Chapman University

Faculty Member, Religous Studies

Adjunct Professor

Chapman University, Wilkinson College, Dept. of Religious Studies

Thesis Title: Cognitive and Cultural Metaphors of Wholeness in the Ṛgveda

About

The concept of wholeness permeates ancient Indian philosophy perhaps evidenced in the earliest literature of the Ṛgveda Saṃhitā. Using the linguistic methodologies of the historical and comparative method, lexical semantics, and cognitive linguistics, the study aims to identify the metaphors for wholeness in the Ṛgveda. Specifically, how was the notion of wholeness expressed in the lexico-semantics of this sacred corpus text? Additionally, can linguistic methodology identify the various cognitive and cultural metaphors for wholeness in both the Ṛgveda and the earlier Proto-Indo-European (PIE) lexicon? The research also explores the semantic contrast to the notion of wholeness, the concept of otherness, in both Vedic Sanskrit and PIE language.

The main chapters of the research are outlined thematically with the first three core chapters exploring how the notion of wholeness might have been cognitively expressed as metaphor for words that connote oneness, sameness, individuation, and inclusiveness. The following chapter outlines how the concept of otherness was in semantic contrast to that of wholeness in the lexicon of the Ṛgvedic vocabulary. The final two chapters explore how metaphors for wholeness were culturally expressed in the Ṛgveda. The first of these chapters focuses on the Sanskrit word sarva- as a cultural metaphor for wholeness that denoted health and wellness. The last chapter outlines how the notion of otherness became a cultural metaphor for hostility and falsehood.

Using the theory of semantic fields and semantic continua, the work is congruent with current scholarship in the field of Vedic studies. The research is a continuation of works by other Vedic scholars who have created semantic fields for concepts such as beautiful (Oldenberg), heat (Blair), light, soul, vision (Bodewitz), money (Hintze), man, woman (Kazzazi), and femininity (Monc Taracena). While the work does not claim to identify every metaphor for wholeness and otherness in the Ṛgveda, it strives to introduce certain metaphors that express these concepts in the Ṛgveda. The intention of this research is to reveal a deeper cognitive understanding behind the language of this sacred text, as well as to offer possible insights into the early Vedic culture.

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