Holy Ground – Where Art and Text Meet Gonda Indological Studies PUBLISHED UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE J. GONDA FOUNDATION ROYAL NETHERLANDS ACADEMY OF ARTS AND SCIENCES Edited by Peter C. Bisschop ( Leiden ) Editorial Board Hans T. Bakker ( London ) Dominic D.S. Goodall ( Paris/Pondicherry ) Hans Harder ( Heidelberg ) Stephanie Jamison ( Los Angeles ) Ellen M. Raven ( Leiden ) Jonathan A. Silk ( Leiden ) VOLUME 20 The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/gis Hans Teye Bakker Holy Ground Where Art and Text Meet Studies in the Cultural History of India LEIDEN | BOSTON This is an open access title distributed under the terms of the CC-BY-NC . License, which permits any non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Research and production of this book have been made possible by financial support from: the European Research Council (ERC Project no. ) J. 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Table of Contents part i Early Studies 1986–2000 1 An Indian Image of Man An Inquiry into a change of perspective in the Hindu world-view 3 Introduction 3 The Indian understanding of perfect man 5 The ‘Raw Material’ 5 The Sufis 6 The Yogis 11 The Sants 13 The Bhaktas 16 Epilogue 20 2 Die Indische Herausforderung Hegels Beitrag zu einer europ ̈ aischen kulturhistorischen Diskussion . 23 Einleitung 23 Die Jahre 1820–1825 24 Neue Einsichten 28 Die Jahre 1826–1831 30 Die Rezeption der Bhagavadg ̄ ıt ̄ a 31 Von Humboldts Bhagavadg ̄ ıt ̄ a Vortr ̈ age und Hegels Kritik 34 Schlussbetrachtung 41 Schlussmoral 44 3 Ayodhy ̄ a: le nom et le lieu 47 Ayodhy ̄ a con ̧ cue : le nom 47 Ayodhy ̄ a retrouv ́ ee : le lieu 49 Illiers–Combray 52 v vi Contents 4 Ayodhy ̄ a: A Hindu Jerusalem An investigation of ‘Holy War’ as a religious idea in the light of communal unrest in India 55 Introduction 55 Holy war as a religious idea 56 Five conditions of ‘holy war’ 59 The Hindu religion and the social reality of war 60 The advent of Islam . 62 The segregation of the Hindu and Muslim communities . 64 The idea of the R ̄ ama r ̄ ajya 64 The Kingdom of Avadh 66 The emerging conflict around the Babri Masjid in Ayodhy ̄ a . 68 Ayodhy ̄ a: a Hindu Jerusalem 71 The fight for the R ̄ amajanmabh ̄ umi/Babri Masjid 73 Epilogue 77 5 The Ramtek Inscriptions I 79 Introduction 79 The graffiti 81 The two short Kevala–Narasim . ha Temple inscriptions 83 Kevala–Narasim . ha Temple Ramtek Inscription No. 1 83 Kevala–Narasim . ha Temple Ramtek Inscription No. 2 86 The Ramtek Stone Inscription of the time of R ̄ amacandra 88 Synopsis of the contents 89 Editorial principles 94 Edition 95 Translation 105 6 The Ramtek Inscriptions II The V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka inscription in the Kevala–Narasim . ha Temple (Together with Harunaga Isaacson) 113 Introduction 113 Palaeography 118 Note on the edition and translation 121 Text 122 Divergent readings of Jamkhedkar’s edition 125 Translation 126 Annotation 127 Contents vii Analysis and interpretation 137 V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka Gupta relations 145 7 Throne and Temple Political power and religious prestige in Vidarbha 149 Introduction 149 The V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka period 151 The V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka inscriptions 153 Policy of the V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka kings 154 The Y ̄ adava period 158 Ramtek Hill: Theatre of Plenipotentiaries 163 8 Little Kr . s .n . a’s Play with the Moon 165 The literary evidence 167 Baby Kr .s .n . a’s play with the moon . 