A Prefiguring Statement Towards a Review of 'Theravāda'
1. Beginning
As a prefiguration to my upcoming comments in reflection on the proceedings of the recently held Theravada Studies Conference sponsored here in Singapore by the Asia Research Institute (National University of Singapore), I will offer now a statement towards the initiation of an archeological interrogation of the function of the Sanskrit term śāsana. I am consequently asking if, how, why, and/or to what extent in the "Bauddha" context this term (re)presents itself as a signatory to the concept of "religion" – or something near to it – as is generically furnished accreditation in the western academic milieu. Bearing in mind the basal assumptions obliqued through the tact of this research strategy, I further look forward to a demonstration of how novel theories – and perhaps indeed theorems – come to light through the redefinition and redescription of such terms and concepts that have never been clearly construed. The following brief statement, then, might well be seen as one of a number of looming heurisms – didactic devices for redressing blind assumptions and for reelucidating time-dimmed scopes of history, logic, and ontology – cunning designs that further offer maps to their own intersections (and interstices) within the basal compass of "the philosophical space" (Tagore n.d.). I additionally anticipate a vigorous testing of this 'prefigurating' statement for its salient characteristics of immediacy, 'primmediacy,' and simplicity, and for the scale (if any) to which interesting and meaningful corollaries are naturally derived or simply spin off of its lean and sheared body.
2. Hypertheses
The hyperthetic reaches or "predictions" of this calculus heretofore encased is that an errant "(Theravada) Buddhist Studies" will (i) only be abstracted for its contributive essentials, (ii) be dismantled and/or collapsed into several new, but related area studies while (iii) pending contribution to the more deep-seated philosophical space vis-à-vis the disciplinary matrix of the university, which (iv) in turn ought foster a conceptual ecology whereby a registry of largely 'ante'-ontological concerns and construals may be usefully studied in correlation to the brass tacks processes of social formation and maniplulation.
3. The excavation of śāsana: a preliminary statement
Sanskrit śāsana and its Pali form sāsana are typically glossed as "The Teaching" in Bauddha. Every Indian Bauddha school enlists this term, particularly in the compound buddhaśāsana where it offers the strong sense of "dispensation" or "Religion of the Buddha." But in inscriptions evincing devout aspiration, śāsana often refers to the "Future Buddha" Maitreya (Skilling 2004). Now curious to consider, when pronounced slightly different with a short first 'a' – to wit, śasana – what is lightly glossed as "dispensation" may more credibly communicate a zealous sense of imperialistic mass inculcation, even slaughter. Now interpreted along side the juggernaut wheel or dharma-cakra (routinely glossed as the "eye of the dharma"), these two iconic themes could very well allude to "expanding dominions" or cakravarti (Pali cakkavatti), hence "onward Buddhist soldiers marching off to war."
Thus in the spirit of a "hermeneutics of suspicion" (King 2004) I attempt to determine the relationship (if there be) between the two Pali words sasana and sāsana. Some feel they are related; others claim that they stem from different roots. The standard Pali and Sanskrit dictionaries are of limited aid. I therefore consult The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary. This proves quite helpful. It shows that the two Pali words under scrutiny are probably best examined through their Sanskrit etymologies of which the Hindi entries give a clearer indication than even the Monier-Williams Sanskrit-English Dictionary.
Accordingly, both sasana and sāsana appear to be derived from Sanskrit śastra and śāstra respectively. What is more, śastra and śāstra are essentially one in same word in Hindi. Hindi śastra refers to an implement for 'striking' or 'cutting,' thus 'weaponry.' Naturally śāstra is well understood among academics generally. It relates of course to 'writing,' 'study,' and 'knowledge,' etc. Of tangential interest, the feminine variant śāsani denotes 'instructress, woman preacher'; yet the masculine form śāsan means not only 'instructing' but 'commanding, ruling (as of a government or king)' as well as 'over the emotions,' and thereby denotes 'discipline, command and edict.' Taking this then one semantic step further, the Hindi term śāsit refers to the 'governed, controlled,' as well as the 'punished'. Now we mustn't forget that Pali sāsana connotes not merely 'to cut' but 'to slaughter' (Rhys Davids 1920), and that English "dispensation" has the clear insinuation of 'dispensing with or of.'
4. Conclusion
In this brief prefiguring statement towards a review of 'theravāda' I have begun to catalogue a set of linguistic and semantic artifacts in concert with the specific research objective of excavating, isolating, and reelucidating the deeply equivocal nature and/or sense of the ancient Sanskrit term śāsana (Bauddha for 'religion') with particular regard to its historical impact within the ambit of traditional Bauddhic cultural milieux and to the corresponding homogeneous processes of social formation and maniplulation.
References
King, Ursula. 2002. Is There a Future for Religious Studies as We Know it? Some Postmodern, Feminist, and Spiritual Challenges. Journal of the American Academy of Religion. March June 2002, Vol. 70, No. 2, pp. 365-388.
Rhys Davids, C.A.F. 1920. sāsana. In Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, vol. 11. Edited by John Hastings. Edinburg.
Skilling, Peter. 2004. Ubiquitous and Elusive: In Quest of Theravada. Paper delivered at the conference Exploring Theravada Studies: Intellectual Trends and the Future of a Field of Study, organized by the Asia Research Institute, on 12-14 August 2004, at the National University of Singapore.
Tagore, Saranindranath. n.d. Modes of Inquiry: Philosophy. http://www.nus.edu.sg/gem/philosophy.rtf
