On November 23-24, 2009, the Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences hosted regular Roerich readings dedicated to Sanskrit studies, Tibetology and other areas of Yu. N. Roerich's scientific activity. Readings were opened by the deputy. Director of the Institute of Information Technology of the Russian Academy of Sciences V. M. Alpatov.

The first report "Mahabharata in Tamil poetry"was delivered by A. M. Dubyansky (ISAA MSU), who presented information on the most ancient and few references to the heroes of the Mahabharata in Tamil poetry (collections of Purananuru, "Kalittohei"). The speaker asked about the authorship of the earliest known version of the Tamil Mahabharata, created in the classical Tamil Venba format - Barada Venba (9th century), which is a presentation of an epic story in the champu genre (which included prose passages). He suggested that its author was a poet who lived during the period when the anthology complex was compiled and earned the nickname Barada padiya perundevanar (perundevanar who sang the Mahabharata). The poet is credited with introductory poems to several collections, but there is no information about his poem. In the Middle Ages, there were attempts to translate the Mahabharata into Tamil (XV and XVIII centuries), but more characteristic was the appeal to its individual episodes. The thirteenth-century poem "Nalavenba" ("Venba o Nala") by the court poet Puhazhendi is notable for its elegant poetic style. Episodes from the "Mahabharata" were also used by the folklore tradition, in particular the theatrical one. Often, stories from the ancient poem were intertwined with local legends and often appeared in temple rituals. In this regard, the speaker noted the spread of the cult of Draupadi in southern India, whose image was combined with the figures of local goddesses.

The reason for D. N. Lelyukhin's report "Mahabharata and Shastras in Early Indian epigraphy" was Ya. V. Vasilkov at the Zograf readings (2009), in which it was noted that some researchers date the Mahabharata to a relatively late time, using as an argument the fact that the epigraph" Mahabharata " is mentioned (or quoted) only in inscriptions of the late fifth century D. N. Lelyukhin prepared a small sample from the epigraphy containing such a person. a kind of quote. He came to the conclusion that the mention of the Mahabharata, Manu, and other well - known works, authors, and characters served solely to show that the verses quoted in the texts come from a very authoritative source. Such testimonies cannot be considered "quotations" from the Mahabharata, Manu, and others. Their presence only suggests that in the fifth century the epic was already one of the most famous and revered "sources" of wisdom. For the dating of the epic and dharmashastra, they give nothing. In addition, the speaker is sure that in the documents he studied, "Mahabharata" or dharmashastra refers to a certain set of legends and traditions, norms and rules that may have existed in oral form. Certificate of diploma of 534 In the speaker's opinion, it is noteworthy that it can serve as a basis for the assumption that its authors were already aware of the written fixation of the Mahabharata. But the content of the written text seems to have been known to them in the most general form.

The report of R. N. Krapivina (IVR RAS, St. Petersburg) "Abhisamayalankara: from the first three chapters to the fourth chapter" was devoted to the results of studying written and oral materials in the Tibetan language on the topic "the Mahayana path" based on eight chapters of the fourth-century Indian work "Abhisamayalankara" ("Decoration from Comprehension").. The work was translated into Tibetan twice, in the 9th and 11th centuries. The work is one of the main philosophical texts of Mahayana Buddhism and is still studied in Buddhist monasteries-universities of all schools of Tibetan Buddhism. In Mahayana Buddhism, "path" means the process of developing a person's consciousness from the ordinary state of consciousness.-

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to the consciousness of a highly developed being (Buddha). In the process of the" path", various methods of cognition are mastered, the results of mastering these methods of cognition appear, and special, error-free knowledge and activities corresponding to this knowledge are formed.

In her report "Tibetan Jataka as the source of the pictorial image of Bhavachakra", E. D. Ogneva (Lutsk, Ukraine) noted that the creation of lifetime pictorial images of Shakyamuni Buddha was traditionally associated with the luminous nature of the Teacher. This is stated in two stories of "Namthara of Shakyamuni Buddha" by Taranatha Kunganinbo (1575-1624):" The history of the city of Dadog "and" The Conversion of Mutigchan", which go back to the well-known stories about the creation of the image of the Teacher. According to them, the first image appeared as follows: excited artists, because of the radiance emanating from the Teacher, could not paint his portrait, and he had to sit on the bank of a reservoir so that the artists drew his image from the reflection on the surface of the water, which became known as Chulonma (Tib. chu-longs-md). or "Rising from the water". In another case, in order for artists to paint a portrait of the Buddha, he had to be placed in such a way that the rays from him shone on the fabric. Therefore, this image is known as Osechanma (Tib. od-gzer-chan-ma), or "Shining". However, it is difficult to establish the iconography of the first pictorial images of the Teacher, since there is no description of it in the written monuments. According to the texts, the Buddha himself recommended that artists below his image write verses explaining the meaning of the teaching, including the essence of the twelve-part formula of being. This turned his image into the embodiment of Buddhist teachings. In the visual arts, one of the most popular models of the Buddhist worldview, in which one can see some analogies between the written text and its visual embodiment, is the image of the "Bhavachakra", or "Wheel of Samsara". E. D. Ogneva told about the tank "Bhavachakra" from the Museum of Art. Bogdan and Varvara Khanenko, which depicts Shakyamuni Buddha, but instead of the text setting out the Buddha's teaching, there is a pictorial embodiment of it, which makes the teaching accessible to anyone who has chosen the path of perfection.

