Left and right

[Peter Wyzlic]

Am 04.11.2008 um 22:26 schrieb Stella Sandahl:

>> A friend of mine just asked me the following question:
> "historically, how do Indian traditions look at the ideas of left  
> (or left-hand) and right (right-hand)?"
> I have no idea. Does anybody know how the notion of the left  hand  
> being inauspicious etc.  came about?
> Latin sinistra seems to have the same connotations.


Here's just one article by Jan Gonda who dealt with the right hand  
side (dakṣiṇā, pradakṣiṇa etc.) in a Vedic ritual context:
Gonda, Jan: The Significance of the Right Hand and the Right Side in  
Vedic Ritual. - In: Religion. - Vol. 2, Issue 1 (1972), p. 1-23.

Peter Wyzlic

--
Institut für Orient- und Asienwissenschaften
Abteilung für Indologie
Universität Bonn
Regina-Pacis-Weg 7
53113 Bonn