Abhinava and JagannAtha

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, Prof. Enrica Garzilli <garzilli@s...> wrote:

>Prof. Michael Witzel and I are woking on these and other *Apabhramsa*

>verses by Abhinavagupta. The verses are seemingly original and made

>up by Abhinava, and some of them are accompanied by a Skt Abhinava's

>"translation". They seem to be written in an original language with

>original characteristics (they are in fact different from other

>Apabhramsa verses).

 

Interesting that this was commonly attested in later times,

in the field of literary theory.

 

S. Pollock, "The Death of Sanskrit." Comparative Studies

in Society and History 43,2 (2001): 392-426.

 

page 410:

"Although the evidentiary approach of literary analysis

since at least the eighth century had required the citation of

existing literature to illustrate one's argument and not

(as formerly) of poems created ad hoc, JagannAtha insists on composing

his own examples in the RasagaGgAdhara: "I have used for

illustrations in this book new poems that I composed myself.

I have taken nothing from anyone else. Does the musk deer,

who has the power to create rare fragrance, even think of

bothering with the scent of flowers?". The most important of

JagannAtha's literary works to have survived, the BhAminIvilAsa,

appears to be a compendium of the verses written as illustrations

for the RasagaGgAdhara, but collected by JagannAtha in a

separate volume in order to preserve them as his own work."

 

JagannAtha (d. 1670) married a Muslim lady, acc. to Vaishnava

chronicles, and uses themes from Persian.

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan