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Collection
Part 10 · VIDEHA MITHILA MAITHILI DISCUSSION CRITICISM SERIES PART 10
Status
asr-draft
Human verified
No
Editorial review
not-reviewed
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small
Detected language
en (0.758712)
Duration
5:18
Source
Open preserved recording

Timestamped machine output

  1. 0:08–0:171. Introduction, A Text's Homecoming. In Mithila of the 10th and 11th centuries, seated on the
  2. 0:17–0:24soil of the village of Karya, the eminent logician Udhyankarya composed a work that remained
  3. 0:24–0:29enclosed for a thousand years within the forbidding walls of Sanskrit.
  4. 0:29–0:36Timatavavivika, known in the tradition by both names, Boydhidikra and Bauddhdhikra
  5. 0:36–0:43Beers witness to that decisive moment in the history of Indian philosophy when the millennium-long
  6. 0:43–0:50scholastic debate between Nya, Vaika and Buddhist philosophy reached its greatest logical density.
  7. 0:51–0:57The Mathili translation of this work is therefore not merely a rendering into another language,
  8. 0:57–1:04but a cultural homecoming, a text born on the soil of Mithila has, after a thousand years,
  9. 1:04–1:07returned in Mithila's own language.
  10. 1:07–1:10If Sanskrit was its paternal tongue,
  11. 1:10–1:13Mathili is the language of its native land,
  12. 1:13–1:19Gajendra Thakur's translation stands as a bridge between the two.
  13. 1:19–1:21From a critical standpoint,
  14. 1:21–1:24this work may be examined on three levels.
  15. 1:24–1:28First, the philosophical and literary form of the original
  16. 1:28–1:32and the success with which it has been communicated
  17. 1:32–1:39in its Mathili transformation, second its evaluation by the criteria of Indian politics
  18. 1:39–1:47Rasa, Dhoni, Vakrokti, Ausitya, Guha and RTI and the Indian tradition of translation
  19. 1:47–1:53and third the determination of its place in the light of western translation theories,
  20. 1:53–1:58Schlermacher, Nida, Newmark, Venuti, Scopos.
  21. 1:58–2:06Steina, Benjamin, Lefebvre, Even Johar, and Devi as well as comparative philosophy.
  22. 2:06–2:13The extensive introductory material, research essay, and critical apparatus added by the
  23. 2:13–2:20translator in the enlarged edition of 2026 raised the book above a translation alone
  24. 2:20–2:25and give it the form of a complete study edition.
  25. 2:25–2:31The present review will therefore consider the book as a whole text, meta-text and paratext
  26. 2:31–2:32together.
  27. 2:32–2:332.
  28. 2:33–2:39The generic form of the original work, a treatise that is literature.
  29. 2:39–2:45In terms of genre, Tima Katva Viveka is a work of debate, classical prose founded
  30. 2:45–2:51on the continuous conflict between the prima facie position and the reply.
  31. 2:51–2:57In four parts Ujjna successively examines four pillars of Buddhist philosophy, the doctrine
  32. 2:57–3:04of momentariness in the first part, according to which everything real is momentary, vijjanavada
  33. 3:04–3:10in the second, according to which nothing exists outside consciousness, the identity
  34. 3:10–3:18of quality and qualified substance in the third, which denies any substrate called substance,
  35. 3:18–3:24and in the fourth, the non-apprehension of the self and the doctrine of no self.
  36. 3:24–3:30Proceeding finally to the establishment of the self, the establishment of God, the authority
  37. 3:30–3:36of scripture, and an account of the nature of liberation, the work ends with the celebrated
  38. 3:36–3:44ladder of meditation in which every philosophical system, from CRVK to Advat, is presented as
  39. 3:44–3:52a stage in meditation on the self. In the history of Indian philosophy, this is an extraordinary
  40. 3:52–3:59vision of harmony among all systems. It would, however, be a mistake to regard this
  41. 3:59–4:08work merely as a dry collection of arguments. Udyana's prose has dramatic force. The recurrent
  42. 4:08–4:15rhythm of thesis, objection, counter question, division into alternatives, refutation, example,
  43. 4:15–4:21and conclusion gives the text the form of a drama of knowledge in which reasoning itself
  44. 4:21–4:28is a character. The example of the fool who sees an elephant at the palace gate
  45. 4:28–4:35and mistakes it for darkness, cloud, and shadow, the comparison with the natural hostility between
  46. 4:35–4:42snake and mongoose, the metaphor of food mixed with honey and poison, the agrarian image of
  47. 4:42–4:49separating grain from husk, and at the close, the sharp satire of a painting praised by a crowd
  48. 4:49–4:56of blind men, all these demonstrate that Udhyana was not only a logician but also a writer of
  49. 4:56–5:03the first rank. The translator faced a double challenge to preserve both the subtlety of
  50. 5:03–5:09the argument and the life of the literature. The central question of this review is how
  51. 5:09–5:13fully that double responsibility has been discharged.