168 The archaeological evidence 170 Conclusion 173 9 Some Methodological Considerations with Respect to the Critical Edition of Puranic Literature 175 Introduction 175 The theory of ‘oral composition’ 176 Composition-in-transmission 177 The critical edition of epic and puranic literature 178 The critical edition of the Ayodhy ̄ am ̄ ah ̄ atmya 182 10 P ̄ arvat ̄ ı’s Svayam . vara Studies in the Skandapur ̄ an . a I 185 Introduction 185 The wedding of ́ Siva and P ̄ arvat ̄ ı 186 ́ Siva’s exclusion from the sacrifice 187 ́ Siva as the cosmic child 190 P ̄ arvat ̄ ı’s Svayam . vara 191 The synoptic edition of the Svayam . vara myth 193 Conclusion 198 P ̄ arvat ̄ ı’s Svayam . vara. A Textual Reconstruction 201 11 Moks .adharma 187 and 239–241 Reconsidered (Together with Peter Bisschop) 223 Preamble 223 viii Contents Three themes 224 The five elements 225 The intellectual apparatus 225 Sattva and ks .etraj ̃ na 228 The ‘evolution theory’ 229 The Moks .adharma : a plurality of views 230 Appendix Some parallels of Moks .adharma 187 and 239–241 232 12 Observations on the History and Culture of Daks .in . a Kosala (5th to 7th centuries ad ) 235 Introduction 235 The P ̄ an . d . avas of Mekal ̄ a 237 The family descending from Amara in Kosala 240 The rulers of ́ Sarabhapur 243 The P ̄ an . d . uvam . ́ sa of ́ Sr ̄ ıpura 248 The date of the P ̄ an . d . uvam . ́ sa dynasty of ́ Sr ̄ ıpura 251 T ̄ ıvaradeva 253 Mah ̄ a ́ sivagupta B ̄ al ̄ arjuna 254 T ̄ al ̄ a 256 The Jit .h ̄ an ̄ ı Temple 260 13 Soma ́ sarman, Somavam . ́ sa and Somasiddh ̄ anta A P ̄ a ́ supata tradition in seventh-century Daks .in . a Kosala Studies in the Skandapur ̄ an . a III 283 Har ̄ aya Namah 283 ́ Saiva cosmology 284 The P ̄ a ́ supata movement 286 The epigraphical evidence from Malhar 289 Malhar (Junv ̄ an ̄ ı) Copperplates of Mah ̄ a ́ sivagupta, Year 57: ll. 8–23 290 Translation 290 Interpretation 291 Soma ́ sarman and the Somasiddh ̄ anta 293 The evidence of the Skandapur ̄ an . a 294 Soma ́ sarman, Somavam . ́ sa and Somasiddh ̄ anta 296 Contents ix part ii Studies in the Early History and Culture of North India 14 A Theatre of Broken Dreams Vidi ́ s ̄ a in the days of Gupta hegemony 301 Prologue 301 Act 1: R ̄ amagupta 302 The story of the Dev ̄ ıcandragupta 303 Candragupta’s matrimonial policy and the triangle of power 305 Act 2 Govindagupta 307 The testimony of Prabh ̄ akara 307 Act 3 Ghat .otkacagupta 309 K ̄ alid ̄ asa’s M ̄ alavik ̄ agnimitra 311 The V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka–Gupta conflict 314 Finale 316 Epilogue 317 15 Royal Patronage and Religious Tolerance The formative period of Gupta–V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka culture 319 Udayagiri 319 Royal patronage 322 Mandhal 323 Padmapura 324 Mun . d . asv ̄ amin 326 R ̄ amagiri 329 Mansar 331 Conclusion 333 16 R ̄ ama’s Hill Transgression and atonement on a Hill in the South and the inadequacy of substitutes 335 Preamble 335 The ́ Saivala Mountain of the R ̄ am ̄ ayan . a 336 The R ̄ amagiri 337 The epigraphical evidence 340 Vis .n . upada 341 Narasim . ha 343 The Pilgrim’s Satchel 346 Conclusion 349 x Contents 17 A New Interpretation of R ̄ amagiri Evidence 351 1 Trivikrama: Word and Statue 351 Preamble 351 Ma ̇ ngalav ̄ ada: Kevala Narasim . ha Temple (KNT) Inscription verse 1 352 The KNT Inscription verse 21 354 The discovery of the KNT Inscription 355 2 The Gupta–V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka Relationship 357 Preamble 357 The Pra ́ sasti. KNT Inscription verses 2–19 357 Conjectured narrative structure of the KNT Inscription 360 The Daughter named Mun . d . ̄ a 361 The Gupta–V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka relationship 362 The narration of the KNT Inscription 362 3 The Trivikrama Temple 365 Preamble 365 The Trivikrama Temple 365 The iconography of the Trivikrama image 368 The