Our duty to Sanskrit is duty to Humanity

Anyone sincerely wishing India and the world to prosper spiritually should work for the revival of Sanskrit. The forgotten link language of our land from Kashmir to Kanyakumari is to be revived.

Its more than 150 years since Swami Vivekananda came to revive India’s spiritual genius, but are we listening to his words on Sanskrit. “Even the great Buddha made one false step when he stopped the Sanskrit language from being studied by the masses….Why do you not become Sanskrit scholars? Why do you not spend millions to bring Sanskrit education to all the castes of India? Sanskrit and prestige go together in India…In philology; our Sanskrit language is now universally acknowledged to be the foundation of all European languages.” – Swami Vivekananda

It is highly commendable that Govt wants to bring Sanskrit to CBSE schools, which actually brings with it lot of benefits. Wish that all schools in the country bring that glorious language of the past in which great minds of the past including philosophers Adi Sankara or Kings like Raja Bhoj or Mathematicians like Bhaskaracharya have written their knowledge for us.

When questioned as to why he was among those who sponsored Sanskrit as the official language of the Indian Union, Dr.Ambedkar said: “What is wrong with Sanskrit?”

It is the duty of the media to strengthen the hands of such nice initiatives of the government by highlighting the importance/significance/benefits of learning a language which is highly appreciated by many great minds world over. It’s too sad, we allowed ourselves to unify under a foreign language but at the expense of our divine language decay.

His Holiness Shri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamiji, 68th Pontiff of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam said, “The sounds of Sanskrit create beneficial vibrations of the nadis and strengthen the nervous system, thereby contributing to our health.” His holiness was described by Dalai Lama as ‘The Only monk of the century’. We must be asking why such spiritual and health benefits among others should be denied to our humanity by opposing a divine international language.

http://www.thehindu.com/2001/06/29/stories/0929022e.htm

Those opposing the language under any reason should know what St. James School in London is doing for its students, making Sanskrit mandatory since 1975. Listen to one of the student learning Sanskrit what he has to say, “I enjoy learning Sanskrit because I suppose we are one of the few schools that study it and I feel that it benefits you in lots of different ways. As you saw, it helps in improving pronunciation and diction. I would say the spiritual benefits are also quite high. There are lots of different stories like the Ramayana and Mahabharata and there are lots of different ways of describing what was happening in the world ages ago," said a student of the school.

http://www.ndtv.com/world-news/sanskrit-thriving-in-uk-schools-422066

Let us also remember that many country’s names are still maintaining Sanskrit names like ‘Pakistan, Tajikistan, Afghanistan, Kurdistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, etc.’ Stan is still used in Swedish language and may be in other European languages, just as Veta means ‘to know’ in Swedish or German languages. We need to understand how Sanskrit has been hailed as the mother of languages or international language. Many Universities across the world have dedicated Sanskrit Department where they research Sanskrit palm leaves from India. Robert Oppenheimer’s (Project Director for Atomic Bomb) learned Sanskrit to read the Bhagavad Gita in the original Sanskrit…

In this report below we see how the English educationists show great interest in preserving Sanskrit, “Some 2,000 rare Sanskrit manuscripts detailing momentous political and economic events across south Asia and written on fragile birch bark, palm leaf and paper are to form part of a major project undertaken by Cambridge University to document ancient civilisations by studying the language of the time, officially known as “linguistic archaeology.”” http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/cambridge-university-project-on-rare-sanskrit-manuscripts/article2610184.ece We must be asking why we have not spent few millions in bringing Sanskrit to all schools/castes? Even the schools which are run in the name of Swami Vivekananda do not seem to understand the importance of teaching Sanskrit to their students or are not teaching for some reasons known to them.

One of the greatest Chola kings, Raja Raja Chola who built the Bragadeeshwara Temple or Big Temple of Thanjavur 1000 years before had his first inscription written in Sanskrit. Tamil Nadu which celebrates the great king’s birthday should remember and develop this love for Sanskrit shown by Raja Raja Cholan. I share below some quotes on Sanskrit said by great souls who left great contributions to humanity on the importance of Sanskrit. Hope these quotes will inspire the readers to bring the glory that belongs to Sanskrit and India.

QUOTES ON SANSKRIT GREATNESS

Sanskrit is the language of all mankind; it is an international language and also the language of the gods... To speak the language of Sanskrit itself means to be refined, to be cultured. As the language of the gods it brings divine grace. The sounds of Sanskrit create beneficial vibrations of the nadis and strengthen the nervous system, thereby contributing to our health. H.H. Pujyasri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi Shankaracharya Swamiji, 68th Pontiff of Sri Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam http://kamakoti.org/kamakoti/books/Samskrutashri%20Patamala%20Home.html

