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@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@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

_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.info
https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology

_______________________________________________
INDOLOGY mailing list
INDOLOGY@list.indology.info
https://list.indology.info/mailman/listinfo/indology