{"id":1002,"date":"2021-06-29T03:44:34","date_gmt":"2021-06-29T03:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/globalcommentary.utoronto.ca\/?p=1002"},"modified":"2022-10-06T20:50:19","modified_gmt":"2022-10-06T20:50:19","slug":"talking-to-yourself-commentary-as-fatnotes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalcommentary.utoronto.ca\/?p=1002","title":{"rendered":"Talking to Yourself: Commentary as Fatnotes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Libbie MILLS<\/a>, Department for the Study of Religion, University of Toronto<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

For a paper presented at the 2019 Edinburgh meeting of the American Council for Southern Asian Art (ACSAA), I worked through a range of Sanskrit texts<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A\u1e43\u015bumatk\u0101\u015byapa<\/em> chapter 96; A\u1e43\u015bumad\u0101gama<\/em> 56; Agnipur\u0101\u1e47a <\/em>67 and 103; Ajit\u0101gama <\/em>73 and 94; Apar\u0101jitap\u1e5bcch\u0101 <\/em>49, 50, 52, 109, 110 and 111; \u012a\u015bvarasa\u1e43hit\u0101 <\/em>19; K\u0101mik\u0101gama <\/em>P32, P58, U33, U34, U35, and U45; K\u0101\u015byapaj\u00f1\u0101nak\u0101\u1e47\u1e0da <\/em>104; Kira\u1e47a<\/em> 63; Tantrasamuccaya <\/em>11; D\u012bpt\u0101gama <\/em>59; Devy\u0101mata <\/em>64; Pi\u1e45gal\u0101mata <\/em>12; Prati\u1e63\u1e6dh\u0101lak\u1e63a\u1e47as\u0101rasamuccaya<\/em> 21; Pr\u0101s\u0101dama\u1e47\u1e0dana <\/em>8; B\u1e5bhatk\u0101lottara j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101rapa\u1e6dala<\/em>; Mayamata <\/em>5 and 35; Mayasa\u1e43graha <\/em>5, along with the accompanying Bh\u0101vac\u016b\u1e0d\u0101ma\u1e47i<\/em> commentary by Bha\u1e6d\u1e6da Vidy\u0101ka\u1e47\u1e6dha<\/em>; Mohac\u016brottara <\/em>5; Raurav\u0101gama <\/em>44; Vim\u0101n\u0101rcanakalpa <\/i> 62, 64, 69, 70, 71, 72, 73, 74, 76, and 77; Vi\u1e63\u1e47usa\u1e43hit\u0101<\/i> 24; \u015ailparatn\u0101kara<\/i> 5; Samar\u0101\u1e45ga\u1e47as\u016btradh\u0101ra<\/i> 44 and 45; Suprabhed\u0101gama<\/i> 54, 55 and 56 ; Soma\u015bambhpaddhati kriy\u0101p\u0101da<\/i> 10. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

on j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra, <\/em> the removal (uddh\u0101ra<\/em>) [and replacement] of the old (j\u012br\u1e47a<\/em>), for temples and icons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While the term j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra<\/em> clearly implies a renovation, I veer away from translating it in that way, in order to respect the meaning held by the compound itself, which is that of a removal of what is old. The emphasis on the removal side of renovation, as opposed to the replacement side, holds sense when one reads accounts of the great harm that comes from an old object if it is not removed and disposed of. Of course, replacement will follow removal, and much attention is paid in j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra<\/em> literature to how that is carried out, but it is the removal of the corrupting force of an old item that is given principal importance in the labelling of the procedure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

The texts I read each told, on the whole, a similar story, and I was considering how to gather it together for the ACSAA presentation, when I realised that someone else had already done it for me. That someone is Nigamaj\u00f1\u0101nadeva, a 16th C southern \u015aaiva<\/em> author of the J\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101rada\u015baka<\/em>, \u201cTen Verses on J\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra<\/em>\u201d. The text is accompanied by a Vy\u0101khy\u0101na<\/em> commentary by the same author, and quotes drawn from a wide range of predominantly \u015aaiva<\/em> sources. Having used the structure of the J\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101rada\u015baka<\/em> to frame that ACSAA presentation, I went on to study the text more closely, using twelve manuscript copies held at the Institut Fran\u00e7ais de Pondich\u00e9ry (IFP)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The manuscripts I used were: RE 04073b, RE 15532b, RE 15535k, RE 30483f, RE 30485a, RE 33704ab, RE 37009a, RE 37072p, RE 38307a, RE 45814, RE 39808p, RE 38365bc. Manuscripts held by the IFP are clearly digitized, with a good search engine. It is a joy.

One begins a search here: https:\/\/www.ifpindia.org\/digitaldb\/online\/manuscripts\/login.php<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

to make a critical edition and English translation of its telling of the principles of j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra<\/em>, along with supporting portions of its Vy\u0101khy\u0101na<\/em> commentary.<\/em> In making the edition, I hoped to facilitate access to this text that elegantly assembles a long textual tradition of maintenance theory into a clear framework of ten verse points. The material is both of use in looking back over the tradition and, since it remains in active use, also of relevance to an understanding of contemporary maintenance practice. The verses tell us how temples and idols have been, and continue to be, maintained, and give us the rational for the process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Text Structure: Verse and Commentary<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The structure of the J\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101rada\u015baka<\/em> has three levels. In the first level, j\u012br\u1e47oddh\u0101ra<\/em> is explained in just ten verses. Here you see them as they are given in IFP manuscript RE 04073b:<\/p>\n\n\n\n