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25/1983

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY

FACULTY OF ASIAN STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF SOUTH ASIAN AND BUDDHIST STUDIES

ANNUAL REPORT 1982

General Comments, Courses and Enrolments ·

The Department is concerned with languages and literatures of South Asia from the earliest times until the present. There is a three-year pass course and a four-year honours course for both Sanskrit and Hindi.

The three-year course in Sanskrit is devoted to the study of grammar and the reading of selections from the Epics and easy prose texts in the first year; the works studied in the second and third years represent a diversity of styles and subject matter. The four­year honours course includes the study of Pali, Prakrit, Vedic and more diffiGult philosophical and Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit texts.

Classical Tibetan was offered and attended by a total .of 4 students.

The aim of the Hindi course is to provide the student with the ability both to communicate in spoken Hindi - the official language of the Republic of India - and to read a wide range of material written in Hindi, including novels, newspapers and scholarly works, assuring the student of a strong background in the culture of Hindi­speaking people.

Urdu, the official language of Pakistan, is available to those students who have passed Hindi I and ·are concurrently enrolled in Hindi II (for Urdu I) and by students who have passed Hindi II, Urdu and are concurrently enrolled in Hindi III (for Urdu II). Urdu is offered on a half-unit basis; this year 5 students enrolled in Urdu I, but 3 withdrew; 2 enrolled in Urdu II and sat for the final examination.

The total enrolment as at 30 April 1982 stood at 61.

Student Participation

This year the Departmental Committee consisted of 4 academic staff members and 4 students. The main topic for discussion at the meeting is the method of assessment. At the request of the students tapes for both Hindi and Sanskrit, which used to be held in the Language Laboratory, are now available to them from the Department for use in _the Departmental Centre. ·

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Postgraduate Research

Dr. T. Rahula resubmitted his thesis and has now been awarded the degree of Ph.D.

Mr. Hari Shankar Prasad submitted his thesis on 'Time in Indian Philosophy'. He was awarded the degree of Ph.D. and on his return to India he found temporary employment at the Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi.

Mr. Tso Sze-bong completed his Ph.D. thesis on the development of the Buddhist Vinaya in China. His work was highly praised by all. three examiners and in 1983 the degree will he officially awarded to him. _Mr. Tso returned to Hong Kong.

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Mr. Akira Saito is now in his second year of his Ph.D. Scholarship -he is making satisfactory progress with his thesis.

Mrs. A. Hazlewood, an M.A. student, is working on an annotated translation of a Pali text with reference to the Sinhalese trans­lation. She will be completing her thesis by Nov~mber 1983.

Staff

Professor and Head of the Department

J.W. de Jong, Ph.D. (Leiden)

Reader

Luise A. Hercus, M.A. (Oxon), Ph.D. (A.N.U.), F.A.H.A.

Senior Lecturers

T. Rajapatirana, M.A. (Ceylon), Ph.D. (A.N.ll.) R.K. Barz, B.A. (Arizona}, M.A. (Chicago}, Ph.D. (Chi~ago)

Senior Tutor

Y.K. Yadav, B.Ed. (Agra}, M.A. (Aligarh)

Staff Movements

Professor J.W. de Jong spent three months in Europe on Outside Studies leave, from 12 March till 12 June. He was in contact with numerous scholars in Holland, Germany, Denmark, England and France.

At the invitation of Professor Ren Jiyu, the Director of the Institute for Research on World Religi·ons, Academy of Social Sciences, Beijing, Professor de Jong spent three weeks in China in November of this year. He established contact with many scholars interested in· Buddhist and Tibetan studies. In Beijing he delivered two lectures, one in the Institute for Religious Studies of the Academy of Social Sciences and one in Beijing University.

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Staff activities and research

Professor de Jong was unable to attend the Fifth World Sanskrit Conference of the International Association of Sanskrit Studies, which was held in Varanasi on 23 October 1981. He was infonned that he was re-elected for the period of the next six years as a member of the Consultative Committee.

