 I will speak about another marriage, if we can say, about science and novels. As you all know, James have made a huge contribution to Indian narrative literature. On the one hand, one counts short stories commenting the canonical doctrine or edifying treasures of stories. On the other hand, there are long narratives centered around the main character from the 6th to the 12th century. Among these works, several deserve to be labelled as novels, not only because of their complex plot and their refined style, but also because of their content, mixing narration, description, dialogues, and prescription. To be more precise, the long narratives integrate at times subgenres, such as eulogies or sermons, at times technical passages alluding to specific treatises, such as riddles, alchemy, portents, astrology, and the science of human marks, which shows that James have been transmitters of many branches of knowledge. It is the content of the passage on physical marks called physiognomy that I will share with you today, in order to see what they can contribute to the knowledge of that science in India. Indeed, since a distant past, the knowledge of physiognomy has been used in India to various purposes, such as the legitimisation of a male succession or the choice of the right partners in arranged marriages for conjugal love and for the birth of sons. And due to its popularity, it has been transmitted until today through four main types of sources. Firstly, the most ancient material appears in the Garga Samhita or Gargiya Jyotisha, a work supposedly from the first century. Secondly, there is Vahra Meera's Briyad Samhita, dated from the sixth century, that is the earliest extant text presenting in a synthetic manner the marks of men and women. Thirdly, there is a compendium called the Samudrika Shastra, written around 1160, by King Dolabharaja and his son Jagadeva. The fourth type is constituted by passages concerning physiognomy that occur in various Purana, that are all very difficult to date. In short, there is no lack of material pertaining to the science of physiognomy, but the heterogeneous nature of the sources may explain why the development of physiognomy as a science in India has been astonishingly little studied until recently. In fact, the first scholar to have attended to study the material of physiognomy was K.G. Zisk. He highlighted several questions raised by the textual sources. As a matter of fact, a first problem arises from the uncertain dating of the Puranas. That makes it difficult to establish a chronology of the material between the sixth and the 12th century. Besides, the sources evince several patterns of presentation. On the one hand, there is a detailed presentation of all limbs of the body with their characteristics from toe to head. On the other hand, there is a numerical presentation of the auspicious signs and of the basic marks. And while the Puranas choose one or the other presentation, the Brihatsamita and the Samudrikashastra mention successively all of them. Such a variation in the patterns of presentation raises a second question as to which presentation was prior to the other. Lastly, if it seems clear that through the sources that the science of physiognomy was mainly used for upper classes, it is not clear whether this was a science coming from the Brahminical circle or whether this was later included as a Brahminical knowledge. Taking into account the Sanskrit sources of the Hindu tradition at his disposal, K.G. Zisk proposed a first synthesis in an article named Indian Traditions of Physiognomy preliminary remarks in 2005. Then this scholar gave a more complete survey of Hindu sources through four lectures he delivered at the École Pratique des Hauts-Études in Paris in 2006. Nothing had been published on the subject during a decade and it is a happy circumstance that one month ago, the results of Zisk's research have just come out in a book named The Indian System of Human Marks. Therein he makes convincing hypothesis about the development of the science of physiognomy in India and proposes answers to the questions he had raised earlier. For instance, the numerical presentation would have preceded the presentation of four limbs of the body and the science would have been firstly transmitted in a property original and later incorporated as a Brahminical knowledge. However, since K.G. Zisk has focused his investigation on Hindu sources, it can be a useful addition to examine now the technical passages on physiognomy given in the Jain novels and to see what they can contribute to the story of that science in India during the first millennium. Now, what is the Jain material at our disposal? Among the edited works, three long narratives contain technical passages alluding to three pieces of physiognomy. First is Udyotana's Kuvala Yamala in Prakrit, dated 779, 77 verses inside. Siddhasis Upamiti Bhava Prabhanjakata in Sanskrit, dated 905. And Vijayasimha Swariz Bhuvanasundari in Prakrit, dated 918. Thus, a first interesting feature is that their dates place them between the first text mentioned before Vahra, Meera, Priyad, Samhita from the sixth century, containing the marks of men and women. And Duralabha's Samudrika Shastra, the first compendium dedicated to physiognomy in the 12th century. Secondly, as can be seen in the Briyad Samhita and later in the Samudrika Shastra, the three Jain novels adopt a presentation of the marks from toe to head in the first part. And this presentation is followed by a numerical classification of the human marks in the second part. For instance, one reads in Udyothanas Kuvaryamala following presentation of the men marks. It begins with the foot. If the soul of a man's foot is red, smooth and soft to the touch, and if it is neither moist nor curved, he is a king upon the earth. If the souls of a man's feet bear marks that resemble moon, sun, lightning, a wheel, a hook, a conch shell, a parasol, or if they bear long smooth lines, these foot souls are the foot souls of a king. And it ends