Rethinking the Upanisadic Vamsas
Teacher Lineages as a Literary Genre
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1558/rosa.v5i1/2.51Keywords:
genealogy, lineage, Upaniṣads, vaṃśaAbstract
This paper takes a literary approach to the major vamsas in the Brahmanas and Upanisads. I will demonstrate that the vamsas follow a number of structural and compositional conventions, which are employed to construct sacred histories, indicate different branches of descent, combine different lineages, and claim authoritative transmissions vis-à-vis other lineages. By treating the vamsas as a literary genre, rather than as an empirical historical record, I hope to invite a new appreciation for their form and creativity, as well as to open up new ways for reading them.
References
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad. See Patrick Olivelle (trans.), The Early Upanisads: Annotated Text and Translation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1998.
Brhadaranyaka Upanisad Bhasya. See Swami Madhavananda (trans.), The Brhadaranyaka Upanisad with the Commentary of Sankaracarya. Delhi: Advaita Ashram, 1965.
Jaiminiya Upanisad Brahmana. See Oertel 1896.
Satapatha Brahmana. See Eggeling 1994 [1882].
Vamsa Brahmana. See F. Max Müller, A History of Ancient Sanskrit literature so Far as it Illustrates the Primitive Religion of the Brahmans. London: Williams and Norgate, 1860.
Black, Brian. 2007. The Character of the Self in Ancient India: Priests, Kings, and Women in the Early Upanisads. Albany: State University of New York Press.
— 2011. ‘The Rhetoric of Secrecy in the Upanisads.’ in Steven E. Lindquist (ed.), Religion and Identity in South Asia and Beyond: Essays in Honor of Patrick Olivelle: 101–25. New York: Anthem Press.
Brereton, Joel. 1999. ‘Edifying Puzzlement: Rgveda X.129 and the Uses of Enigma.’ Journal of the American Oriental Society 119.2: 248–60. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/606109
— 2006. ‘The Composition of the Maitreyi Dialogue in the Brhadaranyaka Upanisad.’ Journal of the American Oriental Society 126.3: 323–45.
Bronkhorst, Johannes. 2007. Greater Magadha: Studies in the Culture of Early India. Leiden: E. J. Brill. http://dx.doi.org/10.1163/ej.9789004157194.i416
Cohen, Signe. 2008. Text and Authority in the Older Upanisads. Leiden: E. J. Brill.
Eggeling, Julius (trans.). 1994 [1882]. The Satapatha-Brahmana According to the Text of the Madhyandina School, vol. 1. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Evans-Pritchard, E. E. 1940. The Nuer: A Description of the Modes of Livelihood and Political Institutions of a Nilotic People. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Jamison, S. 2004. ‘Poetry and Purpose in the Rigveda: Structuring Enigmas.’ in A. Griffiths and J. E. M. Houben (eds), The Vedas: Texts, Language and Ritual. Proceedings of the Third International Vedic Workshop, Leiden 2002: 237–49. Groningen: Egbert Forsten.
Levin, Yigal. 2001. ‘Understanding Biblical Genealogies.’ Currents in Research 9: 11–46.
— 2004. ‘From Lists to History: Chronological Aspects of the Chronicler’s Genealogies.’ Journal of Biblical Literature 123.4: 601–36. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/3268462
Lindquist, Steven E. In this volume. ‘Lines of Descent and Dissent: Genealogy, Narrative, and the Upanisads.’
Macdonell, Arthur Anthony, and Arthur Berriedale Keith. 1912. Vedic Index of Names and Subjects. 2 vols. London: John Murray.
Monier-Williams, Monier. 1993 [1899]. A Sanskrit–English Dictionary, Etymologically and Philologically Arranged, with Special Reference to Cognate Indo-European Languages. Revised edn. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.
Oertel, Hanns (trans.). 1896. ‘The Jaiminiya or Talavakara Upanisad Brahmana.’ Journal of the American Oriental Society 16: 79–260. http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/592488
Reinvang, Rasmus. 2000. ‘A Critical Survey of the Dialogue between Yajñavalkya and Maitreyi in Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 2.4 and 4.5.’ Acta Orientalia 61: 145–202.
Smith, R. Morton. 1966. ‘On the White Yajurveda Vamsa.’ East and West 16: 112–25.
Wilson, Robert. 1977. Genealogy and History in the Biblical World. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Witzel, Michael. 1997. ‘The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu.’ in Michael Witzel (ed.), Inside the Texts, beyond the Texts: 255–345. Columbia, MO: South Asian Books.