some preliminary remarks on a newari painting of svayambhūnāth

Some Preliminary Remarks on a Newari Painting of SvayambhūnāthAuthor(s): Theodore Riccardi, Jr.Source: Journal of the American Oriental Society, Vol. 93, No. 3 (Jul. - Sep., 1973), pp. 335-340Published by: American Oriental SocietyStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/599466 .

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BRIEF COMMUNICATIONS

Some preliminary remarks on a Newari painting of Svayambhiinath1

Rarely does Newari painting take as its subject an historical event. A recently dis- covered painting on cloth is an interesting exception: it depicts the repairs to the caitya of Svayambhuinath at the close of the sixteenth century and the participation of the people of Nepal in that event. The painting also provides an early schematic map of the Nepal Valley and an important inscription. This article is a preliminary study of the painting and its historical significance. In the introduction, the author briefly describes the caitya and its place in Newari Buddhism. He then discusses the history of repairs to the caitya. A description of the painting is then given followed by a discussion of its contents and the significance of the inscription.

I. INTRODUCTION

The most sacred shrine of Nepalese Buddhism, the caitya of Svayambhiunath, rests on the summit of a small hill which rises some three hundred feet about a mile and a half west of the city of Kathmandu.2 The caitya is traditionally reached by a stone stairway on the east side of the hill. At the summit, one finds more than just the great caitya, for around the central shrine a jumble of smaller caityas, stone sculpture, small pa- goda shrines, and all the symbols of later Buddhism, has grown up over the centuries. The religious area is bounded in part by a number of houses built in the traditional Newar style, inhabited today by members of the Newar, Tamang, and Tibetan communities.3

The style of the caitya is in considerable advance of earlier examples found in India and Nepal. The lower part of the shrine is, as in the classic stupa, a semi-globe finished in white. The upper portions, however, are quite different. The traditional harmika of the early stipas is in this case transformed into a large four sided struc- ture decorated with the eyes of Adi Buddha. The um- brellas of the early stipa here are increased in number to thirteen and are transformed into large rings that

1 This paper was presented in somewhat different form at the 180th annual meeting of the American Ori- ental Society, held at Baltimore, Maryland, April 14-16, 1970.

2 The hill is called Padma and is an extension of the so-called Bhimdhunga hill. The area at the top of the hillock is about 1000 yards, accorcing to D. R. Regmi, Ancient Nepal (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadhyay, 1960) p. 44.

3 During festivals, many of these houses are sometimes rented to wealthy Newars who bring their families for the ceremonies, some of which last several days.

form a kind of steeple atop which are a crescent moon and a solar disc.4

The age of the caitya is unknown.5 The Newars believe it to be the original site of Buddhism in the valley

4 For other descriptions see Sylvain Levi, Le Nepal: Histoire d'une Royaume Hindoue (Paris: Musee Guimet, Vols. 17-19, 1904) Vol. II pp. 306, and David Snellgrove, Buddhist Himalaya (Oxford: Bruno Cassirer, 1957) pp. 95- 97. Percy Brown, in Indian Architecture (Bombay: D. B. Taraporevala Sons & Co. Private Ltd. 5th ed. 1965) p. 163 also gives a brief description. To my knowledge, no one has as yet taken accurate measurements of the caitya. A fully detailed description of the shrine and the surrounding sacred areas is beyond the scope of this paper. A full study of Svayambhiunath, of both the shrine complex and its place in the life of Newari Bud- dhism, is a desideratum of Nepalese religion.

5 Snellgrove, op. cit., p. 94. Cecil Bendall, in A Journey of Literary and Archaeological Research in Nepal and Northern India (Cambridge: The University Press, 18886) p. 5. reasoned that because he had found at the site a fragment of an inscription which resembled typical inscriptions of the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. that "we may fairly infer that the shrine has an antiquity of some 1400 or 1500 years . . ." As Snellgrove remarks, however, without archaeological investigation, specula- tion as to its exact age is useless (op. cit. p. 95). Levi (Le Nepal, II, p. 6) notes that extensive damage was done by a storm in 1816 and that "L'importance du desastre imposait une restauration complete: on dut eventrer l'hemisphere du caitya, ouvrir la chambre cen- trale pour en arracher les debris de l'axe brise. L'occa- sion etait unique pour un archaeologue: l'inspection des menus objets renfermes dans le reliquaire aurait fixe la date de la construction primitive. Personne ne se recontra qui sit en profiter."

