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142151 UE Classical Samkhya: (2020S)

Selected readings in the Samkhyakarika with the Matharavrtti and excerpts from further commentaries

5.00 ECTS (2.00 SWS), SPL 14 - Orientalistik, Afrikanistik, Indologie und Tibetologie
Continuous assessment of course work

Registration/Deregistration

Note: The time of your registration within the registration period has no effect on the allocation of places (no first come, first served).

Details

max. 36 participants
Language: English

Lecturers

Classes (iCal) - next class is marked with N

The meetings on May 6 and 12 will have to be cancelled.

  • Tuesday 10.03. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 17.03. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 24.03. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 31.03. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 21.04. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 28.04. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 05.05. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 12.05. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 19.05. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 26.05. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 09.06. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 16.06. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 23.06. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34
  • Tuesday 30.06. 11:45 - 13:15 Seminarraum 5 ISTB UniCampus Hof 4 2C-O1-34

Information

Aims, contents and method of the course

Course content: This practical course is dedicated to the philosophical tradition of Sāṅkhya in the classical form that has been handed down to us in Īśvarakṛṣṇa’s Sāṅkhyakārikā (ca. 4th to 5th centuries). It is intended as an introduction to some of the basic features of this dualistic philosophy, which is one of the oldest philosophical traditions in South Asia and, despite its archaic character, has enjoyed broad and long-lasting popularity in South Asian intellectual history in variously modified forms. A number of late classical and, in particular, medieval commentaries have been written on the Sāṅkhyakārikā which is composed in Āryā verses. From these, we will read selected passages of the commentary by Māṭharācārya, the so-called Māṭharavṛtti, in our reading of the introductory, programmatic Kārikā-s 1–3 as well as Kārikā-s 4–7, which provide the epistemological foundations of Sāṅkhya. This quite interesting commentary, which refers to a version of the Sāṅkhyakārikā in 73 verses, frequently shows parallels with other commentaries, such as the commentary by Gauḍapāda (the Gauḍapādabhāṣya), the Jayamaṅgalā and two anonymous, partly only fragmentarily preserved commentaries, of which some passages are to be read along. The date of the Māṭharavṛtti is uncertain (ca. from the 9th century onwards).

Assessment and permitted materials

Assessment: Oral and written performance form 50%, respectively, of the basis of assessment. Oral performance is constituted by constant active participation in class, as an expression of the thorough preparation of the assigned Sanskrit readings and of the reading of the prescribed and recommended secondary literature, by way of the presentation of independently prepared translations and text analyses, as well as through active involvement in the interpretation, discussion and problematization of the reading materials, supplemented by a brief oral presentation on a specific issue. The written work comprises a short written assignment (2–3 pages) and a concluding paper (7–10 pages) on a topic assigned by the instructor, to be prepared after the conclusion of the course.
Regular attendance is obligatory and essential. If more than three class meetings are missed, the overall assessment will be negative.

Minimum requirements and assessment criteria

Prerequisites: This is a course designed for second-semester students of the MA program “Languages and Cultures of South Asia”; there are no special requirements.

Examination topics

Reading list

Textual basis:
• Sāṃkhya-Kārikā of Śrīmad Īśvarakṛṣṇa With the Māṭharavṛtti of Mātharācārya, Edited by Sāhityācārya Pt. Viṣṇu Prasād Śarmā, and the Jayamaṅgalā of Śrī Śaṅkara, Critically Edited with an Introduction by Śrī Satkāriśarmā Vaṅgīya. Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series No. 56. 2nd ed., Varanasi 1970. The text of the Māṭharavṛtti is printed on pp. 1–64.

Selected literature:
• Erich Frauwallner, Geschichte der indischen Philosophie, Vol. 1, Salzburg 1953, pp. 275–408, especially pp. 272–288 und 348–400.
• Erich Frauwallner, Philosophische Texte des Hinduismus. Eds. Gerhard Oberhammer and Chlodwig H. Werba. Wien 1992, pp. 93–125.
• Shujun Motegi, “The Early History of Sāṃkhya Thought”, in Eli Franco (ed.), Periodization and Historiography of Indian Philosophy, Wien 2013, pp. 35–51.
• Harsh Narain, “Māṭharavṛtti”, in Gerald Larson and Ram Shankar Bhattacharya (eds.), Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies. Vol. IV: Sāṃkhya. A Dualist Tradition in Indian Philosophy. Delhi 1987, pp. 291–299.
• Haradatta Sarma, “Jayamaṅgalā and the Other Commentaries on Sāṅkhya-Saptati”. Indian Historical Quarterly 5 (1929), pp. 417–431.
• Esther A. Solomon, The Commentaries of the Sāṃkhya Kārikā – A Study. Ahmedabad 1974.
• Otto Strauss, Indische Philosophie, München 1925, pp. 176–191.
• Raffaele Torella, “Sāṃkhya as sāmānyaśāstra”. Asiatische Studien / Études Asiatiques 53.3 (1999), pp. 553–561.

Association in the course directory

MASK6a-PR (UEa)

Last modified: Mo 07.09.2020 15:20