SV: Saraswati: Atomic Scientists reconfirm location

[Lars Martin Fosse]

H.B.Dave [SMTP:hbd at DDIT.ERNET.IN] skrev 17. mars 2000 08:33:
>
> Let us assume, for sake of argument, that RV is a book on  Advanced Calculus.
> Who stands better chance of decoding RV, an IE linguist or a mathematician
> who
> knows some thing of Vedic?

There are no overt mathematical formulas in the Vedas, so if you want to find
mathematical stuff there, you need to know your Vedic language very well
indeed. The right person to look for would be an Indologist with a good
knowledge of mathematics (like e.g. Paul Hacker, who was an excellent
mathematician, but never found any maths in the Veda, I believe.


> You may have spent your life stduying the "language" of RV, but it does not
> mean
> that you are better prepared to tell others what is in RV.

Yes, it does. If you don't know the language well, you can read any sort of
nonsense into it. Amateur Vedic studies abound in "creativity" caused by a lack
of philological and linguistic knowledge.

> I find the attitude of Indologists extremely narrow minded. Scientists do not
> talk like that. You may point out mistakes of others, but to say that only
>  IE
> linguists have claim to understand RV, and not others is too much . Are  we
> building up a new caste of "super Brahmins"?

Unlike certain "scientists", we (the Indologists) do not try to lecture
scientists on e.g. cosmology, physics, or chemistry. We simply assume that they
know their business, and if they disagree (which they often do), we leave it to
them to thrash it out. We do not presume that reading a couple of books on
physics qualify us to engage the pros in complex discussions.

Best regards,

Lars Martin Fosse

Dr. art. Lars Martin Fosse
Haugerudvn. 76, Leil. 114,
0674 Oslo
Norway
Phone/Fax: +47 22 32 12 19
Email: lmfosse at online.no