Please answer these questions. Please add relevant Wikilinks.
After that we'll start drafting the post
Q: When did you start working on this Upanishad project? How did the idea come to your mind?
- It was User:Redtigerxyz's (an expert on Hinduism articles in Wikipedia) suggestion to me to collaborate with him to start writing on 89 Upanishads out of the remaining Upanishads in the canon of 108 Muktika Upanishads. Initially, starting from early January 2015, we completed 20 articles, all of which have appeared on the DYK. As Redtigerxyz took a break to pursue his work in real life, I continued writing and completed 10 more articles on my own which also appeared on DYK. See here [1] As there was an issue related to the Varaha Upanishad, I invited User:Ms Sarah Welch,
an academic, an Indophile, very knowledgeable in Hindu philosophy and fully conversant with Sanskrit,to review. On her suggestion the article was withdrawn from DYK and substantially revised with large inputs from her and then posted on GA. After the article was upgraded to Good Article status, it has been reposted on DYK for approval. I then invited Ms Sarah Welch in October 2015 to collaborate with me to complete all the remaining articles to be posted on Wikipedia, which she readily agreed. In the meantime, I requested User:Dr. Blofeld to create a template for the 108 Upanishads to monitor the completion of all remaining articles. Nvvchar. 09:15, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- The Upanishads are a fascinating accomplishment of human mind and spirit, as important a treasure of humanity as any from ancient Greece, China or Egypt/Israel regions. I read the wikipedia articles on them in late 2014 to early 2015, found them to be weak and largely unsourced. Instead of complaining, I decided to volunteer time to improve the quality of wikipedia articles on these important treasures of human mind, some of which were likely composed between 800 to 600 BCE. That is how it began. Small steps. A big boost of encouragement came from User: Joshua Jonathan, who cheered me along, welcomed my efforts and guided me along. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 20:35, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- (@Nvvchar: I am striking out a few adjectives/comments on me. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 20:35, 5 March 2016 (UTC))
Q: Tell in details about the Upanishads-related works you have done?
- From October 2015, in collaboration with Sarah, all the remaining articles have been completed thus showing them all in blue in the template. Most of these 59 articles have also appeared on DYK,[2] and some are pending approval and posting.Nvvchar. 09:15, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- I started working on the Principal Upanishads, around January 2015, unaware of the efforts on minor Upanishads by @Redtigerxyz and @Nvvchar. I had updated the 13 Principal Upanishads by mid 2015, and then worked on each of the four Vedas. The invitation of @Nvvchar in October 2015 re-ignited and accelerated the effort to complete the minor Upanishads. We located Sanskrit manuscripts, scholarly sources for each, and then together created and completed articles on 65 of these historically significant texts, in about 5 months. As @Nvvchar notes, many of the articles, particularly important as they are to the foundations of Hinduism and to appreciating South Asian/SE Asian history and peoples, appeared on wikipedia's main page DYK column. Some have already been peer reviewed and transformed to Good Articles wiki collection from the team effort, plus the critical review and encouragement from wikipedia article reviewers. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 20:35, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
Q What was special in this work? Do you consider your project a success? if so, why?
- Each article was a challenge. Finding the right sources in acceptable English translations matching with the original Sanskrit text, was essential which Redtigerxyz and Sarah Welch with their knowledge of Sanskrit could ensure.Nvvchar. 09:15, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- Wikipedia is now the only encyclopedia with a complete collection of articles, with summary from recent scholarship, on all 108 Upanishads. Wikipedia's collection includes, where known, the history of each Upanishad, a diversity of scholarly views, interpretation of the texts by scholars, a content summary for curious readers, and links to references for the advanced readers. The collection may be special and interesting as a good starting point for those interested in these ancient texts, and to those who are curious about the way of life called Hinduism, traditions within it and some information on related Indian religions. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 22:52, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
Q: What were the challenges?
- Upanishads, as a theological subject, presents an abstract philosophy of Ataman (Soul), renunciation and moksha or salvation. It had to be presented on the Wikipedia in a language understandable to the lay man. I suppose we have achieved this objective. Nvvchar. 09:15, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- There were several challenges. First, the manuscripts. Many of the Upanishads have survived into the modern times in somewhat different versions. Finding and including as many as we could find was a challenge. The 108 Upanishads were composed over a 2,000+ year period, starting with some composed around or before 700 BCE, to some composed around or after the 15th-century CE. The texts range from archaic Sanskrit to modern era Sanskrit. Finding scholarly translations and scholarly analysis of these important theological and philosophical documents, then summarizing different sources in a neutral way, without copyright violations, is a challenge faced by all wikipedia contributors. Another special aspect of these articles, is the language gap challenge. Some Upanishads, for example, are written as poems, where each verse is diligently built to perfection, with exactly same number of syllables in every line, metered, resonating like a beautiful song. It is a pleasure to read these Upanishads, reflect on them, but difficult to transpose them into English with the same meaning and flow, given the no original research content guideline of wikipedia. We must do the best we can, to the best of our abilities. It is this challenge that made the project interesting and special. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 22:52, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
Q: What are your future plans?
- Four of these Upanishads have appeared as Good Articles. We propose to take all the remaining 104 articles to that status during this year. Some of them are pending approval now. Our plan is also to cover subjects related to other religions of India such as Jainism and Buddhism, and we have made a beginning with Umasvati, an ancient scholar in Jain religion. Some of the historical texts (such as Manasollasa) and ancient women philosophers (like Gargi Vachaknavi and Maitreyi) and famous temples in India (like Badami cave temples are being covered.Nvvchar. 09:15, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- I admire @Nvvchar's optimism, but wonder if we can get all 104 to GA this year, that would be 2 to 3 GAs every week for the rest of the year. I will help him along. In parallel, I am thinking about a suggestion and the encouragement from User:Dr. Blofeld – the celebrated wiki-editor with one of the highest number of GAs, DYKs and new articles in wikipedia's history. User:Dr. Blofeld suggests we work towards creating a WP:Good topic dedicated to the Upanishads. That could be interesting. Another parallel goal is to update or create articles on texts such as the Puranas and major Sanskrit texts of Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism, one's that were inspired, in part, by the Upanishads or are related. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 22:52, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
Feel free to add your own questions.
- (for WP:RS see the Upanishad article)
Q: What are the Upanishads?
- The Upanishads are one of the four layers of texts found in the Vedas. They are the youngest "knowledge layer" of the Vedas, full of speculations and spiritual themes, that partly shaped the diverse traditions within Hinduism. A common theme of the 108 Upanishads is "Know yourself", which the Oxford University professor and German Indologist Max Muller expressed as follows,
There is not what could be called a philosophical system in these Upanishads. They are, in the true sense of the word, guesses at truth, frequently contradicting each other, yet all tending in one direction. The key-note of the old Upanishads is "know thyself," but with a much deeper meaning than that of the γνῶθι σεαυτόν of the Delphic Oracle. The "know thyself" of the Upanishads means, know thy true self, that which underlines thine Ego, and find it and know it in the highest, the eternal Self, the One without a second, which underlies the whole world.
— Max Muller
Q: Why are they significant?
- The Upanishads are the foundation of Hindu philosophical thought and its diverse traditions. Of the Vedic corpus, they alone are widely known, and the central ideas of the Upanishads are at the spiritual core of Hindus. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 22:52, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
- @Titodutta: I have added my comments. Please let me know if there is anything else I can help with. Ms Sarah Welch (talk) 16:12, 6 March 2016 (UTC)