body in discussions of the soul

[Dominik Wujastyk]

I'm out on a limb here, but I'm not convinced that body/soul is a
fundamental binary pair in Sanskritic culture.  In New Age thought, the
triad "body, mind, spirit" is a commonplace, and this is often projected
onto Indian thought.  Once again, I currently think this triad is not a
particularly fundamental one from the Sanskrit sources themselves.


Dominik



On Fri, 8 Apr 2005, Jonathan Silk wrote:

> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I am wondering if anyone knows of a study of the vocabulary for
> 'body' employed in discussions of the existence of the soul, and the
> body-soul (or mind-body) problem, or can offer any insight.
>
> My extremely superficial impression is that zariira is a common word
> in such contexts, but do other terms (kaaya, deha, ???) also appear?
> (I likewise presume that the most common words for the other member
> of the pair include aatman, jiiva, prakrti, though I am less
> interested in this side of the question.)
>
> With many thanks, JAS
> --
> Jonathan Silk
> Department of Asian Languages & Cultures
> Center for Buddhist Studies
> UCLA
> 290 Royce Hall
> Box 951540
> Los Angeles, CA 90095-1540
> phone: (310)206-8235
> fax:  (310)825-8808
> silk at humnet.ucla.edu
>