pious works of Atibh ̄ avat ̄ ı 371 Conclusion 371 18 A Note on Skandagupta’s Bhitar ̄ ı Stone Pillar Inscription, verses 8–12 Commemorating the dead 373 Ajay Mitra Shastri 373 Skandagupta’s Bhitar ̄ ı Inscription vv. 8–12 374 Concluding remarks on the inscription and the site of Bhitar ̄ ı 377 Appendix 379 Skandagupta’s Bhitar ̄ ı Stone Pillar Inscription vv. 8–12 379 19 The So-called ‘Jaunpur Stone Inscription of ̄ I ́ svaravarman’ 381 Preamble 381 Introduction 381 The Jaunpur Stone Inscription 383 Text 384 Translation and annotation 386 Conclusion 388 Contents xi 20 The Temple of Man . d . ale ́ svarasv ̄ amin The Mun . d . e ́ svar ̄ ı Inscription of the time of Udayasena reconsidered 391 Introduction 391 The temple on Mun . d . e ́ svar ̄ ı Hill 392 The date of the Mun . d . e ́ svar ̄ ı Inscription 394 The Mun . d . e ́ svar ̄ ı Inscription, Year 30 396 Transliteration 396 Emended, orthographic edition 397 Translation 398 Interpretation 399 Man . d . ale ́ svara and the Skandapur ̄ an . a 400 21 Monuments to the Dead in Ancient North India 405 Preamble 405 The funerary monument in Sanskrit literature 405 The aid . ̄ uka of the Vis .n . udharmottarapur ̄ an . a 406 The ed . ̄ uka 407 The archaeology of the funerary monument 411 Memorials 413 Pratim ̄ agr .has 415 Memorial Stones 417 Aid . ̄ ukas 419 Ahichhatra 419 Mansar 421 Funerary monuments with mortuary deposits 424 Sui Vihar 426 The archaeology of the ́ sma ́ s ̄ ana 429 The Kumh ̄ ara T . ekd . ̄ ı in Ujjain 430 The ed . ̄ uka at Mansar 432 A funerary monument to Prabh ̄ avat ̄ ı Gupt ̄ a? 438 Conclusion 439 Appendix 441 Aid . ̄ ukar ̄ upanirm ̄ an . a Vis .n . udharmottara 3.84.1–15 (emended) 441 xii Contents 22 Purus .amedha, Manasarapurus .a, V ̄ astupurus .a The image of man in the sacrificial context 443 The image of man 443 Human sacrifice in India 444 Installation of the house or V ̄ astupratis .t .ha 446 Excursus upon the construction of the Agnicayana altar 448 Preliminary conclusion 452 Archaeological evidence for the construction sacrifice 453 Kau ́ s ̄ amb ̄ ı 453 Mansar 455 The V ̄ astupurus .a 459 Kandhar 460 Curdi 461 Final remark 462 23 R ̄ ama Devotion in a ́ Saiva Holy Place The case of V ̄ ar ̄ an . as ̄ ı 463 Introduction 463 Tuls ̄ ıd ̄ as, ́ Siva, and the Name 464 The Agastyasam . hit ̄ a 465 The Tradition of the saving mantra 467 The K ̄ a ́ s ̄ ıkhan . d . a 467 The Skandapur ̄ an . a 469 Textual criticism 470 The saving mantra in the Skandapur ̄ an . a 470 Avimukta 471 Conclusion 473 24 The Hindu Religion and War 475 Preamble 475 A ́ soka and ancient warfare in India 475 The Artha ́ s ̄ astra 476 The principle of ahim . s ̄ a and the rules of war 477 Ahim . s ̄ a 477 The Bhagavadg ̄ ıt ̄ a 477 The rules of war 479 The reports of Megasthenes and Ibn Bat .t . ̄ ut .a 479 The idea of a ‘just war’ 481 Contents xiii The battle and the sacrifice 481 Hinduism and Islam 482 The conquest of northern India 482 The case of V ̄ ar ̄ an . as ̄ ı 483 Epilogue 485 part iii Studies in Early Saivism 25 Sources for Reconstructing Ancient Forms of ́ Siva Worship 489 ́ Siva Caturmukha 489 The myth of Tilottam ̄ a 489 Images of ́ Siva in his quadruple form 490 Epigraphic sources attesting the worship of ́ Siva 493 Early Sanskrit sources of li ̇ nga worship 496 The P ̄ a ́ supatas ̄ utra and its commentary 496 The Mah ̄ abh ̄ arata 496 The R ̄ am ̄ ayan . a 498 Concluding observations 498 The evidence of the Skandapur ̄ an . a 498 Conclusions 499 Textual sources 500 26 At the Right Side of the Teacher Imagination, imagery, and image in Vedic and ́ Saiva initiation . 