The Importance of Sanskrit in Indian Education
This is Part I of two-part series on Sanskrit in Indian Education. To read part II, please click here .
Reality-Check
If you are an Indian reading this essay in English, then it is likely that you are (a) not representative of the average Indian, and (b) alienated from your Indic mother-tongue. The 2011 Census shows that only 10.67% of Indians speak English as either their first, second, or third language. As English-speaking Oxford students and academics discussing Indic languages, we must remember that we do not represent the average Indian. This is because a majority of Indians attend non English medium schools i.e. schools in which non-language subjects such as physics, mathematics, and geography are taught in the student’s mother-tongue (“Household Social Consumption on Education in India”, p. 100). A good test of whether you are alienated from your Indic mother-tongue is to try to formulate your knowledge of Newton’s laws of motion, quadratic equations, and the physical characteristic of plateaus in your mother-tongue (without cheating by whole-scale borrowing of English words!). While the average Indian student educated in his mother-tongue can do this quite easily, English-educated Indians alienated from their mother-tongues (such as you and I) cannot.
Confronted with the growing status of English as an international lingua franca, however, more and more Indian parents are sending their children to English-medium schools. Furthermore, despite their statistical prominence, all Indian languages seem to be in a state of decline. This is shown by their dearth of innovative and impactful scholarly writing as well as by the influx of numerous English words in daily conversation.
Why study Sanskrit?
Having briefly described our current linguistic reality, especially the existential crisis facing all Indian languages, I will now discuss the reasons for learning Sanskrit.
Sanskrit was the lingua-franca of sciences such as mathematics, astronomy, and medicine in pre-modern India. To quote Field’s Medallist David Mumford’s review of Kim Plofker’s excellent book Mathematics in India:
“Did you know that Vedic priests were using the so-called Pythagorean theorem to construct their fire altars in 800 BCE?; that the differential equation for the sine function, in finite difference form, was described by Indian mathematician-astronomers in the fifth century CE?; and that “Gregory’s” series π/4 = 1−1/3 +1/5 − … was proven using the power series for arctangent and, with ingenious summation methods, used to accurately compute π _in southwest India in the fourteenth century?” (Mumford 385)
It is an indictment of our education system that most of these remarkable achievements are never mentioned in our textbooks, both in English and in Indian languages. If we want to gain an accurate understanding of the scientific and technological achievements of Indian civilisation, a knowledge of Sanskrit is essential since virtually all pre-modern Indian scientists such as Caraka, Suśruta, Āryabhaṭa, Varāhamihira, Bhāskara II, and Mādhava composed their scientific treatises in Sanskrit. Unfortunately, instead of celebrating these real scientists and their real scientific achievements, certain sections of Indian society continuously concoct fake achievements such as aeroplanes in the Rāmāyana and nuclear fusion in the Vedas. It is obvious that such nonsense is motivated by a deep insecurity about the past. However, as a response to these false claims, many English-educated Indians refuse to believe that there was anything resembling science in ancient India. Like Englishmen, many Indians have been ‘educated’ to view ancient India as a dark period of primitive superstition. If we reflect on this polarisation of opinion, we realise that a lack of knowledge of Sanskrit is the common denominator uniting people on both sides. A sound knowledge of Sanskrit would provide a student with the tools necessary to critically examine claims about Indian intellectual history and arrive at his/her own conclusions. This conclusion would inevitably follow the Buddhist middle-path (Pāli majjhimā paṭipadā): ancient Indians made numerous scientific advancements but were neither omniscient nor utterly ignorant. Teaching Sanskrit is the best way to expose students to the richness of the scientific, philosophical, and practical knowledge-systems of Indian civilisation.
b) Literature
Many of the foundational stories of Indian civilisation which still delight us today have their roots in Sanskrit literature: the story of Rāma and Sīta in the Rāmāyana , the fratricidal tragedy of the Mahābhārata , or Kṛṣṇa’s childhood and his love-affairs with gopīs in the Bhāgavatapurāṇa . If religion and science isn’t your cup of tea, despair not! Most of Sanskrit literature is actually descriptions of beautiful sunrises, terrifying wars, and sweet love-making. Consider, for example, the lament of a yakṣa separated from his beloved:
tvām ālikhya praṇayakupitāṃ dhāturāgaiḥ śilāyām ātmānaṃ te caraṇapatitaṃ yāvad icchāmi kartum | asrais tāvan muhur upacitair dṛṣṭir ālipyate me krūras tasminn api na sahate saṃgamaṃ nau kṛtāntaḥ || (Kālidāsa’s Meghadūta verse 2.45) I paint you, angry with affection, on this stone using minerals as colours. As soon as I seek to add myself, fallen at your feet, to the picture, My eyes become smudged with incessant tears. O, how cruel is fate, Since it does not allow the two of us to unite Even in a painting!
