Jan E M Houben

Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, Sources Et Histoire De La Tradition Sanskrite,, Faculty Member

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Address: Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes
http://www.ephe.sorbonne.fr/
Mondes iranien et indien
http://www.iran-inde.cnrs.fr/
Axe "Langues et linguistiques des mondes iranien et indien"

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Johannes Bronkhorst

University of Lausanne

Vincenzo Vergiani

University of Cambridge

Raul Corazzon

Gérard Colas

Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique / French National Centre for Scientific Research

University of Pisa

Hiroshima University

INALCO Paris

Jagiellonian University

S. Rath

Ramiyar Karanjia

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Papers by Jan E M Houben

Houben 2012 Johannes Bronkhorst and Indian Studies

Johannes Bronkhorst (1946-2025) and Indian Studies: a brief overview dated 2012, on the occasion ... more

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Houben 2024 -- Perspectives on Speech and Language in Ancient Indian ;Saastras

Deliberation on Functions of Words and Meanings in ;Saastras, edited by Soumyajit Sen & Abhijit Mandal, 2024

Foreword -- Perspectives on Speech and Language in Ancient Indian ;Saastras. Foreword to the volu... more

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Houben 2023 - Dharma, l'éclatement d'un concept et ses "fragments" chez les grammairiens. Author's version.

Visages du dharma. Collection Purusartha, 39. Paris: Éditions EHESS, 2023

Does classical Sanskrit dharma represent a homogeneous concept? or rather a heterogeneous concept... more Does classical Sanskrit dharma represent a homogeneous concept? or rather a heterogeneous concept, a fragmented, broken concept, the product of antagonisms in a domain, or in several contested domains? What is the history of this term starting from the Vedic language, the ancient Prakrit of Aśoka and the Pali of ancient Buddhism? Unlike other Rgvedic terms such as rtá 'cosmic order, justice, truth' and vratá 'observance' which had already obtained well-established special meanings, it turns out that the meaning of dhárman and dharmán remained largely yaugika in the Rigveda:, it remained transparent and comprehensible according to the simple and intuitive grammatical derivation (root plus primary suffix), for dhárman therefore, according to the context, 'act or fact of holding, supporting, maintaining, bearing, supporting, preserving, employing, practicing '. In the Avesta or in the ancient inscriptions of the Persian Empire there could have been a form comparable to dhárman and dharmán in the Rgveda, but no such form is attested there. The Rgvedic period is moreover followed by a long period when the word dhárman did not arouse any special interest. The theory of the Rgveda as a source of an orthogenetic conceptual development on the basis of the Rgvedic word dhárman is therefore entirely untenable. The emergence of specialized concepts and of dharma as a keyword for these concepts did not take place in the Rgveda, but rather in a milieu of ascetics, especially Buddhists. King Aśoka's propaganda then contributed significantly to spreading a specific concept of dharma, to which the 'dharmaśāstric' concept of dharma was a kind of response. This 'dharmaśāstric' concept of dharma is more or less the only one actively used in Patañjali's Vyākaraṇa-Mahābhāṣya, whereas dharma 'property' – part of a kind of response by Vaiśeṣikas and others to the Buddhists’ dharma ‘thing’ – is still almost entirely absent there. Later, in the work of Bhartrhari, the gap between the senses of dharma, a relatively rare ‘dharmaśāstric’ sense and a very frequent dharma ‘property’, is immense. During our study, we have thus been able to identify a concrete semantic transition of the term dharma among grammarians. We see these very divergent concepts which take dharma as their keyword – the traces of a fragmented concept – not only among grammarians who have contributed enormously to philosophical discourse over the centuries, but more widely in the philosophical vocabulary of the time.

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Review Houben Pind NN LK updated Author s version

Journal of South Asian Languages and Linguistics, 2021

Review article of: Ole Holten Pind, Dignāga’s Philosophy of Language: Pramāṇasamuccayavṛtti V on... more Review article of:
Ole Holten Pind, Dignāga’s Philosophy of Language: Pramāṇasamuccayavṛtti V on anyāpoha. Part 1: Text; Part 2: Translation and Annotation (Sitzungsberichte / Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften. Philosophisch-Historische Klasse, Bd. 871; Beiträge zur Kultur- und Geistesgeschichte Asiens, Nr. 92). Edited by Ernst Steinkellner. Vienna: Verlag der österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, 2015, lxxix + 63; 255 pp., ISBN 978-3-7001-7865-1

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Vedic Śākhās: past, present, future

Vedic Śākhās: past, present, future – Proceedings of the Fifth International Vedic Workshop, Buch... more