At the same Conference Professor de Jong was elected a member of the Editorial Committee of the 'Critical Inventory of the Ramayarya Variants 11

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A volume in honour of Professor J.W. de Jong on hi~ sixftet~ -birthday was publi_shed ·by the Faculty of Asian Studies under the title 1 Indological and Buddhist Studies•, edited by L.A. Hercus, F.B.J. Kuiper, T. Rajapatirana and E.R. ·Skrzypczak. The volume was presented to Professor de Jong at an informal gathering by the Dean of the Faculty of Asian Studies.

Dr. Luise Hercus continued her work on an Apabhramsa narrative text with Dr. C. Mayrhofer (Classics) until the lgtterls departure on Outside Studies in September.

For her work on Aboriginal Languages Dr Hercus was awarded a renewal of her A.R.G.S. grant, enabling her to continue her work on Arabana at Port Augusta and Marree. · She spent one week in Tennant Creek to do salvage work on Wambaya. She did some consulting work for the Roxby Downs Project of Western Mining, because a proposed pipeline goes through Guyani country - Dr Hercus holds the only recordings extant of Guyani mythology.

Dr. R.K. Barz attended the ASAA conference which was held in May at Monash University. He delivered two papers: one on Gender Distinction in Hindi and one on Insha 1 allah Khan and the beginning of Modern Hindi Prose literature. ·

Mr. Y.K. Yadav completed his article on the Great Andamanese language.

Visitors

On His first visit to Australia, H.H. the 14th Dalai Lama of Tibet arrived in Canberra on 16 August and gave a lecture in the Melville Hall on wisdom and great compassion. His lecture was introduced by Professor J.W. de Jong. It must be recorded that the office of this Department was swamped by telephone and personal callers with enquiries about the Dalai Lama's visit and requests for tickets to attend the lecture. ,

In September the Department was pleased to wel~ome Dr Gustav Roth, who had accepted an appointment as Visiting Fellow for two months. Dr. Roth is Emeritus Professor of Sanskrit at G5ttingen University (Germany) and is at present Director of the Buddhist Research Institute (~ahavjhara), Nalanda, Bihar (India). He was granted special leave by the Chancellor of the Mahavihara and the Governor of Bihar. Dr. Roth was invited to give the Second A.L. Basham lecture, which was delivered on 27 October under the title 'Structure and meaning of the Buddhist Stupa and Caitya according to.Indian traditions (illustrated) 1

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Other activities

The following members of staff took part in the 1982 Colloquium Series 'Literatures in a comparative perspective', sponsored by The Humanities Research Centre and the Faculty of Asian Studies: Professor de Jong (Epic), Dr. Rajapatirana (Literary Theory) and Dr. Barz (Development of Prose Fiction).

In the course Religions of India 1ectures were given by Professor de Jong, Dr. Roth, Dr Barz (six lectures on bhakti), Dr. Rajapatirana and Mr. Yadav (three lectures on contemporary Hinduism). In Religious Studies I Dr Barz gave three lectures on the Ramayana and devotional Hinduism. in the Seminars on South Asia Dr. Barz SFJOke on---'UT}_der­currents of Hindi -literatur-e: the groundswell of the dialects'. To the Language Colloquium organised by Dr. Beverly _Hong-Fincher, Dr. Barz contributed 'The Tension between Literary and Colloquial in Hindi Narrative'. Dr Barz gave a lecture on the Ramayana in Dr. C. Ifeka's class in Social and Political Anthropology.

Dr. Hercus, Dr. Barz, Mr. Yadav, together with Dr. C. Mayrhofer continued to meet regularly once a week to read a Marathi text.

Dr. Barz attended the weekly seminar held throughout the year by Dr. H. Koch, Dept. of Linguistics, The Faculties. They are reading a Hittite treaty.

The Department of Indian Studies, University of Melbourne, invited Dr. Barz to come and spend one day discussing the development of the Hindi course.

Dr. Barz was asked to examine an Honours thesis for the Department of Prehistory and Archaeology.

Together with Mr Yadav Dr Barz spent one morning at the Canberra Grammar School, showing slides and talking about Hindi for Asian Studies students of the fourth form.

The Departme~t is grateful for having been enabled to engage Mr. Steve Feletti as a part-time tutor in Urdu. Mr. Feletti is a former student of the Department who, after having finished his Honours course, spent three years at Chicago University and one year in India working towards a Ph.D. degree.

