwa Adluri, Alf Hiltebeitel, Adheesh Sathaye, Bruce M. Sullivan, and Adam Bowles

Argument and Design features fifteen essays by leading scholars of the Sanskrit epics, the Mahābh... more Argument and Design features fifteen essays by leading scholars of the Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, discussing the Mahābhārata’s upākhyānas, subtales that branch off from the central storyline and provide vantage points for reflecting on it.

Contributors include: Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee, Greg Bailey, Adam Bowles, Simon Brodbeck, Nicolas Dejenne, Sally J. Sutherland Goldman, Robert P. Goldman, Alf Hiltebeitel, Thennilapuram Mahadevan, Adheesh Sathaye, Bruce M. Sullivan, and Fernando Wulff Alonso.

Grunendahl Table from Philology and Criticism

A table from our forthcoming book Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Critici... more

The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, Images

We are making available, for the use of all scholars, graphics from our book The Nay Science: A H... more

An evaluation of Textual Criticism and the BORI Critical Edition of the Mahabharata.

Foreword to Polytheism and Indology

Polytheism and Indology: Lessons, 2022

The corrected foreword to Ed Butler's book, Polytheism and Indology: Lessons from The Nay Science... more

German Indology and Hinduism

Handbook of Hinduism in Europe, 2020

Translator's Introduction, Modernity and Plato

Modernity and Plato, 2012

The Divine Androgyne

Argument and Design, 2016

Philology and Criticism, Contents and Chapter Summaries

A complete open-access copy of the book can be downloaded here: https://www.academia.edu/36999444... more

The Critical Edition as Art.pdf

Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism, 2018

xxi i i PROLOGUE saṃ gacchadhvaṃ saṃ vadadhvaṃ saṃ vo manaṃ si janatam | devā bhaḡaṃ yath... more

The Nay Science by Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee

The Nay Science, Georg von Simson

Critique of Indology as Expertise (Philology and Criticism, Argument from Expertise and Conclusion)

Critique of Indology as Science (The Nay Science, ch. 5)

Philology and Criticism

Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Criticism, 2018

PHILOSOPHY AND SALVATION IN GREEK RELIGION

by Vishwa Adluri, Alberto Bernabe, and Barbara Sattler

Ways and Reasons for Thinking about the Mahābhārata as a Whole

by Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee, and Fernando Wulff Alonso

Vishwa Adluri, ed., Ways and Reasons for Thinking about the Mahābhārata as a Whole (Pune: Bhandar... more

“Introduction: From Supplementary Narratives to Narrative Supplements”

In Argument and Design: The Mahābhārata as Literature. A Guide to the Upākhyānas (Subtales) of th... more

Argument and Design

Table of contents from Vishwa Adluri and Joydeep Bagchee, eds., Argument and Design: The Unity of... more

Argument and Design: The Unity of the Mahābhārata

by Joydeep Bagchee, Vishwa Adluri, Alf Hiltebeitel, Adheesh Sathaye, Bruce M. Sullivan, and Adam Bowles

Grunendahl Table from Philology and Criticism

A table from our forthcoming book Philology and Criticism: A Guide to Mahābhārata Textual Critici... more

The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, Images

We are making available, for the use of all scholars, graphics from our book The Nay Science: A H... more

Pingali Gopal, Review of The Nay Science

IndiaFacts.org, 2018

Indology and the Crisis in the Humanities

by Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee, and Edward P Butler

IndiaFacts, 2018

Reviews of The Nay Science

by Vishwa Adluri, Edward P Butler, Doug McGetchin, Bruce M. Sullivan, Jeffery Long, Robert Yelle, Na'aman Hirschfeld, and Antonio Vargas

International Journal of Dharma Studies (2016) 4:10

Pradip Bhattacharya, Review of Ways and Reasons for Thinking about the Mahabharata as a Whole

Edward Jeremiah, Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy, by Vishwa Adluri, Prudentia (2013)

Robin Waterfield, Review of Philosophy and Salvation in Greek Religion

The Heythrop Journal, Volume 57, Issue 1 (January 2016): 194–95

Garry W. Trompf, Review of The Nay Science, History of Religions

Murali Balaji, Review of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, International Journal of Dharma and Hindu Studies 1, no. 2 (2016): 105–11.

