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Re: The heavenly bodies ?
Dhruba Chakravarti (dhruba@nfinity.nfinity.com) wrote:
: Dear Friends:
: The moon, star etc. are they *heavenly bodies* ? Perhaps yes, according
: to the Bible and Koran. But certainly a big NO according to Hindu
: Scriptures. The issue really is, the Biblical/Koranic world view is
: two-tier, consisting of earth and heaven, but the Hindu world view is
: three-tier, consisting of earth (bhuh) sky (bhubah) and heaven (svah).
: Therefore, it is not consistent with Hindu Scriptures to call the moon,
: the stars etc, heavenly, they could be called skyly may be :-))
The above is one classic example as to what an alien language does
to native ideas. Languages evolve around local needs, geography,
religious thought ...
It is interesting to see that languages like English, not
only fail to capture the subtleties of Indian thought, but
have to a very large extent even managed to eliminate
them from the conscious thought of the literate, English
bred Indian mind. And the Indians have more or less failed
to notice it.
And so, we have to be reminded by Dhruba Chakravarti, about
these subtelties, which should have existed in our concious
thought anyway.
Thanks Dhruba.
And finally, ever wondered why we so often label Atmaa as
Spirit, rather than as the Self. And while we have a term
called "adhyaatma", the West likes to use, "spirituality".
Is there a difference between the two. If yes, could we
talk about that.
--
Nachiketa Tiwari
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