Importance of Sanskrit

Importance of Sanskrit

Importance of Sanskrit - I

Importance of Sanskrit is universally acknowledged; cultural heritage of India is rooted in Sanskrit, and development of Indian genius owes overwhelmingly to Sanskrit, not only in the fields of spirituality and philosophy but also in the fields of art, poetry, and literature as also of science, ethics, and systems of pure and practical knowledge. Indian temperament has been formed by Sanskrit and even the modern languages of India bear in them the impact of the magnificence and richness of Sanskrit. Today when the Indian spirit has re-emerged and begun to express a new life and a new creation, the need is felt to draw fresh energy from the language and to enhance the ability of the people of India through the aid of that language.

Sanskrit is an incomparable language remarkably perfected, cultivated and refined. In the words of Sri Aurobindo: "It is perhaps the most remarkably finished and capable instrument of thought yet fashioned…lucid with the utmost possible clarity, precise to the farthest limit of precision, always compact and at its best sparing in its formation of phrase, but yet with all this never poor or bare… a capacity of high richness and beauty, a natural grandeur of sound and diction inherited from the ancient days." William Jones found Sanskrit to be "more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either." As the East and the West are drawing together, and as the message of India has begun to bring to the world the quiet content of her unacquisitive soul, and pacifying love for all living things, the excellence of Sanskrit as a language and its inexhaustible inspiration is bound to become a living vehicle of the world-spirit.

The knowledge contained in the Sanskritic and allied works is manifold and covers practically every field; it is also on a large scale, and it manifests much attention to completeness of detail. In the spiritual and philosophical domains, the knowledge measures the finite and casts its plummets far into the infinite; it covers the upper, middle and lower seas of the superconscient, the subliminal and the inconscient.

The great mass of Sanskrit literature is a literature of art and science of human life. If the theme of spiritual release was dominant, it also looked deeply at ethics, law, politics, society, arts and crafts, even science and art of love. Even the themes such as those of breeding horses and elephants were dealt with in detail and with scientific rigour.

In the scientific field, this knowledge went farther than any country before the modern era. The medical knowledge and knowledge of surgery was well-equipped. Ayurveda survives to the present day and is recovering its vitality with great rapidity.

In mathematics, astronomy and chemistry, this knowledge anticipated some of the ideas and discoveries, which Europe first arrived at much later. That the earth is a moving body – chalā prithvi sthīra bhātī was declared by the Indian astronomer many centuries before Galileo. Sayana cites in his commentary on the Veda a formula well-known in his time concerning the speed of light, ─ which approximates what is acknowledged today by contemporary science. Much earlier, in the Rigveda we have a verse of Bharadwaja, which declares that all physical speeds are measurable by light.

The decimal notation in mathematics was a special contribution of ancient Indian mathematics.

The so-called Pythagorean Theorem is actually a more ancient theorem formulated in Sulva Sutra. Aryabhata, Brahmagupta and Bhaskara contributed a number of inventions and creations, such as the radical sign, several algebraic symbols, conception of a negative quantity, rules for finding permutations and combinations, and the square root of 2 in the eighth century, Indian mathematics solved indeterminate equations of the second degree that were unknown in Europe until the days of Euler a thousand years later. Madhava anticipated by three centuries Newton and Leibnitz in respect of Calculus.

Priority in the discovery of knowledge is a matter of glory in itself, but what is important is to delve into the methods of knowledge which enabled these Sanskritic scholars to make their pioneering discoveries and inventions. Investigations into these methods can profitably be recommended to the contemporary scholars, since it is bound to lead us on the path of acceleration of our pace of progress.

It must be remembered that the Sanskritic and allied texts have suffered colossal attacks and what remains today is only a fragment, and what is known of that fragment is merely a fraction, since a large number of manuscripts have not yet been studied and scrutinized. In this context, an exciting programme of research needs to be chalked out at the national and international level. And this justifies insistence that the study and knowledge of Sanskrit should be spread all over the world.