An interesting incident took place in 1948-49. A young researcher by name Dr B.M. Gupta met Dr Einstein, the accepted father of Modern science in Princeton Institute of Advanced Studies in the States. The German scientist hailed him in Sanskrit instead of English. The Indian scientist pleaded his inability to reply in Sanskrit. Dr Einstein was amazed at the poor response of the young Indian scientist and said, "You hail from India which is the original home of Hindu philosophy, yet you have not cared to learn that language. See my library which treasures classics from Sanskrit namely the Gita and other treatises on Hindu Philosophy. I have made the Gita as the main source of my inspiration and guidance for the purpose of scientific investigations and formulation of my theories. http://ezinearticles.com/?The-Glory-of-Bhagavat-Gita---Part-II---Einstein-and-Gita&id=556317

Our whole culture, literature and life would remain incomplete so long as our scholars, our thinkers and our educationists remain ignorant of Sanskrit. Dr.Rajendra Prasad

If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Sanskrit language and literature and all that it contains. Jawarharlal Nehru Without the study of Sanskrit one cannot become a true Indian and a true learned man. Mahatma Gandhi

The reasons for studying Sanskrit today are the same as they were; that the vast array of Sanskrit texts preserves for us a valuable part of the cultural heritage of mankind, including much beautiful literature and many interesting, even fascinating ideas. Prof. Richard Gombrich, Held the Bolden Chair at Oxford Sanskrit is the language of every man, to whatever race he may belong. Dr. Shaidullah Sanskrit is not the language of any particular sect or creed. It is the language of every Indian. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed When questioned as to why he was among those who sponsored Sanskrit as the official language of the Indian Union, Dr.Ambedkar said: “What is wrong with Sanskrit?” Dr.Ambedkar

Sanskrit flows through our blood. It is only Sanskrit that can establish the unity of the country. Dr.C.V.Raman, Nobel Laureate on the need for Sanskrit to be the national language

The Mother gave a lot of importance to the use of simple Sanskrit. She believed that no one could claim to be a true Indian if he/she did not have any knowledge of Sanskrit. She was emphatic on this point, “Every child born in India should know it just as every child born in France has to know French. The Mother, 11.11.1967

The reasons for studying Sanskrit today are the same as they were; that the vast array of Sanskrit texts preserves for us a valuable part of the cultural heritage of mankind, including much beautiful literature and many interesting, even fascinating ideas. Prof. Richard Gombrich, Held the Bolden Chair at Oxford Sanskrit is not the language of any particular sect or creed. It is the language of every Indian. Fakruddin Ali Ahmed When questioned as to why he was among those who sponsored Sanskrit as the official language of the Indian Union, Dr.Ambedkar said: “What is wrong with Sanskrit?”

எல்லாம் பெரிசாகப் பண்ணின அந்தப் பெரியவன் ராஜராஜனிடம் எனக்கு ரொம்பப் பெரிசாகப் படுவது, அவன் ’ஆடவல்லான்’, ‘தக்ஷிண மேரு விடங்கன்’ என்று இரண்டு பேர் வைத்தானே, அது தான். ஏனென்றால் இது தமிழையும் ஸம்ஸ்கிருதத்தையும் இருகண்களாக அவன் மதித்துப் போற்றினான் என்பதற்கு அற்புதமான proof ஆகத் தெரிகிறது. நம்முடைய மஹத்தான கலாசாரத்துக்கு மாதா பிதாக்களாக இருக்கிற இந்த இரண்டுக்கும்தானே இப்போது குத்துப் பகை, வெட்டுப் பகை என்று பேதப்படுத்தி வைத்திருக்கிறது? இதைப் பார்த்து மனஸ் தாங்க முடியாமல் வேதனைப்படுகிறபோது, ‘ராஜராஜனுக்குச் சிலை வைக்கிறார்கள்; அவனுடைய ஜன்ம தினமான ஐப்பசி சதயத்தில் ப்ருஹதீச்வரருக்கு மஹாபிஷேகாதிகள் பண்ணுகிறார்கள்’ என்றெல்லாம் கேள்விப்பட்டால், உடனே ஒரு ஆஸ்தை, நம்பிக்கை, உத்ஸாஹம் ஏற்படுகிறது. ராஜராஜனைக் கௌரவிக்கப் புறப்பட்டு விட்டார்களோல்லியோ? ஸரி, அவன் தமிழ், ஸம்ஸ்கிருதம் இரண்டு மரபுகளையும்தானே போற்றி வளர்த்தான்? அதையும் தெரிந்து கொள்வார்கள். ‘நாமும் அப்படியே செய்வதுதான் அவனுக்கு நிஜமான உத்ஸவம். பேத புத்தி போனால்தான் அவனுக்கு விழா எடுக்க நமக்கு உரிமையும் தகுதியும் உண்டு’ என்றும் புரிந்து கொண்டு விடமாட்டார்களா?’ என்று தோன்றுகிறது. கோயிலிலே அநேகக் கல்வெட்டுக்களைப் பொறித்தபோது, முதல் கல்வெட்டை, ஏதத் விச்வநிரூபச்ரேணி மௌலி என்று ஸம்ஸ்கிருதத்திலேயே ஆரம்பித்திருக்கிறான்.

http://www.kamakoti.org/tamil/7dk199bf.htm