[INDOLOGY] Information about gaviṣṭi

Antonia Ruppel antonia.ruppel at gmail.com
Wed Dec 28 19:45:44 UTC 2022


Dear Bob, dear Stefan,

My favourite moment in that regard was when Sheldon tried to find a
girlfriend to replace Amy, and one task in the scavenger hunt any
interested candidates had to embark on included a text to be translated
from Klingon into 'ancient Sanskrit'. (09.08 'The Mystery Date Observation')

That our field is notoriously difficult is known even to the Gilmore Girls:
when Lane tries to find a way to meet her beau without her extremely strict
mother noticing, she sums up her mission as ' So I have to figure out a way
to rehearse in Hartford two or three nights a week … And maybe at the same
time I’ll attempt to master quantum physics, and throw Sanskrit in there,
too.' (3 .4 “One’s Got Class and the Other One Dyes” )

Apologies, Herman, for a reply that does not answer your question. I would
certainly also be interested in any scholarly studies on this fascinating
term.

All my best,
    Antonia

On Wed, 28 Dec 2022 at 20:10, Robert P. GOLDMAN via INDOLOGY <
indology at list.indology.info> wrote:

> Dear Stefan,
>
> Since  you brought up my old posting about Arrival, one  might also note,
> with regard to references to Sanskrit in American popular media the
> following:
>
> Sanskrit’s reputation for obscurity and difficulty has also been
> represented in popular TV shows. For example, in an episode of CBS’ hit
> sitcom  *The Big Bang Theory*, the characters Sheldon and Amy, after
> mounting a frantic and misdirected search for the purpose and meaning of an
> obscure wedding gift, a crystal wand, they have received from another
> couple, respond with a thank you card which appears to be written in
> Devanagari. Amy tells their friends that the card is in code, in fact in
> Sanskrit, “but not the Sanskrit you are thinking of.”
>
> *The Big Bang Theory,* “The Wedding Gift Wormhole.” Season 12, Episode 2.
> First aired September 27, 2018.
>
>
> With regard to the legendary difficulty of learning the language, a friend
> once, some years back, sent me a cartoon from a Latin American publication.
> It shows the classic firing squad scenario in which the officer in charge
> of the firing detail is in conversation with the condemned man.  As I
> remember, the latter is saying “Mi último deseo es apprender sánscrito."
>
> Śubhanavavarṣo vidvadbhyaḥ.
>
> Bob Goldman
> Dr. R. P.  Goldman
> William and Catherine Magistretti Distinguished Professor Emeritus and
> Distinguished Professor in the Graduate School
> Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies MC # 2540
> The University of California at Berkeley
> Berkeley, CA 94720-2540
>
>
>
>
>
> On Dec 28, 2022, at 9:04 AM, Stefan Baums <baums at lmu.de> wrote:
>
> I recall that there was discussion here on INDOLOGY of this term
> at the time that the film Arrival came out (in which the term
> plays an important role). I'm sorry that the search function of
> the INDOLOGY archives is still not working as well as it should,
> but perhaps someone with a collection of past emails can fetch
> the discussion.
>
>
> Bob Goldman pointed it out here:
>
>   https://list.indology.info/pipermail/indology/2020-April/052158.html
>
> All best,
> Stefan
>
> --
> Stefan Baums, Ph.D.
> Institut für Indologie und Tibetologie
> Ludwig‐Maximilians‐Universität München
>
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