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Year 1985 – The AI Magazine Mathomathis would like to present an article on: Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence by Rick Brigs | RIACS, NASA Ames Research Centeu, Moffet Field, California 94305. In the past twenty years, much time, effort, and money has been expended on designing an unambiguous representation of natural languages to make them accessible to computer processing These efforts have centered around creating schemata designed to parallel logical relations with relations expressed by the syntax and semantics of natural languages, which are clearly cumbersome and ambiguous in their function as vehicles for the transmission of logical data. Understandably, there is a widespread belief that natural languages arc unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas that artificial languages can render with great precision and mathematical rigor. But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise underlying much work in the areas of linguistics and artificial intelligence, is a false one There is at least one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration of almost more than 5000+ years was a living spoken language with a considerable literature of its own Besides works of literary value, there was a long philosophical and grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with undiminished vigor until the present century. Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence This article demonstrates that a natural language can serve as an artificial language also, and that much work in AI has been reinventing a wheel millenia old First, a typical Knowledge Representation Scheme (using Semantic Nets) will be laid out, followed by an outline of the method used by the ancient Indian Grammarians to analyze sentences unambiguously. Finally, the clear parallelism between the two will be demonstrated, and the theoretical implications of this equivalence will be given. For the sake of comparison, a brief overview of semantic nets will be given, and examples will be included that will be compared to the Indian approach. After early attempts at machine translation (which were based to a large extent on simple dictionary look-up) failed in their effort to teach a computer to understand natural language, work in AI turned to Knowledge Representation. Since translation is not simply a map from lexical item to lexical item, and since ambiguity is inherent in a large number of utterances, some means is required to encode what the actual meaning of a sentence is. Clearly, there must be a representation of meaning independent of words used. Another problem is the interference of syntax. In some sentences (for example active/passive) syntax is, for all intents and purposes, independent of meaning. Here one would like to eliminate considerations of syntax. In other sentences the syntax contributes to the meaning and here one wishes to extract it. Author considers a “prototypical” semantic net system similar to that of Lindsay, Norman, and Rumelhart in the hopes that it is fairly representative of basic semantic net theory. Taking a simple example first, one would represent “John gave the ball to Mary” as in Figure 1. Here five nodes connected by four labeled arcs capture the entire meaning of the sentence. This information can be stored as a series of “triples”: give, agent, John give, object, ball give, recipient, Mary give, time, past. Note that grammatical information has been transformed into an arc and a node (past tense). A more complicated example will illustrate embedded sentences and changes of state: “John told Mary that the train moved out of the station at 3 o’clock.” As shown in Figure 2, there was a change in state in which the train moved to some unspecified location from the station. It went to the former at 3:00 and from the latter at 3:O0. Now one can routinely convert the net to triples as before. The verb is given central significance in this scheme and is considered the focus and distinguishing aspect of the sentence. However, there are other sentence types which differ fundamentally from the above examples. Figure 3 illustrates a sentence that is one of “state” rather than of “event .” Other nets could represent statements of time, location or more complicated structures. A verb, say, “give,” has been taken as primitive, but what is the meaning of “give” itself? Is it only definable in terms of the structure it generates? Clearly two verbs can generate the same structure. One can take a set-theoretic approach and a particular give as an element of “giving events” itself a subset of ALL-EVENTS. An example of this approach is given in Figure 4 (“John, a programmer living at Maple St., gives a book to Mary, who is a lawyer”). If one were to “read” this semantic net, one would have a very long text of awkward English: “There is a John” who is an element of the “Persons” set and who is the person who lives at ADR1, where ADR1 is a subset of ADDRESS-EVENTS, itself a subset of ‘ALL EVENTS’, and has location ‘37 Maple St.