From sp2@cec1.wustl.edu Mon Mar 29 20:33:38 1993 Path: uunet!bounce-back From: sp2@cec1.wustl.edu (Sundara Pandian) Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.indian.telugu,alt.culture.kerala,alt.culture.karnataka,rec.music.indian.classical Subject: RFD: sci.lang.sanskrit Followup-To: news.groups Date: 26 Mar 1993 10:50:49 -0500 Organization: wustl.edu Lines: 53 Sender: tale@rodan.UU.NET Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net Message-ID: <1ov8opINN9jg@rodan.UU.NET> NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:3364 news.groups:68521 soc.culture.indian:122862 soc.culture.tamil:7465 soc.culture.indian.telugu:3242 alt.culture.kerala:1918 alt.culture.karnataka:738 rec.music.indian.classical:3023 RFD: sci.lang.sanskrit ---------------------- Status : Unmoderated Charter : To discuss Sanskrit language and literature Followup To: news.groups This is a request for discussion (RFD) about forming an unmoderated newsgroup `sci.lang.sanskrit' to discuss the Sanskrit language and literature. Sanskrit is one of the ancient languages of India. The earliest surviving form of Sanskrit, the Rig Veda, dates back to 1000 B.C. Sanskrit plays an important role for the Indo-European studies, due to its antiquity and its well-preserved structure. The oldest Indian linguistic text is the work `Nirkuta' by Yaska ( 5th century B.C.) which explains obsolete words from Vedas, and this text was followed by the popular Sanskrit grammar `Astadyayi' by Panini ( 4th century B.C. ). Sanskrit attained its classical form with this grammar. Sanskrit is very rich in its literature and some ancient works in Sanskrit are the four Vedas - Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva followed by the Upanishads which are many in number ( Mundaka, Isa, Katha, Chandogya, Taittiriya, Brhadaranyaka, etc.), the Bhagavad Gita ( the conversation between Krishna and Arjuna in the battlefield - a Sanskrit work which is very popular and has been translated into many languages around the world), the ancient epics `Ramayana' and `Mahabharata' etc. Other popular works in Sanskrit are the political treatise `Arthasastra', the dramas by Kalidasa (one of the greatest dramatists of India) such as `Abhijnanasakuntala', `Vikramorvasi', `Mrcchaakatika' etc., dramas by Visakhadatta, King Harsha, Bhavabhuti, and other famous works like `Srimad Bhagavatham', `Siva Purana', `Vishnu Purana', `Brahma Sutras', etc. Because of the high volume in the mainstream Indian newsgroup `soc.culture.indian', it is felt by many that a seperate newsgroup is formed for Sanskrit discussion. As the proposed newsgroup is for discussions on the Sanskrit language and literature, I think that the name `sci.lang.sanskrit' is very appropriate and fitting the charter of the group proposed. How to respond or take part in the discussion ? ------------------------------------------------ It is easy. Use the command `g news.groups' to go to the newsgroup `news.groups' and post your discussion items there. Please note that discussions elsewhere are not official. Make sure that your posting includes the newsgroup title `sci.lang.sanskrit' in the subject line. Yours sincerely, Sundara Pandian [sp2@cec1.wustl.edu] From vidynath@math.ohio-state.edu Fri Nov 11 08:59:23 1994 Path: uunet!bounce-back From: vidynath@math.ohio-state.edu (Vidhyanath Rao) Newsgroups: news.announce.newgroups,news.groups,rec.music.indian.classical,soc.culture.bengali,soc.culture.punjab,soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.indian,soc.culture.indian.telugu,soc.culture.tamil Subject: RFD: sci.lang.sanskrit Followup-To: news.groups Date: 10 Nov 1994 23:03:22 -0500 Organization: Me? Organized? Lines: 91 Sender: tale@uunet.uu.net Approved: tale@uunet.uu.net Message-ID: <39uqea$aqc@rodan.UU.NET> NNTP-Posting-Host: rodan.uu.net Xref: uunet news.announce.newgroups:5929 news.groups:123017 rec.music.indian.classical:9323 soc.culture.bengali:559 soc.culture.punjab:2126 soc.culture.indian:208418 soc.culture.indian.telugu:16247 soc.culture.tamil:30086 This is a request for discussion of a proposed new USENET group for discussion of Sanskrit language and related topics. Group name: sci.lang.sanskrit Status: ?? (to be decided) Distribution: Worldwide Content: Discussion of the Sanskrit language. Proposed by: Vidhyanath Rao (nathrao+@osu.edu) This is being cross-posted to the following groups: news.announce.newgroups news.groups rec.music.indian.classical soc.culture.bengali soc.culture.punjab soc.culture.indian soc.culture.indian.telugu soc.culture.tamil RATIONALE: Periodically, interest in a group to discuss the Sanskrit language has been expressed. Questions concerning Sanskrit have been posted in various newsgroups. It is widely felt that due to its low signal-to-noise ratio, soc.culture.indian is inadequate for this purpose. So it is felt that a seperate newsgroup is suitable. (A proposed charter was posted on some of the newsgroups listed above. There were a reasonable number of replies indicating interest, and no opposing viewpoints were expressed.) In order to avoid having the voting take place entirely during the Christmas break, it is suggested that the discussion period should not go beyond Dec. 1. (If this does not work out, I will restart in mid-Jan 95). Voting will last for the next three weeks. CHARTER: This group is being created for discussions about the Sanskrit language, and its literature. The name Sanskrit is meant to encompass Vedic dialects, Classical Sanskrit, "Epigraphical Sanskrit", "Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit", Pali and Prakrits that are used in Sanskrit dramas. Appropriate subjects for discussion in this group are: (1) Grammar, history, etymology etc. Discussions of other languages are appropriate as long as they are related to the history or etymology of Sanskrit. (2) Teaching and learning Sanskrit, including requests and information on how to obtain relevant materials, evaluation of such materials, and requests for translations, quotations or sources of quotations. (3) Sanskrit literature qua literature. While those interested in religion or social and political history of India are welcome to use the resources of the readers of this group for locating relevant texts and translations, or for obtaining precise translations, discussions of these topics themselves should be posted to the relevant groups (soc.religion.eastern for religion, rec.music.classical.indian for music, soc.culture.indian for history, ? for art/architecture.) The proposed name of the group is sci.lang.sanskrit. ----------------------- I have deliberately left the question of moderation open. The only volunteer for the position of moderator was Ajay Shah (ajay@mercury.aichem.arizona.edu). He indicated that he knows a few others who would be willing to be one of the moderators. [I do not wish to be a moderator because I am unable to devote enough time to do a good job. But I will be one (of two or three) if that is required to bring this group into being.] In a handful of replies, rec.music.indian.classical was mentioned as an example both for and against moderation. Those use trn or its equivalent and know how to use kill files would find r.m.i.c not too busy. But once in a while eruptions occur there. We need to balance the potential number of such incidents against the inherent slowness of a moderated group. Another suggestion was to have a mailing list. I personally dislike this because I prefer to read the messages in thread order. So a moderated newsgroup is preferable to a mailing list. Most replies I got did not indicate any preference for or against moderation. It would be useful to have a straw vote on this point before we have a call for vote. One problem that I did not realize till now is the timing. If we take the full 30 days for discussion, the voting will take place during the Xmas break. It might be better to avoid this. I suggest that, if for whatever reason, the call for votes cannot be made before Dec. 1, then we wait till Jan. 15. -- Vidhyanath Rao It is the man, not the method, that solves nathrao+@osu.edu the problem. - Henri Poincare (614)-366-9341 [as paraphrased by E. T. Bell]