The Birth of Indology as an Islamic Science: Al-Bīrūnī’s Treatise on Yoga Psychology 9789004305540, 9004305548

Citation preview

Is]

Islamic Philosophy, Theology and Science

The Birth of Indology as an Islamic Science

TEXTS AND STUDIES

Al-Bruni's Treatise on Yoga Psychology Edited by By

Hans Daiber AnnaAkasoy Emilie Savage-Smith

Mario Kozah

VOLUME 97

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/ipts

LEIDEN [ BOSTON

y, as+ India, Uttar Pradesh or Madya Period, tenth to eleventh century. Buff sandstone, h. 34 Front cover: Yogmni. inata, a , ·Fili Fr ]

,

s4.d,

in,, w.17.251n

1.75 in. San Antonio Museum of Art, purchased with the John and Karen McFarlin Fun

19.7

Co

fth

S:

and the Asian Art Challenge Fund, 90.92. Photography by Peggy Tenison. Courtesy ot the an

Ante

®

ntonio

Museum of Art. Back cover: Bilingual Ghaznavid dirham struck in the name of Mahmud of Ghazna in 1028 with Arabic and Sanskrit on obverse and reverse respectively. See Kozah, 2004, p. 269. Photography by Prof. Ali A. Minai from

his private collection and with his kind permission. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Names: Kozah, Mario, 1976-

Title: The birth of indology as an Islamic science : Al-Biruni's treatise on yoga psychology /by Mario Kozah. Description: Boston : Brill, 2015. [Series: Islamic philosophy, theology, and science: text and studies, ISSN 0169-8729 ; V. 97 ] Includes bibliographical references and index. Identifiers: LCCN 2015032417/ ISBN 978900.4290297 (hardback : alk. paper) ] ISBN 978900.4305540 (e-book) Subjects: LCSH: Bairaunai, Muohammad ibn Aohmad, 973?-1048. Kitiab Biatanjal al-Hindii fai al-khalaaos min al-irtibiak. [ Patainjali. Yogasautra. [ Yoga--History. [India--Civilization--Study and teaching--Islamic

Empire. I Indian philosophy.

To my parents

Classification: LCC B132.Y6 K655 2015 ] DDC 181/.452-dc23

LC record available at http://lccn.loc.gov/2015032417

. .. This publication has been typeset in the multilingual "Brill" typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface. ISSN 0169-8729 ISBN 978-90-04-29029-7 (hardback) ISBN 978-90-04-30554-0 (e-book)

Copyright 2016 by Koninklijke Brill xv, Leiden, The Netherlands. Koninklijke Brill xv incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Niihoff, Brill Rodopi and Hotei Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, translated, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without prior written permission fromthe publisher. Authorization to photocopy items for internal or personal use is granted by Koninklijke Brill xv provided that the appropriate fees are paid directly to The Copyright Clearance Center, 22z Rosewood Drive, Suite g910, Danvers, MA 01923, USA. Fees are subject to change.

This book is printed on acid-free paper.

e=y e ·g

aiiiiii i

11111

Contents Acknowledgements Introduction

Ix

1

so.ooowe] g

Al-Birtini: A Brief Summary of His Life and Major Works 1 Al-Biriuni: Prologues and Method

7

1

Al-As'ila wa'l-Ajwiba 2 3

Al-Athar 'l-baqiya'an 'l-quriun 'l-khaliya 1v2 Al-Qaniin al-mas'udifi'l-hay'awa'l-nujum 18

4 5

Kitabtahqiqmali'l-Hind 23 Al-Biruni, Hindu Cosmology,and Atomism

32

2 Hindu Metaphysics According to the Hind 34 1 Mediaeval Arabic Texts on Hinduism and Their Sources 34 2 Al-Birini's Sanskrit Sources: Kit@b Sank and Kitab Batanjal 37 3 The Differentiation of Kitab Sank and Kitab Batanjal 4 4

Theology from Kitab Batanjal to the Hind

5

Passage 1: The Theological Interface between Kit@b Batanjal and the Yoga-Sutra of Patarjali 45 Passage z: The Theological Interface between Kitab Batanjal and the Citations from the Book Referred to as git@ 55 Passage3: Kitab Sank and the Discussion of Human and Divine

6 7

Action in the Hind

8

65

Kitab Sank as Conclusion to the Comparative Triptych

3 Al-Nafs: the Soul in Kitab Batanjal Introduction 73 From itab Batanjal to the Hind

3 4 5

The Soul and Spiritual Liberation 75 Al-Biruni and Western Scholarship 76 The Yoga-Sitra and the Psychology of Kit@b Batanjal

=g g

L

74

he Preface and Sections1-111 85 ite Preface of Kitab Batanjal 85

2 '3 4

Sect mcentrationof the Heart (Mind) 96 Section ii: Guidance towardsPraxis 106 Section iii:The Manner of Recompense 118

5

Conclusion

120

71

73

2

4 Kitab Batar 1 The

ww =ww

43

80

g

a,

~ ·-~ - 1~ o-·------

CONTENTS

5 Section 1v of Kit@b Batanjal: Liberation and Unification, a Reading

125

1

Introduction

2

Section iv and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataiijali: Liberation, the Soul and

3 4 5

the Intellect 126 The Soul, Matter and Unification 132 Liberation: The Intellect, lntellected and Intellector 139 Ibn Sina's Treatment of the Soul and Intellect in A/wal al-Nafs and

6

His De Anima 146 Conclusion: Kit@b Batanjal, Knowledge and Language

125

6 Al-Nafs: the Soul in the Hind

149

15

1

Introduction

2 3

The Body/Soul Relationship in the Hind 153 Chapter Seven of the Hind: On the Manner of Liberation from the World and the Description of the Path That Leads to It 154

4

The Part of Worship

5

Islamic Characteristics Attributed to the Hindu "God"

6 7

Liberation, Divine Unification, and Knowledge 159 The Nature of Liberation According to Kit@ab Batanjal and Kitab Sank 167

8

Conclusion:Liberation, Metempsychosis and al-Biruni's Islamic Reading of Hinduism 184

Conclusion

Acknowledgements

151

155

189

157

I would like to sincerely thank James Montgomery for carefully guiding my early thinking and writing about al-Birini during my time at the University of Cambridge and Tarif Khalidi for his support throughout our many years together as colleagues at the American University of Beirut and his insistence that I should never give up on this project. While working on this book I was fortunate enough to meet the brilliant Bilal Orfali to whom I am deeply grateful

for wisely suggesting that I publish with Brill. I would like to thank Adam Silverstein for his very valuable comments and steady stream of advice. The book's title was formulated one balmy evening on the shores of the Indian Ocean with the masterful assistance of Abdulrahim Abu-Husayn to whom I am greatly appreciative. I wish to thank Tara Zend for so expertly helping me to see the wood despite the innumerable trees and for spurring me to strip down the text in order to make it more reader-friendly. Thanks are also due to Hans Daiber, Anna Akasoy and Emilie Savage-Smith for accepting this book in the Islamic Philosophy, Theology, and Science series, and for their important

comments and corrections, especially by Anna Akasoy, and to Teddi Dols and Kathy van Vliet for supervising the production of the volume. A special thank you is due to John Moffatt sj for reading through the whole manuscript one last time at short notice. My biggest debt of thanks is owed to my beloved Rachelle, Karl, and Kristina, for their patience and love, and to my dear parents Nolvi and

Khalil without whose unfaltering faith in me and fathomless support I would never have been able to reach this point.

Translation of Section 1v of Kit@b Batanjal erms 206 209 1

ors

224

ediaeval Sources

227

195

Introduction Abu Rayhan Muhammad b. Ahmad al-Birini (d. ca. 1048) is one of the most famous scientists and polymaths in the history of Islamic civilization. Although his works rival those of his illustrious contemporaries in their depth and sophis-

tication, there has been little scholarly writing about him in the West relative to his importance. This trend is beginning to change with the appearance in recent years of monographs in which scholars have mostly presented allencompassing readings of al-Biruni's writings following a pattern of interpretation established by earlier scholarship. A number of encyclopaedic entries have also been published recently in addition to the republication of most of al-Biruni's works. These monographs have either tended towards a "life and works" approach to the study of al-Biruni in the search for holistic interpretations of his methodology or have focused on his substantial contributions to the scientific disciplines of astronomy, geography, mineralogy, pharmacology and mathematics. In contrast, this book investigates al-Birini's unique contribution to the

study of comparative religion in his major work on India, Kitab tahqiq ma lilHind min maqula maqbulafi'l-'aql aw mardhula} (henceforth referred to as the Hind), by considering what will be explained in terms of an "Islamisation" of Hinduism. Written in Arabic, the Hind may very well be the very first systema-

tisation of "Indian" beliefs into one "Indian religion"° as al-Birini calls it, preceding by almost 900 years the definitions of Hinduism by nineteenth-century European Orientalists. Al-Biruni's explanation of Hinduism or "the Indian religion", draws principally on his interpretation of Yoga psychology articulated in Kitab Batanjal, his exceptional Arabic translation which interprets the Yoga-Sitra of Patarjali.3 Al-

Birumi's reading» of Hinduism and the Yoqa-Sitra relies on common denominagone tglllg

1

Alberuni's India: An Account of the Religion, Philosophy, Literature, Chronology, Astronomy, Customs, Laws, and Astrology ofIndia. Edward Sachau (ed.) Arabic in 1 vol., English in 2 vols. London: Triibner & Co, 1887/1888. [Arabic edition reprinted in Hyderabad, 1958. Reprinted by F. Sezgin. Frankfurt am Main: Institute for the History of Arabic Science, 1993]. All consequent

references and citations of the Arabic will be taken from the Hyderabad edition. 2 al-nihlatu 'l-hindiyyatu (Hind,p. 38.1..5), 3 "Al-Birmi's Ubersetzung des Yoga-Sutra des Patarjali" ed. H. Ritter in Oriens 9 (2), Dec. 31, pp- 165-200; trans. S. Pines and T. Gelblum "Al-Biriini's Arabic Versionof Patarijali's Yogasiutra", in us0As 29 (2), 1966, pp. 302 -325; 40 (3), 1977% pp. 522-549% 46 (2), 1983, pp. 258-30.4; 52 (2), 1989, pp. 265 305.

KONINKLT]KE BRILL NV, LEIDEN, 2016 ] DOI: 10.1163/9789004305540_002 sy ,

INTRODUCTION

INTRODUCTION

3

2

de +ifie +funda ental, most prominently the idea ofa "shibboleth" tors he identities as utan ..o

that unifies belief, and the concept of a "Holy Book" that repre-

or b anner' » 5a]

sents a princip;

l-Bil if int ofreference. In the case of Hinduism al-Biruni identities

pomni

"

is

±.

+

metempsychosis as its banner and the Yoga-Sutra of Patanijali as being its Holy

goo\This comparative method was intended to make Hinduism more comprehensible to the Muslim reader:/ Just as the declaration of the Article of Faith is the emblem ofMuslim belief, Trinitarianism the sign of Christianity and the institution of the Sabbath that ofJudaism, so is metempsychosis the banner of the Indian religion, such that he who does not profess it does not belong to it and is not considered to be a member. The book investigates al-Biruni's use of Yoga psychology, according to his Arabic translation of Patarijali's work on the Yoga-Sutra, to support his principal statement that transmigration of the souls is the banner of the Hinduism. Ulti-

mately, we will identify the significance of al-Biruni's approach to Hinduism and the possible purpose that underlies this exceptionally early effort to define

and systematize Hindu beliefs. With these considerations in mind this book conducts a close textual anal-

ysis of the methodology that underpins al-Biruni's interpretationof Hindu e beliefs and focuses on al-Biruni's contribution to comparative religion being one of the earliest Muslim scientific studies in the field of Indology. As such it fills a significant gap in scholarship on al-Biruni and represents an important step forward in making one central aspect of this exceptional work on India from the Mediaeval Islamic period more accessible. The book begins by introducing al-Birini through an overview of his life and works to set the bio-

bibliographical context for the Hind. Particular attention will be paid to the secondary literature analysing the period during which he travelled in India and interacted with Hindu pundits, or had indirect contact with Indian culture

through its literature. The main thrust of the book will investigate al-Birumi's ® definition of Hindu beliefs as based on his premise that transmigration of the souls is the distinguishing sign of the "Indian religion". Al-Biruni's posi-

tion relies principally on his interpretation of Yoga psychology as articulated

in Kitab Batanjal. After analysing the psychology of Kitab Batanjal as a reading rather than a pure translation of the Yoga-Sitra, al-Biruni's extensive use of Kitab Batanjal in the Hind will be explored. A comparative textual study will posit that al-Biruni's thesis depends upon his careful interpretation of Kitab Batanjal which he considers, at the outset of the Hind, to bear the fundamentals of Hindu beliefs. The comparative study will conclude with an illustrative investigation of al-Biruni's description of metempsychosis. The general conclu-

sion highlights the importance of al-Biruni's unique contribution in the history of comparative religion. The conclusion also explores the reasoning that underlies al-Biruni's Indological systematisation of Hindu beliefs to produce his vision of a unified religion. Ultimately, the important research of the nineteenth century European Orientalist Edward Sachau is considered to try to discern whether his foundational and still unique English translation of the Hind may have inspired what he and other Europeans came to define as "Hinduism" in the light of al-Biruni's pioneering attempt at a comprehensive classification of Hindu beliefs. Chapter One, entitled Al-Birini: Prologues and Method" analyses the prologues to three of al-Biruni's works, the Hind, Qamin? and Athar, to arrive at a more accurate appreciation of his general methodology and philosophy. To achieve such an appreciation a number of points not previously addressed in the literature will be investigated throughout. Each prologue will be placed in a historical, political, and intellectual context to ensure the interpretation draws into consideration questions of patronage, dynastic rivalry, and personal advancement. The chief work to be used as a basis for the formation of the intel-

lectual context is the As'ila,? which is a correspondence between al-Biruni and his lifelong intellectual rival Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina (d. 1037). The As'ila is crucial because of its formative influence on al-Birini's career and, more importantly, its role as an index of the main issues in debate at the time, the nature of such debates, and their usefulness for delineating differing schools of thought. Finally, al-Biruni's methodology will be gleaned from an appreciation and, where necessary, a reinterpretation of his language. This will ensure that

7 Al-Qanun al-Mas'udi. Introduction by Syed Hasan Barani, 3 vols. Hyderabad: 19541956. 8 A-Athar al-Baqiya 'an al-Qurun al-Khaliya. Eduard Sachau (ed.). Leipzig: 1878. The Chronology

4 "Shibboleth" is Edward Sachau's translation of shi'ar (Hind, p. 38,1. 4).

5 'alam (Hind,p.38.1. 5),

of Ancient Nations, trans. E. Sachau. London, 1879. Reprinted by F. Sezgin, Frankfurt, 1993

6 kam@annal-shahadataikalin b. ti'-ikhlasishir»

+..,,,±

hlast shi'aruimani'l-muslimina wa'l-tathlitha 'alamat

9 Al-Birunt and Ibn Sina, al-As'ila wa'l-ajwiba, eds. S.H. Nasr and M. Mohaghegh. 'Tehran, 1973.

"®""9@ti wal-isbaa 'atamatu '1-yahudiyyati kadhatika 'ttanasukha 'alamu 'tnthtai I

lHeprinted in Kuala Lumpur, 1995, "IBN Sina-Al-Biruni correspondence", in Islam& Science,

n1ayyatifaman lam yantahilhu lam vaku

Trans. Rafik Berjak and Muzaffar lqbal, Jun 2003; Dec 2003; Summer 200.4; Winter 2004;

Ly

L.4),

-6,

umat:

'

'kt

a.,y,

"

yakun minha wa lamyu'add minjumlatiha (Hind, p. 38,

Summer 2005; Winter 2005; Winter 2006; Summer 2007.

INTRODUCTION 4

. f hi methodology and its development derives directly as '52 · · · d. t t exts to be considered and their histonc-mtellectual confrom th e immeaae d our unterstanding ot d

text.

--

Chapter Two, "Hindu Metaphysics According to the Hind", introduces the reader to the Hind, and considers its sources, structure, and the methodological conclusions which may be drawn from it. The Hind epitomises al-Biruni's study of Hindu culture and civilisation. Based on a wide-ranging examination of San-

INTRODUCTION

5

in the Hind present an informative case study detailing how al-Birini used primary Sanskrit and secondary Arabic sources in his critical and analytical explication of Hinduism. Thirdly, insight into al-Birini's Arabic translations of Sanskrit texts, as they are manipulated in the first twelve chapters of the Hind, not only reveals a continuity of purpose and method, from the translations to an explication and further development of citations from them in the Hind, but also discloses a unified interpretation and vision by al-Birini of the subjects of

skrit scientific and religious sources, many of which are no longer extant,as well as conversations with Indian physicians who were held captive at the court

based on his belief that the transmigration of the soul is the characterising sign

of his patron, Sultan Mahmud of Ghazna, and with Hindu pundits he met while

of the "Indian religion" as he calls it.

Hindu psychology and theology. Thus, al-Biruni presents a reading of Hinduism

accompanying Sultan Malmid on military campaigns in northern India. The

Chapters Three, Four, and Five comprise in the main an analysis of the

Hind was completed in 1030 shortly after Mahmud's death. The twelve years al- Biruni spent as court astrologer under Mahmud afforded him ample oppor-

tripartite preface in Kitab Batanjal followed by its four sections with particular attention given to the nature and development of the presentation of the soul, al-nafs, as it is perceived in al-Biruni's interpretation of the literary culture of Hindu metaphysical speculation and, specifically, as it is articulated in the Yoga-Sitra of Patanijali. Building on arguments made in earlier academic articles,° this analysis suggests that there is a continuum of methodological perspective between Kit@b Batanjal and the Hind and that Kit@b Batanjal is not merely a bold effort to communicate the essentials of yogic ascesis to a Muslim readership, but marks the beginning of an interpretation and evaluation of the Yoga-Sitra of Patanjali which finds its final form in the Hind. Thus, the initial ten chapters of the Hind offer far more than a distillation and an extension of an Arabic translation of the Yoga-Sitra or a magisterial overview of Hindu notions whose subject matter is simply equivalent to that broached in Islamic speculative theology. These three chapters lead to the concluding argument that Kitab Batanjal and the Hind seem not only to maintain a continuum of methodological perspective but also comprise a representation of the YogaSutra which closely reflects the Sutras and fully engages with both unidentified and recognized commentaries. Such a representation also illuminates the cultural and intellectual Ghaznavid court context in which these works arose. The main argument of these three chapters, then, is that the purpose of such a representation is ultimately realized in the Hind where al-Biruni's interpretation of Hindu psychology is used specifically to support his reading of Hinduism.

tunity to gather information about India and acquire knowledge of Sanskrit and regional Indian dialects which he then used to understand and translate texts on Hindu philosophy and science. The preface and first ten chapters of the Hind centre almost exclusively on religious, psychological, and metaphys-

ical subjects that present predominantly doctrinal discussions on Hindu (and other) beliefs in God, creation, metempsychosis, salvation and rituals of worship. However, the vast bulk of this work, thirty-seven of the eighty chapters, is a systematic appreciation and demonstration of Indian science that include: grammar, metrology, chrestomathy, astrology and astronomy, cosmology and cosmography, chronology and mathematics. The final fifteen chapters set out Hindu ritual practices, principally initiation and funerary ceremonies, obligatory sacrifices and dietary rules, together with fasting, pilgrimage and festival observances.

Reference will be made to articles which use this structure to argue that al-Biruni derived his information from a limited number of sources and that he wittingly shaped the organization and content of the Hind according to a preconceived view of Hindu culture and belief. The format of this chapter on the Hind incorporates three key points. First, by examining the sources and method which al-Biruni draws on and employs in the Hind, a clearer understanding of his reflection of Hindu theology and psychology emerges. Second, the theology and psychology of the Hind are to be found in the first twelve chapters of the book and it is here and upon these chosen subjects that

analysis will be concentrated. For one, the areas of theology and psychology

11

12

10

Cf al-Biruni's @is@laftfihrist kutub Muh

'1936.

nrs

utu

hammad b. Zakariyya al-lazi. P. Kraus (ed.). Paris,

Mainly Kitab Batanjal but also the no longer extant Kitab Sank and git@ whose subject matter is psychological, metaphysical and theological. For example, the excellent studies by Rosenthal, F, "Al-Biruni Between Greece and India" and Lawrence, B.B., "Al-Biruni's Approach to the Comparative Study of Indian Culture" in Biruni Symposium, (1976),

I[

'

I.I

I I lirF

I

- ..________ --------- •- __.____..____ ----~ ~- _._.ir,,,,_J

INTRODUCTION 6

"A{-ATaifs· the Soul in the Hind", has a twofold purpose: the

.

Clapter S itx, -/N4S.,,, p 4 le the stage in the evolving continuum of methodologfirst :is to explore ie final a 44....