Importance of Sanskrit - II

The one theme that promises today to become the theme of momentous interdisciplinary research is that of Consciousness. Thanks to the great work of the Indian scientist, Jagdish Chandra Bose unity of life and mind and even of matter and life has been demonstrated to the scientific world. Modern theories of evolution beginning with Darwin and culminating with Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo have provided a sound basis to posit consciousness as the underlying driving force of evolution. The work of Heisenberg and Bell's Theorem in Quantum Mechanics has reiterated the ancient Indian perception of the operations of consciousness even in sub-atomic matter. Researches in higher levels of the mind have led to the increasing acknowledgement of consciousness. And if there is one language where endless writings have continued to pour on the theme of consciousness, it is Sanskrit.

From the dateless antiquity when the Vedas were composed up to our own day, millions of varieties of experiences and realisations of various levels of consciousness have been inquired into and verifiable statements regarding them have been recorded which will need to be studied by all who belong to the frontier areas of research. Consequently, this will have multiplier effect on all interdisciplinary studies. Inescapably, Sanskrit will become a leading world-language.

Importance of Sanskrit - III

It is clear that that the high tide towards Sanskrit is inevitable, and we need to chalk out a path and a programme so that the tasks we have to undertake are carried out systematically and as rapidly as possible.

It is a mistaken idea that Sanskrit is a dead language or only a classical language. For Sanskrit has continuously been developing. In spite of the heavy blows cast on it by misfortunes of various kinds, it connects our long past history with the present.

It is also necessary to mention that in the early part of the modern period, we had prolific authors in Sanskrit like Apayya Dikshit, Nilakantha Dikshit, Bellukonda Ramarai, Radha Mandalam, Narayan Shastri, Mahamahopadhyaya Laksmisuri, Pandit Madhusudan Oza, and others who have written in Sanskrit, each between 60 and 140 volumes.

In the later of part of the modern period, the output was still considerable, as is evidenced by several histories of Sanskrit literature, such as those of Dr. Krishnamacharya, Dr. Shridhar Bhaskar Varnekar, and Dr. Hira Lal Shukla. The writings of Dr. Venkataram Raghavan as also the recent two volumes of Dr. Varnekar's "Sanskrit Vangmaya Kosh" have sharpened our awareness of the living force of Sanskrit and continuity of the Sanskrit literature.

It may be noted that Sanskrit poets of our times have adopted contemporary themes for the Mahakavyas, and some of the Sanskrit dramas come nearer to the modern taste. It may also be mentioned that some genuine lyricists have produced remarkable lyrics. Appa Shastri's Panjarabaddah Shukah has often been quoted as an example of the lyrics, which deal with the burning problems of the present. One may also refer to Dr. Varnekar's Teertha Bharatham, Sri Rama Sangitika and Sri Krishna Sangitika and several others which continue the tradition of Jayadev's Geet Govinda with refreshing beauty. Novels such as Shivaraj Vijaya of Pandit Ambika Dutta Vyas and Anandavardhana's Kusumalakshmi reflect refreshing advance in the needed new directions.

It is also acknowledged that there is a good crop of short stories in recent times and some of them show admirably the technique and spirit of innovative modern short story.

It is also noted that the publication of journals in Sanskrit has been a remarkable phenomenon. Regular broadcasts and telecasts in Sanskrit on radio and television have provided rich material for enriching the language.

Importance of Sanskrit - IV

The Sanskrit Commission Report of 1957 has underlined the excellence of the Sanskrit language and its historical importance. That Report will be reviewed and recommendations that underline the importance of Sanskrit and promotion of Sanskrit will be reiterated and implemented.

In the 1968 Education Policy, it was stated:

"Considering the special importance of Sanskrit to the growth and development of Indian languages and its unique contribution to the cultural unity of the country, facilities for its teaching at the school and university stages should be offered on more liberal basis. Development of new methods of teaching the language should be encouraged, and the possibility explored of including the study of Sanskrit in those courses (such as modern Indian Philosophy) at the first and second degree stages, where such knowledge is useful."

The 1986 New Education Policy stated:

"Research in Indology, the humanities and social sciences will receive adequate support. To fulfil the need for the synthesis of knowledge, interdisciplinary research will be encouraged. Efforts will be made to delve into India's ancient funds of knowledge and to relate it to contemporary realities. This effort will imply the development of the facilities for the intensive study of Sanskrit."

