Nov 2020 | 'The earliest textual attestation of ‘dharmaśāstra’ and more: An analysis of chronology in ‘A Dharma Reader’'

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Megh Kalyanasundaram

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Nov 27, 2020, 9:09:03 PM11/27/20
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Abstract: "Which is the earliest extant textual attestation of the word ‘dharmaśāstra’? Is the birth of the Dharmaśāstra genre causally linked, and incontrovertibly indebted, to the Buddha and emperor Aśoka? Patrick Olivelle’s 2017 book ‘A Dharma Reader - Classical Indian Law’ contains statements that appear to be pointed answers to the above questions, a pointedness that I find  pregnant with serious revisionist implications of profound consequence not just to the textual history of the term ‘dharmaśāstra’ and the origins of the Dharmaśāstra genre but also to the history of the idea of Dharma itself and perhaps to some people of those traditions in which Dharma is seen as Sanātana. In this paper, I foreground aforementioned statements of Olivelle (who has been hailed by Dominik Wujastyk as the world’s leading authority on the history of Indian dharma), delineate some of their revisionist implications and present a critical analysis of some of his reasoning and conclusions thereof. In doing so, a case is made for the need to pay attention to attempts at altering chronology, particularly those that enable tendentious attributions through imagined cause-and-effect hypotheses accompanied by sweeping consequences."

Best,
Megh

Megh Kalyanasundaram

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Dec 2, 2020, 10:57:40 AM12/2/20
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Namaste, 

Since I received a request for an alternate access option—one that does not require a sign-in (as is the case with Academia)—I include this alternate link, from which a pdf of the paper The earliest textual attestation of ‘dharmaśāstra’ and more: An analysis of chronology in ‘A Dharma Reader’ (Nov 2020) can be accessed and downloaded. 

Abstract: Which is the earliest extant textual attestation of the word ‘dharmaśāstra’? Is the birth of the Dharmaśāstra genre causally linked, and incontrovertibly indebted, to the Buddha and emperor Aśoka? Patrick Olivelle’s 2017 book ‘A Dharma Reader - Classical Indian Law’ contains statements that appear to be pointed answers to the above questions, a pointedness that I find pregnant with serious revisionist implications of profound consequence not just to the textual history of the term ‘dharmaśāstra’ and the origins of the Dharmaśāstra genre but also to the history of the idea of Dharma itself and perhaps to some people of those traditions in which Dharma is seen as Sanātana. In this paper, I foreground aforementioned statements of Olivelle (who has been hailed by Dominik Wujastyk as the world’s leading authority on the history of Indian dharma), delineate some of their revisionist implications and present a critical analysis of some of his reasoning and conclusions thereof. In doing so, a case is made for the need to pay attention to attempts at altering chronology, particularly those that enable tendentious attributions through imagined cause-and-effect hypotheses accompanied by sweeping consequences.

Thank you Prof. Deshpande and Prof. Aklujkar for notifying your confirmations, if Academia's notifications (image below) is accurate that is.  

Screenshot 2020-12-02 at 21.20.43.png

Some observations received in response thus far: 

Screenshot 2020-12-02 at 21.25.01.png

Best,
Megh


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Subrahmanyam Korada

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Dec 23, 2020, 1:21:43 AM12/23/20
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Ayushman bhava Megha  

I have gone through  the Article .

Olivelle's reasoning and analysis , as you have rightly stated,  are untenable .

' न वाधर्मसूत्रकारा पठन्ति ’ (महाभाष्यम्) ,  कम्बोजाल्लुक् (पा 4-1-175)  , ’ इन्द्रवरुण...यवन .....आनुक् (पा 4-1-49) , ’ वेदो’खिलो धर्ममूलम् ’ (गौतमधर्मसूत्रम् ) , ’ तानि धर्माणि प्रथमान्यासन् ’ ...(ऋग्वेद ) , अर्थशास्त्रम्  -- all
good references .

A highly informative , lucid , diligently written and authoritative Article .

Subham bhyat 




Dr.Korada Subrahmanyam
Professor of Sanskrit (Retd)
299 Doyen , Serilingampally, Hyderabad 500 019
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Megh Kalyanasundaram

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Dec 23, 2020, 1:52:36 AM12/23/20
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महामहोपाध्याय Korada Subrahmanyam-ji, प्रणाम! 
Thank you very much for reading the paper and sharing these impressions of yours. 🙏🙏🙏. 

With gratitude,
Megh 

Megh Kalyanasundaram

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Feb 17, 2021, 2:25:45 AM2/17/21
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Abstract: "This paper presents an empirical case for inclusions of evidence from Indian Knowledge Systems into those history narratives of constitutional law that aspire to be inclusively global in their academic concern for, amongst other legal concepts, the early history of Separation of Powers. The aforementioned foregrounding of evidence is undertaken alongside a reading of (and in response to aspects of) The Crown and the Courts: Separation of Powers in the Early Jewish Imagination published recently by Harvard University Press in 2020 and The First Constitution: Rethinking the Origins of Rule of Law and Separation of Powers in Light of Deuteronomy published in 2006."

One of Justice Jois' important books is acknowledged for its significance, cited from, and an attempt has been made to add a small drop to the sea of evidence he put together. 🙏

Best,
Megh


PV1.png

Abstract: Was Roman law without doubt the most sophisticated legal system from Antiquity? Do the roots of vyavahārapadas lie outside the dharma tradition? Is it the case that the earliest explicitly legal use of the term vyavahāra was attested outside dharma literature? In this paper, statements found in two influential 21st century publications that appear to be answers in the affirmative to the above questions are foregrounded, critically analyzed and responded to. Thereafter, some aspects of three elements of Roman law are compared with their chronological peers (or predecessors) from a system of knowledge indigenous to the Indian subcontinent: the भारतीय अष्टादशविद्या (Bhāratīya Aṣṭādaśavidyā). In doing the above, and in the interest of a more inclusive global history (or histories) of law and jurisprudence, the ethical need for more open, comprehensive, rigorous yet sensitive engagement, sans eurocentrism (and more), is stressed, particularly when radical changes to any aspect of chronology of non-European, non-Mediterranean, non-Abrahamic traditions are posited.

On Wed, Dec 23, 2020 at 11:51 AM Subrahmanyam Korada <kora...@gmail.com> wrote:

Megh Kalyanasundaram

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Mar 5, 2021, 5:11:48 PM3/5/21
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I attended this following talk by Dr. David Flatto and hosted by Dr. Samuel Moyn earlier this week. 

DF-SM-20210304.png

During the Q&A, I had the opportunity to learn from Dr. Flatto what the scope of his literature survey was, when he wrote "...breaks new ground..." (see Pp. 6 in page 6 of the paper) and whether his literature survey included texts from Indian Knowledge Systems (IKS). His answer was to the effect that texts from IKS were not part of the literature he had considered. He suggested I share my paper with him, which I did, and he has written back acknowledging the same with a thanks and a "seems very interesting". 

Best,
Megh

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