Sanskrit literature is filled with millions of such verses: verses which capture the deepest and most secret feelings of the human heart. Besides these tender verses, Sanskrit literature possesses rare examples of literary genius. For example, the 12th century poet Kavirāja’s Rāghavapāṇḍavīya simultaneously narrates the stories of the Rāmāyana and Mahābhārata using Sanskrit’s seemingly infinite possibility for punning! If students wish to make this rich world of feeling, beauty, and literary genius a part of their life, then they must learn Sanskrit.
c) Language
Sanskrit is a grammatically perfect language with ten verbal-classes, eight cases, three numbers, and three genders (Jones 28). Sanskrit is one of the most well-structured and concise languages in the world. Consider the following English sentence: "I went to the shop to buy sugar".
The prolixity of this eight-word English sentence is evident in the use of filler words such as ‘to’ and ‘the’. Expressing the same thought in a modern Indian language such as Hindi, one would say: " मैं चीनी खरीदने के िलए दुकान गया ।"
Though this Hindi sentence is one word shorter than its English counterpart, it is equally prolix. Suppose one were to express the same thought in Sanskrit: śarkarāyāḥ krayāya vipaṇim agaccham.
We need only four words! In addition to its intrinsic grammatical beauty, a knowledge of Sanskrit will help a student learn other Indian languages more easily since most Indian languages, including Tamil, borrow a large number of loanwords from Sanskrit. I am reminded of my north-Indian friend’s hilarious attempt to order hot water at a restaurant in Karnataka. When he asked for ‘ garam pānī ’ in Hindi, everyone was baffled. However, as soon as he asked for the Sanskritic ‘ uṣṇa jala ’, he got what he wanted! Besides aiding in the comprehension of Indian languages, Sanskrit constitutes ideal preparation for those interested in learning Greek and Latin. This is because these Western classical languages share not only grammatical structure but also numerous cognate words with Sanskrit. Thus, Sanskrit is not only grammatically beautiful but also an ideal gateway to learning other Indian and Indo-European languages.
Sanskrit Pedagogy
Having (hopefully) persuaded you of the beauty and relevance of Sanskrit, I must now turn to three intractable practical questions: (i) How should Sanskrit be incorporated into our school curriculum? (ii) How should Sanskrit teaching deal with the controversies surrounding Sanskrit? (iii) How can teachers make Sanskrit learning easier and more enjoyable?
As far as the first question is concerned, National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 hits the nail on the head:
“Sanskrit will thus be offered at all levels of school and higher education as an important, enriching option for students, including as an option in the three-language formula.” (NEP 2020: 14)
It is significant that NEP 2020 does not argue that Sanskrit should be made compulsory. Any attempt to impose Sanskrit on students is doomed to fail since many students prefer learning another Indian language instead of Sanskrit. However, as NEP 2020 states, Sanskrit should be made available as an option that can be chosen as one’s second or third language. In this respect, NEP 2020 significantly improves on NEP 1986 which, unfortunately, said virtually nothing about the role of Sanskrit in Indian education (NEP 1986. Furthermore, NEP 2020’s explicit mention of the importance of other classical languages such as Tamil and Kannada shows its commitment to preserving and re-invigorating the classical in these dreary post-modern times (NEP 2020 14-15). However, good intentions do not change the world unless accompanied by concrete action. Sanskrit is currently not offered as a language option in most private and government schools, including in the school of this essay’s author. Indeed, most of my Sanskrit-speaking friends actually learnt Sanskrit from traditional paṇḍitas outside the formal academic system. Though Sanskrit should not be made compulsory as a language, all students should be exposed to Sanskrit literature and knowledge-systems in translation. This will expand the student’s horizon beyond the confines of modern languages.
Given the divisiveness of our times, the teaching of Sanskrit will undoubtedly involve numerous controversies. The two most obvious points of contention are the content of the syllabus and the socio-political history of Sanskrit. One can mitigate the first difficulty by insisting on a curriculum grounded in the reading of original Sanskrit texts rather than secondary scholarship. Instead of presenting students with a particular narrative of Indian history, students should be allowed to develop their own understanding of the past through a careful reading of Sanskrit texts. With regard to the alleged discriminatory and elitist nature of Sanskrit, NEP 2020 constitutes a wonderful anti-dote. If successfully implemented, NEP 2020 will open up the study of Sanskrit to interested students from all religions, castes, races, and cultures. It is imperative that students from diverse social backgrounds are made to feel welcome in the modern Sanskrit classroom.
