Erasmus teaching in Budapest, May 2019 (Sanskrit reading course); Übung (Sanskrit-Lektüre), Wintersemester 2021/22

Topic

South Asia is rich in various climatic environments. And although they play an important role in cultural history, they are rarely mentioned in both primary and secondary literature. An exception are the works of Indian medicine or Ayurveda, in which landscapes are categorized and repeatedly discussed under various aspects. Francis Zimmermann dedicated himself to this topic in his 1987 monograph “The Jungle and the Aroma of Meats”. On the basis of his observations, this course first examines concepts of environments in epic literature, returns to the source texts of Āyurveda and finally compares similar concepts in the Arthaśāstra.

Texts to be read

Passages from the Mahābhārata, the Carakasāṃhitā, the Suśrutasaṃhitā, the Aṣṭāṅgasaṃgraha, and the Arthaśāstra will be read during this course.

Aims of the seminar

The course is intended to give an insight into early environmental concepts according to various Sanskrit source texts. In addition, work on the selected passages, which serve as examples of epic and scientific Sanskrit, will improve translation skills.

Conditions of getting a mark

The students have to prepare the Sanskrit texts that are read in the course in advance and be prepared to present their translations. The marks will depend on their contrubutions during the course.

Introductory literature

• Parkhill, Thomas. The Forest Setting in Hindu Epics: Princes, Sages, Demons. Lewiston: Mellen, 1995. (Based on his PhD thesis, available online: macsphere.mcmaster.ca/handle/11375/14199 )
• Ray, Rita Ghosh. „The Attitude of Kautilya to Aranya“. Environment and History 2.2 (1996): 221–229. (Available online: www.environmentandsociety.org/mml/attitude-kautilya-aranya)
• Thapar, R. „Perceiving the Forest: Early India“. Studies in History 17, Nr. 1 (2001): 1–16. (Available online: journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/025764300101700101)
• Zimmermann, Francis. The Jungle and the Aroma of Meats. An Ecological Theme in Hindu Medicine. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1987.