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Re: I should have read the thread before bothering to give my skimpy response! Danae al'Thor Send a noteboard - 09/07/2010 08:26:35 AM
I'm not going to argue about how it's pronounced now, but the Sanskrit "ta" (?) is certainly not to be pronounced that way in traditional pronunciation. It would have to be ? or ? to be rendered as "tha" (or pronounced that way, for that matter). How modern Indian languages pronounce those graphemes is completely beyond me, however.

? would be t with your tongue touching your teeth, ? would be th with your tongue touching your teeth. Mahabharath in Devnagri would be ???????. "T" as in table, is not how you pronounce the final ?. It sounds like "th" in that.

Whether modern Devnagri to English transliteration uses some other convention in the West or not, I've always seen the epic spelled Mahabharatha in India, and that's what I'm going to stick to.

As for the futility of war, the Mahabharata definitely shows the negative consequences of war, but the consequences of not having gone to war would have been worse. The Pandavas' enemies would triumph and destroy them anyway.

But that is, repeatedly, not shown to be the true reason for war. Duryodhana, while certainly less capable than the Pandavas, is shown to be a generous ruler, and not a bad man barring his hatred of the Pandavas.

And immediate victory so the Pandavas can have the kingdom is not the point either. Which is why they offer to settle for just five villages, instead of their huge and wealthy kingdom.

Instead, we're always told that it is the principal that is being fought for, so that "Dharma" can be said to have triumphed, and so that future generations can seek hope from this victory.

But from the way it ends, and from the way the Pandavas have to cheat their way to that victory, "Dharma" doesn't win. Humanity descends into the era of Kali, as it was inevitably supposed to. I call that futile.
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http://whaq.blogspot.com/
~Roh
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One simple question: Rebekah - 01/07/2010 11:00:44 PM 1898 Views
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You are not excused. Larry - 02/07/2010 11:40:16 PM 1595 Views
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There are many but SilverWarder - 02/07/2010 08:33:44 PM 1526 Views
Re: There are many but Rebekah - 03/07/2010 12:12:33 AM 1249 Views
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It is big. Rebekah - 08/07/2010 12:14:24 AM 1379 Views
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I learned Sanskrit for years... fionwe1987 - 04/07/2010 01:28:34 AM 1286 Views
However... fionwe1987 - 04/07/2010 02:31:00 AM 1296 Views
See, I was taught that ध produced the sound in "that" and थ the sound in "thought". Tom - 04/07/2010 02:44:56 AM 1364 Views
Re: Ew. *NM* Danae al'Thor - 09/07/2010 08:57:03 AM 692 Views
Re: I should have read the thread before bothering to give my skimpy response! Danae al'Thor - 09/07/2010 08:26:35 AM 1658 Views
Re: Actually, I think those two letter would get an "hh". *NM* Danae al'Thor - 09/07/2010 08:25:57 AM 701 Views
Re: Yes, but at no point is that war a good thing. Danae al'Thor - 09/07/2010 08:24:57 AM 1582 Views
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Hm. Rebekah - 08/07/2010 12:15:27 AM 1407 Views
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