The art of grammar in context

Science and Scientification in South Asia and Europe, 2020

Les perfectibles (sādhyá) entre circularité et causalité du rituel védique

Aux abords de la clairière, 2012

Paradoxe et perspectivisme dans la philosophie du langage de Bhartrhari : langage, pensée et réalité

Bulletin D Etudes Indiennes, 2001

The way the Indian grammarian-philosopher Bhartrhari (5th century C.E.) deals with the liar parad... more The way the Indian grammarian-philosopher Bhartrhari (5th century C.E.) deals with the liar paradox and some other paradoxes is not without relevance to Western attempts to cope with similar paradoxes since the early Greeks. The philological study of the relevant verses and a discussion on the identification of the paradoxes and their treatment by Bhartrhari have appeared in earlier publications (Houben 1995a and 1995b). The present article recapitulates the argument and concentrates next on the paradox of unsignifiability. Suppose someone maintains: this is unsignifiable. One may understand that there is a this that is unsignifiable, but then one has to admit that this has become signifiable as unsignifiable. Otherwise: taking this immediately as unsignifiable even its unsignifiability cannot be signified, in other words, its unsignifiability is unsignifiable; again, the unsignifiability of this unsignifiability must be equally unsignifiable, etc., etc... H. and R. Herzberger (1981) have shown how the points presented by Bhartrhari can be developed into a stable paradox in the modern sense. Bhartrhari, however, identifies a hidden parameter that leads to a paradoxical situation if neglected, and that helps to solve the paradox if it arises. Bhartrhari was never confronted with anything similar to the strengthened paradoxes of modern logic, but the hidden parameter identified by him is not only suitable to Barwise's and Etchemendy's solution (1989) to paradoxes such as the liar, but even points to an important improvement of Barwise's and Etchemendy's theory in the area of paradoxical universalistic statements where their current approach flounders. According to its immediate context, Bhartrhari's treatment of paradoxes applies to relations in general and more specifically to significance relations (between signifier and signified); but it has direct implications for the potential problem of the paradoxality of universalistic statements. Here it

The vedic horse-sacrifice and the changing use of the term ahimsā': An early insertion in TB 3.9.8?

Studia Orientalia, 2001

L'A. examine les differentes etapes dans le developpement du terme sanskrit ahimsā qui est as... more L'A. examine les differentes etapes dans le developpement du terme sanskrit ahimsā qui est associe aujourd'hui a la notion de non-violence. Il analyse sa signification principale ainsi que les changements et les variations dans son utilisation et dans ses connotations, en se basant sur un passage du Taittirīya Brāhmana qui decrit le sacrifice d'un cheval

Cakrapāṇi-Dāsa’s Abhinavacintāmaṇi: early modern or post-classical Āyurveda?

Ejim Ejournal of Indian Medicine, May 13, 2009

In view of the date of the Abhinavacintāmaṇi and the historical phase that can be assumed for Āyu... more In view of the date of the Abhinavacintāmaṇi and the historical phase that can be assumed for Āyurveda and medical knowledge and practice at that time, two questions present themselves: (1) whether, and, if yes, to what extent, this text participates in the new developments in India, and (2) to what extent it participates in the “post-classical” (post-Aṣṭāṅga-hdaya) tradition of Āyurveda of more than a millennium.

The theoretical positions of Bhartrhari and the respectable grammarian

Rivista Degli Studi Orientali, 1999

L'A. examine six references a un personnage respectable du MBhD (Mahābhāsya-Dīpikā) de Bhartr... more L'A. examine six references a un personnage respectable du MBhD (Mahābhāsya-Dīpikā) de Bhartrahri, ainsi que trois references dans le Vrtti sur le VP (Vākyapadīya) de Bhartrhari. Le mot employe dans le MBhD est «ihabhavantah», tandis que celui utilise dans le VP-Vrtti est «tatrabhavat». On a decouvert que les deux termes se referent a un grammairien de la tradition Pāninian. Toutes les affirmations du MBhD et probablement aussi celles du VP-Vrtti ont le MBh de Patanjali comme point de depart. L'argument des affirmations attribuees a ce grammairien est tres sophistique, car il cherche generalement a parvenir a une justification optimale d'un passage du MBh.

