Scientific life. CONGRESSES, CONFERENCES, AND SYMPOSIA

On November 27-29, 2002, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted the jubilee Roerich Readings, which were dedicated to the 100th anniversary of the birth of Yu. N. Roerich (1902-1960), an outstanding Oriental scholar. The readings were attended by Orientalists whose research interests are related to the main directions of Yu. N. Roerich's scientific activity. One session was entirely devoted to memories of the scientist. Speakers included people who knew Yu. N. Roerich personally: L. S. Mitusov (St. Petersburg) and A. N. Zelinsky (Moscow), as well as his students: T. Ya. Elizarenkov (Moscow), Yu. M. Alikhanov (Moscow) and V. V. Vertogradov (Moscow).

At the readings, several reports were devoted to Tibetology. E. D. Ogneva (Lutsk) made a presentation "Tibetan sacred art through the eyes of Yu. N. Roerich". She spoke about the cultural and scientific environment of St. Petersburg, where Yu. N. Roerich's interest in Buddhist art was formed. Familiarity with the Tibetan and Mongolian collections in England, America, and France, as well as his own field research, allowed him to publish the first scientific monograph "Tibetan Painting" (Paris, 1925), which has not lost its significance to this day. Yu. N. Roerich managed to collect a huge amount of material about the Buddhist and secular visual arts of Tibet and other East Asian states-from the Himalayan Principality of Sikkim to the steppes of Mongolia. This knowledge contributed to his successful work as an expert and consultant at the Museum of Western and Eastern Art in Kiev (now the Museum of Art named after him. Bogdan and Varvara Khanenko).

R.N. Krapivina (St. Petersburg) in her report "Problems of studying the Abhisamayalankara "emphasized the importance of a living tradition for studying such classical Buddhist texts. She recalled that even in ancient times, Buddhists themselves believed that a teacher's commentary was necessary for a correct understanding of such works. Recently, a native speaker of the living Buddhist tradition, Geshe Zhamyan Kentse, has been lecturing in St. Petersburg. R.N. Krapivina, a Tibetan lama of the Gelug school, has translated 128 of his lectures on the interpretation of the Prajna Paramita sutras, including the Abhisamayalankara. These lectures helped her understand the structure and content of classical Buddhist texts.

V. M. Yakovlev (Moscow) devoted his report "Tibetan divination text from the Danjur "to the peculiarities of the divination tradition in Tibet. He himself is working on the translation and study of the treatise " The Sound of fortune-telling bones "(Skt.: kevali, Tibet.: mo rci). The speaker gave a number of arguments that allow us to date the recording of this text to the VII-VIII centuries.

M. V. Gorelik (Moscow) in his report "Introduction to Tibetan Weapons studies of the Late Middle Ages" noted that when studying Tibet, the greatest attention is paid to spiritual culture, while material culture, including the so-called dzongs (fortresses), remains the least studied. So, in the fortresses and monasteries of Tibet, weapons are traditionally stored: armor, helmets, shields and arsenals of weapons. They provide an opportunity to study the history of weapons not only in Tibet, but also in Central Asia. The speaker illustrated his speech with interesting material that shows the high artistic value of Tibetan weapons and armor.

T. Y. Elizarenkova (Moscow) in her report "On the function of pronouns in some Indian texts", noting that the features of the functioning of pronouns depend on the nature of the text, considered this on the example of the Rig Veda and Atharvaveda. Texts are of two different types. The hymns of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the praise of the gods, and their purpose is to establish not only the gods, but also the gods.-

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mediocre contact with the deity. The "Atharvaveda" plots were used in magical procedures and involved three participants: the client, the intermediary, and the one who was targeted (the enemy, etc.). The speaker used specific examples to show which grammatical forms of pronouns each of these types of tests prefers.

A. A. Vigasin (Moscow) in his report "Devanampiya in the edicts of Ashoka"showed that the term devanampiya is used in a sense close to the concept of "king" (rajan) and can in this case be translated as "lord, sovereign". The origin of this meaning of the word, according to the speaker, goes back to Vedic ritualism, for which the concepts of "lord" and "donator" (yajamana) are close.

