Post 262
You're marvelously patient in trying to instruct Benjamin.
Re: original Sanskrit names
I have no problems with Hindi and speakers of other North Indian languages referring to the Mahabharat and Ramayan (Bhim annoys me a little, as it has a sudden end). It is perfectly right one should, when speaking in one's own language like Hindi. It is similar to how Tamil people speak of the Mahabharata<b>m</b> and Ramayana<b>m</b> and Telugu introduces a lot of its pleasant sounding 'u' sounds to many Sanskrit words (Kannada keeps the Sanskrit pronunciations perfectly intact). We are used to hearing these words in our own local languages, and that is good.
However, Ben imagines that the original Sanskrit is the same as his own mother tongue. He is the first I've ever come across to make this gross error, I can't imagine any other Indian (Hindu) thinking the Sanskrit originals are without the ending 'a'. I know the final 'a' is the short 'a', but nevertheless it cannot be ignored. The 'a' is said to be the primal vowel in Hinduism and is accorded an important place, so it's of significance and it makes Sanskrit a very beautiful sounding language.
You're marvelously patient in trying to instruct Benjamin.
Re: original Sanskrit names
I have no problems with Hindi and speakers of other North Indian languages referring to the Mahabharat and Ramayan (Bhim annoys me a little, as it has a sudden end). It is perfectly right one should, when speaking in one's own language like Hindi. It is similar to how Tamil people speak of the Mahabharata<b>m</b> and Ramayana<b>m</b> and Telugu introduces a lot of its pleasant sounding 'u' sounds to many Sanskrit words (Kannada keeps the Sanskrit pronunciations perfectly intact). We are used to hearing these words in our own local languages, and that is good.
However, Ben imagines that the original Sanskrit is the same as his own mother tongue. He is the first I've ever come across to make this gross error, I can't imagine any other Indian (Hindu) thinking the Sanskrit originals are without the ending 'a'. I know the final 'a' is the short 'a', but nevertheless it cannot be ignored. The 'a' is said to be the primal vowel in Hinduism and is accorded an important place, so it's of significance and it makes Sanskrit a very beautiful sounding language.