Saffronizing education

Revival of Sanskrit is a good measure taken by the government but I too have my own doubts as to whether it can become as popular as English or Hindi, which is  because of the vast communication base they have . Sanskrit if at all can be used within India like other languages in years to come when it is revived on a large scale..However,it is a welcome step !

Nobody expects that Sanskrit will become a popular language like Hindi or English, but definitely there will be some change. The efforts of people to protect a language and trying to restore its past glory need to be appreciated. Instead of discouraging by showering negative thoughts it is always desirable to ignite a spark of positive hope.

Neither damning Sanskrit with faint praises nor crying hoarse from rooftops and writing its obituary would serve the cause of an informed debate and discourse. Those who choose to cleverly dodge some of the searching and pertinent questions raised by a few truly knowlegeable members are quite aware of the hollowness of their arguments.Sanskrit can do without patronage of any political party and villification campaign run by a few for reasons best known to them.It has survived through all ages till date. It is the heritage of the world,our link to the history,a repository of knowledge encompassing all branches of it.A nation looking forward to a great future must be made aware of its great,otherwise we would be reducing ourselves to the status of cultural vandals!!!

chinmoymukherjee wrote:

Neither damning Sanskrit with faint praises nor crying hoarse from rooftops and writing its obituary would serve the cause of an informed debate and discourse. Those who choose to cleverly dodge some of the searching and pertinent questions raised by a few truly knowlegeable members are quite aware of the hollowness of their arguments.Sanskrit can do without patronage of any political party and villification campaign run by a few for reasons best known to them.It has survived through all ages till date. It is the heritage of the world,our link to the history,a repository of knowledge encompassing all branches of it.A nation looking forward to a great future must be made aware of its great,otherwise we would be reducing ourselves to the status of cultural vandals!!!

Let us see reality. Sanskrit is not likely o be of everyday use for conversation and correspondence. In this sense, this is extinct. But as most Indian languages are derived from Sanskrit and we follow religious and cultural traditions even using these languages derived from Sanskrit, we retain our cultural identity.  Sanskrit is not really so necessary even for religious purposes. Tulsi Das Ramayan is written in Avadhi, a variant of Hindi and is more in use than Balmiki Ramayana.  I saw in Kurichhheta (Haryana) that even the last rites are performed thee in Hindi instead of Sanskrit unlike places like Haridwar.    

 

Your idea of a language and its uses is completely different from that of mine. It is not  its spoken currency but the power of its enriching ideas that is the sole criterion. If a question as profound as: If god created man or man created god,could be asked in a language a few thousand years back which still continues to brainstorm us.If a youth today continues to be influenced and inspired by the quote "Vanijye basati Luxmi" or "Udyoginong purushasimham upaiti Laxmi,daibeno dayam iti kapursho badanti" pragmatically laying importance on enterprise in life.How can you deny it is not an use? Why do you cling on to your unsustainable position by disregarding the views of dominant majority and treating the subject very superficially.Even an average school English dictionary. would not justify your use of the word "extinct" in your misplaced zeal to finish off Sanskrit! Sadly that won't happen ever! Never!

There is subtle difference between both languages, removing works of eminent Urdu writers cannot be tell as correct but learning Sanskritised Hindi, I do not understand what is that about but if some government intends to impact education on perfect Hindi then I think there is nothing wrong with it.

No language which has a script and in today's times can become extinct. When a member uses the term extinct  in a relative manner, he means from the widespread use that Sanskrit enjoyed about 1200 years ago. This is a reality. Also Sanskrit was the language of Brahmins and lower castes were not supposed to learn it.

The truth that Shudras and other lower castes are not allowed to learn Sanskrit was a bygone era's matter. If enough support is given by the Modern Government and the people, it certainly regains its lost glory.

 

Sanskrit has not lost its glory. It is only that its followers lost power and glory to foreign invaders about 1200 years back. Sanskrit paid the price.

Let's not the discuss why Sanskrit is in this state today. Bygone days should be set aside and think solid plans to bring back its glory .

 

Will Tamil Nadu agree to Sanskrit being the medium of education? 

That has to be seen. As I said earlier introduction of Sanskrit is a time taking an long process. Let's together wait.

