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The Murty Classical Library of India began publishing classics of Indian literature in January 2015. The books, which are in dual-language format with the original language and English facing, are published by Harvard University Press. The Columbia University scholar, Sheldon Pollock, is the library's general editor. Pollock previously edited the Clay Sanskrit Library. The library was established through a $5.2 million gift from Rohan Murty, the son of Infosys co-founder N. R. Narayana Murthy and social worker and author Sudha Murty. The series will include translations from Bengali, Gujarati, Kannada, Hindi, Marathi, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Persian, Tamil, Telugu, Urdu, and other Indian languages. It will include fiction, poetry, nonfiction, and religious texts from all Indian traditions including Buddhism and Islam. The projected 500 volumes, to be published over a century, have a corpus of thousands of volumes of classic Indian literature to draw on.

Volumes

January 2015

• Therigatha: Poems of the First Buddhist Women, translated by Charles Hallisey, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2015), hardcover, 336 pages, ISBN 9780674427730
• The Story of Manu, by Allasani Peddana, translated by Velcheru Narayana Rao and David Shulman, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2015), hardcover, 656 pages, ISBN 9780674427761
• Sur's Ocean: Poems from the Early Tradition, Surdas, edited by Kenneth E. Bryant, translated by John Stratton Hawley, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2015), hardcover, 1072 pages ISBN 9780674427778
• Sufi Lyrics, Bullhe Shah, edited and translated by Christopher Shackle, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2015), hardcover, 496 pages, ISBN 9780674427747
• The History of Akbar, Volume 1 (the Akbarnama), by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, edited and translated by Wheeler Thackston, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2015), hardcover, 656 pages, ISBN 9780674427754

January 2016

• The History of Akbar, Volume 2 (the Akbarnama), by Abu'l-Fazl ibn Mubarak, edited and translated by Wheeler Thackston, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2016), hardcover, 624 pages, ISBN 9780674504943
• The Epic of Ram, Volume 1, (the Ramcharitmanas) by Tulsidas, translated by Philip Lutgendorf, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2016), hardcover, 432 pages, ISBN 9780674425019
• The Epic of Ram, Volume 2, (the Ramcharitmanas) by Tulsidas, translated by Philip Lutgendorf, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2016), hardcover, 560 pages, ISBN 9780674088610
• Arjuna and the Hunter, (the Kirātārjunīya) by Bharavi, edited and translated by Indira Viswanathan Peterson, Murty Classical Library of India, Harvard University Press (January 2016), hardcover, 480 pages, ISBN 9780674504967

Formats

Paperback versions of the books are available throughout the Indian subcontinent for the equivalent of 3 to 5 USD, depending on the volume's size. Electronic editions of the works are planned for the future.

Petition to remove Pollock from editorship

In March 2016, a petition initiated by Indian scholars demanded that Sheldon Pollock be removed from the editorship of the Murty Classical Library of India. Among the reasons cited was what the petitioners perceive as Pollock's political activism condemning the Government of India in its actions against the students of the Jawaharlal Nehru University. The petitioners further raised concerns that "the sentiments and understanding of the millions of Indians who practice these traditions" should not be violated, and therefore the translators should be "deeply rooted and steeped in the intellectual traditions of India," and "also need to be imbued with a sense of respect and empathy for the greatness of Indian civilization." The petition also cites Rajiv Malhotra's book The Battle for Sanskrit, in which Pollock is a major topic.

According to Rohan Murty the petition "distorted" Sheldon Pollock's stance on the relevance of India's "unique knowledge systems," suggesting that Sheldon Pollock has a "deep antipathy" for India. The petitioners quoted from Polock's speech What is South Asian Knowledge Good For?, in which Pollock defended the relevance of these knowledge systems, rhetorically asking if there "any decision makers" who do not deem Asian knowledge systems to have lost their relevance. But his speech argued for the opposite point of view.

After being questioned by Dheeraj Sanghi from IIT Kanpur, the petitioners replaced the quote.

Rohan Murty further made clear that Sheldon Pollock will continue his position, saying that the library will commission the "best possible scholar for that particular language. We will not judge on nationality, gender, race, creed or colour." He further questioned the intentions of the petitioners, noting that none of the petitioners had tried to contact him for the past six years.

