Anyone familiar with ancient Indian philosophy? I need a name translation....

Factual Questions
#1

I’ve been doing research for a presentation on Ancient Indian linguistics. I went to the museum of Eastern history here in Paris yesterday, and I’m looking for information on certain things that I saw (as there were no descriptions of the peices). For one of them, however, I can’t find anything. I’m wondering if anyone can give me the romanized script for **S’iva Vya-khya-nadaksina-mu-rti **(all accents after the letters). The text called him, “Master of Knowledge.”

Any other tips for Indian linguistic history are welcome! I’m reading the Upanishads right now. Learning about the Nyaya, about Panini, the Ashtadhyayi, etc.

#2

Anna Dallapiccola’s Dictionary of Hindu Lore and Legend spells it Vyakhyana Dakshinamurti and translates it as “‘form (of Shiva) explaining.’ Aspect of Shiva in the act of teaching the different sciences.”

#3

Thanks a million, Doc…

#4

Badarayana. The Brahma Sutra: The Philosophy of Spiritual Life. Tr. and with an introduction and notes by S. Radhakrishnan. New York: Greenwood Press, 1968.

Coulson, Michael. Sanskrit: An Introduction to the Classical Language. Chicago: NTC, 1992. Been teaching myself Sanskrit with this.

Coward, Harold G. and K. Kunjunni Raja. The Philosophy of the Grammarians. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990. gitfiddle, since you’re interested in both Panini and philosophy, you must see this book.

Grimes, John. A Concise Dictionary of Indian Philosophy: Sanskrit Terms Defined in English. Albany: SUNY Press, 1989. You’ll really like this one, gitfiddle.

Guénon, René. Man and His Becoming According to the Vedanta. A good introduction, but caution with Guénon, because the intellectual neo-Nazis are glomming onto him. Guénon wasn’t a fascist but fascists like him for some reason.

Monier-Williams, Monier. A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Reprinted: Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass, 1995.

Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. Delhi: Oxford University Press, 1923 (reprinted 1997). IMHO still the best introduction of all to the subject.

Schweitzer, Albert. Indian Thought and Its Development. London: A&C Black, 1951.

A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy. Ed. by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1957.

Zimmer, Heinrich. Philosophies of India. New York: Meridian, 1951.

Panini’s Ashtadhyayi is about Sanskrit grammar. The first real grammar ever written. If you’re really into Sanskrit and philosophy

#5

Thanks Johanna!

Unfortunately, I’m in Paris, so I don’t know yet if I’ll be able to get my hands on any of those, but I’ll do my best.

That’s a huge help!

#6

Tu pourrais trouver ce livre de Guénon, au moins.

As for translation of Vyakhyana Dakshinamurti, I looked in the Monier-Williams dictionary.

वयाखयना Vyākhyānā = explaining, expounding, commentary. From the verb vyakhyati ‘to explain in detail, tell in full, discuss’.
दकषिणामूरति Dakshināmūrti = A Tantric form of Shiva. From dakshinā ‘right hand side’ (from cognate of Latin dexter), also meaning ‘an offering, sacrificial fee’ in a religious sense, and mūrti ‘solid body, material form, embiodiment, manifestation, incarnation, personification, anything which has definite shape or limits, an image, idol, statue’, etc.