Ornament of Reality: Language Ideology in a Tantric Śākta Text

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

The paper “Ornament of Reality: Language Ideology in a Tantric Sakta Text” takes as its subject the Mahanayaprakasha of Sitikantha, attesting that the text is composed in Apabhramsa (rather than “Old Kashmiri”) and then arguing that this language is used therein to convey esoteric teachings about rarefied mystical states. The author succeeds in achieving these aims, and by doing so, this research offers further substantiation of the unique discursive properties of Apabhramsa for “intimate and esoteric contexts” in Indian tantra (both Buddhist and Hindu), thereby enhancing scholarly appreciation of this oft-overlooked language. And in describing Apabhramsa's capacity for indexing “a subjectivity in which the horizons of the everyday world are suspended”, the author has led this reviewer to wonder whether Apabhramsa is another (or perhaps truer) kind of “twilight language” in the tantric tradition. On account of prompting such questions and convincingly arguing its thesis, this paper marks a worthy contribution to the literature on Tantra and Kashmir Shaivism, and should be published expediently with only a few superficial changes to the present submission (which I detail line-by-line below).

28: expressing → expressed

 

42: I think it would be helpful if the reader was given the dates for the Mahanayaprakasha right up front here in the body text.

43-44: Perhaps tie off your intro section by stating your thesis as per the abstract. Also, lay out a road-map for how you're going to get there (e.g. discussing pilgrimage, the Mahanayaprakasha, and then moving into an analysis of chapter 4). This can all be done in two sentences, perhaps making for a little paragraph unto itself.

53: The phrase “power places” might read a little better as “powerful places” or “places of power”.

78: Remember to use italics for Mahanayaprakasha. See also lines 163, 359, and possibly others.

90: Add a comma after “In this legend”.

108: begins → starts off [to avoid the doubling of “begins” in this sentence]

121: states → exemplifies

125: The phrase “however, the question is begged but rarely addressed whether . . .” is awkward, and I'd recommend rewriting it. I'd suggest eliminating the “question is begged” element, as you use “begs the question” phrasing soon after in line 144.

129: You can delete the sentence “At first glance this should indicate a local language”, as it reads somewhat repetitively at present.

134: There's an extra space (or two) before “Indeed”

159: Chummasamketaprakasa should be italicized, no?

168-170: It's a tiny thing, but I highly recommend that you indent your English translations in block quotes, just like the italicized text in Apabhramsa. Otherwise, the translated material sort of blends in with the paragraphs of the body text.

176: equivelents → equivalents

184: texts → texts'

200: Are you going to italicize the Sanskrit terms? It couldn't hurt. After all, many of these terms are italicized in the footnotes.

274: Bhagavadgita should be italicized.

306: Kramasadbhava should be italicized.

311: in → is

347: Add a comma after “As we have seen”.

354: Add a comma after “siddhas”.

361: I think the font changes for “verses discussed here.”

FOOTNOTES:

1: on → of

2: where → in which

4: Add comma after “reason”.

8: Add comma after “Tantra”.

10: cogate → cognate

17: Add comma after “fourth phase”.

18: Add comma after “Arnasimha”. Break the footnote into two sentences after “296”, starting the new sentence with “For the anonymous . . .”

19: Put parentheses around “1929”; Sanderson's → Sanderson

21: languag → language

23: Put the example about words ending in -u into brackets for readability; add a space between the consecutive parentheses at the very end of the note.

31: Add comma after “text”.

32: I'd recommend changing the comma before “however” to a semi-colon.

35: Add comma after “term”.

37: Add comma after “analysis”.

38: Add comma after “indexing”.

43: I'd recommend changing the comma before “however” to a semi-colon.

50: Add comma after “verse 4.1”.

52: Add comma after “Kali”.

54: Is the phrasing “Devourers and living beings find repose touch the body of Kali, and there find repose” yours or Shastri's? If it's yours, I'd suggest rephrasing—this reads very awkwardly. Also, why the capitalization on “Devourers”, as it follows a comma?

63: I'd recommend putting commas on either side of the “however.” Also, I'd add “See” before “Sanderson 1985:200-2”).

67: I'd suggest a semi-colon after vaikhari, rather than a comma. Also, what is the function of the question mark in brackets after the word “sixteenth”? I think a square-bracketed explanation of what's in question might be more edifying. Finally, the doubling of “is” in the phrase “the Calm One is the Supreme consciousness in excretion is encountered in melapa” reads awkwardly. Perhaps this is a literal translation, but I think it can be cleaned up a bit.

72: Much as in the suggested change in note 67 above, I'm curious as to the function of the question mark in brackets after the word “aroused”. I think a square-bracketed explanation of what's in question might be more enlightening.

73: I'd recommend breaking this note's contents into two sentences, with the second sentence starting at “However, as Grierson notes, it is clearly. . .”

80: Add a comma after “linguistics”.

Author Response

Hi, thank you for your feedback.

Regarding the italicization, you are correct, and I rechecked my original submission copy and I found that they were italicized there, so I guess it was an upload error? In any case I went through and re-italicised all Sanskrit and Apabhramsa words. Hopefully it sticks.

I added a couple sentences at the end of my introduction where I restate my thesis from the abstract and briefly discuss how I will get to the fourth chapter's verses.

Re: awkward phrasing in some of my translations, I fixed them.

Also, re: note 67 I tracked down a ref to the seventeenth Kali, and put it in brackets. 

Re: note 72, those question marks were left over from my tentative translation, and I have since removed them.

Reviewer 2 Report

This is a very well-written article on a fascinating topic and definitely worthy of publication. The translation and detailed commentary of the fourth chapter of the Mahānayaprakāśa are particularly helpful. The author makes a compelling case for understanding the use of Apabhraṃśa in the text as inspired by the literary Tantric Apabhraṃśa in Buddhist texts. The author’s analysis of the body as pīṭha in the Mahānayaprakāśa is especially insightful.

 

Just a minor suggestion: Since the author makes the argument that the linguistic form of the Mahānayaprakāśa is inspired by Buddhist dohākoṣas, it would have been natural to include some further discussion of the relationship between the Krama tradition and Buddhism in general. What does the author make of Sanderson’s comparison of Krama and Atiyoga, for example?

Author Response

Hello, thank you for your suggestions. The topic of Krama and Dzogchen connections is very interesting, and I did insert a paragraph towards the end citing Sanderson's comments. I do think that an in-depth discussion would require extensive translations from Nyingma Tantras, and so is somewhat outside the scope of this article. I do think it was improved by mentioning it though.