A History of Sanskrit LiteratureMacdonell, Arthur Anthony
History
A History of Sanskrit Literature
Macdonell, Arthur Anthony
Sanskrit literature -- History and criticism
By thus ascertaining the meaning of single words, the foundations
of the scientific interpretation of the Vedas were laid in the
great Sanskrit Dictionary, in seven volumes, published by Roth in
collaboration with Böhtlingk between 1852 and 1875. Roth's method is
now accepted by every scientific student of the Veda. Native tradition
is, however, being more fully exploited than was done by Roth himself,
for it is now more clearly recognised that no aid to be derived from
extant Indian scholarship ought to be neglected. Under the guidance of
such principles the progress already made in solving many important
problems presented by Vedic literature has been surprising, when we
consider the shortness of the time and the fewness of the labourers, of
whom only two or three have been natives of this country. As a general
result, the historical sense has succeeded in grasping the spirit of
Indian antiquity, long obscured by native misinterpretation. Much, of
course, still remains to be done by future generations of scholars,
especially in detailed and minute investigation. This could not be
otherwise when we remember that Vedic research is only the product
of the last fifty years, and that, notwithstanding the labours of
very numerous Hebrew scholars during several centuries, there are,
in the Psalms and the Prophetic Books of the Old Testament, still many
passages which remain obscure and disputed. There can be no doubt that
many problems at present insoluble will in the end be solved by that
modern scholarship which has already deciphered the cuneiform writings
of Persia as well as the rock inscriptions of India, and has discovered
the languages which lay hidden under these mysterious characters.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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