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Re: Linkage between Bhagvad Geeta and Mahabharat: A Case Study
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: Linkage between Bhagvad Geeta and Mahabharat: A Case Study
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From: mpt@mail.utexas.edu (michael tandy)
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Date: 8 Aug 1995 00:56:29 GMT
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From news@geraldo.cc.utexas.edu Mon Aug 7 20: 44:24 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas
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References: <3vlv7j$8ut@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
In article <3vlv7j$8ut@babbage.ece.uc.edu>, Raymond Crawford <dasa@ozemail.com.au> says:
>
>Ram Chandran <CHANDRA2%ERS.BITNET@VTBIT.CC.VT.EDU> wrote:
>
> >No English translation of Sanskrit verses in Geeta can ever provide
> >us a full comprehension of Geeta. Subtle messages in Geeta require
> >background knowledge on our scriptures!
>
>Oh I don't know!! Are you trying to tell me that there is no translation, or
>no one capable of translating the Geeta?
Based on what he said, that seems to be a reasonable conclusion,
but I hope he didn't mean it that way.
If the English language is incapable of
>expressing the full comprehension of the Geeta, what do you say about the
>Hindi, Tamil, Kannada, and so on, translations? According to your statement,
>they would also have to be deficient in this area and therefore of no import.
>
But I think much less so. I can't say much about the Dravidian
languages, but Hindi is largely Sanskritic, and many Hindi words
carry the same connotations as their Sanskrit counterparts. But
then, some are also different too.
I think maybe a better way to say it is that knowledge of Sanskrit,
is an inestimable advantage in appreciating the tenets of Vedic
literatures and the Gita, even to the point that it such knowledge
appears to be indispensable. Because self-realization is dormant
within the hearts of all living beings, it cannot be confined to
those who have cultivated Sanskrit learning. Keep in mind, however,
that there are schools of Hinduism that hold these sounds (the
Sanskrit language) to be indeed absolute truth, and they would
probably dispute what I've just said. But these are not Vedantists,
which I've assumed we are talking about.
-m
