[lg policy] blog: Sanskrit: The Real National Language Of India

[Harold Schiffman]

Sanskrit: The Real National Language Of India

Sanskrit is a language which can be regarded as the real identity of
India. There is  an urban  superstition in India that Sanskrit is
language of Brahmins. On the contrary, Jains, and Buddhists created
thousands of high quality literature in Sanskrit. Even Virashaivism
has   faces of  Sanskrit in good quantity. Ancient roots and modern
sprouts- this is the real nature  of  Sanskrit. Modern Sanskrit  is
wonderful fusion of ancient inspiration with fresh approach. Grammar,
Philosophy, religion, studies in classical literature, Ayurveda,
novels, short stories, lyrics, poems using  ancient prosody-
everything is  created afresh in Sanskrit even today. Like  other
Indian languages, the authors of  this language are being conferred
awards.

The world of journalism  is very well rooted in Sanskrit.
Sambhashana-sandesha and Sudharma these have been spreading  the
modern Sanskrit fragrance all over the world. Enthusiasts are
contemplating to start an online Magazine in Sanskrit !  A publication
company namely Serene Woods has already published a humorous Sanskrit
work  in  E-book form! ‘‘So what? Sanskrit is one of the languages
surviving in India. Is it a matter of dance? ’’ You   may ask. Yes.
Really. It is a matter of great pleasure that an ancient language not
only has modernity touch but also emerging as a  powerful  language
of  India.

It is not considered language of any particular area or state. It is
nationwide. That means it does deserve having   status as National
language of India. There is strong opposition now-a-days regarding
inclusion of  this language in education. Self styled  rationalists
are shouting with  illogical arguments from their  rooftops. ‘Sanskrit
is dead language. So, simply forget it. ’The ones who  have read the
previous portions  of this article don’t mingle with them. At present,
Government of India is  for three language policy in education in some
states: Hindi, English and local  language. It  does not  apply to
Tamilnadu and some states of Northern India! Two language policy is
prevailing there.

By calling all the state languages as local languages  the government
officials  are insulting all Indian languages, particularly Southern
Indian languages. What about Kannada which is more ancient than Hindi?
Is only  colloquial  majority enough to  declare  any language
national  language? The Indians of southern part are tolerating Hindi
because of Hindi movies. You may have watched in the interviews that
all the heroes and heroines Hindi movies are good  in English. So much
so they answer only in English being questioned in Hindi. In most
cases the interview programmes of  Hindi  super stars are conducted
only in English.

It is a fashion to  quote Swami Dayanada Saraswathi among  pro-Hindi
lobby. Dayananda Saraswathi had said  that the Vedas shall be read by
every Indian. He also had said  that Tulasi-Ramayana shall not be
studied. Purposely sidelining these  two opinions of him, the
pro-Hindi arguers always try to take support from Dayananda’s
half-quoted sentence: Hindi shall be national language of India. One
may object Dayananda’s  contradictory statements. Every Indian shall
study Vedas means  every  Indian shall know Vedic language and not
Hindi. If every Indian shall study Vedic language, why not classical
Sanskrit?  Nobody shall study Tulasiramayan means nobody shall study
Hindi!

If  three language policy includes Sanskrit instead of Hindi, every
state of India will have common  language policy in education. The
language with most ancient identity will be emerging as common
language  of India.

http://www.greeneliberty.org/sanskrit-the-real-national-language-of-india/

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