As far as Sanskrit pedagogy is concerned, the need of the hour is qualified teachers who can make language learning enjoyable. Too often, learning Sanskrit involves drowning in a sea of meaningless paradigms to be memorised. This approach ends up detracting students who would have otherwise enjoyed reading Sanskrit texts. Like other Indian languages, Sanskrit should be taught using a combination of everyday conversation and textual study. Crucially, teachers should treat Sanskrit as a language of daily life rather than as a dead language of ancient manuscripts. Such an approach will make students internalise and cherish Sanskrit instead of merely treating it as a scoring subject to achieve better grades. And, hopefully, this study of Sanskrit will create modern Indians who feel proud of their heritage and strive to live up to its demanding ethical ideals:
manasi vacasi kāye puṇyapīyūṣapūrṇās tribhuvanam upakāraśreṇibhiḥ prīṇayantaḥ| paraguṇaparamāṇūn parvatīkṛtya nityaṃ nijahṛdi vikasantaḥ santi santaḥ kiyantaḥ|| (Bhartṛharı̍'s Śatakatraya verse 1.79) Filled with pure nectar in mind, speech, and body, Pleasing creatures in all three worlds by continuously helping them, Transforming another’s atom-like good quality into a mountain, Always blossoming in their own hearts, How many such good people are there?
Bibliography
“Bhartṛharı̍'s Śatakatraya.” Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL), http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/5_poetry/5_subhas/bh... .
“Household Social Consumption on Education in India.” National Statistical Office, Ministry of Statistics and Programme Implementation, Government of India, July 2017-June 2018. http:// www.mospi.nic.in/sites/default/files/publication_reports/ Report_585_75th_round_Education_final_1507_0.pdf.
Jones, Sir William. Discourses delivered before the Asiatic Society: and miscellaneous papers, on the religion, poetry, literature, etc., of the nations of India. Printed for C. S. Arnold: 1824. “Kālidāsa’s Meghadūta.” Göttingen Register of Electronic Texts in Indian Languages (GRETIL), http://gretil.sub.uni-goettingen.de/gretil/1_sanskr/5_poetry/2_kavya/meg... .
Plofker, Kim. Mathematics in India. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2009. Page of 4 5 Mumford, David. “Mathematics in India: Reviewed by David Mumford,” Notices of the American Mathematical Society vol. 57, no. 3 (2010): 385-390.
“National Education Policy 1986.” Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/upload_docume... .
“National Education Policy 2020.” Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/NEP_Final_Eng... .
“2011 Census.” Office of the Registrar General and Census Commissioner, Ministry of Home Affairs, Government of India, 2011. https://censusindia.gov.in/2011Census/Language_MTs.html .
Suggested Citation: Shree Nahata. 2021. 'The Importance of Sanskrit in Indian Education', Think Pieces Series No. 16. Education.SouthAsia ( https://educationsouthasia.web.ox.ac.uk/ ).
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Importance of Sanskrit Language
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Sanskrit is the language in which Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, ethics and several other man language in India for a longer period of time. Sanskrit is a classical language of India. The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and Hindu religious texts. Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals ancient scriptures are transcribed. If we look in history, it was a widely spoken common in the forms of hymns and mantras. Spoken Sanskrit is still in use in a few traditional institutions in India, and there are many attempts at revival. Language is dynamic and so is time. With passing time and emergence of several other languages, Sanskrit started loosing its dominancy but it showed complete tolerance towards all.
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Sanskrit enjoys a place of pride among Indian languages in terms of technology solutions that are available for it within India and abroad. The Indian government through its various agencies has been heavily funding other Indian languages for technology development but the funding for Sanskrit has been slow for a variety of reasons. Despite that, the work in the field has not suffered. The following sections do a survey of the language technology R&D in Sanskrit and other Indian languages. The word `Sanskrit' means "prepared, pure, refined or prefect". It was not for nothing that it was called the `devavani' (language of the Gods). It has an outstanding place in our culture and indeed was recognized as a language of rare sublimity by the whole world. Sanskrit was the language of our philosophers, our scientists, our mathematicians, our poets and playwrights, our grammarians, our jurists, etc. In grammar, Panini and Patanjali (authors of Ashtadhyayi and the Mahabhashya) have no equals in the world; in astronomy and mathematics the works of Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta and Bhaskar opened up new frontiers for mankind, as did the works of Charak and Sushrut in medicine. In philosophy Gautam (founder of the Nyaya system), Ashvaghosha (author of Buddha Charita), Kapila (founder of the Sankhya system), Shankaracharya, Brihaspati, etc., present the widest range of philosophical systems the world has ever seen, from deeply religious to strongly atheistic.
