I think the following announcement provides an opportunity to scholars to counter the frauds perpetrated in the name of a fictitious category called 'myth':

FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT OF CALL FOR PAPERS AND PARTICIPATION

World Association for Vedic Studies (WAVES)

(A Multidisciplinary Academic Society - Tax Exempt in the US) 

Eleventh International Conference on  “Vedic Living in a Modern World”July 31-Aug 3, 2014

In Collaboration with Maharishi University of Managament, Fairfield, Iowa at Maharishi University of Managament, Fairfield, Iowa

Web site: www.wavesinternational.net

About the Conference

The Conference aims at bringing together individuals and organizations having academic interest in diverse areas of Indic / Vedic Studies. This includes independent scholars, academics, writers, journalists, media persons, artists and others interested in Indic / Vedic Studies. 

World Association for Vedic Studies, known by its acronym ‘WAVES’ is a multidisciplinary academic society that welcomes persons engaged or interested in studying any field of Vedic / Indic studies. The word ‘Vedic’ is used in a wide sense to include not only the Vedas but also the past, present and future of traditions and societies based on Vedas.

Previous conferences include the following: “Int’l Conference on Revisiting Indus - Saraswati Civilization & Ancient India”, Atlanta (GA), October 4-6, 1996, “International Conference on New Perspectives on Vedic & Ancient Indian Civilization”, Los Angeles (CA), August 7-9, 1998, “International Conference on Contemporary Views on Indian Civilization”, Stevens Institute of Technology, Hoboken, (NJ), July 28-30, 2000, “India’s Contributions and Influences in the World”, University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth (MA) July 12-14, 2002. “India’s Intellectual Traditions In Contemporary Global Context”, July 9– 11, 2004, University of MD, Washington, DC area. “Vedic Ideas for Global Harmony and Peace in the Modern Context”, July 8-10, 2006, University of Houston, Houston, Texas. “Vedic heritage for Global Welfare of Next Generation”, June 27-29, 2008, Orlando, FL, “Vedic Knowledge for Civilizational Harmony”, August 4-7, 2010, Trinidad, West Indies, “Varna Jati and Kula – A conference on India’s caste system”, July 29-31, Piscataway, NJ, “Vedic Cultures –Epic and Pauranic Phase”, Dartmouth (MA), July 13-15, 2012.

These conferences included participants from Australia, Austria, Bali (Indonesia), Belarus, Belgium, Canada, Caribbean, China, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Nepal, Netherlands, Surinam, UK, and USA, USSR, etc. 

WAVES conferences in the past eighteen years have always been a meeting point of leading scholars, researchers and research / teaching institutions, dedicatedly deliberating on Vedic studies. 

WAVES 2014 is scheduled for three days. The deliberations in the conference will cover a wide array invited lectures and paper presentation sessions around the various themes.

Poster sessions, special sessions focused on Vedic sciences and research, youth committee presentations, Hindu temples presentations, Non-roman script Digital technologies for web representation and online education of Vedic studies, Audio-visual exhibits, Practical Vedic religious performances and learning workshop, exhibits and book-shops are other interesting parts of the conference. 

Suggested topics can cover a wide area including: Insider / Outsider perspectives on Vedic culture, Origin of Vedic knowledge, Changing paradigms on Vedic knowledge, etc.

SUBMISSION OF PAPERS

Papers on any aspect of Indian studies may be sent for presentation. Papers will include topics on Archaeology & Anthropology; History & Social Sciences; Language, Literature & Linguistics; Science & Technology; Vedas; Upanishads; Smirities; Puranas; Epics – Ramayana & Mahabharat, Gita; Contemporary Works and Issues; Dharma – Shastras, Ethics & Rituals; Agriculture, Plant Science & Ecology; Inter-Religious Dialogue; Health, Yoga & Martial arts; Business, Economics & Administration, etc. The proceedings will be published before the conference. Therefore, you are requested to send an electronic copy of your completed paper by the due date or earlier. The presentations are required to be in Power Point format. Direct reading of papers is strongly discouraged.

Please send the abstract (about 200 words) of your paper to be presented to the organizing committee at waves.conference@gmail.com or to the address given below on or before the deadline. If you have any questions, you may contact any member of the Organizing committee near your area. You are requested to contact them through e-mail. 

