10-23-2004, 10:59 PM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->A Dharshana is literally a VIEW Point<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Vanakkam, Sunder avargal,
Just a minor quibble. A darshana (in my view , no pun intended) is more than a viewpoint. The closest word i have found that captures the scope of the word 'darshana' is Weltanschuung (world view ) in german, which as most of you are aware i use extensively as being more appropriate than the word philosophy. Philsoophy has an air of abstraction surrounding it implying it is too far removed from the eixgencies of daily living, whereas a Darshana is a vital component of the stance of a person (whether he thinks he has a darshana or not). Like many other words in samskrtam Darshana is a word pregnant with meaning depending on context. The word Vision in English again does not capture the essence of Darshana, and is more akin to Darshan.
not being awell versed in S i could of course be wrong and you can correct me accordingly.
I would also like to reiterate on the issue of Free will, on which i had posted the dialog earlier. The reason why i brought it up is the following (to quote myself)
"A false paradigm often attributed to the Sanaatanik is the notion of the inevitability of fate and destiny. This is astonishing and gargantuan in the scale of the misrepresentation. The Dharma teaches just the opposite, namely that the individual is endowed with free will and the capability and the responsibility to exercise such a free will and make appropriate choices. The choices one makes are governed by the Dharma, and the ethical value system expounded in another section on this page, without doubt, but they are available and it is false to contend that an individual is rendered helpless and paralyzed by the forces of destiny."
The dialog which i posted above expound on this in greater detail.
Vanakkam, Sunder avargal,
Just a minor quibble. A darshana (in my view , no pun intended) is more than a viewpoint. The closest word i have found that captures the scope of the word 'darshana' is Weltanschuung (world view ) in german, which as most of you are aware i use extensively as being more appropriate than the word philosophy. Philsoophy has an air of abstraction surrounding it implying it is too far removed from the eixgencies of daily living, whereas a Darshana is a vital component of the stance of a person (whether he thinks he has a darshana or not). Like many other words in samskrtam Darshana is a word pregnant with meaning depending on context. The word Vision in English again does not capture the essence of Darshana, and is more akin to Darshan.
not being awell versed in S i could of course be wrong and you can correct me accordingly.
I would also like to reiterate on the issue of Free will, on which i had posted the dialog earlier. The reason why i brought it up is the following (to quote myself)
"A false paradigm often attributed to the Sanaatanik is the notion of the inevitability of fate and destiny. This is astonishing and gargantuan in the scale of the misrepresentation. The Dharma teaches just the opposite, namely that the individual is endowed with free will and the capability and the responsibility to exercise such a free will and make appropriate choices. The choices one makes are governed by the Dharma, and the ethical value system expounded in another section on this page, without doubt, but they are available and it is false to contend that an individual is rendered helpless and paralyzed by the forces of destiny."
The dialog which i posted above expound on this in greater detail.