N. V. Alexandrova's report "Buddhist shrines in the Notes of Xuanzang: The Construction of a Text" was devoted to descriptions of holy places in the notes on India by the Chinese pilgrim Xuanzang. She noted that the description of the shrine is the main unit in the construction of the text of the "Notes" and acts as the main node on which all the narratives that make up it are tied. These narratives are grouped around the designated shrine and form a single complex, most often built according to certain patterns. Among them, there are several stable types. The most common one is a description of the stupa with a brief indication of the event to which it is dedicated, or the origin of the relics stored in it, and a list of its miraculous properties. Often, a stupa dedicated to a particular event is accompanied by two more-one at the site of the Buddha's footprints and the other preserving his relics. The logic of this sequence is as follows: the first stupa is designed to bear witness to the legend of Shakyamuni Buddha, the second - that previous Buddhas also worked here, and the third - stores relics left in memory of the event. Such stupas are located in the area where the Buddha was present. Traditions of a different nature are associated with stupas that are located at a distance from the place of life of the Buddha - here their connection with the main tradition is justified by the "flights" of the Buddha or the arrival of his messengers. One of the standard stupa variants in the "remote areas" is the stupa built by Ashoka, that is, built as a result of the legendary division of the relics into many parts, undertaken by King Ashoka. What differs from the description of stupas is the set of narratives that accompany the description of monasteries, which are usually associated with the topics of disputes held in them.

E. V. Tyulina (IV RAS) in her report "Space and its description in construction treatises of the Puranas" on the example of rites accompanying construction, showed how the category of space was understood in the corresponding texts of the Puranas. In her opinion, using the rites of "laying out bricks" and drawing a construction mandala, the boundaries of the space of the future building were determined - from the point of view of mythology, in this way a harmonious space stood out from the chaos. The report drew attention to the square shape of the mandala - one of the most stable, since only with the help of a square can you depict a space with clearly defined boundaries, oriented to the cardinal directions, which are not only clearly "fixed", but also protected, since various guardian deities of the place (lokapalas) were placed according to their location.). The entire field of the mandala was filled with deities who simultaneously presented themselves as residents and guardians of each site. This had a fundamental influence on the creation of a special image in Hinduism.-

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a journey far removed from the image of "emptiness". Here, space becomes something that is inhabited and at the same time has a material embodiment in the form of deities and mythological characters. In addition, its parts are related to the body parts of an anthropomorphic being called vastu-purusha. A mandala depicting such a space becomes a universal structure in the texts of the Puranas, with the help of which everything is explained: the location of the structural elements of the building, rooms, turrets, outbuildings, windows, doors. This mandala organizes not only the prototype space of the building under construction, but also the text that is dedicated to the construction and related rituals.

The topic of the report by N. A. Korneeva (ISAA MSU) is "Ordalia with a red-hot coin: text and reality". This kind of test, she pointed out, is presented in extant texts only in one, probably later, version of Narada and in the Skanda Purana, as well as in Brihaspati and Pita maha, which are known only from quotations from commentaries and nibandhas. There are also descriptions of this ordalia by eyewitnesses that are very close to the dharmashastra texts. The most complete red-hot coin ordeal is presented in the Pitamakha, which gives three variants of its conduct, and one variant completely coincides with the instructions of Brihaspati and partially with the Narada (this allows us to raise the question of either borrowing or a single source); the second variant is found only in the Pitamakha, the third is a fragment that is quoted only by the author. in the digestas of the XV century "Smriti-cintamani". The report showed that the prescriptions for conducting the ordalia with a red-hot coin are included in the dharmic texts quite late, and this happens only under the influence of its frequent practical application. At first, the compilers of the dharmashastras included this type of test in the texts as a secondary ordeal, which was used only in cases of theft. However, at the beginning of the XII-XIII centuries. Haradatta, in his commentary on the Apastamba-dhar-masutra (II.29.6), already considered it the main one. Subodhini (second half of the fourteenth century) in the commentary on Mitakshara (i.e., in the commentary on the commentary) refers the red-hot coin test to the great ordeal. The report also drew on extensive material from eyewitness accounts, showing that initially this ordalia was used only for people of low social status. Over time, its status in the Sastric texts increases, which is reflected in practice - it is also being used for brahmins. So, on the example of the test with a red-hot coin, the mutual influence of reality and texts was shown.

