[Advaita-l] Need information on learning Vedas online

[Ajit Krishnan]

namaste,

> I have a great respect ...but

Typical stuti-nindaa.


> They consider themselves as 'reformers' of Sanskrit.
> They are modernizing the language, tinkering it to suit itself
> to the Times, diluting it, divesting it of all the prauDhatvaM
> (they christened their's as saraLa samskritam)


You are wrong.

No organization that is trying to change and modernize the language will
publish books like 'shuddhi-kaumudi' and 'bhAShA-pAka' based directly off
prauDha vyAkaraNa sanskrit texts. Nor would they have published a
'traditional' book of verbal forms for all dhAtus with footnotes
referencing the relevant sutras. Nor would they have published books on
sandhi, samAsa, iD-vyavasthA etc based directly off standard vyAkaraNa
works. Nor would they be publishing the ashtadhyayi and most of Dr. Pushpa
Dixit's works based off the kaumudi.

What you are seeing are efforts to publicize and make Sanskrit more
approachable. Unfortunately you are confusing it with efforts to tinker and
dilute it ... which they are explicitly against. ( Samskrita Bharati
encourages serious traditional study as well. There are many such efforts,
though they aren't thrust into the public eye. )

Paving a road to a temple is not the same thing as interfering with it's
traditions.

sasneham,

    ajit



On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 1:25 AM, Dr D Bharadwaj <dr.d.bharadwaj at gmail.com>wrote:

