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Re: Rigveda
In article <ghenDsrsrH.L19@netcom.com>, DiannaFos <diannafos@aol.com> wrote:
>There is also a partial translation by Wendy Doniger O'Flaherty. She has
>translated many of the more well known selections such as the Purusha
>Sukta and other verses on creation, death, sacrifice, women, and many of
>the Vedic gods such as Agni, Soma, Varuna et al. She also attempts to
>explain some of the meanings of the verses.
It should be added here that Wendy Doniger is one of the least
competent scholars to have lent their pen to the exposition of the
Vedas, ever. She has absolutely no idea what she is talking/writing
about, and has a rather perverse, preconceived "ours is superior"
attitude, to boot. These characteristics are somewhat common in
Western scholars of the Vedas, but few, if any, have sunk to such
depths; at least in the case of people like Max Mueller, one can
admire some aspects of the scholarly exposition, even while rejecting
the personal biases, but there aren't any such saving graces here.
Ms Doniger is a Harvard graduate, and is now part of the faculty of
the University of Chicago (unless she's changed jobs recently); a
close friend of mine knows someone who has her as a thesis advisor,
and this person reports that she is inclined to dismiss any
philosophical discussion in the Vedas as "Upanishadic spinach," and
also to place her own perverse anti-Indian interpretations upon the
rest.
In a nutshell, please beware of Ms Doniger's scholastic output -- use
it only as an indicator of what one should not be.
Regards,
Shrisha Rao
