TY  - GEN
AV  - public
ID  - heidok21335
Y1  - 2016///
TI  - The Modification of Mantras in Vedic Rituals according to the ninth Adhy?ya of the D?pa?ikh? of ??likan?tha Mi?ra
UR  - https://archiv.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/volltextserver/21335/
N2  - The present study is based on a second-level-commentary called D?pa?ikh? (D?), "The peak of light", by ??likan?tha Mi?ra who is assumed to have written his treatises in the latter eighth and early ninth century CE. ??likan?tha belonged to the Pr?bh?kara-school of P?rvam?m??s?, named after its founder Prabh?kara Mi?ra. Together with his rival Kum?rila Bha??a, founder of the Bh???a-school of P?rvam?m??s?, he stands for the "golden age" of P?rvam?m??s?, when adherents of these sub-schools seem to have had vivid philosophical, exegetical debates amongst each other and with adherents of Buddhist and other schools.
This study presents parts or chapters (adhikara?as) from the ninth book (adhy?ya) of the D? in a first edition and translation. The chapters all deal with the question, whether and how mantras prescribed for specific Vedic rituals have to be changed in a new ritual context.
The analysis of the passages reveals the following aspects:
? Mantras, as well as ?songs? (s?mans) and "embellishments" of ritual details (sa?sk?ras), may be subject to change after they have been transferred into a new ritual setting.
? Only single phrases within mantras can be subject to change, the general proposition of the text remains the same.
? The principles and rules expounded by P?rvam?m??s? for structuring the Vedic texts, specifically mantras, help the specialist to determine the proper functional meaning of a (part of a) mantra within the ritual context.
? On the basis of the functional meaning he can decide whether and how a phrase has to be modified.
? Despite the system?s emphasis on "ritual pragmatics" the statements contained in mantras are not seen as essentially different from "worldly" counterparts.
? The human aspect has to be accepted by P?rvam?m??s? in this context, as it is the ritual specialist who determines the modification, ultimately led by his understanding of the meaning of the texts and situation at stake.
? Like in other instances, the modification of mantras reflects the constant striving of the system to bring the orthodoxy expounded in Vedic revelation (?ruti) to terms with the orthopraxis of an assumed ritual reality. While trying to establish rules to ultimately safeguard the unity and thus authority of the Veda, P?rvam?m??s? here has to admit the human aspect into the system.
A1  - Lamers, Oliver
ER  -