Guest guest Posted December 18, 2003 Report Share Posted December 18, 2003 <Was there any incident of a Government or state-sponsored or supported book-banning and burning activity in India comparable to those like the Qin Shi Huang Di orders (200 BC China) or the European traditions like the books of Arius and Nestorius etc.> 1. To me this seems to be highly unlikely if only because in the Indic/Hindu tradition, sacredness (Sarasvati) is associated with books. 2. Unfortunately, it appears that there have been instances (in South India) of people (Jainas) being impaled for not re-converting to the Saiva or ViashNava fold. V. V. Raman December 18, 2003 - Vidya Jayaraman INDOLOGY Thursday, December 18, 2003 1:35 PM [Y-Indology] Book-Burning in India I see a current trend of comparing the Chinese approach to China Studies vs the Indian approach and hence this question. Was there any incident of a Government or state-sponsored or supported book-banning and burning activity in India comparable to those like the Qin Shi Huang Di orders (200 BC China) or the European traditions like the books of Arius and Nestorius etc. The only two instances of burning manuscripts that I have come across are the traditional accounts of Amara Simha and others who burn their manuscripts (of their own accord?)when they lost in debate. Another later-day instance is from the Nawab Of carnatic and the Saraswati Mahal. Are there any other oral or written accounts of happenings such as these? Thanks Vidya Jayaraman indology INDOLOGY/ b.. INDOLOGY c.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 19, 2003 Report Share Posted December 19, 2003 The Kathasaritsagara's kathaapiiTha, detailing the narrative of its own origins, has a very powerful scene of an author, Gunadhya (i believe), who had previously written down the entirety of the brhat-kathaa in paisaci language (having heard the tale from the yakSa-cursed-to-be-a-pisaca, Kanabhuti) , and composed in his own blood, throwing it page by page into the fire, as he read it tearfully to his only audience, the animals of the forest, since the manuscript was rejected by the newly Sanskrit-speaking Saatavaahana king, (chided by his lover for poor sandhi). The king, finding that the meat his hunters were bringing him had suddenly become lean and tasteless, made inquiries and eventually located the author, managing to save I am not near any books at the moment and i am sorry i can't give precise references just now; others will undoubtedly supply more details. adheesh > The only two instances of burning manuscripts that I have come across > are the traditional accounts of Amara Simha and others who burn their > manuscripts (of their own accord?)when they lost in debate. > Another later-day instance is from the Nawab Of carnatic and the > Saraswati Mahal. > > Are there any other oral or written accounts of happenings such as > these? > > Thanks > > Vidya Jayaraman > > > > > indology > > > > > Links > > > INDOLOGY/ > > > INDOLOGY > > Your > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2003 Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 There is a charming story of Bhasa's plays being thrown to fire as a part of agnipareeksa by scholars. And the story goes that even fire was not able to burn Svapnavasavadatta ! C.Rajendran ===== Dr.C.Rajendran Professor of Sanskrit University of Calicut Calicut University P.O Kerala 673 635 Phone: 0494-2401144 Residential address:28/1097,Rajadhani Kumaran Nair Road, Chevayur, Calicut Kerala 673 017 Phone: 0495-2354 624 New Photos - easier uploading and sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 20, 2003 Report Share Posted December 20, 2003 Well, there is the story of leaves of a book being thrown into a river, which were saved and became Naladiyar, a classic Tamil text. Jain poet Banarasi Das, who wrote the first autobiography in Hindi, destroyed his own earlier compositions that emphasised shringar by throwing them in river, because he considered them decadent. It is true that books, even paper which has been written on, were regarded to sacred. It was quite common for people of one tradition to read books of other traditions. Ancient manustripts of Buddhist and Brahmanical texts have been found in Jain libraries of Patan and Jaisalmer. Yashwant INDOLOGY, "V.V.Raman" <vvrsps@r...> wrote: > <Was there any incident of a Government or state-sponsored or supported > book-banning and burning activity in India comparable to those like > the Qin Shi Huang Di orders (200 BC China) or the European > traditions like the books of Arius and Nestorius etc.> > > 1. To me this seems to be highly unlikely if only because in the Indic/Hindu tradition, sacredness (Sarasvati) is associated with books. > > 2. Unfortunately, it appears that there have been instances (in South India) of people (Jainas) being impaled for not re-converting to the Saiva or ViashNava fold. > > V. V. Raman > December 18, 2003 > > > - > Vidya Jayaraman > INDOLOGY > Thursday, December 18, 2003 1:35 PM > [Y-Indology] Book-Burning in India > > > I see a current trend of comparing the Chinese approach to China > Studies vs the Indian approach and hence this question. > > Was there any incident of a Government or state-sponsored or supported > book-banning and burning activity in India comparable to those like > the Qin Shi Huang Di orders (200 BC China) or the European > traditions like the books of Arius and Nestorius