Hinduism - What Are Instances Of The Use Of Mnemonics In Hindu Scriptures And Literature?


The study of the Vedas, the earliest Hindu holy scriptures, is the best-known example of a mnemonic technique.

The Vedas' power is traditionally derived not from the content of the words, but from the sounds themselves.

It was critical that the material be delivered without errors.

This presented a considerable obstacle.

The Vedas have been orally transmitted for over three thousand years, similar in all areas of India, thanks to an extensive set of learning processes that have kept the text constant.

This astonishing achievement was accomplished by remembering the text in several formats, including verses, individual words, pairs of words in sequential succession (ab, bc, cd, and so on), even backwards, according to some stories.

The ultimate goal of all of these patterns was to turn the text into pure sound, rather than words with clear syn tactic meaning, since the latter could be replaced.

Despite the fact that this endeavor was successful in maintaining holy sounds, the meanings of many of these words have become ambiguous, particularly for those that occur just once.

This was evident as early as the fifth century B.C.E., when Yaska, the grammarian, authored the Nirukta, which explained the meanings of several of these terms.


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