See also

• Rohan Murty
• Columbia University Indo-Iranian Series
• Harvard Oriental Series
• Loeb Classical Library

Notes

1. See Nonscholarly Litmus Tests for Key Scholarly Role for a link to the petition.
2. See Pollock, Sheldon (2014), What is South Asian Knowledge Good For? (PDF), South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University
3. According to the petitioners, Sheldon Pollock has a "deep antipathy" for India, quoting from Polock's speech What is South Asian Knowledge Good For?," In wich Pollock states:

   "Are there any decision makers, as they refer to themselves, at universities and foundations who would not agree that, in the cognitive sweepstakes of human history, Western knowledge has won and South Asian knowledge has lost? That, accordingly, the South Asian knowledge South Asians themselves have produced can no longer be held to have any significant consequences for the future of the human species?"

   In response, Indologist Dominik Wujastyk noted that
   

   "In this passage, Prof. Pollock is criticising the administrators of western universities who do not give proper recognition and value to Indian knowledge systems, and only view India as a place to make money or to make practical applications of knowledge systems of the West. Again, this is the पूर्वपक्ष (purvapaksha) Prof. Pollock’s central argument is that the special, unique knowledge systems developed in India, mainly recorded in Sanskrit, are of great value, and that this fact is not recognised by “universities and foundations” who, like Macauley and Weber, think that Indian knowledge systems have been superseded by Western ones. Prof. Pollock’s point of view is that the शास्त्राणि (shastrani), representing South Asian Knowledge, are precious, worth studying, and still have much to offer modern cultural life. On pages six and seven of his lecture, he gives the examples of व्याकरण (vyakaran) and the theory of रस (rasa) as forms of knowledge that were developed to a uniquely high degree in early India, and that still have the power to enrich thought today. On the subsequent pages, he begins to make the even more difficult argument for finding modern value in even more internally-oriented Indian sciences such as मीमांसा (Mimansa), अलङ्कार (Alankara) and नाट्यशास्त्र (Natyashastra)."

   After being questioned by Dheeraj Sanghi from IIT Kanpur, the petitioners replaced the quote.

4. "Another point of concern of the petitioners is: "What will be the posture adopted towards the “Foreign Aryan Theory” and other such controversial theories including chronologies?"

References

1. ^ Jennifer Schuessler (January 2, 2015). "Literature of India, Enshrined in a Series: Murty Classical Library Catalogs Indian Literature". The New York Times. The Times Company. Retrieved January 3, 2015.
2. Masoom Gupte (11 December 2014). "Rohan Murty debuts at Jaipur Literature Festival". The Economic Times.
3. "Murty family gift establishes Murty Classical Library of India series". Harvard Gazette. 29 April 2010.
4. "A literary colossus". Harvard Gazette. 5 March 2015.
5. Pro-JNU Statement Spawns Petition For Ouster Of Sheldon Pollock As Editor Of Murty Classical Library, Huffington Post, 1 March 2016.
6. Mridula Chari, Make in India and remove Sheldon Pollock from Murty Classical Library, demand 132 intellectuals, Scroll.in
7. Basant Kumar Mohanty and K.M. Rakesh, Scholarly reply to Swadeshi - Citing JNU, academics target leader of landmark project, The Telegraph, India
8. ^ Nandini Majumdar, What the Petition against the Sanskritist Sheldon Pollock Is Really About, The Wire, 2 March 2016.
9. Newscrunch, Petitioners angry after Sheldon Pollock gets Rohan Murty support – may stay on as Murty Classic Library editor
10. Indrani Basu, Rohan Murty Has A Brilliant Response To Those Seeking Sheldon Pollock's Removal, The Huffington Post, 3 March 2016
11. Pollock, Sheldon (2014), What is South Asian Knowledge Good For? (PDF), South Asia Institute, Heidelberg University
12. Divya Shekhar & Indulekha Aravind, Rohan Murty says American Indologist Sheldon Pollock to stay, The Economic Times, 3 March 2016.
13. Sudha Pillai, It is always nice to disagree, but don't be disagreeable, Bangalore Mirror, 3 March 2016.

External links

Official website

• Indian literature
• Dual-language series of texts