210 REVIEWS OF BOOKS

later by Wayne Howard on aniruktagana and by Staal on Vedic mudras (one of the few serious
misprints occurs in the latter: "unaspirated" for "aspirated" at p. 362, 1.7 ).
The next articles examine aspects of the Agnicayana on a textual basis, from the angle of
performance, or the srauta tradition, especially among the Nambudiris. Yasuke Ikari's article
"Ritual Preparation of the Mahavlra and Ukha Pots" contains some interesting remarks on the
gradual exclusion of the potter from the description and from the ritual itself. K. Bala-
subrahmanya Sastri's on "Agnicayana in the Mimamsa", being heavily Sanskritised in its
original presentation, has been edited by James A. Santucci, who presumably is responsible for
"decertification" for "dehusking" and "option" as a translation of kamyata rather than
"optional nature". The weakest article here is the history of the Nambudiri community by
M. G. S. Narayanan and Kesavan Veluthat. The discrepancy of dating for Veluthat's book in
this and the next article is disturbing where, as throughout this work, reference to secondary
literature is made by author and date only; it also raises the more general questions of the degree
of editorial control exercised and the role of separate bibliographies within a collective work.
Also in this part are placed three comparative articles, on Homa in Java and Bali by C.
Hooykaas, in Tibet by T. Skorupski, and in East Asia by M. Strickmann.
The fourth part of texts and translations contains translations of the relevant passages from
Baudhayana SS by Yasuke Ikari and Harold Arnold (printed with a reproduction on the facing
page of Caland's text from which the critical apparatus in the footnotes has been to my mind
perversely erased), from Kausltaki Brahmana by E. R. Sreekrishna Sharma, and from Jaiminiya
&S with Bhavatrata's commentary by Asko Parpola. Of these the last is probably the most
significant but all are competently done and provide a valuable counterpoint to the description
of the actual performance in the second part (in volume one).
The core of the work clearly does lie in this second part describing the 1975 performance and
everything else must be judged in relation to it. By that standard the fourth part, translating
relevant texts, is well justified, as are many of the articles. It is harder to say whether the work
hangs together as a whole. Its sheer bulk is a factor here but it does also seem that at some points
it simply attempts to range too widely for any single individual's interest or competence.
However, any such reservations must pale into relative insignificance in comparison with the
enormous achievement that this work represents.
J. L. BROCKINGTON

SURABHI: SREEKRISHNA SARMA FELICITATION VOLUME. Edited by the PROF. E. R. SREEKRISHNA

SARMA FELICITATION COMMITTEE, pp. vii, 240; 40, 16 (Sanskrit section). Tirupati, Prof. E. R.
Sreekrishna Sarma Felicitation Committee, 1983.

This volume results from the celebration of Professor Sreekrishna Sarma's 60th birthday and
retirement in January 1982. During his distinguished career Professor Sarma has been mainly
associated with Tirupati but has also worked at Marburg and at Adyar, besides playing a major
role in the 1975 Agnicayana project. It is natural, therefore, that this volume should contain
articles by a wide range of well-wishers who have contributed 21 articles in English and six in
Sanskrit. The volume also contains a brief biography of Professor Sarma and congratulatory
addresses in English and Sanskrit.
Apart from the division into English and Sanskrit sections, the articles are in a purely random
order. However, they fall into three main categories, of Vedic literature, grammar and
philosophy, with a further half dozen on miscellaneous topics. Those on Vedic subjects include
no fewer than three on aspects of the Jamiminlya Brahmana, by Wilhelm Rau, Karl Hoffmann
and H. W. Bodewitz. Frits Staal's treatment of the structure of some of the chants employed in
the Agnicayana amplifies material in the Agni volumes and is best read in conjuction with them,
whereas Wayne Howard's article on the Samaveda arcika recitation of the Namputiris is more
independent. In addition, K. P. Aithal discusses the Ahalayana Sutras and G. V. Devasthali
draws attention to Madhava's interest in metrical issues in his Rgveda commentary, the
Mantrarthanukramanl.
The article by M. D. Balasubrahmanyam on the accentuation of vodhave forms a transition
 REVIEWS OF BOOKS 211
between the Vedic and the grammatical articles, since its primary emphasis is on the textual
occurrences, whereas S. Venkitasubramonia Iyer's "Variants in Paninisiitras affecting Accent"
is based on the Astadhyayi. S. D. Joshi discusses P. 1.3.67 and George Cardona P. 8.3.4; M. S.
Menon briefly draws attention to Brahmadatta Narayana's grammatical poem, the Subhadra-
harana; and Peri Suryanarayana Sastri writes on dhatvarthamukhyavisesyakasabdabodhah.
The largest group of articles is on various philosophical topics. R. K. Sharma writes on
"Siddhis in the Yogasiitras and Saundaryalahan"; A. G. Krishna Warrier studies jnana in the
Bhagavadgila from an Advaitin standpoint; V. Swaminathan discusses the dispute between the
Prabhakaras and Bhattas over the identity of a Mimamsa sutra alluded to by Badarayana, while
other MTmamsa topics are handled by K. T. Pandurangi in "Concept of Svarupabheda in
Prabhakara and Dvaita" and S. Subrahmanya Sastri on Sabara and Prabhakara (in Sanskrit).
Kamaleswar Bhattacharya examines the relative dating of Ratnakarasanti and Ratnakirti, and
K. Kunjunni Raja looks at Bhartrhari and Dinnaga (in Sanskrit). Also in Sanskrit are Vepattur
Subrahmanya Sastri's anuvadavaicitri and Dinasa Chandra Guha's nimittakaranalaksanaparis-
karah.
The other articles scattered through the volume are by K. L. Janert on inscribed arrows in
Kalidasa, by Lokesh Chandra on Chinese attitudes to Buddhist tantras, by J. Duncan M.
Derrett on the maithuna portion of the Sphutartha Srlghanacarasamgrahatlka, by Asko Parpola
on the original caste status of Tiruvajluvar, by K. Krishnamoorthy on rasa in literary theory and
the bhakti movement, and by S. Sankaranarayanan who goes over the evidence again for the
Yavana conquest of Madhyadesa.
The quality of the articles is naturally not always the same, but as a whole this volume forms
a worthy tribute to the scholar whom it honours.
J. L. BROCKINGTON

STUDIES IN THE R A M A STORY: O N THE IRRETRIEVABLE LOSS OF V A L M I K I ' S ORIGINAL A N D THE OPER-
ATION OF THE RECEIVED TEXT AS SEEN IN SOME VERSIONS OF THE VALIN-SUGRIVA EPISODE. By
S. A. SRINIVASAN. (Alt- und Neu-Indische Studien hrsg. vom Seminar fur Kultur und
Geschichte Indiens an der Universitat Hamburg, 25.) 2 vols: pp. xii, 259; pp. 195 (notes, index
of references, addenda). Wiesbaden, Franz Steiner Verlag GmbH, 1984. DM 58.

This is a rather difficult work to assess; on the one hand the author shows a wide and at times
penetrating knowledge of his subject but on the other hand he displays an irritating inability to
discipline himself or his material sufficiently. Consequently, while there are interesting obser-
vations and valuable insights to be found in this work, it scarcely adds up to a coherent whole.
Symptomatic of this is the need to make the notes into a separate volume, for many of them are
around two pages long and one over four pages. Even so, a 16-page concordance to the Kampan
passage has been retained in the text, as well as three substantial digressions of between 7 and
18 pages on "parasceticism", on Rama's divinity and on Rama's demonstration of his strength
to Sugriva.
All these digressions occur within his treatment of the Valmiki Ramayana (which occupies two
thirds of his text) and are incidental to his argument that the original form of Valmiki's work
is now irretrievably lost. He seeks to establish this by examining various episodes where he
suggests that the existence of incompatible alternatives within the text of the Critical Edition
— narrative incoherence — is a result of defects in transmission that cannot be remedied even
by higher criticism. He makes a number of significant points here, which are well worth further
consideration, as well as developing a useful critical tool. However, he displays a curious
hesitancy in his interpretation of several verses and "I am unable to state the exact meaning of
this expression" (n. 16) or similar remarks occur at intervals throughout the notes. Occasionally
he is factually wrong, as for example when he states on p. 7 that adikavya occurs only at 6.3703*
2, overlooking its occurrence at 6.3704* 1, as well as at 2.2335* 6, 7.1540* 1, 1541* 10 and App.
I. 13.31. Perhaps some of his hesitancy is due to his lack offluencyin English. Certainly, his style
is extremely tortuous and often betrays the influence of German word order; indeed, occasion-
ally a translation is made into German rather than English.