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The ancient Indian epics like Ramayana scripted by Valmiki, Mahabharata described by Sage Vyasa, scholarly dramas inscribed by Mahakavi Kalidasa – a few are Abhignana Sakuntalam, b) Raghuvamsam c) Meghasandesam d) Kumara Sambhavam and many other writers like Bhavabhooti, Bharavi and all their verses (kavyas) written in Sanskrit which is the language of angels, the language of Vedas, Upanishads and other epics. Indians – popularly known as Hindus used to speak only in Sanskrit as some historians recorded in their research works, until the invasion of Muslims and later Britishers. India is a multi-cultured, multi-religious country in a big volume of several languages structured from the mother language Sanskrit. When this ancient language Sanskrit was replaced with English in Indian schools, regional languages flourished and slowly Sanskrit was relegated to utter neglect. It is lugubrious to say that today, almost ninety percent of Indians are not aware of the importance of Sanskrit as they cannot speak a sentence in the mother language of India. Some Indian social philanthropists, epigraphists and freedom fighters also supported implementation of English education in place of Sanskrit during British rule upon the recommendations made by T.B. Macaulay in his minutes in 1835. Today, English has become the International language and all communications between and among the nations are being done only in English. Even today, Sanskrit is the language in number of families in India. Famous Historians like P.N. Buck, Kota Venkatachalam had stated that Sanskrit was the world language once upon a time. How many scholars today know this truth of obliteration of Sanskrit? It is unfortunate that Indians are not aware of scrumptious Sanskrit. This is all because of British rule in India which replaced Sanskrit with English phase-wise. Dr. B.R. Ambedkar, the architect of Indian Constitution suggested that Sanskrit must be made as official language of India. It is sad that Indian Constituent Assembly opposed his proposal.
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Sanskrit is regarded as the ancient language in Hinduism , where it was used as a means of communication and dialogue by the Hindu Celestial Gods, and then by the Indo- Aryans . Sanskrit is also widely used in Jainism , Buddhism , and Sikhism. The term 'Sanskrit' is derived from the conjoining of the prefix 'Sam' meaning 'samyak' which indicates 'entirely', and 'krit' that indicates 'done'. Thus, the name indicates perfectly or entirely done in terms of communication, reading, hearing, and the use of vocabulary to transcend and express an emotion. An extraordinarily complex language with a vast vocabulary, it is still widely used today in the reading of sacred texts and hymns.
Origin & purity of Sanskrit
The Sanskrit language was termed as Deva-Vani ('Deva' Gods - 'Vani' language) as it was believed to have been generated by the god Brahma who passed it to the Rishis (sages) living in celestial abodes, who then communicated the same to their earthly disciples from where it spread on earth. The origin of the language in written form is traced back to the 2nd millennium BCE when the Rig Veda , a collection of sacred hymns, is assumed to have been written after being continued for centuries through oral tradition and preservation of verbal knowledge in the Guru-Disciple relationship. The purity of this version (Vedic period, 1500 – 500 BCE) of Sanskrit is doubtlessly reflected in the flamboyance of the perfect description of the forces of nature in the Rig Veda .
Vedic Sanskrit
Sanskrit in terms of its literary association is classified into two different periods, the Vedic and Classical. Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Vedas sacred texts, especially the Rig Veda , the Puranas , and the Upanishads , where the most original form of the language was used. The composition of the Vedas is traced to the period of 1000 to 500 BCE, until when Sanskrit had a vigorous tradition of being used consistently through oral communication. This early Sanskrit is rich in vocabulary, phonology, grammar, and syntax, which remains undiluted in its purity to this day. It consists of 52 letters in total, 16 vowels and 36 consonants. These 52 letters have never been tweaked or altered and are believed to have been constant since the beginning, thus making it the most perfect language for word formation and pronunciation.
The Sanskrit language has been the traditional means of communication in Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism. Sanskrit literature holds the privilege of being used in ancient poetry, drama, and sciences, as well as religious and philosophical texts. The language is believed to have been generated by observing the natural progression of sounds created in the human mouth, thus considering sound as an important element of language formation. This is one of the prime reasons why Sanskrit has been rich in poetry and its expressive quality of bringing out the best meaning through perfect sounds that are soothing to the human ear. Vedic Sanskrit also contains abstract nouns and philosophical terms which are not to be found in any other language. The consonants and vowels are flexible enough to be grouped together to express nuanced ideas. In all, the language is like an endless ocean without a base due to its reach, complexity, and hundreds of words to express a single meaning or object.
