--- In cybalist@..., naga_ganesan@... wrote:
>
> While Mallory, Jarrige, Chakrabarti are not experts of
> Classical Sanskrit or the Vedas, professors Witzel (Harvard),
> Parpola, Staal (Berkeley) are world-class experts on Vedas.
VA: It is well known that such labels do not impress me much. Ptolemy
was also a world class expert and his geocentric theories eventually
collapsed. Besides, there are many Vedic experts in India who
outrightly reject what these 'world class experts' have to say on
Vedic India, on purely academic grounds. One ought to weigh the
arguments, not degrees.
>
> Here is a review of one of Chakrabarti's books. - N. Ganesan
>
VA: It is amusing to see you selectively quote a rather critical
review on Chakrabarti's works when a more wholesome review is
available online at
http://www.picatype.com/dig/dm2/dm2aa06.htm
Chakrabarti is also a 'world class expert' teaching at Cambridge (UK)
if that impresses you.
BTW, while reviewing Parpola's 'Decipherment', Chakrabarti (in RAS)
explains how Parpola's work are the staple diet of Dravidian
Nationalists. Does that annoy you?
Chakrabarti called Witzel a 'character' in the Outlook magazine - what
do you say of that?
In short, rather than brandishing labels, please tell me how you would
defend Witzel's theories against Talageri, although the latter is not
an 'International Vedic scholar'.