SV: Date of the Buddha and RV

Koenraad Elst ke.raadsrots at UNICALL.BE
Sat Sep 4 12:31:58 UTC 1999


Prof. Fosse,

The remarkable continuity between Vedic and Harappan culture, given
susbtance by ever more discoveries, is a cornerstone of Asko Parpola's
explanations of stellar lore in Harappa: more often than not, he explains
seemingly astronomical data from Harappa with related data in vedic
literature, on the assumption that the Vedas have incorporated native
Harappan knowledge and beliefs.  However, this seems to be a case of
multiplying entities beyond necessity.  If Vedic and Harappan have so much
in common, why not assume that they are two instances of one single
civilization?  One possible argument for multiplying the entities and
positing the non-kinship of Vedic and Harappan would be any proof that the
Harappans spoke a non-Indo-Aryan language; this language would then
obviously show up in the Vedas, esp. in the cultural lore borrowed from the
Harappans.  But that borrowed cultural vocabulary (e.g. in names of
constellations and astronomical concepts) is conspicuously missing in Vedic
literature (much in contrast with e.g. the Greek loanwords in later
astrological treatises).

Yours sincerely,
Koenraad Elst
http://members.xoom.com/KoenraadElst/





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