Smith, Caley Charles. 2016. "Exploring Impossible Authors.” Veda and Vedic Literature: Proceedings from the 16th World Sanskrit Conference in Bangkok, Thailand, June 28th-July 2nd, 2015, vol.4. Ed. Hans Henrich Hock. New Delhi: DK Publishers Distributors Pvt. Ltd, 209-25.
The anukramaṇīs are post-Vedic paratexts that list information about the Vedas. One of the items the paratexts list is the hymn's ṛṣi 'seer, poet' typically understood to mean the historical composer. This paper examines the representation of speakership and performance in ṚV 1.165 and argues that the anukramaṇīs are interested in preserving the identity of the speech actor for whom the poem is a speech act.
View PDF
(846.21 KB)