Thursday, April 09, 2009

Bhatta Jayanta's Much Ado about Religion

This play, by Bhatta Jayanta (c. 9th-10th centuries CE), is an interesting look at religious dynamics in the Kashmir region. It is the journey of a zealous Mimamsaka graduate from his determination to overthrow all religious dissenters, to a sort of pragmatic pluralism. He succeeds in having some heterodox communities exiled, such as the "black-robes" who flaunt the usual ascetic practices. He teems up with a Vaishnavite against the materialists; an interesting arrangement. Mimamsakas are more or least atheistic, but held his tongue while the Vaishnavite gave the teleological argument to support his position in order to defeat a common enemy. Finally, the protaganist is caught up in court politics, and lets a Nyaya logician argue for the equality of all religions which the king approves (that is, which don't overthrow the social order) and which come from a trustworthy source (or are held by respectable, intelligent people), assuming that they are all different ways of reaching the Absolute. This apparently includes even heterodox groups such as the Buddhists and Jains.

The play is somewhat dry; it is mainly speeches and debates by the characters, with a good deal of references to Indian logic and assorted texts. It is good to see a concrete representation of the relationships of different religious groups in India, as well as to look through how they formulated their philosophical and theological arguments.

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