‘, an element of Addresses; and who is a “worker” of ‘occupation 1’. . .etc.” The degree to which a semantic net (or any unambiguous, nonsyntactic representation) is cumbersome and odd-sounding in a natural language is the degree to which that language is “natural” and deviates from the precise or “artificial.” As we shall see, there was a language spoken among an ancient scientific community that has a deviation of zero. The hierarchical structure of the above net and the explicit descriptions of set-relations are essential to really capture the meaning of the sentence and to facilitate inference. It is believed by most in the AI and general linguistic community that natural languages do not make such seemingly trivial hierarchies explicit. Below is a description of a natural language, Shastric Sanskrit, where for the past millenia successful attempts have been made to encode such information. Shastric Sanskrit The sentence: (1) “Caitra goes […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on Vastu for house adopted from the website: Freevastushastra.com. Before proceeding further on the following article, users are advised to read the previous article Vastu for House | Principles | 101 The First Construction Goal: The Well or Water Source: The first construction project to deal with in building a new house is the well or water source. It is prescribed under vastu shastra that the water source will be dug on the North or Northeast side of the property. To locate the most ideal site to dig the well, you should draw a line from the Southeast corner to Northeast corner and mark your well to the right or left of the line and not on it. Below are the vastu guidelines for the Well: To ensure that the water derived from the well is pure, a ritual should be first performed on the land at an astrologically favorable time. A downward-facing constellation is said to be the best astrological time to dig the well. Traditionally and ideally, the well should be round. It is located either on the Southeast corner or Northeast corner in a spot where it will be exposed to five hours of sunlight each day. Wells are not recommended to serve two properties. The Compound Walls and Gates:- The compound walls and gates are required to be built before the actual construction of the house or building goes underway. Favorable constellations are also influential during the actual construction of these walls and the agreeable days on which to commence the construction should fall on a Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. Construction of these compound walls should begin from the Southwest side. As a matter of vastu shastra practice, the compound wall should not be higher than the house to be built. The height of these walls if possible should not be uniform; the Southwest part of the wall should be higher than the rest. Other provisions require that the walls on the North and East side should be shorter by 21 inches than the wall on the West and South sides. However, if this is not possible, the North and East sides should maintain at least a lowered difference of 3 inches than the West and South sides. For this matter, it is ideal to install two gates for the compound so that evil forces that enter one gate will make an exit to the other gate. Take note however that the South side should not be used for gates. Obstructions in front of the Main Gate:- Several obstructions to the main gate can be enumerated and thus be avoided because these obstructions bring ill effects: Big Tree This obstruction can cause detriments to the progress of children Gutter or Ditch This connotes grief and sorrow Open Well This is negative since it equates with mental problem Corner of another building This too concerns mental unrest instability Water drain Income will be drained by unnecessary expenses Straight street Can shorten the life span of residents Dilapidated house or walls This has a negative effect on prosperity Staircase railings Often associated with sadness Pillars Electric or telephone posts can affect the well being of female members However, the existence of a public road to separate obstruction from the property will lessen if not void the deficiencies. In a similar manner, if the distance between the obstruction and the house results to a difference that is twice the house’s height, the effect of the deficiencies will be nullified. The Trees and Plants on the Property: As much as trees and plants provide natural adornment to the property, there are also certain considerations and norms to be observed in keeping with the vastu shastra: Planting should be done during favorable