Sunday, November 18, 2018

Monkeys, Darwin and Sanskrit

Vānara (Sanskrit: वानर) . This word can be found in many Indian languages, and most commonly refers to monkeys in colloquial meaning.

However, closer examination suggests something interesting.

Vānara refers to a group of people living in forests (Vān - forest, nara - human). Sanskrit clearly seems to suggest that the monkeys, are, in fact, humans, that live in the forest. Why else would only monkeys be referred to "nara"? Let us take some examples of other animals living in the forest and their Sanskrit names.

Lion सिंहः Siṁhaḥ
Tiger व्याघ्रः Vyāghraḥ
Pig वराहः Varāhaḥ

It is clear that only monkeys are alluded to as nara ( human). To me it evident, from this very word, that our forefathers knew, thousands of years ago, that man came from monkeys.

Did someone just say that Darwin was the first, who discovered that man came from monkeys?

PS: There is still a raging debate whether Darwin indeed had said that man came from monkeys

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