Problems of Critically Editing a Codex Unicus: The Mahābhāṣyadīpikā of Bhartṛhari
Speaker: Saroja Bhate, former Professor, Department of Sanskrit and Prakrit Languages, University of Pune
Chair: Madhav M. Deshpande, Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics, University of Michigan
The Mahābhāṣyadīpikā is a commentary on the well-known treatise on Sanskrit grammar, the ‘Vyākaraṇamahābhāṣya’ of Patañjali. It is written by Bhartṛhari, the author of the celebrated work on philosophy of language, the ‘Vākyapadīya’. This commentary owes its importance not only to the fact that it is the oldest available commentary on the Vyākaraṇamahābhāṣya, but also to the fact that it is a mine of information on many other knowledge systems such as Sāṁkhya and Mīmāṁsā. Unfortunately, only a small part of this commentary has survived, that too, in a single manuscript. The single manuscript further poses a few problems, because it is written by multiple scribes, and contains folia with blank spaces in the middle of lines left by the scribes when they failed to understand the writing of the original scribe. There exist three different critically edited texts of this commentary published by different scholars at different times. The lecture will survey all the three editions with a view to finding out the method and means used to overcome the problems faced while editing a Codex Unicus.
Organised by IIC-International Research Division with the support of Ministry of External Affairs
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