Guest guest Posted December 1, 1999 Report Share Posted December 1, 1999 Max, Sorry for using sanskrit terms without explaining/introducing them. I shall try henceforth to remember introducing terms before using them. Thanks for pointing it out. Kalyan I am explaining some of the sankrit terms used in my posting on "Aurobindo and Shastra". Many of the terms need very detailed unfoldment. For example, satyam jnaanam (or sat chit) are two words used together in order to unfold the brahman. So, once these words are understood the way shastra uses them, it is realisation of brahman ('words show brahman' is a topic which has been and is being discussed at many places in the forum). So, the explanations may fall short, which is the limitation of any mode of communication other than direct unfoldment by an aachaarya or guru presenting the full picture, in person. I shall endeavor to give literal meanings and some explanation for the terms. Jaishankarji, being more tight in the sanskrit language, can help correct any shortcomings in my explanations. a.vada (or vaadaa) - theory. mayavadi means 'one who proposes a doctrine/theory of maya'. b.sruti - other name for veda. Literally means 'that which is heard'. Something which does not have human intervention(intervention of freewill) in its creation. This is a REQUISITE for any pramaanam. [until sruti is used and knowledge is gained, it is only a faith/belief. But, all pramaanams are verifiable only by themselves.] c.pramaanam - means of knowledge. We(vedantic tradition) accept pratyaksham, anumaanam, upamaanam, anupalabdhi(?), shabdam, and arthaapaththi. (jai can correct me) Essentially, it is only pratyaksham(direct cognition) which is the basis for other pramaanams which are all some kind of inferences based on pratyaksham (direct cognition) except shabdam (sruti). This is a big subject matter needing separate discussion on. d.sadvastu - synonym for brahman [essentially sat + vastu, in short, sat]. Literally means 'the existent' or 'that which exists' or 'reality' ..will be explained under 'sat' e.dristi - view (sight). 'Shastra drishti' means 'vision of shastra'. f.prakriyaa - methodology of unfolding. g.maya - term explaining reason for mitya jagat. h.jagat - world i.mitya - dependent reality j.chaitanya - 'conscious'ness. It does not stand for 'consciousness' as interpreted normally, like pot consciousness or book consciousness. chaitanya is used to indicate the chit maatram or ness of being conscious entity, ie., leaving the modification part, what remains in a thought is chaitanya or chit. k.avidya - ignorance l.jiva - individual m.sampradayavith - one who knows the 'teaching tradition' or 'unfolding tradition' n.thatva - essence or theme o.satyam - truth or reality p.vyaavaharika - empirical q.paaramaarthika - actual or real or true r.nirvikalpa - without modifications s.sat - existent. We say pot exists, tree exists etc..., But, what is it that exists? Pot is reducable to clay, clay to something else, something else to something else.., it goes on. Also 'pot'ness cannot be an attribute of either pot or non-pot. None of the attributes can claim reality. The experience of world is nothing but experience of attributes. So, what is it that lends 'existence' to these attributes? Whatever it is, that is the 'sat'. t.chit - same as chaitanyam. Through enquiry, shastra shows sat is nothing but chit and chit alone is satyam (or reality). u.vikalpa - modification v.Shakti - power w.shaktimatvam - quality of possessing power x.thaathparya - intended message (basically that which is intended to be conveyed through any statement or group of statements) y.antartica - proper noun(?!(- Note : In my posting I wanted to say '..Vivekanda <in> bad light' but made a typo as '..Vivekananda <as> bad light' Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 1, 1999 Report Share Posted December 1, 1999 Namaskar Kalyan-ji I've followed all your posts and found them to be immensely interesting and informative. Same with the definitions of the sanskrit terms. I particularly liked the definition of 'sruti', i.e. Something which does not have human intervention(intervention of freewill) in its creation. That really puts it in a place above other scriptures. Am I right here? And why is that a requiste for any valid pramAna? Could you please elaborate? Thanks a million. Om Shanti Kathi > > kalyankumar muthurajan [sMTP:kalyankumar] > Thursday, December 02, 1999 10:41 AM > advaitin > meaning of terms used > > "kalyankumar muthurajan" <kalyankumar > > Max, > Sorry for using sanskrit terms without explaining/introducing them. I > shall > try henceforth to remember introducing terms before using them. Thanks > for > pointing it out. > Kalyan > > I am explaining some of the sankrit terms used in my posting on "Aurobindo > > and Shastra". Many of the terms need very detailed unfoldment. For > example, satyam jnaanam (or sat chit) are two words used together in order > > to unfold the brahman. So, once these words are understood the way > shastra > uses them, it is realisation of brahman ('words show brahman' is a topic > which has been and is being discussed at many places in the forum). So, > the > explanations may fall short, which is the limitation of any mode of > communication other than direct unfoldment by an aachaarya or guru > presenting the full picture, in person. I shall endeavor