505 Introduction 505 The sitting position of teacher and pupil in the Vedic Upanayana ritual 506 The ́ Satapathabr ̄ ahman . a 506 The Gr .hyas ̄ utras 508 The sitting position of the preceptor and his audience 511 The sitting position of guru and novice in early ́ Saiva initiation ritual 512 Initiation in the P ̄ a ́ supata tradition 513 xiv Contents The Daks .in . ̄ am ̄ urti 515 The definition of god’s figure of grace 518 The Daks .in . ̄ am ̄ urti and iconography 519 The development of a cult concept into an iconic image 521 A Daks .in . ̄ am ̄ urti on a crossbar found in Nagar ̄ ı 522 Daks .a’s sacrifice and his instruction in the P ̄ a ́ supata vrata 524 27 Thanesar, the P ̄ a ́ supata Order and the Skandapur ̄ an . a Studies in the Skandapur ̄ an . a IX 527 The tradition of the four pupils of L ̄ agud . i 527 L ̄ agud . i 529 The Kuru lineage 530 R ̄ a ́ si ascetics and ‘His own doctrine’ 532 The Skandapur ̄ ana and the P ̄ a ́ supata movement 533 V ̄ ar ̄ an . as ̄ ı 533 The M ̄ ah ̄ atmya of Sth ̄ ane ́ svara 534 B ̄ an . a’s relationship with Dadh ̄ ıca, the founder of Sth ̄ ane ́ svara 535 The Skandapur ̄ an . a reaches Nepal 537 Matrimonial alliances and the spread of culture 539 28 The Gospel of Kaun . d . inya The descent of God in Gujarat and the practice of imitating God 541 Kaun . d . inya’s Pa ̃ nc ̄ arthabh ̄ as .ya 541 Ku ́ sika and the divine revelation 541 The power of the word 543 The P ̄ a ́ supata praxis 544 The imitatio dei 544 The seeking of dishonour 545 Fools through the ages 546 Kaun . d . inya’s eschatology 549 Modern forms of Hindu devotion 550 Epilogue 551 Contents xv 29 Origin and Spread of the P ̄ a ́ supata Movement About Heracles, Lakul ̄ ı ́ sa and symbols of masculinity 553 L ̄ agud . i 553 Early images of a club bearing ascetic or teacher 554 The lagud . a or club 555 The origin of the P ̄ a ́ supata movement 558 The four disciples 559 Spread and ramification of the P ̄ a ́ supata movement 561 The route along which the P ̄ a ́ supata religion moved north 563 The Origin of a pan-Indian religion 563 30 The Quest for the P ̄ a ́ supata Weapon The gateway of the Mah ̄ adeva Temple at Madhyamik ̄ a (Nagar ̄ ı) (Together with Peter Bisschop) 567 Introduction 567 The History of the Nagar ̄ ı site 569 Inscriptions and coins 569 Archaeology 571 The Toran . a of the Mah ̄ adeva Temple 573 The eastern face (E) of the gateway architrave 575 The western face(W)of the gateway architrave 587 The P ̄ a ́ supata weapon 594 Concluding observations 597 31 Composition and Spread of the Skandapur ̄ an . a An artist’s impression 601 References and Index List of figures 613 List of plates 613 Bibliography 618 Index 669 Preface I descended to the field of classical indology from the lofty heights of western philosophy. As a graduate student I had spent four years studying two giants of European thought, Aristotle and Hegel, whose respectful student I still consider myself to be. But circumstances not defined by philosophy led me to the discovery of the world outside Europe. Indian philosophy was for me an obvious anchor as was the comparative study of religions. As my knowledge of Sanskrit increased and my understanding of the depth and beauty of Indian culture widened, I jumped on the opportunity offered to me to study the history of one of India’s most sacred places, Ayodhy ̄ a, which became the subject of my PhD research. I had landed on holy ground. The studies presented here take their start from 1986, the year that my Ayodhy ̄ a book was published. Thirty-one articles are collected in the present volume; they span a period of thirty years, during which I worked mainly at the Institute of Indian Studies of the University of Groningen. They are the backbone of my research and naturally follow the intellectual development that informed my academic career. The reader may notice a gradual shift away from theoretical, say