Articles by Marco Franceschini
Kervan. International Journal of African and Asiatic Studies 29 (2, Special Issue): 197–218., 2025
In classical Indian aesthetics, the ultimate goal of kāvya (dramatic and literary art) is the aro... more In classical Indian aesthetics, the ultimate goal of kāvya (dramatic and literary art) is the arousal of aesthetic experience, called rasa ('juice') in Sanskrit. A fundamental role in this process is played by the characters in the works, as some theorists place in them the locus of manifestation of rasa, while others consider them the necessary medium through which rasa is aroused in the spectator/reader. As a rule, Indian theory admits only human characters to this process, sometimes also semi-divine or divine characters; however, there are cases in which it seems clear that the role of receptacle of rasa is played by characters in animal form. This article presents an overview of the views of leading premodern Indian theorists on the admissibility of an animal character being the locus of rasa.
In "Praśasti: Studies in Indology Presented to Nalini Balbir by Colleagues, Students and Friends," edited by J. Petit & G.-J. Pinault, 253–273. Halle: Universitätsverlag Halle-Wittenberg., 2025
The colophons of the manuscripts from Tamil Nadu (early 17th to early 20th century CE) often cont... more The colophons of the manuscripts from Tamil Nadu (early 17th to early 20th century CE) often contain a date, typically that of the day on which the copying of the text ended. Sometimes these dates are convertible to a specific day of the Gregorian calendar, sometimes they recur cyclically, and sometimes they are demonstrably wrong. This article is concerned precisely with these ‘wrong’ dates, and aims to examine the incorrect calendrical values that make them such: how many there are, what they are, why they are there. The analysis of the available data will allow us to make observations and formulate hypotheses concerning the sources for the knowledge of the dates and how they were used in the period under consideration.
Giovanni Ciotti e Marco Franceschini, «Experimenting with Digital Palaeography: The First Application of the Handwriting Software Tool (HAT 3.5) to Indian Scripts», in Fausto Freschi e Andrea Cuna (a cura di), The Universe of Knowledge. Celebrating Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (1892-1972), Udine..., 2024
HAT (Handwriting Analysis Tool) is a software tool developed by Hussein Adnan Mohammed at the Cen... more HAT (Handwriting Analysis Tool) is a software tool developed by Hussein Adnan Mohammed at the Centre for the Study of Manuscript Cultures (Universitaẗ Hamburg) that analyses and compares handwriting styles provided as input in the form of digital reproductions of handwritten texts. Thanks to some innovative features of the method on which it is based, HAT is easy to use autonomously, even by those with no particular digital expertise, and it is not tied to a specific script or a particular script typology. This paper presents the results of the first attempt at applying HAT to two Indian scripts, namely the Tamil and the Tamilian Grantha scripts, in the form in which they are attested in palmleaf manuscripts from Tamil Nadu. Six tests were carried out, different in mode and objective from one another. The first four tests are aimed at verifying the ability of HAT to assess the similarity between writing styles and to use such an ability to establish or verify the identity of a particular scribe. The last two tests explore the possibility of exploiting HAT's potential for studying the diachronic development of the two scripts in question.
“The Printing History of Sargas 9 to 17 of the Kumārasambhava”, in F. Sferra & V. Vergiani (eds), "«Verità e bellezza». Essays in Honour of Raffaele Torella", Napoli, UniorPress, 2022, pp. 411-432., 2022
The present article deals with the printing history of sargas 9 to 17 of the Kumārasambhava. All ... more The present article deals with the printing history of sargas 9 to 17 of the Kumārasambhava. All the different editions of the text that I was able to consult, as well as all the sanskrit commentaries on them published so far, will be scrutinised. in addition, an overview of their translations into english is provided at the end of the article.
Tracing Manuscripts in Time and Space through Paratexts, 2016
Veda e Iran antico, lingua e grammatica 13 Fra lessico e grammatica. I nomi dell'acqua nell'india... more Veda e Iran antico, lingua e grammatica 13 Fra lessico e grammatica. I nomi dell'acqua nell'indiano antico e altrove Romano Lazzeroni (Università di Pisa) Questioni di dialettologia antico indiana e l'indo-ario del regno
Indic Manuscript Cultures through the Ages, Dec 18, 2017
"War and Peace Mirroring One Another in Sanskrit Poetry", in D. Stasik & A. Trynkowska (eds), "War and Peace in Indian Literature and Culture". Warsaw: Dom Wydawniczy Elipsa, 2019, pp. 65-78.
