[Buddha-l] Hardships & Downfall of B. in I.

[Artur Karp]

Verardi.

I definitely have problems with his syntax. Maybe because I am not an
English native speaker. But, also, quite possibly, because Verardi
himself is not an English native speaker.

His syntax noitwithstanding, his attempts at deconstructing some epic
and puranic myths (to see in them allegories of real violence directed
against Buddhists and Jainas - presented as asuras) convince me.

The same goes for his analyses of iconographic material. Especially
considering his practice of meticulously confronting this material
with archaeological and textual evidence. It's as if he had before his
eyes a poster with the phrase "The stratigraphy, stupid".

And I consider this statement of his worth remembering:

p.109:  The use of the expression 'inter-sectarian rivalries', so common in
the literature, should be avoided when discussing the relationships
between Buddhism and orthodoxy. The differences and clashes
between Bhagavatas and Pasupatas or between the vaidika-s and the
theistic groups can be rightly described as 'sectarian', but those
between the vaidika-s and the neo-orthodox from the one side and
the Buddhists from the other are not: in this case, differences and
clashes are systemic.

Artur Karp

Poland