[INDOLOGY] Examples of very ambiguous devanagari Sanskrit sentences

[Martin Gansten]

In the Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 4.3 there is a sentence that, if memory 
serves, can be read as either sam enena vadiṣya iti '[He thought], "I 
will speak with him"' or sa mene na vadiṣya iti 'He thought, "I will not 
say [all that I know]"'. Again if memory serves, Patrick Olivelle and 
Śaṅkara -- two great authorities in their different ways -- both uphold 
the latter meaning, but I admit the former has always made more sense to 
me (not least because the two people concerned do end up conversing in 
the very next sentence, using the verb sam+vad).

Martin Gansten


Harry Spier wrote:
> Thanks for these replies.
>
> What will help me the most is some very simple Sanskrit phrases that 
> show  completely different meanings by how you put breaks in the 
> transliteration.  I need to show examples of this to non-sanskritist, 
> non-devanagari knowing typesetters.
>
> The best I could come up with is:
>
> पुष्पमध्येति स्मरति च
>
> which can be:
>
> puṣpam adhyeti smarati ca He turns his mind towards the lotus and 
> remembers it.
>
> or
>
> puṣpa-madhyeti smarati ca = puṣpa-madhya iti smarati ca = 
> Heremembers[the phrase] "the middle of the lotus"
>
> More examples like this would be useful.
>
> Thanks,
> Harry Spier



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