to give literal > meanings and some explanation for the terms. Jaishankarji, being more > tight > in the sanskrit language, can help correct any shortcomings in my > explanations. > a.vada (or vaadaa) - theory. mayavadi means 'one who proposes a > doctrine/theory of maya'. > b.sruti - other name for veda. Literally means 'that which is heard'. > Something which does not have human intervention(intervention of freewill) > > in its creation. This is a REQUISITE for any pramaanam. [until sruti is > used and knowledge is gained, it is only a faith/belief. But, all > pramaanams are verifiable only by themselves.] > c.pramaanam - means of knowledge. We(vedantic tradition) accept > pratyaksham, anumaanam, upamaanam, anupalabdhi(?), shabdam, and > arthaapaththi. (jai can correct me) > Essentially, it is only pratyaksham(direct cognition) which is the basis > for > other pramaanams which are all some kind of inferences based on > pratyaksham > (direct cognition) except shabdam (sruti). This is a big subject matter > needing separate discussion on. > d.sadvastu - synonym for brahman [essentially sat + vastu, in short, sat]. > > Literally means 'the existent' or 'that which exists' or 'reality' ..will > be > explained under 'sat' > e.dristi - view (sight). 'Shastra drishti' means 'vision of shastra'. > f.prakriyaa - methodology of unfolding. > g.maya - term explaining reason for mitya jagat. > h.jagat - world > i.mitya - dependent reality > j.chaitanya - 'conscious'ness. It does not stand for 'consciousness' as > interpreted normally, like pot consciousness or book consciousness. > chaitanya is used to indicate the chit maatram or ness of being conscious > entity, ie., leaving the modification part, what remains in a thought is > chaitanya or chit. > k.avidya - ignorance > l.jiva - individual > m.sampradayavith - one who knows the 'teaching tradition' or 'unfolding > tradition' > n.thatva - essence or theme > o.satyam - truth or reality > p.vyaavaharika - empirical > q.paaramaarthika - actual or real or true > r.nirvikalpa - without modifications > s.sat - existent. We say pot exists, tree exists etc..., But, what is it > > that exists? Pot is reducable to clay, clay to something else, something > else to something else.., it goes on. Also 'pot'ness cannot be an > attribute > of either pot or non-pot. None of the attributes can claim reality. The > experience of world is nothing but experience of attributes. So, what is > it > that lends 'existence' to these attributes? Whatever it is, that is the > 'sat'. > t.chit - same as chaitanyam. Through enquiry, shastra shows sat is > nothing > but chit and chit alone is satyam (or reality). > u.vikalpa - modification > v.Shakti - power > w.shaktimatvam - quality of possessing power > x.thaathparya - intended message (basically that which is intended to be > conveyed through any statement or group of statements) > y.antartica - proper noun(?!(- > Note : In my posting I wanted to say '..Vivekanda <in> bad light' but made > a > typo as '..Vivekananda <as> bad light' > > > Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy > focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. Searchable List Archives > are available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ Contact Email > Address: advaitins > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 2, 1999 Report Share Posted December 2, 1999 Namaste, kalyankumar muthurajan. This glossary is very valuable to my effort to understand Shankara and Advaita Vedanta, and I greatly appreciate your taking the time to do this for us. One thing I learned quite early in my philosophical studies is that one must take great care to understand a philosopher reasonably accurately before evaluating the philosophy from one's own perspective. This is painstaking work, especially so when the philosopher operated in a different language. I suspect some problems with understanding Advaita Vedanta for me are related to translation issues. Knowing something about the original Sanskrit terms and the various ways they might be translated or explained greatly enhances my ability to approach Shankara and Advaita Vedanta with sensitivity to its spirit. Namaste, -- Max --------------------------- DAILY NEWS @ http://www.PhilosophyNews.com FREE EMAIL @ http://www.Philosophers.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 2, 1999 Report Share Posted December 2, 1999 hariH OM! here's an online sanskrit/english dictionary: http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/indologie/tamil/cap_search.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 2, 1999 Report Share Posted December 2, 1999 Thanks a trillion!! >Thu, 02 Dec 1999 11:07:47 -0500 >"f. maiello" <egodust >advaitin >Reply-to: advaitin >Re: meaning of terms used > >"f. maiello" <egodust > >hariH OM! > >here's an online sanskrit/english dictionary: >http://www.uni-koeln.de/phil-fak/indologie/tamil/cap_search.html > >>Discussion of the True Meaning of Sankara's Advaita Vedanta Philosophy focusing on non-duality between mind and matter. Searchable List Archives are available at: http://www.eScribe.com/culture/advaitin/ Contact Email Address: advaitins > --------------------------- DAILY NEWS @ http://www.PhilosophyNews.com FREE EMAIL @ http://www.Philosophers.net Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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