Brahma-samhita

[Guest guest]

> Haribol

>

> Matsubara's assertion that our Brahma-samhita is a Pancaratra text ought

> not to be taken seriously. No one else does. What are his credentials or

> evidences for saying that? I would rather guess that it belongs to some

> other tantra category, but not Pancaratra.

>

> Gerald

 

I do not know much about this author and have no time to systematically

present his evidences. I would think that anybody who is keenly interested

in this subject can take a look at his book and then decide for themselves

what to accept and what to reject.

 

The author himself doesn't claim to have spoken the final words on the topic

of Pancaratra Samhitas. In his preface he writes:

 

"In the following chapters, although I made quite a few additions and

revisions wherever necessary to bring them up to date with my own and

others' more recent studies, much of what I wrote must still be tentative

and some other points are put in the barest outline to serve only as a

stepping stone for future students of Hinduism with similar interests,

hopefully to stimulate and promote their further research works. In this

academic field we are not at the point of arrival, but of departure. One may

well agree with Francis Bacon (1561-1626) who says that a serious student

never fails to consider the possibility that he has made mistakes. He also

says that it is extremely important to present a hypothesis, because then

for the first time original and promising arguments may begin to develop."

 

As far as Matsubara's credentials are concerned:

 

B.A. in 1962 and M.A. in1964 at Tokyo University.

Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian studies at Harvard University in 1971.

 

More than 40 articles in Japanese, which include:

 

Sanskrit Oral Verse-making Technique, 1973

 

Kalidasa's Raghuvamsa and the Sanskrit Epic Ramayana, 1991

 

Ekantin and the Bhagavad Gita, 1990

 

Monotheistic Theory of the early Vaisnavas, Vyuha Theory in the Early

Pancaratra, 1990

 

The Formation of the Pancaratra's Theory of the Four Vyuhas 1991

 

-------------------------------

 

I am neither endorsing nor contending this author's views. I don't know the

topic well enough to do that. My posts in this thread are of a purely

informative nature.

 

 

ys end

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 1/23/00 1:36:15 PM Eastern Standard Time,

Ekanath.HKS (AT) bbt (DOT) se writes:

 

<<

I am neither endorsing nor contending this author's views. I don't know the

topic well enough to do that. My posts in this thread are of a purely

informative nature.

 

>>

Haribol

 

We hear of various tantra-s such as Krishna-yamala-tantra in Laghu

bhagavatamrta. So there seem to be other categories of bonafide tantra other

than Pancaratra. I don't think the known Pancaratras go into Krishna-lila. At

best one of them says that Narayana is an expansion of a two handed form.

ys

Gerald