· t: tin ica»al interpretation

from the translation of Kitab Batanjal, to the. distillation a a. and summation of the "Indian religion" accomplished in the Hind. In parallel fashion, the case study on the nature of the soul, begun with the Arabic translation of the Yoga-Siitra of Pataijali also finds its natural conclusion in the early chapters of the Hind. The basic issues argued in this case study will be tackled by focusing on the text of the Hind and on a number of points in particular. These are: establishing a continuity of argument, interpretation and analysis from Kit@b Batanjal and the Samkhya text, or Kitab Sank as it is referred to by al-Birini, to those chapters which discuss the Hindu understanding of the soul in the Hind; then exploring the process by which particular concepts of the soul as described in Sanskrit sources referred to or quoted through translation and oral information, are incorporated in the text of the Hind. Next, corroborating certain terminological interpretations in Kitiib Biitanjal will be achieved by comparing the use of these terms and their connotations in the text of the Hind. Finally, those arguments relating to al-Biruni's definition of Hinduism which depend on an interpretation

INTRODUCTION

7

Building on previous analyses, the discussion on the nature of the soul in the Hind in this chapter will identify the wider concept of metempsychosis as the common denominator in the various psychological details cited and as the theoretical mould within which the previously quoted passages from sources and the diverse technical and terminological descriptions were presented. This argument not only consolidates the notion of a continuity and synthesis of methodology and psychology in the process from Kitab Batanjal to the Hind, but also establishes, by this proposed single unifying concept, far greater philosophical and religious significance within the intellectual contemporary context of the vibrant Muslim psychological debate. What is of primary interest is the approach towards the concept of metempsychosis among a number of Muslim authors that illustrate a surprising diversity of opinion. An objection may be raised regarding the rationale of comparing the discussion of metempsychosis in the Hind, being, overtly a description of a doctrine within the Hindu beliefsystem, with the concept of metempsychosis in Muslim

psychological writing such as in the De Anima of Ibn Sina's Shifa'. This would be the case if the text of the Hind were composed purely of translations and direct quotations from Sanskrit with no analytical or explanatory input what-

of specific passages found in Kitab Batanjal will be consolidated by compar-

soever. However, not only is the subject explained in a manner which facilitates

ing these passages as they are quoted in the more analytical context of the Hind.

understanding for a Muslim readership by means of, for example, illuminating comparisons with Sufism and the classical Greek tradition but also, and more significantly, the terminology of contemporary Arabic philosophical debate is consciously used throughout. This usage, as earlier argued, suggests a motivation beyond the simple presentation of a non-lslamic doctrine. The Hind engages with and expounds on the subject ofmetempsychosis within what may be viewed as an Islamising sphere of intellectual deliberation but without any self-imposed restrictions given its non-Islamic subject matter. By proceeding in this fashion, al-Biruni renders the accusation of heresy an impossibility and grants himself a free hand to explore unscathed the Hind's controversial concept, in all its facets, within the definition of Hinduism which al-Birini provides in reference to what he refers to as the "Indian religion"

The second purpose in Chapter Six will be to investigate al-Biruni's interpretation of Hindu belief in metempsychosis as he presents it in the fifth chapter of the Hind in the light of his defining statement that this is the characterizing

feature of Hinduism. It will be argued that the concept of metempsychosis is not only represented as the chief distinguishing feature of the "Indian religion" as al-Birini refers to it, but also forms the final refinement in the exploration of the content and nature of Hindu psychology begun with the translation of San-

skrit texts and particularly Kitab Batanjal. Interestingly, the tripartite preface to Kitab Batanjal cites belief in metempsychosis as the banner religious doctrine and, by direct association, the framework for the psychology of the book suggesting this overarching theme from the outset:

This is a people whose discourse about their religion is never bare of topics concerning reincarnation and the misfortunes of incarnation and unification and generation not according to the principle of birth.!3

Al-Biruni: A Brief Summary of His Life and Major Works Al-Birini was born in 973, most probably in Kath, which at that time was

the capital of the city-state of Khwarazm located in the Transoxania region of Central Asia.' Although his native language was Khwarazmian this region was 13

KitabBatanjal,p.167,1.15. 14

r,T --

li, - ..

'

See Bosworth, CE..Biruni: Life", in Elran,p. 274; Boilot, D.]., Biruni" in I?.

~rri ,._r=,,,;;;,:,:=:;;;=1"==-~==--======i;; }'

I

4

3

!g: »lb lill% o»

INTRODUCTION

8

moss»

INTRODUCTION

9

u

in no sense provincial given the long years of direct and indirect cultural and

the ruling dynasty of Al-i 'Iraq were defeated at the hands of Al-i Ma'mun of Jurjaniyya, an independent Iranian family. A period of wandering ensued with al-Biruni living at times in Khwarazm and at others in Jurjan, searching for patronage and permanent residence. At some point during these difficult

linguistic influence by Persia, India and even China. Thus, from the outset alBiruni was exposed to a spectrum of influences which shaped his lifelong pas-

sion for closely studying other civilizations and religions. By the ten th century the region of Transoxania had produced some of the most remarkable figures

-=-

in the intellectual history of Islam and in the fields of mathematics, hadith, kalam, and philosophy. The first scholar, Muhammad b. Miisa al-Khwarazmi (d. ca. 847) is often considered to be the inventor of algebra, although he in fact

developed this and other mathematical operations based on older Indian and Greek sources which he was most likely first exposed to in Khwarazm. Shortly

=afterwards, Muhammad b. Ismail al-Bukhari (d. 870), compiled what is considered the most authentic of hadith collections, the Sa/ih Bukhari. No less "eminently, Abu Mansir Muhammad al-Maturidi (d. ca. 944), a famous theologian and a scholar of Islamic jurisprudence and Qur'anic exegesis, founded one

of the two foremost schools of Sunni theology, kalam, and became known as one of the pioneers ofIslamicjurisprudence. Finally, two of the most prominent

founding figures of the Arabic philosophical tradition, Abu Nasr Muhammad al-Farabi (d. 950) and Abu 'Ali al-Husayn Ibn Sina (d. 1037), also hail from this region of Central Asia. Al-Farabi was a renowned Muslim scientist and philosopher as well as an accomplished cosmologist, logician, and musician. Through

his treatises he became known among medieval Muslim intellectuals as "The Second Teacher", that is, the successor to Aristotle, "The First Teacher". AlBiruni's contemporary Ibn Sina is considered the most famous and influential polymath of the Islamic Golden Age. This is the intellectual milieu in which al-Biruni was born and educated and where he spent the first 22 years of his life from 973-995 under the rule of the

Al-i 'Iraq Khwarazm-shahs. As for his name, much speculation has gone into explaining his nisba or ascription "al-Birini". The most convincing explanations remain those provided by the Encyclopedia Iranica and Encyclopedia ofIslam

both of which explain the nisba as relating to the fact that al-Biruni was born of an Iranian family on the outskirts (birun) of Kath. Very little biographical information can be verified from this early period of al-Biruni's life, however, it

would seem that he received his early education under a teacher by the name of Abu Nasr Mansir b. 'Ahr% q,a.

a%

i..

[.p:.,,,,,,,' '®' - Al D. Iraq whom he mentions in the Athar,® one of al-Birini's earlier works. In 995 al-Bir (fed j,,,, '

399¢111rumi

led

iis home city when his patrons,

%

.,,,

years (995-9908) he initiated a correspondence with his rival Ibn Sina who was

most probably living in Jurjaniyya and in the service of the Al-i Ma'min or the Ma'munids from ca. 997-1012. It is unclear whether an actual meeting between

the two took place although such a hypothetical meeting would most probably have occurred in one of the Ma'munid courts. This correspondence, referred to as al-As'ila wa'l-Ajwiba? is significant because it reveals the scientific and Jhiloso_phical context in which al-Biruni thought and ~vorkecl, as will be dis), cussed in the next chapter. It is in 998, most likely in Jurjan, that al-Biruni found in the Ziyarid Shams al-Maali Qabus b. Wushmagir (d. 1012/13) his next significant patron.

Under the apparently generous patronage of this fourth ruler of the Ziyarid dynasty of Tabaristan and Jurjan, al-Biruni wrote his Athar, probably in 100o, which is dedicated to his new patron and remains one of his greatest scholarly achievements with its broad scope ofsubject matter, especially its sections

on astronomy, history, and religions. In 1004 al-Birini returned to Jurjaniyya, the new capital of Khwarazm, to serve the Ma'miunids whose favour he had gained under the patronage of the Khwarazm-shahs Abu 'I-Hasan 'Ali (9971008/9) and Abu '1-Abbas al-Ma'mun b. Ma'mun (d. 1017). During this period al-Biruni wrote a number of scientific works including his Tahdid!® and also served the Ma'munid court in diplomatic and political posts. Following the betrayal and death of al-Ma'min in 1017, Mahmud of Ghazna (9pz±--1030),he_ t ruler of the Ghaznavid Empire, invaded Khwarazm under the pretext ofaveng ing his brother-in-law's murder. With this annexation and the effective demise of the Ma'munids, al-Biruni found himself, along with other prominent scholars (including Ibn Sina), adjusting to a new dynastic sphere of influence. While lbSina and other scholarswent west, al-Biruni hesitated and ultimately came under Mahmud's patronage. Whether this was a decision which he took or was taken for him remains unclear and his relationship with his new patron has been the subject of much speculation. What is certainly the case, however, is that from 1o7 to the date of his death in 1048 al-Birini found himself mostly in Ghazna, the capital ofthe Ghaznavid empire, in the courts and under Al-Birumi and Ib Sina al-As'ila wa'-ajwiba. S.H. Nasr and M. Mohaghegh(eds.). Tehran,

\thar 'L-baa

L,

• y

1973. Reprinted in Kuala Lumpur, 1995.

"109° 'an'-qurun '-khaliya. E.C. Sachau (ed.). Leipzig, 1878, repr P- 184; ustadhi AbiNasr Mansur ihn 'Ali ibn 'Iraq mawlaAmiral-Mu'minn.

"w Hr

;

18

Kitab tahdidnihayat '-amakin li-tashih mas@fat '-masakin. P.G. Bulgakov (ed.). Cairo, 1962. lHeprinted by F. Sezgin, Frankfurt, 1992.

+

: ,E

=

AMA

lli,au 1

'g] liliAl

INTRODUCTION

10

the patronage of three Ghaznavid sultans: Mahmud (1017-1030), Mas'id (1031-1041), and Mawdid (1041-1048), and that under their auspices he produced his greatest works. Under Mahmud he wrote his magnum opus on India, the Hind\? (ca. 1030), and his landmark astronomical work the Qaniu" (ca. 1035) was writ-

greater sensitivity to the text of the Hind, the methodology that sustains it, or the historical and intellectual circumstances that shape it, but instead reflects a refinement of earlier assumptions. Indeed, at no stage in the chronology of al-Biruni scholarship is a sustained attempt made to understand the Hind in th eht oflig the frontier dynasty under which it was produced, the personal and

philosophical motives for its conception, and the socio-cultural implications of a work on Hinduism whose methodology is openly dispassionate despite its seemingly controversial, even heretical, subjectmatter. Rather, al-Biriuni's

approach to Hindu thought is largely misconstrued in that it is either perceived to be imperfect or limited by the sources consulted. Such views ignore the real

possibility of a deliberate reading of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science in order for it to be integrated # as a comprehensible, if not compatible, cosmology into the worldview of the Muslim educated elit. It will be demonstrated that this process of integration by al-Birini is not so much an "Islamisation" of Hindu beliefs in the Hind but

20

21 22

I

I

I

,

■

~ ~· - i~. - ~~~~ --- -------- ~

CHAPTER

Al-Biruni: Prologues and Method Al-As'ila wa'l-Ajwiba

The As'ila is the correspondence that al-Biruni conducted with Ibn Sina during al-Biruni's stay in the Samanid capital of Bukhara after having secured the patronage of the Samanid emir, Mansur 11 b. Nuh 11 (997-999). The As'ila con-

sists of ten questions posed by al-Biruni regarding the Arabic translation of Aristotle's De Caelo, al-Sama' wa'l-'Alam, plus eight other questions that relate to a range of contentions within the Peripatetic, mashsha'i, School of natural philosophy and that present a critical challenge to Ibn Sina, then the most eminent representative of this school. Ibn Sina answers each of the questions posed

with varying success. The As'ila presents the scientific and philosophical context in which al-Biruni thought and worked. It exposes, firstly, several of the most problematic scientific issues of the time and their metaphysical connotations, as well as the existence of an anti-Peripatetic current within the contemporary Islamic intellectual framework. The Peripatetic School dominated the philosophical tradition in Islamic civilisation and coloured much of the language of the great Muslim scientists, including al-Birini. The As'ila, however, presents al-Biruni's logical criticism of Peripatetic natural philosophy by questioning the basis of its reasoning and its science in a rigorous exchange of mutu-

Kitab tahqiq ma (1-Hind min maqula maqbula fit-'aqt aw mardhula. E. Sachau (ed.),

ally comprehensible terminology. Whether al-Biruni's logical criticism has an philosophical source derived, for example, from the Pythagorean-Hermetic heritage of Antiquity or from his introduction to Indian science, philosophy and cosmological doctrines can only be gleaned from examining the contents of his writings and the nuances in the comparisons he makes, an analysis that has thus far only been attempted to a limited extent in the secondary litera-

London, 1887. Reprinted in Hyderabad, 1958. Reprinted by F. Sezgin, Frankfurt, 1993.

ture.

more a comparative methodology in which culturallyspecific categorization is not selective or constrictive of its subject matter. 19

I

I

ten under Mahmud's son and successor Mas'iid b. Mahmud. During the final years of his life under Mas'id's son Mawdud b. Mas'id he completed his two great mineralogical and pharmacological works: al-Jamahir?' (after 10.41) and al-Saydana? (ca. 1048), the last known work he wrote before his death. Despite the clear progress and increased sophistication of al-Biruni scholarship on the Hind in recent years there still exists a common and inherited seam of a priori assumptions. Thus the sophistication does not necessarily reflect a

!++±"

mt. i Ii

@!Q@ni in '-mas'udzfit-hay'a wa'l-nujum. S.H. Barani (ed.). Hyderabad, 1954-1956. Kitab 'L-jamahirfi ma'rifat 't-jawahir. F. Krenkow (ed.). Hyderabad, 1936. Reprinted by F. Sezgin, Frankfurt, zoo1. Kitab '!-saydanafit-tibb. Hakim Muhammad Said (ed.). Karachi, 1973.

The importance of the As'ila lies not only in that it marks a key point in Islamic intellectual history, natural philosophy and the sciences but also in its foregrounding a defining moment at the outset of al-Biruni's career. By competing against the most famous intellectual rival of his time and choosing to differ on any number of a priori theories which form the basis of Aristotelian physics, al-Biruni signalled his independence fromthe Peripatetic School and simultaneously established a tabula rasa from which to explore the empirical sciences and thedevelopment of ideas from new sources. The language used to express such ideas, though coloured by Aristotle's dominant influence, belongs

KONINKLIJKE BRILL. NV, LEIDEN, 2016 } DOI: 10.1163/9789004305540_00.3

.,&

a I

I IL

CHAPTER 1

12

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

l-Bi®·F neiith er to avaruni n 1or

4 IRE III

I

lbn Sina,! 6 but rather derives from the lexicon of the Abbasid translators and the _falasifa written (specifically) to serve as a common language for philosophical dialectic. The same philosophical language is,

therefore, used to give accounts of very different philosophies and this is, at times, markedly the case in each of al-Birini's prefaces that we shall be exam-

ining. Interestingly, the intellectual rivalry between al-Biruni and Ibn Sina is paralleled by the religio-dynastic rivalries of the courts to which they belonged. Both the Ziyarids and the Ghaznavids in whose rulers al-Biruni found patron-

age were the implacable rivals of the Buyids in whose courts Ibn Sina found favour.

13

wrest Kirman from nominal Samanid overlordship and to prevail most of the time in Tabaristan and Jurjan against Qabis b. Wushmagir. After his death in 1011-1012 the Ziyarid dynasty became a virtual tributary to the Ghaznavids. This represents al-Biruni's first encounter with the dynasty in whose court he was to

spend the final three decades of his life under Mahmud, Mas'id, Mawdid, and their successors, dying some time after 1050, perhaps during the sultanate of 'Abd al-Rashid.

The preface to the Athar may be divided into four parts: a doxology, a discussion of the Imam's divinely ordained role in society perfectly exemplified in Muhammad, the attribution of this role to Qabus b. Wushmagir or Shams al-Ma'ali, as he is referred to here, and a description of al-Biruni's methodology

2

Al-Athar'l-baqiya'an'l-qurin'l-khaliya

Al-Biruni composed the Athar in ooo at the age of twenty-seven and dedicated it to his patron and master Shams al-Maali Qabus b. Wushmagir, the Ziyarid ruler ofJurjan. Its wide-ranging subject matter includes astronomical, historical, and religious sections concerning the pre-Islamic Arabs, Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, and Indians. The Athar is based on a broad read-

ing of Arabic and other sources as well as oral information gathered to detail the historical and scientific chronology of these civilisations. Al-Biruni must have been aware of the dynastic struggles between the Ziyarids ofJurjan and Tabaristan, who were Sunnis and allies of the Hanafi Samanids, and the powerful Shi'ite Buyid dynasty in the West.

Al-Biruni demonstrates his loyalty to his patron, Qabus b. Wushmagir, by highlighting the rise of his dynasty in the fourth chapter of the Athar, which contains a long criticism of the "false" claim of the Buyids to descent from the Sasanian emperor Bahram Gur alongside praise of the "true" descent of Qabus b. Wushmagir from the Sasanian royal house. The eventual outcome of the military struggle was that the Buyid ruler 'Adud al-Dawla was able to

1 Ibn Sina's intellectual relationship with al-Birr.

It

4,,

1-Siruni can e initially gauged by comparing con-

temporaneously written works. For instance, Ibn Sina's encyclopaedia of philosophical sei

ences, al-hasilwa'l-mahsul, was written iv Bukh: ,3, ' at in ara at about the same time al-Biruni was composing his first major rk, th in, was busy cot

le»

material for his Hind,awcrk,»«

·d,

5f-

'8

.,, , or,it is argued,of cultural philosophy. Finally, while lbn Sina was conducting his astronomical research and obsery+r sfah magnum servationatlsfahan,al-Birini was compiling his gnu

44,,

the Imam, as later passages will reveal.

An accurate description of al-Biruni's understanding of divine knowledge, providence, prophethood, the role of the Imam in society, and the political philosophy in the Athar can only be successfully achieved if one is familiarwith

the formative intellectual rivalry of the As'ila between al-Birini and Ibn Sina. In the "Metaphysics" of his Shifa' Ibn Sina states that the world emanates from God as a consequence of His self-knowledge. In contrast, al-Biruni conceives of God as transcendent, with the being of particular existentsdependent on Him, even though they are not vessels of His Omniscience. For Ibn

Jor work, the Athar or Chronology, in 1000. Secondly, while Ibn Sia hi

completinghis encyclopaedia ofphilosophy, Kitab '-Insaf, al-Biruni was collating

isj],

in this work. In this way al-Biruni emphasises the interrelatedness of this hierarchy with the natural extension of his patron's exalted position underscored through the author's dependency on him. The doxology begins with a pious expression of monotheism that describes God as above things that are like and unlike each other? Muhammad then follows as the chosen one" and the "perfect man". This concept of the perfect man" forms a divinely ordained standard at the outset of al-Biruni's preface against which all men are measured. The final section of the doxology asks for an invocation of blessings upon the family of the Prophet who are held to be "Imams of right-guidance and truth"5 The idea of the Truth, al-Haqq, features very strongly in al-Birini's thinking and varies in nuance according to the religious or scientific context of its use. By presenting this concept as an inherent quality of the Imam, al-Biruni underlines the religious dimension of its meaning, but without making it exclusively religious or the sole property of

1pus o on astronomy, the Qanin. Cf. Baran1, $.1L.. J,,, Sina '3a.,

iDn

inaan¢

d Albe4,

veruni, a study in

similarities and contrasts". Avicenna Commemoration Volume. Calcutta, 1956, pp, q '

'r

%

'lq,

2 al-muta'al 'ani -addadi wa'l-ashbahi (Athar,p. • l 3), 3 al-mustafa (ibid.). 4 khayru '-khalqi (ibid.), 5 a'immatu '-huda wa'l-haqqi (Athar, p. 1, l 4). 6 Athar,p. 1,l. 3,

X

CHAPTER I 14

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

s% 5l+al hilosophy rests on the theory of prophethood and revelation, » which means that the law revealed through prophets consists of the truths of theoretical and practical philosophy in a language that is understandable to the majority of humanity.? The implication, therefore, is that, in the hierarchy of existents, the prophet is ranked below the philosopher just as revelation is a

wisdom with justice and, thus, attains his prophetic qualities. For al-Birini the

Sina political pint..

necessary simplification of the abstract universal concept. Al-Biruni's contrast-

ing reference to an Imam rather than a prophet in the preface to the Athar is not a promotion of an Imamate per sewhich would be at variance with Ziyarid Sunnism. The emphasis that al-Biruni places on the role of the Imam is not am attempt to undermine the supremacy of the law-revealing prophet; rather, it is

to complement the prophet's position and to demonstrate that God's knowledge of the good order" necessarily expresses itself in His providence,® in this case, through the gift of an Imam.

By positing the presence of an Imam in every age,® al-Biruni lessens the significance of Ibn Sina's argument that prophets appear on the historical scene very infrequently. Instead, al-Biruni contends that God sends a just Imam

for every period.® This counters the practical implications Ibn Sina proposes regarding the setting down of institutions and traditions to ensure the continuance of the good order once the prophet is gone. For Ibn Sina, the infrequent appearance of prophets has a metaphysical explanation that relates to the rare bodily reception of a prophetic soul. Nevertheless, he argues for a still higher stage that is the direct reception of "intelligibles" from the Active Intellect. In contrast, in the preface to the Athar al-Biruni

places Shams al-Maali at the pinnacle of the hierarchy of existents, comparable in character to the Prophet! being God's chosen deputy? and shadow on

15

Sufi concept of the perfect man®is embodied in the person of the divinely sent

and just Imam? comparable in character and qualities to the Prophet Muhammad. Moreover, such an Imam represents man as a microcosmos comprising more qualities than can possibly be imagined.±®

The cosmology that underpins this vision has significant bearing on the metaphysical connotations of al-Birini's use of medical terminology and diagnostic empiricism in the prefaces to his later works, the Hind and the Qaniin. The continuity and mutual relevance of the three prefaces being analysed does not necessarily imply a lack of development in other areas of al-Biruni's thought. For instance, the differing dynastic polities and character of patronage, or lack of it, also need to be taken into consideration in each instance. The closing remarks of the preface to the Athar discuss al-Biruni's purpose and methodology. His expressed purpose for writing the Athar is threefold. The first may be described as a response to an intellectual incentive since he recounts that a learned man-! once asked him about the dating systems®! used by different nations and the differences?? between them. The adib urges alBiriuni to give the clearest possible explanation? so it will be useful to the reader-' The second purpose takes its impetus from patronage and service. Having contemplated the difficulty of the task al-Biruni states that he drew sup-

port from his benefactor Shams al-Ma'ali.35 Moreover, he says, his position of service? to Shams al-Ma'ali encouraged?? al-Birini to compose such a work and by doing so reaffirm his service to him.?® Although it remains politely unsaid that the Athar is a commissioned work, perhaps out of deference for Shams al-Ma'ali's generosity or to emphasise the impression that it was freely

earth. Ibn Sina considers the perfect man to be one who combines speculative 16

khayru 'lkhalqi(Atharp..l.3), imamun 'adilun (Athar, p. 1. l 5).