International Journal of Dharma and Hindu Studies 1, no. 2 (2016): 105–11.

Eric Kurlander, Review of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, Central European History 48, no. 3 (2015): 432–434.

Nicholas A. Germana, Review of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, The American Historical Review 120, no. 3 (2015): 1132–1133. doi: 10.1093/ahr/120.3.1132

Brian Collins, Review of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, Religious Studies Review 41, no. 2 (June 2015): 53–54

John Bussanich, Review of The Nay Science: A History of German Indology, CHOICE 52, no. 5 (January 2015): 813.

Giannis Stamatellos, Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy

by Vishwa Adluri and Giannis Stamatellos

Robert Roecklein, Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy

Justin Messmore, Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy, Ancient Philosophy

Richard Polt Review on NDPR

Review of my book Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy by Richard Polt, Xavier University

David J. Murphy, Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy, Classical Journal Online

Edward P. Butler Review of Parmenides, Plato and Mortal Philosophy, Classical Review

by Vishwa Adluri and Edward P Butler

Chapter 6 deals with the underlying metaphor of light and darkness. In particular, it refers to O... more

Danielle Feller, Review of Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel, vols. 1–2

David Elton Gay, Review of Essays by Alf Hiltebeitel, vols. 1–2

Heidegger’s Encounter with Aristotle

Heidegger Circle Proceedings

This paper examines Heidegger’s concept of facticity in his writings from the 1920s. The sudden ‘... more This paper examines Heidegger’s concept of facticity in his writings from the 1920s. The sudden ‘discovery’ of facticity in these writings and Heidegger’s subsequent engagement with Aristotle are related to a decision to rethink existence in terms of Luther’s and Paul’s interpretation of early Christianity. Central to this interpretation is the experience of the καιρός and the awaiting of the παρουσία. Heidegger argues that this primordial Christian experience (urchristliche Erfahrung) constitutes a fundamental experience (Grunderfahrung) of factical life and undertakes a destruction of Scholastic theology and the ancient and especially, Aristotelian, ontology upon which it is based.3 Heidegger’s philosophical project thus centers in the recovery of this fundamental experience of facticity through a destructive appropriation of the tradition. In this paper, I argue that one of Heidegger’s key strategies in turning to Aristotle is to exclude cyclical temporality - whether thought of ...

A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two is Not One, by Anantanand Rambachan

Religions of South Asia

A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two is Not One, by Anantanand Rambachan. Albany, NY: State Un... more

Authors’ response to Book Review of The Nay Science. A History of German Indology

South Asia: Journal of South Asian Studies

Sheldon Pollock, Benjamin A. Elman, and Ku-ming Kevin Chang, editors.World Philology

The American Historical Review, 2016

Review of Yunus Tuncel, Agon in NietzscheMilwaukee, WI: Marquette University Press, 2013, pp. 293. ISBN: 978-0-87462-823-4

Journal of the Philosophy of Sport, 2015

From Politics to Salvation through Philosophy: Herodotus’ Histories and Plato’s Republic

Philosophy and Salvation in Greek Religion, 2013

The Search for the Original Gītā

A History of German Indology, 2014

Vedānta

Oxford Bibliographies Online Datasets, 2000

Problems with the Critical Method

A History of German Indology, 2014

The Search for German Identity

A History of German Indology, 2014

The Search for an Urepos

A History of German Indology, 2014

Book Review The Bhagavadgītā: Doctrines and Contexts. By Angelika Malinar . Albany: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp xii+296. $95.00 (cloth)

