Desiderata
- Local, reliable access
- Redundancy
- Easy reproducibility (mech!)
- Ramanuja - kAnchI to kAshmIr
- Completeness
- ArthashAstra discovered in 20th CE keraLa
See - Post electronics archive here.
Reason
One should be able to assess the opinion of the ancients accurately; or risk them being misrepresented to the downfall of the present.
This misrepresentation can happen by
- interpolations
- missing texts leading to
- fake claims of authority.
- dismissal of valid citations.
Memorizing vs understanding
यथा खरश् चन्दन-भार-वाही
भारस्य वेत्ता न तु चन्दनस्य।
एवं हि शास्त्राणि बहून्य् अधीत्य
अर्थेषु मूढाः खरवद् वहन्ति ॥