335



Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.3 (1973)

and its oldest monument. In support of this belief, David Snellgrove has cited an interesting custom: "As an act of merit a Newar Buddhist will sometimes under- take to visit ceremoniously all the monasteries either in Patan or Kathmandu (depending on where he lives) and always he must begin his course at Svayambhi- nath."6 To be sure, the caitya is very old, but, as Snell-

grove points out, it most certainly is later in its present form than the plain unadorned stupas of Patan which

are in the ASokan style. No archaeological investigation has been undertaken nor is there likely to be any while

the site is a living shrine. Evidence from literary sources

such as the indigenous vamsdvalis and the various re-

censions of the Svayambhupurdna, the most important

religious text associated with the site, is meagre. In

any case, these are all late texts.7 Connections with

India and Tibet are known from medieval times. Atisa

is said to have visited the shrine.8 Dharmasvamin, who

entered Nepal between 1226 and 1230 A.D., spent eight

years at Svayambhinath.9 Tibetan connections with the

shrine continue into this century.10

6 Snegrollve, op. cit. p. 96. 7 For the origin story in the native chronicle, see

Daniel Wright, History of Nepal. Translated from the

Parbatiya by Munshi Shew Shunker Singh and Pandit

Shri Gunanand (Cambridge: University Press, 1877)

pp. 79 ff. L6vi has summarized the story (op. cit. I,

p. 213). The Svayambhfi-Purana, as L6vi remarks (ibid.

p. 209) is not a purdna at all, for it contains none of the

elements common to the purdnas. It is rather a mahatmya in style. There are five recensions, none of which is

datable: "La date de chacune des recensions n'est pas connue et il est difficile de fixer autrement que par des

raisons de goft leur ordre chronologique. Le nom du

roi Yaksa malla paratt aussi bien a la fin du Svayambhuva

que du Vrat? dans une prophetie prononcee par le Boud-

dha; Yaksa malla Btant mort vers 1460, nos r6dactions

ne peuvent gubre etre ant6rieures au xvie siecle, si la

mention de ce roi n'est pas due a une interpolation,

toujours facile dans une proph6tie et surtout a la fin

d'un ouvrage. Les autres rois nomm6s et glorifi6s dans

le poeme, Gunakama deva et les deux Narendra deva,

datent d'une 6poque bien plus lointaine.... Voila les

seuls reperes qu'on puisse tirer des recensions du Svayam-

bhf Purana" (L6vi, op. cit. I, pp. 210-12). For thelegend,

see ibid, p. 213. The Bhadrakalpdvaddna, also mentioned

by L6vi, refers to the shrine also. The last story (xxxviii)

states that the Buddha himself went to Nepal to visit

the shrine (Levi, III, p. 192). 8 Snellgrove, op. cit. p. 288, n. 24. 9 G. Roerich, Biography of Dharmasvamin (Chag lo-

II. THE REPAIR OF THE CAITYA

While evidence concerning the date of origin of the

caitya is lacking, we find mention in various Nepalese historical documents of repairs to its central timbers.11 The earliest mention of these repairs is in a well-known stone inscription at Svayambhfinath dated N.S. 725.12 This inscription, done at the order of the king giva Simha Deva of Kathmandu, states that the repairs

began in N.S. 715 (A.D. 1595) and ended ten years later

in N.S. 725 (1605 A.D.). The inscription also describes

giva Simha as the conqueror of the city of Patan, a

point to which I shall refer later on. The parbatiya vamgdvali, or Nepali chronicle, mentions

several instances of repairs to the caitya: the first is in

N.S. 714 (1594 A.D.), a date which agrees with the in-

scription of King Siva Simha Deva.13 Other repairs are

mentioned in N.S. 760 (1640 A.D.), in the period N.S.

871-78 (A.D. 1751-58), and, finally during the reign of

Rajendra Bikram Shah, around the year 1820 A.D.14

Repairs have been carried out at various times during this century.

tsa-ba Chos-rje-dpal) A Tibetan Monk Pilgrim (Patna: K. P. Jayaswal Research Institute, 1959) p. 53.

