Śiva dans le Mahābhārata by Jacques ScheuerReview by: Richard W. LariviereJournal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 106, No. 2 (Apr. - Jun., 1986), pp. 348-349Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/601604 .

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348 Journal of the American Oriental Society 106.2 (1986)

rejection of a single, original Purana "is a counsel of dispair" (p. 12). Evidence that the story of Rama banishing Sitd is only a later addition "is so overwhelming that one really feels flabbergasted on seeing not only laymen but even scholars harping on it. It is, to say the least, the gravest injustice to Rama that is being perpetrated by the very people who claim to adore him" (p. 47). The account of Radhd in the Brahmavaivartapurana "is full of absurdities"; she cannot possibly be regarded as a historical figure who became a part of Krsna's life. In fact, "it is a shame that a corrupt priesthood played havoc with the life of a truly great man. It is a greater shame that the Hindu became a willing victim of the wiliness of this priesthood" (p. 61).

This is an interesting little book, full of facts and textual references. The main thesis is well argued, provided one accepts the premises on which it is built. These premises, however, have been disputed in the past, and will continue to be disputed for a long time to come.

LUJDO ROTHER

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA

Siva dans le Mahdbhdrata. By JACQUES SCHEUER. (Bib- liotheque de l'Ecole des Hauts Etudes Sciences Religieuses Volume LXXXIV) Pp. 376. Bibliographie, Indexes. Paris: PRESSES UNIVERSITAIRES DE FRANCE. 180ff. 1982.

This is a lengthy and diffuse treatment of an interesting topic-the r6le of Siva in the Mahabhhrata. The topic is one which requires methodological and philological sophistica- tion, and intimate knowledge of the Mahabhhrata and its recensions. Scheuer seems to have the requisite knowledge of the Mahdbhhrata; indeed, his familiarity with the text is impressive.

If one is to claim that Siva's r6le in the Mahdbhhrata is larger than had been previously noticed, then it is essential to always have clearly in mind the relation of the relevant passages to the epic tradition as a whole. Especially, since Scheuer claims that he is studying Siva's r6le in relation to the central myth of the Mahabhdrata (p. 15). One cannot simply pick and choose among the recensions, or even among the variant readings of a particular recension, and select things which support one's thesis. This is a disservice to the epic tradition and a distortion of the role of Siva which one sets out to discover. Unfortunately, this seems to be what Scheuer has done. His approach is ahistorical. The philological prin- ciples of text criticism seem to have little importance for this study. He uses as his starting point the text of NTlakantha

because it is "le plus largement repandu" (p. 20). It may well be that Levi-Strauss' description of mythic variations does apply to the Mahabharata, "il n'existe pas de version 'vraie' dont toutes les autres seraient des copies au des echos deformes. Toutes les versions appartiennent au mythe." (quoted on p. 19); still, the work invested in the critical edition of the great epic must count for something, and in the process of attempting to define the place of Siva in the epic it seems essential that the historical and regional variations of the epic tradition be taken into account. This does not seem to be the method of Scheuer. He says (p. 19)

-on part de l'hypothese que le Mhh est un ensemble suffisamment coherent et qui vaut la peine d'etre 6tudi6 pour lui-meme. Par consequent, dans ce travail, on se propose de privilegier les versions Mhh par rapport aux versions puraniques ou autres des mythes concernant Siva.

Exploitation of the data provided in the critical edition might have been used to present a more structured analysis of the relative chronology of the (relatively few) strictly "Siva" passages.

The book contains nine chapters. The first chapter, "La naissance des heros" depends upon what Scheuer sees as the identity of Siva with Durvasas. This identity is taken by the author to place Siva in a pivotal position in the central myth of the Mahabharata: the fact that he would therefore be the facilitator of the birth of Karna and the predictor of the death of Krsna would make Siva an implicit eminence gris in the entire Mahabhhrata. The identity of Siva with Durvasas is based on an appendix passage ( 1 18) of the critical edition of the Adiparvan, a variation of the Svetaki episode, where (line 73, page 967) Siva asks Durvasas to perform the sacrifice for Svetaki, and to do so as a "part of Siva" (mamamsa).

Subsequent chapters are (2) "La naissance et le mariage de Draupadi"'; (3) "Les aventure d'Amba"; (4) "L'incendie de foret"; (5) Le livre de la Sabha"; (6) La quete des armes: la lutte avec Kirata"; (7) "La quete des armes: I'entrevue noc- turne"; (8) "Siva sur le champ de bataille"; (9) "Le massacre nocturne." In each of these there is a re-examination of the episodes with an attempt to identify the sometimes well hidden r6le of Siva in each. For example, at the end of the ninth chapter he summarizes Alf Hiltebeitel's convincing comparison of the Sauptikaparvan with the destruction of Daksa's sacrifice by Siva. The point of including this com- parison seems to be that there is a parallel between Siva and Mvatthaman. This may be so, but was this parallel in the mind (or minds of the composers) or is it an importation of a more modern author?

