[INDOLOGY] Divine law

Nagaraj Paturi nagarajpaturi at gmail.com
Wed Dec 7 05:07:57 UTC 2016


A few points to ponder in this connection;

1. The word 'divine' used in the talk, seems to have IE connection with the
Vedic word 'div'. What is the biblical Hebrew word kept in mind here? How
does that word compare with the Greek (?) 'divine'(?)

2. Greek 'divine' (?) might have had to do with the polytheistic divine
realm of the Greek worldview or it might just mean 'not man-made' (The
latter view connects well with the idea of 'natural law' of the Greeks that
is known to have travelled into Theology and Hegelian and other modern
philosophies.)

3. What is the biblical Hebrew word for 'law' kept in mind here? How does
it compare with the Greek word for 'law'?

4. On the Vedic side, whether Rta was viewed as essentially  a 'div' or
aadhidaivika entity or not is what relates to your question. But that Rta
was viewed as 'not man made' but as the one that IS THERE, is settled
'naturally' is evident from both the yougika, rooDha (Veda
prayOgAdhArita) meanings of the word is evident from its use in the Veda.

5. That Dharma was also taken as not man-made and that books codifying
Dharma also claimed to be articulating the 'non-man-made' Dharma is also
well known.

6. Rta- Dharma, Rta- Satya relations etc. are all already widely discussed
in ancient Sanskrit and modern Indological literature.

7. Your current interest Mahabharata has huge repeated discussions on
these. In Udyogaparva, Krishna clearly says Dharma and Satya can
restore themselves (are restored by Daiva ) irrespective of whether those
competent to alleviate the damage to them, carry out that responsibility or
not.

8. Bhartrihari says in vAkyapadIyam that all beings know Dharma by
intuition.



On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 10:15 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com>
wrote:

> Books on r̥ta should also be useful.
>
> Heckaman, C. (1979). *Toward a Comprehensive Understanding of Rta in the
> Rg Veda*. Master's Thesis: McMaster University.
>
> Ramakrishna, G. (1965). "Origin and Growth of the Concept of *Ṛta* in
> Vedic Literature". Doctoral Dissertation: University of Mysore.
>
> Premnath, D. N. (1994). "The Concepts of *Ṛta* and *Maat*: A Study in
> Comparison" in: *Biblical Interpretation: A Journal of Contemporary
> Approaches*, Volume 2, Number 3, pp. 325–339.
>
> On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 9:48 AM, Nagaraj Paturi <nagarajpaturi at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> *DHARMA — Studies in its Semantic, Cultural and Religious History: Edited
>> by Patrick Olivelle; *
>>
>> On Tue, Dec 6, 2016 at 2:22 AM, Howard Resnick <hr at ivs.edu> wrote:
>>
>>> In the following lecture at Harvard Divinity, https://www.youtube.
>>> com/watch?v=2FL-RQpbYiQ we find the claim that the notion of divine law
>>> originates in ancient Greek and Jewish traditions, with the following
>>> difference:
>>>
>>> Greeks traced the divinity of divine law to its intrinsic objectivy,
>>> universality, and immutability.
>>>
>>> Jewish law claims that divine law is divine because it expresses the
>>> will of God.
>>>
>>> My question: do we find a clear notion of divine law in, say, the Rg
>>> Veda? If so, how does it compare with the two notions cited above? And how
>>> does it evolve or transform over time?
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Howard
>>>
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Nagaraj Paturi
>>
>> Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
>>
>> Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies
>>
>> FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,
>>
>> (Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )
>>
>>
>>
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Nagaraj Paturi
>
> Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.
>
> Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies
>
> FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,
>
> (Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )
>
>
>
>



-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )


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