10 The Tibetans "have placed," writes Snellgrove, "their most characteristic mark on the main Svayambhii-

stfipa itself, for it is now completely ringed with a frame-

work of wrought metal, in which are set revolving prayer wheels." Snellgrove, op. cit., p. 99. Landon, writing in 1928, remarked that this was a recent addition (Per- ceval Landon, Nepal (London: Constable & Co. 2 vols.,

1928) Vol. II, p. 213. 11 Earlier inscriptions do not mention specific repairs

to the central timbers. The earliest inscription mention-

ing repairs is a stone inscription at Svayambhiunth dated N.S. 492 which commemorates the restoration of

the caitya after it had been burned by Sultan Shams

ud-din. The destruction took place in the year N.S.

467 (1346 A.D.) See L. Petech, Mediaeval History of

Nepal (Roma: Istituto Italiano Per II Medio Ed Estre-

mo Oriente, 1958) p. 119. Another early inscription is

that of Jyotir Malla (1408-1428) dated N.s. 533 (1413 A.D.).

This was first published in Bhagvanlal Indraji, Twenty- three Inscriptions From Nepal (Bombay: Education So-

ciety's Press, 1885), pp. 22-23. See also Lvi, op. cit.

p. 237, and Petech, op. cit. pp. 154-60. 12 The inscription is published in D. R. Regmi Medieval

Nepal (Patna: Published by the author, 1966) IV, pp. 46-

51. The Nepal Samvat (N.S.) begins in 879-880 A.D.

13 Wright, op. cit. p. 210. 14 Ibid. p. 215, pp. 228-9, and p. 266.

33%6



RICCARDI: Preliminary Remarks on a Newarl Painting

The vamsdvali never describes the actual repairs, but in three cases, in N.s. 760, 871, and 1820 A.D., it is said that lamas from Tibet were summoned to supervise the work. For example, the account of the repairs of 1751 reads in part:

The great Swayambhu Chaitya . . . having been ren- dered uninhabitable by the sin of the Kali Yuga, requires to be repaired. To repair it, Karmapa Lama, the most talented, the jewel of men of arts and sci- ences, having a mind as clear and enlightened as the sun and moon, came from the north, in order to give happiness to the king, kajis, and people and in Nepal Sambat 871 (A.D. 1751) in the year of the Jupiter-cycle named Prajapati, by the Bhotiyas Keda, and by the Chinese Simu-u, he commenced the work, on an aus- picious day...15 The account goes on to say that Jaya Prakia, king

of Kathmandu, promised to carry out the repairs and that Prthivi Narayan, the king of Gorkhb, promised to have the necessary beam dragged to its place. The original lama returned to Tibet, but the repairs were completed under the direction of one of his Tibetan disciples in 1758.16

III. THE PAINTING.17

The painting discussed here depicts the final stages of repairs to the caitya and the activity of the valley people participating in the events. The time is the turn of the seventeenth century.

The painting measures 2 ft. 9.4 in. in width and 3 ft. 4.45 in. in length and is on cloth. The coarse canvas border around it and the small painting of the donors at the bottom are later additions. Overall the painting is in poor to fair condition. Portions of the left side and the bottom are torn and worn away.18

15 Ibid., p. 229. 16 Ibid. p. 230. The place of the lamas in the super-

vision and planning of the repairs is central. One member of the Tuladhar caste of Newar Buddhists recounted to me his memories of those lamas present for repairs around 1920. As soon as the determination was made by them to replace the timbers, the heads of the Newar community were notified and arrangements begun. The wood always comes from the same sal forest near the city of Bhatgaon and is very carefully selected. While the money is provided by the rich, nearly every one in the Buddhist community participates in some capacity.

17 The painting was brought to me by a curio dealer in the autumn of 1968. He permitted me to study it for a few days during which photographs were taken and preliminary examinations made.

