Varna Vijinana on Superphysics

Phonetics Discourse 1

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Publisher’s Note

Phonetics Discourse 2

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Phonetics is a completely scientific subject.

In the world of action not a single step can be taken without science. Here it will have to be borne in mind that the application of science changes according to the changes in time, place and person.

Phonetics Discourse 3

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The letters included within the 5 vargas – ka, ca, t́a, ta, and pa – are pure consonants.

The remaining consonants are not pure consonants.

I also pointed out that sa, sha, śa, ha, and kśa are not pure consonants because they are pronounced with a whistle. They are whistled aspirates (uśmavarńa). At the time of pronunciation they produce some slight heat in the lips and tongue. Ya, ra, la, and va are also not pure consonants because they are diphthongs of multiple vowels. These kinds of diphthongs were prevalent in old English, for example “Caesar”, but not in modern English.

Phonetics Discourse 4

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Panini paid particular attention to sound.

He was the first to develop the science of phonetics, an inseparable part of philology.

But this was not that long ago.

By then, the Rgvedic and Yajurvedic periods had ended and the Atharvavedic period was in progress.

Phonetics, Prefixes and Suffixes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The Bengali or Gaoŕiiya style of vowel pronunciation differs from the other three accepted styles of pronunciation in India. It has some deviations from the rules of Sanskrit but they are accepted.

More on Suffixes and Prefixes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Every language has its own special characteristics. It is these special characteristics that set one language apart from another. On the other hand, some aspects are the same in every language, for example, prefixes and suffixes. Bengali, as well as the other Indo-Aryan languages, comes from Sanskrit, however the languages of India’s Dravidian people belong to the Austrico-Negroid group of languages. They are Telegu, Tamil, Malayalam, Kannad and Tulu.

Language and Dialect

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Many people have the conception that the language of a tribe is a dialect. In Hindi it is called boli.

Many persons call or used to call dialects bhákhá (not as Yajurvedic pronunciation) out of contempt. Kabir has said: Saḿskrta kúpodaka bhákhá bahatá niir – in other words, the Sanskrit language is like stagnant well water and the people’s language is like the flowing water of a river, that is, full of vitality.

Farsi Words in Bengali

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I will talk a little today about the Farsi words currently in use in Bengali. The distortion or alteration of vowel sounds is very important in any language. The first thing to say about Farsi is that there is some confusion regarding u and o in Farsi and languages related to Farsi. Kut́hi and kot́hi, dukán and dokán – the interchangeability of u and o is accepted as an unwritten rule in many languages. In Hindustani one says dukán but in Bhojpuri, Maethilii, Magahii and Angika one says dokán. In Bengali one also says dokán. In Farsi there is a difference between words of masculine and feminine gender but this does not affect the verbs as it does in Urdu and Hindi. Most of the languages descended from Prákrta, with the exception of Mágadhii, have two genders, masculine and feminine, much the same as in French. In the languages descended from Shaorasenii Prákrta (Bundelii, Bághelii, Avadhii, Vraja, Hariyánavii) the difference in gender can be seen in the genitive case, just as in French. However the difference is that the French verb has three different forms – masculine, feminine and plural while in Hindustani there are four forms – masculine singular, masculine plural, feminine singular and feminine plural. For example: Laŕká já rahá hae; laŕke já rahe haen; laŕkii já rahii hae; and laŕkiyán já rahii haen. In Shaorasenii Prákrta ka is added to the end of a word to indicate masculine gender and kii to indicate feminine gender, while in the masculine plural or to show respect ke is placed before the word. In Mágadhii Prákrta, as in Bengali, Oriya, Assamese, Maethilii, Bhojpuri, Angika, Magahii, Chattrishgaŕii, Nágpurii, etc., there is no difference between masculine, feminine and neuter genders in the genitive case. For example: Rámer bhái [Ram’s brother], Rámer bon [Ram’s sister], Siitár bhái [Siita’s brother], Siitár bon [Siita’s sister].

Language and Dialect – 2

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In regard to the difference between a language and a dialect, I have stated that a

A language depends on 8 conditions:

literature
intonation
psycho-acoustic inferential acoustic notes
syntax

The first of these to be discussed today will be literature.

Psycho-Acoustic and Inferential Acoustic Notes (Discourse 9)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Just as psycho-acoustic notes differ from person to person, a similar difference can be observed from collective to collective.

These differences are of two kinds: due to saḿskára and due to inclination. Saḿskára changes from person to person and there are certain types of saḿskáras which encapsulate the differences between one collective and another. Saḿskára emanates from action. It does not differ with regards to time, place or person. However, this is not the case with differences due to inclination. Inclination depends on two factors: nervous structure and the influence of personal and collective environment. Here the meaning of collective may refer to ten people as well as to one race or another.

Case and Case-Endings – 1

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In the discussion on syntax I talked about the first case. Today I will speak about the second case. However, before talking about the second case, a little more remains to be said about the first case because often the first case can also be used in situations where the second case is used. Hence karmmańi dvitiiyá [the accusative is the second case] in accordance with the Sanskrit rule does not always hold true in Bengali. Sah odanam bhakśayati. Here odanam is in the second case.

