[INDOLOGY] Can this be true?

Fri Dec 16 04:12:12 UTC 2022

Dear Prof. Olivelle,

Thanks for your email. You are absolutely right. When I was writing my
thesis, I did think very carefully about whether I should use the terms
'left' and 'right' while talking about pūrva and para respectively.

One reason, of course, was, as you mention, that these terms only makes
sense in the written context. The other reason for my apprehension about
the accuracy / appropriateness of these terms was that, if Sanskrit were to
be written, like Persian, from right to left, then para would have meant
'left'.

So, why did I eventually decide to use the term 'right'? The thing is, I
had to make it absolutely clear that, according to me, paraṁ kāryam means
'the rule which is applicable to the part that is spoken / pronounced later
in time'. For example, the suffix is uttered / pronounced later than the
base. I realized I would find it difficult to use this long and somewhat
awkward phrase ('the rule which is applicable to the part that is spoken /
pronounced later in time') again and again in my thesis. And since I've
introduced so many new ideas in my thesis, I wanted to present things
diagrammatically wherever possible to help the reader understand what I am
trying to say. For all these reasons, I decided to translate para as right
hand side when translating not only (my interpretation of) 1.4.2
vipratiṣedhe paraṁ kāryam, but also in other rules such as 1.1.51 uraṇ
raparaḥ and 1.1.47 mid acho'ntyāt paraṇ.

I have not provided the above clarification in my thesis. In hindsight, I
think I definitely should have. In the future, when I write about my
doctoral research, I will most certainly do so. Thank you very much for
bringing this up.

In my recent interviews though, including the one with BBC radio yesterday,
I did explain that paraṁ kāryam actually means 'that rule which is
applicable to the part (to be more precise, operand) which is spoken /
pronounced later', and that I use the term right hand side purely because I
find it convenient to do so.

Best,
Rishi

---

Dr. Rishi Rajpopat
MSt (Oxford), PhD (Cambridge),
Former Gonda Fellow (Leiden)

On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 10:00 PM Patrick Olivelle via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> I wrote a response but apparently sent it only to Dominik. Here it is:
>
> Thank you, Dominik. I am no Pāṇinian, and it is good to know that this is
> a series work and advances scholarship. I was curious, however, about the
> use of ‘left’ and ‘right’ in the write-up on websites. These terms make
> sense only within a manuscript culture. Would the translations have to be
> “prior” and “posterior” or some terms to that effect, if we are dealing
> with orality?
>
> Patrick
>
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 15, 2022, at 12:04 PM, Dominik Wujastyk via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
> Madhav, Rajpopat discusses this point and explicitly defends his view in
> paras 1.6 and 1.7.
>
> On Thu, 15 Dec 2022 at 07:11, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> In contrast with Patañjali, many modern scholars have argued that
>> originally the rule "vipratiṣedhe paraṃ kāryam" was intended to apply only
>> within the ekasaṃjñādhikāra prescribed by the previous rule "ā kaḍārād ekā
>> saṃjñā." While Rishi Popat disagrees with Patañjali, he still seems to take
>> the rule as applying across the entire Aṣṭādhyāyī. Popat has an interesting
>> suggestion, but I am not yet convinced of his understanding of paratva. I
>> would like to hear from my Guru, Professor Cardona.
>>
>> Madhav M. Deshpande
>> Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
>> University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
>> Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
>> Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore,
>> India
>>
>> [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]
>>
>>
>> On Thu, Dec 15, 2022 at 3:42 AM Arash Zeini via INDOLOGY <
>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>
>>> Thanks for sharing this. A great example of close reading, if true. I
>>> was most intrigued by Prof. Vergiani's statement:
>>>
>>> "Mr Rajpopat said he had a ‘eureka moment’ after his supervisor at
>>> Cambridge, Professor of Sanskrit Vincenzo Vergiani, advised him: ‘If the
>>> solution is complicated, you are probably wrong.’"
>>>
>>> All best,
>>> Arash
>>>
>>> On Thu, 15 Dec 2022, 08:13 Kenneth Gregory Zysk via INDOLOGY, <
>>> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>>>
>>>>
>>>> I came across this in my morning news:
>>>> *https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/student-solves-ancient-puzzle-that-baffled-scholars-for-centuries/ar-AA15i1XE?cvid=6546b24b0bde472b850c8525d2afe813*
>>>> <https://nam12.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.msn.com%2Fen-us%2Fnews%2Fworld%2Fstudent-solves-ancient-puzzle-that-baffled-scholars-for-centuries%2Far-AA15i1XE%3Fcvid%3D6546b24b0bde472b850c8525d2afe813&data=05%7C01%7C%7C7cb97ebb82b842cf9aae08dadec6cf05%7C31d7e2a5bdd8414e9e97bea998ebdfe1%7C0%7C0%7C638067242714035017%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000%7C%7C%7C&sdata=9lIF6IRLg23B6G1Gi4d3U9zHm%2BQP9gdb%2BJIYw5vQGgk%3D&reserved=0>
>>>>
>>>> Best,
>>>> Ken
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
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