Publications

de Jong, J.W. Review of Les1ie S. Kawamura (ed.), The Bodhisattva Doctrine in Buddhism:·Waterloo, Ontario, 1981 - Eastern Buddhist XV, 1 (1982), pp. 146-151.

Review of Joseph E. Schwarzberg, A Historical Atlas of South Asia. Chicago, 1982 - Inda-Iranian Journal 24 (1982), pp. 62-64.

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Review of Heidrun BrUckner, Zurn Beweisverfahren Samkaras. Berlin, 1979 - ibi'd., pp. 158-161. ·--

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e Publications J.W. de Jong (contd)

Review of Peter Zieme und Gy~rgy Kara, Ein uigurisches Totenbuch. Wiesbaden, 1979 - ibid., pp. 162-166.

Review of Heinz Bechert (ed.), Die Sprache der ~ltesten buddhistischen Uberlieferung. G~ttingen, 1980 - ibid., pp. 215-218.

Review of J. Harmatta (ed.), Prolegomena to the Sources on the Histor of Pre-Islamic Central Asia. Budapest, 1979; J. Harmatta ed. , Studies in the Sources on the History of Pre-Islamic

Central Asia. Budapest, 1979 - ibid., pp. 219-223 .

. Review of Piotr Klafkowski, The Secret Deliverance of the Sixth Dalai Lama as Narrated · by Dhannatala. Wien, 1979 - ibid., pp. 223-225.

Review of Michael Aris, Bhutan. Warminster, 1979 - ibid., pp. 318-321.

Compte Rendu de Paul Magnin, La vie et 1 'oeuvre de Huisi (515-577). Paris, 1979 - ibid., pp. 322-323.

Review of Wilhelm Rau, Bhartrharis Vakyapad1ta. Wiesbaden, 1977 - Orientalistische Literaturzeitung 771982), Sp. 184-186.

Numerous other reviews.

Hercus, L.A. 'Afghan Stories from the north-east of South Australia', Aboriginal History, volume five 1-2 (1981), pp. 39-70.

Barz, R.K. Review of Monika Jordan-Horstmann, Sadani. A Bhojpuri Dialect Spoken in Chotanagpur. Wiesbaden, 1969 - Inda-Iranian Journal 24 (1982), pp. 139-141.

Review of P.E. Hook, Hindi Structures: Intermediate Level. Ann Arbor, 1979 - ibid., pp. 141-142.

Review of John S. Hawley in association with Shrivatsa Goswami, At Play with Krishna, Princeton, 1981 - ibid, 95-97.

Review of C.Shackle, compiler. A Guru Nanak Glossary. Univ. of London, 1981 - ibid, pp. 327-328.

TI1e Australian National Universit}'.'.

DEPAIIDIENf OF soorn ASIAN AND BUDUIISf SfUDIES - ANALYSIS OF SilJDENf PERFORMANQ3

1 2 3 4 s 6 7 8 9 10 ll 12 Subject Enrolled Sitting Wastage Failure Sitting High Dis- Distinction Credit Pass Pass Fail

as at tinction with 30.4.82 merit

Sanskrit I 8 8 3 n/a 3

Sanskrit II 3 3 2 1

Sanskrit .III s s s 2 1

Sp.Sanskrit Text 1 21 1 1

Hindi 102 6 6 1 4 1

Hindi II 6 71 s 1

Hindi III 4 1 1

Ear 1. Mod. Hindi 4 3 1 3 3 Literature

Hindi Bhakti 3 3 3 1 Poetry

Urdu I 3 2 2

Urdu II 2

Class.rib. A 23 2 2

Class .rib. B 21 1 1

notes 1) as part of B.Litt. 2) 4 C.C.E. students, one of whom sitsfor exam at High Connnission, Delhi; C.C.E. will be infonned

of result as soon as it is available. 3) 1 student as part of Sanskrit IV course.

N <.n

Enrolled as at 30 .4.1982 . : Ph.D. (one under joint supervision) M.A. Litt.B.

3

(one withdrew)

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