18 After this paper was delivered, I learned that the

The painting gives an overall view of the Nepal Valley from the Buddhist point of view (see plate 1). The upper half of the painting, with red background, includes the religious area of Svayambhu and nearby shrines. The lower half shows towns, villages, and shrines in other parts of the valley.19 The main rivers and paths are shown winding between the various towns. People are engaged in a variety of religious activities. Some are working on the shrine, some are engaged in prayer, while others are playing musical instruments. On the stairs leading up to the caitya workers can be seen carrying building supplies by means of the traditional Newar shoulder pole. At the base of the caitya, there is a row

painting is now in a private collection in the United States and that restoration work has been done on it. I myself have not seen it since 1968.

19 This half of the painting is a kind of primitive map of the valley and in this regard it is interesting to note Levi's remarks about the possibility of cartography being an indigenous development in the Himalayan area. He mentions (I, p. 73) that in 648 A.D., the king of Ka- marupa, an eastern neighbor of Nepal, presented to the Emperor of China, through Wang Huien-ts'e, "une carte de pays." He also reproduced an indigenous map ac- quired by Minayeff (I. p. 72) and continues:

Cette carte pose le probleme, interessant, mais obscur, des origines de la cartographie indigene. Wilford de- crit dans les Asiatic Researches (j'emprunte cette ci- tation a l'excellent ouvrage de M. Pulle: Disegno della cartografia antica dell'India, Firenze, 1901; p. 13) une carte du royaume de "Napal" qui avait ete pre- sentee a Hastings (donc entre 1772 et 1785). "C'est, dit- il, la meilleure carte d'origine hindoue que j'aie jamais vue; ces cartes ont pour caracteres communs qu'elles negligent latitude et longitude, et qu'elles n'emploient pas d'echelle reguliere; les c6tes, les rivieres, les montagnes sont representees en general par des lignes etroites. La carte du "Napal" avait A peu prbs 4 pieds du long sur 2 et demi de large, en carton; les montagnes faisaient un relief d'un pouce environ, avec des arbres peints tout autour. Les routes 6taient re- prbsent6es par une ligne rouge et les rivibres par une ligne bleue. Les diverses chaines 6taient nettement distinctes, avec les passes 6troites qui les traversent; il n'y manquait que l'6chelle. La vallee de Napal etait soigneusement trac6e; mais vers les bords de la carte tout etait embarrasse et confus." Hamilton, pendant son s6jour a Kathmandou (1802-1803) s'6tait procur6 cinq cartes indigenes du N6pal et du Sikkim qu'il deposa plus tard a la bibliotheque de l'East India Company. Malheureusement, elles se sont per- dues.

337



Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.3 (1973)

of figures, the first six of whom are musicians and the others perhaps monks. One figure, dressed in a unique costume, seems to be a messenger. Men at either side of the caitya are turning winches in an effort to raise the final umbrella to its position at the top. Workers are all dressed similarly and appear to be local Newars. Monks may be distinguished by their robes and their devotional or advisory attitudes.

In the lower half, many places in the valley are de-

picted and named. In some cases the labels appear to have been rewritten over the original titles. In several

instances, the names are illegible. The following occur

(see Fig. 1): 1. illegible (probably labeled initially but not rela-

beled ); 2. sri (pa) desa; 3. sri dhaba; 4. sri thasi; 5. sri

jambhala desa; 6. sri ( ? ) desa; 7. sri khapa desa;20 8. illegible; 9. illegible; 10. illegible; 11. sri manigal yamla desa;21 12. sri yampi desa; 13. sri thami;22 14. sri otva desa;23 15. sri khasva caitya;24 16. sri yarpgal desa;25

20 This can be identified with the modern city of

Bhatgaon, also called Bhaktapur, Bhaktagrima, Dhar-

mapattana, in Sanskrit, and Khopa, Khopva, and

Khrmrprin in Newari. Levi also cites kuipo given by

Georgi in His Alphbetanum Tibeticum (Levi, I, 65) but

this probably refers to the city of Kirtipur which is

known as Kipu in Newari. Kirkpatrick in his Account

of the Kingdom of Nepal (London: William Miller, 1811)

p. 163 gives Khdpo daise. 21 This contains two names. gri manigal refers to the

royal palace in the center of Patan. It is also written

Manigal and Manigal and is probably derived from

Mdngrha. The modern name for the area is Mangal

Bajar. Yamla desa is a Newari name for the city of

Patan (Sanskrit Lalitapura, Lalitapattana, Lalitakrama,) the modern Newari name for which is Yela or Yala.