with the hair. If a man's hair is soft and silken, he experiences good fortune. If a man's hair has the appearance of fire, he is of a character such as to provoke quarrels and conflicts. Hair that is rough, dirty, and brittle is characteristic of people who suffer from poverty. After such a presentation from toe to head, the text goes on with a numerical presentation. The three broad, the three deep, the four fine, the five pure, the four red, the four puny, I quote. Men who have a chest, face, and forehead that are broad, a voice being a navel that are deep, and nails, teeth, skin, and hair that are fine, such men are kings. If he presents a nose, a chest, a neck, a back, and a face that are all very high, and if he presents feet, hands, eyes, and a tongue that are all red, the man is a fortunate and happy king. In the same way, in his Umpamiti Bhava Praponchakata, Siddhashi presents the characteristic of the body from toe to head. And he goes on with the three auspicious large, the three auspicious deep, and the three fine, and the four puny, and the three red, and the two broad. As for Vijayasima Bhavana Sundari, the passage from one presentation to the other is explicit and clearly shows that the author was conscious of the disparity of the material. The text says following, I quote. Prince, I have said to you in summary what is contained about the signs in the Samudra Shastra. Now, since you are curious, please hear something else. There are three deep, three large, three rounds, four puny, five delicate, five long, six raised, and seven red. Listen now to the explanation developing the content of this stanza. After this announcement, Vijayasima Sundari further explains that the three deep are navel, voice, nature, the three large are face, breast, and front, and the seven red are eye corners, feet, hands, tongue, nails, lips, palate. Now, these indications are just the same as in Varamira's Brihatsamita. In spite of the above mentioned similarities between the passages of the three long-chain narratives, there are also significant disparities. To begin with, one can note that only Siddharshi's Upamitibhava-Prapanshakata deals with the marks of the women. Derein, like for the men, the passage insists on the auspicious marks on the soul of the food, chakra, padma, and so on, that allow to distinguish the queens. Besides, the legs, the thighs, the hips, and the waist should have the same characteristics as for men. They are like elephants, like trunks of banana trees, large and slender. In addition, characteristics in the content and in the formulation suggests that the three novels do not follow the same model. Rather, it appears that Udyotana and Siddharshi are similar to each other and distinguish themselves from Vijayasimha Surya. For instance, both Udyotana and Siddharshi are conspicuously silent on the characteristics of the hands, the palmistry, that become later a main feature for the prediction of the life of a man. On the contrary, Vijayasimha mentions this feature. Besides, both authors develop the auspicious symbols one can see in the soul of the feet and describe the back of the body while Vijayasimha ignores the one and the other feature. I just quote the example of the back. Those who have the back of a lion and those who have the long extended back of the elephant experience pleasures. Those who have the back of a tortoise or a turtle have many sons and possess many goats. Moreover, for several members of the body, such as the legs, the hips, the belly and the nevel, it is clear that Udyotana and Siddharshi use the same epithets and comparison. Both say for the legs. If men have big, thick legs or legs like the legs of a wild boar or of crows, it is their lot to suffer profound misfortune and unhappiness and to be found always wandering upon the roads and highways. As for Vijayasimha, he follows the text of Vara Amira. As one can see with the example of the foot. I don't quote here. And the fact that Vijayasimha Suri borrows his text from Vara Amira is further suggested by the usage of the same type of verse. A Vasanta Tilaka or a Shardulavi Kredita and not the Arya typical of pragrid verses. Yet, if the passages of Udyotana and Siddharshi show striking similarities, they are not uniform throughout. As a matter of fact, on two occasions, Udyotana's Kuvala Yamala presents specific features. Firstly, not only Udyotana has a longer passage on the Vira member than Siddharshi, but he also mentions the sperm and the urine that are omitted by the latter. Secondly, Udyotana develops the signification of the physical appearance of the toes of the foot, which is absent from the text of Siddharshi. It reads thus, if the big toe is rounded, he has an agreeable wife. If the big toe is no longer than the second toe of the foot, he has a second wife. If a man's big toe is of equal length with the third toe of his foot, his family is prosperous. If it is of the equal length with the fourth toe of his foot, is the father of twins. If it is of equal length with the last toe of his foot, this signifies the death of his father. So there is a whole passage I will not read now, but insisting on the appearance of the foot. Thirdly, Udyotana and Siddharshi have also variations in the numerical presentation. For instance, while Udyotana counts four reds, tongue, feet, hand palms, and eyes, Siddharshi has three reds since he ignores the last one. And Udyotana recognizes two large aunts and feet instead of the usual three given by Siddharshi and Vahri, Vahra, Meera. Consequently, it appears that Vahra, Meera, Spriatsamita enjoyed popularity beyond Brahminical circles and was also known from Jain monks as is shown by Vijayasimha Suri. Besides, it is obvious that Jain monks had also access to other traditions. While Udyotana has passages ignored in the Brihatsamita, Siddharshi does not stick to Vahra, Meera, Spriatsamita's model either. If, as we have seen, Siddharshi does not stick to Vahra, Meera, sorry, does not stick to the Brihatsamita, no. If we have