I am looking for help with some of the more challenging references in my editorial work with Georges Dumézil’s Mitra-Varuna. I have checked hundreds of references, correcting some and completing many, but these are the ones I am still stuck with. Any help would be much appreciated.
Texts I cannot locate except in Sanskrit
Are there English, French, German (or any Western European) translations of
– Maitrayani Samhita (IV, 8, 1 and V, 2, 5)
– Taiitriya Brahmana (I, 7, 10, 1 and I, 1, 4, 7)
– Kathaka Brahmana (II, 30, 1)
– Gopatha Brahmana (II, 1, 2)
There are six references in total between these four texts. I am fairly sure there are no complete translations, though there are critical editions of the Sanskrit (often with German titles and apparatus). For example, Dumézil used Leopold von Schroeder (ed.), Maitrāyaṇī saṃhitā, Leipzig: F.A. Brockhaus, four volumes 1881-86. Are there good (and clearly organised) places like readers which might include these specific passages?
[Update: both passages from Taiitriya Brahmana can be found in J. Muir, Original Sanskrit Texts – Vol V, 58 and Vol I, 186, with the latter having the reference I, 1, 4, 4. Dumézil references Muir in Mitra-Varuna and it may well be his source, rather than an edition of the text itself. Muir provides transliteration and English translations of selected passages. There is also a German translation of Maitrayani Samhita, but only of the first two books, published in 2009, which I will check]
Texts where the reference is wrong
There are some references which are clearly wrong, and in most cases I’ve been able to find the correct reference. There are others where his reference may be correct to the edition he used, but there is different arrangement in ones with wider circulation, so I’ve cited both his location and a more accessible one. But I’m stuck with one.
Dumézil references Rg Veda IV, 53, 6, concerning Savitr as a god who sends to sleep. I can’t see how this is correct, though he also references VII, 45, 1, which does seems right. My best guess is the first reference should be to IV, 53, 7, which mentions Savitr being favourable by night and day. Any ideas?
Secondary Sources
Dumézil mentions that someone called M.P. Arnold (this possibly means Monsieur P. Arnold), wrote a book called Mavors. In 1948 Dumézil says this was ‘just published’, but I am unable to find a reference anywhere. Mavors is Mars, the god of war, but searching for Arnold and Mars just leads to Schwarzenegger’s movie Total Recall… This may be Paul Arnold, who Dumézil knew, but he didn’t publish a book around this time which looks an obvious connection. Perhaps his 1947 book Le Dieu de Baudelaire? A Mlle Arnold attended a course Dumézil taught, so it’s possible the book was published under a married name, but I’m still drawing a blank.
[Update: it appears this might be an article, though Dumézil clearly says book. I hope to see that next week]