E. G. Vyrshchikov (IB RAS) in his report "On the connection between the oppositions pure land/impure land and pure people/impure people in Ancient India (based on the materials of "Manu-smriti", "Artha-shastra" and "Digha-nikaya") " showed that among the ancient Indian sources, the connection between these data is most clearly established categories are traced in the "Manu-smriti". Here, the sacred-geographical description omits such an important concept as Jambu-dvipa. Instead, the Arya-varta, represented as a square mandala, comes to the fore: it is bounded on the north by the Himalayas, on the south by the Vindhya Mountains, on the west and east by the "Western" and "Eastern" oceans. When looking at the Arya-varta from west to east, there is a steady increase in impurity. At the same time, lands starting from Prayaga and further east do not have names in the classification at all. This is surprising, since traditionally it is the west (as opposed to the east) that is considered to be the ritually impure side of the world in Ancient India. It is obvious that in this case we are dealing with an element not of sacred, but of real geography. Especially since "Manu-smriti" comes from the westernmost part of Arya-varta-Brahma-varta. In this regard, it is no accident that all the tribes of North-Eastern India are mentioned in the" Manu-smriti " exclusively in a derogatory context, as socially low and ritually impure. This is not the case in the Arthashastra and the Pali canon. In the Arthashastra, the eastern tribes are called Kshatriya without any reservations. These tribes are also called Kshatriya in the Digha-nikaya, and it is on this basis that they claim their share of the Buddha's ashes after his nirvana. Thus, in ancient Indian written monuments, the so-called regionalism is most strongly manifested: the attitude to a particular phenomenon largely depended on the territory in which the monument was created or (as in the case of Buddhism) on which territory the founder of the faith was active.

Report of S. C. Ofertas (MSU) " Mirror. The End of Illusion " was devoted to one of the most important topics of the non-dual philosophy of Kashmiri Shaivism-the perception of consciousness as a mirror. At the same time, it was believed that his manifesting ability, which generates reflections on a clean surface, does not affect consciousness itself and does not belong to it, but in a sense these reflections do not exist anywhere except in the mirror itself. Such a mirror is similar to the Leibniz monad, which is known to have no doors. The speaker mentioned another metaphor: "This is a mirror

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without a surface, there is space itself, in which whatever is to come is its reflection-projection." And in the space of this mirror (sva-atma-viomani) not only light phenomena are reflected and manifested, but also tactile, auditory, gustatory, olfactory, and mental realities (i.e., all the senses). The basic practice of the Shambhava-upaya path-the" Shiva path "is to be in this pure mirror state, understanding that reflections do not stain the mirror in any way, that you are a pure mirror-the only reality, and that the reflections in it are "illusions" - this is also the reality of the mirror, but already it belongs to him and is integral to his ability. So, paradoxically, according to the speaker, the mirror, the universal symbol of illusory nature, in this tradition becomes a symbol of liberation from illusions and marks the end of illusion.

V. V. Vertogradova's report "Writing in Culture: from Bactria to India (problems of socioscriptorics)" is the result of many years of research (including field studies) of written monuments found during excavations of Buddhist monasteries in Central Asia (1969-1994). At present, on the basis of these studies, the outlines of a new discipline have been outlined that studies the place and features of alphabets in the space of societies and makes it possible to adequately ask questions to the huge handwritten material that is delivered to us by monuments of ancient writing, sometimes not deciphered. V. V. Vertogradova calls this discipline socioscriptorics, the main task of which is to establish the cultural context of the selected alphabets, which corresponds to determining the role of certain types of writing in a multi-alphabetic space (text genres and functional differentiation of alphabets, identifying their priorities depending on the social, confessional, spatial and other attitudes of their carriers). V. V. Vertogradova tries to identify the cultural context on the basis of considering the multi-alphabetic space of Ancient Bactria, deliberately not touching on the problems of language and ethnicity, but building the cultural situation based on the letter itself and its usage. This situation is called a socio-scriptor situation by the author, since it is not analogous to either a language situation or an ethno-cultural one. Having considered two script-generating centers of Bactria (the royal power and the Buddhist community), the author analyzes the position of a letter that occupies a certain position in the socio-cultural space (including the unknown letter, the signs of which are studied in this report).

