Concept in Definition ABC
Miscellanea / / July 04, 2021
By Javier Navarro, in Aug. 2018
The religious texts of the tradition Hindu religious beliefs are written mostly in a language, Sanskrit. It is an Indo-European language and is considered by linguists to be a proto-language or mother tongue of other languages. Through it, a better approach to religion is possible, philosophy and the literature from India.
The sacred dimension
The first Vedas, the oldest texts of Hinduism, were written around the 15th century BC. C in the Sanskrit language. This means that it is a language closely related to the spiritual dimension of Hinduism. Thus, the first Brahmins expressed themselves in Sanskrit and the famous Ayurvedic mantras or naturopathy are written in this language.
It has never been a language used for communication ordinary in society as a whole, but only for sacred texts. This sacredness dates back to ancient times and goes beyond the Christian era. The poets and priests of Hinduism considered that the language had a deep connection with the religious and spiritual principles that they transmitted. In other words, the Sanskrit words are considered pure, since through them it is possible to communicate the authentic principles of wisdom.
Main features
It is a language of great complexity morphological. Has a writing which is based on the phonetics. Thus, all sounds are represented graphically, since writing is subordinate to oral communication.
The alphabet, known by the term Devanagari, is arranged according to the speech apparatus. Thus, the consonants begin in the guttural area and end in the labial area. The Devanagari alphabet consists of 46 letters, of which 9 are vowels and 37 are consonants.
For the alphabet to be understood internationally, a convention has been created, specifically the "International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration".
Key terms of the spirituality of Hinduism
- Abhaya means lack of emotion or indifference.
- The term abhimana granthi refers to the world of attachment.
- Abhinivesha means love of life and, at the same time, expresses fear of death.
- Abhisambodhi is equivalent to enlightenment.
- The word abhyasa expresses the personal effort made to purify the mind and spirit.
- The suffering we experience in the physical world is communicated with the word adhibhautika.
- Suffering caused by divine action is adhidaivika dukha.
- Finally, purity or the state of grace is adhistana.
Photo: Fotolia - nilanewsom
Topics in Sanskrit