constellations. Seedlings should be grown initially in clay pots before being planted on the grounds. Tulasi plants are recommended plants for vastu shastra. Trees are best planted on the North, Northeast, East, or in front of the house. However, they should not to be planted directly in front of the main entrance since a shadow will loom over the entrance. Grow an even number of trees and should be grown on the South or West side of the house; it would be ideal if grown on both sides. It is not advisable to plant trees on the North, Northeast, or East side of a building. Large trees should not be planted too near the house since their roots might damage the foundations of the building and the compound wall. For that matter, do not allow tree branches to touch the house. Besides, large roots tend to absorb much sunlight and will compete with the dweller’s own need for the sun’s energy. If a tree is to be removed because of its negative effect, it should be done in the months of Magh or Bhadrapada. Worship the tree and express your apologies for cutting it before finally removing it and make sure that it will fall East or North ways. Vow to plant a new tree in its place then do it within the next three months. Thorny plants except roses should not be planted at all while creepers should be grown only in a garden with their own support to prevent them from crawling up the building. Parking Lot:- The Northwest corner of the property is the ideal location for the parking lot but it should not be connected to the compound wall or the main building. While parked, cars should face east or north and not facing south; otherwise, the car owner will be destined to travel a long way. The parking garage should be painted with a light color. THE VASTU SHASTRA HOUSE Supporters of vastu shastra firmly believe that a house built without integrating vastu principles is dangerous. Total disregard of the cosmic influences makes a household vulnerable to all that can be possibly negative. As we struggle against conflict, we will continuously go through life with […]
Vedic science is a great treasure of knowledge in the form of Vedas, Upanishads & Samhitas. Ancient Rishis proved the various scientific theories based on Vedic science; since more than thousands of year ago. In Vedic literature, there are so many verses that explain the theory of universe, Astrology, Engineering, Medicine, Telegraphy, Metallurgy, Chemistry and Life sciences. We should regretful to great rishis who founded a root of knowledge in form of Vedas & Upanishads and scattered this knowledge across the world. Religion and science both search for logical reasons for the existence of divine universe & life. The Sanskrit meaning of word Veda is “unite – that which is given ” OR UNIFICATION, and Rig means logic or reason, hence Rig-Veda stands for UNIFICATION BY LOGIC. All verses of Rig Veda are given in logical manner. Each verse is a complete holistic theorem in itself and contains a numerical solution to the mathematical theorem embedded in the descriptive wording. In Rig veda, light is explained as a source of energy or source of our life. Nature of light as a wave or as a particle was not come into picture till late into the modern age, but in Rig Veda it is clearly mentioned that: “Seven horses draw the chariot of the sun, tied by snakes”. Rig-veda 5. 45. 9 Above poetic verse speaks about the nature of light as being composed of 7 rays and the snake symbolizes it’s curved path. Now, these colors are actually described as red, orange, yellow, green, blue, Indigo and violet in the yoga sutras and the Vedic Upanishads. These colors was not discovered in western science till Newton (4 January 1643 – 31 March 1727 ) experimented to split light into it’s 7 colors by a prism. Speed of light according to Rig-Veda: The speed of light, (defined as 299 792 458 meters /s) is a universal constant which was often believed to be impossible to breach. However it is now known that the speed of light is approximately 41.7 miles an hour (sometimes inaccurately rounded up to 42 m/h).The simplest and most successful attempt to measure the speed of light was performed by Max Planck, Different physicists have tried to measure the speed of light throughout history. Galileo attempted to measure the speed of light in the seventeenth century. An early experiment to measure the speed of light was conducted by Ole Rømer, a Danish physicist, in 1676. Rømer calculated that light takes about 22 minutes to traverse the diameter of Earth’s orbit. Unfortunately, its size was not known at that time. If Ole had known the diameter of the Earth’s orbit, he would have calculated a speed of 227,000,000 m/s. In Rigveda, following sloka’s state about the speed of light which is nearly about of modern value of 186,282.397 miles / seconds: “Yojananam Dwe Dwe Shate Dwe Cha Yojane Aken Nimishardhena