Wisdom and Weapons

A friend sent along his son's bar Mitzvah speech, comparing Superman to Moses and Aaron, which took me back to Sanskrit. I like it. Then almost everything needs to me to render it in English in keyboard script. I hate that part. But here it is:

Translation: In front, to lead me I have the four vedas, but behind, on my shoulder, I have the bow and the quiver. I am thus equipped with wisdom and weapons (Shaashtra and shashtra); I shall, therefore, prevail.

I like that Sanskrit calls weapons 'shashtra' and wisdom/scriture/knowledge etc "Shaashtra". The resonance is terrific and onomatopaic shhhhh..; but also as always having a 'tra' sound as well.

About the latter "tra" one of the meanings in the dictionary is "there are eighteen of them...names.. in which the sages have shown the actions and duties that are of benefit"....

Then there is the unusual use of the word shaapa (shapadapi). Usually it means a curse but here it means the "power of knowledge" (perhaps, to cause mental anguish/pain").

The Vedas also instruct, "youth is worthy of a bow," and the Upanishads have this litany of attributes that deserve to be called youthful.

In fact there is a monograph-booklet by Shäshtri Pändûranga Åthävalé on them in Hindi. It was, of course, eye-openingly inspiring to me when I first read it. In fact, I used it for a series of Sunday lectures I was invited to give to one of the local classes that practice a form of yoga that is reinvented by a local genius.

The Bar Mitzvah boy and all children everywhere, are rightful claimants to all that humankind, in its various variants - Jewish, Hindu etc - has.