Samskrit Language, India's Invaluable Treasure.. How To Keep It Alive

 4)Sanskrit Language, India's 

Invaluable Treasure... How To Keep It Alive

I'm 85.  I've undergone a 4-semester course on Sanskrit language a couple of years ago, conducted by Seva Bhatati. A wonderful course that familiarises you with the 'deva bhasha' fairly in-depth. The course

honours you with the title 'Kovida'. I passed in the Uththama grade.

I gave the above introduction to claim some authority over what I'm going to write below.

I deeply love the language. Perhaps it is the oldest language of the world since the Vedas and Upanishats are written in that language.

Why was Sansrit not  adopted as India's national language for communication amongst all its subjects, when all spoken Indian languages are deeply related to it having imported freely words from it ( maybe in different degrees) Even Tamil which claims to be the oldest language of India has words from Sanskrit, in a distorted form due to the former's limited number of alphabets. e. g. 'choukiyam' for 'soukhyam'.

My perception is the following. The reason for not adopting it is that its presently not a 'spoken' language of India. It was perhaps one, once upon a time, maybe before the moghals started ruling India. To learn a language the natural way is to be born in a family where it is spoken. The next preferred way is for it to be taught COMPULSORILY from at least the 1st standard. To do that we need approval from a MAJORITY of citizens across India in order to conform to our DEMOCRATIC credentials.

The reason why Sanskrit is to be taught from the 1st standard is that its GRAMMAR is extremely complex. Panini the great grammarian of Sanskrit went deep into the concept of grammar. No living language is anywhere near Sanskrit in complexity. For example

1) the division of nouns as singular, DUAL and plural. 

2) the division of all nouns as male, female and GENDERLESS. That too while refering to inanimate objects

3)The 'vibhaktis' ( 'cases')which are 8 in number being DIFFERENT depending on the gender, cluster ( singular, dual, plural) of the noun to which they are attached. This is  most DIFFICULT to learn. Needs great memory power.

4) The segregation of all verbs as 'Atmanepati' and 'Parasmepati' without a clear criterion.

5) Verb endings in the three tenses being dependent on gender, the arbitrary segregation of 'atmanepati' and 'parasmepati'.

The list above is not exhaustive.

In short one's MEMORY POWER is what makes you an expert in this language. ( The positive aspect about this onservation is that mastery of Sanskrit language increases your memory power manyfold. Perhaps those who have mastered the language are automatically protected against Alzheimers!!!)

The great authors of our numerous puranas, religious texts, Sanskrit literary texts and innumerable ancient works on different aspects of life and universe are proven intellectuals. 'Intellect ' comprises of logic and memory. The emphasis on memory implicit in mastery of Sanskrit language may be one reason for ancient India's spectacular contributions to Mathematics, Astronomy and many other fields predating by several centuries the western discoveries.

The major difficulty that we face in re-introducing Sanskrit as a spoken language of India is the intricate grammar of the language. My viewpoint is that we have not allowed the language to EVOLVE over the thousands of years it existed. Every other spoken language has EVOLVED over time to reach its present state. For instance English. Its difficult to understand Old English. If we had let Sanskrit evolve over the thousands of years it existed it would've got rid of all the unnecessary complexities enumerated earlier in this note. For example, to mention a few...

1) The verbs need not depend on the non-unitary state of the subject or its gender.

2) The 'vibhaktis' ( case) also need not also depend on the above aspects of the subject.

3) The qualifiers of nouns need not also depend on the state or gender of noun.

and so on.

In this context it may be noted that in Malayalam ( which I know well being my mothertongue ) the above 3 rules are obeyed and hence compared with most other Indian languages its grammar is extremely simple.

One big advantage though of NOT letting Sanskrit evolve is that we can understand the old scriptures/ literature EXACTLY as they were intended to convey.

Hence my recommendation is to impose Sanskrit learning for Hindus as COMPULSARY from the 1st Standard in all schools. It can be optional for those who belong to other faiths.

....Permesh Nair