It is generally supposed that the Vedic tradition emerged from certain Brahmanic circles of poets, priests and theoreticians who depended economically very much on a kind of pastoral aristocracy. As against this point of view the book maintains the theory that the Vedic tradition was mainly connected with the warrior world, in particular with certain groups of seers that surrounded the warrior chiefs called suris and strongly opposed the pastoral aristocracy and their priesthood. What emerges from this approach is that the Vedic tradition, in spite of its apparent unity of themes,...

In the past European scholars have tended to treat both Madhyamaka and Yogācāra as separate and fundamentally opposed trends in Mahāyāna Buddhist thought. Drawing heavily on early textual evidence this work questions the validity of such a "Mahāyāna schools" hypothesis. By down-playing the late commentorial traditions, the author attempts a general reappraisal of the epistemological and ontological writings of Nagarjuna, Asanga and Vasubandhu. He concludes that the overlap in all areas of doctrine is significant, but particularly with respect to the teachings on...

The Rise of The Indo-Afghan Empire, c. 1710-1780 deals with the magnificent world of Afghan nomads, horse-dealers and mercenaries bridging the frontiers between the old metropolitan centres of India, Iran and Central Asia. During the eighteenth century they succeeded in establishing a vigorous new system of Indo-Afghan states. In Central Asia, the Afghans created an imperial tradition on the basis of long-standing Perso-Islamic ideals. In India, along the caravan routes with Turkistan and Tibet, they carved out thriving principalities in association with military service and the...

The present work is an investigation of the Indo-Tibetan ritual for consecrating images, stupas, books and temples. It is based on a thorough examination of the relevant Tibetan textual material contained in Tantras, commentaries, ritual manuals and explanatory works on consecration. As rituals are meant to be performed, this textual study is combined with observations of performances and interviews with performers. The book opens with a general discussion of certain principles of tantric rituals and the foundations of Indo-Tibetan consecration. The main part focuses on a specific...

This study explores the ideas of the enigmatic and controversial visionary, known as Padmasambhava. It takes as its starting point a unique and hitherto untouched source: Padmasambhava's writings preserved in the rNying-ma rgyud-'bum that remain excluded from the standard editions of the Tibetan Tanjur collections to this day. The first chapter explains Padmasambhava's holistic background that reflects an anthropocosmic worldview. The second chapter deals with the problem of how this anthropocosmic whole becomes enworlded as samsara and of how the enworlded experiencer disentangles himself...

The present volume is the outcome of a seminar on the Ideology and Status of Sanskrit held in Leiden under the auspices of the International Institute for Asian Studies. The book contains studies of crucial periods and important areas in the history of the Sanskrit language, from the earliest, Vedic and pre-Vedic periods, through the period in which the (restricted) use of Sanskrit spread over practically all of South (including part of Central) and Southeast Asia (sometimes referred to as the period of "Greater India"), up to the recent history of Sanskrit in India.
The contributions of...

In the course of millennia of dealing with problems of violence, South Asia has not only elaborated the ideal of total avoidance of violence in a unique manner, it also developed arguments justifying and rationalizing its employment under certain circumstances. Some of these arguments seemingly transform all sorts of 'violence' into 'non-violence'. Historical and cultural aspects of the tensions between violence and its denial and rationalization in South Asia are taken up in the contributions of this volume which deal with topics ranging from the origins of the concept of...

This is a fascinating depiction of the transformation of the Indian riverine goddess from the manuscript-carrying vīṇā-player to the Buddhist weapon-wielding defender of the Dharma. Drawing on Sanskrit and Chinese textual sources, as well as Hindu, Jain, and Buddhist art historical representations, this book traces the conceptual and iconographic development of the riverine goddess of knowledge Sarasvatī from some time after 1750 B.C.E. to the seventh century C.E. Through the study of Chinese translations of no longer extant Sanskrit versions of the Buddhist...

As in various other cultures, in the Hindu tradition of the Indian Subcontinent construction rituals accompany the construction of a temple, from the moment of choosing the suitable building site, right to the completion of the entire project. Numerous descriptions in Sanskrit texts on ritual and architecture describe in detail these building consecration ceremonies and reflect the importance attached to these rituals. Surprisingly, this topic has so far not received the attention it deserves given its essential role. Basing herself on both the Sanskrit texts, as well as the archaeological...

While numerous studies exist on major South-Asian temples, surprisingly little is known about 'minor shrines' and 'lesser states'. Here fifty-five new documents, in a western-Himalayan script and language, and belonging to a small Siddha shrine, redress this remarkable gap in our knowledge. The documents cover a wide spectrum--from revenue grants to those dealing with ritual, pilgrimage, legality and temple-economy--thus building a picture of the relationship between state and shrine, and particularly so for the minor centres: their popularity and relationship with major temples; mundane...