Sanskrit and the morning after: The metaphorics and theory of intellectual change Brian A. Hatcher Department of Religion, Illinois Wesleyan University This article offers critical reflection on the work of Sheldon Pollock and Sudipto Kaviraj in connection with the project, Sanskrit Knowledge-Systems on the Eve of Colonialism. While both Pollock and Kaviraj have written of the death of Sanskrit, this article advises against metaphors of historical rupture. If we wish to make sense of the fate of Sanskrit intellectuals under colonial modernity, we should attend to processes of cultural convergence and the concrete choices made by Sanskrit scholars. A selection from the reformist writings of varacandra Vidysgara is examined to demonstrate one pandits ongoing engagement with Sanskrit intellectual tradition. Es hatte damals gerade eine neue Zeit begonnen (denn das tut sie in jedem Augenblick),... Robert Musil When is the old day done? How should we understand the new? Does newness announce itself with a bang or a drawn-out sigh? Such are the questions that come to mind when reading through the wide range of material that has been written in conjunction with the scholarly project entitled Sanskrit Knowledge Systems on the Eve of Colonialism (hereafter SKSEC). Under the leadership of Sheldon Pollock, now of Columbia University, SKSEC offers to bring sophisticated hypothesizing to bear on some serious empirical work regarding the practice and fate of Sanskrit intellectual life between 1550 and 1750. 1 It is an ambitious undertaking, and has The Indian Economic and Social History Review, 44, 3 (2007): 33361 SAGE Los Angeles/London/New Delhi/Singapore DOI: 10.1177/001946460704400303 1 Pollock, Introduction: Working Papers on Sanskrit Knowledge-Systems, p. 438. at NTNL INST ADVANCE STDS on June 1, 2015 ier.sagepub.com Downloaded from