A. A. Mekhakyan (Yerevan State University) in his report "Etymology (nirukta) as a hermeneutical science in Kashmiri Shaivism" noted that the intellectual achievements of Kashmiri Shaivites have the same value for the history of Indian philosophy as the works of Gaudapada, Shankara, Ramananda and Nagarjuna. Historically, the schools of Kashmiri Shaivism were formed quite late, in the early 9th century. The founding theorists of this branch of Hinduism are Vasugupta and Somananda. The school reached its peak in the late tenth and early eleventh centuries, thanks to the prolific activities of Abhinavagupta. The latter was well acquainted not only with Shaivite philosophy,but also with Jainism, Mahayana Buddhism, and in particular with Vijnanavada. Abhinavagupta was a profound scholar of Sanskrit grammar, poetics, and aesthetics. In his works, one can clearly see how the ancient Indian sciences of language in medieval India were used as a powerful didactic and hermeneutic tool, with the help of which linguistic elements were connected with ontological ones. Abhinavagupta was adept at using his knowledge of Sanskrit and traditional Indian linguistics to describe the religious and philosophical doctrines of Kashmiri Shaivism. He described metaphysical categories using grammatical categories. The great philosopher used traditional etymology (nirukta) as a hermeneutical science to clarify the most subtle points of Tantric Shaivite theology. He offered a unique semantic and hermeneutic analysis of the names and epithets of the gods of the Shaivite pantheon. This method was discussed in detail in the report.

G. V. Sharygin (Institute of Philosophy of the Russian Academy of Sciences) in his report "On the interpretation of the term in Theravada commentary literature" proposed a new approach to the interpretation of the psychophysical problem introduced and solved by the teaching about ("psychophysical unity of the individual") early Buddhism. The report shows how the psychophysical problem was formulated in early texts and how it was resolved. For this purpose, the speaker gave a number of metaphors, for example, the sound of a shell (i.e., not reduced to two key components: the shell itself as an object and what produces sound with its help; in addition, the inseparable relationship of the two elements is postulated. Early Buddhism teaches the inseparable unity of the two elements with

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using metaphors and images. The report attempts to show the theoretical teaching hidden behind these images by referring to the ancient commentaries of the school. The commentary to the Jalya Sutta explains the implications of the Buddha's" failed "discussion with ascetics about the unity or separateness of the" corporeal "and" animating "principles (the non-Buddhist terms" sarira " and the Speaker states that the commentary is exclusive for two reasons. In it, the non-Buddhist formulation of the question gets a Buddhist reformulation (formulated in Buddhist terms): the terms sarira and thus nāma are identified, and the justification for the infidelity of the two variants is unique: both are identified with ucchedavāda and sassatavāda (with "materialism" and "idealism"), and they are identified with the two "extremes" that the middle path avoids. "Materialism "in these early texts is very unusual and is formulated as the absence of existence (being) of things, and" idealism " - on the contrary. The speaker finds a parallel to this approach in the teachings of O. Comte, in modern eliminative materialism and cognitive science.

In his report "Phisamates from the Olvian Decree in honor of Protogenes", S. V. Kulland (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) proposed to interpret the ethnonym "phisamates" (ΘΙσαμάται, in the text the form of the accusative Θισαμάτας), known from the Olvian decree in honor of Protogenes, as a derivative of the base "to leave, to withdraw, to deviate, to reject" and to consider it a self-name of the Herodotean " deposited Scythians" (Hdt. (IV, 21-22).

