The study of
languages is always fascinating. For this reason alone, one can study or learn
Sanskrit. The members of the Samskritapriyah group are more than fascinated by
this language. They come from different disciplines and have had a long
lasting association with Sanskrit. This group, comprising scientists,
linguistic scholars, computer scientists, Indologists and above all, well
respected Sanskrit scholars, feels convinced that there are aspects to
Sanskrit not yet seen or observed in other languages.
While the lessons are
the primary means to learning the language, the information presented
alongside will more than arouse the curiosity of the reader. It must be
emphasized that the views expressed here are not intended to start a big
debate on the language itself. The group has carefully studied the information
presented here, for validity, correctness and authenticity. As a consequence,
the information should appeal to the scientific mind.
DISCLAIMER: The Views expressed
here are specific to the Samskritapriyah group and the Samskrit Education
Society, Chennai. IIT Madras, has only made available the web pages as a
courtesy to the group.
Sanskrit, earliest of the ancient
languages.
There is sufficient evidence available today to say that Sanskrit is
the oldest language of the world.
Among the current languages which
possess a hoary antiquity like Latin or Greek, Sanskrit is the only language
which has retained its pristine purity. It has maintained its structure and
vocabulary even today as it was in the past.
The oldest literature of the
world, the Vedas, the Puranas and the Ithihasas which relate to the Indian
subcontinent, are still available in the same form as they were known from the
very beginning. There are many many scholars in India who can interpret them
today, much the same way great scholars of India did years ago. Such
interpretation comes not by merely studying earlier known interpretations but
through a steady process of assimilation of knowledge linking a variety of
disciplines via Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is as modern as any
language can be
Sanskrit is very much a spoken language today. Even now, as we enter
the twenty first century, Sanskrit is spoken by an increasing number of
people, thankfully many of them young. Among the learned in India, it
continues to be a bridge across different states where people, in spite of
their own mother tongue, use it to exchange scholarly and even general
information relating to the traditions of the country. The News service
offered by the Government of India through television and radio continues to
feature daily Sanskrit program catering to local as well as
international news.
The grammar of Sanskrit has
attracted scholars world over. It is very precise and upto date and remains
well defined even today. Of late, several persons have expressed the opinion
that Sanskrit is the best language for use with computers. The Samskritapriyah
group does not subscribe to this view however.
Sanskrit is a Scientist's
paradise
Sanskrit, the vocabulary of which is derived from root syllables, is
ideal for coining new scientific and technological terms. The need to borrow
words or special scientific terms does not arise.
From the very beginning,
scientific principles have been hidden in the verses found in the Vedas,
Upanishads and the great epics of India. Concepts and principles seen in
present day mathematics and astronomy, are all hidden in the compositions and
treatises of many early scholars of the country. Some of these principles and
concepts will be shown in the information section that will accompany the
lessons.
Linguistics
The
precise and extremely well defined structure of Sanskrit, coupled with its
antiquity offers a number of areas in linguistics research including
Computational Linguistics. Also, Sanskrit distinguishes itself in that it is
the only known language which has a built-in scheme for pronunciation, word
formation and grammar.
Sanskrit, a language for
Humanity
Sanskrit is a language for humanity and not
merely a means for communication within a society. The oldest surviving
literature of the world, viz. the Vedas, encompass knowledge in virtually
every sphere of human activity. The fact that many profound principles
relating to human existence were given _expression_ through Sanskrit, continue
to amaze those who study Sanskrit. A Sanskrit Scholar understands the world
better than most others.
Sanskrit perfectly depicted (and
continues to depict) the social order of the day and offers clues to
historical developments within the Society. The language has been used
effectively describe the virtuous and the not so virtuous qualities of great
men, women, kings and queens, the philosophers and Saints of the
country.
Philosophy, Theology and
Sanskrit
Sanskrit abounds in Philosophy and Theology related issues. There are
so many words one encounters within Sanskrit that convey subtly differing
meanings of a concept that admits of only one interpretation when studied with
other languages. The language thus has the ability to offer links between
concepts using just the words.
Sanskrit for your
emotions
The
connoisseurs of the Sanskrit language know that it is the language of the
heart. Whatever be the emotion one wishes to display, be it devotion, love,
affection, fear, threat, anger, compassion, benevolence, admiration, surprise
and the like, the most appropriate words of Sanskrit can flow like a gushing
stream.
Some Unique Characteristics of
the language
Sanskrit is co-original with the Vedas.. The vedas cannot be studied
without the Vedangas, which are six in number. The first three deal with the
spoken aspects of the language. The first of these three, namely Siksha, tells
us how to pronounce the letters of the aksharas. Siksha divides the letters
into three classes- Swaras, Vyanjanas and Oushmanas. Depending on the effort
(Prayatna), place of origin in the body (Sthana), the force used (bala) and
the duration of time (Kala), the letters differ from each other in their
auditory quality and meaning.
Vyakarna, known as the grammar of
Sanskrit, is the second Vedanga which describes meaningful word formations.
This is usually referred to as Sphota or meaningful sound.
The third Vedanga, Niruktam,
describes certain fundamental root words used in the Vedas. Classification of
words into groups of synonyms is an example. For instance, approximately a
hundred and twenty synonyms for water are given in
Nirukta.
The fourth Vedanga, Chandas,
describes the formation of sentences in metrical form. Unlike English which
used a very limited number of metres (basically four), Sanskrit offers about
two dozen Vedic metres and innumerable conventional
metres.
The remaining two Vedangas, Kalpa
and Jyothisha deal with space and time.
The letters of Sanskrit
Sanskrit comprises fifty one
letters or aksharas. In other languages, we refer to the letters of the
alphabet of the language. We know that the word alphabet is derived from the
names of the first two letters of Greek. The term alphabet has no other
meaning except to denote the set of letters in the
language.
In contrast, the word "akshara" in
Sanskrit denotes something fundamental and significant. One of the direct
meanings of the word is that it denotes the set of letters of Sanskrit from
the first to the last. The word also means that the sound of the letter does
not ever get destroyed and thus signifies the eternal quality of the sound of
the letters. The consequence of this meaning is that the sound of a word is
essentially the sounds of the aksharas in the word, a concept which will help
simplify text to speech applications with computers.
There are two aspects of non
destruction in the above explanation. The first one refers to the phonetic
characteristics of the language, i.e., in any word, the aksharas retain their
sound. The second aspect of non destruction, amazingly, is that the aksharas
retain their individual meanings as well! To give an example, the word "guru"
consisting of the aksharas "gu" and "ru" stands for a teacher- one who dispels
darkness (ignorance) of the the mind (person). "gu" means darkness and "ru"
means the act of removal.
Now, aren't we beginning to see
something very interesting?
The popular Sanskrit language is
based on root syllables and words. Unlike the other languages of the world,
every word in Sanskrit is derived from a root. It is a well accepted fact that
all Indo-European languages have a common origin. On the basis of the above
mentioned fact that all the words of Sanskrit are traceable to specific roots,
a feature not seen in other languages, one can presume that Sanskrit is most
certainly the origin.
Massive, yet precise
One can learn Sanskrit purely for
the sake of the great epics of India. The Ramayana has 24,000 verses fully in
metre and the Mahabharata qualifies as the world's largest epic with 100,000
verses. The Mahabharata says, "what is here may be elsewhere, what is not here
is nowhere." The precision with which the verses convey information on so many
different aspects of life in a society, is a factor one must reckon as the
ultimate in composition.