18

wa laysa (i'llahi bimustankarin an yajma'a '-alamafi wahidin (Athar, p. 1. l. 18),

introduction to the Hind is Abu Ya'qub al-Sijistani, the tenth century Isma'ili author,

20

mimma (a tahsuruh'-awham(Athar, p. 1, l 17). ahadu '-udaba'i (Athar. p. 2,l ),

despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy and other relevant topics

21

7

Encyclopaedia Iranica, Avicenna": Section Iv, Metaphysics".

8

This is not to deny the possibility of Isma'ili influences, active in the tenth century, upon al-Biruni's thinking. It significant · ·4fic th? ' Is that th ie only Arab author mentioned in the

9 10

11 12

that inform the works of many of al-Birini's contemporaries or predecessors. niz@mu '-'alami (Athar, p. 1,l. 7), min lat@'ifi tadbiri 'lahi ta'alafi masalihi bariyyatihi wajala'ili niamihi 'ala kaffati khaliqa tihi (Athar, p. 1, L. 4),

24

zaman (Athar, p. 1, l. 5).

25

la yukhallfi- 'alamihi zamanan 'an imamin 'adilin (Athar,D1,05y% .1.r ±1 J«qala subhanuh-wa innaka la'ala khuluqin 'azimin (Athor ] s a /hr,p.1,13j, wa amaddahu bikhuluqin qad imtanna bimithlihi 'alanabiyyihi (Athar, p. 1,I. 4) al-mustaf 1), '7h333), vs\9¢a (Athar,rp.1,1.3),

al-tawarikh (ibid.),

al-ikhtilaf (ibid.) wa qtaraha 'alayya '-ibanata 'an dhalika bi-awdahi ma yumkin'l-sabilu ilayhi (Athar, p. 2, I .a) hatta taqruba minfahmi 'Fnazirifihi (ibid.). ta'ayyadtu bi-'ulwwi dawlati mawlana ... waliyyu 'I-ni'ami Shams '-ma'ali (Athar, p. 2, l. 7).

2(6

27 28

libas'-khidmati (Athar, p. 2,l 9), jarra'ant (ibid.), hay yatajaddada khidmati lah (Athar, p. 2, l. to),

#

CHAPTER 1 16

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

17

and willingly written, 11

ill sly itte it is quietly apparent that al-Biruni's position of service . - . 4, »implicitly 5firth requires ·®> that he promote the Ziyarid dynasty and its ruler by comnai :- ., 4, a scent » itific work. The third purpose for writing the Athar is• a literary posing ., ,

wish to develop the subject with knowledge that was previously unavailable to him. ? This aim is achieved in two ways, the first is to take from the most recent sources and proceed gradually to the former ones and to move from what is best

one expressing the writer's desire for immortality through the legacy of his hopes that the memory and splendour of his service to Shams k Al-B-n-mi wor's. a al-Ma'ali will remain through the ages. Al-Birini next approaches the subject of his methodology by arguing that the best way to explain the various dating systems is through knowledge of

known to that which is less known.@ Second, to gather the akhbar from those who have reported them, to correct them as much as possible, and to leave the

the traditions of former nations,3 This is because the akhbar mostly consist of

information that comes from these nations themselves and bear the remnants of their customs and institutes.' Al-Biruni, therefore, upholds the principle of adopting the information of those who have a written tradition? against that of seeking proof through inference and reason by analogy based on what is witnessed by the senses,+ whether as ear or eye-witness.? It is this written tradition that is the basis upon which al-Birini will build his accurate description of former nations.36 Verification of this written tradition is to be achieved by comparing and contrasting the information received.37 Al-Biruni believes this verification process to be the best method of achieving the task at hand38 despite tile difficulties it presents and effort that it

requires.® This is not to say, however, that the akhbar are infallible, for he admits that numerous truths and untruths are to be found in them so that a compromise must be made in his method, namely, that that which is possible and not disproved by other evidence should be treated as true.' The pragmatism of al-Biruni's methodology as exampled in this compromise is further qualified by a transparency that he promotes in his writing to guide those who

rest as prima facie, or literal, so as to be of assistance to those who wish to further develop a given subject.®

In addition to elaborating on his methodology for the use of al-akhbar in constructing accurate descriptions, al-Biruni also focuses on the motives that blind an individual from discerning the truth,® that is, to distort the truth as a result of custom, partisanship, rivalry, passion and the desire for power.® Further refining this list of factors that may influence a cultural historian, al-Birini presents the fundamentals for a dispassionate description of other nations and cultures despite the difficulties involved in achieving such dispassionate descriptions.? The fourth chapter, which he states is devoted to legends concerning D/u'l-qarnayni, also presents a rather lengthy criticism of the "false" claim of the Buyids to descent from the Sasanian emperor Bahram Gir and praise for the "true" descent of his patron, Shams al-Ma'ali, and of the shahs of Khurasan and Shirvan from the Sasanian royal house. This subject is imposed on a chapter devoted to legends and, therefore, illustrates the disruptive harm that external or personal influences, such as partisanship or loyalty to a patron, can have on the content of a work. Choosing the chapter devoted to legends in order to introduce this concern may very well have been for the purpose of rendering the factual correctness of the "true" descent of al-Biruni's patron in a generally ambivalent light given al-Birini's inability to overtly express such doubts,

29

yabqa lidhikruha wa sharafuha turathanfi'l-a'qabi 'ala marri 'L-duhuri wa mudiyyi 'L-ahqabi (Athar, p. 2,l. 1o).

30

ma'rifatu akhbari 'L-umami '-salifati (Athar, p. 2, l. 13).

31

aktharuha ahwalun 'anhum wa rusumun baqiyatun min rusumihim wa nawamisihim

32

taqlid (Athar, p. 2, L 15).

33

minjihati '1-istidlalibi't-ma'qulati wa'l-qiyasi (ibid.),

34

bimayushahadu mina 'I-mahsusati (ibid.),

The client-patron relationship and patronage in general figure strongly in each of these prefaces, except in the preface to the Hind, and an underlying tension persists between al-Biruni's duty to demonstrate loyalty to his patron

(Athar, p. 2.l. 14)

35 36 37 38 39 40 41

i

i

inbisamain wain bi'iyanin (Athar, p. 2, I. 9),

42 43 44

mu'inunli-@alibi '-haqqi.., wa murshidunilanaylima lamyatahayya'lana (Athar, p. 3,l 9), 'alayna an na'khudha '-aqraba min dhalika fa'l-aqraba wa'l-ashharafa'l-ashhara (Athar, P- 3l 7) nuhassiluha min arbabiha wa nuslihu minha ma yumkinuna islahuhawa natruku s@'iraha

45

al-asbabu 'l-mu'miyatu li-sahibiha 'ani '-haqqi (Athar,p. 2,l. 18)

tasyiru ma humfihiussanyuba 'atayhi ba'dahu (Athar, p. 2, \. 16), q9@suaqawilihimwa ara'ihimfi ithbati dhalikaba'diha bi-ba'din (Athar, p. a, l. 17). naylu 'l-matlubi (Athar, p. 2,l. 21). al-juhdu 'l-jahidi (ibid.),

likathrati 't-abatli 'llati tadkh qt [.' { 'ulujumala 't-akhbari wa'-ahadithi (Athar, p. 3,l. 1),

'ala wajhiha (Athar, p. 3,1. 7),

46

ka'ladati 'L-ma'lufati wa'l-ta'assubi wa'l-tazafuri wa-ttiba'i 'haw@ wa'l-taghalubi bi'l-ri'asati (Athar, p. 2, l. 18),

47

'alaanna'l-asla'lladhiassaltuhuwa'l-tariqa 'lladhimahhadtuhulaysa biqaribi 'D-ma'khadhi

at-khabaru't-haqqu (Athar, p. 3,l. 3).

(Athar, p. 2, l. 21),

.. tj 1i

!! I

I

p

i i

CHAPTER 3

I8

· t ' his intellectual integrity and the nee d to maintan , by dispassionately navigating the (real and perceived) influences that he lists.

a ulllllll I

Al-Qamin al-mas'difi'l-hay'a wa'l-nujm

3

The Qaniin was written under the patronage of Mas'id b. Mahmud (r. 10301040). He succeeded his father, Mahmud b. Sebitiktigin, as sultan of the Ghaz-

navid dynasty after a power struggle with his younger brother Muhammad., Shortly before his death, Mahmid had changed his mind and made another son, Abu Ahmad Muhammad, his heir, despite Muhammad's lack of experience

compared to Mas'id. When Mahmud died in April 1030, Muhammad became sultan in Ghazna but was deposed and succeeded that summer by Mas'ud who had marched eastwards to Ghazna with his army. Mas'id was granted new alqab or honorific titles from Baghdad. The work dedicated to this rising star, the Qaniin, may be described as an astronomical handbook covering the same ground as Ptolemy's Almagest but introducing new material. These include geographical tables giving the coordinates of six hundred cities, more than any other mediaeval Arabic source. For India and China al-Biruni reports the coordinates of ninety cities given in no source antedating him. The Qanun

includes not only the numerical tables and accompanying rules for the solution of all standard astronomical problems, but also expounds the theoretical and observational bases from which the rules and tables have been derived. Like the Almagest, the Qamun contains theoretical derivations of astronomical parameters, as well as tabular functions to facilitate the computation of planetary positions. It thus differs from the works of most of al-Biruni's predecessors and contemporaries who were concerned with constructing astronomical tables or zij,suitable for computation of planetary positions, usually without discussing the derivation of the parameters upon which the tables were based. The methodological ethos of this fresh approach is set out in the

preface.

Although the preface to the Qaniin was written after the Hind, it has much more in common with the preface to the Athar in terms of structure and content. Like it, the Q@nun also h

hi

»

4rh

d

l,

;

Degins with a loxology in which an opening pun

alludes to the work's patron, Mas'ud b. Mahmud.+# Te 4, i%

d

fol

I ·db s nus is immediately fo owed by a pious Muslim expression of God's transcendence and oneness.

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

19

Muhammad is next described in the hierarchy of importance as the chief recipient of God's magnificent grace, His religion,' and His infallible Word, the Qur'an.? Although the Qur'an is quoted in the preface to the Athar its bestowal upon the Prophet is not specified as one of God's acts of beneficence towards Humankind nor is its infallibility mentioned.@? The underplaying of the Qur'an's importance in the Athar is in contrast to the perfection that is attributed to Muhammad@ and the microcosmic qualities with which God endows both the Prophet and the Imams.Whereas in the Athar it is the Shi'ite vision of the divinely sent Perfect Man as microcosmos which is associated with the Prophet and his family of Imams,@ in the Qamiin a more Sunni understand-

ing prevails in which divine grace rather than God-given characteristics carries perfection. In the Athar the Prophet and the Imam are described as perfect beings whereas in the Q@min it is the Prophet's all too human dependence on God's scrupulous guidance and intervention that is described, thus emphasising the important act of divine grace rather than its recipient.®? It is noteworthy that neither the family of the Prophet nor the Imamate are mentioned in the Qanin, rather, it is the awliy@' or "supporters" who succeed the Prophet and enjoy perspicacity and right guidance.Whereas in the Athar Shams al-Ma'ali is an Imamand by implication a member of the Prophet's family, al-Biruni's hierarchy in the Qaniun allows for only one distinction: that of believer and unbeliever. Thus the Prophet's supporters, al-awliya', are the com-

munity of believers, al-mu'minin, as a whole and what differentiates Mas'iid, being a wali, from his fellow believers is political rather than spiritual status. This is likely the reason why he is referred to as a king and an aid to God's caliph.@ The distinction in the Qamiin between the spiritual leadership of the caliph and political leadership embodied in kingship® is one which is not

50

5

54

55 50 57

izharuhu ta'ala '-izzata lirasulihi (Qanun, p. 1, l. 6), azhara bhi dinahu (Qanun, p. 1, l 8), thumma khallafa badahu nurahu '(ladh la yantafi'u bi'l-afwahi (Qanun, p. 1, l 9). wa la yabtula bitakdhub '-lisani wa'l-shifahi (ibid. ). Muhammad '-mustafa khayru '-khalqi (Athar, p. , l 1), wa amaddahu bikhuluqin qadi 'mtanna bimithlihi 'ala nabiyyihi (Athar, p. , l. 3), wa 'ala alihi a'immati '-huda wa'l-haqqi (Athar, p. , l 1), wajadahu yatimanfa-awahwa 'a'ilanfa-aghnahu hatta sharaha sadrahu wa rafa'a lah dhikrahu (Qamun, p. 1, l. 7),

58

pg»

48

49

al-mas'uduman sa'ida bi'llahi 'azaawajalla (O»[ 3

59

wa awda'ahawliya'ahu li'-tabsir wa'l-hid@yati (Qanin, p. , l. 9), ka'-maliki 'D-ajalli 'Fsayyidi 'l-mu'azg@mi nasiri dini '(lahi wa zahiri khalifati 'llahi (Qanun,

60

al-mulk (Qanun,p.2,l.8),

J'{¢ Z@n, p. 1, 1 3)

waafarrada t ... 'ani 'I-ashkali wa't-ashbahi (ibid.),

p. 1,l, u),

I. I [] I 4

I [

I Je

---···--1.

CHAPTEIRt 1 AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

20

;%

21

made in the Athar where

'tha> h ·thevery definition ofthe Perfect Manas microcosms . h · 1 · the Imam. It may necessitates the inclusion01fboth these roles in the person of •

the Qamun patronage is clearly granted?? and service is expected® although, as ever, abundant praise appears to be freely and gratefully given. It is clear, then,

be al-Biruni's awareness of such a distinction in the Ghaznavid understanding

from the preface that al-Birini found favour with Mas'ud, that he had access to

of dynastic order and their greater reliance upon the caliphate for legitima-

the court and received an income which enabled him to devote himself entirely to his scientific work.

tion that makes discussion of the Imamate inappropriate in the preface to the Qamin. Rather than an intellectual development, the change we encounter may very well be a reflection of rival dynastic structures and the necessary intellectual diplomacy of a scholar-servant in what most certainly were very different

courts with distinct polities. Mas'id's role is further elaborated as the protector of the Community and the defender against its enemies.®! Moreover, as with the Prophet, it is Providence which intervenes in Mas'id's favour? returning to him what is rightfully his,®® namely, kingship and power.®+ Mas'id's kingship is, therefore, granted a divine disposition@ and a spiritual acknowledgement.®® This religious dimen-

sion begins subtly to acquire caliphal qualities through a transferred epithet, namely, the "shadow (of God)" and a suggestive form of panegyric whereby alBiruni describes Mas'id as (God's) shadow to whom the believers are naturally drawn® and whose rule God has ordained in Umm al-Kitab.@® By attributing

Mas'id with qualities particularly associated with the caliph, al-Biruni raises his spiritual status to more than mere kingship but avoids the entanglement of actually calling him caliph or Imam which, given the history of the Ghaznavid dynasty, their reliance upon the caliphate in Baghdad for legitimacy, and their

extended conflict with the Buyids, would have been inappropriate titles. The final stage in the hierarchy described cites al-Birini's relationship with Mas'ud. The patron-client relationship, which necessitates an expression ofgratitude,® is built upon the basic requirement imposed on the subject, namely, to obey?® Moreover, unlike the Athar where patronage is implied and service?' is a duty, in

61 62

63 64

mulkahu wa sult@anahu (Qanun, p. 2,1. 6), al-istifa'u 1-itahi (Qanin, p. 2,l. 10), habahu '-irtha 'afwan (Qanun, p. 2,L 9),

67

ista'jalat nahwahu '[-arwahu litatafayya'a btiafyala (0,n,

69

yakhussuni minhu ni'matan tu'a

l.13).,

73

lazimatni 'Lkhudmatu bikhassiha (Qanun.p. 3,L 1),

7-4

alfaytu rutbata 't- ibmi 'indah ashrafa '-rutbati (Qanun, p. 3, L 16),

77

),

68

al»

makkanantfi sababati 'umri mina '-inbisati li-khidmati 'l-'ilmi (Qaniin, p. 3, l 2).

75

· U93° DY\Q@tun,p.2, . 11y. hukmuhufi ummi 'L-kit@bi mas(uran (Qamun, p. 2, l. 13).

71

methodology of Ibn Sina. This refining of terminology does not affect al-Biruni's

basic argument against erroneous attitudes towards received knowledge, namely the reiteration of falsehoods contained in khabar passed down uncorrected. Al-Biruni writes at length in the Qaniin claiming that he did not follow those who preceded him in their approach to received science because blind imitation and repetition result in the perpetuation of uncorrected faults.S

hafizu 'ibadi '(lahi 'L-muntaqimi min a'da'i 'lahi (Qanuin, p. 2, l 1), khudhilafa-nasarahu 'llahu wa rufidafa-a'la tahu sha'nahu (Qanun, p. 2,1. 5), ruju'u '-haqqi ila ahlihi (Qammn, p. 2,L 4),

65 66

70

The primary reason described for crafting a work devoted to Mas'id is given directly after the encomium to him and derives overtly from his influence rather than al-Biruni's interest in science. Finding that Mas'ud did not require his services at the court, realising that science stood in the highest favour with his patron,?} and aided by his personal interest in mathematics?@ al-Biruni expresses his desire to compose a book on astronomy? and to adorn it with the name of his patron and master?? In doing so, al-Biruni mentions a further reason for writing the Qanin, namely, to preserve Mas'id's memory, and the contents of the work through time. Given the prominence of the Qur'an in the Qamun, this is very evocative language:? this aim is best achieved through the medium of the book given its mobility and permanence.?? Al-Birini devotes the final part of the preface detailing his methodology. Unlike the Athar where the word al-taqlid refers to the histories and is, therefore, synonymous with al-akhbar, in the Qaniin al-taqlid refers to the blind imitation of al-akhbar which is one of al-Birini's principle objections to the

778

79

1.4,

tabaduli 'D-amkinati (Qanun, p. 4, l. 8),

@qqbu '-fakhra wa tiujibu idmana '-shukri (Qanun, p. 2, 80

lazimatni 'I-ta'atubi'ammiha (Qanun, p. 3, l. 1), al-khidma.

kuntu mutaalliqan bi-tarafin min atrafi 'I-'ilmi L-riy@di (Qanun, p. 3. l 17),

sin@'atu 'Ltanjui (Qanun, p. 4, l 2), hatlaytuhu biakrami hilyatin hya '-qanum'L-mas'idi (Qamun, p. 3,l 3). baqa'i 'I-dhikri fi '-alamin (Qanun, p. 4.l. 7). fa'l-kitabu min bayni '-athari '-mudawwanati abqa 'ala marri 'L-azminati, wa athbatu 'ala lam asluk fhi maslaka man taqaddamani ... 'ala mat@ya '-tardidi ila qaday@ '-taqlidi (Qanun. p. 4, l 9),

idh kana khullidafiha kullu sahwin badara minhum (Qamn, p. 4, l 14),

a

a

t. L.I

l 1l.

1.

ill it

I

'

I

lI4 IL

3a y

.l . A

CHAPTER j

22

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

-%< beli e ±d alall tac facts should be tested and backed by proof,® and that Al-Biruni velieve ;n

a

¢:

m

3f>

®3d kn

recipients ot receive

Know!

ledge should vigorously adhere to this method of 8sos»

4

23

Kitabtahqiqmali'l-Hind

4.,

testing.® He is interested in correcting faults and flaws,' especially where 86 claims to ensure t. of core truth is concerned ' Al-B1rurn also I. perception the ,,,4% t, +s7. . J ·s woi· k · n a manner that not only deters imitation' but and the Qaniin,are non-existent in the Hind.This work

prefaces to e

ar

•

. .

.•

given the above implications and its moral and didactic, rather than religious nd eulogistic, introduction, is meant as an implicit critique of Mahmud's reign

i

29

contained in received knowledge for those who are not alert to the true facts of a given subject.'? Throughout, the discernment of truth!® is underpinned by an ethical structure. This focuses primarily on deontology, namely, the duties and personal morality of al-Haki to which al-Biruni, the Haki of this work, is by implication also morally subject, and only secondarily on the tele-

nd purports to set out in clear and dispassionate detail a true picture of Indian civilisation based on authentic primary sources. Revealing a pragmatism more

ological validity of the source or, indeed, the truth that is inherent®! in a given

than a moral idealism, al-Birini seizes upon a rare opportunity in the immedi-

subject.

ate wake of Mahmud's death to freely express himself in the Hind without the weight of patronage bearing down upon his words and the consequent risks of

voicing his true convictions, under the aegis of speaking the truth. Given the moral and ethically saturated content of the preface to the Hind it is quite conceivable that for al-Biruni an accurate description of another cul-

ture or religion was a moral responsibility. The example cited of the Hak\3© who misrepresents the Mu'tazilite doctrine of God's Omniscience highlights the way in which such accounts [sing. Hikaya,\? are more often than not

Al-Biruni moves from an assessment of the nature of scientific exactitude to

the specifics of "Indian religions"° He argues that studies already produced suffer from the uncritical acceptance of transmitted material,'? confused and ill-marshalled thinking, bias, and finally from a distinct lack of precision@ and dispassionate reporting.®° Even al-Iranshahri (fl. second half of ninth century) of whom he makes an exception because of his imaginative thinking? does not "hit the mark" when it comes to India and Buddhism.5® This is largely

as a result of his blind reliance upon Zurqan, of whom al-Biruni speaks slight-

polemical works prone to the problem of misrepresentation.3° AL- Biruni states

that these studies comprise a twofold distinction. The first is between those which describe dogmas° within the framework of one belief system and those

which attempt an understanding of wholly different religions.'® Any unrepresentative and polemical content in the latter is less transparent/! because the subject is exotic'? and its comprehension difficult to achieve.'The second distinction contrasts text-based pronouncements'# and those that derive from oral lore'? and legendary narratives.'© By adverting to the different origins of these pronouncements , al-Biruni highlights the dangers of accepted fallacy

136

138

Hind,p.3,l 12.

147 148

manya'rifuhaqiqata '-halifiha {Hind.p. 4,l. 6), al-tahqq,

149

ghayra 'khajili in hazzat bi'itfihi 't-fadlatu awi '-israri wa'l-lajaji in rakhkhatfihi 'I-radhilatu (Hind, p. 4, l. 7),

150

This does not correspond to haqiqatu 't-hali (Hind, p. 4. l. 6 and 8) which is al-Birimi's utilitarian understanding of factual truth based upon scientific observation. 152 al-kalamu ala adyani '-Hindi (Hind,p. 4,l 1o), 153 manhulunwa ba'duha 'an badinmanqulun(Hind,p. 4,l. 12), t54 ghayrumuhadhdhabin 'ala ra'yihim wa la mushadhdhabin (ibid.).

