Vakyapadiya 1.11-14

[Guest guest]

Ananda-ji wrote:

In traditional times, before the recent rise of modern physics,

classical systems of education were centred on the learning of a

classic language -- like Arabic or Latin or Greek or Hebrew or

Mandarin Chinese or Persian or Sanskrit. Accordingly, a student was

initiated into higher learning by the formal systems of a classical

language -- in particular the systems of pronunciation, semantics,

inflexion and syntax, which were analysed and cultivated through the

science of linguistics.

 

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Namaste Ananda-ji,

When you consider the sort of text that was

offered in Latin and Greek, military history, speeches, Euripides and the

like, all suitable fare for a mind well past the fifth decade, it is no

surprise that a permanent dislike for the classics was the result. Of

course now the emphasis is on the modern European language because you can

at least build on the smattering that ordinary schooling brings. The

cult of Sanskrit has its esoteric aspect but as an outsider I have never

noticed that there was any better understanding of the philosophical

import of the texts for having it. I suspect that real scholarship in

it is rarer than we might be led to believe.

 

Best Wishes,

Michael.

[Guest guest]

Namaste Micheal-ji,

 

The traditional mark of scholarship in Sanskrit per se is the ability

to compose poetry in it. The historical evolution of Sanskrit was of

course as the language of ritual, with all its emphasis on correct

pronunciation and intonation.

 

So what you have written below regarding Latin & Greek does not seem

to apply to Sanskrit.

 

On 01/04/2008, ombhurbhuva <ombhurbhuva wrote:

> When you consider the sort of text that was

> offered in Latin and Greek, military history, speeches, Euripides and the

> like, all suitable fare for a mind well past the fifth decade, it is no

> surprise that a permanent dislike for the classics was the result. Of

> course now the emphasis is on the modern European language because you can

> at least build on the smattering that ordinary schooling brings. The

> cult of Sanskrit has its esoteric aspect but as an outsider I have never

> noticed that there was any better understanding of the philosophical

> import of the texts for having it. I suspect that real scholarship in

> it is rarer than we might be led to believe.