The Indian Constitution lays down that the Union in fulfilling the duty of promoting the spread of Hindi; it would draw, whenever necessary or desirable, for its vocabulary, primarily on Sanskrit.

Encouragement to Sanskrit is also implied in the fact that it is one of the languages given in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution.

The first Prime Minister of India, Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru, had pointed out that the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her finest heritage, is the Sanskrit language and literature, and all that it contains. He has stated: "This is the magnificent inheritance and so long as it endures and influences the life of our people, the basic genius of India will continue."

Importance of Sanskrit - V

The factors that underline the importance of Sanskrit and which inspire and strengthen the motivation to turn to Sanskrit and to encourage the study and spread of Sanskrit in the country will receive special emphasis, and these will include a national awakening to the following:

I) The earliest composition that is available in the world consists of Vedic Samhitas, the language of which is Sanskrit. In order to determine the nature of the thought and aspirations which are embedded in the Vedic texts, the knowledge of Sanskrit is indispensable. Again, considering that these thoughts and aspirations contain a system of knowledge connected with self-culture and self-perfection, and considering that that knowledge is directly relevant to the solution of some of the deepest maladies of the contemporary humanity, the value of the Vedic knowledge and therefore of Sanskrit is greatly enhanced.

II) Vedas are being now acknowledged not only as a part of the ancient Indian literature but also as a part of the world literature. Hence, the time is ripening when people of the world will turn to Sanskrit with increasing interest.

III) As far as India is concerned, it has to be noted that Sanskrit has always been an all-India language and it has universal appeal all over the country; even in the early part of the modern period we have had profound authors in Sanskrit who wrote profusely. It is also to be noted that Sanskrit is the one speech which, in spite of the heavy blows cast on it by misfortunes of various kinds, and even after centuries of decline, connects our long period of past history with our present.

IV) All that pre-eminently constitutes India as a nation has been expressed continuously through the Sanskrit language. Three greatest national poets, namely, Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa have written only in Sanskrit, and it may be stated that without the knowledge of Sanskrit, at least at the minimum level, one cannot easily enter into the spirit that is so vibrant in the writings of these three great poets.

V) At a time when it is increasingly recognised that India needs to recover a great store of knowledge that has been expressed through Sanskrit in course of the long period of its history, and when it is recognised further that that knowledge needs to be revived, reformulated, enriched and made to run on new lines by absorbing what is best and valuable in the modern currents of various disciplines of knowledge, we can hope to succeed in this task only through a widespread knowledge of Sanskrit among students, teachers, scholars and general public.

VI) At a time when the importance of Sanskrit is gradually gaining ground, and when the greatest demand that is being made on the modern mind is that one should combine the sublimity and luminosity of the heritage of the Sanskrit literature with modernity, it is indispensable that the country reorients its system of education in such a manner that Sanskrit is learned not only at a minimum level but even at increasing higher levels.

VII) It has also been realised that it is very difficult to master the Official Language of India, namely, Hindi, without adequate mastery over Sanskrit, and also that all the other national languages can be mastered only when one has adequate grounding in Sanskrit.

VIII) The idea that Sanskrit is to be retained as only a language for the scholar is erroneous, since large manifestations of Indian culture involving masses of common people, inevitably invoke expressions in Sanskrit. Even ceremonies of various kinds in which common people participate collectively and massively demand some knowledge of Sanskrit so as to make them truly intelligible and enjoyable.

IX) It has also been noticed that in regard to the computer technology, which is fast becoming the universal instrument of transmission and communication, Sanskrit has been found to be an ideal language. With the development of this technology, the importance of Sanskrit will increase, and there is a great possibility that Sanskrit will become a modern living international language.

X) As noted above, Sanskrit was in the past a Pan-Indian language, and even today there are people in all parts of India who know Sanskrit or have acquaintance with Sanskrit. This Pan-Indian character of Sanskrit needs to be studied and reiterated so as to provide unprecedented impetus to the cause of national unity and integrity.