Hind, p. 4.l 1. EE,hikaya. The radical h. k. y./w. is not represented in the Ku'ran but it is

mayl and mudahana (Hind, p. 4. l 14),

found in hadit hwith the primary meaning of to resemble" or "to imitate" ... to reproduce

al-hikayat '-mujarradatu (ibid.), MUJARRAD, a deux sens principaux: iiere abstrait, ce

with the most exact fidelity the demeanour and bearing of various types of people"

qui est obtenu par tajrid, de la abstraction, la chose abstraite; 2ieme separe, libre de toute

hadhihi tariqatun qalla ma yakhlu minha man yaqsidu 'I-hikayata 'ani 'L-mukhalifina wa'l-

maniere, ce qui est dans 'etat de tajarrud, ... Mujarrad peut aussi prendre le sens de seul,

khusmi (Hind, p. 4, l. 1). 1 39

Hind,p.3,l.12,

151

al-madhahib (Hind, p. 4,l. 2),

140

al-milalu '-muftariqatu (Hind, p. 4, l. 3). 141 akhfa.

pur, en soi" Goichon, A. (1938: 40), 157

munfardun bimukhtara'in lahu (Hind, p. 4, l 15). "IK1TARA'A, a ete traduit par abstrahit, mais il semble bien que c'est a tort et que ce verbe presente dans le vocabulaire avicennien

,L.4),

son sens habituel de produire, imaginer ... Cependant cette traduction est autorisee par la theorie avicennienne des quatre degres d'abstraction realisee par les sens, l'imagination,

'arrufiha (ibid.),

' estimative et I' intelligence".Goichon. A., (1938: 104),

i p. 4,l. 5), .9). EI,"Samar. It seems that samar is used mainly of tales of the so of reports, since Ibnal-Nadim sometimes refers to authentic siyar P-4,l. 9),

In the mid-eighth century Buddhism was flourishing in eastern Iran, Afghanistan, and Transoxania with a series of prosperoustrading communities located along the old caravan routes to India and China. By the eleventhcentury, however, Buddhism had so thoroughly disappeared from eastern Iran and Afghanistanthat al-Biruni was able to pass on only very fragmentary information. See Athar p. 20.

-;:;.---

CHAPTER 1

30 »ingly, h btnut

a le so be ecau 1se

al-lranshahri records common . •

I . h h earsay! ,s9 whicl

31

k

ranks

below eyewitness accounts!U in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. instead he bases the Hind upon his personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic/! and a cultural guide book!® typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist

in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural supe-

f

AL-BiRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

riority.

Al-Biriini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce

a polemical work!®® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu, } using their words." For al-Birini this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better way to form a balanced picture ofbelief and custom than to quote Indian oral

andwritten sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic) Truth.99

,t

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations." As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya! and the Yoga-Sitra of Patarjali'? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-fur, and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Panthe- ! ism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-,11 thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta? school of Hindu philosophers"F Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that alBiruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century Isma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), 1bn Hindu (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Birini's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Binini's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

1 59

mit'u mina ['-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,L. 4).

1 60

munaqadata/um (Hind, p. 5,l. 7), ukhalatatahum (ibid.), Sachau , E.C., (1910, vol. I: 250).

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

170

waudifuilayhi ma li't-yunaniyyinamin mithlihi lita'rifi 'L-muqarabati baynahum(Hind, p. 5, l 2),

171

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of lsvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of themare available today including the one which al-Biruni used. The Yoga-Sutra ofatarjali is the most significant text in the yoga traditionand represents

t72

the codification ofyoga ideas andpractices that had developed over many centuries. This

dhakhira(Hind,p. 5,I. 7),

165

text was composed sometime between 100BCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms or sutras on yogacalled the eight-limbed" astanga, or "the bestr@ja, yoga. In medieval

nusratan (ibid.),

, , 'ala way, wainbc

, ,

in (Hind , p. 5,L. 10). ind, p. 5,L. 8), -5%l.n1),

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy,

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910, vol. 1:254),

7qqa(Hind,p.5,1.8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

I

,j»mi H .a Laila L

I

mu

m l

Il

>

I

it

1.- A.- -.,

I

II

I

+

--

]

111

CHAPTER 1

30

ingly, but also because al-Iranshahri records common hearsay'® which ranks below eyewitness accounts!®® in importance.

It is for these reasons that al-Birini chooses not to reference the Islamic literature on Hindu belief. Instead he bases the Hind upon bis personal translations of Hindu texts, studies of Indian literary materials, and, his research into Brahmin oral traditions. With a further disregard for Islamic literary tradition al-Biruni disregards Abu Sahl al-Tiflisi's advice urging him to write a work

combining the elements of a polemic!! and a cultural guide book? typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres. Edward Sachau suspects that Abu Sahl was one of the high civil functionaries of the court of Mahmud,63 This would explain the character of the work which he encourages al-Biruni to write, namely, a functional work,/® literally an arsenal of information, to assist in the administration of a subjugated population and a summary critique of its

religion to support!® the preservation of a conqueror's sense of cultural superiority. j Al-Birini seeks an entirely different objective. His aim is not to produce a polemical work/® but to faithfully reproduce Indian beliefs, mainly Hindu,

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

31

the traditions of the Eastern Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. However, he also wanted to draw parallels between the Greek philosophy and Hindu

thought of the intellectual elites within these two societies. It is clear from the tenor of the preface that al-Biruni wishes to assert his independence from secondary sources and confine himself to the Greek primary sources which would

have been available to him in Arabic translations.@ As a direct consequence, e the Hind is highly unusual for its time because it draws on original sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, translated by the author from the Sanskrit. Al-Biruni states his reliance only on translations he has made of the Samkhya"} and the Yoga-Sitra of Pataijali®? and hopes that by doing so the Hind would enable his readers to dispense with other translations of these Sanskrit tracts, partly by transferring large portions of his translations into the Hind, and partly by focusing more on legal norms, al-furi', and science in order to produce a truly encyclopaedic work.

This does not, however, provide an obstacle to the integration of the Indian philosophical corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science

j using their words.'®7 For al-Biruni this is the definition ofal-Hikaya. What better

into the worldview of the Muslim educated elite. According to Sachau "Pantheism in Islam, the doctrine of the Sufis, is as near to the Neoplatonic and Neopy-

way to form a balanced picture of belief and custom than to quote Indian oral and written sources literally!® even if what is cited contradicts the (Islamic)

thagorean schools of Greek philosophy as to the Vedanta173 school of Hindu f philosophers"® Later scholars have expanded on this view to argue that al-

Truth. 59

I I,

Biruni maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civil-

It is significant that save for the tenth-century lsma'ili author, Abu Ya'qub

isations share. This position is not borne out in the three prefaces examined

ll

al-Sijistani, no other author writing in Arabic is mentioned in the Hind, despite the vast wealth of information about Greek philosophy contained in the works of al-Birini's contemporaries such as Abu Sulayman al-Sijistani (d. 1000), Ibn Hindi (d. 1030), Miskawayh (d. 1030) and many others. Hindu popular beliefs and practices, in al-Biruni's view, were much like those of the ancient Greeks. Furthermore, he even related some aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from

here, rather, in accordance with al-Biruni's Ash'arite disposition, one senses the

I

incompatibility of his Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, with those schools or movements cited by Sachau above. By omitting

Islam from comparison al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority despite

wau@ifuilayhi ma ti'l-yunaniyyina min mithlihi lita'rifi 'l-muqarabati baynahum (Hind, p. 5, l. 12)

ut'u mina ['I-] 'awammi (Hind, p. 5,l. 4).

1 60

161

171

a qadatahum(Hind, p. 5,1. 7),

um (ibid.),

172

50)l

The earliest surviving authoritative text on Samkhya philosophy is the Samkhya-karika (c. 200CE) of Isvara Krisna. There were probably other texts in the early centuries CE, however none of them are available today including the one which al-Bir iniused. The Yoga-Sutr@ofataijali is the most significant textin the yoga tradition and represents the codification of yoga ideas and practices that had developedover many centuries. This

•

text was composed sometime between ooBCE and 500CE and contains 196 aphorisms

nusratan (ibid.),

or sutras on yoga called the "eight-limbed" astanga, or "the best", r@ja, yoga. In medieval

kitabu hijajin wajadalin(Hind, p. 5, l. 1o), hikayatukalamihi (Hind, p. 5,1. 8), 'ala wajhihi (Hind, p.5,L. 1),

,

!

ll !

170 1 59

I

times, astanga-yoga was cast as one of the six main schools of Hindu philosophy.

173

In the medieval period of Hinduism, the word Vedanta came to mean the school of philosophy that interpreted the Upanishads.

174

Sachau, E.C., (1910,vol. t: 254),

wainba yana 'I-haqqa (Hind, p. 5,1. 8),

CHAPTER 3

32

his employing any number of methods from observation to rationalisation to demonstrate the interrelatedness of the sciences and religion whether it be Islam or Hinduism.

5

Al-Biriini, Hindu Cosmology, and Atomism

The cosmologies upheld by Ibn Sina and al-Biruni are not only apparent in their unique understanding of the perfect man,"®a person according to I1bn Sina who has reached the highest position which corresponds to the acquired intellect, but aJso, at the other end of the scale, in their views concerning the nature of single metaphysical units. The rational component stressed in Ibn Sina's perfect man translates into an attack on Democritus' atomism as it is later upheld by Muslim theologians"® and defended by al-Birini in the As'ila. Atomism permeates many of al-Biruni's works and is certainly sensed in the preface to the Athar where he compares a day with the indivisible unit as the basis of all constructs.'? For Ibn Sina, as for Aristotle, the great weakness of the concept of indivisible atoms178 was that it postulated that atoms were not subject to change, which for them was the very essence of matter. Similarly, the essential component in the hierarchy of existents, according to Ibn Sina's cosmology, is generation and corruption to which even his perfect man is subject. Al-Biruni's criticism of the Muslim Peripatetics whom he identifies with Aristotle7? does not blind him to the fact that there are also certain difliculties in the atomistic view. He, nevertheless, maintains that the view held by the

AL-BIRUNI: PROLOGUES AND METHOD

similar in objective, differs entirely in its source which is Indian philosophy. In the preface to the Hind al-Birini notes the similarities between the Greek and Hindu traditions, in particular, their shared belief in metempsychosis/+ and the unity of the Divine./5 Pythagoras may have obtained his doctrine of metempsychosis from India, mediated via Achaemenid Persia (sixth--fourth century BCE), but similar ideas were known in Egypt and were present in (Greece before his time. It is known, moreover, that Hindu ascetics occasionally visited Greece during Alexander's empire. The most striking similarity of Greek and Indian thought is the resemblance between the system of mystical gnosis described in the Enneads of Plotinus (third century CE) and that of the Yoga-Sutra attributed to Patarjali (c. second century CE) which was translated by al-Biruni as, Tarjamatu kitabi Batanjalfi 'L-khalasi mina 'l-irtibaki\®although it is unclear whether direct influence could have occurred in this case. Indian philosophy as expressed in al-Biruni's Hind suggests a qualitative atomism based upon the doctrine of the four elements of fire, air, earth and water. Further research may reveal al-Birini's knowledge of certain Indian systems where the atoms are not absolutely indivisible but only relatively so, which is closer to the minima doctrine than to the atomism of Democritus. If this is indeed the case then the Hind reflects an outstanding episode in the long history of debate between the defenders of the view of continuity and the proponents of the discontinuity of physical bodies as well as an attempt to introduce a wholly different, Indian (mainly Hindu) cosmology into this debate and to present it to the worldview of the Muslim educated elite.

Peripatetics is more open to criticism!®@ than the view of the atomists. Ibn Sina

184

al-hull(Hind,p.6.1.1).

responds by pointing out that Aristotle considered matter to be divisible ad infinitum!! only potentially/? and not actually.'> Given al-Biruni's awareness of Hindu religious influence on the ancient Mediterranean world it is not surprising that the alternative that he proposes to Ibn Sina's response, although

185

al-ittihad (ibid.),

186

Pines. S..and Gelblum, T. (1966: 302-325}

175 176

khayru 'l-khalqi,(Athar, p. 1,l. 3) al-mutakallimun.

177

idh hum@ [al-yawmu wa'l-laylatu] li'l-shuhuri wa'l-sinini wa'l-tawarikhi ka'l-wahidi li'la'dadi minhu tatarakkabu wa ilayhi tanhallu, (Athar, p. 5, l. n), 178 juz'unlayatajazza' (As'ila,p.17,l.8). 179 Aristutalis (As'ila,p. 17,l.7),

180 ashna' (As'ila,p.18,l.2), 181 anyujazz'a abadan (As'ila,p.19,l.1), 182

bi'l-quwwwa (As'ila,p. 19,l. 3).

183

bl-fit (ibid.),

ca

3.3

35

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

CHAPTER 2

Hindu Metaphysics According to the Hind 1

Mediaeval Arabic 'Texts on Hinduism and Their Sources

Previously we noted the priority given to the methodological discussion in the preface of the Hind in which Abu Sahl al-Titlisi urges al-Birini to write a work combining the elements of a polemic, typical of the Islamic heresiographical and geographical genres, "for those who wish to dispute with them [Hindus ]",1 and a cultural guide book "for those who wish to mix with them [ibid.]", (Hind, p. 5, I. 7), even though significant information on India was already available through Arabic translations of Sanskrit works. These include a translation reputedly by Ibrahim Fazari? (d. 777) in 772 of Brahmasphutasiddhanta under the name ofSind Hind which Muslim mathematicians in later periods used as a source book and which was quoted widely by Muslim astronomers. Further, interest in Indian astronomy, mathematics and philosophy was spurred by significant interaction with Hindu civilisation during eighth-century Abbasid Baghdad.® Such contact is indicated in, among other sources listed by Ibn al-Nadim (d. 998),° the Muruj 'L-dhahab? of al-Mas'idi (d. 956) and the Ras@'il® of al-Jahiz (d. 869). Other relevant works translated

in this earlier Abbasid period to which al-Biruni refers include Brahmagupta's Khandakhadyaka,) a book on astronomy known in its Arabic translation as alArkand, Panchatantra of Vishnu Sarma translated by Ibn al-Muqaffa' (d. 756) under the Arabic title Kalila wa Dimna, and Ganit of Arya Bhatta, a work of arithmetic anonymously translated.? The existence of many such anonymous translations of Sanskrit texts may be attributed to the appointment of Hindu physicians to the Abbasid court. The inspiration for the translation of medical works came from the school of medicine that was started by the Barmakids.® Since it was compulsory for an Hindu student to study grammar and philosophy before he was allowed to pursue medicine, these medical scholars could easily impart knowledge of Indian philosophy to those who sought it, hence we find a variety of subjects introduced by the medical scholars to the court of Baghdad. It is highly unlikely that al-Biruni was unaware of these translations from the

Abbasid court, however, his generally negative view of the standard of what

wa'l-tasawiri wa'l-sina'ati 'l-kathirati 'I-'ajibati, "for you are aware of what India has in mathematics, astronomy, medical secrets, turnery, carpentry, imagery, and many amazing

crafts" (Fakhr '-sudani 'ala 'L-bidani, vol. 1, p. 212). This is an astronomical work written by Brahmagupta in 665.

9

o

Hind,p.346,l13,

1 12

Hind,p.23,l.. Roy Choudhury.M.L.,(195429-22)cites the Ganit in addition to other Sanskrit translations of this early Abbasid period in Baghdad including: Panjika by Khan Jain (almanac), Hitopadesh of Vishnu Sarma by Abal, Kalila wa dimna through Persian, Nakshatra Sastra

(science of the lunar state) by an unknown author, Karana Tilak by Brahmagupta, a 1 liman arada munaqadatahum (Hind,p.5,L. 7), 2 Ibrahim b. Habib al-Fazari. Cf. Hind, p. 128,1 12; p. 131, lb6; p. 259, l 7. Also in GAs VI pp. 122-124; GAL S 1, p. 391; Dodge, B., The Fihrist of al-Nadim. New York and London, 1970,

synopsis by Abu Muhammad Allah, and Josapha and Barlam (Bodhisabwa and Purohit), a

13

vol. 11, p. 649.

evidenced by a large number of Sanskrit works whichwere translated by these physicians

3 This is the main work of Brahmagupta, written c. 628. The text is notable for its mathematical

working in different fields during the eighth century. These include (cf. Roy Choudhury, ML., 1954) works translated from Sanskrit by Mank on the science of medicine, the science of poison, veterinary science, treatment of pregnant women, and pharmacology, Dhan translated works on the science of eight parts (anatomy) and the science of joints. Moreover, there were many books translated by Salih (cf. Salih 'Abd al-kuddisa in EI) but none of these manuscripts have been found, References to these translations by Salih mention astrology (drawing of horoscopes), agriculture, anatomy and palmistry as

content.

4 Hind,p.18,l. 9. 5 The following overview of Indian sources draws from the article by Roy Choudhury, ML. 1954: Abu Raihan al Biruni and his Indian studies", in /ndo-lranica 7 (3), pp. 9-22. Cal cutta. 6 Ibn al-Nadim, Muhammad b. Ishaq. Kitab 'I-fihrist. G. Flugel (ed.). 2 vols. Leipzig 1871-1872. Trans. Dodge, B., (1970),

7 Al-Mas'idi, Muruj '{-dhahab. ed. and trans. C.A. Barbier de Meynard and B.M.M. Pavet de Courteille. 9 vols. Paris 1861-1877 (Collections d'ouvrages orientaux, publ. par la Societe_ Asiatique, 2)

description of the Buddha and his preceptor in Persian. The important presence of Hindu medics as court physicians in Abbasid Baghdad is

14

subjects, Certainly by the time of Harun al-Rashid (786-808) the following Sanskrit works had already been translated into Arabic, as recorded by lbn al-Nadim in his Kit@ab 'l-fihrist (Dodge, B.. 1970: vol. 1, p. 710): Gynaecology by Roshena; Diseases of Gestation, author

8 Al-Jahiz, Ras@'il. Abd al-Salam Muhammad Harun (ed.). 2 vols. Beirut 1996. waqad ta'lamina

unknown; Treatment ofSnake Bites (Rai Pandit) translator unknown; Veterinary Science of

ma fi '-hindi mina 'I-hisabi wa 'ilmi '-nujumi wa asrari 't-tibbi wa'l-kharti wa'l-najri

© KONINKLI]

N,2016 ] DOI: 10.1163/9789004305540_004 i

i

CHAPTER 2

36

had been analysed in the past may have dissuaded him from overreliance upon such sources: An example was given on the explanation of the debate concerning the

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

37

b. Zain;" al-Biruni's own astronomical work entitled Khayal 'l-kusifayn! and, finally, al-Biruni demonstrates a high regard for the account of Abu al-'Abbas al-lranshahri?? (b. ninth century) although less so of his partial reliance upon a work by Zurqan written in 863:

religions and doctrines of the Hindus. I then pointed out that the majority [of such debates on this subject] are recorded in books [i.e., are secondary], borrowed and copied from each other. They consist of snatches which are an unorganised and untidy mixture of their view[s].

I did not find among those writers of treatises anyone who sought purely to narrate without bias or flattery except Abu al-'Abbas al-lranshahri ... when he came [in his book] to the Hindus and the Buddhists his arrow missed the mark, and in its latter part he strayed upon the book of Zurqan

This attitude may have encouraged the moredirect methodology employed in the Hind's use oforiginal sources, mainly Hindu religious and philosophical texts, which had not, up until his day, been made available or translated. In spite of this al-Biruni refers to a number of Arabic sources in connection with

and copied its contents into his own book.-?

2

Al-Biruni's Sanskrit Sources: Kit@b Sank and Kit@ab Batanjal

his study on India and Indian subjects, these include Ya'qub b. Tariq's (d. c. 796)

astronomical work entitled Tarkib '-aflak}® the Sufi works of Abu Bakr al-Shibli (861--946) and Abu Yazid al-Bistami (804-874),F specifically in connection with pantheism in Islam, as both drew extensively from Indian sources;/ references

to al-Kindi's (c. 801--873) use of the Karna;/® Carak Samhit@ as quoted by 'Ali

It is quite clear from even a summary overview of al-Biruni's extant writings, that when it comes to the subjects of Hindu astronomy, philosophy and religion it is on his own wide readings in and translations of Sanskrit texts that he relies. Al-Biruni refers to at least ten Hindu works?+ in the Hind on which he had worked or with which he was familiar, and almost as many translations??

Kankayan, translator unknown; Science ofNecromancy of Raja Kahn, translator unknown; Character of Women of Raja Kosh or Ghosh, translator unknown; Drinkable of Atri, trans-

15

20

lator unknown; Science ofWine, author and translator unknown; Science ofMusic, author

-Tabari 'anhu, (Hind,p. 321, l 15\. 'This is the nature of the yugas [sic] as theycircle round

and translator unknown; Science ofMineralogy author and translator unknown.

through the Caturyuga. The book Caraka, as quoted by 'Ali [bn Zain ofTabaristan, says ...",

wa kana waqa'a 'I-mithalu fifahwa 'L-kalami 'ala adyani 'Lhindi wa madhahibihim fa

Sachau, E.C., (1910, vol. 1: 382),

ashartu ila anna aktharaha huwa masturun fi 'l-kutubi huwa manhiulun wa ba'duha 'an ba'din manqulun wa malqutun makhlutun ghayru muhadhdhabin 'ala ra'yihim wa la mus-

21

a book entitled Khayal 'L-kusufayn".

wa dhalika muqtabasun mina 'L-ra'i 'l-qadimi 'lladhi hakahu Ya'qub bin Tariq fi "Tarkibi '-aflaki 'ani 't-hindi, (Hind, p. 132, l. 7). ".. this is derived from the old theory narrated by Ya'qib Ibn Ta riq in his book Tarkib al-aflak on the authority of his Hindu informant"

22

Cf.Gas vi,pp.172-173,

23

Jama wajadtuminashabikutubi 'l-maqalati ahadanqasada 'L-hik@yata 'l-mujarradata min ghayri maylin wa la mudahanatin siwa Abi '[-'Abbas 'D-Iranshahri.., wa hinabalaghafirqata 'L-hindi wa'-shamaniyyati safa sahmuhu 'ani '-hadafi wa tashafi akhirihiila kit@bi Zarqana

Cf. GAS VI, pp. 124-127.