philosophi- cal subjects to a historical, cultural orientation in which two mainstreams come together, strands that I found entwined in the holy ground that was my first object of research: the Sanskrit textual tradition, including epigraphy, and the material culture as expressed in works of religious art and iconography. It was only while working on this volume that I gradually discovered that the history of holy places has been a leitmotiv throughout my scholarly endeavours. And this has been so because I have been and still am fascinated by the potential for understanding, if text and art are studied in close combination in the ac- tual field where they meet: two types of sources that release their maximal informative power when they are bound to one and the same locality. After Ayodhy ̄ a my attention focused on the culture of Vidarbha, in particular during the two centuries of V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka rule. My second monograph, The V ̄ ak ̄ at .akas , which appeared in 1997, thus carried the subtitle: An essay in Hindu Iconology Hegel’s place was taken by Panofsky. Apart from this general intellectual direction, there have been two major chal- lenges which, more than anything, have enriched my research and left their imprints on this volume. One is the Kevala–Narasim . ha Temple Inscription found on the R ̄ amagiri (Ramtek), the other the discovery of the ‘original’ Skandapur ̄ an . a , found in ancient Nepalese manuscripts in the National Archives (Kathmandu). xvii xviii Preface Our edition of the first, the KNT inscription, has gone through two subse- quent revisions. The first edition (Bakker & Isaacson 1993) is given here as study No. 6, in which later revisions and conjectures are added to the apparatus and footnotes, including conjectures published here for the first time. The se- cond revised edition is contained in Bakker 1997, and the third, partial edition (Bakker 2010c), is our study No. 17.1. The importance of this inscription for the history of the Gupta–V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka age cannot easily be overrated. Evaluation of its content has informed studies Nos. 7, 14, 15, and 17.2–3 of this volume. The second discovery has resulted in the critical edition of the Skandapur ̄ an . a , of which so far five volumes have appeared (SP I, II A, II B, III, IV), and at which a varying team of scholars has been working since the 1990s of the last century. This work has prompted a series of articles by several authors with the common subtitle Studies in the Skandapur ̄ an . a . Of these, three have been selected for the present volume, studies Nos. 10, 13, and 27. The SP project has also resulted in a third monograph, The World of the Skandapur ̄ an . a (Bakker 2014). In selecting these thirty-one studies out of a total of eighty-five articles I applied—in addition to considerations of quality—the general, though flexible rule not to include those articles that may be considered preparatory studies, that is studies whose final form has been integrated in a (later) monograph, edited volume, or introduction to our edition of the Skandapur ̄ an . a . This en- tails that some subjects that have occupied me a great deal may appear un- derexposed in the present volume, such as, for instance, the critical edition of Sanskrit texts, 1 the history of V ̄ ar ̄ an . as ̄ ı, 2 or the archaeology of the V ̄ ak ̄ at .aka sites, Ramtek and Mansar. 3 With one exception, No. 30 (Bakker & Bisschop 2016), I have selected articles that were written during my work at the Uni- versity of Groningen, that is until 2013. Study No. 17 combines and integrates three articles that were published separately. 