Krammana Namostute” (Rig-veda I,50-4) In the verse Sun light speed is measured with the help of units called Yojan & Nimesha. This verse explain that sunlight moves 2202 Yojanas in Half Nimisha. Taranir Vishvadarshato Jyotishkrdasi Surya | Vishvamaa Bhaasirochanam || Meaning: Oh Sun! (You) overwhelm all in speed, visible to all, source of light. (You) shine pervading the Universe. Rigvedic commentary, Sayanacarya who was a minister in the court of Bukka of the great Vijayanagar Empire of Karnataka in South India (in early 14th century) says: Tatha Ca Smaryate Yojananam. Sahasre Dve Dve Sate Dve Ca Yojane Ekena Nimishardhena Kramaman. Meaning : “It is remembered here that Sun (light) traverses 2,202 yojanas in half a nimisha” Sayanacarya’s Calculation for Speed of light (The commentary on the Rig-veda by Sayana (c. 13 15-1387), a minister and scholar par excellence in the court of King Bukka I of the Vijayanagar Empire in South India): In the Vedas, Yojana is a unit of distance and Nimisha is a unit of time. Distance traveled =2202 Yojanas 1 Yojana = 9 miles, 110 Yards =21,144.705 miles (Apprx) Time taken 1/2 nimesha = 0.114286 seconds(Apprx) Speed of light= 185,016.169 miles / seconds. Modern Value= 186,282.397 miles / seconds. Modern science claims the speed of light to be aproximately 186,282.397 miles / seconds This Sukta is attributed to the son of Kanva Maharshi and is prescribed for use in two different occasions – in Suryeshti sacrifice (a ritual to please the Sun God) Unit of Time: Nimesa: Nimesa Definition as per Moksha dharma parva of Shanti Parva in Mahabharata 15 Nimisha = 1 Kastha 30 Kashta = 1 Kala 30.3 Kala = 1 Muhurta 30 Muhurtas = 1 Diva-Ratri (Day-Night) One Day-Night = 24 hours Unit of Distance: Yojana: Yojana Definition as per “Vishnu Purana” 10 ParamAnus = 1 Parasúkshma 10 Parasúkshmas = 1 Trasarenu 10 Trasarenus = 1 Mahírajas 10 Mahírajas= 1 Bálágra 10 Bálágra = 1 Likhsha 10 Likhsha= 1 Yuka 1o Yukas = 1 Yavodara 10 Yavodaras = 1 Yava 10 Yava = 1 Angula 6 fingers = 1 Pada 2 Padas = 1 Vitasti 2 Vitasti = 1 Hasta 4 Hastas = a Dhanu, a Danda, or pauruSa (a man’s height), or 2 Nárikás = 6 feet 2000 Dhanus = 1 Gavyuti = 12000 feet 4 Gavyutis = 1 Yojana = 9.09 miles Everybody knows the speed of light is 186,000 miles which is actually discovered in 1675 by ROMAR. But the hymn 1.50 of the Rigveda on the Sun, says: [O Sun] you who traverse 2,202 yojanas in half a nimesa. The usual meaning of yojana is about 9 miles as in the Artha shastra and for nimesha. The measures of time are thus defined in the Puranas: 15 nimesa = 1 kastha 30kastha= 1 kala 30 kala = 1 muhurta 30 muhurta = 1 day-and-night A nimesa is therefore equal to 16/75 seconds. It does come very close to the correct figure of 186,000 miles per second.” The first quantitative estimate of the speed of light is seen in Indian vedic scholar Sayana’s commentary on the Rigveda, one of […]
Mathomathis would like to present an article on Oceans in Hindu Mythology by author R.L.S. Sikarwar Arogyadham (J.R.D. Tata Foundation for Reseach in Ayurveda & Yoga Sciences), Deendayal Research Institute, Chitrakoot, Dist. Satna (M.P.)-485 331. Since antiquity the oceans have played a significant role in Hindu religion and its greatness has been profusely illustrated in Holy Scriptures. The ocean has several Hindi and Sanskrit names and synonyms such as Samudra, Sagara, Sindhu, Jaladhi, Neernidhi, Bannidhi, Barees, Udadhi, Payodhi, Nadees, Toynidhi, Kampati, Makaralaya, Varunalaya, Mahodadhi etc. The ten synonyms of the ocean have been given in Ramcharitmanasa. Out of 10 different incarnations (Dasavatara) of Shrihari Vishnu, three avatars such as Matsya Avatar, Kurma Avatar and Varaha Avatar are directly associated with the oceans. In Rama Avatar, the bridge was constructed as per the desire of oceans and helped Lord Rama in various ways. As when the Ravana, the king of Lanka heard the news about the construction of bridge on the ocean by Lord Rama’s army led by engineers Nal & Neel, he astonished and said- “What! Has he really bridged the waves, the billows, the sea, the ocean, the floods, the deep, the main, the brine deep, the home of springs, the Lord of rivers?” The Origin of Oceans: Lord Ram’s ancestor Sagara whose sixty thousand sons dug out the bed of the ocean that is why ocean is called Sagar , the son of Sagara. Therefore, When Lord Rama asked Vibhishana, how we should cross the vast ocean? Vibhishana suggested “for being an older in your family, ocean, My Lord, will think out and suggest a plan. The whole host of bears and monkeys will thus be able to cross the sea without an effort“. The same thing is mentioned in Valmiki Ramayana as Vibhishana suggested this immeasurable ocean was dugout by King Sagara and Lord Rama is the descendant of Sagara. Therefore, the ocean must help him. The origin of Seven Oceans and Continents: It is mentioned