17 18

Cf.GALS1,p.353 wa kaqawli Abi Bakr al-Shibli ... wa kajawabi Abi Yazid al-Bistami, (Hind, p. 66, L 17), For an insightful analysis of the Upanishadic background of a number of al-Bistam's · "Abi Yazid of Bistam a Turning-Point in Islamic Mysticism"

wa naqala mafihi ila kitabihi (Hind, p. 4.l 13).

24

mathematics), Hind, p. u8, l 17; Brhatsamhita ofVarahamihira (astrolog y), Hind, p. 89, l 14; hira (astronomy), Hind, p. u9, l. 2; Paulisasiddhanta by Paulisa (Indian astronomy), Hind, p. 118, l 14; Romakasiddhanta bySrisena (astronomy), Hind, p. 118, I. 16; Khandakhadyakaof

-in-aradtaanudhakkirakamin amriham@ rubbamanasay

ot with

thalahu 'atharu 'alayha ghayramufassalatin, (Hind, p. 506, word Karna ... and if you wanted me to remind you a little ithave forgotten about it, know that al-Kindi and his like came across it gexplained".

Important works include: Brahmasphutasiddhanta of Brahmagupta (astronomy and Laghujataka of Varahamihira (astrology), Hind, p. 22, l. 5; Pavcasiddhantika ofarahamiV

, pp. 286-301. Cf. also Pines, S., 1994.

19

waqad taqassayna bar@hna hadhihi 't-a'malifi kit@bin wa sammaynahu bikhayali '-kusfayni, (Hind. p. 512, l 17),".. we have examined thoroughly the proofs of these methods in

hadhdhabin (Hind, p. 4, l 10).

16

fa hadhihi a/rwalu 'L-jukat dairatunfi "Gatryuka"; wafi kitabi "]arak" hikayatu 'Ali bin Zain

Brahmagupta (astronomy),Hind, p. 12o, l 16; Chhanda ofHaribhatta (meter and prosody), Hind, p. 109, l 1; Yoga-Sutra of Pataijali (philosophy). Hind, p. 42. l. 7; and the Gita (religion), Hind, p. 21, l. 17.

25

Including Brahmasphutasiddhanta of Brahmagupta, Hind, p. 118, l 17; Laghujataka of

CHAPTER 2

38

as well as works which he claims to have written in Sanskrit.26 This emphasis on self-reliance highlights the importance of the Hind in its role as a cosmological treatise drawing upon original sources, mainly Sanskrit scientific, religious and philosophical texts, rather than a further recapitulation of inherited materials and oral accounts or, indeed, a comparative study of religions based on contemporary Graeco-Arabic philosophy. In the preface to the Hind al-Biruni refers to his reliance on the translations he has made of the Samkhya of Kapila and the Yoga-Sutra of Pataijali. He suggests that the Hind would replace these translations of Sanskrit works, which are religious and metaphysical rather than scientific in content, partly by transferring large portions of these translations into his latest work, and partly by focusing more on detail, al-fir', and science: And I had translated into Arabic two books, the first on beginnings and the description of existence called Sank, and the other on the emancipation of the soul from the snares of the body called Batanjal. These two contain the fundamentals of their [the Hindus] belief but without the details of their [religious] laws.27

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

39

in Indian cities, and in places of pilgrimage for Hindus, and only secondarily upon Sanskrit texts translated into Arabic during the earlier and later Abbasid period. It is significant in the light of al-Biruni's heavy reliance upon Patarjali's Yoga-Sutra when outlining a Hindu perspective of the soul in the Hind, that he should define these two earlier works so sharply in its preface. Given that al-Biruni's Samkhya text has not survived it can only be concluded from the allusion to it in the preface and the ample quotations found from it in the first section of the Hind that al-Biruni chose to limit his use of Classical Samkhya to certain aspects of metaphysical speculation, namely, its treatment of "begin-

nings and the description of existence"?? This is despite the fact that Classical Samkhya, as it is generally defined, comprises its own dualistic theory regarding

the soul/matter relationship.30 The numerous philosophical differences between Classical Yoga and Classical Samkhya (henceforth referred to simply as Yoga and Samkhya) derive from

the different methodologies adopted by the two schools of thought. Samkhya relies primarily on the exercise of the discernment of spirit, prusa, from matter, prakrti, on the basis of prefabricated categories of differentiation, stressing a theoretical and intellectual analysis in order to bring out the nature of final emancipation.®!

An analysis of Arabic translations of Sanskrit texts available to al-Biruni as well as a discussion of the sources which he refers to or directly quotes from in the Hind is as important as an analysis of his methodology. Indeed it is significant, given this received wealth of translated materials on many relevant topics, that the Hind draws primarily upon al-Biruni's direct personal study of Sanskrit original works as well as from contact with astronomers?® in Ghazna,

Varahamihira, Hind, p. 122, l. 5; Brhatsamhit@ ofVarahamihira, Hind, p. 272, l. 2; Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali, Hind, p. 42,l. 7; Samkhya of Kapila, Hind, p. 102,l. 2; Nyaya ofKapila, p. 102, l. 4.

26

References to the original books written in Sanskrit by al-Biruni include al-Majisti (Greek astronomy) and Euclid's works translated into Sanskrit, (cf. Boilot's L' oeuvre d' al-Biruni" MIDEO 2, 1955, which is the standard listing of al-Biruni's works, and includes the Sanskrit

27

translations of Euclid's Elements [G 175], Ptolemy's Almagest [G 176], and a work on the astrolabe [RG 177]; the article notes that these books were made by others for al-Biruni). wa kuntunaqaltuila 'l-'arabiyyi kit@bayni ahaduhumafi 'l-mabadi'i wa sifati 'I-mawjudati, wa ismuhu "Sank" wa'l-akharufi takhlisi 'I-nafsi min ribati 'I-badani wa yu'rafu bi- "Batan jali" wa fihima aktharu '1-usuli 'llati 'alayha madaru i'tiqadihim diuna furu'i shara'iihim (Hind, p. 6,L 1).

28

innikuntu aqifumin munajjimihimmaqama 'I-tilmidhi mina 'l-ustadhi li'ujmatifima bay +. a1

na humfthi min muwwada'atihim (Hind p. 7,l. 16).I was, when it mers, in the relationof pupil to teacher, because I was a foreigner 1orant of their terminology".

Yoga, on the other hand, cannot be strictly described as a dualistic system since emancipation is achieved through a practical understanding and clearer realisation of one's intrinsic identity as spirit, purusa, rather than through the intellectual discernment of purusa from matter, prakrti. The history of yoga is long and ancient. The term yoga, derived from the Sanskrit root yuj, "to control" "to yoke", or "to unite" refers to these disciplines of asceticism and meditation which are thought to lead to spiritual awakening and profound insight into the nature of existence. Yoga is the means whereby the mind and senses can be restrained, the limited, empirical self or ego, ahamkara, can be transcended and the self's true identity eventually experienced. The actual term yoga first occurs in the Katha Upanisad? (2. 3. 10-11) where it is defined as the steady control of the senses, which, along with the cessation of mental activity, leads to the supreme state. The text most significant in the yoga tradition is the Yoga-Sitra of Patarjali. This text, composed some

29

fi'lmabadi'i wa sifati '-mawjudati (Hind,p.6,l.2),

30

Larson,G., Classical Samkhya: An Interpretationofits History and Meaning. Delhi, 1969.

31 32

Whicher,l., The lntegrityof the Yoga Darsana.NewYork, 1998. The Katha Upanisad is one of the primary Upanishads dating back to perhaps the sixth century BCE.

l

·I

J t 40

CHAPTER 3

scendence.3+

The different methodologies adopted by these two Hindu philosophical schools (Yoga and Samkhya) and its reflection in their discussion of the nature of the soul/matter relationship is the reason why al-Biruni sharply defines and separates the subject matter of his two translations, Kitab Batanjal and Kitab Sank. Thus, quotations from Kitab Sank cited in the Hind, seem to be mainly limited to the exposition of abstract metaphysical knowledge and attribute little significance to the dualistic psychology of Samkhyan doctrine. Kitab Batanjal, on the other hand, as the quotation from the preface to the Hind indicates, has as its main subject Patarijali's philosophy of the soul which conveys, in contradistinction to Samkhyan dualism, a pragmatic and experiential approach to achieve salvation. This is accomplished by dealing with the whole individual as both spirit and matter, an approach whose practical sophistication moves beyond the theoretical level of dualistic finality to the actual possibility of real liberation as described in al-Birini's Kitab Batanjal. It is likely, then, given the general awareness of this conscious differentiation of subject matter within alBiruni's two translations, that he actively chose to emphasise the methodology of Patafjali's yoga when describing his view of the Hindu understanding of the soul over the dualistic metaphysics of Samkhya. In this context the psychology of the Hind may be understood in terms of a subtle comparison and exploration of the two systems of Samkhya and Yoga, based mainly upon quotations from al-Biruni's two translations, in order to dif-

I

Ii

INon

Jpn Io

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

time between 100 BCE and 500 CE, contains pithy aphorisms on Yoga, called the "eight-limbed", ast@nga, or "the best", raja, yoga. The Yoga-Sitra codifies yoga

ideas and practices which had been developing for many centuries. Patanjal succinctly defines yoga in the second Sitra: "Yoga is the cessation of mental fluctuations" (Yoga-Sitra, 1. 2)® That is, yoga is a state of concentration in which the wandering mind, fed by sense impressions and memories, is controlled and made to be one-pointed, ckagrata. This mental control occurs through developing eight aspects or limbs of the yogic path. These are: ethics; discipline; posture; breath-control; sense-withdrawal; concentration; meditation; and absorbed concentration, sam@dhi, which leads to the primary goal of liberation, kaivalya. Kaivalya, in Patarjali's system, is liberation from the wheel of transmigration and the realisation of the self's solitude and complete tran-

di

ferentiate between them in terms that complement his philosophical and cosmological narrative. This narrative is illustrated in psychological terms in the first section of the Hind that bases itself on and draws directly from Kit@b Batan-

jal, al-Biruni's own non-dualistic translation of Patafjali's Yoga-Sitra. Throughout this section, al-Biruni contrasts these sources with a stricter metaphysical dualist interpretation of the Samkhyan text, as is clear from quotations he cites from his Kitab Sank translation.

3

The Differentiation of Kitab Sank and Kitab Batanja®

A clear example of differentiation is found in the second chapter of the Hind entitled "A description of their [the Hindus] belief in God, may He be exalted"35

This chapter begins with a general description of Hindu belief in a God who seems very similar, if not identical, to the Muslim God:

The belief of the Hindus in God, may He be exalted, is that He is the eternal one with neither beginning nor end, who is free in His actions, omnipotent, all wise, living and life giving, ruling and preserving, alone in His kingdom without likeness or unlikeness, resembling nothing and nothing resembling Him.3? Given the fact that many of the above epithets are typical Muslim terminology for describing God it is all the more interesting that the first important interpretative statement by al-Biruni of Hindu doctrine in the Hind should reflect a strong monotheistic current. More importantly, it casts a non-dualist theme which sets the analytical tone and discursive drive in many other subject-areas of al-Birui's treatise including the psychological and metaphysical discussion at the outset,

35

Parts of this and the following section are drawn from my paper presented at the Conterence of the School of Abbasid Studies held in Trinity Hall, Cambridge in July 2002 entitled: "The Epilogue of al-Biruni's Kitab Batanjal" in Montgomery, J.E. (ed.), Abbasid Studies. OccasionalPapers ofthe School of Abbasid Studies, Cambridge 6-0July 2002. Leuven: Peeters, 2004. Orientalia Lovaniensia Analecta 135.,

36

fi dhikri'tiqadihimfi 'llahi subhanahu (Hind,p. 20,l 1),

37

This summary overview of yoga is taken from Flood, G., An Introduction to Hinduism.

wat'tiqadu 'l-hind fi 'llahi subhanahu annahu 'l-wahid '-azali min ghayri ibtid@'in wa la intiha'in al-mukhtarufifilihi al-qadiru 'I-hakimu '-hayyu 'l-muhyi'l-mudabbiru '-mubqi 'Lfardufimalakutihi 'ani '-addadi wa'l-andadi la yushbihu shay'an waa yushbihuhu l shay'un

Cambridge, 1996, pp. 96-98.

(Hind, p. 20, l. 5)

33

Mukerji, PN., YogaPhilosophy ofPat@ijali. Calcutta, 1963. All subsequent quotations from the Yoga-Sitra of Pataiijali are drawn from this edition.

34

41

CHAPTER 2

42

Al-Birini concedes that the Hindus' belief in God as "one",3® "eternal",®® and

"unique"° is not universally held because of the difference between the "educated elite",' whose nature strives for reason and seeks to verify principles"+? and the "masses",whose "nature keeps them at the level of the senses, and who are satisfied with what is derived without bothering about accuracy especially in areas where there is a difference of views and opinions".Accordingly, the principle keynote of non-dualism, reflected in unambiguous monotheistic language, is, nevertheless, set within the discursive context of other possible theological, metaphysical and psychological systems. As a result, the Hind becomes both an exploration of divergent Hindu doctrines and a non-dualistic interpretation based upon and drawing from a psychology gestated in his translation of Pataijali's Yoga-Sitra. The combination of these activities discernible through a subtle comparison of a triptych of texts, the Arabic translations of Pataijali's Yoga-Sitra, the Samkhya text and a version of the Bhagavadgita,® gives the Hind a rich versatility and comprehensiveness. Such an approach diminishes the flaws of bias, flattery or polemic outlined by al-Biruni in the preface whilst maintaining an interpretative direction to what is a professedly text-based analytical treatise:

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

43

The interpretative direction of the Hind, therefore, based upon the psychology developed in al-Birini's Kitab Batanjal, does not preclude an exploratory context in which the dualism to be found in the Samkhya text and the theism of the version of the Bhagavadgita that he quotes enhance the scope of his analysis of Hindu theology, metaphysics and psychology. This is achieved with-

out distorting the continuum of methodological perspective between Kit@b Batanjal and the Hind. By analysing the full range of Hindu thinking within the parameters of these subject areas in the initial twelve chapters of the Hind, al-Biruni classifies and evaluates the major categories of Hindu philosophy and

religion without undermining the chief psychological context, itself a distillation and extension of what had been broached in Kit@b Batanjal.

4

Theology fromKitab Batanjal to the Hind

It is significant, then, that the first important religious question to be broached in the Hind should be primarily explored on the basis of a quotation from Kit@b Batanjal: The questioner in Kitab Batanjal said: who is this who is worshipped, and by the worship of whom success is obtained? Patarjali answered: He is the

I did not find among those writers of heresiographies anyone who sought purely to narrate without bias or flattery ... Let us quote extracts on this subject from their books to avoid the danger of our account being based solely upon hearsay.®

one who through His uniqueness and oneness is in no need of action to reward it... He cannot be contemplated being above unlikeness which is detestable and likeness which is desirable and who in Himself is eternally

knowing.7 38

al-wa h id (Hind,p.20,l 6).

39

al-azali (Hind,ibid.).

40

al-fard (Hind,p.20,l.7).

41

al-khassa (Hind,ibid.).

42

yunazi'u'l-ma'qula wayaqsidu 'l-tahqiqafi 'L-usuli (Hind, p. 20,l. 3).

43 44

al-'amma(Hind,p.20,l.2). tiba'u'l-'ammatiyaqifu 'inda '-mahsusi wayaqtani'u bi'l-furu'i wa layarum 'D-tadqiqa wa

45

The famous Bhagavadgit@ (Sanskrit: "Song of God") in its present day form is one of the

khassatanua fi iftannat fih i 'l-@rd'u wa lamyattafiq 'alayhi '-ahwa'u (Hind, p. 20,L. 3),

Al- Birini's desire for a comprehensive understanding of Hindu doctrinewhich is, of course, determined by the selection, translationand interpretationof certain texts, is not limited to those primary Sanskrit sources already mentioned. Indeed, his reliance upon these texts does not diminish his important use of other religions and sects in clarifying Indian philosophy and psychology. The ultimate aim is to permit a selected Indian corpus and, by extension, the contributions of Indian science to be integrated into the worldview of Mediaeval Ara-

greatest and most beautiful of the Hindu scriptures. It forms part of Book vi of the Indian ghayri maylin wa la mudahanatin (Hind, p. 4, L 13) ... wa li-nuridafi dhalika shay'an min

epic the Mahabharata,"Great Epic of the Bharata Dynasty", and is written in the form of a dialogue betweenthe warrior Prince Arjuna and his friend and charioteer, Krishna, who IS also an earthly incarnation ofthe god Vishnu. The Bhagavadqita is of a later date than the major parts of the Mahabharata and was probably written in the first or second century CE. The poem consistsof700 Sanskrit verses divided into 18 chapters.

46

@3Ill-ss->

@

famawajadtuminashabikutubi'l-maqalati ahadun qasada'-hikayata 'l-mujarradatamin

kutubihimlialla takuna hikayatuna ka'l-shay'i 'l-masmt'ifaqat (Hind, p. 20, l 8).

47

qala'-sa'ilufikitabi "batanjal":man hadha 'ma'bud'lladhiyunalu 'l-tawfiqubi'ibadatih? qala '-mujibu: huwa '-mustaghni bi-awwaliyyatihiwa wahdaniyyatihi 'anfi'lin limukafat alayhi ... wa'l-bar'u 'ani '-afkari(ita'alihi 'ani 'D-addadi '-makruhati wa'l-andadi 'I-mahbibatiwa'l-'alimi bidhatihi sarmadan (Hind, p. 20, L 9)

CHAPTER 3

44

bic philosophy. As has been suggested earlier, al-Biriuni relates certain aspects of Hinduism to ideas quoted from the traditions of the Greeks, Christians, Jews, Manichaeans, and Sufis. Some scholars have used this to argue that al-Birin maintained a belief in a core truth and a proto-religion in which all civilisations have a share. Such a position, however, is not necessarily home out in the preface to the Hind where one senses the incomparability of Islam, and the truth revealed to and transmitted by the prophets, in contrast to non-Muslim schools and sects. By generally omitting Islam from the comparative process, al-Biruni implies its integrity and superiority, despite his use of methods ranging from observation to rationalisation to demonstrate the interrelatedness of the Indian sciences and religion. However, given the seemingly conscious exclusion of Islam from the dis-

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

45

is detestable and likeness which is desirable".@? Finally, the quality of God as

"omniscient"which al-Biruni posits as a Hindu theological tenet is not only corroborated by the passage from Kit@b Batanjal but also is explained further and in some detail, thus attesting to both a methodological continuum between Kitab Batanjal and the Hind and an interpretative one: "... who is in Himself eternally knowing since accidental knowledge exists about that which was not known before. Nor can ignorance be applicable to Him at any time or in any circumstance",+

5

Passage :The Theological Interface between Kit@b Batanjal and

the Yoga-Sutra of Pataijali

cussion it is intriguing that the first religious statement by al-Birini regard-

ing Hindu belief in God should be so close in its monotheistic nature to the Islamic theological tenets. He justifies this statement based on Kitab Batanjal, his translation of the Yoga-Sitra of Pataiijali from which he derives a passage that supports and further qualifies his assertion. This strong relationship between al-Birini's interpretative comments and argumentation in the Hind and such ancillary quotations from Kitab Batanjal is a key factor in determining the accuracy and the extent of a continuum of methodological perspective between these two texts. For not only, in this first example, does there exist a correspondence of conception between al-Biruni's statement and the Kitab Batanjal passage but, more convincingly, there is the parallel use of theological terminology. Thus al-Birini begins by describing God as, "... the eternal one with neither beginning nor end, who is free in His actions",just as the Kitab Batanjal passage begins with, "... He is the one who through His uniqueness® and oneness is in no need of (human) action".5 The nature of al-Biruni's opening monotheistic statement on Hindu belief is further revealed in its latter portion describing God's uniqueness, "... alone in His kingdom without likeness or unlikeness, resembling nothing and nothing resembling Him"! which relates closely to part of Pataijali's characterisation of God, "... He cannot be contemplated being above unlikeness which

48 49

al-wahidu'l-azali min ghayri ibtida'in wala intiha'inal-mukhtarufifi'lihi (Hind, p. 20,l. 6), Cf. the editor's footnote (Hind,p.20,l.19) for the alternative reading of bi-azaliyyatih for

50 51

huwa'l-mustaghni bi-azaliyyatihiwa wahdaniyyatihi 'anfi'lin (Hind, p. 20,l. 1o), al-fardu fi malakutihi 'ani 'I-addadi wa'l-andadi la yushbihu shay'an wa la yushbihuhu

The supporting passage from Kitab Batanjal continues with a detailed discussion of the attributes of God outlined by al-Biruni's statement at the outset of the chapter: After this the questioner says: does He have any attributes other than the ones that you mentioned? Pataijali answers: He is perfectly sublime in power, not in place, for He transcends location. He is the pure and perfect good longed for by every existent, and He is knowledge which is pure from

the contamination of negligence and ignorance.® The presence of the Neoplatonic term "the absolute good"@ reflects the more general use of expressions deriving from Greek philosophical texts translated 52

p. 20, l 12),

53 54

al-hakim(Hind,p.20,l.7). wa'l-'alimubidhatihi sarmadanidhi 'l-'ibmu 'l-tari'u yaknu lima lam yakun bima'liminwa laysa 'I-jahlu bi-muttajihin 'alayhifi waqtin ma aw halin (Hind, p. 20, l. 13).

55

the given bi-awwaliyyatih (Hind, p. 20,l. n), "in his primariness".

shay'un (Hind, p. 20,I. 7).

wa'l-bar'u'ani '-afkarilitaalihi 'ani 'l-addadi 'l-makrhati wa'l-andadi 'I-mahbbati (Hind.

56

thumma yaqulu '-sa'ilu ba'da dhalika: fahal lahu mina '-sifati ghayru ma dhakarta? wa yaqulu '-mujibu: lah 'L-uluwu '-tammu fi '-qadri la 'I-makanifa'innah yajillu 'ani 'Itamakkuni, wa huwa '-khayru '-mahdu '-tammu 'lladhi yashtaquh kullu mawjudin, wa hwa 'L-'i/mu '-khalisu 'an danasi '-sahwi wa'l-jahli (Hind, p. 20, l 15), Cf. Kitab Batanjal, p. 174, l. 6: qala '-sa'ilu:fahal lahu mina '-sifati ghayru ma dhakarta? qala 'D-mujibu: laha 'L-'ulwu 'tamm fi 't-qadri ta '-makanifa'innahu yajillu 'anni '-tamakkuni, wa huwa 'Lkhayr '-mahdu '-tammat 'lladhi yasht@aquhkull mawjudin, wa /wa 'L-'ilmu '-khalis 'an danasi '-sahwi wa'l-jahli. 'The passage quoted in the Hind corresponds to questions 14 18 and the answers to them in Kitab Batanjal. al-khayr'l-ma/du(Hind,p.2o,l. 17).

