Yogasutrabhasyavivarana of Sankara: Vivarana Text with English Translation and Critical Notes along with Text and English Translation of Patanjali's Yogasutras and Vyasabhasya, vols. 1 and 2.

• Author: Harimoto, Kengo
• Position: Book Review

Yogasutrabhasyavivarana of Sankara: Vivarana Text with English Translation and Critical Notes along with Text and English Translation of Patanjali's Yogasutras and Vyasabhasya, vols. 1 and 2. By T. S. RUKMANI. New Delhi: MUNSHIRAM MANOHARLAL PUBLISHERS, 2001. Pp. xxxii + 389; x + 230.

These two volumes combine texts and translations of three works, i.e., the Yogasutra (YS), its authoritative commentary Yogabhasya (YBh), and a subcommentary Vivarana. The focus is, as the title suggests, the subcommentary Vivarana. Texts and translations of the YS and the YBh are provided to help understand the subcommentary. The translations of them are taken from a previous publication of the author, the translation of the Yogavarttika of Vijnanabhiksu (p. ix). This is a second translation of the complete text of the Vivarana, in addition to Leggett (The Complete Commentary by Sankara on the Yoga Sutras: A Full Translation of the Newly Discovered Text [London: Kegan Paul, 1990]).

The first volume consists of an introduction and texts and translations of the first and the second pada, and the second a short introduction, texts, and translations of the third and the fourth pada, and appendices. The appendices consist of reprints of the author's previously published articles on the Vivarana and an index of selected words.

Many who are interested in the Vivarana may be thankful that this work includes the Sanskrit text of the Vivarana. The first edition of the Vivarana published in 1952 (P. S. Rama Sastri and S. R. Krishnamurthi Sastri, Patanjala-yogasutra-bhasya-vivaranam of Sankara-bhagavatpada [Madras: Government Oriental Manuscripts Library, 1952]) has been rare and unavailable for quite some time, despite the interest in it. This publication makes the text more easily accessible. The texts presented here, not only of the Vivarana but also of the YS and the YBh, are rather faithful reproductions of the 1952 edition (p. ix). Some readers may be disappointed to learn this if they anticipated a critical edition of the Vivarana. It has been a while since Wezler ("Philological Observations in the So-called Patanjalayogasutrabhasyavivarana [Studies in the Patanjalayogasastravivarana I]," Indo-Iranian Journal 25 [1983]: 17-40) reported the existence of manuscripts that were not used by the editors of the editio princeps, pointed out textual problems of the editio princeps, and suggested the possibility of a new improved edition.

Since Rukmani reproduced the texts not only of the Vivarana, but also of the YS and YBh from the 1952 edition, her work inherits the same problem as the 1952 edition: the texts of the YS and the YBh are inconsistent with what the Vivarana-kara was commenting on. There are many footnotes that pertain to this point throughout the translation, but no attempt is made to examine systematically the significance of the differences. As Wezler and others already pointed out (and it should be clear to any reader), the text of the YS and especially the YBh commented on by the Vivarana-kara was not the same as what we have today. I find it peculiar that in many cases when Rukmani notes the different YBh text being commented on, she seems to think that the Vivarana-kara was at fault (e.g., pp. 32, 163, 165, etc.). I agree with Wezler here that the text of the YBh commented on by the Vivarana-kara was closer to the original than what we...