Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit.[1] He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands, and died in Utrecht.[2] He studied with Willem Caland at Rijksuniversiteit, Utrecht (since 1990 Universiteit Utrecht) and from 1932 held positions at Utrecht and Leiden. He held the positions of Chair of Sanskrit succeeding Caland from 1929, as well as of Indology from 1932.[1] He published scholarly articles on Indian Sanskrit and Indonesian Javanese texts for sixty years.[1] In 1952, he published his monumental work on Sanskrit in Indonesia.[1] His contributions to philology and Vedic literature has been oft-cited.[1]
Gonda is recognized as one of the twentieth century's leading scholars of Asian language, literature and religion, particularly on texts and topics related to Hinduism and Buddhism. He wrote with ease and elegance in Dutch, English and German, and had a breath-taking range of interests from the ancient literature of Indonesia and India to comparative religion and philology. Like many Orientalists of the 20th century, Gonda never visited Asia although some of his publications appeared under the auspices of the "Koninklijk Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunsten en Wetenschappen", e.g. his comparative study on the Kavi-edition of the "Bhīşmaparwa", printed in Bandung (Java), 1937.
However, his lack of field experience was more than compensated for by his encyclopedic knowledge of Indic literature and his profound empathy for the religious culture of Asia. Among his many students was J. A. B. van Buitenen who moved to the University of Chicago in 1961, and Henk Bodewitz succeeded Gonda to the chair of Sanskrit at Utrecht in 1976.[3]
Gonda left a bequest to Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences, of which he was member since 1957,[1] and in 1992 the Gonda Foundation was set up in his name. The foundation offers publication subsidies and grants to projects relating to Indology, the size of the grants and scope of activities being determined by the return on invested capital. The Gonda Lectures and Gonda Indological Series are also named in his honour.
^ abcdef"J. Gonda (1905 - 1991)" (in Dutch). Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Retrieved 14 July 2015.
^H. W. Bodewitz, 'Jan Gonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991)', Indo-Iranian Journal 34 (1991): 281-86; J. Ensink, 'Jan Gonda (‡1991) and Indonesian Studies' Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde 148 (1992): 209-19.
^A. Griffiths and Jan E. N. Houben, 'H.W.Bodewitz: Bibliography 1969-2004,' Indo-Iranian Journal 47 (2004): 121-31.
JanGonda (14 April 1905 – 28 July 1991) was a Dutch Indologist and the first Utrecht professor of Sanskrit. He was born in Gouda, in the Netherlands...
Samhita layer of Vedic literature, conceived in the Brahmana layer, states JanGonda. Prajapati is younger than Savitr, and the word was originally an epithet...
the Shatapatha Brahmana), were complete by about 700 BCE. According to JanGonda, the final codification of the Brahmanas took place in pre-Buddhist times...
Longmans Green. p. 757. JanGonda (1989). The Indra Hymns of the Ṛgveda. Brill Archive. pp. 4–5. ISBN 90-04-09139-4. JanGonda (1989). The Indra Hymns...
ISBN 978-0226894843. JanGonda (1969), The Hindu Trinity Archived 25 April 2020 at the Wayback Machine, Anthropos, Bd 63/64, H 1/2, pp. 212–226. JanGonda (1969),...
thereafter his profile rises and over the history of Indian scriptures, states JanGonda, Vishnu becomes a divinity of the highest rank, one equivalent to the...
spiritual and emotional significance the deity represents to the devotee. JanGonda, as well as Diana L. Eck, states that a typical Puja involves one or more...
the Srauta sutra 1.12.12 and Paraskara Gryhasutra 3.2.10 through 3.4.5. JanGonda states that the diverse reference of Brahman in the Vedic literature,...
India). A kautuka is a woven thread, cord or ribbon, states the Indologist JanGonda, which is traditionally believed to be protective or apotropaeic. The...
not indicate a forested area. Aranyakas are diverse in their structure. JanGonda summarizes: The structure of the Aranyakas is as little homogenous as...
traditions, passed on from a guru to a disciple through prescribed initiation. JanGonda, a widely cited scholar on Indian mantras, defines mantra as general name...
up Gonda or hi:गोंड़ा in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. Gonda may refer to: Gonda, Uttar Pradesh, a city in Uttar Pradesh Gonda district Gonda Junction...
Sculptures in the round, the ornamental architectural Sculptures ..." JanGonda, The Indian Religions in Pre-Islamic Indonesia and their survival in Bali...
pp. 161–172. doi:10.1007/978-1-4612-5947-3_13. ISBN 978-1-4612-5949-7. JanGonda, The Indian Religions in Pre-Islamic Indonesia and their survival in Bali...
p. 5. ISBN 978-0-7190-1867-1. Rocher, Ludo (1986). "The Purāṇas". In JanGonda (ed.). A History of Indian Literature. Vol. II, Epics and Sanskrit religious...
Rigveda. Oxford University Press. pp. 1622–1623. ISBN 978-0-19-937018-4. JanGonda (1969). Aspects of Early Viṣṇuism. Motilal Banarsidass. pp. 241–242 with...
Archived from the original on 7 January 2015. Retrieved 26 February 2015. JanGonda (2016). Visnuism and Sivaism: A Comparison. Bloomsbury Academic. p. 166...
Samhita as referring to a tradition of "five knowledges". Similarly, JanGonda states that the term "nights" in "five nights" in the Pancharatra tradition...
large canon of texts, and branched off as numerous Dharma-sastra texts. JanGonda states that the initial stages of Smriti texts structurally developed...
Hindu Mythology, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0195332612, p. 285 JanGonda (1975), Vedic Literature: (Saṃhitās and Brāhmaṇas), Otto Harrassowitz...
Vishnu. Penguin Books India. pp. 17–9, 25–6. ISBN 978-0-14-306762-7. JanGonda (1 January 1993). Aspects of Early Visnuism. Motilal Banarsidass. p. 99...
addition. The author or composition date of Mudgala Upanishad is unknown. JanGonda – a professor of Sanskrit and Dutch Indologist, states it is a late Upanishad...
Studies, 22, pp. 108–123. JanGonda, "Ancient Indian Kingship from the Religious Point of View", Numen, Vol. 3, Issue 1 (Jan., 1956), pp. 36–71. Kumar...
Macdonell - Google Książki. ISBN 9788120811133. Gonda, Jan (1969). Aspects of Early Viṣṇuism - JanGonda - Google Książki. ISBN 9788120810877. Vedic Mythology...
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