N. A. Zheleznova (IB RAS) in her report "The place and significance of the Bhaktamara Stotra in the Jain tradition" gave a general description of the text in terms of, firstly, the names under which this work appears in the tradition (Digambara and Svetambara); secondly, the language in which the text was written. third, the verse size (vasantatilaki), and fourth, the number of stanzas included in different versions of the text (from 44 to 52). The report covered in detail the versions of the creation of the Bhaktamara Stotra associated with the name of Manatunga: 1) during the reign of King Harshideva in Varanasi (VII century), 2) King Bhoja (VII century), ruler of Dharanagari, and 3) King Bhoja (XI century), ruler of Malvadesa. The study also used commentaries on the Bhaktamara Stotra, which appeared not earlier than the 14th century (the first commentator was Gunakara, who claimed that worldly benefits can be obtained through its recitation). The report suggested that the Bhaktamara Stotra should be considered in the context of all works written in the genre of chants of praise - the stotra of the Jain tradition. The place of this monument in Jain Tantrism was noted, as well as the widespread use of this text both at the level of individual worship aimed at obtaining the benefits of the samsaric world, and in the temple ritual - puja.
E. S. Lepekhova (IB RAS) in her report "The specifics of the description of the first Buddhist nuns in medieval Japanese sources (based on a comparative analysis of the descriptions of Tibetan yoginis and Chinese Buddhist nuns)" spoke about the history of the formation of the first Buddhist sangha in Japan in the VI century. She concluded that the stories of the first Japanese Buddhist nuns in Nihon Seki, Gangoji Garan Engi, and Nihon Reiki can be considered one of the proofs of early Shinto-Buddhist syncretism that began with the spread of Buddhism in Japan. If at an early stage the Buddha was perceived as a kind of foreign," Chinese " god-kami, then in the process of integrating Buddhism and Shintoism, Japanese autochthonous deities-kami were transformed into deities-protectors of the Buddhist dharma. Based on the material of early Shinto and Buddhist folklore ("Kojiki", "Nihon Reiki"), E. S. Lepekhova showed that the Buddha's teaching about compassion for all living beings was associated with Shinto ideas about the sacred meaning of nature and life in general. This can already be seen in the description of the first Japanese Buddhist nuns, who are the guardians of the first image of the Buddha in Japan, and not the propagators of his Teachings, as evidenced by Tibetan and Chinese sources. The above material allowed us to conclude that the early Buddhist Sangha in Japan took on the priestly functions of intermediaries between nature and people, which determined the attitude of the state and society in Japan towards Buddhist priests rather as holders of special sacred power than as ascetics who voluntarily renounced the world for the sake of self-improvement.

K. P. Shrestha (Institute of History of the Russian Academy of Sciences) report "Some historical and cultural aspects of the symbolism of the national flag of Nepal (V-XXI centuries)" devoted to the question of the expediency of changing the national flag, discussed in connection with the proclamation of Nepal as a Federal Democracy-

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the Czech Republic and the adoption of a new constitution. The speaker told about the history of the creation of the flag, which, unlike all the flags of the world, is not rectangular, but consists of two triangles. He showed that the unique shape of the flag, its color, as well as images of the moon and sun are the oldest symbols that express the spirituality of the people. The symbolism of the flag goes deep into the centuries-old culture of the country and is connected with its history, so its replacement is highly undesirable. The national flag of Nepal expresses the beliefs of all ethnic groups and can satisfy all residents of the country, no matter what religion they belong to. The speaker noted that the current flag of Nepal could also serve as a federal secular republic, if given a new interpretation of the symbols depicted on it. To make it correspond to the federal status of a country, it is enough to make only minor changes to it: for example, put stars on the blue stripe of the flag according to the number of newly emerging subjects of the federation.

In his report "Myth, space and time among the Altai peoples" V. M. Yakovlev (Moscow) noted that the concepts of space and time are of key importance in the structure of the worldview of nomadic peoples in general and Altai in particular. He showed that, as a rule, space is perceived in two aspects-as horizontal and as vertical. The vertical dimension is more associated with mythological representations than the horizontal one. In cosmology and cosmography, represented in myths, such an axis is objectified in the form of a tree (sometimes a rainbow) or in the form of a mountain located in the center of the world. Such, for example, is Mount Meru (Sumber-ula). Time was probably projected onto the axis of the world, in which it pulsed like a current, and along this axis passes the path to eternity, to nirvana,to the beyond. In the myths, the place where the human world comes into contact with the lower world is either at the foot of a mountain or at the roots of a sacred tree. There may be a cave, or a river plunging underground. In this world, which is different from the usual one, the passage of time is experienced in an unusual way. As an example, the speaker cited two legends: Korean and Tuvan. He showed that the idea of relativity of time is perceived in a similar way among peoples who are geographically far apart and belong to different epochs.
In her report "Orientalist Yu. N. Roerich: The Beginning of the path in Science", A. M. Shustova (Institute of Oriental Studies of the Russian Academy of Sciences) raised the question of the need to study the biography of Yu. N.Roerich. Based on archival materials, she told about his development in science: about the time of his apprenticeship, his teachers, his first scientific experiments and publications.

The readings were closed by V. V. Vertogradova. She recalled that the Roerich Readings are held annually at the end of November, and invited all scientists whose research corresponds to the main directions of Yu. N. Roerich's scientific activity to take part in them.

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