D. N. Lelyukhin's report (Moscow) " Political and administrative terminology in inscriptions. The problem of an approach to interpretation" was made on the basis of the analysis of gift inscriptions of the first half of the first millennium AD. He believes that there is no reason to see in the inscriptions a special "administrative-territorial terminology", as Indian researchers of the history of ancient India do. In his opinion, the Indian kingdoms of the Gupta era were amorphous associations of various territories that were in varying degrees dependent on their rulers.

V. V. Vertogradova's report "Planimetric models in Ancient Indian painting: verbal text and wall painting" was devoted to the ways of representation (ksayavrddhi) of the drawn human body (sarira) in multi-figure compositions. It considered two separate topics: ways of forming and translating ancient texts about painting and the tradition of transformation of painting practice. The report put forward a number of provisions concerning their correlation.

Yu. M. Alikhanov (Moscow), having analyzed the plot of the epic tale of Shakuntala, suggested that it goes back to the Vedic myth, similar to the myth of Urvashi and Pururavasa. This is evidenced by the mention of apsara Shakuntala in the Shtapatha-brahmana and the coincidence of the main points of the legend (the marriage of the king and apsara; the agreement broken by the king; the conflict, the son left by apsara to the father) with the main parts of the Urvashi myth. In the epic tradition, the ancient plot was transformed in accordance with the plot patterns characteristic of the epic. The first part of the story (the ashram episode) is built according to the plot scheme about the insult of an ascetic by a hunter-king. The second (the palace episode) uses the motif of divine witness. In addition, later editors of the Mahabharata filled the tale with didactic content and introduced aspects related to the legitimacy of the so-called "Gandharva marriage".

S. A. Filippov (Moscow) made a presentation on "Logical interpretation of events in Bhasa's drama 'Vasavadatta Seen in a Dream'". By "logical interpretation" he meant a formalized interpretation based on the character's utterances, in which a causal connection is found. This interpretation is usually expressed in poetic forms and can mean a guess, foresight, or refutation. Logical constructions introduced into the text provide important material for understanding the role of poetic forms in dramatic works.

A. M. Dubyansky (Moscow) in his report "Tamil Poetry and Buddhism" noted that in Tamil poetry of the first and third centuries (the so-called "Sanga poetry"), terms or concepts related to Buddhism are rarely mentioned. However, Buddhist ideas penetrated it in the form of maxims, in which the motives of self-sacrifice, good deeds, detachment from the world, ephemeral existence sounded. Borrowing was possible, as Tamil itinerant poets in many ways resembled Buddhist poets (scanty clothing, begging bowl) and undoubtedly met them. In any case, there is no doubt that there are common places in Tamil and Pali poetry anthologies. For example, one of the poems from Purananuru (187) is considered a paraphrase of an aphorism from Chapter VII of the Dhammapada.

G. V. Strelkova (Moscow) spoke about works of fiction and popular science devoted to India, which, in her opinion, influenced the formation of the image of this country in the Russian reader.

In his report "Rites of worship of planets according to dharmashastras" A. A. Samozvantsev (Moscow) analyzed the corresponding texts from three dharmashastras: "Yajnavalkya-smriti", "Brihatparashara - smriti"and" Brahmoktayajnavalkya-samhita". These sources contain the most interesting material about the rites of worship of planets, both performed by the king and others.-

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They also describe the rituals of creating and honoring mandalas and artificial images of planets. Texts compiled at different times demonstrate the development of the tradition of planetary worship and allow us to trace the gradual transition from the yajna ritual (fire sacrifice) to the puja ritual (offering flowers, fruits, food, etc.).

The report "Sacred plants and objects in medieval ritual" by E. V. Tyulina (Moscow) was based on the material of the Puranas. She studied three rites: narayana bali (one of the funeral rites), the sacrifice at the consecration of the statue and the consecration of the site for construction (eacmy-puja). Each of them used a set of plants, grains, stones and other items. The descriptions of these rites contained in the sources complement each other and allow us to understand the semantics of sacrificial objects.

