[Y-Indology] Upanisad later than the age of Buddha?

November 3, 2002

On Sun, 3 Nov 2002, rahula_80 wrote:

> Lal Mani Joshi, in his book, "Brahmanism, Buddhism and Hinduism,

> ChapterIV (Date of the Oldest Upanisads) seems to think that the

> Upanisads

> are later than the age of Buddha.

As for the evidence that Lal Mani Joshi cites: I suppose it is always

possible that the vedic names mentioned in Pali texts were put there

precisely to support claims to contemporaneity and priority, a move that

seems to be familiar in the history of Indian philosophy, as we see in

today's postings in the Shankara thread. All I can do is cite what I

think is the prevailing view that the earliest upaniSads predate the

earliest Buddhist texts. I think that even the deepest familiarity with

the texts is ultimately unable to solve such problems of textual

chronology, and to prove the dates behind names that appear in the most

ancient literature.

P. Ernest

November 4, 2002

INDOLOGY, phillip.ernest@u... wrote:

>

> As for the evidence that Lal Mani Joshi cites: I suppose it is

>always possible that the vedic names mentioned in Pali texts were

>put there precisely to support claims to contemporaneity and

>priority, a move that seems to be familiar in the history of Indian

>philosophy, as we see in today's postings in the Shankara thread.

>All I can do is cite what I think is the prevailing view that the

>earliest upaniSads predate the earliest Buddhist texts.

H. Bechert and scholars from Japan have researched and have

shown that Buddha must have lived about 100 years or more

later than the normally believed dates.

UpaniSad dating is tied to the dates of Buddha and Mahavira.

Because of this, Dr. Lance Cousens mentioned interactions

between upanishads and greek thought.

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9909&L=indology&P=R2546

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9605&L=indology&P=R918

Also,

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9909&L=indology&P=R2726

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind9909&L=indology&P=R2769

BTW, did Dr. V. J. Roebuck get T. Oberlies dates for

S'vetAs'vatara UpaniSad?

http://listserv.liv.ac.uk/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0104&L=indology&P=R9345

Regards,

N. Ganesan

>I think that even the deepest familiarity with

> the texts is ultimately unable to solve such problems of textual

> chronology, and to prove the dates behind names that appear in the

>most ancient literature.

>

> P. Ernest

November 4, 2002

Can anyone tell me when and where the name BhArata was first used for the whole

of India; and when and where this first occurs in any Tamil writing?

Thank you,

V. V. Raman