24 Facts about Samskrit

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1. One can hear two models of Samskrit language, one is simple ‘easy to understand’ spoken Samskrit language and the other one is scholarly, flowery ‘difficult to understand’ literary Samskrit language. There is no grammatical, structural or pronunciational difference between them. Both are Paninian. The former is Simple Standard Samskrit with minimum vocabulary, minimum structures and mostly with Samskrit words which exist in Indian languages.

2. Samskrit was a popular spoken language across the Greater Bharat. Enough evidences are available in this regard in Vyakarana Mahabhashya of Patanjali.

3. Samskrit language and literature were studied by all the people irrespective of caste or gender. One can know this fact from the statistics given in the book “The Beautiful Tree” by Prof Dharma Pal.

4. Samskrit is the first language uttered by Brahma. Hence it is also called as Chaturmukha-mukhodbhava apart from Devavani.

5. Samskrit is the only language in the world which has an unequalled and uncorrupted tradition of classicalness, refinedness, antiquity and continuity.

6. Though every Indian language is a cultural language, Samskrit is regarded as the pan-Indian common cultural language of every common man of India.

7. Samskrit language and literature have always promoted inclusive thoughts. Samskrit is primarily responsible for the all-inclusive culture of this land, Bharatavarsha.

8. From times immemorial, Samskrit literature is the primary source of inspiration and content for most of the Indian languages’ literature.

9. Common Samskrit words being used in most of the Indian languages all over India, Samskrit Stotras and mantras for pujas and Karmakandas, common way of life due to shastras and their newer interpretations in Samskrit according to changing times as references for Dharma, internalisation of value systems propounded by Puranas and Itihasas by the society etc are some of the major contributory factors for the unity and harmony of our nation.

10. The word generation power of Samskrit language is unparalleled in the world. Samskrit can generate infinite number of words due to its rich reservoir of verbs, prefixes, suffixes, compound-words and perfect grammar.

11. Samskrit language is as old as the Creation since Samskrit came from the very mouth of the Creator, the Brahman, at the time of Creation.

12. The fact that Samskrit is the language of Yoga, the language of Ayurveda, the language of Vedanta, the language of Bhagavadgita, the language of Natyashastra, the language of Indian Mathematics, the language of Indian Astronomy, the language of Indian Economics, the language of Indian Political Science, the language of Nyaya (Logic) etc., should be properly understood and be factually highlighted.

13. Samskrit is one of the three languages (English and Hindi being the other two) taught and studied all over India both in School Education and Higher Education. Rest of the languages are regional.

14. The teaching method currently being employed in Samskrit language teaching at school level, called Grammar-Translation-Method, is a foreign method and this method is the main reason for the decline of Samskrit language. Samskrit was taught through Samskrit before English medium was introduced in India. Every language in the world except Samskrit is taught through the target language. Samskrit will not flourish unless and until this method is changed and Samskrit is taught through Samskrit.

15. There are seven language universities exclusively for each one of the seven languages of India, whereas, there are seventeen universities for Samskrit.

16. More than 80% of about 40 lakh manuscripts available in about 3800 libraries and private collections in India and abroad are in Samskrit language and most of them are unedited and unpublished.

17. Since most of the Indian languages have more than 50% of their vocabulary from Samskrit and since sound system, sentence structure and underlying grammar of them are from Samskrit, learning Samskrit is not like learning a new language for a person who knows any of the Indian languages. It is just like making his/her passive knowledge active.

18. There are thousands of children both in India and abroad whose mother tongue is Samskrit. They are brought up in Samskrit at home. The world was introduced to them through Samskrit. They think Samskrit and speak Samskrit.

19. As far as the number of students opting various languages at school level in India is concerned, number of Samskrit students is the third largest after English and Hindi.

20. Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar wanted to make Samskrit the Official Language of the Union of India. In fact, he had moved a resolution in the Constituent Assembly in this regard but unfortunately the resolution could not get passed.

21. Before English came to India, Samskrit was the pan Indian link language, pan Indian medium language of Education, communication, commerce, intellectual debate, etc. just as English is in India today. Making it again as the pan Indian common link language is only a matter of our will - our national will power.

22. These three 1) The underlying bond of unity of India, 2) the quality and character of inclusiveness or all-inclusive culture of this land, 3) Vishwa Dharma – the ultimate way for prosperity, sustainability and peace of the world – are the great contributions of Samskrit literature which are seldom known by people.

23. Samskrit Language and Samskrit Knowledge Systems are the greatest soft power of India.

24. Since Yoga, Ayurveda, Vedanta, Bhagavadgita, Meditation, Bhakti, etc are getting popular all over the world and since Samskrit is the common primary source for all these subjects, Samskrit language is slowly emerging as a Vishwa Bhasha.



By :- Chamu Krishna Shastry | Views:- 4216 | 30-05-2021 10:40 PM