Answer to Mr. Ararwal

[Anand Nayak]

Dear Dr. Wujastyk,

I appreciate your reply to Dr Gupt. However, I would like to say that the
academic Indology studies made in the West do not really depict the Indian
reality, particularly that of the religion. I live in both these worlds,
tha academic western world and the Indian academic as well as the
non-academic religious fields. The so called "Indology" is still wrapped in
deep colonial attitudes and categories, although some significant changes
in these atttitudes are taking place today. Vedas, Upanisads and the
classical sastras - however important they are in themselves- are not the
predominant traits of the present-day Hinduism. I think the modern Indology
should lay more accent on the way the texts are lived (or not-lived) today
in India and elsewhere. Greetings. A. Nayak



>On Thu, 2 Sep 1999, Bharat Gupt wrote:
>
>> INDIA IS A PLACE WHERE THE VEDAS AND THE SHRUTI-SMRITI TRADITION HAS
>> BEEN LIVED (NOT STUDIED OR MUSEUMISED OR INDOLOGISED) AND STILL IS THE
>> MAJORTY FAITH.
>[etc.]
>
>Dear Dr Gupt,
>
>Surely we need to make a distinction between scholarship and popular
>belief.  This forum is a scholarly one, aimed at universtity-level
>researchers.  As such, we are not obliged to adopt the
>lowest-common-denominator predjudices of the "man on the Clapham omnibus".
>
>It is perfectly legitimate in academic discourse to criticize and even to
>dismiss ideas which do not come up to the rigorous standards of scholarly
>probity. Most of us do this all year round when marking student essays (at
>least I hope we do!).  There is no obligation on any academic on this list
>to give special consideration or acceptance to some idea-cluster just
>because it is a majority view in India or elsewhere.  Indeed, it is often
>argued that a confessional adherence to a particular set of ideas is
>incompatible with the academic study of those ideas.  I'm not sure I would
>completely agree with that, but it is certainly not an unreasonable
>position to take.
>
>--
>Dominik Wujastyk
>Founder, INDOLOGY list


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Prof.Dr.Anand NAYAK