LANGUAGE IN INDIA

Strength for Today and Bright Hope for Tomorrow

Volume 22:2 February 2022
ISSN 1930-2940

Editors:
         Sam Mohanlal, Ph.D.
         B. Mallikarjun, Ph.D.
         A. R. Fatihi, Ph.D.
         G. Baskaran, Ph.D.
         T. Deivasigamani, Ph.D.
         Pammi Pavan Kumar, Ph.D.
         Soibam Rebika Devi, M.Sc., Ph.D.

Managing Editor & Publisher: M. S. Thirumalai, Ph.D.

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Digitization and Instant Reference System for
Dharmašāstric Knowledge Tradition

Arooshi Nigam, M.Phil. Research Scholar and
Subhash Chandra, M.Phil., Ph.D.

Abstract

The tradition of Dharmašāstra (DS) carries extensive history and contains the treatises of Ancient Indian Social institutions. Dharma is a key concept of the text and it signifies the behavior that is considered to be in accordance with the ‘right way of living' and ‘path of righteousness’. DS covers a wide range of topics and is particularly divided into three major areas as ācāra (Customs), vyavahāra (stated legal procedures) and prāšyacita (penance/atonement). The texts of the DS are primarily written in the Sanskrit language and later translated into various languages. In the era of Information Technology, everyone wants to obtain and share information online only. DS texts are not only studied by Sanskrit scholars but also referred by historians, sociologists, political scientists, economists, law enthusiasts and linguists worldwide. As of yet, there is quite a lack of development done in this area where a person can search the information regarding the DS texts online for further research or in-depth studies. Therefore, the major objective of the paper is to digitize and develop an instant referencing system for DS texts. Therefore, for the above-stated purpose, the complete data of the Manusm?iti (MS) has been collected and digitalized in the Devanagari script in Unicode. Therefore, a web-based Information Extraction system is being developed. The proposed system will be able to take input in various scripts and generate the desired output in a similar way. The information can be searched by typing a ‘word’ or selecting the options from the listed DS concept menu. As a result, the complete reference of the searched words/ concepts inclusive of its bilingual (Hindi and English) translation and transliteration will be easily accessible to the user. The proposed system will be available online for public use at no cost. This system may play a very important role in teaching, learning and research because of the lack of existing effective online tools.

Keywords: Dharmašāstra (DS), Indian Knowledge Tradition, Information Extraction, Data Mining, Online Indexing, Manusm?iti (MS)

1. Introduction

DS is a collection of many theological texts, and it contains the treatises of Hinduism on Dharma (duties). Dharma is of primary importance in Indian philosophy, religion, social issues and community laws. Ancient Indian Social institutions represent a distinct tradition of civilization formation, society development and community living. The fundamental meaning of Dharma in DS is diverse and it includes accepted norms of behavior, procedures within a ritual, moral actions, righteousness and ethical attitudes, civil and criminal law, legal procedures and penance or punishment, and guidelines for proper and productive living. Olivelle (2004) has described the concept of Dharma which includes various social institutions discussed in DS literature such as marriage system, inheritance property, adoption rules and regulations, work contracts rules, judiciary system and process in case of disputes within the community and society, as well as personal choices such as food preferences, suspension of study and sexual demeanors etc.

This is only the beginning part of the article. PLEASE CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE IN PRINTER-FRIENDLY VERSION.


Ms. Arooshi Nigam
M.Phil. Research Scholar
Department of Sanskrit, Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi
Delhi-110007, India
arooshinigam@gmail.com


Dr. Subhash Chandra, M. Phil., Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
Department of Sanskrit, Faculty of Arts, University of Delhi
Delhi-110007, India
schandra@sanskrit.du.ac.in

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