Hayagrīva in South India and other posts

You can read here a new post on Hayagrīva in South India. Another post on Hayagrīva is this one.
If you are interested in Vedānta Deśika (or Veṅkaṭanātha), read these various posts on his ontology and theology, and this one on his aikaśāstrya. On bhakti in Varanasi, read here.
Keen to know more about contemporary Indian philosophy? Read this post. And this one on comparative philosophy in general.
On ritual prescriptions, read here (for the Śrautasūtra perspective) and this one (for the Mīmāṃsā perspective).
My thoughts on how to organise oneself are here.
Some practical suggestions on how to publish one's book are here.

Reuse in texts and art, how to fund your projects and some further thoughts.

A few posts in the last month discuss about reuse in art (this one on Hayagrīva in the Hayagrīva Saṃhitā, this one and this one on the conceptual categories to deal with reuse, this post on my impressions of the first EAAA (European Association of Asian Art and Archaeology) conference).
As for the related problem of reuse in texts, some more posts could be interesting (this one discusses the reasons for marking textual reuse, and this one discusses the alteration of texts). Again, on a connected line of thought (the reuse of Buddhist texts), this post and this one discuss Buddhism in South India and this one discusses the influence of Jain libraries in making texts available.

On being a researcher in Europe, check this and this post (on having your project funded).

As for further topics, this post discusses about theology without faith, this one discusses Mīmāṃsā and Grammar.

Finally, this post discusses my methodology of reading an "Alien" philosophy.

IABS, IDhC conferences and other posts (including various CfP)

You can find a summary of my posts on the IABS (International Association of Buddhist Studies) Conference on my new blog, here.
You can find a summary of my posts on the IDhC (International Dharmakīrti Conference) on my new blog, here.
Further, you can find a post on bhakti and Daya Krishna here.
A post on common misunderstandings of Mīmāṃsā can be read here.
Are you interested in philosophy and epistemology of language and in testimony? Read this CfP.
The Call for Papers for the next CBC can be read here.

Be sure to check my new blog's archives for August and September for further short posts.

On the Indian lack of distinction between linguistic and external reality and other posts

In his contribution to a recent symposium (Does Asia think differently? –Symposium zu Ehre Ernst Steinkellners), as well as in many other publications of him (e.g., Langage et Réalité: sur un épisode de la pensée indienne, 1999), Johannes Bronkhorst answered that yes, there is a substantial difference between “our” thought and the Indian one, in so far as the latter does not distinguish between purely linguistic problems and genuine ones. You can read the rest at my new blog, here.

Are you allowed to perform a malefic sacrifice? If you are, then it seems like the Veda contradicts itself, since elsewhere it prohibits violence. If you are not, why not, given that such sacrifices are prescribed in the Veda? Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

For my impressions of the talks at the IABS conference in Vienna, please check here.

One God, One Śāstra —A panel at the WSC 2015

If you work on Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, please read this call for papers.

A new post on Hayagrīva and further interesting ones

You can read my June posts (on Mīmāṃsā's theory of language, Hayagrīva, Bogdan Diaconescu, Editing proofs, Veṅkaṭanātha's Buddhist quotes and Philosophy) at my new blog, here.

Is interdisciplinarity easier for scholars of South Asian studies? On the 5th Coffee Break Conference

Last week in Rome the 5th Coffee Break Conference took place. During his introductory speech Andrew Ollett asked why was such a project, with an explicit emphasis on a interdisciplinary approach, born exactly among scholars and students of South Asian studies. Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Kumārila on sentence meaning

Who are the opponents in Kumārila's Ślokavārttika (henceforth ŚV), chapter on sentence-meaning? And did the ŚV set the standard for all further discussions on the topic?
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Is Vyāḍi meant when Jayanta refers to “exclusion”?

Is Jayanta referring to Vyāḍi when he lists various positions at the beginning of his discussion about the sentence-meaning, in his Nyāyamañjarī, book 5? Read the answer at my new blog.

Who invented the apoha theory? On Kunjunni Raja 1986

Who invented the apoha theory? If you, like me, are prone to answer "Dignāga" and to add that Dignāga (as shown by Hattori) was inspired by Bhartṛhari's theory and that Dharmakīrti and Dharmottara later fine-tuned Dignāga's one, you are ready to have your view challenged by K. Kunjunni Raja's article in Buddhist Logic and Epistemology (ed. by B.K. Matilal and R.D. Evans, 1986). Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Sucarita Miśra on apoha —On Kataoka 2014a

Who is the most productive scholar on Indian Philosophy? Kei Kataoka is surely in the top-10 (have a look at his publications here).
He has just published a critical edition of the apoha section of Sucarita’s commentary on the Ślokavārttika. Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Who studied Mīmāṃsā deontics?