seen Siddharshi often adopts Udyotana's choices and even formulation, he also presents some specific features. Indeed, some of the variations could be explained by religious reasons. For instance, the presentation or not of the virile member and its potential abilities of procreation. But other differences, such as the number of the red, seem to allude to models prior to Udyotana, most probably in Prakrit, in which the number of the body parts associated to the red was not yet fixed as it was during the time of Vijayasimha Surya. When Vahra, Meera, Spriatsamita had become the authoritative text for the centuries to come. Another important difference that could allude to previous models is the number of the physical characteristics that are taken into account. As a matter of fact, while the Vriyatsamita and the Samudrika Shastra have a list of about 60 physical characteristics, not 84 as we have seen all day, and had the interpretation of the lines in the hand and in the forehead, on the contrary, both Udyotana and Siddharshi mention only about 30 physical characteristics in their presentation. Now, this number reminds of a religious physiognomy insisting on the 32 characteristics of the great men of Buddhism and Jainism. This association of physiognomy with religion is also suggested by the context in which Udyotana and Siddharshi mention this science. As a matter of fact, in the case of Siddharshi, the science of the human marks is used for the recognition of a great man. In the case of Udyotana, it enables the prince to distinguish the real nature of the Vidyadaras who have taken the appearance of Shabaras covered with feathers. Thus, the technical passages of Kuvala-Yamala and Upamiti-Bhava-Pravancakata tend to show that the Brihatsamita itself could have drawn some of its material from earlier prakrit sources as has been hypothesized by K.G. Zisk. While the Jain novels contain technical passages that constitute an interesting material for the story of the science of physiognomy, they also offer another interesting material that I propose to see very briefly now. As a matter of fact, many descriptions of men and women contained in the Jain novels clearly attest to the knowledge of dogmatic treatises on physiognomy. I have taken into account three narratives, contemporary or anterior to the one I mentioned before. They are the Vasudeva Indi, that is prior to the 6th century, Aribadra Samarai Chakrha from the 8th century, and Shilankas Chahupana Mahavurisa Charya from 868. Indeed, as a proof that the author had a knowledge of the treatises of physiognomy, several descriptions contained in those narratives used the same auspicious characteristics as the technical passages. Thus, the feet of princes arch like the back of the tortoise. Their uncle joints are well hidden. Their ties resemble elephant trunks. They have a neck like a conch with three folds, and their hair constitute circles going from left to right. To take another example, not only the heroes and heroines have bodily marks inspired by the treatises of physiognomy, but also the counter-heroes. Thus, the ugly Anjana Sena in the Vasudeva Indi has rough hair with tips split in a brownish color, which are all characteristics that announce a penniless person in the Briad Samita or a person with either poor and of bad character, as is stated in the passage in the Kuvala Yamala. If a man's hair has the appearance of fire, he is of a character such as to provoke quarrels and conflict, and so on, so you add to that. In the same way, when Udyotana presents the heroes who suffer from hunger or deception, he gives them physical characteristics that prognosticate such moral defects according to the treatises of physiognomy. Thus, Mayaditya, who is the incarnate deception, has the shriveled body of a dwarf, a puny gate, a dark complexion, and a general air of badness. He is observing you with the look like the look of a crook naked errant, and he's like a cat that is preparing to spring. Now, the feline heist of a wild cat announce sinners according to the Briad Samita or according to the theoretical passage of Kuvala Yamala saying that when a man has a heist that resemble those of a cat, he is mean and base. If he has a heist that look like circles, he is a thief. If a man's eyes squint, he is cruel. The knowledge of treatises is also betrayed by the poetic descriptions of princes and princesses. As a matter of fact, descriptions borrow the mineral, vegetable, and animal similes that are contained in the treatises of physiognomy. Thus, the soul of the foot of Vila Savati has the aspect of a red lotus. To take just another example, the heaps of Vasudeva and Pradyumna resemble those of a lion and their ties are like the trunk of an elephant. In addition, the connection of the description with the treatises of physiognomy is revealed beyond any doubt when on several occasions, their authority is explicitly stated. For instance, one reads for Padma Vati that she presents all the bodily characteristics that are honored by the experts in the mark of the women. In the same way, one reads for Shyamali and Padma that they possess the characteristics praised by the experts of the marks. To conclude, the passages on physiognomy and the descriptions contained in the Jane novels constitute an interesting addition to the material contained in Hindu sources and contribute to further clarify the early history of this science. Firstly, they show that the Jane monks had access to treatises on physiognomy from the sixth to the 11th century. Secondly, the passages reveal that Udyotana and Siddharshi had access to sources prior to Varahamira and Evans, a gradual constitution of the science of physiognomy. Lastly, several features corroborate the hypothesis summarized from the undated material of the Puranas that there existed several traditions in Prakrit and in Sanskrit before the fixation of the tradition in Sanskrit, represented in the Briyat Samhita and later in the Samudrika Shastras. I thank you for your attention.