Grammar and Ritual in Indian Theoretical Culture and the Western Ideal of “Pure Theory”: an Intercultural Approach

Abstract

The article reveals the intercultural significance of the impact of the Paninean grammar of Sanskrit (ca. IV century B.C.) on the formation of Western linguis­tics – the general theory of language, comparative historical linguistics, other comparative disciplines, as well as generative grammar, structuralism and for­malism. We are dealing here with a specific contribution of Indian theoretical knowledge to a number of important areas of Western science and philosophy. In ancient India itself, the genesis of grammatical and linguistic discourse was closely connected with the Brahmanical theory of Vedic sacrifice, which had the character of ritual- and sound-centrism. Ritual was regarded as a model of activity and behavior under the condition of an unstable confrontation between the forces of chaos and order. Sound-centrism constituted a priority of the oral transmission of knowledge in ancient India. The author associates ritual- and sound-centric doctrines with the conceptual expression of the dy­namic nature of reality by means of the “perfect language” – Sanskrit. The fact that in ancient India the grammar was a part of the “software” for ritualistic dis­cursive practices introduces some new perspectives within the study of the gene­sis of theoretical knowledge. In contrast to the hypothesis of “pure theory” sug­gested in Ancient Greece and acknowledged as a trigger for the development of philosophy and science in the West, an opportunity opens up to study the gen­esis of theoretical culture within the framework of justifying religious praxis (F. Staal’s hypothesis). This may actualize the reflection of “Indo-European lan­guage family relations” between Western civilization and Indian culture and en­rich their self-understanding by the introduction of an intercultural perspective.