(I, p. 61) gives the following variants: from the epitaph of Orazio della Penna reproduced by Georgi: Ela desa;

Georgi (Latin): Hela desa: and the Latin translation:

in civitate Patanae; Kirkpatrick: Yelloo daisi; Wright: Yellon-desi; Bhagavan Lal Indraji: Tinya-la; Tibetan:

Ye-ran; Chinese: Ye-ling. 22 Also Themi or Thimi. 23 Possibly ilva desa. The identification is not clear. 24 This is the other famous caitya of the Valley, Bodh-

nath. Levi (p. 8) gives Khdsacaitya and Snellgrove

(op. cit.) Khdsticaitya. 25 Yambu daise refers to Kathmandu. (Sanskrit Kds-

thamandapa, Kdntipur). The modern Newari name is

Yemn. Levi (p. 53) gives the following variants: Kirk-

patrick: Yin(-daise); Bhagwanlal Indraji: Tinya: Tibe-

tan (after Georgi): Jang-bu, from of course Yambu and

Ja-he, which could be derived from Yem or some form

17. sri yambu desa;26 18. sri thamba hity; 19. illegible; 20. sri vikesvari 21. Ari sukha gamthi.

Extending along the bottom of the painting is an

inscription of two lines. The language is Newari mixed with Sanskrit. The script is Newari (sometimes called the pracalit lipi) which has been in use since the Malla period. Large sections of the inscription, mainly on the

right side, are illegible. The readings which I present here are therefore tentative.27 A date is given and I believe it to be N.S. 715 (A.D. 1594) or possibly N.s. 725

(A.D. 1604).28 The day is Sunday, the tenth of the month of Asadh. The names syamgu and svayambhi are clear, syamngu being the Newari variant of svayambhi. The names of two, possibly three, rulers are given. The two names which can be read clearly are udhava sirmha deva and pulandala simha deva, both called thakula, the Newari variant of Sanskrit thakura. Several palm leaf land grant inscriptions dating from the end of the seventeenth

century list three brothers ruling in the city of Patan: Nara Simha, Purandara Simha, and Uddhava Simha.29

of it. For the name Kathmandu and its variants see ibid. p. 53.

26 Yamgal refers to part of Kathmandu also, but often is a name of Patan.

27 Parts of the inscription (possibly all of it) appear to have been re-written at a later time over the original letters, just as were some of the titles on the various localities in the painting proper. Pandits and scholars in Kathmandu confirmed my readings, but provided conflicting opinions for the rest of the inscription. Below is a complete reading with possible readings in parentheses and illegible portions between brackets. The dashes indicate an estimation of aksaras. Line 1:

sreyo'stu// samvat 715 A (sadh) 10 disi dditavdra thva dina kinhu srimat sri sri syamrgu svayambhu -

[tya]pratistha samparna ydna(va) thua dina kinhu - - - -- - - - - - - - - -ri ri jaha - sim Line 2:

ha deva sri jaya pulandala simnha deva sri jaya udhaua simha deva (prabhaya or ubhaya?) thdkulasa (prabhuya) yale manigrha pirvi-sa ----- bhavatu.

28 The middle digit is unclear. Other readings are

historically impossible for they contradict other inscrip- tional material. The date is defective, for it gives only the year, the month, and the day.

29 See gafikarman Rajvarp.i, "Siddhinarsimha Malla- bhanda Agadika Pata ank5 gSaakharuka Kehi Tadpatra" (Paurnimd, B.S. 2023 Magh-Samkranti, 3 Varsa, 4 Afika) pp. 17-22. For other inscriptions see Dhanavajra Vaj- racarya (ed.) Itihds-Sarnmodhanko Pramdn-Prameya (Pa- hilo Bhag) (Lalitpur, Nepal: Jagadamba PrakaSan, B.S.

