Rig Veda, ta'ntra, nUl, and sUtra

[sac51900 at saclink.csus.edu]

> When I was a student I dabbled in folklore studies with Alan Dundes.  He
> had many memorable things to say, but I have found most useful his words of
> caution AGAINST arguments based on either UNIQUENESS or on UNIVERSALITY.
> Such arguments, he suggested, were especially vulnerable, for the reason
> that they were ENTIRELY discredited with the discovery of only one
> exception.
> 

One exception does not discredit such arguments, but only renders
them less probable. After all we are not  dealing with absolute proof 
here.  Neither Palaniappan or Thompson are presenting anything
that *proves* their theories that these ideas are originally 
Dravidian or IE.   If an exception existed only in Lakota,  I would
think it would have only a minimal effect on Palaniappan's theory.
It would still be reasonable if a very close resemblance in thought
existed between Dravidian and Vedic, but no such resemblance
was found in the rest of IE.

Regards,
Paul Kekai Manansala