BEYOND A DEAD LANGUAGE - THE SANSKRIT

BEYOND A DEAD LANGUAGE THE SANSKRIT


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INTRODUCTIN This e book is a tribute to Sanskrit language. Many benefits of this language have been written in this book. Sanskrit has given us many things, which have been described. Different challenges which are being faced by this language in today’s era are also described in this book.

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TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1............................................................................................................................................................................................4 HOLD MY FINGER ..............................................................................................................................................................................4 CHAPTER 2............................................................................................................................................................................................8 LET’S WALK TOGETHER ................................................................................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 3.........................................................................................................................................................................................11 REALITIES AND MYTHS ABOUT SANSKRIT .....................................................................................................................11

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CHAPTER 1 HOLD MY FINGER

Has any body read the above written alphabets in his or her life time? YES, those who have read or learnt the HINDI or SANSKRIT language must have read these alphabets which are written in devnagari script. But very few people know that these alphabets are not just alphabets and they serve more than that of alphabets.Not many people know that these alphabets have distinct way of pronunciation, not the same way in which today most of the schools are being teaching the pronunciation of these to the kids in their schools. Below is a video which is showing the method of pronouncing these alphabets through the use of Maheshwari sutra(formula),compiled by Panini.

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If you remember,then you may come to know that we all had studied a few lines about the story of VEDAS,which was written in the N.C.E.R.T books of history of sixth standard. Not enough was written about it, but there was a description about the composition of the vedas,the types of vedas and their time of origion. We came to know that the VEDAS are one of the oldest books of the world, written in SANSKRIT language. Out of four types of Vedas,the RIG VEDA was the oldest one which was composed 3500 years ago. Now one of the most ASTONISHING THING about the RIG VEDA which we read was that,the HYMNS of RIG VEDA was RECITED AND HEARD rather than READ. The RIG VEDA was written down after several centuries,when it was composed. Thus this was a little information was given about the VEDAS. But I think THE HISTORIANS HAD FORGOT TO WRITE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF RECITING AND HEARING OF THE HYMENS RATHER THAN READ. Were the people of Vedic times, who composed these hymens were not aware about any form of writing skills or the scripts or were there some other reasons? Have you ever studied the subjects of HINDI or SANSKRIT during your school days? If you had studied then you may have come to know that in the grammar books of these subjects, it was told that where are the origin points of different alphabets of HINDI and SANSKRIT in our mouth and throat. Sounds of some alphabets come from throat,some of the alphabets are sounded only through the nose,some alphabets are spoken with the help of lips,some alphabets are spoken from the tongue etc.

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We the students, were supposed to learn the places of origin of different alphabets in our mouth,throat and nose. Then after learning we had to write in our exams. But during Vedic times, these alphabets in the form of Sanskrit hymns,may had been actually practiced for producing the sounds from various parts of the mouth, throat and nose. If the hymens were written in the form of manuscripts scriptures, then the essential purpose of evolving the sounds from our mouth,nose and throat may had lost. There are many teachers of HINDI and SANSKRIT in U.P and various parts of India who pronounce the alphabets of Hindi and Sanskrit in a distinct way,according to the point of origin of the sounding alphabet. Now,if you apply on yourself, this formula of pronouncing the different alphabets of Hindi and Sanskrit according to their points of origion in your mouth,nose and throat then you will come to know that how beneficial it is to speak the words according to the places of alphabets. FOR EXAMPLE, the place of sounding of A,E,I,O,U(VOWELS) is from the throat. So,if you try to speak these alphabets from your throat by inhaling the air inside your lungs and then lifting your diaphragm upward before you speak,then you will definitely feel about the confidence when you speak. When this technique is applied from childhood, then it results in to a well confident personality after practicing for few years. Beside this, most of the ancient religions apart from Hinduism,like Jainism,Bhudhism etc. are heavily influenced by this language. Scriptures of most of the mentioned religions are written in Sanskrit language only. But this doesn't means that the sanskrit is the language of different religions only. Great works in the field of science,mathematics,astrology and astronomy have been done only in Sanskrit language in ancient India. Sushrut,maha rishi Charak, Patanjali,Aryabhatt, Chanakya,Panini etc who were pioneer and master in their fields of human surgery,Ayurvedic medicines, mathematics, sciences, grammar etc. have compiled their works in Sanskrit language. This is not the end point of this language. Vast literature written in this language is considered as a great wealth.The literature in Sanskrit language covers most sought out epics like Ramayana and Mahabharata.Beside this it covers every aspect of life and nature. Anyone can understand the vastness of the Sanskrit literature by knowing the fact that the word "elephant" has more than one hundred meanings in Sanskrit language.