·-Ill

CHAPTER 3

46

into Arabic but here, remarkably, employed to interpret the Yoga-Siutra of Patarjali. Thus the three Gunas® of sattva (sentience and intelligence), rajas (mobility and activity), and tamas (inertia and darkness), are represented in Kit@b Batanjal® in the Neoplatonic terms of "the absolute good"," and "the absolute evil,® or the class that is a mixture of the two.®! Similarly, the Neoplatonic-sounding expression "He is perfectly sublime in power"®? is primarily based on the commentary by Vyasaof Sitra 1. 26, "As He was present with Hisfull powers in the beginning of the present cycle of creation, so was He

,I

■ I I

l Jlls%a@

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

47

The second part of this expansive passage from Kitab Batanjal is essentially epistemological with a discussion of the nature of the difference between

human and divine knowledge: "The questioner said: if He speaks as a result of his knowledge then what is the difference between Him and those wise teachers who spoke as a result of their own knowledge?"@® The comparison of divine

given the Hindu philosophical context in which they appear and their practi-

knowledge with human knowledge is expressed in terms of the characteristic of "speech"which, in the Islamic tradition at least, is attributable to both God andHuman.?9 Although the Yoga-Sitra of Patar]ali mentions only that God (Isvara) is expressed by the sacred syllable "Om"?' al-Birini in Kit@b Batanjal understands Sutra 1. 27 as qualifying God with speech but without making any reference in his translation to this sacred syllable: "Do you describe him as having speech or not? Pataiijali answered: if he is knowing then he undoubtedly has speech"? Nevertheless, the transference of divine knowledge through the

cal function as an accessible means of expression for conveying broadly parallel concepts from the Yoga-Sitra of Patanjali.

does, in fact, correspond more closely to the commentary by Vyasa in both

at the beginning of the past creations" [emphasis added].® Finally, it may be argued that the Neoplatonism in the phrase "... He is knowledge which is pure

from the contamination of negligence and ignorance"® derives from Vyasa's commentary on Sitra 1. 24.®® The provenance of the terminology is less significant than commentators such as S. Pines and T. Gelblum67 have insisted upon,

device of human speech among sages and in the sacred texts which they receive Yoga-Sutras 1. 24 and 1. 27: "To some of them [God] sent down a book, to oth-

57

The three Gunas serve as the fundamental operating principles or tendencies" of matter prakrti.

58

ers He opened a door for mediation with Him, others received revelation from Him and grasped through thought what he had granted them"?® Indeed, the

wa ma'rifatuhu bi'l-kayfryyati a/wa min jinsi '-khayri '-mahdi aw min jinsi 'L-sharri ' mahdi aw mina '-jinsi '-mumtaziji baynahuma (Kitab Batanjal, p. 181, l. 2), "and the cogni-

tion (of the known object) in terms of its nature, whether it belongs to the class of pure

68

good or to the class of pure evil or to the class that is a mixture of the two". This is an interpretation of the idea projected by Vyasa of the three Gunas, described in his commentary

69

to Yoga-Sutra 11. 18, "Sentience is the characteristic of Sattva, mobility of Rajas and inertia

70

of Tamas. These three Gunas are distinct though mutually related". Mukerji, PN., (1963: 176),

al-khayru 'I-mahdu.

59 6o

al-sharru 'I-mahdu.

6

al-jinsu 'I-mumtaziju baynahuma.

62

lahu '-'ulowu 'ttammufi 'L-qadri (Hind, p. 20, l. 16),

63

generally believed to be a historical figure who wrote his commentary within decades of the appearance of the Yoga-Sitra. Mukerji, P.N.,, (1963: 71),

huuwa '-'ilmu 1-khalisu 'an danasi 't-sahwi wa't-jahli (Hind, p. zo, l. 17),

The special Purusa,' who ormn account of• his eternal liberation, is uncontaminated even

by the touch of enjoyment or suffering, is called 1svara ... For these reasons Ivara is

67

lik

Pines, S., and Gelblum, T, "AL-Brr»s A-L% 19t

66,

,

and always liberated. His pre-eminence is never equalled

nor excelled".

,

''» mnruni's Arabic Version of Patarjali's Yogasutra" BsoAs 29/2, ,pp. 302-325; 40/3,1977, pp. 2-r :.46},

"

"KALAM, parole, synonyme de qawl, mais laissant a ce dernier la signification technique, pour ne garder que la signification courante.--Le prophete a pour caracteristique 'd' ecouter la parole de Dieu' [an yasma'a kalama 'llahi]... L' un des sens vulgaires du mot 'intelligence' est celui-ci: '., une louable disposition qui appartient a I' homme dans ces mouvements, ses repos, sa parole, son choix,' [hay'atun mahmidatun li'-insani fi harakatihi wa sukunatihi wa kalamihi wa ikhtiyarihi]". Goichon, A.. (1938: 352).

71

The earliest of the classical commentaries on the Yoga-Sutra of Pataijali is by Vyasa,

always svara, i.e., Omniscient.d al+

qala '-sa'ilu: fa in kana mutakalliman li'ajli 'ilmihi fa ma 'L-farqu baynahu wa bayna 'L'ulama'i 'L-hukam@'i 'lladhina takallama min ajli 'ulumihim? (Hind,p. 21,l. 1). al-kalam.

(PP522-549;46/2, 1983, pp. 258--304; 52/2, 1989, pp. 265305

Cf. Sutrat.a7,"The Sacred Word Designating Him ls Pranava Or The Mystic Syllable Om" Also Vyasa on this Sutra, Isvara is indicated by the mystic syllable"

72

afatasifuhu bit-kalami am la? qala 'l-mujibu: idha kana 'alimanfahuwwa la mahalata muta-

73

faminhum man alqa ilayhi kit@ban, wa minhum manfataha liwasitatin ilayhi baban, wa min/um man awha ilayhifanala bi'l-fikri ma afada 'alayhi (Hind, p. 21, l. 7). Cf. Vyasa on

kallimun (Hind, p. 20, l. 18).

Sutra 1. 24, The question, therefore, arises whether this perpetual superiority of Isvara on account of the excellence ofHis self is something of which there is proof or is it something

without any proof? The reply is 'The Sacred books are its proof.' What is the proof of the genuineness of the scriptures? Their genuineness is based on supreme wisdom. The Sastras [Hindu scriptures] and their sublime wisdom which are present in the mind of the Isvara and His pre-eminence are eternally related to eachother For these reasons Isvara

}

± hill

l,

CHAPTER 3

48

clinching factor in this epistemological discussion which differentiates huma,, from divine knowledge is clearly understood and reflected in Kitab Batanja:

[Patarjali] answered: the difference between them is time, for they [the wise teachers] acquired learning in time and they spoke after having beer ignorant and unable to speak, and they transmitted their science to others by speech, thus their speech and teaching took place in time. Since divine

matters have no connection with time, God, may He be exalted, knows and speaks in pre-eternity.?+

i

HINDU METAPHYSICS ACCORDING TO THE HIND

il

I

II

,·

49

This delineation, found in a quotation from Kit@b Batanjal and based on the empirical differentiation between oral and written information, refers to al- Biruni's methodological purpose for quoting this passage. He states: "Let us quote extracts on this subject from their books to avoid the danger of our account being based solely upon hearsay", thus revealing his insistence upon the importance of the written word, be it in the form of translated Sanskrit or Greek sources.

The quoted passage, therefore, is an immediate manifestation of al-Biruni's methodological purpose of basing his "account"! of Hindu religious doctrine on primary sources. More interestingly, it also seems to inform and corroborate

Here we find an epistemological discussion about the pre-eternity of certain knowledge: "God, may He be exalted, knows and speaks in pre-eternity"over

against the temporal acquisition of knowledge: "The difference between then

his methodology so that what at first appears to be a clear distinction between quoter and quoted, theory and practice, blurs as the quotation seems actually to voice al-Biruni's declared theoretical approach rather than simply to affirm

is time, for they [the wise teachers] acquired learning in time"?@ Embedded in this passage is a methodological delineation of effective means for transmitting

it.

knowledge on the metaphysical and physical levels of divine to human,'? and human to hurnan,78 as well as on the temporal level of transmitting knowledge

"account" on oral traditions, that which is heard"®? is in fact explained by the

through (textual) narration and teaching.®

is always Is'vara, i.e., Omniscient and always liberated". Cf. also Vyasa on Sutra 1. 27: "Sages,

Thus al-Biruni's succinctly expressed desire to avoid complete reliance in his Kit@ab Batanjal quotation through a subtle definition of the metaphysical/phys-

ical, divine/human and temporal/pre-eternal possibilities of al-kal@m? which is the mechanism for the transference of knowledge from textual, oral, inspirational and revelatory sources:

who know the Sastras, say that on account of similarity of usage, the relationship between a word and the object indicated by it is eternal". 74

And they transmitted their science to others by speech, thus their speech and teaching took place in time. Since divine matters have no connection with time, God, may He be exalted, knows and speaks in pre-eternity ... to some of them [God] sent down a book, to others He opened a door for mediation with Him, others received revelation from Him and grasped through thought what he had granted them.®

qala '-mujibu: al-farqu baynahum huwa '-zamanufa-innahum ta'allamufihi wa takallamu ba'da an lam yakumu 'alimina wa la mutakallimina wa naqalu bi'l-kalami 'ulumahum ila ghayrihim fa-kalamuhum wa ifadatuhum fi zamanin, wa idh laysa li'l-umuri '-ilahiyyati bi'l-zamani ittisalunfa'llahu subhanahu 'alimun mutakallimun fi 'L-azali (Hind, p. 21, l. 3) Cf. Sutra 1. 26: "[He is] The Teacher Of Former Teachers, Because With Him There Is No Limitation By Time (Of His Omnipotence)". Also Vyasa's commentary on Sutra 1. 26: "The

former teachers of knowledge and of piety are limited by time, but He to whom time as limiting factor is not applicable, was the teacher of the former teachers" For the translation of the Arabic, fi '/-azali (Hind,p. 21,6), as "in pre-eternity, see Vyasa

The methods listed here may all be considered authentic accounts not only within the Hindu philosophical tradition from which they are derived and

on Sutra 1.26:As He was] 1t: l,Hie.f,] ' ¢ ·present with llis full powers in the beginning of thepresent cycle of creation, so was He at the beginning ofthe past creations", [emphasis added]. 75 76 77

fa'llahu subhanahu 'alimun mutakallimunfi 'L-azali (Hind, p. 21, l. 6), al-farqu baynahum hwwa 'I-zamanufa-innahum ta'allamufihi (Hind, p. 21, l. 3). faminhum man ala@ ilayhi kital

:,

4°@yhu kitaban, wa minhum man fataha liwasitatin ilayhi baban, wa

minhummanawha ilayhi fanala hi'Lf-;

a%.

wa naqallu bi'l-kalami 'ulumah

.4,,

' "97J@

,,

78

a '-pkri ma afada 'alayhi (Hind, p. 21,l. 7),".. to some ol them [God] sent down a book, to oth IH . uerstte opened adoorformediation with llim,others received revelation from Hi1 id - . man grasped through thought what he had granted them'

79

their sci< ·tooth, 'mil ghayrihim (Hind, p. 2, l. 4), "And they transmitted cience others by speech" fakalamuhum wa ifadatuhumfizama»» ,

took place in time.

ila

'
Jlin al-mukafaatu 'alayhi birahatintu'ammaluwa turtaja aw shiddatintukhafuwatutt@] wa'lb50,,,±''.,1

t.

4L,

4Malt 'Lmnalbtibati wa'l

@r' 'ani '-afkari lita'alihi 'ani 'L-addadi 'Lmakruhatiwa't-and@at " '@limutiM,,7 ,,,Abina'luminwal@ysa tbidhatihi sarmadan idhi '-'ilmu 'L-tari'uyakunlimalamyakun ma. [[j 'ljahtu y», sh ahe kana 'tmnutakhalls! J.ht bimuttajahin 'alayhifiwaqtinma aw hal. Qala '-s@'ilu: idhd 6U

!

i I1

I

I

I

I

i

,

1

i

}

I

g: THE SOUL IN THE HIND

158

CHAPTER 6

-NA®

159

Liberation, Divine Unification, and Knowledge

It is difficult to ignore that the underlying argument in this favourable

description of the Hindus' belief in characteristically Islamic terms and, in certain respects, through reference to a Muslim God is their concept of a nondualistic psychology that leads to liberation. This concept becomes a valid idea all the more worthy of serious consideration within the then Muslim debate on the subject. Having proposed the debatable principle that the Hindus maintain belief in the concept of unification as the means to liberation, the profile of Kitab Batanjal as the supporting source and framework for this argument is visibly raised by means of lengthy citations. Furthermore, this choice has a striking

interpretative significance given the clearly non-dualistic tendency of the context. This supports the view that Kit@b Batanjal, as an analytical translation,

6

ent to this above discussion is a develO[)me t.

lu sbseJ!

.

'ntin which a

:h

id

ernmentand right

knowledge:

For he was not in this· state [of liberation] in pre-eternity since si» j,ne was before it·· [this state of liberation] in a state of entanglement, kr 3 ·nt, knowing that which is knowable as a shadow acquired by [intellectual] exertion, while that which he knows [remains] shrouded. As for when he is in the state of liberation the shrouds are raised, the covers removed, the

betrays a monistic philosophical colour that may have been drawn as much from the relied-on Sanskrit original text as it is imposed by the monotheistic structure and Islamic frame of the Arabic rendition. Finally, and as a further corroboration of the non-dualistic trend within the context of this section of

the Hind, there is the conspicuous absence at this point of any reference to

hindrances are severed, and the Self [becomes] knowing without a desire

Kitab Sank, the Arabic translation of the samkhya text. Although not extant, Kit@b Sank, on the basis of citations to be found in the Hind, seems to have generally reflected a more abstract metaphysical form of the samkhya system. Its overtly dualistic theory regarding the differentiation and separation of soul from matter appears to have been generally downplayed, as is evidenced here, for example, by the preference for Kitab Batanjal as the supporting psychological primary source.

ii

,] description of the soul's liberation is imbedded with DPSychological 4 i. Iluin the metaph s ,cations of the immediately preceding citation from tat,,, '\Physical impl6..4, e. 4. i..... {«t@bBatanjl@th ogical Jslam1c doctrine of the 111d1v1sibility and inimitab,, " wit 1ts theol tatnlityof the Dir» I l peration is thus understood to be derived from the div ·, ?vine. Libel ±.., a, . tine characteristic of jfication that is also psychologically attainable in the for of'® un.. mot the existen··JI fnwclom of the soul within matter through proper disc . . l

to recognize anything that is hidden, and [becomes] separated from the oblivion of what is sensed whilst united with the eternity of what is intellected.35 Perhaps more important than the role of knowledge in the process towards this state ot liberation is the nature of the knowledge that is required. The distinc-

tion is immediately noticeable in the above citation through the contrast of a knowledge that is achieved through ijtihad, or intellectual exertion, and an uninhibited, disinterested yogic knowledge within the Self that is united with the eternal intelligibilia and unhindered by the finitude of sensibilia. Although the nature of knowledge is all-important in the process towards achieving true muttasafan bihadhihi 'I-awsafifama 'L-farqu baynahu wa bayna 'llahi subhanahu? Qala 'Lmujib: al-farqu baynahuma anna '-mutakhallisa yakunu kadhalikafi '-zamani 'L-rahin wafi 'l-zamani 'l-musta'nafi duna 'L-madi 'L-mutaqaddimi likhalasihi, "The questioner said: who is this worshipped one who provides succour? Patarjali answered: He is Allah who in

His Eternity and Oneness is beyond action whose reward is hoped and longed-for rest or dreaded and feared hardship. He is past thoughts because He lies above abhorrent dissimilarities and desirable likenesses, and is eternally knowing in Himself since accidental knowledge is for that which was not known, nor is ignorance applicable to Him in any given time or place. The questioner said: if the one who is liberated is thus char acterised then what is the difference between himself and Allah who is exalted? Patarijali answered: the difference between them is that the liberated one is so in the present and the future but not in the past which preceded his liberation", (Kitab Batanjal, p. 173, l 12),

liberation, the fact that this process takes place and is attainable in time and whilst in matter is the significant yogic contribution to the Arabic psychologl caldis

c.

°

'>

I8course of the time. The yogic view that liberation is inseparable from sel

ogmitic

·j

1,

®

.

he

rk,

If

3

on is finely conveyed here in the psychology of the Hindwhere the inter 'hatedess of theology, metaphysics and the individual is described in terms of

i

fainnahu lam yakun fi '-azali 'Lmutaqaddimi kadhalika min ajli annahu kana qablahf mahalli[,

+

,f

It irtibaki 'aliman bi'l-ma'humi wa 'ilmuh ka't-khayali mu

a'luml fr4 (hu fi damani

se

u

ali

+-yatumakshufatun wa'l-mawani' maqtu'atun wa'l-dhatu atuat

alata).

•

,

r 1hialast fa't-sutru marfii'atun ,,: wal 6

'{-sitri, wa amma fi mahalli 'khalast,

«ghti,"

J

ktasabun bi'l-ijtihadiwa

"

'

dun ghayru harisatin

·'

rrufi shay'in khafyyin munfasilatun 'ani 't-mahsusati aatnw'

a'qulat'aauati, 4Mr.., (Hind, p. 61, l 1),

{i'I

.a..cop.dathirati muttahidatun

II

I I a I II In

I

I

I,

I II I iii

I

.

'

------------- ---- - ~

't,

.

---uglis

II

.THE SOUL IN THE HIND

CHAPTER G

160

various levels of equivalence between unification and liberation and their connection with a particular state of knowledge. It is Pataijali's philosophy of the soul that is here preferred and represented, in contradistinction to samkhyan

dualism and those dualistic trends within contemporary Arabic discourse. As a pragmatic and experiential approach to achieve liberation by dealing with the whole individual as both spirit and matter, it is one whose practical degree of sophistication moves beyond the abstraction of a dualistic finality to the actual possibility of liberation for an individual in real time, matter and space.

Having described the process by which liberation is attained, the focus of attention subsequently shifts to the nature of the state of liberation. The introductory corroborative citation, in line with the general conceptual approach of the text, is taken, with one minor (though still significant) omission and one addition, from the concluding question and response in Kitab Batanjal:

l A»

.r,i/\fS,

161

. This4 f h .. cc)ncei1t of the suspension ofaction in the th reeprimar ways3!l!Jywh1ch ltbernt1on isbroughtabout· . ~ orcesasoneof O

(hetw ,

.4...

Isomittedinthefly

(hat modifies the original phrase by omitting the

pion(hill,,

mary

«,4,

q

3°+find cita-

1e words"action" and »

"reducing it to the "cessation of the three forces"A0g, ·

,,

urprisingly

S;

h"pri]

·1tion of ta'attulu as "cessation"41 is given despite 1 · b y jachau's .... mis veing un ·idditional details of the original passage in Kitab Bat . lb aware of h the4..... {anjat ecause h did e 1 tlwveaccesstothC'ong111almanuscriptofthistext42N I

1 pransta,,

not. . evertheless,Sacha nsitivity to the implied nuance of the word ta'attul leads hir u's set. a umtoaninterpred1:1ve elahorat1on of the Arabic phrase ta'attulu 'l-quwwa '-thal th l 0U, o or ree-er a s4,,, ' 6tiatathtin the Hind tation that he renders as: 'the cessation of the functions oftheth» r c ne reeforces" clearly "functions" is not a direct translation of any Arabic word th% r, r in the Hind citation. It would seem that Sachau's expertise in the Arabic langu j · · · guage and sen-

sjtivity to the nuance in the choice of the word ta'attululed him tc0sense tlie th ' " presence of a hiatus in this phrase that he sought to fill by adding the apparently

required word functions". The presence of the missing phrase anfi'lihain For this reason the postulant asked at the conclusion of Kitab Batanjal about how liberation is brought about. [Pataijali] answered: you can say that it [liberation] is the cessation of the three forces and their return to the source from which they had issued. Or you can just as well say that it is the return of the soul in a state of knowing to its nature.3®

Ktab Batanjal exactly reflects the word "functions" that Sachau supplies in his translation of this citation in the Hind. In this light Sachau's translation of the word ta'attulu by "cessation" seems to offer a compromise meaning between

the sense of utter "annulment" that the Arabic ta'attulu does not carry® and 'suspension" that is not justified in the Hind version of the citation even though

The original passage in Kitab Batanjal, from which the above citation in the Hind derives, reveals that the nature of the state of liberation is directly related to the suspension of action in the three primary forces:??

'The n shi'ta faqul .., in shi'ta faqul construction seems to suggest either that there are two ways of thinking or "speaking" about liberation or that there are two ways by which

liberation is achieved.

Q. 78. The postulant said: how is liberation [brought about]?

40

"Suspension" for the Kitab Batanjal passage and "cessation" for the modified version of the same citation in the Hind is a more accurate translation of ta'attulu in the two texts that reflects the change in nuance due to the discussed omissions in the Hind citation. Pines

[Patarjali] answered: you can say that it [liberation] is the suspension of the three primary forces from their activity and their return to the source from which they had come. Or you can just as well say that it is the return of the soul to its nature.3®

and Gelblum render ta'attulu as annulment" for both the Kitab Batanjal passage (1989: 271} and the equivalent Hind citation which they quote and translate in footnote 153 0l 41

their translation of the fourth chapter of Kitab Batanjal (1989: 303} Sachau,910,vol. 1: 81,

42

The original manuscript of this text was in fact only discovered twelve years after Sachau's translation by Louis Massignon in 1922 and only later prepared and published by H. Ritter

wa lidhalika sa'ala 't-sa'ilufi khatimati Kitab Batanjal 'an kayfiyyati '-khalasi? Qala 'l mujib: in shi'ta faqul huwa ta'attulu 'l-quwa 'L-thalathi wa 'awduha ila '-ma'dini '(ladhi sadarat 'anhu, wa in shi'tafaqul huwa ruju'u 'l-nafsi 'alimatan ila (iba'iha, (Hind, p. 61, l. 1b6),

37 38

ta'attulu '-qwwa 'I- thalathi 't-wwali 'anfi'liha, (Kitab Batanjal, p. 198,l zo), qala 'I-sa'ilu: kayfa 't-khalasi? Qala 'L-mujbu:inshi'tafaqulhwwata'attulu 'l-qwa 'L- thalathi

'l-uwali 'an fi'liha wa 'awduha ila 't-ma'dini 'lladhi wafadat minhu, wa inshi'ta faqul huwa ruju'u '-nafsiila tiba'iha, (Kitab Batanjal, p. 198, l. 19),

' 156, See Pines. S., and Gelblum, T, (1966: 302=303) +3

Hind,p.61,18.

