Kalpasutra

Mantrapraśna is a unique Vedic text.  It is a collection of mantra-s to be recited in accompaniment of domestic rituals prescribed in the  आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्र . Āpastamba , the author of this Gṛhyasūtra,  has included this collection as two chapters in his Kalpasūtra.  All other Gṛhya authors cite such mantra-s  using pratīka-s or reproduce them verbatim.
                      This collection of mantra-s is not reckoned as a Vedic text or as a part of any branch of Veda by tradition. But the practitioners of Āpastamba School study it and learn it by heart.
                        In fact there is a similar text (where also all the mantra-s to be uttered are collected together to form a text). The Mantrabrāhmaṇa - a Vedic text belonging to Sāmaveda .
                  However this is not as well knit as is Mantrapraśna. Moreover the latter text (that is, Mantrapraśna) is reckoned as a part of any Veda, by  tradition.
                  An attempt is made in this paper to highlight the unique nature of this text Mantrapraśna. Even  minute technical details in the Gṛhyaprayoga are not left out in the analysis.
              Some observations of Prof. Knauer , M. Winternitz, and Prof. Oldenberg are subjected to discussion.

Rivista di studi sudasiatici, 4 • 2010, 131-160. ONCE AGAIN ON VyAKTI-VACANE IN AṣṬāDhyāyī I.2.51: ŚR AVAṇAḥ / ŚR AVAṇā * TIZIANA PONTILLO This paper aims at adding fresh evidence to Scharfe's proposal (1965) on the interpretation of A I.2.51. The starting point is a question which has already been tackled in the Mahābhāṣya and in the Kāśikāvṛtti ad A IV.2.5; more precisely, the reason for the feminin gender of the taddhita śravaṇā-, which is derived as a name of a particular night in which the moon is in conjunction with the constellation śravaṇaḥ. In fact, the mentioned rule prescribes the replacement of the taddhita-affix aṆ with the technical term LUP. Thus, according to the traditional interpretation of the general rule governing LUP-replacements (A I.2.51), the gender of the derived word should conform to that of the original one, i.e., the masculin name śravaṇaḥ. If the feminin śravaṇā were the first member of the compound śravaṇāśvatthābhyām in A IV.2.5 instead of śravaṇaḥ, the current application of the LUP-rule would be guaranteed, but Vedic and Kalpa-Literature occurrences discourage this supposition. Nevertheless in A IV.2.5 there would be no point in considering the gender of the original word śravaṇaḥ. * This article is based on a paper I presented in the Vyākaraṇa Section at the 13th World Sanskrit Conference, Edinburgh, Scotland, 10th-14th July, 2006. My thanks are due to Anna Radicchi and to Malhar Arvind Kulkarni for their comments on my presentation. I am grateful to Dagmar Wujastyk for her comments and suggestions on the written version of this paper. Of course, I myself remain solely responsible for all mistakes.

ENGLISH SUMMARY [Deutsche Zusammenfassung siehe unten/Abstract in German language see below]: The thesis is based on the research of Jain miniature paintings of the Kalpasūtra, dating 15th and 16th century. The manuscripts to which the paintings belong were made in western India (Gujarat and Rajasthan) as well as in Jaunpur, which is the capital of a sultanate of the same name. The paintings were executed in ‚western Indian style‘. In a first step of the research was focused on the visual content of the motifs and to identify the related texts on which the depitions based. This examination revealed that some of the motifs based on a visual tradition, which can be traced back even in pre-Christian eras. Additionally, the particular position of the western Indian school of painting, which was a centre of cultural transfer, could be emphasized. This transfer occured between different regions, e.g. India and Persia, as well as between the religions, eg. Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism. Finally, the depicted scenes could be explained and interpreted according to the background of cultural and religious history. --- DEUTSCHE ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Das Thema der Arbeit sind die Miniaturen der Kalpasūtra-Handschriften des 15. Jh., genauer gesagt eine ikonographische Untersuchung der Motive in vier Handschriften aus dieser Zeit, sowie eine kultur- und religionsgeschichtliche Betrachtung der Bildinhalte. Diesen Betrachtungen vorangestellt ist eine Verortung der jinistischen Miniaturmalerei innerhalb der nordindischen Malschulen und der indo-islamischen Malerei während der Sultanatszeit. Zu dieser Untersuchung werden überwiegend Handschriften aus den Sammlungen des Berliner Museums für Asiatische Kunst und der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin herangezogen, die bislang weitgehend unveröffentlicht  geblieben sind. Um an einigen Stellen die stilistischen Ähnlichkeiten der jinistischen Miniaturen mit solchen der indo-islamischen Sultanatsmalerei hervorzuheben, werden zwei relevante Handschriften der Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin zum Vergleich herangezogen. Während die Handschrift aus Jaunpur  auch in die ikonographische Untersuchung einbezogen ist und somit erstmals vollständig publiziert wird, soll die Handschrift aus Mandu  nur für gelegentliche stilistische Vergleiche herangezogen werden; diese beiden Handschriften lagen für die Bearbeitung nur in Form von Diapositiven vor.

ENGLISH SUMMARY [Deutsche Zusammenfassung siehe unten/Abstract in German language see below]: The focus of this study on Indian book illumination are the miniatures of six Jain Kalpasūtra manuscripts produced in western India (Gujarat and Rajasthan) as well as in Jaunpur, the capital of a Sultanate located further to the northeast, during the 15th and 16th centuries; all manuscripts belong to the so-called 'Western Indian School'. The study starts with an art-historical examination of the individual motifs and pictorial contents. In a second step their position is defined within the framework of literary history of the texts they are associated with. Furthermore, the contents of the pictures will be located in their cultural, religious, and historical context and their symbolism will be explained. --- DEUTSCHE ZUSAMMENFASSUNG: Im Mittelpunkt dieser Untersuchung zur indischen Buchmalerei stehen die Miniaturen aus sechs jainistischen Handschriften des Kalpasūtra, die im 15. und 16. Jahrhundert im westlichen Indien (Gujarat und Rajasthan), sowie in der Hauptstadt des weiter nordöstlich gelegenen Sultanats von Jaunpur angefertigt wurden und der sogenannten westindischen Malschule (‚Western Indian School‘) angehören. Der Schwerpunkt der Untersuchung liegt dabei zunächst auf einer kunsthistorischen Betrachtung der einzelnen Motive und Bildinhalte, die anschließend auf Basis der zugehörigen Texte literaturgeschichtlich verortet werden. Weiterhin werden die Bildinhalte in einen kultur- und religionsgeschichtlichen Zusammenhang gestellt, und es wird darauf aufbauend ihr Symbolgehalt erklärt.