Since Mīmāṃsā (both in its Bhāṭṭa and in its Prābhākara subschools) focused primarily on the exegesis of the prescriptive portion of the Vedic Sacred Texts, the Mīmāṃsā texts offer richly developed discussions of deontic issues, both from a linguistic and from a logic point of view. Unfortunately, the lack of philosophically accessible translations has made most of such discussions remain confined to Sanskritists. Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Possible applications of Mīmāṃsā deontics: on Chaudhuri and Vardi

There are fields in which the contribution of applied ethics and deontics are more than needed, such as that of the programming of artificial intelligence connected to robots which might interact with human beings. Chaudhuri and Vardi (their article can be downloaded here) quote the following case: (please read the rest at my new blog, here).

Helmut Krasser, the Rebel Sanskritist

Who would laugh about both Christianity and Buddhism, about cancer and the Academia?
Helmut Krasser!

मीमांसान्याययोः शब्दविषये विवादः -१-

पूर्वमीमांसासूत्रे सू॰ १।१।६ अरभ्य सू॰ १।१।२३ पर्यन्तम् शब्दस्वरूपविषये नैयायिकानां पूर्वपक्षाः प्रदर्शिताः (१।१।६--१।१।११) प्रतिवदिताश्च । शेषं तु इह पठितव्यम् ।

“If you want to keep on with this work, you have to be proactive”—An interview with Chiara Barbati —Part 2

An interview about Central Asia, linguistics and how to have an academic career…

What is unreal?

The term tuccha means in Classical Sanksrit "worthless", "insignificant". In Vedānta, however, it gets a more specific technical meaning, to denote the absolute unreality of chimeral entities, such as the khapuṣpa (flower in the air), which will not and cannot ever exist. You can read the rest at my new blog, here.

Will the journey ever come to its goal? On comparative theology in Clooney 2013

How does one compare theological poetry? Some thoughts can be read at my new blog, here.

Kamalesvara Bhattacharya's death

You can read some fond memories of him at my new blog, here.

Two posts on Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta

I recently dedicated one post to Yāmuna, and one to Veṅkaṭanātha. Please, update your links to my new blog, in order not to miss some interesting discussion!

Can one establish the existence of an omniscient?

…or can one just say that his existence cannot be denied?

Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Do you think that Sanskrit is hard? Have a look at what our fellow logicians are doing! —On Srinivasan and Parthasarathi 2012

This article uses Mīmāṃsā tools for a non-exegetical purpose, i.e., in order to build a system of representations of imperatives. Please read the rest of the post at my new blog, here.

Doing research on free-will in Indian philosophy

As a scholar trained in Western Academia, one has at least three choices while dealing with Sanskrit Philosophy:

1. One can treat it as if it were Western philosophy and discuss, e.g., of monotonic or non-monotonic logic in Nyāya,
2. One can deal with it in its own terms, e.g., by describing the inner-Mīmāṃsā controversy about whether one has to study the Veda because of the prescription to study it or because of the prescription to teach it (since, in order for someone to teach, someone else must be learning from him),
3. One can attempt a compromise, looking for how a certain topic is configured in Sanskrit philosophy.
4.  

Please read the rest at my new blog.

शब्दविषये रसेल(Russell)मत: संस्कृतायां वाचि निरूपितः

इह पठनीयः ।

What was happening in Indian publishing houses at the beginning of the 20th c.?

How is your experience with early publishing houses in India? How many books were published each year? Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

What is involved in a religious identity? On the Introduction of Leach 2012

What are the Pāñcarātras? Is there anything like a uniform Pāñcarātra Canon and/or Theology? Or are these texts only part of a constellation which has been made consistent by its later interpreters? Read the rest at my new blog, here.

CfP for the South Asian Studies Association Conference ---DEADLINE EXTENDED

Venue: Westminster College, Salt Lake City
Web site for details: sasaonline.net.

CfP: SASA conferences strive to advance our understanding of South Asia's peoples, cultures, histories, issues and opportunities in a professional environment notable for its relaxed atmosphere and warm collegiality. Participants come from all parts of the US, Europe, and South Asia.
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Vyāsa, the Saṅkarṣakāṇḍa (and previous posts)

The Saṅkarṣakāṇḍa (henceforth SK, about which see here) is an enigmatic text thought to complete the Mīmāṃsā Śāstra, after the Purva Mīmāṃsā Sūtra (henceforth PMS) and before the Uttara Mīmāṃsā Sūtra (or Vedānta Sūtra, henceforth UMS).

