Sanskrit

The Language of Ancient India

– Sanskrit (meaning "cultured or refined"), the classical language of Hinduism, is the

oldest and the most systematic language in the world.

– The vastness and the versatility, and power of expression of this language can be
appreciated by the fact that this language has 65 words to describe various forms of
earth, 67 words for water, and over 250 words to describe rainfall. 

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A Perfect Language?

Rick Briggs ,a NASA researcher, has written:

• "In ancient India the intention to discover
truth was so consuming, that in the
process, they discovered perhaps the most
perfect tool for fulfilling such a search that
the world has ever known -- the Sanskrit
language.

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Sanskrit Traditions

• Besides works of literary value, there was

a long philosophical and grammatical
tradition that has continued to exist with
undiminished vigor until the present
century
• Sanskrit is indeed a perfect language in
the same sense as mathematics, but
Sanskrit is also a perfect language in the
sense that, like music, it has the power to
uplift the heart.

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 Endurance of Sanskrit

• Why has Sanskrit endured? Fundamentally it generates clarity and inspiration. And that
clarity and inspiration is..

… directly responsible for a brilliance of creative expression such as the world has rarely
seen. 

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 • Frederich von Schlegel, (1772-1829), 
German philosopher, critic, and
writer, the most prominent founder of
German Romanticism.
"There is no language in the world,
even Greek, which has the clarity and
the philosophical precision of
Sanskrit," adding that " India is not
only at the origin of everything she is
superior in everything, intellectually,
religiously or politically and even the
Greek heritage seems pale in
comparison."  

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Sanskrit Grammar
Grammar
• The Sanskrit term for grammar is
vyakarana, which etymologically
means "differentiated analysis."
• Panini's Sanskrit grammar, produced
in about 1300 B. C. E. is the shortest
and the fullest grammar in the  world. 
• Panini composed a Sanskrit grammar
called the Ashtadhyayi(8 Chapters). In
4,000 short verses, it revealed the
inner mechanics of Sanskrit - how the
language worked and how new words
evolved. 

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• "The Panini grammar reflects the wondrous capacity of the
human brain, which till today no other country has been able to
produce except India.“ –
Sir Monier-Williams (1819-1899) Orientalist, professor of Sanskrit at
Oxford

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 • Sanskrit is a very scientific
language. Linguists hold that it
shows no trace of a growing
language.
• Its entire grammatical mechanism is
perfected, every tense, mood, every
number and person of the verb is
fixed and all terminations of the
casts are firmly established.

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 • Juan Mascaro (1897 - 1987)
taught at Oxford University,
Parameshvara College at Jaffna,
the University of Barcelona, and
Cambridge University. 
• "Sanskrit literature is a great
literature. We have the great
songs of the Vedas, the splendor
of the Upanishads, the glory of
the Bhagavad Gita, the vastness
(100,000 verses) of the
Mahabharata, the tenderness
and the heroism found in the
Ramayana, the wisdom of the
fables and stories of India…

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 • … the scientific philosophy
of Sankhya, the
psychological philosophy
of yoga, the poetical
philosophy of Vedanta, the
Laws of Manu, the
grammar of Panini and
other scientific writings,
the lyrical poetry, and
dramas of Kalidasa.

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 • Sanskrit literature, on the
whole, is a romantic
literature interwoven with
idealism and practical
wisdom, and with a
passionate longing for
spiritual vision. 

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Influence on other Languages
• The antiquity and affinity in
forms of grammar and roots
of verbs in Sanskrit induces
the linguists to believe that
the Persian, Greek, Teutonic,
Slavonic and Celtic races are
probably descendents of a
common ancestor.

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 Divinity within?
• Professor Leonard Bloomfield
(1887-1949) of Chicago University
holds that Sanskrit language
specially the scientific basis of its
grammar is "one of the greatest
monuments of human
intelligence." 
• William Humboldt of Germany is of
opinion that language cannot be
created artificially, it is the
manifestation of power and divinity
in man.

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Belittling our Hindu heritage?
• All the countries of the world
cherish and pride in their
ancient culture, but India
alone labels its culture as
"Hindu past" and
systematically neglects and
belittles it.
• Secularism has taken the
form of turning away from
one’s own heritage and
disregarding the spiritual and
ethical commitments 
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• It is symptomatic of the times that a leading
university like the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU)
did not have a Sanskrit department till 2002 although
it boasted having eminent historians on its faculty. 

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 Sanskrit : Shelving a Heritage
From Macaulay to MTV

• As a result, Sanskrit is the biggest casualty under

secularist milieu. Practically speaking, secularism
now means swimming in easy consumerism of the
day and neglecting religious and cultural issues.

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 Francois Gautier,
correspondent in South Asia
of Le Figaro, France's largest
circulated newspaper says: 
• "Sanskrit is the mother of all
languages, and it could
become  the unifying
language of India, apart from
English, which is  spoken
only, by a tiny minority. ”

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 Sanskrit

Similarities between Sanskrit and other ancient

Languages
 Avesta..

