Why does Sanskrit have words with many meanings Why are the concepts open to varying interpretations?

From Rajat

referring to your answer regarding words,concepts and things, why the languages (specifically sanskrit) is so confusing. so many words are there in the amarakosh which indicates various meanings that too totally out of context like saindhava– salt/horse. is this a decrepency in the devanagiri script or does it has some higher relevance. no doubt why there are so many interpretations of vedic scriptures.

Transcript

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This is in reference to your answers Regarding words, concepts and things Which is mentioned in Bhagavad Gita overview Mumbai series Why are the languages Especially Sanskrit So confusing So many words are there in Amarakosha Which indicate various meanings That too totally out of context Like Saindhava Salt or horse Is this a discrepancy In the Devanagari script Or does it have some higher relevance No doubt this is the reason why there are so many Interpretations of Vedic scriptures Answer This is not necessarily A deficiency of Sanskrit language It is an inherent feature of All languages In Even in English or other vernacular That we are talking Words have many meanings And Words Always have to be understood In context For example If I use the word That’s beautiful That’s beautiful Could be a sense of appreciation But on the other hand That’s beautiful That could be a sarcastic expression So One has to see the context What comes before and what comes afterwards Only then one will understand Which meaning is intended in a particular context So that way What is important Is that We always See words as Functional Units that Need to operate in a particular Context without that We really can’t understand them properly We live in an age Of visual images And visual images Are usually Seen out of context If I see a photograph I don’t need to know what Happened before or after Of course if I know I might get a clearer understanding But photos don’t need any Historical context For example if I see A picture of a Hurricane Sandy in America Ok this indicates a hurricane But on the other hand If I just Hear a statement Hurricane Sandy A word A set of words it doesn’t really convey much So on one side We could say this is a Deficiency of words and the advantage Of pictures But in general Pictures Attract attention they don’t convey understanding Words are meant to convey Understanding and understanding follows Only when there is a context When there is a background and a foreground There is a past and a future There is a context required So the main problem why we find Sanskrit so ambiguous is That We are trying to understand A language Without either trying to Speak it or trying to learn it In terms of how It was spoken So for Most Indians today Sanskrit Is the language of official Piety It is just official In this language which very few people Speak about And because we have no Experience of how the language Is spoken that is why The multi dialects of its words Confuses us And this is true for all Ancient languages The Biblical Scriptures where it is written in Hebrew And because Hebrew is not a Largely not a living language In Israel it has been revived to some extent But because it is Largely not a living language There have been so many Disputes over what specific words Mean within these books Of the Old Testament especially Even The What to speak of Something which is written in a different language Shakespeare wrote In English Not so long ago Not even a millennia ago less than that But even his English is ambiguous And There are scholars of Literature, scholars of Shakespeare Who spend Lifetimes debating over what One particular sentence of Shakespeare means So It’s not Something unusual Not something inherent in Sanskrit Because of which There is ambiguity Especially when we are speaking When we are trying to understand What is written in a language Without looking at its context And without trying to understand How that language is Used in a normal Conversational or a writing sense Then naturally Its words will appear Having Widely different meanings As I said Even if the English is old fashioned and not of the kind that we Use today, even that English will appear ambiguous What to speak of a language That is different and we don’t use much at all Nowadays So beyond this Our current problem That we are Studying languages That we don’t use There is also the deeper issue That Philosophy Is never easy to understand And as I mentioned in that class That there are External objects There are internal Concepts And there are spoken words That act as links between the objects And the concepts So Among these To establish A link Is always complex And the whole field of philosophy Is meant To enable us To comprehend reality Deeper So It is unreasonable For us To expect That The deepest truths Of creation Will be in all their depth Simple Science Is just Studying Gross matter And if we go deep into Science, if we go deep into Quantum physics, it’s so complex And that’s not Even gone beyond gross matter It’s subtle matter And beyond subtle matter is spirit And deeper More profound, more Lofty and greater And greater than spirit is the Supreme spirit Krishna So Just as we Understand that when the Initially when I start studying gravity Okay, there is one equation I use, f is equal to g m1 m2 upon r square So We use that equation And we get the results, and we feel that Oh, I have understood gravity But once we start going deeper Into physics, then we understand that actually Gravity was a concept which Newton thought about And then Einstein Changed that concept We felt that that concept itself has no Intrinsic basis And he said there is no such force Called gravity, it is simply the effect Of the Curving of space-time Whenever an object with mass is present In that, and then we realize Oh, it’s so complex So Just as in physics For a working or a functional Purpose Initially the concepts are Simple to understand But as we Go deeper into those concepts We will realize that there is Much more complexity in those concepts Similarly, initially When we study Srila Prabhupada’s books He is giving us functional principles Which Are always true But when Srila Prabhupada Makes, gives them Simply to us We should not mistake Their simplicity To be an indication that there is no Complexity involved Srila Prabhupada had the capacity to make Profound truths Simple But at the same time If you want to understand those Simple truths deeply They are profound And we need to understand them In that way In all their profundity