INTRODUCTION TO BASIC SPOKEN SANSKRIT

Lecture No 1: Introduction

ANURADHA CHOUDRY
DEPARTMENT OF HUMANITIES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES
IIT KHARAGPUR

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Objectives of the Course
To give a taste of Sanskrit as a spoken language

To develop an appreciation of its sound and grammatical structures

 To share some simple verses with profound meanings

 To give confidence that it can be learnt and spoken easily

To inculcate a sense of admiration for the Wonder that is Sanskrit

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 2
Fundamental questions about languages:
What is language?

What is its purpose?

Should one invest in learning it well? Why?

What is the relationship of language with culture? With the mind?

What are some challenges involved in learning a language?

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 3
What is language?
Etymology of the term language
From vulgar Latin – Linguaticum = tongue
Latin – lingue = tongue or Speech

Etymology of bhāṣā in Sanskrit

Sanskrit word – bhāṣā = speech
From root verb - bhāṣ = to speak
Derived further from – bhā = to shine
What is shining forth? Our thoughts? Our personality?

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 4
What is its purpose?
 bhāṣā - A tool that throws light on our thoughts.
eg: Laghu nyāsa from Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa – agnirme vāci śritaḥ = Fire is in my
speech

 Medium of communication of thoughts through speech and writing.

linked to the concepts of nāma (name or sound) and ṛūpa (form)

Tool for creation of experiences

vāgarthāviva sampṛktau

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 5
Should one invest in leaning it well? Why?
No!
- Enough to manage to commumicate
Yes!
- Good knowledge of any language facilitates better communication.
- Better communcation skills generates more confidence as it creates
a better impact on the listeners.
- More freedom to share complexity and subtlety of thoughts
- Understand and be understood by many more
- Allows access to the Mind of a people through their literature
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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 6
What is the relationship of language with culture?
With the mind?
Vehicle and repository of the thinkings of a civilisation

Tool to format the mind

Shapes one’s worldview

eg: ‘Private’ and ‘Public’ spaces
‘dharma’ and ‘sukha’

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 7
What are some challenges involved in learning a
language?
Learning the Phonetics and Grammar well

Building a rich vocabulary

Familiarising oneself with appropriate usage

Finding the right motivations to invest in mastering it.

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 8
Sanskrit as a language:
What is Sanskrit or saṁskṛtam?

-samyak + kṛtam = Well done

- ‘Put-together, well-formed, perfected’

Also known as devabhāṣā

Regarded as the ‘most wonderful language’

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 9
 Quote on the beauty of Sanskrit:
Justly it is called Sanskrit, that is, ‘perfect, finished’. Sanskrit combines these various
qualities possessed separately by other tongues: Grecian copiousness, deep-tone
Roman force, the divine afflatus characterising the Hebrew tongues. Judged by an
organic standard of the principal elements of language, Sanskrit excels in
grammatical structure and is indeed the most perfectly developed of all idioms, not
excepting Greek and Latin.

Prof. Friederich Schlegel,

Writer and critic
Established first chair of Indology in Germany at Hanmoben

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 10
Frequently asked questions and comments:

Is Sanskrit a dead language?

Was it ever a spoken language?

Is it a very difficult language to learn?

Why invest in learning this language today?

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 11
Is Sanskrit a dead language?
No, recorded as the native language of at least 14,135 people in 2001 Census

Samskrita Bharati promotes Simple Spoken Sanskrit across the globe – millions of
speakers

7 Sanskrit speaking villages like Mattur & Hosahalli (Karnataka), Jhiri, Bhaguwar &
Mohad (Madhya Pradesh), Sasana (Orissa), Ganoda (Rajasthan)

One of 22 official languages of the country

Daily news (DD), radio (Divyavani) and newspaper (Sudharma, Samprati Vartah)
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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 12
 Was it ever a spoken language?
Sanskrit is the oldest and most continually used language in the world...
By the most conservative accounts it has been used continuously since 1500 B.C.;
by more liberal accounts it was in use before 6000 B.C.
Classical Sanskrit follows the same basic patterns since the time of Panini, who
probably lived around the time of the Buddha. It has the largest literature of any
language, along with the sacred literature of two of the world’s greatest religions –
Hinduism and Buddhism. It possesses a larger group of works on spirituality,
metaphysics and mythology than any other language. It has an extensive literature
of poetry, drama and philosophy though much of it has been lost in time.
Dr. David Frawley,
American Sanskrit Scholar, teacher and writer
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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 13
Why invest in learning this language today?

Regarded as a very good language for computers

Spread of Yoga world-wide

Master-key to unlock the rich heritage

Sanskrit is a yoga in itself – tool for well-being

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 14
 Quote on the importance of Sanskrit
The ancient classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue, both in quality and body
and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty,
in their substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of
speech, and in the height and width of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently
in the front rank among the world’s great literatures. The language itself, as has been
universally recognised by those competent to form a judgement,
is one of the most magnificient, the most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary
instruments developed by the human mind; at once majestic and sweet and flexible,
strong and clearly formed and full and vibrant and subtle..
Sri Aurobindo
Philosopher, writer, yogi
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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 15
 Sanskrit and India
India was the motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe’s languages;
she was the mother of our philosophy,
mother, through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics;
mother, through the Buddha, of the ideals embodied in Christianity;
mother, through the village community, of self-government and democracy.
Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.

Will Durant
Writer, historian and philosopher

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 16
 Sanskrit and India
If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her
finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Sanskrit language and
literature and all that it contains. This is the magnificent inheritance and so long as this
endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India
continue. If our race forgot the Buddha, the Upanishads and the great Epics
(Ramayana and Mahabharata), India would cease to be India.
Jawarharlal Nehru

Without the study of Sanskrit one cannot become a true Indian and a true learned man.
Mahatma Gandhi

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Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 17
 Anuradha Choudry
Department of Humanities and Social Sciences 18