Case and Case-Endings – 2 (Discourse 13)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

I have already discussed the second case to some extent. Now let us see how far it is meaningful to link the second case with the accusative. Let us also see to what extent the second case has a right to its claim to be a separate case.

Case and Case-Endings – 3 (Discourse 14)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The spoken Bengali of Midnapore is quite an old form of Bengali. Midnapore’s place in the cultural life of Bengal is also quite important. The people of Midnapore have never lost their vitality of life, even when passing their days enduring countless insults. Indeed, in the pre-Pathan era, the Pathan and Mughal eras, and even in the beginning of British rule, which was witness to the Chuyar Rebellion [cuyáŕ vidroha], we have seen great agitation for freedom there; later, in 1942, there was an earth-shaking, stirring agitation. I can see today that many of you have come here from Midnapore. The spoken language of the western part of Midnapore, which means Jhaŕgrám subdivision, is a dialect of central Rarhi Bengali. This same dialect is prevalent in Mayurbhainj and Singhbhum. The spoken language of the southern coastal areas of Midnapore, from the mouth of the Rasulpur River to the mouth of the Suvarnarekha River, I have named Contai Bengali. The full pronunciation of the consonants is present in great measure in this dialect. Based on the evidence, it is easy to arrive at the conclusion that the poet Kalidasa was from this area.

Case and Case-Endings – 4 (Discourse 15)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The subject of today’s discussion is the locative [adhikarańa] case. Adhikarańa is derived by adding the prefix adhi and the suffix anat́ to the verbal root kr. In Sanskrit the suffix abhi means “great” and the suffix adhi means “extensive” or “collective”. The word adhikarańa means “that extensive land or field which gives rise to a completed action [karańa]”. This extensive land or field is dependent upon time, place and person. In order for anything to be established, it has to be established on the basis of place or land, idea or time. For this reason the grammarian Panini accepted three bases of things – time, idea and base. The three types of locatives were created on the basis of these three – the locative of time, the locative of idea and the locative of base.

Proper Names – 1 (Discourse 16)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Last week we discussed the inclination for creating words.

Often when we speak we say things like cá-t́á, cáśá-bhúśá, jal-t́al, nadii-t́adi, and so on. When we add a second word whose sound rhymes with the first word, are we doing this in error?

Syntax

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Syntax refers to a language’s grammatical and structural style.

How a word, noun, adjective, pronoun, indeclinable, is placed in the sentence in accordance with the rules of grammar is syntax.

Compound Words (Discourse 18)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The subject of today’s discussion is samása [compound words]. The word samasta is used extensively in Bengali. However in Bengali the meaning of the common Sanskrit-borrowed words samasta, sakala, samagra is not identical. It has been said:

Derivation, Emanation and Distortion

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Sound is the subtlest of the 5 inferences – sound, touch, form, taste and smell.

The New Testament says: “In the beginning was the word.”

In the Veda it is also said – shabdabrahma. Prańavátmakaḿ brahma.

Emanation (Discourse 20)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Bengali, emanation means utsárańa.

If something is produced from something and gradually moves forward towards greater manifestation it is called utsárańa.

At the root of emanation is cause or causal factor, which is in a dormant condition at the outset. We know that the sprout comes from the seed. The potential for vastness or extensiveness lies in a dormant condition within the seed. Under favourable conditions the sprout first comes forth and thereafter it flows on the path of emanation, gradually moving forward on the path of diffusion. All of this gets its expression from the seed, from the seed-form, from the fundamental or rudimental condition.

Proper Names – 2 (Discourse 17)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

Up until this point we have been discussing the naming of places and things. A boy named Ádiyta has just danced kaośikii for us. What is the meaning of the name Áditya? In old Sanskrit the word áditya means “one who collects what is due to them”. After the death of a living being their quinquelemental existence – that is, solid, liquid, luminous, aerial, ethereal – these five factors collect what is due to them. The stars, planets, atoms and molecules, these luminaries and particles are an aggregate of twelve factors. Since each one of them collects what is due to them they are called “the twelve ádityas”.

Suffixes

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

In Sanskrit and Prákrta the suffixes aka, raka, ruka, etc. are added to mean “small”. For example, mánava [person] becomes mánavaka [small boy or dwarf]. In English the suffixes “let”, “kin”, “ock”, etc. are added as diminutives. For example, “rivulet” comes from “river”, “armlet” from “arm”, “mankin” from “man”, “hillock” from “hill”, and so on. In Sanskrit vatsaruka → vaccharua → báchru. From this comes the word báchur [calf]. Go + ruka = goruka → gorua → goru [cow] (thus it is spelled with o – many people incorrectly spell this word garu). Similarly, the suffix raka is added to dviipa to mean “small island”. As such, dviiparaka → diiaraa in Prákrta → diiyárá in Hindi, diiyar in Bhojpuri, dirá in Angika. However in Angika the word ca-a-r (car) is more common. In the Shershahabad Bengali dialect of Malda District these two words, dirá and car, are used side by side.

Distortion (Discourse 21)

Mon, 01 Jan 0001 00:00:00 +0000

The subject of today’s discussion is distortion.

The change that takes place in the flow of emanation is a natural change. In other words, everything in the flow of emanation is moving (calat or calamán).