Wait till eternity. How can Sanskrit compete with today's languages which are widely accepted and used. Sanskrit was a language of ancient India. in today's India it has an archival value. I also respect it but am realistic to accept that its days of glory have long since passed. Will engineering, medicine , law etc be taught in Sanskrit. Your answer will be yes it can be done, present govt. will do it. But is it going to happen. 

A language that has been termed as Classic language has been forgotten and neglected , do you think just by waving a magic wand, Sanskrit will come back ? Yes i still say the present government will succeed in  implementing engineering medicine etc in Sanskrit. Thats why I wait. If you can't wait well that's up to you.

 

The point here is not whether the language can be used as a medium of instruction or whether it can compete with modern languages. The point is whether the language holds any importance in today's world and answer to that is yes and vast uses have already been proved and elaborately discussed above.

The same set of arguments being advanced all over again which have been effectively rebutted! If restrictions were placed on non-Brahmins learning Sanskrit, how come some of rishis and maharshis were non-Brahmins? I don't know if the term 'extinct' admits of any modifier or qualifier like more or less! Its import does convey a state of absoluteness. No intermediate state.I am also not much informed about its status during the Muslim-dominated eras. Dara Sikho was well-versed in it.The entire Vaishnav religion which flourished under the spiritual guru Mahaprabhu Chaityna during the Muslim eras.My home still has rare literature of this religion all in Sanskrit as my late father was a devout Vaishnav.Now coming to Bengal Renaissance heralded by a galaxy of luminaries who fought Brahminical tyranny were all masters in it.They countered brahminical orthodoxy and deviancy with their true knowledge of Upanishad and other shastras,Raja Rammohan Roy,Swami Vivekananda,Tagore,Vidyasagar,Keshab Chandra Sen and above all Sree Ramakrishna. The point to note here is Sree Ramakrishna was a Brahmin and Vivekananda (aka Narendranath Dutta) was not. But nothing came in between the spiritual union of these sacred souls.

It can not be any one's case in disputing the merit of the Sanskrit language. That it is a great language and has  a very scientific grammar suitable for today's computer languages is a tribute to it. However to expect that it will become the language of the masses, will replace current languages as medium of instruction and all official work will be done in it is simply not going to happen for reasons that have nothing to do with Sanskrit itself. It lost to the invaders languages more than a thousand years back. Probablity of it becoming the lingua franca is always there howsoever miniscule it may be. In the distant past and recent past if a stray rishi or a reformer learnt it in spite of not being a Brahmin does not negate the reality that it was never the  language of the masses. Its richness is not in doubt, But repeatedly harping only on  its past glory in itself shows it is a language  of the yester ages. I also support all efforts by government, institutions and individuals to encourage its study and keep it alive, after all it is the mother of many Indian languages and has vast and rich  literature.

Sanskrit has never been darling of mass people. From its stages it is learnt and most of languages evolve from it. But still it continues still to date. Regional languages like Pali and others evolve from Sanskrit way before. But continuance of Sanskrit still continues as it goes on to show that this is not a dead language. Safronisation of education is not similar with Sanskrit education. Even modern super computers based upon Sanskrit codes as it is the most suitable of the most. There are many English writers who adopt this language and then analyse to understand how close Greeco Roman language with Sanskrit and its daughter languages.

Lopamudra wrote:

The point here is not whether the language can be used as a medium of instruction or whether it can compete with modern languages. The point is whether the language holds any importance in today's world and answer to that is yes and vast uses have already been proved and elaborately discussed above.

Lopamudra, you have summed it up quite well. Extinction or liveliness or revival of any language actually depends on what it can offer in terms of knowledge and content in today's context and Sanskrit fits the bill completely and beautifully well. In spite of its evident labeling as 'saffronizing language' or 'belonging to only a certain upper caste people' etc. it still serves a multitude of purposes to each and every component of the society. Ayurvedic treatment is given equally to an upper caste Brahmin and to a lower caste person. Sanskrit which is used to program computer languages and codes are used in the same manner by persons belonging to all castes. So constantly harping on it as extinct, upper caste, extinct language is useless and futile.

In none of my posts I have advocated the cause of this language as a spoken language despite its extraordinarily rich vocabulary it can't be the lingua franca like English. The reasons are clear. As to the small number of people who visited this planet to reform and break fresh and new paths and vision my only question is : When did we have them in thousands

and millions unlike today when we have more leaders than followers!!!!