A thesis subrnitted in conforrnity with the requirernents for the degree of Master of Science Gra... more A thesis subrnitted in conforrnity with the requirernents for the degree of Master of Science Graduate Department of Geology University of Toronto O Copyright by Bryan Geoffrey Levman, 2001 National Library 191 ofCanada Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliagraphic Services services bibliographiques 395 W e l i Street 395.
Part One of this article provides a brief history of what is known of the practice and spread of ... more Part One of this article provides a brief history of what is known of the practice and spread of Buddhism among Dravidian speaking peoples during the lifetime of the Buddha and in the centuries after his passing. It further provides an overview of the impact of the Dravidian language on the vocabulary and structure of Old and Middle Indic. Part Two examines the early Buddhist Patimokkha transmission, which was based on the practice of earlier religious groups, and discusses approximately fifty non-IA technical terms. Their retention in Pali, it argues, represents the adoption of certain cultural and religious practices from indigenous peoples of South Asia and may represent a translation or adaptation, in part, of an earlier Dravidian language Patimokkha.
Comparing parallel P āli and Sanskrit versions of the Buddha’s teachings reveal an underlying li... more Comparing parallel P āli and Sanskrit versions of the Buddha’s teachings reveal an underlying linguistic stratum which is a common source for both. Although we may never be able to ascertain the exact words of the Buddha, we know his teachings were transmitted orally by bhāṇakas (reciters) in one or more middle-Indic dialects. As the religion spread into different regions of India the words also changed, adapted to local dialects. When the teachings were committed to writing around the first century B. C., the Pāli and Buddhist Sanskrit forms were sometimes contradictory, reflecting the redactors’ different interpretations of the oral transmission. By comparing these different forms, it is possible to isolate a proto-form which explains the ambiguities and is closer to the original transmission. This is a case in point, comparing an incident from the Pāli Mahāparinibbāna sutta and its Sanskrit parallel, the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra.
Utilizing a combination of conodont-based biostratigraphy and geochemistry, the FrasnianFamennia... more Utilizing a combination of conodont-based biostratigraphy and geochemistry, the FrasnianFamennian (F/F, mid-Late Devonian) boundary was located in the Long Rapids Formation, northern Ontario. It is present in a black shale sequence, 21.46 m above the base of the Long Rapids Formation, just above a carbonate bed that has similarities to the Upper Kellwasser Limestone, recognized as a lithological marker for the F/F boundary in Germany, Belgium, and France. There is no evidence of an impact event, and sedimentation across the boundary is continuous, although there is a discontinuity layer just below the boundary and the early part of the linguiformis Zone (of the standard Late Devonian conodont zonation) is missing. Strong positive δ 13C (organic and carbonate) values were identified and are interpreted as evidence of mass mortality in anoxic waters at the F/F extinction; positive δ18O values suggest the extinction was also accompanied by a temperature drop. Negative δ34S values also...
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2019
This paper argues that the Buddha did not speak Pāli per se, but an earlier version of the langua... more This paper argues that the Buddha did not speak Pāli per se, but an earlier version of the language – a dialect or koine – which, although very similar to Pāli, differed somewhat in word form, morphology and sometimes semantic content. Comparing the different recensions of Pāli (Sinhalese, Thai, Burmese, etc.) to each other and also to parallel Prakrit transmissions uncovers earlier layers and allows us to reconstruct the earlier forms, by comparing cognate sound correspondence sets and reconstructing their earlier ancestors. While it is true that Pāli was affected by the synchronic forces of linguistic diffusion from both coeval Indo-Aryan dialects and non Indo-Aryan indigenous languages, diachronic forces (change over time) are just as important for us to understand earlier forms of the language and how it arrived at its present stage of development.