Plain text

1. Introduction, A Text's Homecoming. In Mithila of the 10th and 11th centuries, seated on the soil of the village of Karya, the eminent logician Udhyankarya composed a work that remained enclosed for a thousand years within the forbidding walls of Sanskrit. Timatavavivika, known in the tradition by both names, Boydhidikra and Bauddhdhikra Beers witness to that decisive moment in the history of Indian philosophy when the millennium-long scholastic debate between Nya, Vaika and Buddhist philosophy reached its greatest logical density. The Mathili translation of this work is therefore not merely a rendering into another language, but a cultural homecoming, a text born on the soil of Mithila has, after a thousand years, returned in Mithila's own language. If Sanskrit was its paternal tongue, Mathili is the language of its native land, Gajendra Thakur's translation stands as a bridge between the two. From a critical standpoint, this work may be examined on three levels. First, the philosophical and literary form of the original and the success with which it has been communicated in its Mathili transformation, second its evaluation by the criteria of Indian politics Rasa, Dhoni, Vakrokti, Ausitya, Guha and RTI and the Indian tradition of translation and third the determination of its place in the light of western translation theories, Schlermacher, Nida, Newmark, Venuti, Scopos. Steina, Benjamin, Lefebvre, Even Johar, and Devi as well as comparative philosophy. The extensive introductory material, research essay, and critical apparatus added by the translator in the enlarged edition of 2026 raised the book above a translation alone and give it the form of a complete study edition. The present review will therefore consider the book as a whole text, meta-text and paratext together. 2. The generic form of the original work, a treatise that is literature. In terms of genre, Tima Katva Viveka is a work of debate, classical prose founded on the continuous conflict between the prima facie position and the reply. In four parts Ujjna successively examines four pillars of Buddhist philosophy, the doctrine of momentariness in the first part, according to which everything real is momentary, vijjanavada in the second, according to which nothing exists outside consciousness, the identity of quality and qualified substance in the third, which denies any substrate called substance, and in the fourth, the non-apprehension of the self and the doctrine of no self. Proceeding finally to the establishment of the self, the establishment of God, the authority of scripture, and an account of the nature of liberation, the work ends with the celebrated ladder of meditation in which every philosophical system, from CRVK to Advat, is presented as a stage in meditation on the self. In the history of Indian philosophy, this is an extraordinary vision of harmony among all systems. It would, however, be a mistake to regard this work merely as a dry collection of arguments. Udyana's prose has dramatic force. The recurrent rhythm of thesis, objection, counter question, division into alternatives, refutation, example, and conclusion gives the text the form of a drama of knowledge in which reasoning itself is a character. The example of the fool who sees an elephant at the palace gate and mistakes it for darkness, cloud, and shadow, the comparison with the natural hostility between snake and mongoose, the metaphor of food mixed with honey and poison, the agrarian image of separating grain from husk, and at the close, the sharp satire of a painting praised by a crowd of blind men, all these demonstrate that Udhyana was not only a logician but also a writer of the first rank. The translator faced a double challenge to preserve both the subtlety of the argument and the life of the literature. The central question of this review is how fully that double responsibility has been discharged.

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