Buchbesprechungen Comptes Rendues

Here is a comprehensive summary of the provided text, focusing on the review of Nalini Balbir's "Avasyaka-Studien" and Thomas Oberlies's "Avasyaka-Studien, Glossar":

This review discusses two significant scholarly works by Nalini Balbir and Thomas Oberlies that aim to revive and make accessible the Āvaśyaka stories, a rich corpus of narrative material within Jain literature. The reviewer acknowledges that E. Leumann's earlier work on these stories, "Die Āvaśyaka-Erzählungen" (1897), despite its groundbreaking nature, suffered from neglect due to several factors:

• Complex Typography: Leumann's attempt to combine different versions of stories into a single text used a confusing array of typographic devices.
• Lack of Context: The stories were presented without information about their specific setting or function within Jain tradition.
• Absence of a Glossary: A crucial omission was the lack of a glossary to explain obscure Prakrit words and passages.

Balbir and Oberlies's works directly address these shortcomings.

Nalini Balbir's "Avasyaka-Studien, Introduction générale et Traductions":

• Retrieval from Oblivion: Balbir's primary goal is to bring the Āvaśyaka stories back into scholarly and public attention.
• Comprehensive Literary Analysis: The first part of her book provides an expert guide to the complex, multi-layered Āvaśyaka corpus, building upon but also updating previous descriptions by Leumann and Bruhn.
• Focus on the Niryukti: A significant portion of her work delves into the Niryukti (ĀvN.), the foundational text that first references the stories through keywords. Balbir demonstrates that the Niryukti is not just a commentary but an independent, composite work. She provides a thorough study, including a critical edition of select verses, and discusses its manuscript tradition, stratification, amplifications, meter, and exegetical procedures.
• Narrative Streams: She distinguishes between the versified tradition (e.g., ViśeṣaĀvaśyakaBhāṣya) and the prose tradition (e.g., Cūrṇi, Haribhadra's Ṭikā, Malayagiri's Vṛtti), noting that the prose tradition generally shows a greater interest in narratives.
• Later Commentaries: Balbir also highlights later commentaries, such as Tilakācārya's Laghu Vrtti, for their fresh Sanskrit treatments of the original stories, concluding with an edition of selected stories from this commentary.
• Translation and Annotation: The second part of her book focuses on translating the stories previously edited by Leumann. She uses Leumann's edition as a basis due to the lack of a more economical alternative, but supplements it with variants and additional textual material from later printed editions.
• Clear Presentation of Translations: Balbir's translations are faithful and are introduced by explaining the illustrative point of each story, referencing keywords in the Niryukti. She clearly identifies the different versions of Leumann's text and their modern counterparts, providing bibliographical references and translating different versions separately.
• Overall Contribution: The reviewer praises Balbir's work as a pioneering effort that significantly advances the study of Jain narrative literature, bridging the gap between scholastic and "softer" subjects, and serving as a model for understanding how exegetical literature preserves and explains texts.

Thomas Oberlies's "Avasyaka-Studien, Glossar ausgewählter Wörter zu E. Leumanns 'Die Avasyaka-Erzählungen'":

• Essential Companion: Oberlies's glossary is a vital companion to Leumann's work, addressing the critical need for explanation of difficult and rare Prakrit words.
• Rich Information: The reviewer notes that the glossary, while selective, is exceptionally informative, providing derivations, references to secondary literature, and occurrences in other texts.
• Technical Points: The reviewer makes several specific suggestions regarding the glossary's entries and its limitations, such as the absence of certain words not present in Leumann's edition but introduced by Balbir, and the need for separate entries for similar but distinct verb forms.

Reviewer's Engagement and Critical Analysis:

The reviewer actively engages with Balbir's and Oberlies's interpretations, offering his own insights and alternative readings for specific passages. This critical dialogue highlights the nuanced nature of linguistic and textual interpretation and demonstrates the value of Balbir's and Oberlies's work in facilitating such scholarly discussion. Examples of these detailed textual discussions include:

• The interpretation of the phrase "avarāho se kao dhaniyam" (Page 5).
• The meaning of "cittijjai" (Page 5).
• The translation of "kharenam" (Page 5).
• The meaning of "kharaṇṭettā" (Page 6).
• The interpretation of "singiya" (Pages 6-7).
• The translation of "usam calya paḍau" (Page 7).
• The emendation of "gula-" to "guna-" (Page 8).
• The meaning of "nigghaṭṭam" (Page 8).
• The derivation and meaning of "appasāriyain" (Pages 8-9).
• The translation of "tāe sā(b)hinnānam pattiyāvio" (Page 9).
• The derivation of "putthā" (Page 9).
• The meaning of "mandi" and "tatth'eva" (Page 10).
• The verb "kuttehi" (Page 10).

Conclusion:

The review concludes by emphasizing that the combined efforts of Balbir and Oberlies have successfully revitalized Leumann's work on the Āvaśyaka stories, creating a foundational contribution to Jain narrative literature. Balbir's study is lauded for its clarity, comprehensiveness, and ability to make complex material accessible, while Oberlies's glossary is recognized as an indispensable tool for scholars. The reviewer's detailed engagement underscores the scholarly rigor and the significant progress these works represent.