Sanskrit and Multisided Literature of Knowledge

Right from the Vedic times, there has been in India a tradition of synthesis of knowledge; Vedas themselves have spoken to celebrate discovery of new knowledge and of the development of wider and higher peaks of knowledge. As a result, Sanskrit has been a vehicle, not only of sublime and inspiring literature but also of Yogic science, philosophy, Dharma shastras, ethical codes and numerous systems of natural science, applied science and pragmatic knowledge. It is well-known that Sanskrit contains the earliest discoveries of zero and decimal system and the works of Aryabhatt and Bhaskaracharya rank among the best in their various fields. In regard to trigonometry, original insights are to be found relevant in Sanskrit literature and Madhvacharya (1350 to 1410 AD) well anticipated in advance the works of Newton and Leibnitz in regard to integral and differential calculus. Indian mathematicians enunciated formulae for the value of pi. Astronomical knowledge figures even in the earliest Vedic Samhitas and the remarkable development of astronomy in India through millennia has been widely acknowledged. Science of computation of time and space were highly developed; that the speed of light is the highest among all the physical speeds was known to the Vedic seers, and the measurement of the speed and the formula of that speed which corresponds very much to the corresponding formula of today has been mentioned is a part of the traditional knowledge in a work belonging to 14th century AD. The idea of gravitation has been recorded in the ancient Sanskrit literature and a passage in the writings of Sankaracharya shows is acquainted with that knowledge. That the earth is not the center but small portion of the huge universe was not only known but was a part of practical knowledge is testified in the various Sanskrit works pertaining to scientific and spiritual fields.

The science and art of Ayurveda have their origin in the Veda and continue to develop through a long history of Indian medicine, and it is alive even today. In regard to the study of minerals, the work of Vagbhatta (12th century AD) outlines elaborately the medicinal aspect of gems and curative element in each of these and curative properties of medicine were prepared using their ashes.

It may also be added that veterinary science was also very well developed in the works like Asvavaidyaka of Nakula.

It may also be noted that much work is found in Sanskrit literature in respect of engineering and technology. A number of manuscripts have been collected, and study of these manuscripts is found to throw light on these important branches of knowledge. A study of Indian technologies will bring out the simple techniques in various fields such as metallurgy, and textiles. It is a fact that in 19th century, fabrics produced by textiles mills in England had to be protected from Indian competition by the imposition of duties from 70% to 80% on cotton silk imported from India. As pointed out by H.H. Wilson, "The mills of Paisley and Manchester would have stopped in their outset and could scarcely have been again set in motion even by the power of steam."

The available Sanskrit literature also shows that India had developed special techniques also in agriculture, building and construction, sculpture, pottery, glass making and even in luxuries like making ice, etc.

It is now being increasingly recognized that the Indian Shastras and modern science can both benefit if a fresh dialogue is instituted, and this of course needs some knowledge of Sanskrit among scientists of today. With these dialogues, the rigour of exact reasoning will be achieved and new insights gained in various branches of science and technology, and even in disciplines like music, poetics, drama and linguistics.

Science in Sanskrit Literature

Science in Sanskrit Literature - I

"Thou hast woven, O Mystic Fire, the earthly speed-ranges by thy light and the force of thy mighty power…."

This prayer in the Rig Veda (6.6.6) is an illumining illustration of a scientific truth of the speed of light, which was discovered at least five thousand years ago, and which has been expressed in the ancient but ever-young language, Sanskrit, which was at one time a vehicle of a vast body of knowledge, and which we can visit once again to recover that knowledge, and even to rejuvenate ourselves for further advancement of knowledge in our own times. We can see in this verse, which has been taken from the Ŗg Veda, the ancient awareness of various speeds of earthly energies, and the assured confidence that the speed of light transcends all other physical speeds in such a way that the latter can be measured in terms of the former.

We may also refer to another verse of the Rig Veda (I.50.4), which also speaks of the speed of light that outstrips all in regard to their speeds. The verse reads as follows:

तरणिर्विश्वदर्शतो ज्योतिष्कृदसि सूर्य।विश्वमाभासि रोचनम्।। ऋग्वेदः 1.50.4

This verse is addressed to self-radiant Sun, and describes it "as the supreme light that outstrips all in speed and as spiritual radiance that awakens all and shines through the entire firmament."