Deadlines 

For receiving abstracts: March 1, 2014;

(Acceptance will be notified through e-mail by April 15, 2014)

For full length papers: May 30, 2014

Main Features

1. Keynote Addresses 2. Paper Reading Sessions

3. Invited talks 4. Panel Discussions

5. Public Lectures 6. Cultural Programs

7. Academic symposia on several aspects of Indian Studies 8. Parallel Youth programs 

9. Poster Presentations 10. Community workshops

Patrons

MUM 

Infinity Foundation, Princeton, NJ

Local Organizing Committee 

Candace Badgett, Fairfield Iowa

David Scharf , MUM.

Conference Organizing Committee

General Chairman, to be announced

Dhirendra Shah, siaram@aol..com

Sashi Kejriwal, sashi@kejriwal.net

Aditi Banerjee, banerjeea@gmail.com

Ravi Joshi, ravi@medhajournal.com

Conference Program Committee

Dr. T. S. Rukmani, Concordia University

Dr. Shashi Tiwari, University Of Delhi, shashit_98@yahoo.com

Dr. Girish Nath Jha, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Dr. R. Puligandla, University of Toledo

Dr. Madan Goel, University of Western Florida

Background

In Hindu tradition, I do not know any category called 'myth' in any narrative account. The closest synonym of 'myth' in Indian sprachbund is pravādḥa meaning 'litiguous language'; cognate: प्रवाद [pravāda] m Popular talk, rumor (Marathi). Myth seems to be a fraudulent invented category by academics of dubious distinction.

These rascal myth-makers are indulging in pravādḥa for ulterior motive of filling their academic time and their academic desire for 'publication' and 'self-glorification' and certainly not intended to advance knowledge through workshops of the Kozhikode type. I would like to know from the participants of the Kozhikode workshop, what they learnt from the 80-odd academics.

I think there should be a law to regulate the litiguous behavior of such academics trying to debunk hindu vedic traditions and heritage. Let us look at the glosses related to the subject of narratives:

पुराण purāṇa, "of ancient times"

Itihāsa, "historical event"; from iti + ha + āsa, lit. "so indeed it was"

itihAsa purANAbhyA.n vedaM samupabR^i.nhayet (MBh.)

Eighteen types of lores or narratives are noted: अष्टादशन् विद्या the eighteen kinds of learning or lores; अङ्गानिवेदाश्चत्वारोमीमांसान्यायविस्तरः।धर्मशास्त्रंपुराणंचविद्याह्येताश्चतुर्दश॥आयुर्वेदोधनुर्वेदोगान्धर्वश्चेतितेत्रयः।अर्थशास्त्रंचतुर्थंतुविद्याह्यष्टादशैवतु॥

37 purāṇa were recited pariplava nights As'vamedha the participants were listening to old legend, a distinguished from itivṛtta (history), ākhyāyika (fables), udārahaṇam (illustrative stories), dharmaśāstram  (precepts of dharma) and arthaśāstram (political science). These were sources of knowledge.

Writers on Rhetoric usually divide prose com- position into कथा and आख्यायिका and make a distinction between them. Thus they regard Bāṇa's हर्षचरित as an आख्यायिका and कादंबरी as a कथा; according to Daṇḍin, however, (Kāv.1.28) there is no distinction between the two; तत्कथाख्यायिकेत्येकाजातिःसंज्ञाद्वयाङ्किता (Apte. lexicon)

उदाहारः 1 An example or illustration.-2 The beginning of a speech.

The guy is into debunking Veda using Vedic Workshops and comparative mythology as vehicles.

I don't know if anyone heard Witzel's lecture on Vedic and Asian mythology on 10 Jan. 2014 in Kozhikode. http://ivw2014.org/images/IVW-Program-Format.pdf One can guess that this follows his recommended 'strategies'.

Take his paper as listed here :- http://www.people.fas.harvard.edu/~witzel/How-to-Enter.pdf Strategies In Translating A Bråhmana Text are outlined. I don't know if he has deployed these strategies in the 5 mandalas translation of Rigveda into German (which have appeared as of Jan. 2014) together with other co-author academics.

If there are any refutations of such motivated misrepresentations of Vedic traditions, they are welcome to present their views in the forthcoming WAVES 2014 (announced).

S. Kalyanaraman

January 23, 2014