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Hinduism_ A Christian Heresy

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<strong>Hinduism</strong>: What Really Happened in India – M. M. Ninan 76<br />

is quite unlikely because at some point the translation occurred from<br />

Vedic to Sanskrit. Hence, its original form or content cannot be<br />

guaranteed. It is quite likely that the form and content changed during<br />

this period as it does even today (in spite of the writing). At any rate,<br />

this is just a conjecture and cannot be validated by any documentary or<br />

concrete evidence.<br />

'The Gita is written in good classical Sanskrit, and epigraphic evidence<br />

clearly shows that the Gita could not have been written before the second<br />

century A.D.’ It is probably of much later period. It could most probably<br />

of the 7 th century.<br />

'The earliest epigraphic evidence on languages employed in India comes<br />

from the inscriptions of Asoka inscribed in third century B.C. Asoka<br />

took care that his messages were intelligible to all and he used a<br />

particular kind of Prakrit. He even translated his messages to Greek and<br />

Aramaic. But, there are no inscriptions in Sanskrit. The first evidence of<br />

Sanskrit ever is seen around A.D.150. From the fifth century A.D.,<br />

Classical Sanskrit is seen to be the dominant language in these<br />

inscriptions.' Vedas were originally written using the Grantha and Nagiri<br />

Scripts. Since the earliest evidence of Grantha Scripts are found only<br />

around 5 th c AD, the Vedas could not have been written in the form it is<br />

now anytime earlier. It may be argued that Vedas could have been in<br />

oral form. This is a conjecture. People certainly have been<br />

philosophical even without a written document. But they are not<br />

crystallized until they are written down.

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