History of Religions, 2010

Heidegger, Luther, and Aristotle

Epoché, 2013

Methods and Contexts: Rethinking Religion in South Asia

This article addresses the issue of methods and contexts in the study of religion in South Asia. ... more This article addresses the issue of methods and contexts in the study of religion in South Asia. Along the lines of the "'natural history'… of religious studies" proposed in Lease 1995, it proposes a "natural history" of the study of religion in South Asia, insofar as it originates not only in a "Protestant Christian 'apologetic' theological project" (Smith 2010) but also, more specifically, in reconstructions of traditions using the "text-historical method." The case studies in MTSR 1995 provide a differential diagnosis of the pathologies responsible for the demise of five programs in religion. We focus, instead, on the disciplinary crisis in religious studies, using the work of Paul Hacker as an example. Smith's (1995) three preconditions for the formation of a discipline-"theory, general studies, and professionalism"-are the criteria we apply to comprehend the field's diremption. On a positive note, the article argues for reconsidering the role of method in religious studies. Recognizing and correcting for the shortcomings of past scholarship is a sine qua non for progressing the academic study of religion. A comprehensive topically arranged bibliography provides suggestions for further reading.

The Banality of Indology: Franco, Pollock, and the Friedrich Weller Prize

Cry Hindutva: How Rhetoric Trumps Intellect in South Asian Studies

This piece addresses the misuse of 'Hindutva' in contemporary South Asian studies. In response to... more This piece addresses the misuse of 'Hindutva' in contemporary South Asian studies. In response to criticisms of the so-called text-historical method in Indology, the old guard of academia raises the spectre of Hindutva to scare off critics. With such anti-intellectual tactics, Indologists have betrayed liberal ideals. Originally submitted to South Asia: The Journal of South Asian Studies in response to Eli Franco's review of The Nay Science, this piece makes a larger case for a discipline-critical philology. If we are to reclaim the university as a place for open dialogue and debate, we must continue the critique of professorial privilege. Facile self-righteousness must not become a cover for intellectual vacuity.

Prolegomena to Any Future Mahābhārata Studies

Adaptive Reuse: Eli Franco, Plagiarism, and the Chair of Indology at Leipzig University

Ahimsa in the Mahabharata.pdf

Journal of Vaishnava Studies, 2018

Indology: The Origins of Racism in the Humanities

Review of Pascale Rabault-Feuerhahn, Archives of Origins: Sanskrit, Philology, Anthropology in 19... more

Rambachan, A Hindu Theology of Liberation

Religions of South Asia , 2021

why these topics, in particular? Why not animal rights or climate change? Why not abortion rights... more why these topics, in particular? Why not animal rights or climate change? Why not abortion rights and birth control? Or indigenous rights and cultural appropriation? Rambachan as little provides a rationale for his selection as he makes the case that 'more' theology is the answer. Better governance, non-violent resistance and democratic discourse are more effective solutions to social problems than theology and speaking on behalf of the Creator.

Ethics and Hermeneutics in the Mahābhārata

Review of Sheldon Pollock, et al., eds., World Philology

American Historical Review 121, no. 3 (2016): 908–910. Apparently the free-access links did not ... more

Review of Lourens Minnema, Tragic Views of the Human Condition: Cross-cultural Comparisons between Views of Human Nature in Greek and Shakespearean Tragedy and the Mahābhārata and Bhagavadgītā, published in The International Journal of the Platonic Tradition 9, no. 2 (2015): 266–72

by Vishwa Adluri and Lourens Minnema

This is a pre-production version of my review of Lourens Minnema, Tragic Views of the Human Condi... more

Review of Parmenides, Cosmos, and Being: A Philosophical Interpretation by Panagiotis Thanassas, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2010.3.18

Review of Philosophie im Umbruch: Der Bruch mit dem Aristotelismus im Hellenismus und im späten Mittelalter—Seine Bedeutung für die Entstehung eines epochalen Gegensatzbewusstseins von Antike und Moderne edited by Arbogast Schmitt and Gyburg Radke-Uhlmann, Bryn Mawr Classical Review 2011.03.64

Review of Unifying Hinduism: Philosophy and Identity in Indian Intellectual History, by Andrew J. Nicholson, Humanities and Social Sciences Online (H-Net) March 2012

Review of Agon in Nietzsche by Yunus Tuncel

Review of Heidegger’s Platonism, by Mark Ralkowski.

