Die Bhavani von Tuljapur: Religionsgeschichtliche Studie de...

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Die Bhavani von Tuljapur:

Religionsgeschichtliche Studie des Kultes einer
Gottin der indischen Volksreligion.
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Author:
Rocher, Ludo
Article Type: Book Review
Date:
Oct 1, 1997
Words:
1808
Publication: The Journal of the American Oriental Society
ISSN:
0003-0279

It is not an easy task to discuss, within the limits of a review, every detail of this
complex Ph.D. dissertation, probably one of the last dissertations inspired by the late
Gunther-Dietz Sontheimer. The dissertation is complex because the author's research
went through different stages, with the result that the final product became very
different than, yet not dissociated from, what the dissertation initially was meant to be.
Roland Jansen went to India for the first time in 1987, and stayed there for about
twenty months. His primary concern at that time was the Sanskrit mahatmya of
Tuljapur, the Turaja Mahatmya, which fie studied and translated with the help of - by
now also the late - Pandit Tarkatirtha Laksmansastri Josi. During that stay he became
aware of and copied a Marathi text, authored by Dattatreya Madhavarao Kulkarni, the
Maharastraci Kulasvamini Arthat Sritulajabhavani (published in 1920, but available in
few copies only, even in Maharashtra). Perhaps secondary at that time, but most
important for the later development of Jansen's research was the fact that, in between
his textual work, he visited Tuljapur to familiarize himself in situ with the geographical
surroundings and with various aspects of the Bhavani cult.
After he returned from India in 1989 Jansen set out to prepare a critical edition and a
translation of the Turaja Mahatmya, which claims to belong to the Sahyadrikhanda
which, in turn, is said to be part of the Skandapurana. (The mahatmya does not appear
in the editions of either text.) Yet, he gradually came to the conclusion, first, that this
long text was not particularly interesting either in content or in style, and, second, that it
had little in common with what happens on the ground in Tuljapur. Even the brahmans
there were unaware of the existence of the text, and manuscripts were hard to come
by.
Thrice again Jansen visited Tuljapur, this time to consult Marathi sources (e.g., the
historical documents contained in the appendix to Kulkarni's work), to observe the
Bhavani cult in all its aspects, and to interview Marathi informants. "The planned edition
and translation of a Sanskrit text preceded by a brief historical introduction thus
became a monograph on the cult of a goddess in which the text plays only a
subordinate role and in which the emphasis is on establishing a (still hypothetical but

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probable) religiohistorical evolution" (p. 5). Yet, the volume also reflects the earlier
stages of research, including a summary and a specimen translation of the Turaja
Mahatmya (pp. 179250) and an annotated translation of sections of Kulkarni's
Sritulajabhavani (pp. 161-77).
Tuljapur is a town - and the administrative headquarters of the Taluka of the same
name - in central Maharashtra, "in the heart of Marathvada" (p. 24), in the southwest of
Osmanabad District (see map, p. xiii). It is one of the principal centers of worship of
Bhavani, the kulsvamini of Maharashtra. The site of Tuljapur may well have been very
old: following D. D. Kosambi, Jansen suggests that it may have been situated along a
prehistoric route, or perhaps at the crossing of two such routes, which in historical
times were used as trade routes. Similarly to what happened on the Western Ghats,
where Buddhists were actively involved in trade (and where goddesses were
worshipped near or even in the viharas), Jansen conjectures that recent archeological
discoveries some six miles from Tuljapar may point to the existence of a Buddhist
center and Buddhist participation in trade in Marathvada as well (pp. 77-78, 252). Also,
the route crossing Tuljapur from Andhra Pradesh in the southeast toward the
northwest, via Ahmednagar and Junnar, may well have been responsible for the
transfer (tenth-eleventh centuries) of Tulja Bhavani to Nepal, where Thaleju Bhavani
became the family goddess of the Malla kings, and, along with Pasupatinath, the main
deity of the Kathmandu valley (pp. 85-91).
Jansen describes in detail the holy places at Tuljapur (pp. 2939), including five maths
and a papanasatirtha, subsequently to concentrate on the temple and the murti of
Bhavani - said to be a saligrama stone - (pp. 40-51) and the adjacent temples of
Tolbhairava - a kind of protector of Bhavani; of Kalbhairava and his brother Balbhairava
- Kalbhairava is the ksetrapala of the city (cf. Kalabhairava as the kotvala of Banaras);
and of Matamgi, who also attracts worshipers of Renuka with whom she has much in
common, and worshipers of Yelamma from Karnataka (pp. 52-57). Jansen warns (pp.
40-41) that, in his description of the buildings and of the locations of the images (see
the temple plan, p. xv; a few more drawings might have made the reading of the
descriptions more meaningful), one should reckon with the fact that these have been
changed repeatedly in the course of the temple's history. In recent times especially, to
accommodate the ever increasing "stream" of pilgrims-one informant proudly told the
author that only Tirupati enjoys higher revenues than Tuljapur - there has been much
expansion and modernization: the State Bank of India which finances some of the
rebuilding has an office in the new entrance gate; the Temple Trust Committee, of
which the Collector of Osmanabad District acts as chairman, created a large "Tulja
Bhavani College of Engineering"; and the gabhara - the sanctum sanctorum - of the
temple has been airconditioned. (For other signs of modernization, see p. 260.)
Of particular interest for the history of the Marathas is the intimate relation between the
Goddess and the Bhosale's most famous scion, Sivaji ("Gottin und Konig: Bhavani und
Sivaji," pp. 99-133). Whatever the origin of Sivaji's famous sword may have been, the
tradition in Maharashtra considers it to be a Bhavani taravar "a sword given by
Bhavani" (pp. 107-12). There is also no doubt that, prior to any major military
enterprise, Sivaji relied on the Goddess for assistance and advice. The bakhars
"biographies of prominent personalities," of which, in the case of Sivaji, no less than

