OLDENBERG, Hermann. Hamburg 31.10.1854 — Göttingen 18.3.1920. German Indologist. Professor in Kiel and Göttingen. Son of Friedrich O. (1820–1894), a minister, and Eleonore Sieveking (d. 1854). Gymnasium in Berlin. Began his studies at Göttingen, soonat Berlin: classical philology and Indology (under Weber). Ph.D. 1875 Berlin. From 1878 PD at Berlin. In 1889-1908 ord. Professor at Kiel and from 1908 until his death at Göttingen (succeeding Jacobi and Kielhorn, resp., himself succeeded by Lüders and Sieg). In 1912-13 visited India – to his great disappointment. Married 1884 violinist Babette Lobach (1857–1940).
Oldenberg was one of the leading Indologists of his age. He was the first to show the importance of Pāli texts for Buddhist studies and thus founded the traditional school accepting only them as (more or less) authentic sources of the historical Buddha (in his 1881 book). Thus he also established the historicity of the Buddha rejecting solar and other mythic interpretations (à la Senart and Kern). His main work, however, he did in the Vedic philology. Like Bergaigne he applied comparative religion to Vedic interpretation and rejected natural phenomena as explanation. He founded the Ākhyāna theory (1883-85). He was meticulous and methodical scholar who kept himself apart from fantasy and bold hypotheses, but attained important results with minute analysis.
Publications: De Platonis arte dialectica. 65 p. Gottingae 1873.
– Diss. De Sacris fratrum Arvalium quaestiones. 52 p. Berolini 1875.
– Edited: Vinayapitaka. One of the principal Buddhist holy scriptures in the Pali language. 1-5. L. 1879-83 (repr. as PTS Text Series 147-148, 160-162); ed. & transl. The Dīpavaṁsa. An Ancient Buddhist Historical Record. 227 p. L. 1879; ed. with Pischel, Theragāthā & Therīgāthā. 1883.
– Translated with T. W. Rhys Davids: Vinaya Texts. 1-3. S.B.E. 1881-85.
– Buddha, sein Leben, seine Lehre, seine Gemeinde. 1881, several editions revised by himself (7th 1920), transl. in English (by W. Hoey, 1882), Russian (1893) & French (1894).
– Edited & transl. “Śāṅkhāyanagṛhyasūtra“, ISt 15, 1878, 1-166.
– “Catalogue of Pâli manuscripts in the India Office Library”, JPTS 1882, 59-128.
– “Das altindische Âkhyâna”, ZDMG 37, 1883, 54-86; “Ṛigveda-Saṁhitâ und Sâmavedârcika”, ZDMG 38, 1884, 439-480; “Ueber die Liedverfasser des Ṛigveda”, ZDMG 42, 1888, 199-247; “Âkhyâna-Hymnen in Ṛigveda”, ZDMG 39, 1885, 52-90; “Ṛigveda VI, 1-20“, ZDMG 55, 1901, 267-330; “Vedische Untersuchungen”, ZDMG 1896-1909, and many shorter articles on Vedic philology in ZDMG, etc.
– Translated: Grihya-Sutras. Rules of Vedic domestic ceremonies. 1-2. 444+415 p. S.B.E. 29-30. Oxford 1886-92; Vedic Hymns. 2. 510 p. S.B.E. 46. L. 1897.
– Die Hymnen des Ṛigveda. 1. Metrische und textgeschichtliche Prolegomena zum Ṛigveda. 10+545 p. B. 1888, English by V. G. Paranjpe & M. A. Mehendale. Delhi 2005; Ṛigveda. textkritische und exegetische Noten. 1.–10. Buch. 1-2. 445+395 p. AGGW 11 & 13. B. 1909-12.
– Religion des Veda. 629 p. B. 1894, rev. 2nd ed. 1917, English transl. by S. B. Shrotri, Delhi 1988, French by V. Henry, P. 1903; Vedaforschung. 115 p. St. & B. 1905, English Poona 1973.
– “Buddhistische Studien”, ZDMG 52, 1898, 613-694; “Studien zur Geschichte des buddhistischen Kanon”, NGGW 1912, 155-217; “Jātakastudien”, NGGW 1918, 429-468.
– Aus Indien und Iran. 195 p. B. 1899 (6 popular articles); Die Literatur des alten Indien. 4+299 p. St. & B. 1903; Aus dem alten Indien. 7+110 p. B. 1910.
– “Zwei Aufsätze zur altindichen Chronologie und Literaturgeschichte 2.”, NGGW 1911, 441-468; “Zur Geschichte des altindischen Erzählungliteratur 1.”, NGGW 1919, 61-94; Zur Geschichte der altindischen Prosa. AGGW 16:6, 1917.
– “Zur Geschichte des Triṣṭubh”, NGGW 1915, 490-543; “Zur Religion und Mythologie des Veda”, NGGW 1915, 167-225, 361-403, 543; “Vedische Untersuchungen”, NGGW 1917, 1-20; “Die vedische Worte für ‘schön’ und ‘Schönheit’ und das vedische Schönheitsgefühl”, GGN 1918, 35-71.
– Die Lehre der Upanishaden und die Anfänge des Buddhismus. 8+366 p. Göttingen 1915, 2nd ed. 1923.
– Vorwissenschaftliche Wissenschaft, die Weltanschauung der Brāhmaṇa-Texte. 6+249 p. Göttingen 1919; Das Mahābhārata. Seine Entstehung, sein Inhalt, seine Form. 178 p. Göttingen 1922
– Transl.: Reden des Buddha. Lehre, Verse, Erzählungen. 56+473 p. Munich 1922.
– Kleine Schriften. Hrsg. von K. L. Janert. 1-2. 1605 p. Glasenapp-St. 1. Wb. 1967. Id. Bd. 3. 8+1571-2121 p. Hrsg. von H.-P. Schmidt. Ibid. 34. St. 1993.
Sources: *A. Bertholet, NGGW Gesch. Mitt. 1920, 53-63; *Éd. Cut, CRAI 65, 1921, 300f.; Peiris, Buddhism 92-95; Renou, Maîtres 1928, 56-72; Stache-Rosen 1990, 124f.; Stache-Weiske 2017, 548; F. Wilhelm, N.D.B. 19, 1998, 507f.; Windisch 405f.; *bibliography in Kl. Schr.; briefly D.B.E. 7, 1998, 485; Wikipedia very briefly, more in German version; photo in Rau 66, another in Sardesai.
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