Sanskrit has become a matter of research in many western countries.The interest of people of these countries in Sanskrit is increasing day by day due to various benefits associated with this language. Many benefits of Sanskrit has been discussed in my next post"Let's walk together".

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Please refer to the next blog for more mind blowing facts about Sanskrit language. So it is the high time to hold the finger of Sanskrit and lets try to walk with it.

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CHAPTER 2 LET’S WALK TOGETHER In the previous post, HOLD MY FINGER, it has been told to hold the finger of SANSKRIT. YES, EXACTLY! I am that very SANSKRIT. I may hope, that you would be ready for holding my finger now. WHAT?? Are you still afraid? But why? For long words? And for meanings? O.k. it means you are afraid of longer words. You also don't know the meanings of Sanskrit words. First of all see the video below, and then after that I will discuss about myself.

In this video,the child is trying to explain some of the benefits of mine (the Sanskrit language). At the same time, she is telling that learning Sanskrit is not very difficult. The reason told by her for easiness, is that while during learning the shloks of Sanskrit, the rhyming and the melodious words of Sanskrit shloks are very helpful and full and excitement. Now as a child it may be easy to learn the Sanskrit shloks because children like rhyming words while

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reciting. But what about the adults or who don't have the habbit of enjoying rhymes and poems? I may tell you that if you enjoy mathematics and you love ALGEBRA, even then you can develop an interest in learning me. There are various sutras(formulae), just like the formulae of Algebra which have been used for making new words for me. STORY OF MY BIRTH

It is said that during 2nd century B.C. I was born within the Indo-European races of Iran,Asia minor and in the north-western part of ancient INDIA. But genetically, still it is not confirmed that ,actaually who these people were? It is just an imagination, that I am assumed to be a child of Indo- European group of people who were called ARYANS. The languages of these people are known as the root language of India and Iran. The RIG VEDA is the oldest ancient evidence among these languages which supports my (sanskrit) presence at that time. From the time of my birth up till today, many more languages were born, developed,changed their forms and many of them ultimately perished. But I have never changed my shape and form since from my birth. I am the same Sanskrit which existed thousands of years ago. There is only one difference.The difference is that during the times of VEDAS, there existed VEDIC SANSKRIT, which was the language of the vedas. Many languages were born after hundreds and thousands years of my birth. Many of them did not exist for longer and got extinct. Many have changed their shapes. ENGLISH LANGUAGE is one of the best examples.This language is just like my child because it was born merely 700 to 800 years ago. The shape and form of this language has been changed so much that todays English is very much different from the English, which was spoken at the time of Shakespeare. But I am very much the same Sanskrit, that existed thousands of years ago.

WHERE I STAND TODAY

But in todays time my influence has been decreased. Some times it feels very nice to me, when I see many people and organisations are trying to revive my presence in different parts of the world. But some times I feel very bad,when I see many people having developed a sense racial hatred towards me in my own country.

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Where as, many EUROPEON countries such as Germany,Ireland etc, having understood my importance are once again holding my finger and they are trying to walk with me. Many universities and schools in these countries are imparting the knowledge of Sanskrit. Even U.S.A is also not lagging behind for reaping the benefits from me. As many would be knowing that the ALGORITHMS used in computers for computing is not in English but it in Sanskrit. U.S. is making its super computer which is based on Sanskrit. NASA is also doing research on the ancient Sanskrit manuscripts which were written thousands of years ago.