N. A. Zheleznova's report "Corpus Kundakundae: problems of dating" (Moscow) was devoted to the principles of dating texts attributed to the famous Digambara teacher Kundakunda. Existing dates range from the first century BC to the sixth century AD and require clarification. She proposed two principles for dating texts, based, first, on the analysis of historical sources (epigraphy, teacher lists, etc.), as well as on the analysis of texts that are directly included in the Kundakunda Corpus. This approach to the sources made it possible to narrow the dates to the third and fifth centuries.

D. I. Zhutaev (Moscow) reviewed the structure of the Early Buddhist doctrinal text (Buddhist hybrid Sanskrit, Pali). Introducing the concept of an early Buddhist doctrinal text, he proposed the following criteria for classifying texts into this category: chronologically - stage-based-the era of early Buddhism; socially-valuable-belonging to the Buddhist Canon, recognition of the text as "words of the Buddha", and not followers; semantically-functional-the orientation of the text towards a consistent presentation of a particular fragment of Buddhist teaching extralinguistic - the oral nature of the generation and initial transmission of the text. These criteria allowed us to distinguish a group of Buddhist texts, which included the Pali suttas, works of the Sarvastivada canon, inserted works from the Mahavastu, etc. The speaker told about the ways of forming and organizing such texts.

M. S. Fomin (Moscow) in his report "Instructions of Kings (rajanusasana) based on the materials of the Chakkavattikhanada Sutta "examined three episodes of this canonical Buddhist sutra, which set out the doctrine of the good rule of the ideal Buddhist king-chakkavattin (chakravartin). The first episode is the instruction of the royal sage to his son, the second is the preaching of the Buddhist dhamma (dharma) of the cakkavattina king addressed to neighboring kings, and the third is the teaching of the criminal by the kshatriya king. These episodes affirm the priority of the" Buddhist "type of righteous king (cakkavattina king) over the" Brahmin " type (kshatriya king).

The report of E. G. Vyrshchikov (Moscow) "The social ideal in Early Buddhism" was based on the materials of the Pali Canon. Unlike M. S. Fomin, the speaker believes that the social ideal of early Buddhism was a communal structure. Later, during the reign of Ashoka, there was an active interaction of the Buddhist ideal of government and Brahmanical political theory, which led to the emergence of the Buddhist doctrine of the king - chakravartin, which later had a huge impact on the history of the countries of the South Buddhist region.

N. V. Alexandrova (Moscow) analyzed a fragment of the Xuan Tsang text (VII century), which reflects the pilgrim's journey from Gandhara to Kashmir. She tried to answer the question of how well the Xuan Tsang text reflects its actual route and what are the literary sources of the narratives given in this part of the text (Buddhist legends, etc.).

T. P. Selivanova (St. Petersburg) in her report "Parishad in medieval Kashmir" noted that the meaning of the term parishad changed over time. The study of the material of the Kashmiri poem-chronicle "Rajatarangini" by Kalhana (XII century) allowed us to conclude that the parishad in medieval Kashmir was a temple council responsible for economic and ideological issues. The degree of its independence has changed in different historical epochs.

Kadyrbaev's report "Kashmiris and Tibetans at the courts of the great Mongol Khans in the XVI-XIV centuries" was devoted to the contacts of Kashmir, Tibet and Mongolia and the problem of interaction of their cultures. The speaker spoke about Kashmiri and Tibetan dignitaries, scientists, doctors and artisans who served at the courts of the Mongol khans. Their oka activities-

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It had a great influence on the Mongolian culture and contributed to the spread of Buddhism. In particular, Buddhist texts that played an important role in the development of Mongolian literature were translated.

A. A. Ledkov (Moscow) in his report "On the semantics of one of the archaic Nepalese terms" spoke about the term dhungo, which primarily means a stone and also has the following meanings: force, union, stronghold, stronghold, border sign, border, subject territory, state, homeland, power. The etymology of this word has not been studied. The first mention of the term dates back to 1746 or 1947. The speaker spoke about the veneration of the stone in Nepal. Special attention was paid to those examples that did not fit into the framework of traditional Hinduism and are archaic and poorly studied (veneration as a receptacle of the deity, as a sacred center of the family's possession, a border sign of possessions or sacred space, etc.).

