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Re: SRH: Improvement of Hindu Newsgroups is the Goal
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To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: SRH: Improvement of Hindu Newsgroups is the Goal
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From: vri@tiac.net (Arun Malik)
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Date: Sun, 21 Jan 1996 19:02:59 GMT
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: Ad Astra
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References: <4d4hpn$6jb@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4df2u5$69s@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4dks6h$kh8@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4dp0ai$kf8@sundog.tiac.net> <4dpfn9$mvq@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
Vivek Sadananda Pai <vivek@cs.rice.edu> wrote:
>In article <4dp0ai$kf8@sundog.tiac.net>, vri@tiac.net (Arun Malik) writes:
>|> And the name of the newsgroup was humanities.language.sanskrit, not
>|> soc.religion.sanskrit.
>Let's pretend I'm at an art gallery and someone wants to buy a
>scalpel that I have on display. A scalpel, in the right hands,
>is beneficial, but it can also cause harm if not used properly.
>Should I _not_ tell the person which end to hold it from, since
>I'm in an art gallery, and not a hospital?
The analogy does not hold since humanities.language.sanskrit is about
the *language*. In such a newsgroup sanskrit passages should be
treated as *text*. At this point, there is no implication of harm, it
is not capable of harm if analyzed as text, without being chanted
etcetera. If someone asked for it in a newsgroup with the word
religion in its name, then it would be proper to mention how it should
be handled in a *religous* context.
I was simply arguing that talking about a mantra in the context of a
newsgroup devoted to textual analysis and teaching sanskrit _should_
differ from a discussion in a religous based newsgroup.
I don't see how that is inconsistent.
>That argument, of course, is based on the premise that the
>Gayatri mantra, if taken out of a religious context, fails to
>have any meaning, an argument that I consider to be false.
It no longer has a religous meaning when it is "taken out of a
religious context" - by definition. Instead it becomes data to be
analyzed linguistically.
I understand your position, I hope you can understand mine.
Let us simply agree to disagree on this point.
Sincerely,
Arun Malik
