The ''Ezourvedam'' is a forgery "consisting of certain 'Vedic' materials translated by
Jesuits
The Society of Jesus (; abbreviation: S.J. or SJ), also known as the Jesuit Order or the Jesuits ( ; ), is a religious order (Catholic), religious order of clerics regular of pontifical right for men in the Catholic Church headquartered in Rom ...
with the intention of isolating elements most in harmony with Christianity".
Rather than being an original Sanskrit work, the ''Ezourvedam'' turned out to be a French text that was written by French Jesuits and meant to be translated into Sanskrit.
History and authorship
A manuscript called ''Ezourvedam'' was given to
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...
in 1760 by
Louis Laurent de Féderbe, Count of Modave. The text was in French, and said to be a French translation of a
Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
original. Voltaire was enthusiastic about the work, had it copied and brought it to the attention of others. However, by 1761, Voltaire regarded the text to be a mere commentary on the Vedas.
It was first published in 1778 (Voltaire died that same year).
The genuineness of the ''Ezourvedam'' was questioned in 1782; the doubts were confirmed in 1822. Rather than an original Sanskrit work, the ''Ezourvedam'' turned out to be a French text that was written by French Jesuits and meant to be translated into Sanskrit.
Title
The name ''Ezourvedam'' was sometimes taken to be a corruption of ''
Yajurveda
The ''Yajurveda'' (, , from यजुस्, "worship", and वेद, "knowledge") is the Veda primarily of prose mantras for worship rituals.Michael Witzel (2003), "Vedas and Upaniṣads", in ''The Blackwell Companion to Hinduism'' (Edito ...
'', but the Ezourvedam has nothing in common with the ''Yajurveda''. The ''Ezourvedam'' itself refers to the Yajurveda as ''Zozu-vedam''. "Ezour" is the
sandhi
Sandhi ( ; , ) is any of a wide variety of sound changes that occur at morpheme or word boundaries. Examples include fusion of sounds across word boundaries and the alteration of one sound depending on nearby sounds or the grammatical function o ...
form of "Ezous-", that is, "Jezus", based on the Latin pronunciation that used by the Jesuits. The name "Ezourvedam" means something like "Gospel of Jesus".
Content
''Ezourvedam'' is a French text in the form of a dialogue between two
Vedic
upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''.
The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed ...
sages, one
monotheist and one
polytheist, they conclude the monotheism of 'pristine Hinduism' points to
Christian
A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a Monotheism, monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the wo ...
truth and
Hinduism
Hinduism () is an Hypernymy and hyponymy, umbrella term for a range of Indian religions, Indian List of religions and spiritual traditions#Indian religions, religious and spiritual traditions (Sampradaya, ''sampradaya''s) that are unified ...
is monotheism masquerading as polytheism concealing monotheism.
Adimo is the first human, and Procriti the first woman, in a creation story in the Ezourvedam.
See also
*
Roberto de Nobili
Roberto de Nobili (1577 – 16 January 1656) was an Italian priest, a member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), who worked as a missionary in Southern India. He used novel methods to preach Christianity, adopting many local customs of India whi ...
*
Orientalism
In art history, literature, and cultural studies, Orientalism is the imitation or depiction of aspects of the Eastern world (or "Orient") by writers, designers, and artists from the Western world. Orientalist painting, particularly of the Middle ...
References
Sources
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Further reading
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* {{Citation , last =Rocher , first =Ludo , year =1984 , title =Ezourvedam: A French Veda of the Eighteenth Century , publisher =John Benjamins Publishing , isbn =0915027062 , url =https://books.google.com/books?id=fM9VuzTwBesC , ref=none
Literary forgeries
Voltaire