K. P. Shrestha (Nepal) made a presentation on "Beliefs of Kirat tribes". Kirat or kirant is the name of the oldest Mongoloid tribe. Nowadays, Kirats live in Nepal, in the mountainous part east of the Kathmandu Valley, as well as in Bhutan and in India (in Assam, West Bengal, Sikkim). Kirats practice Buddhism (Lamaism) and Hinduism. At the same time, they have preserved the most ancient religious ideas, mainly related to animistic beliefs. The speaker spoke in detail about the Kirat deities, which he divided into three categories. The first group consists of deities representing natural phenomena, such as mountains, rivers, forests, rocks, trees, etc., the second - the cult of ancestors, and the third - local deities.

Yu. I. Drobyshev (Moscow) in his report "On the transformation of the funeral rites of the medieval Mongols" paid special attention to the graves of the rulers. Mongol khans were considered guides of heavenly power and were buried in the mountains so that they were closer to the Sky. Burial sites were arranged in hard - to-reach places-korigs, which were supposed to be located in Mongolia at home, so that the khans would continue to serve it after their lives. The change in funeral rites began under the Hulaguids, who ruled in Iran and Transcaucasia in the 13th century. Khan's remains were buried on the spot. In the XIII-XIV centuries tombs and mausoleums were built for them. By burying the khans on the occupied land, the Mongol conquerors thereby recognized it as "their own" not only in the legal, but also in the sacred sense.

N. Y. Nefedov's report (Samara) "Features of the development of the urban structure of the capital of ancient Nakhsheb" was devoted to the Yerkurgan settlement-the capital center of the historical region of Nakhsheb in the south of Uzbekistan. The speaker identified three stages in the history of the city - Achaemenid (VI century BC), Hellenistic (late IV - early III century BC), Kushan (late II-early III AD). According to the results of archaeological work, the main urban structures are identified - fortifications, residential, public, religious, industrial and other parts of the city. The report was accompanied by a display of aerial maps, color illustrations of finds and types of excavations.

O. V. Zotov (Moscow) in his report "The Rise of Oriental Studies - prerequisites and conditions" spoke about the methodological significance of Yu. N. Roerich's works of 1920-1930. He paid special attention to three articles written by the young Roerich: "The Rise of Orientalism"," The Pinnacle of Modern Science "and"Healers in Tibet". According to the speaker, it was in these articles that Yu. N. Roerich defined the goals and values of Oriental studies, its key concepts and general methods of system-historical research.

V. L. Melnikov's report (St. Petersburg) "Yu. N. Roerich in St. Petersburg-Petrograd-Leningrad" was based mainly on documents from the Memorial Collection of S. S. Mitusov, Yu. N. Roerich's great-uncle, as well as on some documents from other archives and museums in St. Petersburg and Moscow. The speaker presented two blocks of materials separated by a forty-year gap: childhood and adolescence in St. Petersburg and in the surrounding regions, and visits to Leningrad in 1958-1960.

Traditionally, several reports were devoted to the history of the Roerich family and their views. V. V. Frolov (Moscow) in his report "Methodology of Roerich Studies" called for careful consideration of the Roerichs ' heritage. In his opinion, a researcher should not only deeply understand and accept the spiritual heritage of the Roerich family, but also have a high degree of culture and morality. M. N. Egorova (Moscow) in her report "The Teaching of Living Ethics or Agni Yoga - the worldview of all four Roerichs" outlined the main aspects of the philosophical views of the scientist's parents-E. I. and N. K. Roerich.O. A. Lavreneva (Moscow) in her report " The method of direct impressions of reality and its use in scientific and literary creativity Roerichs" told about the collaboration between N. K. and Y. N. Roerich, which was manifested in the synthesis of artistic activity and science.

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