• Is an ancient language of Iran, was the language in which the texts

of Zoroastrianism where composed

• Similarities between Rig Vedic Sanskrit and Avesta are too many to
be ignored

• On a comparative analysis of the rituals, names of Gods and

Goddesses, names of warrior kings and religious advices, extremely
surprising revelations in the form of similarities begin to appear. At
places, the Avestan language is similar to the extent of being a
mere dialect* of Sanskrit.
*A regional or social variety of a language distinguished by pronunciation, grammar, or vocabulary, especially
a variety of speech
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 Grammar

The Sanskrit words asmai, kasmai and yasyaam mean

• “to them”,
• “to whom”
• “in which” respectively.
• The Zend words amhai, kamhai and yesyaam carry the exact same
meanings as their Sanskrit counterparts.

From Atharva Veda: kasmai devaaya vidhema.

From Zend Avesta: kamhai devaaya vidhema.

Both mean “to which God should I sacrifice?”

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Words where ‘s’ in Sanskrit has changed to ‘h’ in Zend:

asura — ahura
soma — homa
sapta — hapta
maasa — maaha
senaa — henaa
[i am] asmi — ahmi
[they are] santi — hanti
vivaswata — vivahnata

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Words where ‘shva’ in Sanskrit got modified to ‘spa’ in
Zend:

vishva — vispa
ashva — aspa
shvan — span
krishaashva — krishaaspa

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Words where “t” (the soft ‘t’) in Sanskrit got modified
to ‘tha’ (soft ‘th’ like in ‘thank’) in Zend:

mitra — mithra
trita — tritha
traitaal mantra — thraitaan mantra

All the listed words carry the same meanings in both the
languages. Such astonishing resemblance cannot be called a
mere coincidence. This resemblance is possible if and only if
there is a common root or a common culture in the
background

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 Slokas Common!
mahaantaa mitraa varunaa samraajaa devaav asuraaha sakhe
sakhaayaam ajaro jarimne agne martyaan amartyas tvam nah
Rigveda: 10:87:21
• (Translation: O Supreme Being, you are fire, you are the sun, you are water.
You have appeared to us as Father, as our ruler, as our friend and as our
teacher. O Great Father, you are beyond aging but we are not. You are beyond
death but we are not. In spite of that you have given us the great fortune to
call you our friend.)

mahaantaa mitraa varunaa devaav ahuraaha sakhe ya fedroi vidaat

……………………………
Gatha 17:4 Yashna 53:4)
• (Translation: O Ahura Mazda, you appear as the father, the ruler, the friend,
the worker and as knowledge. It is your immense mercy that has given a
mortal the fortune to stay at your feet.)

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 Fully Alike!
yadi antareekshe yadi vaate aasa yadi
vriksheshu yadi bolapashu yad
ashravan pashava ud-yamaanam tad
braahmanam punar asmaan upaitu
Atharva Veda 7:66;
Zend Avesta Prishni, Chapter 8, Gatha 12

Translation: O Lord! Whether you be in the

sky or in the wind, in the forest or in the
waves. No matter where you are, come
to us once. All living beings restlessly
await the sound of your footsteps.

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Words in other languages which can be derived from
Sanskrit
“brother”
bhratar (Sanskrit)
frater (Latin)
phrater (Greek)
frere (French)
brother (Modern English)
brothor (Saxon)
bruder (German)
broeder (Dutch)
bratu (Old Slavic)
brathair (Old Irish)
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 Common Derivations
“father”
pitar (Sanskrit)
pater (Latin)
pater (Greek)
padre (Spanish)
pere (French)
father (English)
fadar (Gothic)
fa∂ir (Old Norse)
vader (German)
athir (Old Irish--with loss of original consonant)

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A Dead Language?
Francois Gautier, correspondent in South
Asia of Le Figaro, France's largest circulated
newspaper says:
A  dead language, you say!
Impossible to revive? But that's what
they  argued  about Hebrew. And did
not the Jewish  people, when they 
got  back their land in 1948, revive
their "dead" language, so  that  it is
spoken today by all Jewish people
and has  become alive  again? The
same thing ought to be done with
Sanskrit. 

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In a few years it should be taught  as  the second 
language in schools throughout the country,
with the regional language as the first and
English as the third. Then India will again have
its own unifying language.

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 After many thousands of years,
Sanskrit still lives with a vitality that can
breathe life, restore unity and inspire peace
on our tired and troubled planet. It is a
sacred gift, an opportunity. The future could
be very bright.

But its Upto to us to ACT now!

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 References

• www.hinduism.org
• www.hinduwisdom.info
• en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indo-European_languages
• www.hinduwebsite.com/general/sanskrit.asp
• web.cn.edu/kwheeler/IE_Main4_Sanskrit.html
• www.friesian.com/cognates.htm
• www.antimoon.com/forum/t10743.htm
• arachnid.wordpress.com
• Pictures sourced from various websites

Please let us know in case of any copyrights issue, we will be glad to

acknowledge the source of the information

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