[INDOLOGY] "Psychological complexity" of Sanskrit language/literature

[Nagaraj Paturi]

Dear Sri/Smt Gleb Sharygin,

There are multiple ways in which this issue can be approached:

1. There are studies on different psychologically relevant
Vadika Shaastras, Bauddha and Jaina granthas and panthas that are
published. Those could be used to collect the Sanskrit terms and concepts
that are focused on there. For example, Yoga Sutras is one such book full
of such terms and all publications on Yoga Sutras help in collecting the
terms. Works on Vedanta, Sankhya, Rasa aspect of Alankara Shastra,
Vakyapadiyam and other Arthika granthas of Vyakarana, Mind related aspects
of Ayurveda, and  Tantra works are all useful for such a collection.
Publications on  Bauddha and Jaina theoretical and practice-related works
are particularly very rich in Psychological terms and concepts.

2. There started a movement of Indian Psychology some decades ago and all
the publications from that group may also be helpful.

3. Nowadays, the term and concept of Vedic Psychology are gaining a new
significance with various universities starting courses on Vedic
Psychology. I myself designed and am teaching a six semester undergraduate
stream of courses on Vedic Psychology at the Maharashtra Institute of
Technology's School of Vedic Sciences, at Pune. Chinmaya Vishva Vidyapeeth
now has focus on Vedic Psychology. Sri Sri University, Bhuvaneshwar started
a Department of  Contemplative and Behavioural Studies with special focus
on Vedic Psychology. More and more such institutes and departments are
emerging. It may be useful to focus on the terms and concepts as being
taught in these courses.

4. Another important approach could be to trace the Sanskrit origins of
some of the contemporary psychological theories, practices and concepts.
Mindfulness is one such. Its origin in the (practices referred to by) the
Pali term Sati and its Sanskrit chaayaa Smriti are already widely
discussed. Though discussions on  'self' can variously be tracked, its
connection with the Sanskrit Atman, at least in the case of some important
contrubutions in psychology, can not be overlooked. The term
'self-actualization' sounds very close to Aatmasaakshaatkaasra. The
discussions on 'consciousness' and their connection and comparability with
the discussions on Chit, Chaitanya etc. is another such interesting aspect.
There are more such.

Following all such approaches, it may be worthwhile project to prepare a
glossary of psychology related Sanskrit terms. To my knowledge, such a work
doesn't currently exist.

Best wishes for your work in this direction,

Regards,

Nagaraj



On Wed, Aug 19, 2020 at 2:50 AM Gleb Sharygin via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear learned members of the List,
>
> I wonder if someone might be able to help me find any well-done linguistic
> or psychological quantitative study of the psychological "dimension" of
> Sanskrit language/literature. By "Sanskrit" here I mean all
> classical/ancient Indo-Aryan languages of India, including Prakrits.
>
> It is intuitively obvious to me that Sanskrit is an immensely
> psychologically rich language, and an extremely psychologically
> sophisticated tradition of literature. As C. G. Jung and C. A. F. Rhys
> Davids put it:
>
> "But what we have to show in the way of spiritual insight and
> psychological technique must seem, when compared with *yoga*, just as
> backward as Eastern astrology and medicine when compared with Western
> science". (C. G. Jung in his "psychological commentary" in "The Tibetan
> Book of Great Liberation" (W.Y. Evans-Wentz. Oxford University Press,
> London, 1954))
>
> "Even a superficial inspection of the Manual should yield great promise to
> anyone interested in the history of psychology. When in the year 1893 my
> attention was first drawn to it..., I was at once attracted by the amount
> of psychological material embedded in its pages". (C. A. F. Rhys Davids in
> the preface to her pioneering translation of the Dhammasaṅgaṇī, tr. "A
> Buddhist Manual of Psychological Ethics" (Pali Text Society, Oxford, 1900).
>
> But I struggle to find any well methodologically done study, that would
> quantitatively measure or assess that.
>
> I dimly remember the study that I read some 15 years ago by an Indian
> scholar by the last name Basu (or Vasu), that estimated that Sanskrit has
> about 30-40% more psychologically relevant terms/words, than classical
> languages (i.e. Greek and Latin), and 80% more than modern European
> languages.
>
> But all my attempts at finding that study failed. I would be very grateful
> if someone helped me to identify that study or suggested something recent
> and authoritative on the subject. I would be grateful for any comments as
> well.
>
> Kind regards,
> Gleb Sharygin
> PhD Candidate
> Institut fur Indologie und Tibetologie
> LMU München
>
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-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.


Director,  Inter-Gurukula-University Centre , Indic Academy
BoS, MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, Maharashtra
BoS, Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth, Veliyanad, Kerala
BoS Veda Vijnana Gurukula, Bengaluru.
Member, Advisory Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru
Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies,
FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,
Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.


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