It is interesting to observe that in the history of Sanskrit as also in the history of Vedic knowledge, the interpretation of this verse had remained so alive that Sāyana in the 14th century A.D. while commenting on the term "taraņi", which occurs in that verse, provides a detailed mathematical formula of the speed of light in the following terms:

तथा च स्मर्यते -योजनानां सहस्रे द्वे द्वे शते द्वे च योजने।एकेन निमिषार्धेन क्रममाण नमोऽस्तुते।।

"It is remembered", says Sāyana, "Obeisance to Thee, (O self-radiant Sun), who can cross the distance of two thousand two hundred and two yojanas just in half a nimisa (twinkling of an eye)."

If we can work out this mathematical formula by determining the meaning of yojana and nimisa (as is shown in a note in the Appendix), the figure that we obtain for the speed of light is 185793.75 miles per second, which is very near the modern value of 186000 miles per second.

Science in Sanskrit Literature - II

The history of Indian science is closely linked with the origin of the Vedic texts. According to one view, the Veda not only contains some illuminating truths of scientific knowledge but contains even the truths that physical science has discovered in the modern times. This claim may require a good deal of proving, but it can be said that not only ancient Indian civilisation but even several other ancient civilisations possessed secrets of science some of which modern knowledge has recovered, extended and made more rich and precise but others are even now being recovered. In regard to the Veda, Sri Aurobindo finds in the Veda truths of a science the modern world does not at all possess. Of the Vedic seers and their achievements, Sri Aurobindo states:

"They may not have yoked the lightning to their chariots, nor weighed sun and star, nor materialised all the destructive forces in Nature to aid them in massacre and domination, but they had measured and fathomed all the heavens and earths within us, they had cast their plummet into the Inconscient and the subconscient and the superconscient; they had read the riddle of death and found the secret of immortality; …." ¹

The language of the Veda is symbolic, and the knowledge that it contains in regard to Matter, Life, Mind and Supermind, as also of unity of the universe and the oneness of Ultimate Reality is presented in a language that is not easily legible to us. It speaks of Matter and the knowledge of Matter as that of the three earths; it speaks of life-force as the mid-region (antariksha), and it speaks of mind and the knowledge of the mind as of three heavens. And beyond the triple lower world of Matter, Life and Mind, it speaks of truth-world, the world of the Truth, Right and Vast (satyam ritam brihat) manifested in swar, with its three luminous heavens. The Veda goes still farther, and it expounds the knowledge of the still higher three worlds which in the later tradition of Indian knowledge has been identified with the knowledge of the worlds of the Being, Conscious-Force and Delight. To the Vedic seers all this knowledge was scientific, considering that that knowledge is systematic and it is verifiable, repeatable and capable of further expansions in the light of constant enlargement. The entire spirit of the Vedic quest of knowledge is governed by spirit of constant quest and constant progression, as the following verse testifies:

ब्रह्माणस्त्वा शतक्रत उद वंशमिव येमिरे।यत् सानोः सानुमारुहद भूर्यस्पष्ट कत्र्वम्।। 1.10.1-2

"O thou, endowed with hundred dimensions of consciousness-force, the mind movements strive up by thee as they climb thee as upon a trunk. When one climbeth from plateau to plateau, much that still remains to be known becomes clearer.

Science in Sanskrit Literature - III

It is to be noted that six sciences or scientific bodies of knowledge developed out of the Vedic Samhitās as an aid to the correct understanding and interpretation of the Veda. These six bodies of knowledge, which are called Vedangas, are: shikshā, kalpa, vyākaraņa, nirukta, chhanda, and jyotisha. A book called shikshā sangraha contains a collection of thirty-two systems which are related to sound, letters, pronunciation and method of teaching and learning of these basic elements. The entire kalpa literature, which deals with the law of action and reaction as also laws of interchange in the universe, includes Dharma shastras as also Shulba Sutras. It is well-known that Shulba sutras are related to the science of geometry and architecture which arose out of the necessity of the construction of sacrificial altars, fire vessels and other related structures.

