Thanks a million, Jacob! If anyone else encountered a similar one - in India, in a temple, being used, anything - please send me a message off-list.
Anna. Sent from my iPhone > On 19 Oct 2021, at 14:23, [email protected] wrote: > > I am attaching Rivière's French translation of the Yantracintāmaṇi from 1976 > with all the yantras beautifully drawn up in red ink. That is, of course, > only a drop in the ocean of yantras, but at least it is a good place to > start. The text was critically edited by Hans-Georg Türstig in 1988, but I do > not have a digital scan at hand. > > I would be happy to take a second look at the yantra if you manage to > decipher the inscriptions in more detail. > > Best, > Jacob > > Anna Slaczka skrev den 2021-10-19 14:12: >> Dear Jacob, >> Fabulous, thank you! A yantra of 5 by 5 and the number written next to >> it - that makes perfect sense. I can try to read the engravings with >> better light, but I doubt that I can read all of them, ever. I can see >> a ‘ta’, and probably ‘Ta’ (or ‘da’), but not in a sequence. Where >> could I find examples of such yantras (might be too many of them…). >> With thanks, >> Anna. >> Sent from my iPhone >>>> On 19 Oct 2021, at 13:58, [email protected] wrote: >>> Dear Anna, >>> It looks like a 5x5 grid yantra (which might explain the number 25 next to >>> the grid). Perhaps if the inscriptions were easier to make out, it would be >>> possible to identify it more precisely. There does not seem to be any >>> obvious connection to games, though the Yantracintāmaṇi does contain a >>> similar yantra for achieving success in games (yantra no. 73). It is >>> inscribed on an 8x8 grid which is navigated by a knight's tour (vājikrama). >>> This means that you place a chess-knight in one space, and then jump around >>> the grid according to the knight's move until you have landed on all the >>> squares without landing on the same square twice. If you do it correctly, >>> the resulting series of 64 syllables go together to form two ślokas which >>> can be used as a mantra to ensure success in games. >>> Best, >>> Jacob >>> Jacob Schmidt-Madsen >>> Postdoctoral Researcher in Indology >>> Department of Cross-Cultural and Regional Studies >>> University of Copenhagen >>> Denmark >>> Anna Slaczka via INDOLOGY skrev den 2021-10-19 12:20: >>>> Dear Colleagues, >>>> I came across a small copper plate from India (approximately 18 cm in >>>> length) with an image of an elephant engraved on it. On the back of >>>> the elephant there is a ‘cloth’ with checkered pattern with in each >>>> square a Devanagari letter (too worn out to read them all) and on top >>>> there is something more, perhaps a figure holding a banner (I might be >>>> horribly wrong). A few more single letters and even a longer word and >>>> a number (25) are ‘scattered’ around the elephant. Please see the >>>> photograph. The back of the plate is not decorated. >>>> Does any of you even seem something like that and know perhaps wat it >>>> is, and what was it used for? A (card) game perhaps? >>>> Many thanks and with best wishes, >>>> Anna. >>>> Sent from my iPhone >>>> _______________________________________________ >>>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>>> [email protected] >>>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology >>> _______________________________________________ >>> INDOLOGY mailing list >>> [email protected] >>> https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology > <Riviere_1976_Yantracintamani.pdf> > > _______________________________________________ > INDOLOGY mailing list > [email protected] > https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology _______________________________________________ INDOLOGY mailing list [email protected] https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology