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2017
The word sati today is usually translated as “mindfulness”, despite the fact that it is derived f... more The word sati today is usually translated as “mindfulness”, despite the fact that it is derived from the Old Indic word smṛti meaning “remembrance”, “memory”, and “tradition”. Some scholars even distinguish between the two words as different in meaning, suggesting that sati usually refers to present awareness in the Pali scriptures, not to the past, as the word smṛti does. Since the Buddha was familiar with the Brahmanical teachings, including the six Vedāṅgas (linguistic analysis, etymology, etc.) which are part of the smṛti tradition, it is unlikely that he would have used the vernacular form of the word ( sati ) in a way inconsistent with its heritage. This article argues that the word sati incorporates the meaning of “memory” and “remembrance” in much of its usage in both the sutta s and the commentary, and suggests that without the memory component, the notion of mindfulness cannot be properly understood or applied, as mindfulness requires memory for its effectiveness. Although...
Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha e... more Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha est suppose avoir autorise la traduction du buddhavacana dans « le dialecte propre des moines ». L'expression sakazya niruttiya est analysee en detail. On montre que dans la premiere affirmation-cle, te sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam dusenti, « ils ruinent le buddhavacana avec leur propre nirutti », le mot sakaya (« son propre ») renvoie aux moines, tandis que dans la seconde affirmation-cle, anujanami bhikkhave sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam pariyapunitum, « je permets, o moines, que le buddhavacana soit appris completement dans ma propre nirutti, le mot sakaya renvoie au Bouddha. L'article examine les emplois du mot nirutti » dans les textes palis et conclut que le mot ne signifie pas « dialecte », selon la traduction adoptee le plus souvent, mais « nom », « terme », « explication », « definition » ou « designation ». Le sens correct du passage discute est donc le suivant: les m...
This article examines previous scholarship on the genealogy of muṇḍa/muṇḍaka and concludes that i... more This article examines previous scholarship on the genealogy of muṇḍa/muṇḍaka and concludes that it is of non Indo-Aryan origin. The primary meaning of the word is usually taken to mean “bald,” but it also has many additional connotations which do not appear to be connected with this primary meaning. It also occurs as a proper name, the name of an ethnic or tribal group, in place names and in a technical vocabulary associated with agriculture, architecture, chariot and wagon construction, torture, etc. The word muṇḍa is cognate with the Puṇḍra tribe of pre-Buddhist India, and possibly with the Mallas, the sub-Himalayan tribe who hosted the Buddha’s funeral. If one takes muṇḍa/muṇḍaka as an ethnic or tribal cognomen, many of the heretofore-unexplained meanings of the word are explainable, although the precise meaning still eludes us.
This article examines a poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana which expands on the poem attribu... more This article examines a poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana which expands on the poem attributed to Kaludayitthera in the Theragatha; the poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana did not make it into the final canon. The hypothesis of this paper is that the poem may be a popular Dravidian song adapted to Buddhist use and translated into Pali, and this is the primary reason it was excluded from the canon. This conclusion is based on several factors. 1) The author of the Pali poem was not well versed in the Pali language and made constant mistakes in translation. 2) Gratuitous repetition; the poem itself is not very good poetry, containing the kind of needless repetition one associates with a popular song. 3) 13.4% of the words in the poem are direct lifts from Dravidian words; this compares to only 3.9% of the words in the Theragatha poem itself, of which this poem is an extension. While this does not prove that the source was a Dravidian poem, it raises the probability quite sign...
The Buddha's teachings have been handed down in different Middle Indic forms (Pāli and Gāndhā... more The Buddha's teachings have been handed down in different Middle Indic forms (Pāli and Gāndhārī), in Sanskritized Prakrit and in Sanskrit itself, and various non Indo-Aryan languages like Tibetan and Middle Chinese. Comparing corresponding passages in the surviving witnesses uncovers linguistic ambiguities which are phonologically cognate, but semantically unclear, pointing to an earlier, underlying linguistic form of which the witnesses are translations. Sanskritizations of earlier Prakrit transmissions are particularly revealing as they fix arbitrary meanings to a more malleable, polysemous underlying speech-form. This is describable as a simplified lingua franca or koine gangétique containing elements of all dialects, but eliminating the most obtrusive dialect differences; the result was a more homogenized communication medium which allowed for rapid dissemination of the Buddha's teachings across dialect boundaries in northern India. This lingua franca was probably derive...