in Shrimad Bhagwata’s Canto-5, first chapter, the seven oceans and continents were created by the movement of chariot of the king Priyabrata, the son of Swayambhuva Manu. After Swayambhuva Manu’s son was trained in the renounced order (Priyavrata) thus became the master of the universe where he endowed with powerful arms of command together with them pulled the bowstring loudly to defeat all who opposed the dharma. Without interruption for 110 million years there was the rule of the great soul who with the daily increasing amiability, femininity, shyness, laughs, glances and exchanges of love [in his repeated births] with his wife Barhishmati enjoyed a life of pleasure, but confounded and defeated by it he lost his power of discernment. Not appreciating that the sun god, as long as he circumambulated mount Meru, lit up one side of the earth and left the other half in the dark, he who in his worship of the Fortunate One was of a supernatural power then said: ‘I’ll make the night as brilliant as the day’, and to enforce that he followed the orbit of the sun in a chariot, exactly seven times and with the same speed, like he was a second sun. Thus proceeding with the wheels of his chariot that created trenches with their rims, the seven oceans came about which divided the earth (Bhu-mandala) into the seven dvipas (the continents or islands). Known as Jambu (related to Syzygium cumini), Plaksha (related to Ficus virens), Salmali (related to Bombax ceiba), Kusa (related to Desmostchya bipinnata), Kraunca, Saka and Pushkara each of them is twice the size of the preceding ocean in the beyond of which it all around is situated. Those seven oceans consisting of salt water, sugarcane juice, liquor, clarified butter, milk, fluid yogurt and sweet water are of the same size as the islands they as the trenches (of his wheels) one after the other consecutively fully enclose. For each of the dvipas separately the husband of Barhishmati beginning with Jambudvipa, placed one of his faithful sons named Agnidhra, Idhmajihva, Yajnabahu, Hiranyareta, Ghritaprishthha, Medhatithi and Vîtihotra as their king. It is mentioned in Ramcharitmanas that the great king Pratapbhanu and Lord Rama ruled over on all seven continents. By the might of his arm he subdued all the seven continents and let their princes go on payment of tribute. Now Pratapbhanu became the undisputed monarch of the whole the world. Undisputed sovereign of the entire globe girdled by the seven seas was Raghunatha, the Lord of Koshala. This lordship (of entire globe) was nothing great for him, each of whose several hairs contained many a sphere of creation. Salinity of Oceans: There are two mythological legends associated with the salinity of oceans in Holy Scriptures. 1. It is mentioned in Ramacharitmanas Lanka Kanda, that the son of wind – Lord Hanuman said, “My Lord’s might take the fierce fire beneath the sea, had before now dried up the waters of the ocean. But then it was filled up again by the floods of tears shed by your enemies weeping wives, and that is what makes saline”. 2. It is also mentioned in Epics and Puranas that once a bird gave the birth of 3 babies on the sea shore. A large ocean wave came and washed away the baby birds. To teach the lesson to the ocean, the bird started to removing off water of ocean with her beak so as to dry it gradually. The great sage Agastya asked the purpose. The bird told the story how the cruel ocean had washed away her babies. The compassionate sage Agastya said “I will punish the merciless ocean for his mistake” and went away. One day when sage Agastya was performing his worship and muttering of prayers on sea shore, a large ocean wave washed away all his worship material. The Agastya was very angry and remembered what the bird had complained. He absorbed whole Ocean in three Anjali (the hollow formed by joining both hands). The ocean dried up. Then the […]
The following article on Poet in Vedic Aesthetics is a continuation from Part 101 | Previous article, do read the previous article before continuing here. The discrepancy between the old and the new selves is quite conspicuous and Dirghatamas as a poet shrugs off his old self but cannot explain the dynamics of this transformation. Indeed the split in the poet’s personality is multi directional. It is to the ultimate truths of the world that the personality of the poet is directed. This runs counter to the personality of the ordinary man that gravitates towards the prosaic order of the extraneous world – the world that is too much with us, getting and spending. Here the double personality in Dirghatamas is a case in point. He uses both the singular and the dual number while speaking of himself. Very clearly, the riks or the syllables of poetry are the supreme abode of language. The Atharvanic poet acts as the purohita (priest) of the kings as he wrestles against the messengers of Yama who have come to take away the life of a person, declaring himself as brahmacharin of Mrityu. In contrast to the ordinary language that relates itself to the objects of this experienced world, the language of poetry establishes itself as the real language where the gods can find their refulgent mansion – ‘ the undying syllable of the song is the final abode where all the gods have taken their seat’.