4 Two essays are published for the first time in the present volume: No. 16, an English translation of an ar- ticle originally published in Italian (2010), and No. 31, my valedictory lecture (2013), which concludes this book. The articles selected for this volume are marked by an * in the reference list; the latter contains only works referred to in this volume and does not comprise a complete bibliography. The critical reader may ask what aim is served by another edition of articles that have already been published. The question contains the answer. The present volume not only collects and reproduces articles that have been pub- lished, but it edits them again. I have taken the liberty of revising the original publications, in some cases rather thoroughly, and I have brought their contents in agreement with my other writings. In so doing I have tried, to the best of 1 See e.g. the Prolegomena to our Skandapur ̄ an . a edition, Volume 1 (SP I). 2 See e.g. the Introduction of Skandapur ̄ an . a Volume 2 (SP II A). 3 Dealt with in e.g. Bakker 1997; Bakker 2004d; Bakker 2008. 4 Bakker 2010c, 2012, 2013b. Preface xix my ability, to put them in accordance with the latest insights. In brief, the aim has been to make my published work more consistent and up-to-date as far as possible. This does not imply that I have rewritten earlier work. My intention has been to strike a balance between leaving the original article intact wherever possible and reformulating and emending the existing publication when needed. When my views have changed in such a way that rewriting would affect the original too much, I have presented my changed position in footnotes. The revision described above has a few important consequences. All arti- cles have been typeset anew. Preliminary Abstracts, Acknowledgements, and Keywords have been left out. The separate bibliographies have been assembled in one list of references at the end of the book. The text of the studies has been newly divided according to headings and subheadings which appear in the Table of Contents. In order to serve the aim of welding a collection of studies into a real unity, I have added hundreds of cross-references. Illustrations have been inserted whenever I found them useful and the volume is concluded by an Index. The book is divided into three parts: I Early Studies (1986–2000) II Stud- ies in the Early History and Culture of North India III Studies in Early Saivism As most divisons, this arrangement is relatively arbitrary. It pre- cludes a strict chronological order of the original publications and allows a thematic ordering only to some extent. This compromise between chronology and themes means to facilitate a ready access of the reader to the subject of his/her interest, whereas the sequence of studies opens the possibility to con- tinue the development of a theme as it has evolved in my thinking. Where a thematic sequence was not possible it is hoped that cross-references may guide the reader further. Despite selection and revision, a certain amount of redundancy could not be avoided. This volume has been composed as part of my work as curator at the British Museum (2014–2019) for the project: Beyond Boundaries: Religion, Region, Language and the State (ERC Project no. 609823). I am grateful for all the help I have received from my colleagues in this project and the museum staff. Special thanks are due to Dr Michael Willis who as ‘Principal Investigator’ has initiated and guided this project. I am grateful to Dr Dory Heilijgers for proofreading and making the Index. I also thank Prof Harunaga Isaacson (Hamburg) and Prof Peter Bisschop (Leiden) for permitting the inclusion and reissue of articles that we wrote together (Nos. 6, 11, and 30). Hans Bakker British Museum, 1 May 2019