MY POSITION IN INDIA

There appears a disappointment on my face when I see myself and my position in India. Various state governments in India have adopted a policy of hatred towards me. Many leaders are engaged in propagating that the progress of Sanskrit would stop the growth of their very own state language. These leaders don't know that most of the Indian languages are born from me and it is not possible that any mother can be jealous of her child. Can any mother stop the growth and progress of her child? Are Germans and Americans fools, who are engaging their selves with me(Sanskrit), so as to one day I could dominate their language and culture? No, they are not the fool ones but they are very intelligent people and they have come to know about the benefits of walking with me .

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CHAPTER 3 REALITIES AND MYTHS ABOUT SANSKRIT

There are many grammar books on sanskrit written by various by various sages and authors.The different books of grammar have included alternative,different and irregular practices of words and carried these words up to a long way.But these grammar books did not allow any new words to be spread.In this way they gave birth to a new language called Sanskrit,which was regulated through various rules and was very pure as this language had no place for new words except for the grammatical words from its own grammar. The word Sanskrit has been described in the great Epic known as Ramayana. The great grammarian, Panini has descibed the rules and regulations of sanskrit grammar in his book known as Ashtadhyai.This book was most probably written in 4th century B.C. The impact of his work can be seen in various word conjunctions. Some writers say that the Sanskrit language is an artificial language not a natural language and this language was developed by brahmins with the help of the vedic language. According to these writers, with the help of the vedic language,the brahmins modified their prakrit(natural) language in to a beautiful language known as Sanskrit. They did like this in the response of a beautiful literature written by the Buddhists in Pali language. But we must not give so much importance to the grammatical importance of Sanskrit language and also we should not take Sanskrit as an artificial language as stated above.

In reality,during initial vedic literature and upnishads composition,there was a continuos development of vedic language.This is also clear that the language of Panini's grammar is not very different from the languages of brahmins and ancient upnishads. So,actually it is very clear that sanskrit does not show any sign, on the basis of which it can be said as an artificial language. It is clear from above that the grammatical Sanskrit is mainly a more refined part of vedic language. The English language which is spoken and written in Britain in today's era is full of complexities and plurality both whereas in India casteism, hereditory pride and regionalism played a significant role in making language complexities more deep. It is also clear that Sanskrit was a more civilized language for Brahmins. Yet the Brahmin religion was growing day by day but from the 5th century B.C onward Brahmins faced a fierce competition from the new religions,especially Buddhism and Jainism.What ever has been said about Buddhism, it is realized that it has not been said to oppose the principles of the religion of Brahmins.

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But it has been said only to depict the qualities of a true Brahmin.For example, in Brahminism, the eligibility or position of a person in the society is decided by the birth of a person whereas in Buddhist subject it was tried that the place of birth must be taken by the qualities of a person. Buddhist text books confirms this principle of Brahmins that the duty of imparting the education to common man was done by the Brahmins, that too in Sanskrit language.The people of all varnas or groups like vaishyas and kshatriyas took education from Brahmin teachers.Sanskrit was a language not only for grammar but it was also a language of science,astronomy and mathematics.From the evidences it is clear that the Brahmins continuosly used Sanskrit as medium for teaching and religious purposes. Some thinkers have a view that Sanskrit was not a language of daily use among the Brahmins. Nor at the time of Panini not even before that.But this point does not has any support or evidence. Panini has used a word "Bhasha"(language) for "Sanskrit".Naturally he means a language of daily use. Beside this Panini has made such rules,that will become meaningless if they are not implied to the words of daily use in a language. Patanjali,another great Sanskrit grammarian has remarked that the aim of the grammar is not only to construct new words but its main purpose is to tell how to use the words in a more efficient and pure way. People in this world can express their views about a particular subject with proper words without seeing any grammar.

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BEYOND A DEAD LANGUAGE - THE SANSKRIT

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