Scholars living in India three thousand years ago were brighter than us in many ways. Possibly they were not conditioned by various "findings", but were free to deduce inference through reasoning. Certainly they could make bold speculations. While we try to construct the universe from the earth-based observations and empiricisms, their line of work was to create the earth from a pre-existing universe. They threw away any special role that human beings or the planet earth could claim and hypothesized that all events were only replications of previous events. In their thesis, the universe was infinite and its origin would not be knowable through the earth-based observations.
Though the inference was negative, it had profound cosmological significance. Just like any birth and death, the universe had its births and deaths; the current universe being just another one in a long series. Because of this, any time measurement from an arbitrary reference point would be meaningless. Space also loses its meaning and everything becomes relative. Sometimes the infinite is cited by large numbers through novice calculations. Though difficult to conceive, the concept has logic in it. Why should the universe be bounded? There is always more "unseen" than "seen". Feeling important locally is just artificial and trivial.
Such logic can bring complacency to the smaller minds. Shrewd individuals take the opportunity to create stories in order to dominate the less savvy. Speculative mythology can be promoted as history, there would not be a proof or a disproof. Such domination did happen. It led to Buddha's declaration that the "current moment matters" and that every moment was "different". Buddha brought the Indian philosophical system to the earthly grounds. The western philosophers are totally bound to the earth. Some of the western writers have serious difficulty in translating old Indian texts into meaningful sentences. They compromise the infinite to finite. "Infinite" is purely an eastern concept.
There is a joke through this in the Indian style of living. Because of the earlier speculation, Indians are taught that the process is more important than the goal; the welfare of the group is more important than the individual success. It might not be an error if anyone was left behind while the process could benefit others. Though not justifiable in the mechanics of the current society, disregard to the western concept of time of hours and minutes is a typical Indian trait. An Indian might trump the clock regulation by using an "auspicious" astronomical event during the period.
The rationale above told me not to be upset if the bus left without me! Through my own errors, I had gotten a bout of cough and I was sneezing. I tried various saline mouth washes to clear throat and took a bit rest. I was scheduled to meet Dr. D. P. Pattanayak, the linguist. Then together we had to go to a students meeting at Utkal University. I requested my sister to help me with the transport. I got in touch with various groups.
Dr. D. P. Pattanayak is a brilliant linguist. Currently in his late '80s, he had been championing the cause of Oriya language in order to establish its historical antiquity and help create a complete grammar. A year ago, he succeeded in convincing the national language panel to honor Oriya as a "Classical Language", a classification that helps to seek Government support and funding. Because of lack of leadership, Orissa as an area has suffered, the language has suffered the maximum. The "leaders" had been out for convenience and lacked the necessary vision to lead a people. Dr. Pattanayak was doing his bit what a scholar could do.
To find a house in an Indian town is like to look for a herb in the Himalayas. It took us more than an hour to negotiate through multiple "Fourth Avenues." One needed much larger references than the label on a street. Finally we were guided step by step by using the telephone. Dr. Pattanayak was already out and was anxious. He is a loving and caring person, looked healthy for his age. He escorted me to his study which he also used as a bedroom. Piles of books were on the bed that waited for his review. He offered me a chair.
Dr. Pattanyak had been a strong proponent of the native language training versus the current trend of homogenization of imposing a language. He subscribed to the thinking that the human baby was capable of accepting many languages and can be proficient in them. The language training had to happen early in life and should be sustained. There had been research findings that the native language training helped the thinking process of the individual in fostering creativity and originality.
We had lunch and then we proceeded to our appointment with the students in the Sanskrit Department at the University. Utkal University was established in 1944, with the new buildingsbuilt in the late '50s. Ravenshaw College where I studied was affiliated with the University until it became an autonomous unit about ten years ago. I loved the new University library when it opened in the '60s and spent many hours in searching and studying in the Library.
We reached the Sanskrit Department offices which were in the ground floor of a multi-storey building. We were greeted by Professor Radhamadhab Dash, a man of immense knowledge and humility. I had met him in Bangkok. Classical Sanskrit had a home in Orissa since 7th century AD. Its older cousin the Vedic Sanskrit had much to do with the native languages. Their interaction has not been studied with rigor. A massive literature has developed in the west suggesting the "import" of the vedic Sanskrit to India. Much of this would need revision, but we do not have enough scholars to conduct the multi-disciplinary research.
We were led to a Seminar Hall, where about fifty students had assembled. About ninety percent of the students were girls. Boys go for employment after a graduate degree, the girls come to post-graduate studies. It is the outcome of the struggling economy. My goal was to encourage the students to get into the interdisciplinary research in order to probe the nuances of speech, syntax, grammar and prosody. The scientific and neurological basis of the language needed to be discovered and I had thought scholars in India could make significant contributions to the research. I wanted to check the students' point of view.
The Chair of the Department Prof Subhas Das introduced us. Dr. Pattanayak spoke about the importance of the spoken language and the necessity of research on Phonetics. I spoke about my project of Story of Sanskrit and my neurological work on speech and evolution of language. In order to hear from the students, I requested that each student may articulate his or her line of studies and his or her view to the research in Sanskrit.
I was impressed with the breadth of topics pursued at the Department. India's Sanskrit literature is vast and overwhelming. Any topic can engage a person for a life time. Most students were interested in the philosophical writings, possibly influenced by the Faculty. To map the Indian cosmological analysis to the modern scientific findings would be an interesting task. Many students were interested in Grammar and Paninian studies. Panini, the grammarian of the 5th century BC, compiled the basis of rules for human expression. while other languages have borrowed from it, nobody has examined the science behind his analysis.
Electric supply in the monsoon months could be flaky and we had a power outage. The students continued with candles and earth lamps. The darkness helped shine up the deity which was placed in the corner of the seminar Hall. While the students had offered prayers to the deity in the beginning, the power of the nature on the lives of humans was not felt until the lights went out.
Through pure coincidence, I happened to meet an old aunt of mine who was widowed at an young age. My uncle taught at the University. After his death in his '40s, the University was kind to support the widow with a job. She looked happy with her work. We were delighted to meet eachother.