So if that’s what We want to do, then we have to be prepared For intellectual exercise And it is not necessary for Everyone to do that, just as it is not necessary For everyone to understand The subtle complexities Of physics Most people, far more people Become engineers than they become scientists And even among Scientists, most people become Do research About subjects that are more related To the applied science than with As they say, pure sciences Delving into concepts, because that is not easy Similarly Even within Krishna consciousness Most people Will be Interested in just knowing What I should practice and understanding The broad principles behind what I am practicing But if I want to go deeper And understand the principles Then I have to be prepared to work hard To recognize that There is so much Profundity in it that it cannot be easily Understood Another example could be medicine That if I just want to take medicine and get Cured, which is what Shila Prabhupada Is offering us in his books Then fine, just take this medicine And get cured But if I want to become a doctor And I don’t want to become a doctor who deals with Standard diseases, but I want to become a doctor Who wants to understand How the process of medicine works And I want to understand How certain diseases which are not cured Could be cured Or how certain cures actually work Then once I Go deep into the subject At an initial level Say I got malaria, take chloroquine That’s simple But then I want to understand What causes malaria and what Does chloroquine do by which Malaria is countered, it’s much deeper So the principle remains True that chloroquine cures malaria But then If I want to go into the details of how things Happen, it’s complex And then I want to find out If a patient has a particular medical background And if the chloroquine Has come from a certain environment How will it interact Then it will become much more complex So the complexity does not Counter The simplicity At another level But the complexity Indicates that there are so many variables Involved in it So we shouldn’t blame Sanskrit or the Vedic scriptures We should understand that Going deep into any subject Is itself Complex And we shouldn’t be lulled into a false sense Of complacency by seeing the Apparent simplicity of Shila Prabhupada’s books There is so much profundity In the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy And we should be ready to study that If that’s what we want to do But if we don’t want to study that Just like a patient doesn’t want to know What all are the technical details About why a particular medicine is prescribed And how a particular medicine works That is also fine And we can still get cured We can still go back home, back to Godhead So it’s not that Every one of us has to Go into complex philosophical details To understand To understand The basic principles of Krishna Consciousness Get purified and go back home, back to Godhead But certainly we shouldn’t Resent Or object To the complexity Of the language and the concepts That are given in the language Because It would be demeaning To the glory of Krishna If The concepts involving His creation were more complex Than the concepts involving Him Nobody can deny that Quantum physics is complex And quantum physics is just one aspect Of Krishna’s material energy So if that is complex And Krishna is not complex Then that means The intellectual Faculty Gets Greater facility for exercise In studying Krishna’s Energy than it gets in studying Krishna That would mean That Krishna Is less intellectually satisfying to study Than is His creation And all intellectuals would be attracted To study His creation and not Krishna It is worthy of Krishna’s Supreme position That Studying about Him Is supremely challenging Intellectually And ultimately supremely fulfilling Intellectually Now of course Intellectual fulfillment is not devotional fulfillment And somebody Can become devotionally fulfilled Without going through the intellectual challenges Of studying Krishna conscious philosophy In all its depths But to object to the fact That Krishna conscious is intellectually challenging Is Indicative Of A lack of appreciation Of the all round glory of Krishna Krishna is supremely Fulfilling In all ways Including intellectual ways So The fact that the concepts around Krishna Are complex Is indicative of the ultimate glory Of Krishna As the All attractive person All attractive person means He can attract intellectuals And how can he attract intellectuals Because he has the virtue of knowledge He has the opulence of knowledge Knowledge means Not just that he knows everything But to know Him Is so Oceaniac And so fulfilling That’s what we are talking about over here In the complexity of the concepts around Krishna Now what about the multiple interpretations That come up As I said Multiple interpretations are there Even in the field of science For example Within the point Within quantum physics There is the concept of the Collapse of the quantum wave And what the collapse of the quantum wave Means There are multiple interpretations The Copenhagen interpretation States that Actually we need Observer to complete The Process of quantum physics to actually be able to observe Some others say no we don’t need There is a multiple worlds interpretation Which says that There are many different worlds also Now I don’t want to go into the details of quantum physics You can hear the talk on Yeah You can hear the talk On quantum physics and spirituality That is there on this site If you are interested But The main point is that Any complex concept will have multiple Interpretations And we need to understand Properly if we want to Analyze all the Interpretations then we have to be ready for the Intellectual work If we are not ready for the intellectual work then we have to Go to authorize teachers and get The explanation from them That is the basic way in which we will understand So just as when we go to university We understand quantum physics in a particular way But if you want to do PhD in quantum physics Then that will require us to Study it much deeper Similarly if you want to get A basic understanding of Krishna Goswami’s philosophy Srila Prabhupada’s books give that to us But if you want to go deep Then we have to be ready to Work hard intellectually So Intellectual hard work Is not necessary for everyone But certainly one should not object To the principle that intellectual hard work Is required for Understanding the glory of Krishna At an intellectual level And that is the Demonstration of the all attractiveness Of Krishna even in the Field of intellectuality