As for its origin, several witnesses speak of the SK as having been authored by Jaimini… (please read the rest of the post at my new blog, here).

I have not been able to update this blog regularly concerning the new posts published on my new blog. In case you have not yet shifted to the new blog, here are the latest posts you might have missed:

Are there harmless periodisations? A post discussing Claus Oetke's contribution in Franco 2013.

Call for Papers for the Conference "On Meaningful Destruction and Contingent Preservation", at Heidelberg

How many texts are comprised in the Mīmāṃsā Śāstra? And why is this relevant?

Anthropology means critical scrutiny---An interview with Stephan Kloos

Call for Papers for the Graduate Students Conference "The Self in South Asia"

जैनदर्शने किम् "प्रत्यक्षम्" इति ?

प्रचीनजैनदर्शने प्रमाणे द्विविधे, प्रत्यक्षम् परोक्षं च ।
प्रत्यक्षमित्युक्ते किम् ? अन्यदर्शनेषु इन्द्रियसम्यज्ज्ञानमिति । केषुचिद् योगिप्रत्यक्षं स्वसंवेदनं मनसाप्रत्यक्षमपि प्रत्यक्षेऽङ्गीक्रियन्ते । जैनदर्शने तु..... इह पठितव्यम् ।

Investigatio semper reformanda

Should we try to periodise Indian philosophy or shall we give up any attempt, since each one will be criticised and is in some respect flawed? Periodisation, as recently highlighted by Julius Lipner, is a form of classification and as such also a form of controlling (Lipner 2013).
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Before “Classical Indian Philosophy”: the influence of the Sāṅkhya logic

We discussed already on this blog about how our conception of “classical Indian philosophy” is contingent and historically determined. For instance, if you were to ask me what “classical Indian philosophy” for me means, I would at first answer with “debate between Nyāya, Mīmāṃsā and Buddhist Pramāṇavāda”. However, as soon as one throws a closer look at the texts, one sees how this balance was precarious and how the debate had different protagonists at different times.

You can read the rest at my new blog, here.

CfP for the South Asian Studies Association Conference

Venue: Westminster College, Salt Lake City
Web site for details: sasaonline.net.
You can read the whole CfP on my new blog, here.

A theist caught in the paradoxes of free will

Can a theist believe in God's omniscience&omnipotence and in free will? I have argued in other posts that one can think in a compatibilist way (because God wants to be freely loved) and that this entails that no punishment/ban from God's presence can be eternal. Here I would like to test it in the case of Vedānta Deśika/Veṅkaṭanātha, a Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedāntin who also wrote Mīmāṃsā works.

You can read the rest at my new blog, here.

Tibetan medicine between tradition and modernity: an article by Stephan Kloos

What are the connections of medicine, identity and politics? What does it entail to go to one or another practician, if you live in a Tibetan village? And: when did modernity start? When did the state's capital become the "center"? Read more here.

English PhD programs in Chinese Philosophy

Read more at my new blog, here.

Do we need to waste our time proving that unicorns do not exist?

Do we need to prove that unicorns, tooth fairies, hobbits and so on do not exist? The question is not just funny, insofar as an upholder of the existence of ghosts and the like could easily claim that there are no evidences of their non-existence. In Indian epistemology, this amounts to say that there are no bādhakas 'invalidating cognitions' telling us that the existence of ghosts, etc. is invalid.
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Is there really a single author of the Yogasūtra and Yogabhāṣya?

The idea that the Yogasūtra (henceforth YS) and the Yogabhāṣya (henceforth YBh) are not two distinct texts has been discussed for the first way in a systematic way by Johannes Bronkhorst in 1985 ("Patañjali and the Yoga Sūtras", Studien zur Indologie und Iranistik). Philipp Maas in his published PhD thesis (Maas 2006) examined it again and Philipp Maas in his contribution to Eli Franco's Periodization and Historiography of Indian Philosophy (2013) dealt with it again in greater detail.
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.

Conference for Early Career Philosophers: CfP

Are you a young scholar working on philosophy? Perhaps you might enjoy a conference designed for cooperative enhancing your paper (instead of demolisihng it).
Please read the rest at my new blog, here.