This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the lan... more This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the language that the Buddha spoke, arguing that the received Pāli transmission evolved out of an earlier Middle Indic idiom, which is identified as a koine. Evidence for this koine can be found by examining correspondence sets within Pāli and its various varieties and by examining parallel, cognate correspondence sets between Pāli and other Prakrits which have survived. This article compares 30 correspondence sets transmitted in the Dhammapada recensions: the Gāndhārī Prakrit verses, the partially Sanskritized Pāli and Patna Dhammapada Prakrit verses, and the fully Sanskritized verses of the Udānavarga. By comparing cognate words, it demonstrates the existence of an underlying inter-language which in many cases can be shown to be the source of the phonological differences in the transmission. The paper includes a discussion on the two major factors of dialect change, evolution with variation o...
The Buddha considered names of things and people to be arbitrary designations, with their meaning... more The Buddha considered names of things and people to be arbitrary designations, with their meaning created by agreement. The early suttas show clearly that inter alia, names, perceptions, feelings, thinking, conceptions and mental proliferations were all conditioned dhammas which, when their nature is misunderstood, led to the creation of a sense of ‘I’, as well as craving, clinging and afflictions. Although names were potentially afflictive and ‘had everything under their power’ (N?ma Sutta), this did not mean that they were to be ignored or even neglected; words were to be penetrated and thoroughly understood, as an essential instrument for liberation. One of the problems of transmitting the Buddha’s teachings was the large number of disciples who did not speak an Indo-Aryan language as their first language or spoke a dialect different from that of the Teacher. This also led to altered transmission of the Vinaya and Suttas by disciples who could not hear certain phonological distin...
Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha e... more Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha est suppose avoir autorise la traduction du buddhavacana dans « le dialecte propre des moines ». L'expression sakazya niruttiya est analysee en detail. On montre que dans la premiere affirmation-cle, te sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam dusenti, « ils ruinent le buddhavacana avec leur propre nirutti », le mot sakaya (« son propre ») renvoie aux moines, tandis que dans la seconde affirmation-cle, anujanami bhikkhave sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam pariyapunitum, « je permets, o moines, que le buddhavacana soit appris completement dans ma propre nirutti, le mot sakaya renvoie au Bouddha. L'article examine les emplois du mot nirutti » dans les textes palis et conclut que le mot ne signifie pas « dialecte », selon la traduction adoptee le plus souvent, mais « nom », « terme », « explication », « definition » ou « designation ». Le sens correct du passage discute est donc le suivant: les moines ruinent le buddhavacana en employant leurs propres termes pour les termes du Bouddha et le Bouddha demande donc que son enseignement soit appris avec les noms et les termes qu'il a etablis. Il pourrait s'agir du vocabulaire specifique a l'enseignement du Bouddha, des termes tels que anatta, anicca, paticcasamuppada, etc., qui se trouvaient remplaces par d'autres termes. Le Bouddha interdit aussi que ses mots soient rendus en vers recites a la vedique (chandaso). Les versions chinoises de l'episode sont aussi passees en revue. Bien que le Bouddha autorise a enseigner et a reciter le buddhavacana dans les « sons du pays », il semble, a examiner toutes les recensions, qu'il parle autant, sinon plus, de recitation que de dialecte. Enfin, l'article examine la longue tradition bouddhique de recitation et conclut que le Bouddha tenait a ce que ses mots soient memorises et recites exactement comme il les avait prononces.