Nirukta is a kind of a commentary on collections of difficult words used in the Vedas. The entire science of interpretation has developed out of Nirukta. An important development of Nirukta is the science of grammar or vyakarana, in regard to which there is a vast literature in Sanskrit. Great grammarians like Brihaspati, Indra, Maheshvara and Panini have enriched the science of grammar. Panini's famous book, Ashtādhyāyi, has come to be regarded as a model work in the field. According to some commentators, Panini belonged to 7th century B.C. while others place him in the 4th century B.C. According to Yuddhistra Mimamsaka, the great Vedic scholar of 20th century, Panini belonged to 2900 years before the beginning of Vikrama Era which is supposed to be 200 years after the Mahabharata war. The most authentic book on Panini's Vyākaraņa is that of Patanjali. It is only after 15th century A.D. that the tradition of Panini and Patanjali came to be replaced to some extent by the tradition of Kātantra. In that tradition, the Siddhānta Kaumudi of Bhattoji Dikshit and Prakriyāsarvasa of Narayanabhatt are most prominent. It may also be mentioned that vyākaraņa developed also in the field of philosophy, and this was initiated by Bhartrihari who belongs to the 6th century A.D.

The science of poetic metre, chhanda, also needs to be noted, since no serious student of poetics in India can ignore the study this science. It may also be noted that the chhanda shāstra developed throughout the centuries and millennia, and about 50 metres are still prominently studied in Sanskrit literature. It may also be mentioned that the development of musical science owes a great deal to chhanda shāstra. In recent times, Professor G.H. Tarlekar has made a special study of Samaveda, chhanda shāstra and musical science. He has also written on the development of musical instruments and the technology which was developed through the ages in regard to the construction of musical instruments in India. His research work shows that the chanting of Japanese shomyo, which is the stotra of Buddha found in the Buddhist canon written by Chinese Buddhists in the 6th century A.D., provides links with the chanting of samanas. The application of the science of chhanda, science of rāga or melody, and of the science of psychology in regard to the cure of suffering from illness is being experimented upon in Maharashtra. This experimentation has stimulated fresh research in Sanskrit texts in regard to the science of chhanda and music. Among the important works in Sanskrit regarding music and its place in dance and drama, the most important one is Nātya Shāstra of Bharat Muni. The tradition established by Bharat Muni has remained prevalent for more than a thousand years and even in the book, Sangeet Ratnakar of Sarangdev of 13th century A.D., the authority of Bharat Muni has been acknowledged.

The sixth Vedanga is related to the science of astronomy and astrology, jyotisha. Jyotisha is considered to be the science of light, and it is looked upon as the eyes among the Vedangas. Jyotisha Vedanga of Rigveda has been attributed to Lagadhacharya. There is also a jyotisha related to the Yajurveda and another related to the Atharvaveda, which is the longest consisting of 14 chapters and 102 verses.

Among the greatest astronomers and astrologers of India, the most celebrated name is that of Varahamihira whose famous book Pancasiddhāntikā speaks of five systems of jyotisha: pitāmaha siddhānta, Vasistha siddhānta, Romaka Siddhānta, Poulisha Siddhānta and Sūrya Siddhānta, In due course, jyotisha inspired the development of arithmetic, algebra, geometry.

In the 5th century A.D., Aryabhatta wrote two books, Aryabhattiya and Ardharatrikapaksha. Brahmagupta of 6th century A.D. wrote a famous book, Brahmasphuta siddhānta. It may be noted that Aryabhattiya was also taken to the Arabs and was translated by Abul-Hasan Ahawzi under the title Arajbhara (pronounciation of Aryabhatta in Arabic terms.) One of the brightest names of the later period in India in the field of Indian astronomy is that of Bhaskaracharya of 12th century A.D. who wrote four treatises, including Lilāvati and Siddhānta Shiromaņi.

It is well-known that Aryabhatta had developed the theory of revolution of the earth, and the Sanskrit literature dealing with astronomy and mathematics indicates remarkable accuracy and consummate skill. Astronomers and mathematicians renowned in Sanskrit literature calculated with remarkable accuracy the diameter of the moon, the eclipses of the moon and the sun, the positions of the poles, and position and motion of the major stars. They expounded the theory of gravity and in one of the Siddhānta works, it is stated: The earth, owing to its force of gravity, draws all things to itself.

It is also acknowledged that these astronomers and mathematicians developed numerals and decimal systems, both of which migrated to Europe through the Arabs from India. The numerals are found on the rock edicts of Ashoka (256 B.C.) centuries before their occurrence in Arabic literature. The decimal system was known to Aryabhatta and Brahmagupta long before its appearance in the writings of the Arabs and the Syrians. The oldest known use of zero in Asia or Europe was borrowed from India and this has been acknowledged to be one of the subtle gifts of India to humankind.

