[snambi]

Not true. Unless you learn Sanskrit, you cannot understand that the language can communicate multi[le dimensions of meanings. Ofcourse, it is not needed rudimentary things like physics, chemistry etc.

Ofcourse, Sanskrit can be used like English too. That is like using a super computer as a calculator.

[fooker]

That’s exactly the point being made.

Even if you try to describe precise and scientific facts in Sanskrit, the nature of the language would enable multiple interpretations of it.

That is amazing if you want to have intellectual debates, but useless if you are trying to follow directions to build ..say.. a bridge.

[akprasad]

> Even if you try to describe precise and scientific facts in Sanskrit, the nature of the language would enable multiple interpretations of it.

Sanskrit's high polysemy is restricted to a rather bounded set of words (see the नानार्थवर्गः in the अमरकोशः).

Stepping back, this claim and the others you have made in this thread are strange and at odds with my experience reading and speaking and teaching the language, specfically the claims that:

- "Sanskrit semantics is intentionally loosely defined"

- the Rigveda contains "words and idioms made up when the situation called for it" in some way that is different from the ordinary suffixation that is a standard part of Sanskrit grammar;

- the ISKCON interpretation of the Gita is "technically as valid as the literal interpretation" in some manner that is unique to Sanskrit.

I consider these claims extraordinary and request evidence that any of these problems are (a) real and (b) unique to Sanskrit.

> That is amazing if you want to have intellectual debates, but useless if you are trying to follow directions to build ..say.. a bridge.

We have the various Shilpa Shastras [1] as a clear example of this kind of instruction, so I eagerly await a concrete example of what you mean.

[1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shilpa_Shastras

[fooker]

> "Sanskrit semantics is intentionally loosely defined".

I'm not sure what evidence for this would satisfy you but here is an article with examples. https://yogainternational.com/article/view/the-subtleties-of...

> in some way that is different from the ordinary suffixation

This is fairly well studied, rigvedic sanskrit differs from modern sanskrit in the sense that vedic sanskrit is similar to all other languages.

https://www.remembersanskrit.com/articles/vedic-vs-classical

Panini codified Sanskrit because he felt the language was evolving too rapidly and knowledge and wisdom might be getting lost in translation.

> the ISKCON interpretation [...] unique to Sanskrit.

I concede that this problem is not unique to Sanskrit. It is unique to classical (and not vedic) Sanskrit literature though. My hypothesis is that it is a natural side effect of codifying a language strictly and trying to prevent change. Other languages can (and has been) used to produce literature where interpretation is the key to understanding, but for Sanskrit it is the vast majority of the available literature, not a few oddballs here and there.

> We have the various Shilpa Shastras

Do you notice that these are heavily focused on art and crafts? And the number of these is astonishingly low for a ~7000 year old civilization.

[akprasad]

> here is an article with examples

It's not surprising that a spiritual community highly invested in a fixed text can find new interpretations for it, see all of Christiany for illustration or [1] for a specific Christian example. The "kshetre kshetre dharma kuru" example, though, is especially naive -- sure, I guess you can make a new meaning if you totally ignore Sanskrit grammar. The author is clearly quite early on in their study.

> rigvedic sanskrit differs from modern sanskrit in the sense that vedic sanskrit is similar to all other languages

Sure, I agree that Vedic and Classical Sanskrit differ, largely in the same way that Homeric and Attic Greek differ. But this isn't the claim you made -- you said that the Rigveda contains "words and idioms made up when the situation called for it," which I reject.

> Panini codified Sanskrit because he felt the language was evolving too rapidly

Panini's intent is an open question, though your view is a reasonable one. The Ashtadhyayi is more descriptive than people give it credit for: it generally focuses on the भाषा, i.e. the contemporaneous usage of experts (शिष्ट), with a lesser emphasis on Vedic usage, and it further takes extensive notice of regional variation and different preferences among other grammarians of the time. Another possible interpretation is that just as the other parts of the ritual had been fully worked over and polished, it was thought that the language itself should be perfected (संस्कृत).

> for Sanskrit it is the vast majority of the available literature, not a few oddballs here and there.

This is an interesting observation that has other explanations -- see below.

> It is unique to classical (and not vedic) Sanskrit literature though

Again, I see no support for this.

> And the number of these is astonishingly low

Sure, I agree with this. But this isn't the claim you made -- you said that the nature of Sanskrit makes it useless for tasks like describing how to build a bridge, which I reject.

~~~

I'd like to conclude with two thoughts.

First, you are raising interesting questions. Why is it the case that so much of Sanskrit literature is commentary? Why does the number of Shilpa Shastras seem relatively low? Why does Sanskrit literature tend to have a culture of reinterpretation?

Assuming these observations are true, I believe that the answer is some combination of: India's oral memory culture and a concomitant deference to authority and preference for the spoken over the written; consequently, a preference for text forms that can be easily memorized (sutra and verse), which can be harder to parse and change; material constraints on manuscript preservation in the hot and humid Indian climate; strong deference to realized spiritual teachers, and by extension to all teachers; and extensive competition with local languages for intellectual territory.

But that's an armchair answer that needs further investigation. Note that none of these points have anything to do with Sanskrit as a language.

Second, Sanskrit and the tradition are far more exacting and precise than you give them credit for, and I encourage you to look into the matter more deeply before making extremely strong statements about it that have little basis in fact.

I have been reading and teaching Sanskrit for a long time, and in that time I have learned that while Sanskrit is special in many ways, it is still a language that can be used and learned like any other. Even so, I have seen extraordinary claims, both positive and negative, from people confidently asserting what Sanskrit is like without looking deeply into the matter. And while they are well-intentioned, they are -- to use your phrase -- "modern keyboard warriors who have not studied Sanskrit literature."

[1]: https://www.amazon.com/Reinterpreting-New-Testament-Dont-Mea...

[fooker]

My intention was not to be negative, I apologize.

I have studied Sanskrit literature much more (15+ years with two mentors and on my own) than I have studied Sanskrit formally (3 years in high school). I love Sanskrit literature but not the modern culture of putting Sanskrit on a pedestal.

There is a reason the language has vanished from use and to a large extent not been used for passing on practical knowledge. These are potentially fixable issues, but to fix an issue a community should be able to admit that there exist issues.