Thoughts about "purity"
Thoughts from an interesting conversation with Ravi (with whom conversations are always interesting)...what is "pure"?
I think "pure" is just a point, a bend in a flowing river, that some people think is the end. But evolution, like a river, flows on, and "purity" is not definable in terms that are absolute.
If the Aryans came down into India and settled down in some villages in north or south India, at what point do they become a "pure" something-or-the-other community? And how were they impure before?
If we are talking about the purity of a language, which has evolved over centuries, at what point is it pure, and when does it start becoming impure?
I always think that calling something "pure" and trying to shut off all "outside" influences is counter-productive. A "pure" community marrying only within itself becomes, not pure, but inbred, and defective.
If we shut all the windows of a room and exclude the breezes, the air inside does not remain pure...it becomes stale.
I think "pure" is just a point, a bend in a flowing river, that some people think is the end. But evolution, like a river, flows on, and "purity" is not definable in terms that are absolute.
If the Aryans came down into India and settled down in some villages in north or south India, at what point do they become a "pure" something-or-the-other community? And how were they impure before?
If we are talking about the purity of a language, which has evolved over centuries, at what point is it pure, and when does it start becoming impure?
I always think that calling something "pure" and trying to shut off all "outside" influences is counter-productive. A "pure" community marrying only within itself becomes, not pure, but inbred, and defective.
If we shut all the windows of a room and exclude the breezes, the air inside does not remain pure...it becomes stale.