Interpreting the Gita

[Swantham]

Dear Mr. Gupta,
D.D.Kosambi was not a mere materialist; he was a highly reputed scholar of
scientific materialism which is otherwise called dialectical and historical
materialism. His contribution to the interpretation of Indian history and
culture need not be certified by anyone. His knowledge of Sanskrit evidenced
by his critical study and edition of Nitisataka also needs no certification.
K.Maheswaran Nair
Thiruvananthapuram
Kerala,India
----- Original Message -----
From: "Arun Gupta" <suvidya at OPTONLINE.NET>
To: <INDOLOGY at LISTSERV.LIV.AC.UK>
Sent: Saturday, March 17, 2001 8:36 PM
Subject: Re: Interpreting the Gita


> The short answer is that, IMO, D. D. Kosambi does not understand the Gita
> very well.
>
> The long answer is probably more than list members would be willing to
read.
> Still, I bluntly state that a materialist ( as D. D. Kosambi appears to be
by
> the closing part of the citation ) cannot understand the Gita, any more
than
> a non-mathematical philosopher can understand Einstein's General
Relativity.
>
> If you have not by direct experience understood the following, then,
> with no disrespect intended, I don't care if you are all the current
> and future Sanskritists of Chicago and Harvard rolled into one, you
> have not understood a thing, in my opinion :
>
> 2.40 swalpam apy asya dharmasya trAyate mahato bhayAt.
>
> A scholar of Sanskrit is one who knows the language very well.
> To draw an analogy, it is someone who can identify the origin of
> the pigments in a painting, how the paints were made, the origin of
> the canvas, the order in which brush strokes were made, what the brush
> was made of, etc.  But that does not make one into a competent art critic.
>
> -Arun Gupta
>