The Ritual Pragmatics of a Vedic Hymn: The "Riddle Hymn" and the Pravargya Ritual

Journal of the American Oriental Society, 2000

Page 1. THE RITUAL PRAGMATICS OF A VEDIC HYMN: THE &quot;RIDDLE HYMN&quot; AND THE PRAVAR... more

Theory and Method in Indian Intellectual History

Journal of Indian Philosophy, 2008

et methode dans l’histoire intellectuelle de l’Inde—Seminar Theory and Method in Indian Intellect... more et methode dans l’histoire intellectuelle de l’Inde—Seminar Theory and Method in Indian Intellectual History,’’ which took place in June, 2004, at the Ecole pratique des hautes etudes (EPHE), Paris. The workshop was conceived as the collective exercise of 11 scholars who had been working for several years in the largely unexplored domain of sixteenthto eighteenth-century scientific texts in Sanskrit. Previous meetings of the Sanskrit Knowledge Systems research group had been devoted to discussions of the materials—texts, manuscripts, inscriptions, prosopography—investigated by each scholar, but the present seminar aimed at introducing a moment of reflection in another dimension, reflection not on the material under investigation but on the theoretical and methodological presuppositions in our investigations. We also wanted to invite critical reflection on contemporary theories and methods of intellectual history and of the anthropology and sociology of knowledge, and to ask to what extent they are relevant to premodern India, where the production, reception and transmission of texts took place in configurations and conditions often entirely different from those in Europe. It goes without saying that we viewed our discussions as only the beginning of a long and complex but fascinating conversation. The Paris colloque was made possible by funds from the United States National Science Foundation (grant SES-0135069) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (grant RZ-20701). Both of us would like to express our gratitude to the International Institute of Asian Studies, Leiden, and especially to its then director,

BhartRhari's samaya / Helaraja's samketa

Journal of Indian Philosophy, 1992

Pra-Vargyà-, Pari-Vargyà-, Vāsudeva-Várgya

The Vedic Pravargya is a ritual that is optiionally performed in connection with a Soma sacrifice... more The Vedic Pravargya is a ritual that is optiionally performed in connection with a Soma sacrifice. It is a unique Indo-Aryan development, without parallels in Iran or in areas of Indo-Europeans, and it can be traced back as far as 1500 B.C.E. (cf. Houben 2000a and b). The central object in the ritual is an earthenware pot that is placed on a fire until it is burning hot. At that moment the pot is identified with the sun, but also with the inner light of the inspired Vedic poet. As I argued recently (Houben 2006), the myths associated with the Pravargya do have Indo-European parallels, especially in Celtic stories on a magic cauldron (continued in the legend of the Holy Grail). (...) <br> <br>

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Three myths in modern pāninian studies

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Semantics " in the Sanskrit tradition " on the eve of colonialism

1. One of the striking features of intellectual discussions of Sanskrit authors in the centuries ... more 1. One of the striking features of intellectual discussions of Sanskrit authors in the centuries preceding South Asia's colonial period is the importance of semantic issues, and the sophistication with which these are approached. Major philosophical and religious topics are commonly discussed with reference to the semantic properties of relevant terms. The sophistication had developed in various directions, especially in the directions of grammar, logic, and exegesis, each with a long history in the Sanskrit tradition. The proper evaluation of discussions taking place "on the eve of colonialism" generally requires familiarity with the intellectual achievements in these directions. Major landmarks in the Sanskrit tradition pertaining to semantics have been reviewed in Houben 1997a. At this place a brief evaluative survey is given with special attention to the period presently under discussion.

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A Tradição Sânscrita entre Memética Védica e Cultura Literária

Revista Linguagem Ensino, May 10, 2014

Next to other classical languages such as Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabian and Chinese, the Sanskrit... more Next to other classical languages such as Latin, Greek, Hebrew, Arabian and Chinese, the Sanskrit language has an important role to play in the development of a new, global, integrative humanism. It is one among the very few ancient languages with a continuous evolution and tradition that extends to the present day. This paper discusses some key ideas concerning the nature and the history of Sanskrit that have appeared in the literature of the last 20 years. By doing so it also raises what are still controversial but crucial questions concerning our understanding of languages in general, of variation, and cultural exchange processes.

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Pāṇini’s Grammar and Its Computerization: A Construction Grammar Approach

Lecture Notes in Computer Science, 2008

This article reviews the impact of modern theoretical views on our understanding of the nature an... more This article reviews the impact of modern theoretical views on our understanding of the nature and purpose of the grammar of Pāṇini (ca. 350 BCE), and argues that new possibilities for progress open up for our understanding of this ancient grammar by confronting it not with the presuppositions of generative grammar as has been done-with undeniable but limited theoretical profit-in the last few decades, but with recently developed theories of construction grammar and cognitive linguistics. This, in turn, provides new perspectives on old problems in the study of Pāṇinian grammar, and especially on the challenge of its computerization. The present article focuses on general technical aspects of Pāṇini's grammar and is the counterpart of a recent study on the earliest available elaborate theory of Pāṇini's grammar, the one formulated by the grammarianphilosopher Bharthari (5th cent. CE).

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Grammar & Other Modes of the Mind

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Jan E M Houben

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