338



Plate 1



RICCARDI: Preliminary Remarks on a Newarz Painting

Figure 1

339



Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.3 (1973) Journal of the American Oriental Society 93.3 (1973)

The last two correspond to the names in our inscription. Documents from the reign of these three men are scarce. Uddhava Simha is mentioned in four other inscriptions.30 For Purandara there is more documentation. Inscriptions range in date from N.S. 686 to 717.31 Since his brothers are not mentioned in inscriptions after N.s. 710, it has

generally been supposed that Purandara ruled alone in Patan from that date until his defeat at the hands of Siva Simha of Kathmandu, the ruler of the stone in-

scription of N.S. 725 mentioned above. Our inscription would indicate that Uddhava Simha ruled with Purandara

The last two correspond to the names in our inscription. Documents from the reign of these three men are scarce. Uddhava Simha is mentioned in four other inscriptions.30 For Purandara there is more documentation. Inscriptions range in date from N.S. 686 to 717.31 Since his brothers are not mentioned in inscriptions after N.s. 710, it has

generally been supposed that Purandara ruled alone in Patan from that date until his defeat at the hands of Siva Simha of Kathmandu, the ruler of the stone in-

scription of N.S. 725 mentioned above. Our inscription would indicate that Uddhava Simha ruled with Purandara

2019). Also, D. R. Regmi, Medieval Nepal (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadyay, 1966) Part II, p. 263.

30 Rajvamsi, op. cit. pp. 19-20 and D. R. Regmi, op. cit. pp. 263-68.

31 Ibid. pp. 265-68.

2019). Also, D. R. Regmi, Medieval Nepal (Calcutta: Firma K. L. Mukhopadyay, 1966) Part II, p. 263.

30 Rajvamsi, op. cit. pp. 19-20 and D. R. Regmi, op. cit. pp. 263-68.

31 Ibid. pp. 265-68.

until at least N.S. 715. Sometime between N.S. 717 and 725 Purandara was defeated by Siva Simha and Patan was incorporated into the kingdom of Kathmandu. The

Nepali writer, Dilli Raman Regmi, for some unstated reason, puts this event between N.S. 720 and 724.32

The period of history in question is of great interest in the history of the Nepal valley. The three brothers ruled at the end of a rather obscure period in the history of Patan. Patan's rightful kings, descendants of Yaksa Malla, are ignored for a period of about one hundred years and their power usurped by a group of aristocrats from the family of Jaya Simha Deva. These pradhdnapatras, as they are called, rule for about a century. The three brothers are the last of the pradhdnapatras.

THEODORE RICCARDI, JR. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

32 Ibid. p. 268.

until at least N.S. 715. Sometime between N.S. 717 and 725 Purandara was defeated by Siva Simha and Patan was incorporated into the kingdom of Kathmandu. The

Nepali writer, Dilli Raman Regmi, for some unstated reason, puts this event between N.S. 720 and 724.32

The period of history in question is of great interest in the history of the Nepal valley. The three brothers ruled at the end of a rather obscure period in the history of Patan. Patan's rightful kings, descendants of Yaksa Malla, are ignored for a period of about one hundred years and their power usurped by a group of aristocrats from the family of Jaya Simha Deva. These pradhdnapatras, as they are called, rule for about a century. The three brothers are the last of the pradhdnapatras.

THEODORE RICCARDI, JR. COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY

32 Ibid. p. 268.

The word 'Hindu' in Gaudiya Vaisnava texts*

A survey of three Sanskrit and ten Bengali hagiographic texts from early sixteenth to late eighteenth centuries discloses nearly fifty passages (all in the Bengali texts) in which the word 'Hindu' appears. Most occurences are in episodes of strained relationships between Hindus and Yavanas or Mlecchas, as the Muslims are called. The strains are usually resolved satisfactorily. The word 'Hindu' never appears in a purely intra-communal Hindu context and has no significance in the central religious concerns of the texts, the expositions of bhakti. Most frequently 'Hindu' indicates a person or persons. 'Hindu dharma' occurs seven times, four of the occurences being in the earliest of the Bengali texts surveyed. In each case 'Hindu dharma' seems to indicate certain actions of a customary and ritual sort which are the right of Hindus and only Hindus to perform. But there is to be found no

explicit discussion of what 'Hindu' or 'Hindu dharma' means in any of the texts surveyed.