> I have a great respect for the holy work of great goodwill by the Sanskrita
> Bharati. I am one of the contributors for the work. It is needed,
> indeed,...but only to keep the value for keeping at least an image of
> Sanskrit alive among the common folks.
>
> But, the unfortunate collateral damage is that they are causing a
> considerable unintended harm to the original structural grandeur of the
> Magnificent Edifice of Sanskrit. Indifferent to the fall-out, they are
> inventing many 'expressions' in Snaskrit twisting them, to make them
> suitable and comparable to the corresponding the loose versions of the
> Western Languages, into forms unthinkable - sometimes weird - in the
> original impeccably structured Language where the very turn of the phrase,
> the very form of expression is as expressive as (sometimes more expressive
> than) the vocabulary chosen for the expression.
>
> I know many - yes, many - who are drank deep and 'soaked' themselves in the
> kind of dispensation happening at the Bharathi, having the ability to talk
>  glibly, unbroken in Sanskrit. But none of them can understand a word of
> the Sastras. Some can could understand a only smattering of the Puranas.
> They look upon the Original Sanskrit (they have already succeeded in making
> people coin this expression - the Original Sanskrit) as something crude,
> and *unreformed!! *I know some who look upon those using the pristine
> expressions almost with contempt. They consider themselves as 'reformers'
> of Sanskrit.They are modernizing the language, tinkering it to suit itself
> to the Times, diluting it, divesting it of all the prauDhatvaM (they
> christened their's as saraLa samskritam) to earn a proud place among the
> its own distorted dialects, some of which do not even qualify for the
> definition of a Language according to Maharshi Panini.
>
> But it is our utter daurbhAgya that w.r.t the great bhAShA which all but
> dead in the very land where she saw her highest glory, we are obliged to
> appreciate even this small endeavor of great good-will, like the Sanskrita
> Bhatati's, in spite of a heavy unintended collateral damage involved.
>
>
> ISvarArpaNamastu
>
>
>
>
>
> *శ్రీరమణార్పణమస్తు*
>
>
> Dr. D. Bharadwaj
> http://drdbharadwaj.blogspot.in
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 10:56 AM, Venkatesh Murthy <vmurthy36 at gmail.com
> >wrote:
>
> > Namaste
> >
> > The Mutts have to take up this matter very seriously. Today they are not
> > doing much to propagate Vaidika Dharma and Sanskrit. What are they doing?
> >
> > Today there is need for good teaching of Sanskrit and Vaidika matters in
> > foreign countries and in North India also. North Indian Brahmins have
> > gradually forgotten our ancient culture and cannot understand Sanskrit
> and
> > cannot say Veda mantras also. South Indian Mutts have to accept
> > responsibility of motivating, energising and educating them.
> >
> > See Sanskrit Bharati is so active in doing service to Sanskrit. Why the
> > Mutts cannot follow the example? They can send Priests and Sanskrit
> > scholars on deputation to big metros like Mumbai and Delhi and even USA
> and
> > UK on rotation. Lakhs of people will be benefited. The cost for the Mutts
> > is very less because the local people can pay something to take care of
> the
> > cost.
> >
> > Instead of doing all this they are collecting donations from followers
> and
> > increasing the bank balance and counting the crores of rupees.
> >
> > It is a sad situation.
> >
> >
> > On Wed, Aug 21, 2013 at 7:20 AM, Shreekrishna <sumadhwavijaya at gmail.com
> > >wrote:
> >
> > > SrigurubhyO namaH
> > >
> > > Respected members,
> > >
> > > This is an interesting discussion. I am of the opinion that India is as
> > > difficult an atmosphere as any other part of the world to pursue
> > > vaidika-sampradAya in. The ideal jij~jAsu, in my opinion, perhaps
> > couldn't
> > > care lesser what the world outside is like, insofar as he has created a
> > > conducive atmosphere for his sAdhana and adhyayana, no matter where he
> > > lives. Deliberations on how much puNya there is in any AdhyAtmic
> pursuit
> > > staying in a land that does not qualify as karmabhUmi is outside the
> > > purview of this discussion, for as far as the ideal jij~jAsu is
> > concerned,
> > > puNyArjana should perhaps become an incidental gain enroute to a much
> > > larger objective (which in some sense is going to be related to
> something
> > > pAramArthika). As we do know, IshAvAsya emphasizes - "kurvannEvEha
> > karmANi
> > > .... ".
> > >
> > > The above said, I am as far from the ideal jij~jAsu as I possibly can
> be.
> > > Living in an alien land has its limitations and contributes a wee bit
> to
> > my
> > > distance from being an ideal jij~jAsu. Nonetheless, I have found over
> the
> > > years, that there are a few more hours in the day that I obtain to
> invest
> > > in something less corporeal, as opposed to losing those hours stuck in
> > > traffic in Indian metros. For me, the journey into the world of vEdAs
> is
> > a
> > > both a matter of jij~jAsA and a matter of learning something that in a
> > > sense is "rightfully/dutifully mine" and passing it on to posterity. It
> > may
> > > not be entirely inappropriate to state that the number of authoritative
> > > Sanskrit scholars or shAstra exponents outnumber those who are
> > > authoritative dvivedins/trivedins. This, by no means, undermines the
> > > importance of any of these aforementioned sections of the society. I
> just
> > > feel that they are very different ballgames, sometimes with very
> > different
> > > purposes.
> > >
> > > I live in what I could call a hamlet in southeast USA, where the
> > cumulative
> > > brahmin-by-birth population might not even be quarter-a-century, let
> > alone
> > > the ones who perform sandhyAvandanam and associated nityakarmas. To
> some
> > > like us, who have an ounce of curiosity/interest at this time in life
> > (and
> > > who knows how life will change) but not the local bandwidth to feel
> > > satiated, it is just a desire to make hay while the sun shines, that we
> > > have to resort to non-traditional media to learn vEdAs or shAstrAs.
> Then
> > > again, I do chicken out from giving my career and comforts up for
> > learning
> > > vEdAs at Kashi or Kanchi. So, Skype/GTalk could come to the rescue of
> > some
> > > of us who populate this weird stranded-at-various-levels space, who
> > really
> > > want to have the cake and eat it too.
> > >
> > > Finally, I may have to disagree that a knowledge of Sanskrit relieves
> one
> > > from the "crutches of translations" based on what really was meant by
> > > translations, but in the event that they were references to bhAShyas or
> > > commentaries, it would not be an unfair assessment of the current
> society
> > > that there are few who can claim to have understood prasthAnatrayI
> > > flawlessly without the help of *some* commentary or the other.
> > >
> > > Thanks for your time, suggestions and opinions.
> > >
> > > sarvE bhadrANi pashyantu,
> > > HarayE namaH
> > > Shreekrishna.
> > >
> > >
> > > On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 5:54 AM, Rajaram Venkataramani <
> > > rajaramvenk at gmail.com> wrote:
> > >
> > > > I agree.
> > > >
> > > > Is any senior vaidhika in sringeri or any other place protecting
> > vaidhika
> > > > dharma in traditional manner opposed to learning over skype?
> > > >
> > > > On Mon, Aug 19, 2013 at 9:39 AM, Jaldhar H. Vyas <
> > jaldhar at braincells.com
> > > > >wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > On Sat, 17 Aug 2013, Rajaram Venkataramani wrote:
> > > > >
> > > > >  RV: What is the reason? As Vedas are sakshat Ishwara and chanting
> > > itself
> > > > >> is
> > > > >> a great upasana, I thought it is highly desirable to learn Vedas
> > more
> > > > than
> > > > >> Sanskrit.
> > > > >>
> > > > >
> > > > > Recitation (svAdhyAya) is important no doubt but the vedas also
> have
> > a
> > > > > practical use.  They are not just some super bhajan.  In particular
> > > > > diligent performance of nitya and naimittika karma is a must for
> all
> > > > > Brahmanas.  Thus knowing the mantras and procedure for that is top
> > > > priority
> > > > > but after that there are other things.
> > > > >
> > > > > Today everyone and anyone are claiming vedic this and vedic that.
> > >  There
> > > > > is so much bad information out there (E.g. this Vidushekhara
> > > Bhattacharya
> > > > > affair.) and it is less likely ou will be misled by the
> unscrupulous
> > if
> > > > you
> > > > > are well-informed.  This is a particular concern for those who are
> > > > isolated
> > > > > from the astika community whether insider bharat or outside.
> > > > >
> > > > > Also if we are going to be established outside of Vedic cultures
> > > > > traditional environment (again in India or outside) we need to
> build
> > > up a
> > > > > proper infrastructure to ensure our continued progress.  Too many
> > times
> > > > > I've seen people get overenthusiastic, bite off more than they can
> > chew
> > > > and
> > > > > then flame out.  And n particular we who are parents need to be
> > > literate
> > > > so
> > > > > we can ensure our children are dharmically literate.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > >  The latter is no doubt important to learn especially to access
> > > > >> literatures that have not been translated properly or to
> understand
> > > the
> > > > >> explanations.
> > > > >>
> > > > >
> > > > > As you increase your sanskrit knowledge, you will find translations
> > to
> > > be
> > > > > crutches you can increasingly do without.
> > > > >
> > > > >
> > > > > --
> > > > > Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com>
> > > > > ______________________________**_________________
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> > > --
> > > ಸಕಲ ಸಾಧನವೆನಗೆ ಕೈ ಸೇರಿತು, ಮುಕುತಿಯ ಸಾಧನಕೆ ತುಸುವು ಬಾರದ ಧನವು!
> > > - ಶ್ರೀಮದ್ವಾದಿರಾಜರು
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> > --
> > Regards
> >
> > -Venkatesh
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