Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy (Essays in Honour of Professor Alex Wayman)

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From the Jacket:

The present volume, comprising nineteen articles by renowned scholars, is divided into three sections, namely, Buddhist, Jaina and Hindu Philosophical Researches.

Under the Buddhist section Bareau, using the Vinaya in Chinese, defends Wayman's position that Asanga belonged to Mahisasaka sect. Nakamura points out differing view about the seven Vajjian Republic principles. Michael Hahn and Samtani concern with Buddhist poet Candragomin and the term raga resectively. Shinjo Kawasaki expounds the views of Bhavya about the differing karma of non-sentient and sentient beings. Hirakawa's article deals with the relation with dhatu. Collett Cox shows that the present 12-membered formula is taken for granted by early Chinese Abhidharma texts.

In Jaina section, Jaini deals with the theory that an omniscient being can subsist on a subtle kind of food. Dhaky's main object t ascertain early parts of Dasavaikalikasutra, also goes into the matter of food.

The articles in Hindu section take a comparative base, K.K. Raja compares the Buddhist and Mimamsa views on Laksana. K. Bhattacharya speaks of grammarians and philosophers regarding post-Panini grammarians on a certain anusasana. R.C. Dwivedi compares Kashmir Saivism with Sankara's Vedanta and T.S. Rukmani compares siddhis as found in the Bhagavata Purana and in Patanjali's Yogasutras. R.V. Joshi compares the Advaita and the Vaisnava views of the matter.

The work breaks new grounds and is a solid contribution in the field of Indian Philosophy.

About the Author:

Prof. R.K. Sharma as a Fulbright Scholar, worked with Prof. M.B. Emeneau at University of California. He has all along been contributing to promotion of Sanskrit Studies in India and abroad as Founder Director, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Joint Educational Adviser, Govt. of India, Vice-Chancellor of the two Sanskrit Universities at Darbhanga and Varanasi, Visiting Professor at Columbia University of New York City, University of Bihar and Chicago, Organizing Secretary of two world Sanskrit Conferences, etc. He is a recipient of Presidential Award of Honour in Sanskrit and a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society.

It is preeminently fit for the scholarly world to bring out a Felicitation volume to honour Professor Alex Wayman, who has distinguished himself by an outpouring of scholarly works on Buddhism for almost forty years; and who is now Professor of Sanskrit, emeritus, Columbia University, New York.

I am proud of my association with Professor Wayman dating back to 1957 as my distinguished satirthya when I joined the University of California, Berkeley, as a Fulbright student. There we both studied under Professor Murray Barnson Emeneau, an eminent linguist, classicist and Indologist; and then were awarded our Ph.D.'s the same date in 1959.

Prof. Wayman has been all along a source of inspiration to me. He identifies himself with his studies in an exclusive attention always occupied with scholarly pursuits, finishing one thing, and thinking of his next project. I don't remember if he ever talked of anything other than Indian Philosophy, Buddhism or general Indology.

Prof. Emeneau's kind blessings are found in print in this volume. Those of Prof. R.N. Dandekar and other distinguished members of the Felicitation Committee are also very much there: "punas ca bhuyo 'pi namo 'stu tebhyah".

I am grateful to the Felicitation Committee and also to the learned contributors for enriching this volume. It is divided into three major sections: Buddhist, Jaina and Hindu Philosophical Researches. In a way this is also the scope of Professor Wayman's researches.

Under the Buddhist researches, the essay by Andre Bareau, using the Vinaya in Chinese, defends Wayman's position that Asanga belonged to the Mahisasaka sect. Hajime Nakamura points out differing views, about the seven Vajjian Republic principles; it is nice to have this important set of paragraphs in the present volume. Michael Hahn concerns himself with the famous Buddhist poet Candragomin who might also be the grammarian of that name but hardly the Candragomin who commented on Buddhist Tantras. N.H. Samtani vigorously treats the term raga. After these miscellaneous articles there are two groups of Buddhistic essays. In the group on Karma, Shinjo Kawasaki expounds the views of Bhavya about the differing karma of non-sentient entities and of sentient beings. Hari Shankar Prasad's essay makes the division in terms of when there is lack of agency of presence of agency, especially using Yoga- cara sources. The one by T.R. Sharma treats the Madhyamika position by a chapter of Nagarjuna's Madhyamaka-karika.

There are also three essays on Buddhist Dependent Origination. Akira Hirakawa provides an important article on the relation with dhatu, where this expression is shown to mean a kind of causation. The essay by Collett Cox uses the early Chinese Abhidharma works to show that the present 12-membered formula is taken for granted by such texts, with the divergences consisting in the interpretation of the twelve, sequential, instan- taneous, and so forth. George Elder's contribution, while presenting certain features of the Tantric type of Dependent Origination, defends Wayman's translation of certain terms.

While the Jaina section has only two papers, the volume is privileged to have these contributions by Padmanabh S. Jaini and by M.A. Dhaky. Jaini's deals with the theory that an omniscient being can subsist on a subtle kind of food. Dhaky's, while having its main object to ascertain early parts of the Dasavaikalikasutra, also goes into the matter of food.

The section devoted to the Hindu Philosophy is also rich in contributions. While not subdivided as was the Buddhist one, in fact, each essay takes a comparative base. Thus the one by K. Kunjunni Raja compares the Buddhist and Mimamsa views on -Iaksana', and so deserves to be first. Kamaleswar Bhatta- charya speaks of grammarians and philosophers regarding post- Panini grammarians on a certain anusasana. R.C. Dwivedi makes a comparison between Kashmir Saivism and Sankara's Vedanta. T.S. Rukmani compares siddhis as found in the Bhagavata Purana and in Patanjali's Yogasutra. R.K. Sharma deals with language and with metaphor in two devotional treatises 'of Saivism. Then Bhagwan Dash continues the com- parisons, this time of Pitta with Agni. Finally, RV. Joshi, while not explicitly mentioning his comparative base in the essay title, in fact, in this remarkable portrayal of the doctrine of aham-artha', is basically comparing the Advaita and the Vaisnava views of the matter, also bringing in the Samkhya school.

Thus, the work appears to contain solid contributions to the field of Indian Philosophy, sometimes summarizing previously established positions, but usually breaking new ground.

I appreciate the role of the publishing house of Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Private Limited in bringing out this volume; and anticipate an appreciative response from the world Sanskrit community agreeing with my personal view that this volume is interesting and useful for further researches in the great Indian philosophical traditions. And so also a fitting testimonial to Professor Alex Wayman for his unremitting labours to bring these Indian traditions into Western format. We hope he produces more distinguished works: "Satam jiva sarado vardhamanah".