Algebra was developed by Indian mathematicians and Bhaskaracharya had invented the radical sign, and many algebraic symbols. Sanskrit literature in mathematics is a testimony of the development of the conception of a negative quantity, without which algebra would have been impossible. This literature also gives formulae and rules for finding permutations and combinations as also for finding the square root of two. The mathematical literature of the 8th century A.D. shows that Indian mathematicians had solved indeterminate equations of the second degree that were unknown to Europe until the days of Euler, a thousand years later. It is also interesting to notice that even scientific works were expressed in poetic form, and this imparted to mathematical problems a grace characteristic of India's literary genius.

It is well-known that Aryabhatta had calculated the value of pi at 3.146 – a figure not equaled in accuracy until the days of Purbac (1423-61) in Europe.

The so-called Pythagorean Theorem was anticipated by Shulba sutras, and even the Greek theory of the physical universe was anticipated by thinkers like Kanada who held that the world was composed of atoms. Kanada also maintained that light and heat were varieties of the same substance, and Vachaspati had anticipated Newton in interpreting light as composed of minute particles that emanated from substance and striking the eyes. Calculus was anticipated by Madhava three centuries before Newton and Leibnitz.

Science in Sanskrit Literature - IV

There are four other sciences which developed out of the Vedic texts. They are known as Upavedas. These are: ayurveda, dhanurveda, gandharvaveda and arthaveda.

Ayurveda is related to the secret of life and the science of art of sustenance, protection and maintenance of long life. The originator of Ayurveda was supposed to be Dhanwanatri. Apart from him, other prominent names are Atreya, Kashyapa, Harita, Agnivesha and Bhedamuni. At present, three important books of Ayurveda are rightly studied: Charaka samhitā, Shusruta samhitā and Vāgbhatta samhitā. These three books are collectively called brihat trayi.

Chemistry developed from Ayurveda. Chemical excellence of cast iron in ancient India has been widely acknowledged. India was looked upon, even by Imperial Rome, as the most skilled of the nations in such chemical industries as dyeing, tanning, soap making, glass and cement. Sanskrit literature shows the Indian mastery of calcinations, distillation, sublimation, steaming, fixation, production of light without heat, the mixing of anaesthetic and soporific powders and the preparation of metallic salts, compounds and alloys. King Porus is said to have selected, as a special valuable gift for Alexander, 30 pounds of steel, rather than of gold and silver.

The Ayurvedic literature deals with anatomy and physiology and describes ligaments, sutures, lymphatics, nerve plexus, fascia, adipose and vascular tissues, and many more muscles than any modern cadaver is able to show. Atreya (500 B.C.) anticipated Weismann by 2400 years in maintaining the view that the parental seed contains in itself, in miniature, the whole parental organism. Ayurvedic literature also describes foetal development with considerable accuracy. It is remarkable that Ayurveda is practised very widely in India even today, and its efficacy is increasingly acknowledged even in different parts of the world. Sushruta wrote down in Sanskrit the entire system of diagnosis and therapy, and also described many surgical operations, such as cataract, hernia, lithotomy, etc. He also mentions 121 surgical instruments including lancets, sounds, forceps, catheters, rectal and vaginal speculums. He was the first to graft upon a torn ear portion of skin taken from another part of the body, and this kind of operation came to be studied and propagated so widely that we have the evidence of a solider of British army in India who was treated by this kind of operation by a local and so called unqualified surgeon (This example was cited with convincing evidence not long ago in an exhibition organised by the Wellcome Institute in London for the History of Medicine).

One of the greatest works in medicine was produced by Bhava Mishra (1550 A.D.) and this work is a voluminous treatise on anatomy, physiology and medicine, and it mentioned a hundred years before Harvey the circulation of the blood and prescribed mercury for that novel disease, syphilis which had been brought in at that time by Portuguese into India. It is also noteworthy that vaccination unknown to Europe before the 18th century A.D. was known in India as early as 550 A.D. Fortunately, it is being increasingly acknowledged that Medieval and modern Europe owes its system of medicine directly to the Arabs and through them to India.