(l.l64.39)(O’ Flaherty 1994:80) What follows from it is the importance of understanding the syllables – an understanding that sustains the relation between language of poetry and the presence of god therein. Also, what finds a durable niche is the fact that through the understanding of poetry man can achieve a communion with the gods. It must be mentioned that the poet with the gift of imagination (pratibha) shares an aesthetic sensibility with the ideal critic (sahridaya or rasika). Importantly, in Dirghatamas the critic who understands the essence of poetry, and the creator called poet, lose all distinctions. Dirghatamas juxtaposes two concepts ksara and aksara. The word ksara means what sheds down and the word aksara means what cannot be shed or what is indestructible. The implication of the contrast is what obtains between the empirical and the transcendent or between that what is conditioned and that what is unconditioned. The world beyond can only be spoken of by language. The world of experience is rooted in or allied with the transcendent. When Wordsworth in his great poem “Lines Composed a Few Miles Above Tintern Abbey” speaks of the unknown modes of being he was thinking what had ab-eady been thought by Dirghatamas so long back. ‘Speech was divided into four parts that the inspired priests know. Three parts, hidden in deep secret, humans do not stir into action; the fourth part of speech is what men speak.’ (1.164.45 (O’Flaherty 1994:80) So it is the poet who with the benison of imagination (kavi pratibha) has free access to all the four quarters. He wields language in such a way that ‘the unknown modes of being’ are made known. (One can profitably refer to the Agni Purana which maintains that words attain preeminence in science [sastra], meaning in epic history [Itihasa] and suggestion in poetry. In Dhvani Kavya [DhvanyaIoka] we find that the apparent meaning delightfully eases into another territory of meaning and manifests that [other suggested ) sense. Interestingly enough, Tagore hints at this truth in a line of his song: adhara madhuri dharaci chanda bandhane – I have held the ineffable beauty or charm in the prison house of rhythm.) The Vedic poet commands this ‘zone’ of meaning to reveal the innate beauty beyond the ambience of logical discourse. One of Dirghatama’s major poems is addressed to. his Muse, the river goddess Sarasvati.( It may be noted that there is only one Muse in Indian theory of poetry as distinguished from the nine Muses of the Greeks) The word Sarasvati denoted a river and connoted a goddess. The river is spoken of in the Vedas as the greatest of the rivers and also as the greatest of the mothers: nanditame, ambetame. Sarasvati as a goddess is the apotheosis of a river held in high esteem by the Vedic people. As a goddess she incarnates the sacred divine knowledge, Brahmavidya swarupini. She is the fountainhead of all faculties (mental and spiritual), the purifier and bestower of pure reason, the recompenser of worship and is the source of inspiration and accomplishment for all our benevolent acts. She sets in motion all the energies of the soul and intellect. She imparts deep knowledge to all who are seekers of truth. It was in the valley of the river Saraswati that the Aryan civilization had originated and flourished in India. In the poem the poet is the child of Saraswati. She is thought of as a mother who nurses the poet on her breast : ‘Your inexhaustible breast, Sarasvati that flows with the food of life, that you use to nourish all that one could wish for, freely giving treasure and wealth and beautiful gifts – bring that here for us to suck’.(1.164.49) (O’Flaherty 1994:81). It is implied that what a poet can give to a man is what a mother gives to a baby. But the difference is important for us to note. The milk available in the mother’s breast is only for a particular period of time; but the milk from Saraswati’s breast is everlasting. It keeps on nourishing the poet unconditionally. One has to admit that the mysticism, symbolism, and the enigma of the poem baffle the modem reader with a near impenetrable density. But what cannot be disclaimed is the fact that the poem is a work of high quality dappled with exquisite images evincing a deft handling of language. It is crowned by a laudable artistic unity achieved through a remarkable commingling of contrasts. The line of argument cannot be strengthened without an adequate discussion of […]