Fwd: [GRA] Sanskrit: a dead language?

[Srinath Ranya]

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Saurabh Gandhi <gsau...@gmail.com>
Date: 2011/2/9
Subject: [GRA] Sanskrit: a dead language?
To: Abhijeet Alase <alase.a...@gmail.com>, Abhijit Jathar <abhij...@gmail.com>, Abhishek Chandorkar <chandorka...@gmail.com>, Abhishek Naik <abhin...@gmail.com>, Aditya Mehta <adityam...@gmail.com>, Amol Mankeekar <amolma...@gmail.com>, Aman Sohane <amans...@gmail.com>, Animesh Gupta <anigu...@gmail.com>, Anirudh Subramanyam <aniru...@gmail.com>, Anjali Gandhi <anjali...@gmail.com>, Ankit Rana <ankit....@gmail.com>, Ankit Shah <ankit...@gmail.com>, Anshuman Kumar <2006.a...@gmail.com>, Anuj Bangad <banga...@gmail.com>, Anup Date <anoo...@gmail.com>, Anurag Vaidya <vaidya...@gmail.com>, anvayu...@gmail.com, Ashwin Wadaskar <ashvwa...@gmail.com>, Atreya Chatterjee <chatterj...@gmail.com>, Avinash Aher <aher.av...@gmail.com>, Chaitali Joshi <chaitali...@gmail.com>, Dhiraj Nahar <dhiraj...@gmail.com>, Harshal Mate <mateh...@gmail.com>, IITB Mountaineering Club <mountaine...@googlegroups.com>, Jayant Thatte <meetj...@gmail.com>, Juhi Karwa <juhi...@gmail.com>, Kushal Kshirsagar <kusha...@gmail.com>, Mayank Bendarkar <maya...@gmail.com>, Mayuresh Hooli <mayures...@gmail.com>, Meghana Sreenivasan <meghna.sr...@iitb.ac.in>, Mihir Mogre <mogre...@gmail.com>, Mihir Sheth <mihir...@gmail.com>, Mihir Tulsidas Phatak <mihir....@gmail.com>, Namit Rawal <namit...@gmail.com>, Neil Gokhale <neildg...@gmail.com>, Nikhil Deshpande <nikhil...@yahoo.co.in>, Nikhil Prakash <np.nikhi...@gmail.com>, Nikhil Tilak <nikhil...@yahoo.com>, Ninad Shah <nina...@gmail.com>, Ninad Watve <nind....@gmail.com>, Nishit Shah <shahb...@gmail.com>, Omkar Paingankar <oapain...@smart.com>, Omkar panse <opa...@gmail.com>, Parth Jinger <part...@gmail.com>, Payal Sheth <payals...@gmail.com>, Piyush Chorbele <chorbele...@gmail.com>, Pooja Chaware <chawar...@gmail.com>, Praj Bhillare <praj.b...@gmail.com>, Praj Bhillare <praj_b...@rediffmail.com>, Pranay Bhandari <coolpr...@gmail.com>, Prashant Shrivastava <prashan...@gmail.com>, Prashant Sohani <prashan...@gmail.com>, Pratap Pachpute <pratap....@gmail.com>, Pratik Dhoot <pratik...@gmail.com>, Preshit Valhekar <presh...@yahoo.co.in>, Prithvi Pegu <prith...@gmail.com>, Rahul Sharma <rahul...@gmail.com>, Rajendra Gandhi <rgan...@gmail.com>, Rajendra Gandhi <rgan...@hotmail.com>, Ranbir Khatri <ranbi...@yahoo.in>, Rohit Sheth <rohit....@gmail.com>, Rohit Chavan <rohit_k...@yahoo.com>, Ruchik More <ruchiks...@gmail.com>, Rutvij Gokhale <rutvij....@gmail.com>, Sagar Chordia <chordia...@gmail.com>, Sagar Chordia <chordi...@gmail.com>, Satyajeet Gaur <satyaje...@gmail.com>, Saumitra Panchwagh <saumitra_...@yahoo.com>, Saurabh Bhor <sourab...@gmail.com>, Shantanu Bhate <shantan...@gmail.com>, Shantanu Diwakar <diwakar....@gmail.com>, Shantanu Panhale <shantanup...@gmail.com>, Shrenik Bhandari <shrenik...@yahoo.co.in>, Shriraj Kunjir <shrira...@gmail.com>, Shubham Gupta <shubham...@gmail.com>, Shweta Pote <shwe...@gmail.com>, Siddharth Nahar <siddharth...@yahoo.co.in>, Siddharth Patki <sin...@yahoo.co.in>, Sneha Jain <sneha.su...@gmail.com>, Srinath Ranya <srihar...@gmail.com>, Sunay Wagle <sunay...@gmail.com>, Surabhi Sheth <surabhi...@gmail.com>, Vikram Pande <vikra...@gmail.com>, Vinit Atal <vini...@gmail.com>, Yogesh Palkar <pyogesh...@yahoo.co.in>

Kedar has presented the reasons behind keeping sanskrit alive very well, I need not add to it, but would like to emphasize that this a key to knowledge that we do not ever want to discard, even though I don't even know how the key works (i.e. I haven't learnt sanskrit)

Dear friends.

