Saraswati: Atomic Scientists reconfirm location

[Dominik Wujastyk]

On Thu, 9 Mar 2000, Vishal Agarwal wrote:

> The importance of science can hardly be over-estimated, and I hope of
> a greater collaboration between the various fields of knowledge.

Science is okay, as far as it goes.  It doesn't go as far as Sanskrit or
Tamil or Persian, or a training in History, as a means of understanding
pre-modern India.

Scientists trained in classical languages, or historical methods, may call
themselves Historians, in which case it is as Historians that we think of
them and their writings, not as scientists.

A scientist qua scientist is simply unqualified to write about historical
and cultural topics!  There is nothing about partial differential
equations, say, which in se qualifies one to interpret Vedanta Desika's
philosophy.

DD Kosambi was a fine mathematician, but it was as a fine philologist and
literary historian that he contributed so valuably to the study of
Bhartrhari's poetry.  It would be ridiculous to say that his contribution
to indology was because he was a Scientist.

--
Dominik Wujastyk
Founder, INDOLOGY list.