Sanskrit language-Sanskrit is a Vedic language Essay

Q. Write an essay on the importance of Sanskrit language in English

Sanskrit language-Sanskrit is a Vedic language Essay 

The Sanskrit language has got a unique place in our tradition and culture. In ancient times it happened to be the scholarly language of Bharatavarsha. This language was used in the courts of the kings and ashramas of the saints and sages. The medium of education also was Sanskrit in those days. Thus excellent literary works were produced in Sanskrit in those days. Poets like Kalidas, Vedvyas and Tulsidas have produced gems in Sanskrit literature in the form of their works. All Vedas, Puran and Upnisad have been written in the Sanskrit language

Today also, according to the Hindu belief, when sacred thread ceremonies, marriages etc are held, Sanskrit shlokas and mantras are chanted. Mainly all the holy and sacred literature available in Sanskrit are only for the Hindu culture. But this language is equally adored by practitioners of other religions and beliefs. In fact, Sanskrit has been a binding force of the nation’s unity and integrity through the centuries.

India has respected the world over for her age-old culture and values. Sanskrit is the language of culture, not only for India but for mankind. This language is the treasure house of our historic past. We have inherited over the past 5000 years and more many things-customs, manners, religion and philosophy, architectural monuments and sculptural beauties, the fine arts of music and dance, drama and painting, and most important of all Sanskrit language and literature. It is the greatest heritage handed down to us by our ancestors through the ages. Many Vedas and Puran have been written in the Sanskrit Language.

Sanskrit literature is vast, beginning with the most ancient thoughts embodied in the Rigveda. We should not forget that it was Sanskrit that contributed enough to the linguistic study. “The science of comparative philosophy could not have made its minute observations and meticulous phonetic laws, and built itself up as a complete historical grammar, but for the care with which ancient Indian grammarians made phonetic observations which stand the test of science today.

The great grammarian Panini, the like of whom even the Greece of Aristotle and Plato did not produce, analysed Sanskrit and its word formation in his unrivalled descriptive grammar known as Ashtadhyayi.”

All the languages of India basically owe much to Sanskrit. Mahatma Gandhi said, “The Sanskrit Language is like the river Ganga for our languages. I always feel that if it were to dry up, the regional languages would lose their

vitality and power. It seems to me that an elementary knowledge of Sanskrit is essential.”

Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru described Sanskrit as a ‘magnificent language’ embodying the genius of our race and the Wisdom of our race. Such is the value of this heritage that it has been said that “Indianness cannot be imagined without Sanskrit”.

It is unfortunate that the language which has had a glorious past and is considered the lifeblood of our culture has suffered at the hands of our policy-makers in the last few decades. Sanskrit studies have been neglected after Independence. Free India has not taken effective action in restoring Sanskrit to the place it deserves in the scheme of education.

Much was expected of the various Education Commissions, but all of them stopped with paying their respects to Sanskrit. So, now it is on the government, the policymakers and also the people to revive the glory of Sanskrit before it becomes a thing of past forever.

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