All music origin theories are concerned with the purpose and effects of music, a subject first sy... more All music origin theories are concerned with the purpose and effects of music, a subject first systematically broached by Plato who felt that music's primary use was for aggression, defence, persuasion and social harmony. In Cratylus Plato provided an epistemological foundation for later theorists by arguing for a natural correspondence between sound and meaning, opposing the view that names and sounds were arbitrary. One important group of musical origin theories developed this viewpoint, asserting that music evolved as a result of spontaneous emotional outbursts, a form of self expression and communication. Darwin heads a second adaptationist direction, maintaining that music evolved to enhance organisms' sexual attraction, thus increasing their ability to procreate. A third theoretical school asserts that music originated because of organisms' innate rhythmic sense. Other phylogenetic and functional ways of grouping music origin theories are also examined. In evolutionary time music's survival value lay in its use for territorial domination, deterrence of predators, intraspecific competition and social cohesion. Most musical/sonic signalling is deceptive and manipulative in nature, designed to give the signaller a competitive advantage against his/her rivals and therefore to increase his/her progeny. Although music in the western art tradition has only a limited social function, some of these utilitarian and duplicitous elements are preserved in the war, healing and supernatural songs of aboriginal tribes. Today music still serves the function of demarcating personal and group space, creating social cohesion, arousing to action and just pure enjoyment. Because of its ability to reawaken and allow us to re-experience primeval survival emotions, music is also cathartic and therapeutic.
While the linguistic influence of India’s indigenous languages on the Indo- Aryan language (IA) i... more While the linguistic influence of India’s indigenous languages on the Indo- Aryan language (IA) is well understood, the cultural impact of the autochthonous Munda, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples is much harder to evaluate, due to the lack of indigenous coeval records, and later historicization of the Buddha’s life and teachings. Nevertheless, there are cultural remnants of the indigenous belief systems discoverable in the Buddhist scriptures. In this article we examine 1) The longstanding hostility between the IA immigrants and the eastern ethnic groups, especially the Buddha’s Sakya clan. 2) The Sakyas’ socio-political organization, religious and cultural values which differ significantly from those of the immigrants. 3) The concept of the Mah?puru?a which was likely an historicization of an indigenous Indian belief. 4) Indigenous belief structures like serpent- and tree-worship and the culture of sacred groves, and 5) Indigenous funeral rites in the story of the Budd...
A thesis subrnitted in conforrnity with the requirernents for the degree of Master of Science Gra... more A thesis subrnitted in conforrnity with the requirernents for the degree of Master of Science Graduate Department of Geology University of Toronto O Copyright by Bryan Geoffrey Levman, 2001 National Library 191 ofCanada Bibliothèque nationale du Canada Acquisitions and Acquisitions et Bibliagraphic Services services bibliographiques 395 W e l i Street 395.
Part One of this article provides a brief history of what is known of the practice and spread of ... more Part One of this article provides a brief history of what is known of the practice and spread of Buddhism among Dravidian speaking peoples during the lifetime of the Buddha and in the centuries after his passing. It further provides an overview of the impact of the Dravidian language on the vocabulary and structure of Old and Middle Indic. Part Two examines the early Buddhist Patimokkha transmission, which was based on the practice of earlier religious groups, and discusses approximately fifty non-IA technical terms. Their retention in Pali, it argues, represents the adoption of certain cultural and religious practices from indigenous peoples of South Asia and may represent a translation or adaptation, in part, of an earlier Dravidian language Patimokkha.
Comparing parallel P āli and Sanskrit versions of the Buddha’s teachings reveal an underlying li... more Comparing parallel P āli and Sanskrit versions of the Buddha’s teachings reveal an underlying linguistic stratum which is a common source for both. Although we may never be able to ascertain the exact words of the Buddha, we know his teachings were transmitted orally by bhāṇakas (reciters) in one or more middle-Indic dialects. As the religion spread into different regions of India the words also changed, adapted to local dialects. When the teachings were committed to writing around the first century B. C., the Pāli and Buddhist Sanskrit forms were sometimes contradictory, reflecting the redactors’ different interpretations of the oral transmission. By comparing these different forms, it is possible to isolate a proto-form which explains the ambiguities and is closer to the original transmission. This is a case in point, comparing an incident from the Pāli Mahāparinibbāna sutta and its Sanskrit parallel, the Mahāparinirvāṇa sūtra.
