Sanskrit requires attention and novel revival measures

By Dushyanth Sridhar

Chennai: The recent announcement by Prasar Bharati on the 15 minutes news bulletin in Sanskrit has ruffled some feathers in Tamil Nadu.

A section of the political circle believes that Tamil and Sanskrit can’t co-exist. Well, they are oblivious of the fact how ingrained and intertwined the two languages are. For instance, the much-loved chief ministers (like Kamaraj, Karunanidhi, Ramachandran and Jayalalithaa) had Sanskrit names; if at all they believe that one’s name is one’s identity.

It is the same state which has been at the fore-front, fighting for the upliftment of the deprived and the marginalised. This is reflected in the 69% reservation quota. If the present leaders opposing the order are true to their conscience, and believe that the voice of minorities should be heard, let them lend their ears, now.

Sanskrit, as a language is spoken by a miniscule part of the population, makes it a minority language that needs protection, preservation and revival. Screen time of 15 minutes a day translates to 0.01% of the overall viewing time. Doesn’t it merit this attention?

It could be argued that this attempt is only language jingoism. But in my opinion, if it does inspire a small section of the younger population to appreciate Sanskrit, and seek its revival, what is wrong? Every small measure matters to revitalise every endangered language. India shouldn’t add any more languages to the extinct list.

It takes over a millennium for a language to effectively evolve and reach a ‘usable’ stage. The Indic civilization has birthed and nurtured many languages. Many languages possess literature that remain the best among equals, and a few others have influenced languages of this sub-continent, and others as well.

One such language which has dominated the literary and religious discourse in the sub-continent is Sanskrit. The earliest known scriptures being Valmiki’s Ramayana, Vyasa’s Mahabharata and the Puranas.

The literature basket that comprises renowned works of Kalidasa, Bharavi, Harsha, Panini, Kalhana and Jayadeva are in this language. The revered philosophers in this civilization like Adi Shankara, Ramanuja, Desika, Madhva and Appayya have presented their treatises in Sanskrit. From Aryabhata and Bhaskara till Madhava of Sangamagrama, our mathematicians whose contributions we are extremely proud of, have presented their findings in Sanskrit. So, have our contribution to logic, science, metallurgy and astronomy, been in this language.

While this knowledge remains in Sanskrit, the percentage of population that can speak this language is nominal. Isn’t this worrying? How will a mathematics student appreciate the contribution made by Madhava (1350-1425) to the Infinite series if Sanskrit isn’t one of his languages? The student may believe that Leibniz (1646-1716) had found it, after all. It could be argued that translations do serve the purpose. Yes, it does. Sir William Jones (1783-1794) translated Kalidasa’s epic drama – ‘Abhijnana Shakuntalam’ in English. This was done to create awareness in the European audience on Indian literature. But will it make sense for an Indian to read an English translation to understand a Sanskrit work? This is besides the fact that emotions are also lost in such translations.

Not just Sanskrit, every other Indian language deserves its due position and respect. Waiting for a day when a child in the remotest of villages in Uttarakhand reciting chaste Tamil verses of ‘Periyazhwar’, who has sung on the Ganga waters, is not a distant dream. Similarly, a girl near Mysuru should strike a chord with the ‘Raghuvar Tumko’ composition of Tulsidas, in her Bharatanatyam performance. For this harmony to be seen and felt, there should be no acrimony to learning languages.

Vedanta Desika (1268-1369) from Kancheepuram has composed in Tamil as much as he has in Sanskrit. His composition in Prakrit and his references in Pali, bear testimony to the fact that he didn’t view such languages as that of Nihilists. The taboo that Urdu is a ‘Muslims-only’ language, Hindi is a ‘Hindus-only’ language and Sanskrit is a ‘Brahmins-only’ language must go. At the end of the day, politics over languages should stop.

(The writer is speaker and research-scholar on the Indic heritage and culture)