The word 'Hindu' in Gaudiya Vaisnava texts*

A survey of three Sanskrit and ten Bengali hagiographic texts from early sixteenth to late eighteenth centuries discloses nearly fifty passages (all in the Bengali texts) in which the word 'Hindu' appears. Most occurences are in episodes of strained relationships between Hindus and Yavanas or Mlecchas, as the Muslims are called. The strains are usually resolved satisfactorily. The word 'Hindu' never appears in a purely intra-communal Hindu context and has no significance in the central religious concerns of the texts, the expositions of bhakti. Most frequently 'Hindu' indicates a person or persons. 'Hindu dharma' occurs seven times, four of the occurences being in the earliest of the Bengali texts surveyed. In each case 'Hindu dharma' seems to indicate certain actions of a customary and ritual sort which are the right of Hindus and only Hindus to perform. But there is to be found no

explicit discussion of what 'Hindu' or 'Hindu dharma' means in any of the texts surveyed.

My interest in the word 'Hindu' is that of an historian

of Indian religious life, especially of the devotional movement that welled up in Bengal around the ecstatic

figure of Krishna-caitanya at the beginning of the six-

teenth century and that has persisted into the present century. While attempting to assess the impact of this

Bengali, or Gaudlya, Vaisnava movement upon the social

and cultural integration-such as there was of integration-of Bengal from the time of Krishna-caitanya (A.D.

1486-1533) to the end of Muslim domination of Bengal in mid-eighteenth century, I inquired into the Vaisnavas' view of the relationships prevailing between the ruling Muslim minority and the Hindu majority.1 Having been

* Paper read to the meeting of the American Oriental

Society, April 8, 1971. 1 Joseph T. O'Connell, "Social Implications of the

Gaudlya Vaisnava Movement" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard,

1970), pp. 70-119.

My interest in the word 'Hindu' is that of an historian

of Indian religious life, especially of the devotional movement that welled up in Bengal around the ecstatic

figure of Krishna-caitanya at the beginning of the six-

teenth century and that has persisted into the present century. While attempting to assess the impact of this

Bengali, or Gaudlya, Vaisnava movement upon the social

and cultural integration-such as there was of integration-of Bengal from the time of Krishna-caitanya (A.D.

1486-1533) to the end of Muslim domination of Bengal in mid-eighteenth century, I inquired into the Vaisnavas' view of the relationships prevailing between the ruling Muslim minority and the Hindu majority.1 Having been

* Paper read to the meeting of the American Oriental

Society, April 8, 1971. 1 Joseph T. O'Connell, "Social Implications of the

Gaudlya Vaisnava Movement" (Ph.D. diss., Harvard,

1970), pp. 70-119.

cautioned, especially by Wilfred Cantwell Smith,2 that one cannot assume that such a word as 'Hindu' meant for its users in the sixteenth century what it means in the twentieth, nor indeed that it was even in use among "the Hindus" of that day, I gathered whatever references to 'Hindu', 'Musulman', 'Yavana', 'Mleccha', etc., came my way while reading in the literature of the

Gaudiya Vaisnavas from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The observations that follow are based on a selection of thirteen hagiographic documents, three in Sanskrit and ten in Bengali, ranging chronologically from the first half of the sixteenth to the second half of the

eighteenth century.3 The collection of forty-eight exam-

ples of the word 'Hindu' constituted a complete set of

2 Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion (New York: Macmillan, 1963), pp. 63-66.

3 See appended chart for list of texts and examples.

cautioned, especially by Wilfred Cantwell Smith,2 that one cannot assume that such a word as 'Hindu' meant for its users in the sixteenth century what it means in the twentieth, nor indeed that it was even in use among "the Hindus" of that day, I gathered whatever references to 'Hindu', 'Musulman', 'Yavana', 'Mleccha', etc., came my way while reading in the literature of the

Gaudiya Vaisnavas from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The observations that follow are based on a selection of thirteen hagiographic documents, three in Sanskrit and ten in Bengali, ranging chronologically from the first half of the sixteenth to the second half of the

eighteenth century.3 The collection of forty-eight exam-

ples of the word 'Hindu' constituted a complete set of

2 Wilfred Cantwell Smith, The Meaning and End of Religion (New York: Macmillan, 1963), pp. 63-66.

3 See appended chart for list of texts and examples.

340 340