Classical Sanskrit - AshtadhYayi
Classical Sanskrit has its origin in the end of the Vedic period when the Upanishads were the last sacred texts to be written down, after which Panini, a descendant of Pani and a grammar and linguistic researcher, introduced the refined version of the language. Panini's timeline is assumed to be around the 4th century BCE, when he introduced his work 'Ashtadhyayi', which means eight chapters, forming the only available foundational and analytical text of Sanskrit grammar. It is considered to be the only source of Sanskrit grammar and vocabulary today, because everything that existed before had never been recorded except via their mention in Panini's Ashtadhyayi .
The Ashtadhyayi contains 3959 systematised rules that are undiluted in brevity, full of wonderful analysis, explanation, and preferential usage of the language and word formation. The language is so vast that it has more than 250 words to describe rainfall, 67 words to describe water, and 65 words to describe earth, among other descriptions. This proves the magnanimity of Sanskrit when compared with current modern languages. However, different the sub-castes of Hinduism may be in their dialect, race, creed and rank, Sanskrit is considered and accepted as the only sacred language giving rise to the only available sacred literature by all, even though India has a repository of 5000 spoken languages. Panini was responsible for the standardisation of the language, which to this day remains in use in multiple forms. Sanskrit as a spoken language is rare and is spoken in some regions in India, some even claiming it as their first language, but it is proudly mentioned as one of the 14 original languages of India in its Constitution. It is largely used in Carnatic music in the form of bhajans, shlokas, stotras, and kirtanas, all indicating various hymns to the Gods, and songs and mantras of God worship.
Impact on other languages
Sanskrit has had a major impact on other Indian languages, such as Hindi, which is presently one of the official languages of India, and Indo- Aryan languages such as Kannada and Malayalam. It has impacted the Sino-Tibetan languages with the influence of Buddhist texts in Sanskrit and their translation and spread. Telugu as a language is considered to be highly lexically Sanskrit, from which it has borrowed many words. It has impacted Chinese language as China has picked up multiple but specific words from Sanskrit. In addition, Thailand and Sri Lanka has been enormously influenced by Sanskrit and have many similarly sounding words. The Javanese language is another which has been influenced by Sanskrit, along with the modern language of Indonesia and traditional language of malay spoken in Malaysia. Philippines has a minor influence from Sanskrit, but less than that from Spanish, for example. Above all, English, the current modern international language has also been influenced by Sanskrit and has picked up many loanwords from the ancient language (for example 'primitive' from ' prachin ', meaning historical, 'ambrosia' from ' amaruta ' meaning food of the Gods, 'attack' from ' akramana' meaning taking aggressive action, 'path' from ' patha ' meaning road or way, 'man' from ' manu ' meaning a male human, 'nirvana' from ' nirvan ' meaning divine liberation or transcendence, 'door' from 'dwar' meaning a doorway connecting two spaces, ''serpent' from ' sarpa ' meaning snake, etc.) since both are considered as Indo-European languages .
Sanskrit has a long and sacred history often traced back to the Gods and their worship. Starting as a spoken language of the Gods, it has come down to earth and has been diluted of its purity because variable interpretations, precise grammar, and complexity of its use have been accepted by few and avoided by many for its invincibility in vastness and understanding. In spite of its large vocabulary and richness of grammar and prose, many ancient scriptures and texts today are translated from Sanskrit, for none better than Sanskrit can offer such a luxurious literary understanding of the past as it serves as a tool for perfect human expression. Rightfully admired, renowned historian and author William Cooke Taylor acknowledges that “To acquire the mastery of this language is almost a labour of a life; its literature seems exhaustless”.
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Bibliography
- Danielou, A. Virtue, Success, Pleasure, and Liberation: The Four Aims of Life in the Tradition of Ancient India. Inner Traditions, 1993
- Feuerstein, G. In Search of the Cradle of Civilization. Quest Books, 2001.
- Hurry, K.F. A Brief History of India. Inner Traditions, 2003.
- Müller, F.M. Lectures On the Science of Language[And 1863], Volume 1. Nabu Press, 2010.
- Royal Asiatic Society. Centenary Supplement to the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain.. The Royal Asiatic Society, 2016.
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Joshi, N. (2016, August 22). Sanskrit . World History Encyclopedia . Retrieved from https://www.worldhistory.org/Sanskrit/
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Joshi, Nikul. " Sanskrit ." World History Encyclopedia . Last modified August 22, 2016. https://www.worldhistory.org/Sanskrit/.
Joshi, Nikul. " Sanskrit ." World History Encyclopedia . World History Encyclopedia, 22 Aug 2016. Web. 09 Oct 2024.
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