Vedic and Pāṇinian Studies

When the first volume of L’Inde Classique appeared in 1949 – the first part of this volume, fascicule one, had already apeared two years earlier, in 1947 – it was an unprecedent, innovative work, but it was also already in need of updates in several domains, especially in those of Vedic and Pāṇinian studies, which were among Louis Renou’s most preferred domains of research within Indian Studies or Indology. In 1947 itself, Louis Renou had published Les Écoles Védiques et la Formation du Veda (Paris : Imprimerie Nationale), which deals in much more detail with the subject matter of paragraphs 614-616 of L’Inde Classique.1

In addition, Louis Renou started to publish, in 1955, his Études védiques et pāṇinéennes (EVP) or Vedic and Pāṇinian Studies. Subsequent years saw the publication of 14 more volumes – one volume every year, and in 1960, 1961 and 1964 each time two volumes – till 1966 (vol. XV), when Louis Renou suddenly passed away on August 18, 1966. Posthumously, two more volumes of Études védiques et pāṇinéennes appeared in 1967 and 1969 (EVP vols. XVI and XVII). From the third volume onward, Renou’s Études védiques et pāṇinéennes contained an annotated translation of the Ṛgveda which was to a very large part finalized in 1966. The degree of finalization per book of the Ṛgveda varies between 100 percent (the ninth Maṇḍala is completely translated in EVP VIII and IX) and just 51 percent (the tenth Maṇḍala).2

In order to honour Louis Renou and his research in the two domains of Vedic and Pāṇinian Studies, a Journée d’études védiques et pāṇinéennes was organized on 12 June 2019 by Silvia D’Intino and Jan E.M. Houben: the list of speakers, program and abstracts of the contributions can be found here.

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  1. On the subject of the Vedic schools, several important publications have appeared subsequently, of which we mention here, first, Vedic Śākhās : past, present, future. Proceedings of the Fifth International Vedic Workshop, edited by J.E.M. HOUBEN, J. ROTARU and M. WITZEL. Harvard Oriental Series, Opera Minora 9. (Pp. 1-1050.) Cambridge, Mass. : Harvard Univ., 2016; and several publications by Michael WITZEL: , Michael: 1987. “On the localisation of Vedic texts and schools (Materials on Vedic śākhās, 7).” In: India and the ancient world. History, Trade and Culture before A.D. 650. P.H.L. Eggermont Jubilee Volume (ed. G. Pollet): 173-213. Leuven: Departement Orientalistiek.

    ————. 1989. Tracing the Vedic dialects.” In: Dialectes dans les littératures indo-aryennes (ed. by C. Caillat): 97-265. Paris: Institut de Civilisation Indienne.

    ————. 1997. “The Development of the Vedic Canon and its Schools: The Social and Political Milieu.” In: Inside the Texts, Beyond the Texts: New Approaches to the Study of te Vedas (ed. by M. WITZEL): v-xix. Cambridge, Mass.: Dep. of Sanskrit and Indian Studies, Harvard University.

    ————. 2011. “Gandhāra and the formation of the Vedic and Zoroastrian canon.” In: Travaux de Symposium International: Le Livre. La Roumanie. L’Europe. Troisième édition – 20-24 Sepembre 2010. Tome III: Section IIIA: Le Veda-Vedāṅga et l’Avesta entre oralité et écriture (ed. by J.E.M. Houben & J. Rotaru): 490-532. Bucarest: Bibliothèque de Bucarest.[↩]

  2. Hymns translated and published by Louis Renou elsewhere, for instance in Renou’s Hymnes et Prières du Veda, have been counted here as translated. Several untranslated hymns of Maṇḍala 10 are nevertheless annotated in EVP.[↩]
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