14

"Functions" is not italicized in Sacha's translation, however the following phrase the three fore, •

45

3 4b

'

rces" is (1910,vol. 1: 81),

Kitabat, »f atanja, p. 198, l. 20., Seo,'',,,,,

Beirut, bar el-Mashred,

or example: Hava, JG., A-Fara'id Arabic-English Dictionary. et

1982, p.

4s)

«,

6

»

.s

5fyed" or"impaired" or"ne-

" 401, where ta'attala is given the sense 'to be unemplo}ye

glected" r), , ,,, % p% % dGelblum. Father than "annulment" which is given by 'ines an

e

i

r ii

'a III

.i .ll

i

I

I

.i

1

~

Nu

»

-woo

jj

Ia,

AFS· THE SOUL IN THE HIND

N Al'

CHAPTER (

162

.

Sachau seems to Jean towards this second sense. This tendency evidenced by

it

his insertion of the supplementary word "functions" reshapes the meaning of

Batanjal is "the suspension of the three primary forces from their activity", and

%

+r..

4

30logically late

ra.

3»

·rmore, Pines ard G

(heir insertion of "endowed with knowledge" i

],

"U

of

{@nja

7elblum support

e mntheKitabco,: citing an earlier passage that they argue carri th {@njal passage b --.s sir 1 arriesthe same » OY ·l-Biriini appears to attribute knowledge to th ' ¢ "View" namely, that d to the soul(, ±,

kaivalya ('wholeness, perfection' i.e. liberation)sa,®@) in the state of · · Is earl; passage, however, does not in fact refer to the s p Jr corroborative ·self", al-dhat, nor does it refer to "liberation" al ;~u '_ al-najs, but rather to the

liberation",maqarri 'lkhalasi:

'>'alas, but rather the "locus of

However, in the locus of liberation the covers are remov

·d, th

:

and the impediments undone, and in this I ea, the veils lifted, · is tocus the self± · knowing, nothing but.@ Is in a[state of]

tion in which the "three primary forces" whose "activity" is suspended in Kitab

latter half of the construction beginning with the second in shi'tafaqul. Here we

.%.

o the latter citation in the Hind.@? Further'P@S8age in Kitab Bata

the change in nuance in the Hind, the result of the omitted phrase, al-wwal 'an fi'liha, discussed above, is best translated as "the cessation of the three forces" This change in meaning, achieved through the omission of the above phrase, reflects an interpretative development from the original passage to the citaBatanjal now "cease" in themselves----that is, from suspending their function in the first passage the three forces themselves now no longer function at all in the Hind citation. This interpretative development reinforces the importance of the second definition of liberation relating to the soul and expressed in the

153

·nterpretat1on·· that has taken place from tiheformer,e c ent 111:. epistemotoglca . 1 ·

bility that this cessation is not necessarily a permanent one. Such a tempering to simply consider the passage prima facie without taking into consideration the original passage in Kit@b Batanjal since it is the "cessation of the three forces"? themselves that the grammatical structure of the Arabic citation, as it stands in the Hind, must denote. An accurate translation of ta'attulu in Kitab

·

l

the phrase "cessation of the _functions of the three forces" and implies the possiin the meaning of the Hind citation is, strictly speaking, inaccurate if one were

. I

jptroducedI ( from the equivalent but chronol phis addition does not take into account th q levelopmF'citation in the Hy»q he % und.

Secondly, Pines and Gelblum seek proof that l at 'atimatan should

serted into the Kitab Batanjal passage by s.

elyir,

retying on aquotatic

di

d

·

indeed be inik

Sankara Bhagavatpada in his Pataiijalayc si ab},,1asyavivara ,, on ·"taken from av0-gasutral ·h 4

argue, is referring "to the doctrine of the sch «

ol fy

100lot

@ha, who, they

ioga when he says(

sutra 4.33(34)): 'Some (people) consider that kaivalya

3sy,

(9Y5,

witness a second interpretative development that reinforces the second definition of liberation, this time through an addition of a word rather than an omission. The second definition of liberation as found in the Kit@b Batanjal passage states that "it [liberation] is the return of the soul to its nature" that is in

ence of a later ancillat sub-cc " emttuhv ti . d . ry commentary by Sankara Bhagavatpada on Vvasa

close concordance with the second half of Sutra 1V.34: Or When the Absolute

l y

Consciousness is Established in its Own Nature"and like its Sanskrit source makes no mention of knowledge let alone knowledge attributed to the soul. More emphatically still is Vyasa's commentary on Sutra Iv. 34 in which he clearly stresses the intellect's absence: In other words, when the supreme Consciousness is established in His own self, i.e. the absolute consciousness is unrelated to or unconcerned with the intellect".® It is interesting that both

ment of the attribute of being equal to God ir so forth'"5El

commentary by is)

7

lgl

Sadakhas, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Bombay, 1995, p. 202. Ibid.

49 50 51

Kitab Batanjal, p. 198,l. 21. Pines, S., and Gelblum, T, (1989: 271),

'}y

yasa on al

1/-Bi-sse

heir admission and use).@? Th

.

# le-J

v;»,1

s,,

'

if th

luence ot the

Jiruni's Kitab Batanjal?® in addition to the 51fl us,

de

e s. 3 lespite their arguments against both

eo

Pines and eexpressly xt J»de} e +. Gelblum » ,, defend Ritter's insertion of 'alimatan as well as their incluendi' /hi oft}, {Sh rendition which they give as"endowed with knowledge"in footnote 152 their translation, (1989: 302}. Ibid.. (1989: 265).

wa amma fat -aghtiyatu h ''fi maqarri 'Lkhale-alasi fa munkashifatun wa'l-sutiur marfiatun wa'l-

mawani'umaqtuttu vcle s, y, . - BiUmy·at p. 181 'ti un, wa-taysati '-dhatu fihi44illa 'ahmatun faqat. (K:.itii/) '' "" " I.1b6). 50

~

nthe matter of omniscience and

sion of its English

in Ritter's Arabic edition of Kitab Batanjal and in the translation by Pines

ta'attulu 'I-quwa '-thalathi, (Hind, p. 61, l. 18).

''

consists in the attain-

lsewhere, Pines and Gelblum expressly note the intl

and Gelblum the word @limatan rendered "endowed with knowledge"! is

47

}s,,

,,

Pines, S. and and G-·[bl ,29% .aelblum. T, (1989: 266), Ct. for exampl e le: "ht [n t. a tact al-Birumi's text has more in common with Veda-vyasa's commen{ary than with that of Bhoja Raja" Ibid.. (1966: 304),

Cf.for example ibid."" + j{ ''PIe 1bid., (1989: 298), footnote 108: "For the simile of the 'lamp' here cf. Sankara agavatpada or Ve 4 a.4 3a (y8, 276), 9y loc. cit. [Vy. introducings, sutra 4.18 (19)]Cf. also ibid. (19\9:

37b0), where Sa k, a Bhthagavatpada's 'S,,,,ankar

tbcommentaries.'

n id Patanijalayo-gasutrabhasyavivarana is listed under

I4

t

, I. , I

S: THE SOUL IN THE HIND CHAPTER 6

164

AL-N A

165

ho attribute the unidentified commentary used by al-Birii Garbeand R·tt erw! 58 to unmise tantversion ofYyasa's, they, nevertheless, admit I non-exa: to anearly · .

Before liberation he existed in the world of entanglement, ly a objects of knowledge only by a phantasmat + \, " owing the ' . '4goric ind of kn he had acquired by absolute exertion, whilst the 5y, 9Wing that

takable resemblances in certain passages. However, they explain this as repeti-

• js still covered, as it were, by a veil. On the

tion and borrowing from a common tradition:

liberation all veils are lifted, all covers taken off, a3q

:

.

Thus al-Birini's translation of certain passages has an unmistakable resemblance to Veda-vyasa's Yogabhasya ... But these similarities can be explained as normal repetition due to borrowing from a common tradition.59

And yet the fact remains that Pines and Gelblum rely heavily on Vyasa's commentary in the greater portion of their elucidatory footnotes precisely because the extant version of this commentary is clearly the closest to that text or the oral tradition that al-Birini was relying on when composing his Kitab Batanjal and explaining its intricacies. Thus in the case of the passage in question from Kit@ab Batanjal there is a clear logical inconsistency in introducing the word '@limatan from the equivalent but later citation to be found in the Hind and then proceeding to defend this insertion with a supporting sub-commentary, especially since Vyasa's explanation of Sitra v. 34 so emphatically stresses the intellect's irrelevance in this Sitra (as was discussed above). What is more, to overlook the absence of the word @limatan in the Kitab Batanjal passage that is unmistakably in harmony with Vyasa's commentary on the corresponding Sitra, and whose absence is further underlined by contrast with its insertion in the equivalent Hind citation, is to discount the continuum of contextual, methodological and interpretative development from Kitab Batanjal to the Hind. This is the result of a process by al-Biruni of contemplation, understand-

ing and translation of the Yoga-Siutra from his earlier Arabic explanatory text to his later expository and exploratory Hind.

Thirdly, Pines and Gelblum seek to support the insertion of 'alimatan in their translation of the Kitab Batanjal passage by once again referring to the Hind, in this case the context that precedes the citation, where they state that: "The idea that the liberated one is equal to God and endowed with knowledge also occurs in al-Biruni's India (Hyd., p. 61 11.7-16; transl. Suchau [sic.] 1, 81)". Closer scrutiny

of this reference reveals not only that the passage immediately preceding the citation is taken from Kit@b Batanjal but that it is also an undeclared citation with alterations:

:

e object if h; 9I is knowing

contrary, in th

s

There the being is absolutely knowing, not des»

#an

3¢ world of

obstacles

yr)

F®moved.

irous of learnin

th;

unknown, separated from the soiled perceptions f ,,

' S@nything

with the everlasting ideas.@0

5es, united

ns ot

the sense

.:

Sachau's translation is largely accurate, however it also re s jh l 'veals that a number of words are cursorily translated partly due to the fact that7, •

:

.:

:

lat

ie did not know

(he Kitab Batanjal manuscript. His translation, for example f . Iple, ol mahall! as ·world" on the two occasions that it occurs in the passage ald e woul

have been amended had he known that in the Kitab Batanjal te :

wu.

certainly

,

text on the same

two occasions the words mahall? "place, and maqarr,"locus" ·· . · ' ·aregiven and thus identify the intended meaning more precisely.· Further,translation his tr sl+ o ,p

al-dhat! as "the being" does not reflect the close association in the use f this Arabic word in Ktab Batanjal with the Sanskrit purusa ("self/seer') h;4, demonstrated on a number of other instances.? It is the case, in fact, that the original passage in Kitab Batanjal has already been used by Pines and Gelblum

as part of their argument (see above) to support their insertion of the word 'dlimatan. Indeed, we find once again that the continuum of interpretation and

conceptual development in al-Biruni's writings, from the earlier to the later, seems not to have been taken into consideration. This undeclared citation in the Hind, bearing significant differences from the original passage, should not

be used in support of the inclusion of the word alimatan in Kit@ab Batanjal, which is only found in the later text of the Hind as illustrated above. The citations from the later Hind that are derived from the earlier Kitab Batanjal text are not interchangeable since the differences to be found between them result from a development of epistemological, philosophical and argumenta-

Sachau, t910, vol. 1: 81,

Hind, p. t61, l 12/13. Kitab Batanjal. p. 181. l 14., Ibid., p. 181. l. 16,

Hind, p. 61. l 1a,

58

Pines, S.,and Gelblum, T., (1966:303-304).

59

Ibid., (1966:303).

For example. cf. Pines, S., and Gelblum. T, (1983: 286), footnote 182: 'arifa dhatahu bi'lhtqiqattr as» m:knowledge

'(qat

nows his own self in its true reality' corresponds to purusa-manam:

of the self' in Sutra 3.35. In this sentence dhat (and not nafs) corresponds to purus@'

'

I, '

I

""» Sil ! g4

II

I

I

II

.THE SOUL IN THE HIND

-NAFS:

CHA PTEIt 6

169

168

jl

·ffe:t remains fora period after the disappearance of i. , . I · I ti·ine it grows colder, receding to the point when the cause d luring wmicn.. • , This is ·imilar to a silk-weaver who rotates his wheel with it disappears. is is s vsk +j]jti ·inning then leaves it. It does not come to a rest when is possible

th

4fed in terms of the soul's state of knowing whet}, JescT ether or not}y, has taken place. Hence, the"natural state"re@ ; ·Physical separatio", r 'Ierredtoinks/ , prerequisite necessary for the soul's "spiritual.st,», M@b Sank,tha sthe s.%c% state' of libera@ , 5hysical separation from the body or "casting the bod, @ion through ts p)4 . 9lyaway[or» }, ,,alu '-badani, is described as being the cessation fr},%, 'earthward]" ind o1the"effect; I ;n", al-fi'lu in the body and the consequent endi»,r. ·@tharuof

the

hat the ettect

a stick unti. it1sspI

.

t·ck ·1s ,.,1·t(1drawn rather its movement begins to decrease litt. the wI .4. ar c., • 1 rotating$tIK tle by little until it stops. In similar fashion the effect [of action] remains in the body after action has stopped until natural force comes to an end through [a process of] tensing and slackening and the effect of previous [action] disappears leading to complete liberation upon the casting away

act07'',,, »

I6rce comes to a

»

orce", al-

·complete liberation' of the soul, kamalu '-khalasi . . n end that o61s attained not O th intellectual or epistemological process but rather th h rough V any,_ rough.apurely+oh s e where it finally casts the body away. The conclusion t b d P ys,cal ot n to e lrawnfror th; tation is that it represents a passage taken by al-Birini fror hs ,,,, ""his . f' . m rs tlabSankin 1·1·t· rder to reveal I two ditterent points of view each of which heii,],, . s. er • einitially identifies as maintained by one of "the two men", Sank and Batanjal,on th ,, attainment of liberation, although this initial dichotomy is «[]

What is immediately noticeable in this citation is the absence of any discussion of the relationship between liberation and the soul's attainment of knowledge. Indeed, a lexical review of the citation reveals no mention of the word liberation, al-khalas, in relation to a soul's state of knowledge, '@limatan; what is more, references to knowledge are entirely absent. The discussion of the soul's

ea

:

",

5

nesubjectofthe

s

quickly nuanced by

al-Birunt.

[deed, these two points of view are anticipated in the passage an

a.

1

.st

4

ted al

.g@quote

above

from Kit@b Batanjal where two possible answers to this question are given. The first answer, which might now be understood as the physiological answer, is that liberation is the result of a cessation of the three (primary) forces (from

attainment of liberation and how this may be brought about according to Kitab

physical separation from the body. The salient difference of view between what is expressed in this citation and that which is later given from Kit@ab Batanjal

4,4

I (he

of the body".9®

Sank is clearly not given as an epistemological process but rather as a physiological one. In this regard a clear differentiation is being set out between "the two men" namely, the authors of Kitab Batanjal and Kitab Sank. Thus, liberation according to Kitab Sank is the result of both a spiritual and a natural state in which the "spiritual state" (of liberation), h@latun nafsaniyyatun, is directly dependent on the attainment of a certain "natural state, halun tab@iyyun, and not at all related to the soul's attainment of a state of knowledge. This natural state that leads to the spiritual state of liberation is described in physiological terms, in which liberation is understood uniquely to be the result of the soul's

lingof"natural.fro

atu 'L-tab'iyyat. It is only when this natural for

quw

their activity) and their return to the source from which they had issued. It closely relates to this Kitab Sank citation where it is the effect of action that must disappear in the body before complete liberation" can be attained. What is implied by such a citation is that complete liberation, according to al-Birini's reading of samkhya in his Kitab Sank, is impossible without actual separation between the body and the soul once action has ceased and the effects of action

have completely disappeared. In this regard it would appear that al-Birini's desire to differentiate between the "two men" results from his understanding that numerous philosophical differences exist between yoga and samkhya.

may be presently anticipated when one considers that in the latter liberation is

fumkhya, as has been argued in earlier chapters, relies primarily on the exercise ot the discernment of purusa/spirit from prakrti/matter on the basis of cate{$ories of differentiation and is, in harmony with this interpretation, presented

69

0us by al-Birini, through the citation given from Kitab Sank, in strictly dualis-

waqadi"khtalafa 'l-rajulanifiman hasalat lahurutbatu 'l-khalasi,fasa'ala 'I-nasikufi Ktabi Sank lima layakuna 'I-mawtu 'inda 'nqita'i '-fi'li? Qala 'L-hakimu: min ajli anna '-mujiba li't-infis@li halatun nafsaniyyatun wa'l-ruhu ba'dufi '-badani wa la yufarraq baynahuma illa halun tabi'iyyun mufarriqun li'l-iltiami wa rubbama baqiya 'D-ta'thiru ba'da zawali 'I mu'aththiri muddatan yafturufiha wa yataraja'u ila an yafniya mithla 'L-harrari '(lad/ yudiru dawwaratahu bikhashabatin hatta yahtadda dawaranuha thumma yatrikuha wa laysat taskunu ma'a izalati 'I-khashabati 'L-mudirati 'anha wainnamayafturu harakatuh@ qalilan qalilan ila an tabtulafakadhalika '-badanu ba'da 'rtifa'i 'l-fi'li yabqafihi '1-athar hattayansarifafl-shiddati wa'-rahati ila 'nqita'i 'l-quwwati 'l-tab'ryyati wafuna'i 'L-atharl '-mutaqaddimifayakunukamalu 'I-khalasi 'inda 'njidali 'I-hadani. (Hind, p. 61, l 19)

{tc terms. The second answer, on the other hand, where liberation is understood 'terms of·thnereturnot f>,,, ·[erl : the soul ina state of knowing to its nature5is clearly Pstemological and, as was discussed above, is consciously intended to be so

Sen al-Bruni's emphatic insertion of the word 'alimatan, "knowing" into the » lo cied from l, , @b Batanjal phrase. Thus, the quotation, analysed below, cited tr "gialthy 8 Kitab Nat,

»

th,,

f

34,5,

»

this sec-

atanjat has the purpose of reflecting and elaborating ot

id epist

h%.,,

he face of it

{mological understanding of liberation suggesting on the ldC

®t al-Bi% Hts interpretation

] ·at rt 3al establishes a ©

of Kit@ab Sank and Kitab Batanyat

a all ii

L.Lil II ll

i

ii

..

ii ii

I

i

ilil ] •• I mL

----· ,.l.

I

..·THE SOUL IN THE HIND

-NA

CHAPTER G

170

.

17J

tisimmedic1telynot1ceableinSachau'st,·, 1 . Whal.,,, anslation oft},) I -qkenly considers the latter part of it to bed; 'US passage is th, pemisl. 4. alirectqt n. lat ',,,1The most obvious reason for this woulq 10tation from ta,y a@N terr. ul seem th @b ,red the difference between the "two men at he had earlier pterp «. %:1% • 'n referred tc , roe between "pupil and master" introducing the], ® the text as heirs'.4, €latter expl; ,,,s translation where no Arabic equivalent is to be ,, @tory phrase inh .. . etound. Th ,equence according to this reading is that an inter\,,,," 7% the logical cons @ ternal differ@ , (he dialogue between the "pupil and master" in eacl,''@Ce must exist in - . «cl olthetwo . ,,»k and Kitab Batanjal, that al-Birini then cites fron T,,, '{€Xts, Kital Saw • 44. e. 4. m, is,howe e , "h

That which compares to this is expressed by the Sufis. The account of a group of them is given in their writings: A group of Sufis came to us and

sat some distance away. One of them got up to pray and when he finished

I

he turned to me and said, 'O Sheikh, do you know of a location here that would be suitable for us to die in?' I thought that he wanted to sleep and so I pointed out a location to which he then went, threw himself on his back and was still. I got up, went towards him and moved him but he had

q

Io freely deter-

g one's time of death also relates to place of death since th Sufi

mine . e . he 5ul in this . 111 also seeb a su1tablt• location for his death to take place Th II atau0 . . . :e. e second IUnction is comparative in nature since al-Biruni is overtly draw vIng connecans between the commonly held understanding of the outward actions of ritual liberation in Hinduism and Sufism. This point is further supported the second part of the passage through intertextuality where the Sufi interetation of the Qur'anic verse is understood as upholding the ability of a Sufi who has attained liberation to walk on water and air, among other things. This

gone cold. They interpret God's words: 'We established him in the land,'?6 that if he wishes the earth folds itself up for him, and If he so wills it he can walk on water and air that provide him with enough resistance to sali]

"umpr tsyacf asat mica@cc [email protected]}Thee"" dds1 p, ¢of medical coll© ®ddsto these [parts] a fantastical fourth part called 'Rasayan' consist}' lions be..r.

4,

O}Y eans of which, as inalchemy, the achievement ot",,

d Sutra ny,

«e,

,,

fimpossibilitiesissOu$"

,» Herbs, lncan

,, Or Are Attained Througll

'·"9upernormal Powers Come With Birth0r ,c,a are taken from ati0ns.,,,,,, , n the Yoga-Stuttd '\» Austerities Or Concentration" All quotations IHOll Muker#, (no6,) a PN.. ®o1 I3},

a ■ ■ I

r+ !

+

I

, I

k

APPENDIX

ysLATION OF SECTION IV OF KITAB BATAN]AL TR

196

, The postulant said: if this [condition] of renunciti

Q. 6

latuon covers th

his option, then he will be delivered to the species whose force he had intensified and he will become an angel or a devil or a jinni."