etc. > > The only two instances of burning manuscripts that I have come across > are the traditional accounts of Amara Simha and others who burn their > manuscripts (of their own accord?)when they lost in debate. > Another later-day instance is from the Nawab Of carnatic and the > Saraswati Mahal. > > Are there any other oral or written accounts of happenings such as > these? > > Thanks > > Vidya Jayaraman > > > > > > indology > > > > > Sponsor > > > > > > > -- ---------- > Links > > > INDOLOGY/ > > b.. > INDOLOGY > > c.. Terms of Service. > > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 21, 2003 Report Share Posted December 21, 2003 Thank you Dr. Swapnavasavasatta was one of the sanskrit texts I studied in my college at Trichur in 1943. In the preface about Bhasa there was the sloka you mentioned, which I repeat from memory: bhaasa-naataka-chakre tu chekaih kshipte pareekshitum / swapnavasavadattasya daahakobhoot na paavakah // P.K.Ramakrishnan --- Rajendran C <crajenin wrote: > There is a charming story of Bhasa's plays being > thrown to fire as a part of agnipareeksa by > scholars. > And the story goes that even fire was not able to > burn > Svapnavasavadatta ! > C.Rajendran > > ===== > Dr.C.Rajendran > Professor of Sanskrit > > University of Calicut > Calicut University P.O > > Kerala 673 635 Phone: 0494-2401144 > Residential address:28/1097,Rajadhani Kumaran Nair > Road, > Chevayur, Calicut Kerala 673 017 Phone: 0495-2354 > 624 > > > > New Photos - easier uploading and sharing. > > > New Photos - easier uploading and sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 22, 2003 Report Share Posted December 22, 2003 A story usually considered apocryphal in the Gaudiya tradition states that Jiva Goswami threw Krishnadasa's manuscript of Chaitanya Charitamrita into the Yamuna, either out of jealousy or because too much esoteric detail had been revealed in the vernacular, or because Krishna Das had supported the parakiya-vada in his work. Whoops, I seem to have forgotten the details and I don't have a copy of Vivarta Vilasa to hand. New Photos - easier uploading and sharing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 29, 2003 Report Share Posted December 29, 2003 In the Arya Samaj circles, the following story is very well known - Swami Dayanand struggled to master Sanskrit grammar for several years using post-Panini works but could not understand all the intricacies of the language. He learned that Swami Virajananda, a blind teacher of Mathura, could teach the subject in 3 years. Late night, he knocked at the blind teacher's door, who asked him what works he had read and what books he was carrying. Swami Dayananda relied that he was carrying sarasvata grammar books, whereupon Swami Virajananda asked him to return only after he had thrown these in the Yamuna. Swami Dayanand complied with the request immediately, and threafter Swami Virajananda started his instruction to Swami Dayananda in Ashtadhyayi. The story of Gunadhya burning a large portion of his own Brhatkatha is well known too. Vishal Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 6, 2004 Report Share Posted January 6, 2004 There are several other instances of book burning in Indian/Tamil history. 1. The deliberate destruction of ThEvAram right inside the precints of the famed NatarAja temple of Chidambaram, because of which about 80% of the songs composed by the famous Tamil Saiva Trinity (Appar, Sambandhra and Sundarar; nevermind, the last two themselves were anthaNars/brahmins) were lost forever. 2. As attested by none other than the great man U.V.Saminatha Iyer himself, routine burning of Tamil manuscripts in temple yagnas was a common Vedic practice in the Tamil country. I recall reading about KuntalakEsi, another ancient Jaina literature, that mysteriously disappeared, never to be found again - again as attested by U.V.S himself. One can only surmise how many more Tamil Jaina and Buddhist literature were submitted to Agni during the Bakthi era. U.V.S had to endure enormous condemnation from the Saivaite circles for publishing Civaga Cintamani, another ancient Jaina literature. 3. The recent burning of Jaffna (in SriLanka) library, which housed precious collections of the Tamil Saivaite scholar Arumuga Navalar. 4. The destruction of the ancient Nalanda library. Vel Murugan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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JayaMahaDevi Posted January 9, 2008 Report Share Posted January 9, 2008 <was there="" any="" incident="" of="" a="" government="" state-sponsored="" or="" supported=""> 2. Unfortunately, it appears that there have been instances (in South India) of people (Jainas) being impaled for not re-converting to the Saiva or ViashNava fold. Well unfortunatley when people decide to see themselves seperate through caste, creed, class, gender, sects, religions, nationalities, languages, lineages, etc. Then what you get is strife. People will quarrel over petty differences, when in reality we are all god's children. No matter who you are, who you worship, what color you are, what gender you are, etc. We are all the divine embodiment of souls... And if people realized the truth they would see their selves, and god in everyone and everything else. However, we don't live in the Golden age anymore ;-) </was> Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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