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sixteen have been preserved (p. 100), unanimously hold that on certain occasions, as
before his encounter with Afzal Khan, a general in the army of Adil Shah of Bijapur,
Sivaji allowed himself to become possessed by Bhavani, as a result of which he spoke
as a kind of state oracle (p. 118). Next to Sivaji stands the figure of the poet-saint
Svami Samartha Ramdas, who initiated a movement called maharastradharma. His
family deity was the Bhavani of Tuljapur, whom he worshiped as Ramavaradayini. In
Ramdas' poetry Sivaji became Rama; Aurangzeb became Ravana; Maharashtra was
Sita, the "heimatliche Erde," which once again was threatened by an alien power, in
casu the Muslims. Jansen refers to a communication by James W. Laine, to the effect
that Ramdas' views are still reflected in Marathi children's books and schoolbooks, as
well as in the ideology of the Siv Sena (p. 130, n. 234).
An important part of the volume (pp. 139-77) is devoted to the Navaratra/Navaratri
festival - including the vijayadasami - in general, and more specifically to its
performance at Tuljapur, based the description in Kulkarni's Sritulajabhavani,
supplemented by the author's observation of the festival over a period of five years
(1987-92).
The chapter on "Das Turajamahatmya" (pp. 179-250) opens with some reflections on
the mahatmya genre, in which the author reiterates his position that "[d]ie in ihnen
enthaltene Sichtweise kann keinesfalls als reprasentativ betrachtet werden," since "es
die Dinge aus brahmanischer Sicht in ideal-typischer Weise beschreibt" (p. 181). This
is followed by an edition and translation of the first three adhyayas of the text, and by
summaries of adhyayas four to thirty-six.
The translation (pp. 195-208) calls for a few comments. First, dividing the German text
strictly according to the Sanskrit anustubh stanzas is confusing. E.g., "Zu dem Gatten
der Parvati. . . . (7)" [new line] ". . . sprach ein brahmanischer Rishi" (p. 196). Numbers
refer to chapter and verse.
1.2. In sarvajnanidhe saumya I would not take saumya as an adjective "du mildes
Gefass allen Wissens," but rather as an independent vocative. Cf. Monier-Williams'
Dictionary, 1254.
1.17. tvam tu putravati subhru balaputrasi sobhane "Du, oh Schone, hast einen Sohn,
und dieser ist [ausserdem] ein Kind mit schonen Augenbrauen." Subhru refers to
Anubhuti, not to her son (cf. 1.30 and 2.19: "oh Schonbrauige").
1.18. vayunaivam samuddista "Durch Vayu selbst angewiesen." Rather, "Durch Vayu
so angewiesen."
1.26. bhartur dhyanaikatatpara "Mit der Erinnerung an ihren Gatten als grosstes Ziel,"
Rather, "als einziges Ziel." Cf. 2.5 lavanyaikanidhim.
2.2 ko 'si durvrtta mudha "Wet ist dieser Tor, dessen Benehmen schlecht ist?" Rather,
"Wer bist du, du schlechter, torichter Mann?"
3.25-26. devi hatva tu tam daityam kukuram . . . nyavartayata yatraste dvijapatni

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pativrata "Nachdem die Devi den Daitya Kukura getotet hatte, kehrte die Gattin des
Brahmanen, dessen Gelubde [die Treue] zum Gatten ist, dorthin zuruck." It was rather
the Devi herself who returned to the place where Anubhuti resided (aste "was still
sitting," waiting for the Goddess's return).
3.29. dadami [varam] devi satyam te nanyatha mama bhasitam "gewahre ich ihn dir, oh
Gottin [unter den Menschen]. Ftirwahr, nicht anders ist meine Rede." Rather, "I will truly
grant it to you; I never say something that is not true."
The chapter "Ergebnisse" (pp. 251-60), or at least the first part of it, should perhaps be
read first. It weaves together the many threads running across the volume. The second
half is more programmatic. It examines the various aspects of the Bhavani cult at
Tuljapur that qualify it as popular religion ("Volks-religion"), as well as the extent to
which it has absorbed some of Sontheimer's "Funf Komponenten des Hinduismus."
An "English Summary" (pp. 261-65) again, very briefly, presents the main results of the
author's research; the "Summary" is not a translation of the "Ergebnisse."
As far as the bibliography (pp. 291-98) is concerned I regret that I must reiterate my
remarks (JAOS 116 [1996]: 34647) apropos another volume in this series. Here again
the bibliography bristles with omissions and inconsistencies. For articles in journals or
collective volumes the page numbers are often missing. The names of publishers are
repeatedly absent, although on other occasions they are mentioned, occasionally even
followed by "Pvt. Ltd.," "Verlag," or "GmbH." For "Uerbach" read "Uebach"; for
"Appadurai Breckenridge, C." read "Breckenridge Appadurai, C(arol)."
Finally, the index (pp. 299-304) is puzzling: most of the items I checked gave wrong
page numbers; several entries refer to page 290 which is blank, or they refer to pages
which are part of the bibliography. The index is also disappointing: it includes a few
items which are only marginal to this volume (e.g., "Excalibur 110"; actually, p. 107, n.
180); on some items the book offers much more than what the index suggests (e.g.,
"Blur 123, 176"); numerous terms which a prospective reader will be looking for, and on
which the author often offers interesting and new insights in the text, do not appear in
the index at all.
LUDO ROCHER UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
COPYRIGHT 1997 American Oriental Society
Copyright 1997 Gale, Cengage Learning. All rights reserved.