One of the prominent features of Indian poetry is represented by its extensive use of figures of ... more One of the prominent features of Indian poetry is represented by its extensive use of figures of speech (alaṃkāras). The most common among these figures are based on the association of two different images, which are compared with one another (as in the simile, upamā), or identified (as in the metaphor, rūpaka), or conveyed simultaneously by a single word through puns (as in the double entendre, śleṣa). As a rule, the images which are associated with warlike activities, on the one hand, and those connected with peacetime scenes, on the other hand, belong to separate sets, i.e. they are not directly associated with one another in these figures of speech However, this is not so much as a rule, but more a practice or habit on the part of poets and, as such, it is not always strictly followed. The purpose of this article is to draw attention to a number of stanzas in which this practice is disregarded and, as a result, contrasting images which are typical of wartime and peacetime activities are brought together unexpectedly and placed alongside one another in similes, metaphors or double entendres.
"Harṣa", in J.A. Silk, R. Bowring, V. Eltschinger, M. Radich (eds), "Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. II: Lives". Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019, pp. 214-217.
Harṣa (also known as Harṣavardhana, Harṣadeva, Śrīharṣa, Śīlāditya, c. 590–647 CE) is credited wi... more Harṣa (also known as Harṣavardhana, Harṣadeva, Śrīharṣa, Śīlāditya, c. 590–647 CE) is credited with the authorship of three major Sanskrit plays, the Nāgānanda, the Ratnāvalī, and the Priyadarśikā, as well as a few minor works. He is also celebrated as an outstanding personality in the political history of India, the mighty king who ruled over the greater part of northern India for most of the first half of the 7th century.
"Buddhaghoṣa", in J.A. Silk, R. Bowring, V. Eltschinger, M. Radich (eds), "Brill’s Encyclopedia of Buddhism. Vol. II: Lives". Leiden/Boston: Brill, 2019, pp. 92-94.
The Buddhaghoṣa or Buddhaghoṣācārya treated here is a poet of unknown date known for being the au... more The Buddhaghoṣa or Buddhaghoṣācārya treated here is a poet of unknown date known for being the author of the Padyacūḍāmaṇi (The Crest-Jewel of Verses), a Sanskrit mahākāvya consisting of 645 verses divided into ten sargas (cantos).
“Recasting poetry: Words, motifs and scenes borrowed from the Raghuvaṃśa and reshaped in Buddhaghoṣa’s Padyacāḍāmaṇi”, Indologica Taurinensia, Vol. 43-44 (2017-2018), pp. 43-66.
Buddhaghoṣa’s Padyacūḍāmaṇi is a medieval Sanskrit mahākāvya telling the story of the life of Sid... more Buddhaghoṣa’s Padyacūḍāmaṇi is a medieval Sanskrit mahākāvya telling the story of the life of Siddhārtha. Surprisingly enough, the influence exerted on it by its famous predecessor, Aśvaghoṣa’s Buddhacarita, is marginal, if any. As a matter of fact, Buddhaghoṣa’s poetic model is Kālidāsa, and especially his Raghuvaṃśa, on which he draws profusely in terms of language, motifs and scenes. However, despite his indebtedness to Kālidāsa, Buddhaghoṣa is far from being a mere imitator. This article illustrates the diverse ways in which Buddhaghoṣa melded the words and ideas he drew from Kālidāsa’s work in the mould of his own creativity, and ingeniously remodelled them into new, fresh, enjoyable poetry.
Franceschini, Marco, “History of Indic Scripts”, in S. Marchignoli (ed.), "Teaching and University Internationalization: The E-QUAL Project". Bologna: Bonomo Editore, 2018, pp. 67-115.
The present study offers an introductory survey on the history of Indic scripts. It was prepared ... more The present study offers an introductory survey on the history of Indic scripts. It was prepared in the frame of the E-QUAL project, and it provided the narrative structure on which a Moodle module on the same topic was built by the present author. Basically, it focuses on the developments of the Indic scripts, from the time of their earliest available attestations up to the time when the major present-day (modern) scripts reached their current form. The study is organized in six chapters. The first chapter has a prefatory character, in that it offers a general contextualization of what will be covered in the following sections of the work: the general plan of the work is outlined, the basic concepts are defined, and the major phenomena connected with the history of the Indic scripts are presented. In chapters two through six, a chronological account of the development of the Indic scripts is given, from their earliest attestations up to their current form. Chapter six is followed by three additional sections (Appendices), each focusing on a specific topic, i.e. the languages used in Indian inscriptions, the Siddhamātṛkā script, and the typological classification of the Indic scripts.
