Rule-extension strategies in Mms, rautastra (and Vykaraa): tantra and prasaga

Elisa Freschi IKGA, Vienna, FWF M1437

Summary

1. A short history of tantra in rS and Mms

Summary

1. A short history of tantra in rS and Mms 2. A short history of prasaga in rS and Mms

Summary

1. A short history of tantra in rS and Mms

2. A short history of prasaga in rS and Mms

3. Comparison of the two

Summary
1. A short history of tantra in rS and Mms
2. A short history of prasaga in rS and Mms

3. Comparison of the two

4. Comparison with Vykaraa
5

Summary
1. A short history of tantra in rS and Mms 2. A short history of prasaga in rS and Mms 3. Comparison of the two 4. Comparison with Vykaraa 5. General Conclusions on space and time in ritual and linguistic speculations
6

Caveat

In Ancient and Classical India, hermeneutics (Mms) and ritualistics (rauta Stra) focused on texts about ritual, rather than on the ritual themselves

Caveat

In Ancient and Classical India, hermeneutics (Mms) and ritualistics (rauta Stra) focused on texts about ritual, rather than on the ritual themselves Forget all you think you know about the terms tantra and prasaga

At first sight, the situation is as follows:

Tantra

In rauta Stras and in Mms it often means basic procedure. This means that it is the paradigm against which one notices differences and absences In Mms it also means: device through this also means that through which a ritual element is performed once, but tantra one can avoid the problem of an absence. automatically applies to the whole ritual How could the transition from the one to the This is the question which other happen? made me consider the
problem at first.

But the situation is in fact more complicated

Tantra

In fact, tantra has more than one meaning in Mms:

1. basic procedure 2. device through which a ritual element is performed once, but automatically applies to the whole ritual
Initially, I did not focus on the distinction between 2 and 3, then I started taking it seriously

3. each of these elements

10

Tantra

An hypothesis about the historical evolution Meaning no. 1. is historically the most ancient one The shift from 1 to 3 is a case of metonimy (pars pro toto) The shift from 3 to 2 is a case of metaphor (the device instead of each element it applies to), we will see in short perhaps influenced by the case of as prasaga
11

Tantra

In other words:

et passim in the whole rS e Mms literature

the basic procedure (tantra) has been explained once and for all (sakt) and remains valid (BaudhrS 13.1.1) thus, extensively, each element which remains valid for the whole time of the ritual is part of tantra (tantrasthna bhajate, BaudhrS 24.3)
hence, the simultaneous application itself is said to be tantra 12

Tantra

An element continues to remain valid although it is actually absent through tantra (tantrea), because it has become part of the basic procedure of the ritual, which is present in each moment of its performance

13

Tantra in Grammar
Similarly, Patajali describes some elements within a stra by Pini by saying that they are not tantra. For instance, the gender and number endings found in the stras, only regard that stra and do not have to be applied ad A 3.3.18 to all cases nirdeaatantram

14

you might remember that I said that tantra (meaning 3) might have been influenced by prasaga, which, in fact, does not denote an element, but rather a function.

Prasaga

It is a further case of multiple application What distinguishes it from tantra?

15

Prasaga
What distinguishes it from tantra?
1. Already in Jaiminis MS: an element applies to several rites through tantra since it becomes part of the basic structure of the sacrifice

By contrast, through prasaga a function applies to several rites vertically, dripping from one to the other, without becoming part of a shared centre
16

Prasaga
What distinguishes it from tantra?
1. Non-structural 2. Consequently, the multiple application takes place due to external circumstances and has no internal rationale

17

Prasaga
What distinguishes it from tantra?
1. Non-structural 2. Due to external circumstances 3. Consequently, prasaga occurs only when a certain function is needed by a later rite
18

Prasaga
What distinguishes it from tantra?
1. Non-structural
2. Due to external circumstances 3. Need by a later rite
in the case of tantra, there is a centre which emanates to the periphery, independent of the periphery need for it. Example of prayjas.

19

Prasaga in Grammar
prasaga/prsagika/prasakta in Patajali:
the

expected procedure

Through the comparison with Mms we now know that this procedure is not the general rule (as it has been frequently translated, e.g. by Mylius), but rather whatit applies automatically, is the default option. prasad apavdo balya does not mean the exception is stronger than the dripping down from what precedes. general rule, but rather that, unless exceptionally
required, one just keeps on with the behaviour which was already at hand.

20

tantra/prasaga
A few examples:
1. For the ritual X one needs a large altar (mahvedi); for the subsequent ritual Y one needs an altar (vedi) where to place the offerts. Since one already has the mahvedi at hands, through prasaga (prasagenaplease ) one uses its note that it is not the element which is multiplied used, but rather its function. support
The element is, in fact, not the same, but the former can perform the same function of the latter

21

tantra/prasaga
A few examples:
1. The supporting function of an already available altar can be used for a subsequent ritual (prasaga). 2. In contrast, within the Darapramsa sacrifice, everything is applied, through tantra (tantrea) six times, i.e., to each of the six rites composing it
22

tantra/prasaga
please note that the rites are not outside the circumference. For tantra (device) to work they must be part of the same basic structure (also called tantra)

rite rite
tantra rite

2. tantra, by contrast, can denote both the elements and the device

prasaga

1. please remember that prasaga regards the function, not the material elements (the support, not the altar)

23

tantra/prasaga
these same examples are found in abara (ad MS 12.1.1)

Brahmin Brahmin
lamp house

tantra
Brahmin

prasaga
street
the light (i.e., the lamps function) is applied through prasaga the lamp is said to be tantra (or to apply to many Brahmins through tantra)

24

tantra

A school bus bringing to school all children, willing or not, insofar as they belong to the same group
25

prasaga

Disparate people taking advantage of the transit of a car because they need it
26

Conclusions

27

Conclusions
historical conclusions

it is probably that the same would apply to Dharmastra, although I did not check there (I am saying it because whenever I checked on the Ghyastras I found similar results and the GS are the background of the Dh, and because of other analyses of mine on their shared terminology (as for pratisakha/niyama/vidhi)). This is not the case, by contrast, for the Vedic Sahits.

rauta Stra, Mms and Vykaraa often share the same technical terminology It is not possible to trace a single direction of influence

It is, hence, more likely that they share a common prehistory (rather than that the one influenced the other)
28

Conclusions
conceptual conclusions (map/territory, ablative vs. genitive))

Both rS stress a spatial and not temporal organization of ritual

The texts never mention the disappearance of something Eivind Kahrs, Indian Semantic Analysis

Rather, they discuss spatially organised absences

An empty slot can be filled in various ways (through tantra, prasaga, atidea, pratinidhi), which all require the extension of an element/a function, which is already present elsewhere within the ritual space
29

elisa.freschi@gmail.com
30