I think this is very important issue. As we all know, most indian languages have been derived from Sanskrit. Its grammer is more precise than any other language. But because of this, a person has to put in more effort to learn it. Also, because it is no longer valued in our current educational or financial system, there is no incentive to learn it either.

In the census which is going on, most of us have not mentioned Sanskrit as language which we are familiar with. Accordingly, it it going to be declared as a dead language - which means that government will no longer take any effort/ will not provide funds for promoting it. Luckily, an additional round of data collection is going to happen this month. If you want keep our ancestral language alive, please mention sanskrit also in the list to languages that you know.  

Sure, most of us dont converse in it. But many of the prayers/ shlokas/ subhashitanis/ etc. that we say daily are in Sanskrit. So I think its quite valid for us to say that we know Sanskrit. It has been the language in which India's ancient culture flourished. Many of our subhashitanis, the prayers we sing, the ancient Indian scriptures, etc. are written in Sanskrit. This is the language, in which our ancestors have left behind their wisdom. An important reason why many of us feel that India didnt have a great past, is that we have not taken the pains to learn the language in which our ancient cultural history has been documented.

If we allow it to be declared a dead language, we will lose a big connection with our roots. If you care for the language, please do make it a point to mention about it in the census data next month and pass on the message to all your friends.

( Also, this has acted as a harsh indicator for me that if we dont care for our ancestral legacy, we are bound to soon lose it. I had preserved all my school Sanskrit text books. I had resolved to soon study it in detail and then study the Indian literature. I had conveniently forgotten about it all these years, while pursuing my professional ambitions. I hope, that I will find time for it atleast after this)

warm regards,

yours,

kedar

PS: For those wanting to forward it in Marathi - the orginial marathi message is below

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संस्कृत भाषा मृत घोषित होणार ?
To:


Namaskar.

 

Please forward this to as many as possible before 9th February (since they are going to start the second round of census on that day) to prevent our beloved sanskrit language from being a dead language.

 

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 मित्रांनो एक महत्वाच्या गोष्टीकडे तुमचे लक्ष वेधायचे आहे

भारताची जनगणना आता अंतिम टप्प्यात आली आहे आणि या महिन्यात स्वयंसेवक पुन्हा एकदा तुमच्या कडे येतील 

तुमची आणि तुमच्या कुटुंबियांची माहिती परत घेतली आणि नोंदवली जाईल.

 

माहिती भरतांना तुमची मातृभाषा जी काही असेल ती तुम्ही लिहाल  पण "अवगत असलेल्या भाषा" मध्ये संस्कृत भाषा न विसरता लिहा आणि खंर बघाल तर  पूर्ण जरी नाही तरी आजही आपण ती भाषा वापरतो. संध्याकाळी दिवेलागणीला म्हंटली जाणारी स्त्रोत्रे किंवा गणपतीच्या दिवसात होणारी सहस्त्र आवर्तने अगदी देवाच्या पूजेत किंवा लग्नात म्हंटले  जाणारे मंगलमय श्लोक सगळे आपल्याला माहिती आहेत काही पाठ आहेत.

 

हि भाषा जिवंत ठेवणं आता आपल्या हातात आहे. कारण मागील  सर्वेक्षणात संस्कृत माहिती असलेल्या लोकांची संख्या केवळ काही हजारात आहे आणि त्यामुळे तिला मृत भाषा घोषित केले जावू शकते. उलटपक्षी अरबी, फारसी माहिती असलेले लोक बरेच जास्ती आहेत कारण काही राज्यात अगदी ठरवूर ह्या भाषा पत्रकात भरल्या आहेत. मृत भाषा घोषित झाली की त्या भाषेच्या उत्कर्षासाठी कुठलाही निधी दिला जात नाही. आणि मग आपली ही पुरातन आणि पवित्र भाषा कायम स्वरूपी काळाच्या पडद्याआड जाईल.

 

तुमचा जाणीवपूर्वक केलेला प्रयत्न ह्या भाषेला जिवंत ठेवू शकतो. आज आपल्याच भाषेवर ही वेळ येण्यास आपण सगळेच जबाबदार आहोत पण अजून वेळ गेली नाही. जेवढी जमत असेल तेवढी गम्मत म्हणून का होईना वापरा जर तुम्हाला हा विचार पटत असेल तर जरूर आपल्या मित्रांना सुद्धा सांगा (हा ई-मेल त्यांना सुद्धा पाठवा )

--
"Your past forms you, Whether you like it or not"
-by greatest winner ever

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Vande Mataram.
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--
Saurabh

--
Regards,
श्री
ज्ञानं परमं ध्येयम् ।

[Antariksh Bothale]

I have always found it regrettable that Sanskrit-enthu people almost always suspend reason when making any such appeal. 

Claiming that you know/speak Sanskrit because you have memorized Shlokas and Subhashitanis? I don't think the government extends any of its pro-Sanskrit funding because it thinks Sanskrit is a living language. 

Sanskrit deservers more rational proponents.