“On Some Systems of Marking the Vedic Accent in Manuscripts Written in the Grantha Script”, in A. Crisanti, C. Pieruccini, C. Policardi, P.M. Rossi (eds), "Anantaratnaprabhava. Studi in onore di Giuliano Boccali" (Collana "Consonanze", 11.1). Milano: Ledizioni, 2017, pp. 77-88.
The present article presents the preliminary outcomes of an ongoing study on the signs and the me... more The present article presents the preliminary outcomes of an ongoing study on the signs and the methods used for the representation of the Vedic accent in the Grantha script – Grantha being the name of the script traditionally used in the Tamil-speaking South of India for writing the Sanskrit language. In standard works on the Vedic and Sanskrit languages mention is made of some (usually four) “standard” methods used for marking the accent, with one and the same Vedic text (or, more often, all the texts of a Vedic śākhā) invariably following one and the same method. As will be shown in the present article, the greater part of the Grantha manuscripts deviate from the standard methods, as regards the shape, number and function of the diacritics employed. The present study is based on the manuscripts beloging to three collections, i.e. École française d’Extrême-Orient, Institut français de Pondichéry and Cambridge University Library.
"On some Markers used in a Grantha Manuscript of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha belonging to the Cambridge University Library (Or.2366)", in E. Vergiani [...] (eds), "Indic Manuscript Cultures through the Ages. Material, Textual, and Historical Investigations", Berlin, De Gruyter, 2017, pp. 377-406.
The present article deals with a peculiar system of markers used in a manuscript of the Ṛgveda Pa... more The present article deals with a peculiar system of markers used in a manuscript of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha written in the Grantha script, belonging to the Cambridge University Library (MS Or.2366). In the northern “orthodox” manuscript tradition of the Ṛgveda Padapāṭha, basically only four markers are used to analyse and rearrange the text of the Saṃhitāpāṭha, i.e. daṇḍas (for separating the words), avagrahas (for separating the members of the compounds), circles between daṇḍas (for marking the galitas), and the particle iti. Besides these four, however, in the Grantha manuscript a full system of additional markers is used. These markers, all illustrated in the article, apparently served the purpose of flagging peculiar or “irregular” euphonic modifications and other alterations in the Saṃhitāpāṭha, possibly to provide the reciter with all the information needed to accurately convert the Padapāṭha into the Saṃhitāpāṭha.
"Sea Monsters and Sea Gems: Of the Virtues of the Ideal King in the Raghuvaṃśa", in: "Cross-cutting South Asian Studies: An Interdisciplinary Approach", New Delhi, D.K. Printworld, 2016, pp. 340-352.
The Raghuvaṃśa is as a gallery of portraits of kings, all of them –but the last– encomiastic in t... more The Raghuvaṃśa is as a gallery of portraits of kings, all of them –but the last– encomiastic in tone. Taking all these portraits together, it stands out that Kālidāsa’s ‘ideal ruler’ is a very complex character, who is supposed to be endowed with diverse, dissimilar –and sometimes even contrasting– virtues. It won’t come as a surprise, then, that besides possessing these very virtues, a great king must be able to harmonize them.
This article aims at pointing out the images and the stylistic devices that are employed by Kālidāsa to convey the idea that a great king is characterized, above all, by his ability in reconciling and keeping in balance the potentially conflicting qualities he is required to possess.
"Buddhaghosa’s Padyacudamani: A Medieval Mahakavya on the Life of the Buddha", in: "Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature and Arts", Milano, Cisalpino - Istituto Editoriale Universitario, «Quaderni di Acme», 2013, pp. 37-45., 2013
The Padyacūḍāmaṇi is a Sanskrit mahākāvya narrating the life and feats of the “historical” Buddha... more The Padyacūḍāmaṇi is a Sanskrit mahākāvya narrating the life and feats of the “historical” Buddha. Its dating and place of origin are uncertain, and nothing is known about its author, Buddhaghoṣa (merely a namesake of the celebrated Buddhist scholar). The one certain thing about the Padyacūḍāmaṇi is its considerable poetic value, highly praised by A.K. Warder in his Indian Kāvya Literature. Despite such authoritative commendation and the several intriguing peculiarities that characterize the poem, it has received but scant attention in contemporary scholarly research. This paper aims to provide an overview of the Padyacūḍāmaṇi and of its most interesting features.