Review of The Bhagavadgītā: Doctrines and Contexts. By Angelika Malinar. Albany: Cambridge University Press, 2007. Pp xii+ 296. $95.00 (cloth)

History of Religions, Jan 1, 2010

Review of The Sanskrit Epics’ Representation of Vedic Myths, by Danielle Feller.

Woke Buddhas of Academia

This presentation examines the contrast between Western perceptions of Buddhism and Brahmanism as... more This presentation examines the contrast between Western perceptions of Buddhism and Brahmanism as relayed through the work of leading German Indologists such as Weber, von Schroeder, and Oldenberg. Indologists' accounts of ancient India often presented Brahmanism as an oppressive system, characterized by ritualism, demand for gifts, and bloody sacrifices. The standard narrative was that the Vedic ritual, with its simple childlike worship of nature forces, had declined in the hands of the priesthood. Over time, ever more elaborate systems of worship developed as the priests concentrated power and knowledge of the Vedic hymns in their hands. The antidote to this priestly domination was provided by the Buddha. The religion he introduced removed the worst excrescences of Hinduism: animal sacrifice, superstition, idolatry, and caste prejudice. Not only was it rational, ethical, and spiritual; it also fostered scientific and material progress and "the historical sense." The Buddha was explicitly called a "reformer" and frequently compared with Luther, while also prefiguring Christ in his charisma and his compassion. Although scholars have repeatedly shown that this account is historically inaccurate and is more reflective of Protestant prejudices than any objective features of Buddhism (McGetchin 2009, Myers 2013, see also Schopen 1991 on Western scholars' "Protestant presuppositions"), elements of it survive even in contemporary scholarship (Bronkhorst 2007, 2011, and 2016). This presentation examines the twin foundations of the application of a Protestant hermeneutic to Indian texts: the emphasis on a pristine ur-text and the valorization of "history." It traces how the "texthistorical" method amounted to a reading of India's religious history in terms of racial kinship (Aryan) and miscegenation (Dravidian), on the one hand, and religious corruption (Brahmanism) and national decline (colonization), on the other. We shall also trace the criticisms of Brahmanism back to their anti-Judaic and anti-clerical stereotypes in German Protestantism, particularly as they became salient in the Kulturkampf. The reading of Buddha as a Christ-figure was adopted by many Indian social reformers and echoes in contemporary "woke" appropriations today. But it falsifies the historical relationship of Buddhism to Brahmanism and misrepresents Buddha's enlightenment as if it were nothing more than social conscience.

Unburdening the Earth: Hinduism and Ecology

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEO1lKWcnf4&feature=emb_title

17th World Sanskrit Conference Handout.pdf

Special Panel 2: After the Critical Edition: What Next For Mahabharata Studies?

Porto Conference Program

Princeton Hindu Studies Lecture Series: Hinduism, Race, and the 'Science' of Philology

CUNY Graduate Center Lecture Poster

Mahabharata & Modern Scholarship: An Interview With Dr. Vishwa Adluri

by Vishwa Adluri, Joydeep Bagchee, and Nithin Sridhar

IndiaFacts.org, 2018

ahabharata is one of the foundational texts of Indian civilization. Along with Ramayana, it has t... more ahabharata is one of the foundational texts of Indian civilization. Along with Ramayana, it has transformed high abstract philosophies of the Upanishads into an aesthetically appealing literary work which has touched the hearts of millions of Indians and has further manifested as performing arts which has been lived and experienced by common people throughout Indian history.

Against Occidentalism

A Conversation with Alice Crary and Vishwa Adluri on The Nay Science Research Matters. http://s... more