Utilizing a combination of conodont-based biostratigraphy and geochemistry, the FrasnianFamennia... more Utilizing a combination of conodont-based biostratigraphy and geochemistry, the FrasnianFamennian (F/F, mid-Late Devonian) boundary was located in the Long Rapids Formation, northern Ontario. It is present in a black shale sequence, 21.46 m above the base of the Long Rapids Formation, just above a carbonate bed that has similarities to the Upper Kellwasser Limestone, recognized as a lithological marker for the F/F boundary in Germany, Belgium, and France. There is no evidence of an impact event, and sedimentation across the boundary is continuous, although there is a discontinuity layer just below the boundary and the early part of the linguiformis Zone (of the standard Late Devonian conodont zonation) is missing. Strong positive δ 13C (organic and carbonate) values were identified and are interpreted as evidence of mass mortality in anoxic waters at the F/F extinction; positive δ18O values suggest the extinction was also accompanied by a temperature drop. Negative δ34S values also...
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2019
This paper argues that the Buddha did not speak Pāli per se, but an earlier version of the langua... more This paper argues that the Buddha did not speak Pāli per se, but an earlier version of the language – a dialect or koine – which, although very similar to Pāli, differed somewhat in word form, morphology and sometimes semantic content. Comparing the different recensions of Pāli (Sinhalese, Thai, Burmese, etc.) to each other and also to parallel Prakrit transmissions uncovers earlier layers and allows us to reconstruct the earlier forms, by comparing cognate sound correspondence sets and reconstructing their earlier ancestors. While it is true that Pāli was affected by the synchronic forces of linguistic diffusion from both coeval Indo-Aryan dialects and non Indo-Aryan indigenous languages, diachronic forces (change over time) are just as important for us to understand earlier forms of the language and how it arrived at its present stage of development.
Journal of the Oxford Centre for Buddhist Studies, 2017
The word sati today is usually translated as “mindfulness”, despite the fact that it is derived f... more The word sati today is usually translated as “mindfulness”, despite the fact that it is derived from the Old Indic word smṛti meaning “remembrance”, “memory”, and “tradition”. Some scholars even distinguish between the two words as different in meaning, suggesting that sati usually refers to present awareness in the Pali scriptures, not to the past, as the word smṛti does. Since the Buddha was familiar with the Brahmanical teachings, including the six Vedāṅgas (linguistic analysis, etymology, etc.) which are part of the smṛti tradition, it is unlikely that he would have used the vernacular form of the word ( sati ) in a way inconsistent with its heritage. This article argues that the word sati incorporates the meaning of “memory” and “remembrance” in much of its usage in both the sutta s and the commentary, and suggests that without the memory component, the notion of mindfulness cannot be properly understood or applied, as mindfulness requires memory for its effectiveness. Although...
Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha e... more Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha est suppose avoir autorise la traduction du buddhavacana dans « le dialecte propre des moines ». L'expression sakazya niruttiya est analysee en detail. On montre que dans la premiere affirmation-cle, te sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam dusenti, « ils ruinent le buddhavacana avec leur propre nirutti », le mot sakaya (« son propre ») renvoie aux moines, tandis que dans la seconde affirmation-cle, anujanami bhikkhave sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam pariyapunitum, « je permets, o moines, que le buddhavacana soit appris completement dans ma propre nirutti, le mot sakaya renvoie au Bouddha. L'article examine les emplois du mot nirutti » dans les textes palis et conclut que le mot ne signifie pas « dialecte », selon la traduction adoptee le plus souvent, mais « nom », « terme », « explication », « definition » ou « designation ». Le sens correct du passage discute est donc le suivant: les m...
This article examines previous scholarship on the genealogy of muṇḍa/muṇḍaka and concludes that i... more This article examines previous scholarship on the genealogy of muṇḍa/muṇḍaka and concludes that it is of non Indo-Aryan origin. The primary meaning of the word is usually taken to mean “bald,” but it also has many additional connotations which do not appear to be connected with this primary meaning. It also occurs as a proper name, the name of an ethnic or tribal group, in place names and in a technical vocabulary associated with agriculture, architecture, chariot and wagon construction, torture, etc. The word muṇḍa is cognate with the Puṇḍra tribe of pre-Buddhist India, and possibly with the Mallas, the sub-Himalayan tribe who hosted the Buddha’s funeral. If one takes muṇḍa/muṇḍaka as an ethnic or tribal cognomen, many of the heretofore-unexplained meanings of the word are explainable, although the precise meaning still eludes us.
