SHORT REVIEWS

AND BOOK NOTES

The Bhagavata-Purana, translated and annotated by Ganesh

Vasudeo Tagare . Part I . Ancient Indian Tradition and

Mythology Series, Vol . VII, Delhi, Motilal Banarsidass 1976 .

Rs . 50 .00 .

The Bhagavata-Puraj~La (BhP) is the third purana to be trans-

lated in the ambitious Ancient Indian Tradition and Mythology

project, which has already produced translations of the diva

(vols . I-IV) and Lirga(V-VI) purai~as, and which aims to turn

out 20 multi-volumed translations in all . Since students of

religion who are not Sanskritists have long had to rely

mainly on H . H . Wilson's Visnu (1840) and F . E . Pargiter's

M3rkandeya (1888-1905) translations for their primary

puranic materials, this series unquestionably fills a gaping

space on our bookshelves, and its products contain a wealth

of information about Hindu myth, ritual, apologetic patterns,

categories of knowledge, etc ., which could occupy several

lifetimes of research .

The BhP, which is one of the most poetically ornate and

unified limbs of the puranic corpus, is also one of India's

most influential and popular sacred works, and a crucial

source for the study of Vaisnava bhakti . For these reasons,

and despite its daunting length (the volume under review

contains only the first three of twelve skandhas), it was

the first puraia to be translated into a European tongue .

According to M . Winternitz, a Tamil version of the BhP was

translated into French in 1788, and thence into German in

1791 . Eugene Burnouf's French translation of 1840-7

(completed by Hauvette-Besnault and Roussel in 1884, 1898)

is still considered to be one of the great works of Indo-

logical scholarship ; and this was followed by English

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Short reviews and book notes

223

versions by Manmatha Nath Dutt (1895) and J . M . Sanyal

(1930-4) . As scholarly interest in bhakti waxes and wanes so

too does interest in the BhP, and the past decade or so has

seen an upsurge in BhP studies (the names of T . Hopkins,

A. Gail, and F . Hardy may be mentioned). But interest has

also come from another quarter : the voluminous translation

with commentary by the late Swami Bhaktivedanta Mahaprabhu,

founder-guru of the International Society for Krishna

Consciousness . The ISKCon translation, though in fact

highly technical in its terminology, surpasses the one under

review in its handling of the English medium. It is, however,

unabashedly sectarian in its approach, and therefore says

more about a particular branch of the Gaudiya (Bengali)

Vaisnava tradition in its contemporary mode, than it does

about the BhP as a 'pan-Hindu' smrti text . This latter

character of the BhP has been described with great clarity

by J . A . B . van Buitenen, in his article 'On the Archaism

of the BhP' (M. Singer, ed ., Krishna : Myths, Rites, and

Attitudes, pp . 23-40), and it is manifested in Tagare's

treatment, even in his reliance upon the 'orthodox' Indian-

English idiom, which has become the hallmark of English-

speaking pandits .

The volume opens with a long introduction, which is

striking for its blend of traditional scholarship and a

modern critical instinct. Here Tagare discusses the ten

(not five) topics traditionally superimposed on the structure

of the BhP ; date and authorship; the Vasudeva cult and

Pancaratra ideas ; and the intricate teachings of the BhP,

as filtered largely through the advaitin Sridhara SvHmin's

commentary, Bhavarthadipika . He also includes a brief note

on BhP commentators, which is eye-catching because their

number has been prodigious . Tagare's use of them has also

been prodigious, both in the text and in footnotes .

Unfortunately, he often leaves their comments untranslated .

The translation of the BhP itself is preceded by a

Bhagavata-Mahatmya, or glorificatory passage, taken from

the Padma-Purana . This portion is an important addition

from the religious studies as well as the traditional point

of view, since it describes the manner in which the Bhp

is to be treated as sacred object, litany, and expression

of Krishna . So, before the commencement of its seven-day-

long recitation, which is dated astrologically and attended

by numerous quasi-Vedic preparations,

Letters should be directed to various places to persons

who have renounced the world and the votaries of Visnu

who are eager for chanting his name . The draft of the

letter is stated as follows :

224Short reviews and book notes

'There is going to be a very rare congregation

of pious persons for the period of one week . Here

is also going to be the recitation of the Bhagavata

story of unprecedented sweetness. Your honours who

are addicted to drinking the nectar of God's name and

are deep in love of God should come quickly for

drinking the ambrosia in the form of Sri Bhagavata.

If you have no time to spare, you should, however,

come at least for one day, for a moment's attendance

here is very difficult to get.'

(Bhagavata-Mahatmya 6.7-10; p . cxvii)

Implicit in Tagare's reading of the first three

skandhas of the BhP is the idea that they are largely

concerned, first, to accommodate traditional (Samkhya)

cosmology within an ultimately non-dualistic Vaisnava

mould; and then to establish bhakti-yoga as the supreme

Yoga (superior to the eight-limbed yoga which is associated

with Samkhya) .

The translation of such a kaleidoscopic work as the

BhP is an arduous achievement, and the special virtues of

this translation make it a particularly valuable contribution

to the study of the Hindu religious tradition .

Fred Morgan

University of Bristol

Joseph Head and S . L . Cranston,Reincarnation : The Phoenix

Fire Mystery, New,York, Crown 1977 . xix + 620 pp. $10 .00 .

If the extent of belief in reincarnation in Asia is often

overestimated, the converse is certainly the case elsewhere .

Ideas of metempsychosis have been influential in the

western world; in Neoplatonism, the Kabbalah and Sufism,

as well as in earlier Greek and perhaps Celtic thought.

Such beliefs have also occurred in pre-literate cultures

and traditional societies in various parts of the world .

There is then plenty of scope for a good comparative study .

Unfortunately the work under review has some major

defects . In the first place it attempts to cover too much.

Nearly half the book is devoted to a collection of quota-

tions from classical times down to the nineteenth century .

There is much here of interest, but the authors' comments

are often over-stated or poorly argued . There is a distinct

lack of historical judgement, a few gross errors (for example

on page 230 we learn that Augustine attended the lectures