Franceschini, Marco. “Buddhaghoṣa’s Padyacūḍāmaṇi: A Medieval Mahākāvya on the Life of the Buddha.” In Giuliano Boccali, Elena Mucciarelli, eds., Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature and Art, (Quaderni di Acme 135), pp. 37-45. Milano: Casa Editrice Cisalpino, 2013. [ISBN: 978-88-205-1056-5]
"Sul sovrano esemplare e sulle virtù regali nel Raghuvamsa", in: "Miscellanea Orientalia", BOLOGNA, Libreria Bonomo Editrice, 2012, pp. 67-78.
Nonostante il carattere spiccatamente encomiastico del Raghuvaṃśa, il ritratto del sovrano “esemp... more Nonostante il carattere spiccatamente encomiastico del Raghuvaṃśa, il ritratto del sovrano “esemplare” che ne emerge è sorprendente complesso, qualificato dal possesso di virtù difformi e a volte contrastanti. Il presente lavoro si propone di mettere in luce le immagini e gli accorgimenti stilistici mediante i quali Kālidāsa esprime la concezione del re come abile “contemperatore” di qualità discordanti e della regalità come “luogo” del bilanciamento e della conciliazione fra attitudini di diversa valenza.
Franceschini, Marco. “Sul sovrano esemplare e sulle virtù regali nel Raghuvaṃśa.” In G. Soravia (ed.), Miscellanea Orientalia, pp. 67-78. Bologna: Libreria Bonomo Editrice, 2012. [ISBN: 978-88-6071-079-6]
"Guadi e demoni: il lato oscuro dei tirtha", in: "Tirthayatra. Essays in Honour of Stefano Piano", Alessandria, Edizioni dell’Orso, 2010, pp. 187-197.
Some sparse references to fords (tīrthas) in Vedic literature depict them as places haunted by il... more Some sparse references to fords (tīrthas) in Vedic literature depict them as places haunted by ill-disposed, potentially harmful divine beings, and therefore hallowed by a fearful sacredness. This conception, rooted in ancient and obscure popular religious beliefs, clashes strikingly with the well-known interpretations of tīrthas in Vedic ritual exegesis, Upaniṣadic speculation, and Itihāsa literature, all of which are characterized by definitely positive overtones. Still, contrasting as they are, the two ideas stem from the same fundamental feature of tīrthas, the very bedrock of their lasting fortune in Indian sacred symbolism: the fact that fords are gateways to shores lying far apart, crossings connecting separate realms – the world of men and the extramundane sphere of demons and gods.
Franceschini, Marco. “Guadi e demoni: il lato oscuro dei tīrtha.” In P. Caracchi, A.S. Comba, A. Consolaro, A. Pelissero (eds.), Tīrthayātrā. Essays in Honour of Stefano Piano, pp. 187-197. Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2010. [ISBN: 978-88-6274-204-7]
"Il fondo Pullé. Inventario topografico breve", «L'Archiginnasio», Vol. 102 (2007), pp. 489-492.
Inventario topografico breve dei materiali costituenti il fondo Pullé conservato presso la Biblio... more Inventario topografico breve dei materiali costituenti il fondo Pullé conservato presso la Biblioteca comunale dell'Archiginnasio (37 volumi a stampa, quattro manoscritti originali e nove volumi contenenti Ie riproduzioni fotografiche di altri cinque manoscritti).
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Articles by Marco Franceschini
This article aims at pointing out the images and the stylistic devices that are employed by Kālidāsa to convey the idea that a great king is characterized, above all, by his ability in reconciling and keeping in balance the potentially conflicting qualities he is required to possess.
Franceschini, Marco. “Buddhaghoṣa’s Padyacūḍāmaṇi: A Medieval Mahākāvya on the Life of the Buddha.” In Giuliano Boccali, Elena Mucciarelli, eds., Stylistic Devices in Indian Literature and Art, (Quaderni di Acme 135), pp. 37-45. Milano: Casa Editrice Cisalpino, 2013. [ISBN: 978-88-205-1056-5]
Franceschini, Marco. “Sul sovrano esemplare e sulle virtù regali nel Raghuvaṃśa.” In G. Soravia (ed.), Miscellanea Orientalia, pp. 67-78. Bologna: Libreria Bonomo Editrice, 2012. [ISBN: 978-88-6071-079-6]
Franceschini, Marco. “Guadi e demoni: il lato oscuro dei tīrtha.” In P. Caracchi, A.S. Comba, A. Consolaro, A. Pelissero (eds.), Tīrthayātrā. Essays in Honour of Stefano Piano, pp. 187-197. Alessandria: Edizioni dell’Orso, 2010. [ISBN: 978-88-6274-204-7]