Scheuer has compiled a most interesting collection of possible, probable, and certain references to the central r6le of

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Reviews of Books 349

giva in the Mahdbhhrata, and the cumulative effect of this compilation is one that will inevitably cause the reader to revise his estimation of the importance of this quintessential Indian deity in the great epic of India. It is certain that no one who writes on this subject will be able to safely ignore this contribution of Scheuer; yet it would have been greatly enhanced by more attention to the evolution of the epic as documented in the critical edition. The six and one-quarter page, closely printed bibliography is quite comprehensive up to 1976.

RICIARD W. LARIVIERE

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS

PahThsa-Jtaaka or Zinnie Pannidsa (in the Burmese Recen- sion), Vol. II. Edited by PADMANABi S. JAINI. Pp. xliii +

276. (Pali Text Society Text Series No. 173) London: TIE PALj TEXT SOCIETY. 1983. Dist. by Routledge & Kegan

Paul. ?22.50.

The Pafnifisa-Jtaaka is a Southeast Asian collection of fifty extra-canonical or apocryphal Jdtaka tales. Also known as the Zinmmd~ Pannd.sa or Chieng Mai Fifij, the collection exists in at least three recensions: Burmese, Cambodian, and

Siamese/ Laotian. Padmanabh Jaini and the Pali Text Society have done a great service to Buddhist scholarship with the two volume publication of the romanized Pali text of the Burmese recension of the Pafifisa Jutaka. There is a wealth of popular Buddhist material to be mined in these stories. The present volume includes Jdtaakas 26-50, bibliography of works re- ferred to in both volumes, indices to both volumes, and an introduction.

Of the various indices, only the index of names provides page references. The index of words, forms and spellings peculiar to PJ, and the indices of minor additions, emenda- tions, and variant readings would be of greater value with page citations to aid in their location within the text.

In his introduction to this volume, Jaini briefly discusses the place, date, and authorship of the text. Beyond the fact that the text is traditionally ascribed to a Buddhist novice, little can be said about its authorship. Jaini indicates that there is little reason to question the traditional claim that the text originated in Chieng Mai, and tentatively dates its compilation to some time between the twelfth century C.E. and 1589.

The real contribution of Jaini's introduction, however, comes where he suggests some of the connections between the PJ and such texts as the Dhanimapada-Atthakatha, the

Sanskrit Avadlana.s, and the canonical Jatakas. He identifies the Mahanipata section of the canonical Jatakas as "the primary source for the PJ collection," noting especially the influence of the Vessantara Jataka on a number of the Pafiiadsa stories (p. xi). To this end Jaini analyzes each of the fifty Pafifiisa Jatakas individually, indicating features "derived from other literature or representative of local influence," as well as noting textual similarities between various stories within the PJ collection itself and attempting "to identify any significant motifs in these jatakas which are not usually found in the extant Buddhist literature" (p. xii).

Among major motifs worthy of note in the collection are its emphasis on dlanasila (charity) and the merit to be derived from such activities as the construction or repair of images and cetiyas. In a similar vein, PJ 43, the Akkharalikhita Jataka, speaks of the merit to be derived from having the Tipitaka written down in books in a manner suggestive of a Theravadla equivalent to the Mahadana cult of the book discussed by Gregory Schopen in "The Phrase 'sa prthivTpradesag caityabhUto bhavet' in the VairacchelikAa: Notes on the Cult of the Book in Mahaydna," Indlo-Iranian Journal, Vol. XVII (1975), pp. 147-81.

Many of the Pafiiadsa Jatakas are suggestive of develop- ment in the inter-related Buddhist ideas of merit, kaninia, and rebirth. For example, PJ 32, the Suhhadldlaraja Jataka, speaks of the transfer of merit from the gods to humans. Again, PJ 8, the Dhaninmikapanditaraja Jataka, provides a significant counterpart not noted by Jaini to the canonical SailhTna Jataka as a case against the transfer of merit (Cf. James McDermott, SddhTna Jataka: A Case against the Transfer of Merit,"JAOS94[1974], pp. 385-87).

Jaini notes that both Jatakas 30 and 33 of the PJ record incidents of animals being taken to heaven. Since the theme is not found in the canonical Jataka.v, he concludes that "it would appear to be an invention of Southeast Asian Buddhists" (p. xxix). The Kathdvatahu provides evidence to suggest otherwise, however. Kathavatthu XX.4 concerns whether an individual can be reborn into the dteva world in the form of an animal. Although the Theravadins denied such a possibility, their opponents-identified by the commentary as the Andhakas-maintained the affirmative, citing Sakka's divine elephant Eravana as an example. The commentary (KvuA XX.4) explains away the Andhaka example by noting that some devas are able to assume animal shapes at will. Thus it seems clear that the possibility of animals in heaven is of South rather than Southeast Asian origin.

JAMES P. McDERMOTT

CANISItJS COLLEGE

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