+cellent?

genus he desires? [Patarjali] answered: this [intensification] is not for the purpose of acquiring anything rather it is simply change so that if he intensifies the good [force], he will remove the evil from his soul and will thus become an angel, and if he intensifies the evil [force],

as

,nali] answered: because they [who employ the first f [Patah, • .... our ways] are not free , comm1ss1on of reward [the good] or sin or that wh· h 1. b 1 m the • Ct lies etween th ll'tt their hearts [minds J are dissolutely divided by recompense fo :.:,, em t

sucl"±>· I

jetor acquisition or

], whereas the renunciant empties his heart [mind] in reality. Wh;

equitah

'®lll.

,

1at adifference

e js] between the one who is free of something and the one who.Is occupie . d by

[there I

he will remove the good from his soul and will thus become a devil; just as someone

«o, 63. The postulant said:! if a man acquires that by which requital is necessitated

who irrigates his crop and excess water gathers unintentionally in one part of it and he

while in a [bodily] vessel that is not the one in which the acquisition had taken place

proceeds to dig a channel to siphon it off then this is not for the purpose of irrigation,

hen the period of time between the two states would be far in the past and the matter

but is merely to remove the excess [ water] from his crop. Q. 6o. The postulant said: if the aforementioned renunciant is able to magnify that which is small and increase that which is (Ritter, p. 194) scant and transforms his body

I

:.

he five ways then what is the purpose in specifyir 0se who 9ploy Hing the last of then

Q. 59. The postulant said: by intensifying one of the three forces is he seeking a reward or incurring a sin, so that, through it, he deserves a bodily incarnation of the

I

197

into many bodies in order [for them] to assist [ each other] in the pursuit of one aim, would these bodies exist with many hearts [minds] or with one or with none? The last [option] compels them [bodies] to be lifeless corpses; the middle [option] necessitates activity in one of them, for the heart [mind], firstly, reflects, then, secondly, the body acts accordingly; and if they [bodies] exist with many hearts [minds] then there would be contradictory thoughts that would lead to contradictory action. [Patanjali] answered: each one of them [bodies] has its own exclusive heart [mind] and none of them possesses anything that the other [does not have] which would make

them different from each other, rather, they are bodies and hearts [minds] that issue from him. The source, then, is the first [body] and the rest are consequent to it. Q. 61. The postulant said: which of the five aforementioned ways to achieving the [condition] of renunciation is the most preferable? [Patarjali] answered: the final, fifth [one] which is the domination and control of the senses.

would have been forgotten.

[Patarjali] answered: activity is incumbent on the soul because it is its function and the body is an instrument for this [function]. There is no forgetfulness in matters

q

Vvasa on Sutra tv. 6:"Constructed minds or minds that have attained perfection or supernormal powers are of five varieties, viz. obtained by birth, through chemicals, incantations, austerities and concentration. Of these, the mind obtained through meditationis desireless, i.e., has no desires or latencies of attachment. That is why it has no connection with worldly) virtue or vice, and that is how Yogins are free from misery"

1o

qala '-sa'ilu; idha 'ktasaba 't-insanu ma yujibu '-mukafa'ata fi qalibin ghayri qalibi 'liktisabi faqad ba'uda '(-'ahdu fima bayna 'halayni wa nusiya '-amru? qala 'l-mujibu: al'amalu mulazimun i'l ruhi liannahu kasbuha wa'l-jasadu alatun laha wa la nisyana fi 'lashya'i 't-nafsanyyatifa nnaha kharjyatun 'ani '-zamani 'ladhiyaqtadi '-qurbawa'l-bu'da fi 'muddati wa'l-'amalu biuulazamatihi '-ruhu yajbilu khulqaha wa tiba'aha ila mithli -hali '[lat tantaqibu ilayha fa't-nafsu bisafa'ha 'almnatun dhalika mutadhakkiratun (altu he

.

i

4 Sitra rv.a:OfThese, The Mutation Of Body And Sense-Organs Into Those Of One Born In A Different Species--Takes Place Through The Filling In Of Their Nature Innate". 5 Siitratv.g:Causes Do Not Put The Nature Into Motion. Only The Removal Of Obstacles Takes

Place Through Them. This Is Like A Farmer Breaking Down The Barrier To Let The Water Flow The Hindrances Being Removed By The Causes, The Nature Innate Impenetrates By Itself".

6 Vyasa on Sutra Iv. 4:When the Yogin constructs many bodies, have they only one mind or many minds?" 7 Sitra iv.4:All Created Minds Are Constructed From Pure 'I'-=-Sense Or Ego" 8 Sutra iv.5:"One Mind Is The Director OfThe Many Created Minds In Respect Of The Variety Of Their Activities".

aha biknudi

®-badani idha 'jtama'at ma'ahu

%..[,,y,

1A6). subject ,, to 23 Jf there was n th· tion and there is a separation between them. h h orru ) /A 00\ Ing other than cogs"°'4

e intellect then gnosis could only be one and of all things perpetually. However, the ellect with regard to the intellector is like a gem concerning the relationship between jcht and what is seen; when a light is shone on it, it conveys the colours and forms of "

24

what is seen to the seer. g. 69. The postulant said: is the intellect like a lamp in that when it comes to making

is self manifest it requires nothing other than itself?

one and they all become an intellector.-!

[Patarjali] answered: as the lamp is for someone who seeks light, so the intellect is

Q. 68. The postulant said: what is the meaning of "the intellected" when the intellect intellects and unites with what it has intellected, for this can only lead to the conclusion

for an intellector.'??

q. 70. The postulant said: does the intellect perceive itself and for itself so that it,

that nothing other than the intellect exists??' [Patarjali] answered: just as you establish nothing other than the intellect so we establish nothing other than the intellector. Ultimately there is no difference of mean-

therefore, has no need for anything other than itself?

ing between us. Rather, the difference lies in expression. The meaning of "unification",

is collected does not collect itself, rather, something other than it collects it. The

as it stands, transpires within a single given; just as the wife of a man is endowed by [her] spouse with the form of love, and he calls her (Ritter, p. 197) beloved" whereas he endows her after a beating with the form of enmity, due to his excessive jealousy,

intellect only perceives after a stimulus to perception and it only perceives something

[Patarjali] answered: on the contrary, its perception is not of itself since that which

that is intellected.- Thus, the imprint of something other than itself and some form

Reading Ritter's baghidih as baghuda. (Ktab Batanjat.p.197.L1}. 17

\yasa on Sutra iv. 16. If an object were dependent on one mind, then what will happeD {0 · , ·tself wich the nature of it when , h that mind is inattentive or closed and does not concern

Sutra1v. 1a: The Past And The Future Are In Reality Present In Their Fundamental Forms,

. f h ·ind nor will it be noticed h object? the Because then it will not be the object of any other m b . . ,, ti · cl (f om which it was said to hy any other mind. If it again comes into touch withthe mine tr

There Being Only Difference In The Characteristics Of The Forms Taken At Different Times". 18

i..

Vy asa on Sitra 1v.13: h sed characteristics, h ...... · » "Of the th iree-phase the manifest state .is calleed the present. In the Ppast and the fur, ±..4. . in e tuture states they are in six unspecialised subtle forms.

19

a

kr

20

21

.4 .A 1eir properties are but special dispositions ofr. the Guna®,

as primarily they are nothing but Gunas". Reading the corrupt wordrd ATHYN as atharayn as suggested by Ritter. Sutra 1v. 14: "On Account Of Thee Coio-Ordinated .0, 5 Mutation Of The Three Gunas, Objects Appear As One". Vyasa on Sutra 1.15:There m:

b,,

?

, , aybe acommon object that is the focus of many minds;it is not tgured by one ·d, b... 4 happen?" 'mind, nor by many minds, but is grounded in itself. How does th8

r.

the

•

r

.:

·cannot be any unknown

(

4e there is no unknown part,the

part (by a particular perceiver) of an object ... If theretore

These phenomenal forms and the..4.

··

"

be born) wherefrom will it come? On this line ofargument there

1et

,,

alties. That is why it must e

@nr et and dmindsarealsolistin© admitted that an object has distinct entity common to all, al

24

own part and the perception thereof also become unreat

peculiar to each individual" ,4l,a AsThey ' pc The Mind According utra 1v. 17: "External Objects Are Known Or Unknown I0 Colour The Mind" 4,p,jOfThe Mind, The Sutr (rp sa Who ls .of0 outra 1v. 18: "On Account Of The Immutability Ot Purus Modifications Of The Mind Are Always Known Or Manifest_ s

.»

,le)'

An Object(nowa

atra 1v. 19: "It (Mind) ls Not Self-Illuminating Being

•

so

2% .

.

ll

.

. .

s

!

!

!

!

!

n

!

!

I

I

oN OF SECTION IV OF KITAB BATANJAL APPEND LX

p

yst.AT!

202

203

ye postulant said: what would be the state of the three o.5'

of collection takes place within it. The intellector differs from this for it is unification rather than collection that takes place within him thus your view is nullified and what we said is correct. Q. 71. The postulant said: what is the fruit of subtle knowledge?

[Patarjali] answered: its fruit is the extinction of desire and the desired.-?

tme?

'primary forces at that

3¢ ,-;jj] answered:d:h the activity ot3fhthese fforces is connected s»

[patanjl)

,

,4,es.

at happiness th,lt occu1s

,on.and I hi

'

,

tee with time and dun,,

in

the one who is truly h

, . .

Iura

@ppy is in lieu of? thne

n,and [thus] he transcends the three forces and has

duration·k

.

.

as no need of then,33

re postulant said: what is the measure of the action's d, 0.76..

4..

s.

±.

""

,

9duration?

Q. 72. The postulant said: what is the benefit from the extinction of this desire?

4ali] answered: it is sII which is a quarter of the blink of [atan]dl an eye.

[Patarjali] answered?® [it is attaining] the middle path towards knowledge that

T Q.77..

he postulant said: how can the action's requirement for d

rati

b "-

uration e known?

douses desire and realises the [state of] unity for the one, the truth."

[patanjali] answered: [it is known] from when that which is coloured white pro,towards yellowness, for the transition between them [the two colours] 1 esseS I# requires

(Ritter p. 198)

o,34 +his measure,

g, The postulant said: how is liberation [brought about]? Q. 73. The postulant said: does there remain in him who reaches this sublime level remnants of worldly filth or is he purified from the stain of ignorance?

[Patarjali] answered: ignorance with regard to man whilst in the world is as it were the natural state and knowledge is extraneous and foreign to him. Thus remnants of that which is innate and customary are inevitable during the onset of that which is

Q. 73-

[atarijali] answered: you can say that it [liberation] is the suspension of the three rnciple forces from their activity and their return to the source from which they had me. Or you can just as well say that it is the return of the soul [in a state ofknowing®° to its nature.

37

uncustomary.® Q. 74. The postulant said: how is he smelted so as to be completely purified of them?

of affliction) when in a roasted state do not germinate, so previous latent impressions,

[Patarjali] answered: by means of habituation, meditational praxis, and physical exercise, the manner of which has already been mentioned. When he gradually becomes habituated to the necessary then that which is habitual becomes as it were natural, it contends with nature at that time and it overcomes nature, and the habitual

when reduced to a roasted state in the fire of knowledge do not produce any modification, i.e they do not emerge into a state of knowledge. The latent impression ofknowledge, however. wait for the termination of the function of the mind (i.e., they automatically die out when the mind ceases to act}, and no special effort is necessary therefore? Reading the Arabic word bdl, (Kitab Batanjal, p. 198. I. 13), which according to Ritter is

r ,.

becomes purified of those remnants. On reaching this level he becomes removed from

r f1' unclear {stab Batanjal, p. 198, footnote 4), as badalun, instea d ot or"in tieu o1.

the motives of both recompense and sin so that he becomes cleansed of impurities, and

knowledge becomes established to such a measure that it cannot be increased by the abundance of known things and it is impossible for them to become distant or simple, for these are then annihilated through the unification of the three afore-mentioned

33

Sutra v. 32: "From That (Cloud Pouring Virtue) The Gunas Having Fulfilled TheirPurpose,

The Sequence Of TheirMutation Ceases"

• .:,i:~nt flow of moments and is h nature otf incessant yasa on Sutra ty. 33: "Sequence is otf the , % bl The oldness ofanew piece ofclothis conceived only when a change becomes noticeal le. .he ol 1n€39

[forces].3!

known whenthe change does not remain unfelt' :.

35

a

,

..

:.

,)

·gal'

lidhalika sa'ala '-sa'ilwfi khatimati kitabi Batanjc :.

'anKayITy'

8,,

28

Gravitates Towards The State Of Isolation"

th is reason the postulantasked at the conclusion ot

Md@

,,

s brought about. [Patarjali]answered:you can say'

t

.544 5sed. Or you can

i.},

Vyasa on Siitra 1v.26: "While engaged in acquiring knowledge of the special distinction,

ot,1.10}

]s thesuspension

..

·fr

which they

adisstue

of the three forces and their return to the source trom w

:.

just as well say that it is the return of the soul inastat e

It is impossible not to read this passage in KitabBatanjal as referring toGod. Sitra1v.27:Through lts Breaches (i.e., Breaks In Discriminative Knowledge) Arise Other

p-6,l.19.

Foll ows The Same Process As The Removal Of Afflictions". Vyasa onSutra 1v. 28:As seeds

ila tibia'iha (Hind,p.

that it [liberation}is he:

isolation and moves in the path of discriminative knowledge".

Sutraiv.28:"lt Has Been Said That Their Removal (i.e., OfIndiscriminative Impressions)

ta

anhu, wa in shi'ta faqul hwwa ruy' 'nafsi 'alimatanus pc liberation . . f, tab Batanjal about ow ltbe

and was roaming in paths of ignorance, takes a different turn. Then it directs itself towards

31

3l

ra

5, \, +6\ For

,

Thoughts InvolvingFluctuations Due To Residual Subliminal Impressions".

s

@,

Su traiv.26:(Then) The Mind inclines Towards Discriminative Knowledge And Naturally

the mind of the devotee, that used to be occupied with the experience of objects of senses

29 30

.rs.n4,

qMhisadar t

wduha ila 'l-ma'dani lla'hi sac

in shi'ta faqul huwa ta'attulu 'lquwa tthalathiwa-awd 27

·iibu:

+kfiv»watt 'khalast? faqala'l-muit

;%

teofknowing toitsnat

;

ture"

·

,% found in Hind,

ih

arallel passage toe

eading 'alimatan as introduced by Ritter fromthe par

37

4,

sr

Outra v. 34: "Isolation Is The Complete Disappeat lo},

0

..

{Which lave Ceased

iranceOfTheGunas"

'¢

Or LiberationOfPuru@}

Je Objectives (By Providing ExperienceOr

''

"

4%ls.

4; pOtherWords.l other

a',,gra ry. gq:Inol

Self"Vyisaon9uut

ls Supreme Consciousness Established In Its Own'' ;- own self, i.e,, the absolute words.,

,

4,

gs

S, whenthe supreme Consciousness IS

established in this0

TRA NS

LATJON OF SECTION IV OF KITAB BA-T

AN]AL

204

205

(Ritter, p. 199) This concludes 1

i: th section on the subject of liberation and unification d . thefourt .4. and with, to an end consisting in its entirety of one thousand one h \q

it the boo} k comes

undred

points in verse.

a,

:

.:

·id: this was the book of Batanjal and that which called for its transla1 Ati b Rayhansait: tion is the absence of the Indians' beliefs concerning their religious paths among those who discuss them in books such that, were their content to be used for disputation, th mnents no shared point of reference would remain amongst the disput with oppot d tants

•·irnpossibleaccounts,youwillhearaboutm· 1 their... uracleswhenth , I rs theb1shopsundpatnarchsofthepastardt] eymentiontheanci le an hosemartyr db ent fath ] [about] the growth of their hair and nails whe 3, " because of the fad, and.. endeadsoasto :. ·niJing an • th Knowledge of Plato's Philosophy in the Islamic World", in Islamic Rosenthal,1 F., 0 n ie Ow Biruni', in

5,A.Mo ·Mic His '®h975,pp.i-g8 shas!' jarative Religion:a history. La Salle 1Lt: Open Cc '' o Comp ® 'ourt Pub,©

w,,,at-ayhan al-Biriuni: dirasa 'an hay@tihi wa-ntajh4.3 ' "·'986. , j,$,Abu 9,a a. 3».e../[email protected], sd (d.), Patanjali by Abit ltayhan Biriii.Tehran, zoo. /999. %,MS.

Culture 14, 1940, pp. 387-422.

Rousseau, MF . ., "AV1·ceiuia and Aquinas on Incorruptibility" in New Schola.slicism 51,

spul'

Roy

4.

i.»4.

"Abtt Raihan al Biriini and his Indian studies, y Clhou dh ury, ML

in

lndo-lran1ca 7

(3), 1954% pp. 9-22.

Muslim World Book Review 10 (3), 1990, pp. 65--77.

·can Oriental Society u4:2, 1994, pp. 163-185, ,/the Amer "',g, Freethinkers ofMedieval lslam, Ibn al-Rawandi, Abii Bakr al-Ra:a.. [mpacto.

4.

i.

.a»±.

4,anc

nqTj,,,

heir

n.

3,[.C., "Al-Biruni and Firdausi", in Visva-Bharati Quarterly 15 (1), 1949, pp. 51-59. paadid!

d

'»

La substantialite de

·he

ame chez

lh. A.

1br

Sina' »

pp

iina, in Revue Tunisienne des Etudes

philosophiques 10, 1993. pp. 127-132.

Sadakhas, Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. Bombay, 1995.

Said, H.M., (ed.), Al-Birini Commemorative Volume: Proceedings of the International

q:;

rrud,in Journal

qpumSh30.±. st_, [slamic Thought. Leiden, 1999.,

Rudolph, U., Al-Matiridi und die Sunnitische Theologie in Samarkand. Leiden, 1997.

Saber, K.M., "A Classified Bibliography of Recent Publications on al-Birii", in The

< «The Blinding Emerald: Ibn al-Rawandi's Kitab at-zum,

umsh.:.

st 1977,pp.524--536..

.2

,,·Ghaznawids" in r:1},

jy, "Biruni's Picture of the World" in Memoirs of the Archaeological Survey of

Togaf e'3

dia 53. Dehli, 19-41.

Congress held in Pakistan on the occasion of the Millenary ofAbii Raihan ibn Ahmad al-Biriini (973-ca. 1051A.D.) November--December 1973. Karachi, 1979.

Said, H.M., and Khan, A.Z., Al-Biriini---His Times, Life and Works. Karachi, 1982.

Saliba, G., Al-Biruni and the Sciences of his Time" in Young, Latham, and Serjeant, (eds.), The Cambridge History ofArabic Literature: Religion, Learning and Science in the Abbasid Period, volume 3, pp. 405-423. Cambridge, 1990. Saliba, G., "BiRUNI, ABU RAYHAN, iii. Mathematics and Astronomy" in Encyclopaedia Iranica.

Samian, A.L., "Virtues in Al-Biruni's Philosophy of Science", in Anna-Teresa Tymieniecka, (ed.), Timing and Temporality in Islamic Philosophy and Phenomenology of Life. Netherlands, 2007, pp. 267-283. Sarton, G., Introduction to the History ofScience. Baltimore, 1, 1927, pp. 707 -709.

pan,E.adlini..

%

%..

,

D,,Les penseurs libres dans l'Islam classique: L'interrogation sur la religion chez

Unoy.

r,

es

{es penseurs arabes independants. Paris, 1996.

erbeke, G., "L'immortalite de 'ame dans le De Anima d' Avicenne. Une synthese . •1· m" et du neoplatonisme" de I, aristotelisfte 0 " • in Pensamiento. Revista de mvesccgaawne

iformacionfilosofca 25, 1969,pp.271--290-. Wardenburg, JJ.% Muslim Perceptions of Other Religions: a Historical Survey. New York: oUr.c.1099.

·

fefr

1

3>

·

qs and Muslim Interpretations in

Waardenburg, JJ., Muslims as Actors: IslamicMeantng

the Perspective of the Study of Religions. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter. 2007. 4fa s" inW.B. Hallaq and D.P.Little,

Walker, PE., The Doctrine ofMetempsychosis in bstam'.1, I

da

,

s.Leiden,New York,Koln.19g,pp.219

Sayili, A., Biruni'ye Arma@an. Ankara, 1974.

{eds.), /slame Studies presented to Ch.]. Adams.

Scheppler, B., Al-Biruni: Master Astronomer and Muslim Scholar ofthe Eleventh Century.

348.

•

Waler.. Al-Birumt and tdolauyin Acta/ranican.or±aW37, .saa, (ed.),

New York, 2006.

Sebti, M., "La signification de la definition avicennienne de l' ame comme 'perfection premiere d'un corps naturel organique' dans le livre 1 du 'Traite de I' ame du Sifa'" in Bulletin d'etudes orientales 51, 1999, pp. 299-312; 324-325. Sellheim, R., "Fadila", in EI?. Biruni: Texts and Studies. Vols. 1-3. Frankfurt, 1998.

Watt, tit, WM, .% ·A\Rj A>D5HUIE 4andd the Uit Study LG of Non-lslamic Religionsk

Al Bruni Commemorative Volume. Karachi, 1979, pp. 344 35h "-f ,,._ v J) ' ncL New i\'0r.t, 1993· \"''htcher, I., The Integrity of the Yoga 0arsan.__ Whitaker, L., The Present State of Studies of Al-Biriini: A Survey al Anal x1.111/4, 1983, pp. 591-b619.

Arabischen Schrifttums. Leiden, 1974.

Wi

is follower, Gardezi, on the festivals of the Hindus", in Afghani

Wolf

Sharma, A., Studies in "Alberuni's India". Wiesbaden: Harrasowitz, 1983.

c,

( 4do-isla

3cworld.Vol.2.

"

Leiden,199l .e

3

{%,e Byzantine Commer

f±he Spheres fromthe ?

Ollson,H.A., "The Problem ofthe Souls of the5pl

y

5-3

,3rt in Studies t,1973

A.St Thomas to Kepler ;

tares onAristotle Through the Arabs and 9t.

biu al-Rayhan al-Biruni: hayatuhii, mu'allifatuhu, abhathuhu al-'ilmyya. Shamsi, F.A., "Abi Rayhan al-Biruni", in Islamic Studies 13, 1974, pp. 179-220.

,,,,

ink, A., AHind, the making of the Indo-Istanc

373» Pp- 90-94. Cairo, 1968.

.

3d Bibliography" in

P- 22-59.

@rshater, E,, (ed.), Biruni Symposium. New York, 1970.,,epgion, l.earing al Yo

5fArbic Literature:

"g, M.J.L., (ed.), The Cambridge History o] Sr

\rat

aAridge, 1990-