This article examines a poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana which expands on the poem attribu... more This article examines a poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana which expands on the poem attributed to Kaludayitthera in the Theragatha; the poem in the Kaludayittherapadanavannana did not make it into the final canon. The hypothesis of this paper is that the poem may be a popular Dravidian song adapted to Buddhist use and translated into Pali, and this is the primary reason it was excluded from the canon. This conclusion is based on several factors. 1) The author of the Pali poem was not well versed in the Pali language and made constant mistakes in translation. 2) Gratuitous repetition; the poem itself is not very good poetry, containing the kind of needless repetition one associates with a popular song. 3) 13.4% of the words in the poem are direct lifts from Dravidian words; this compares to only 3.9% of the words in the Theragatha poem itself, of which this poem is an extension. While this does not prove that the source was a Dravidian poem, it raises the probability quite sign...
The Buddha's teachings have been handed down in different Middle Indic forms (Pāli and Gāndhā... more The Buddha's teachings have been handed down in different Middle Indic forms (Pāli and Gāndhārī), in Sanskritized Prakrit and in Sanskrit itself, and various non Indo-Aryan languages like Tibetan and Middle Chinese. Comparing corresponding passages in the surviving witnesses uncovers linguistic ambiguities which are phonologically cognate, but semantically unclear, pointing to an earlier, underlying linguistic form of which the witnesses are translations. Sanskritizations of earlier Prakrit transmissions are particularly revealing as they fix arbitrary meanings to a more malleable, polysemous underlying speech-form. This is describable as a simplified lingua franca or koine gangétique containing elements of all dialects, but eliminating the most obtrusive dialect differences; the result was a more homogenized communication medium which allowed for rapid dissemination of the Buddha's teachings across dialect boundaries in northern India. This lingua franca was probably derive...
This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the lan... more This article continues the discussion on the nature of the early language of Buddhism and the language that the Buddha spoke, arguing that the received Pāli transmission evolved out of an earlier Middle Indic idiom, which is identified as a koine. Evidence for this koine can be found by examining correspondence sets within Pāli and its various varieties and by examining parallel, cognate correspondence sets between Pāli and other Prakrits which have survived. This article compares 30 correspondence sets transmitted in the Dhammapada recensions: the Gāndhārī Prakrit verses, the partially Sanskritized Pāli and Patna Dhammapada Prakrit verses, and the fully Sanskritized verses of the Udānavarga. By comparing cognate words, it demonstrates the existence of an underlying inter-language which in many cases can be shown to be the source of the phonological differences in the transmission. The paper includes a discussion on the two major factors of dialect change, evolution with variation o...
The Buddha considered names of things and people to be arbitrary designations, with their meaning... more The Buddha considered names of things and people to be arbitrary designations, with their meaning created by agreement. The early suttas show clearly that inter alia, names, perceptions, feelings, thinking, conceptions and mental proliferations were all conditioned dhammas which, when their nature is misunderstood, led to the creation of a sense of ‘I’, as well as craving, clinging and afflictions. Although names were potentially afflictive and ‘had everything under their power’ (N?ma Sutta), this did not mean that they were to be ignored or even neglected; words were to be penetrated and thoroughly understood, as an essential instrument for liberation. One of the problems of transmitting the Buddha’s teachings was the large number of disciples who did not speak an Indo-Aryan language as their first language or spoke a dialect different from that of the Teacher. This also led to altered transmission of the Vinaya and Suttas by disciples who could not hear certain phonological distin...
Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha e... more Cet article reprend la question du fameux incident relate dans le Vinaya (II 139) ou le Bouddha est suppose avoir autorise la traduction du buddhavacana dans « le dialecte propre des moines ». L'expression sakazya niruttiya est analysee en detail. On montre que dans la premiere affirmation-cle, te sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam dusenti, « ils ruinent le buddhavacana avec leur propre nirutti », le mot sakaya (« son propre ») renvoie aux moines, tandis que dans la seconde affirmation-cle, anujanami bhikkhave sakaya niruttiya buddhavacanam pariyapunitum, « je permets, o moines, que le buddhavacana soit appris completement dans ma propre nirutti, le mot sakaya renvoie au Bouddha. L'article examine les emplois du mot nirutti » dans les textes palis et conclut que le mot ne signifie pas « dialecte », selon la traduction adoptee le plus souvent, mais « nom », « terme », « explication », « definition » ou « designation ». Le sens correct du passage discute est donc le suivant: les moines ruinent le buddhavacana en employant leurs propres termes pour les termes du Bouddha et le Bouddha demande donc que son enseignement soit appris avec les noms et les termes qu'il a etablis. Il pourrait s'agir du vocabulaire specifique a l'enseignement du Bouddha, des termes tels que anatta, anicca, paticcasamuppada, etc., qui se trouvaient remplaces par d'autres termes. Le Bouddha interdit aussi que ses mots soient rendus en vers recites a la vedique (chandaso). Les versions chinoises de l'episode sont aussi passees en revue. Bien que le Bouddha autorise a enseigner et a reciter le buddhavacana dans les « sons du pays », il semble, a examiner toutes les recensions, qu'il parle autant, sinon plus, de recitation que de dialecte. Enfin, l'article examine la longue tradition bouddhique de recitation et conclut que le Bouddha tenait a ce que ses mots soient memorises et recites exactement comme il les avait prononces.
All music origin theories are concerned with the purpose and effects of music, a subject first sy... more All music origin theories are concerned with the purpose and effects of music, a subject first systematically broached by Plato who felt that music's primary use was for aggression, defence, persuasion and social harmony. In Cratylus Plato provided an epistemological foundation for later theorists by arguing for a natural correspondence between sound and meaning, opposing the view that names and sounds were arbitrary. One important group of musical origin theories developed this viewpoint, asserting that music evolved as a result of spontaneous emotional outbursts, a form of self expression and communication. Darwin heads a second adaptationist direction, maintaining that music evolved to enhance organisms' sexual attraction, thus increasing their ability to procreate. A third theoretical school asserts that music originated because of organisms' innate rhythmic sense. Other phylogenetic and functional ways of grouping music origin theories are also examined. In evolutionary time music's survival value lay in its use for territorial domination, deterrence of predators, intraspecific competition and social cohesion. Most musical/sonic signalling is deceptive and manipulative in nature, designed to give the signaller a competitive advantage against his/her rivals and therefore to increase his/her progeny. Although music in the western art tradition has only a limited social function, some of these utilitarian and duplicitous elements are preserved in the war, healing and supernatural songs of aboriginal tribes. Today music still serves the function of demarcating personal and group space, creating social cohesion, arousing to action and just pure enjoyment. Because of its ability to reawaken and allow us to re-experience primeval survival emotions, music is also cathartic and therapeutic.
While the linguistic influence of India’s indigenous languages on the Indo- Aryan language (IA) i... more While the linguistic influence of India’s indigenous languages on the Indo- Aryan language (IA) is well understood, the cultural impact of the autochthonous Munda, Dravidian and Tibeto-Burman speaking peoples is much harder to evaluate, due to the lack of indigenous coeval records, and later historicization of the Buddha’s life and teachings. Nevertheless, there are cultural remnants of the indigenous belief systems discoverable in the Buddhist scriptures. In this article we examine 1) The longstanding hostility between the IA immigrants and the eastern ethnic groups, especially the Buddha’s Sakya clan. 2) The Sakyas’ socio-political organization, religious and cultural values which differ significantly from those of the immigrants. 3) The concept of the Mah?puru?a which was likely an historicization of an indigenous Indian belief. 4) Indigenous belief structures like serpent- and tree-worship and the culture of sacred groves, and 5) Indigenous funeral rites in the story of the Budd...
Uploads
Papers by Bryan Levman