Dhanurveda seems to be a very ancient science, dealing with the science and manufacture of weapons of war and also with the science of warfare. In the Ramayana and Mahabharata, a good deal of light is thrown upon these sciences and arts. The most important ancient books of Dhanurveda are not available but some of the known books are Dhanurviddhi, Dronavidya, Kodanda Mandana, and Dhanurveda Samhita.

Gandharvaveda is the science of music, derived from the Samaveda and we have already dealt with this subject briefly, while dealing with the Vedanga of Chhanda.

Arthaveda is the Upaveda of the Atharvaveda, which deals with social, economic, and political systems. It also deals with architecture, vāstu shāstra, and various arts. According to Shukraniti there are a number of arts but 64 are considered to be more prominent. In later literature we find that 64 arts or kalas were expected to be cultivated by a cultured lady. These included the art of cooking, skill in the use of body ointments and paints for the teeth, etc., music, dancing, painting, garland-making, floor decoration, preparation of the bed, proper use and care of dress and ornaments, sewing, elementary carpentry, repair of household tools and articles, reading, writing and understanding different languages, composing poems, understanding dramas, physical exercises, recreation for utilising leisure hours, and the art of preparing toys for children.

The most famous book of Arthashastra is that of Kautalya. This book has remained authoritative, and many books which have been written thereafter on Arthashastra rely upon that book. Prior to Kautalya, we have also the famous enunciations of Bhishma and Vidura.

It may also be mentioned that in India science and philosophy developed by mutual influence, and the Sanskrit literature connected with all the systems of philosophy contain a good deal of scientific knowledge, which one can visit even today for gaining new insights, and which can prove stimulating for the development of contemporary science.

Science in Sanskrit Literature - V

Epistemology of scientific knowledge is currently gaining a dominant position in the contemporary march of knowledge. In this context, the epistemological inquiry that can be discerned in numerous works in Sanskrit could prove to be indispensable. Quest of knowledge, determination of the instruments and methods of knowledge, limitations of the present organisation of human consciousness and the methods by which these limitations can be transcended – these have been elaborately studied right from the earliest times, and this endeavour can be witnessed even in the Vedas and the Upanishads. One of the quintessential questions of epistemology has been formulated sharply in the very first verse of the Kenopanishad:

केनेषितं पतति प्रेषितं मनः।केन प्राणः प्रथमः प्रैति युक्तःकेनेषितां वाचमिमां वदन्ति।चक्षुः श्रोत्रं क उ देवो युनक्ति।।1।।

By whom missioned falls the mind shot to its mark? By whom yoked moves the first life-breath forward on its paths? By whom impelled is this word that men speak? What god set eye and ear to their workings?

There are three methods of knowledge which have been particularly highlighted and these processes have been acknowledged by the scientific inquiry which has been elaborately described in various Sanskrit texts. The first process which was emphasised was that of observation. Indian epistemology had always admitted the importance of observation by physical senses, and pratyaksha has been admitted as a valid means of knowledge in Indian epistemology. At the same time, the limitations of pratyaksha (knowledge by direct observation through the senses) have also been recognised, and knowledge by deeper observation which transcends the use of physical senses was also developed. The first of these movements of transcendent observation is strikingly presented in the scientific and philosophical systems of Samkhya. That system underlines the methods by which the transcendental observer, as distinguished from empirical observer could be discovered. The result was the discovery of witnessing consciousness (sākshibhāva). In a further development, there came about a discovery of what can be called enveloping consciousness (vishwa chetanā) in which the observing consciousness is able to envelope the entire field of objective existence. A farther development was that of knowledge by identity and methods by which identity (tādātmya) of subject and object can be gained. Highest place was assigned to knowledge by identity in which the observing consciousness is able to enter into the very stuff of objective existence and be aware of its contents by a realisation of the ever-present being of the observing consciousness in the universe as objective representation of its own processes and modifications. In this scheme of knowledge the unity of the universe and oneness of existence were not articles of inference (anumāna) but as self-luminous (svyam prabhā) state of being and becoming. When the Veda speaks of ekam sad viprā bahudā vadanti (Reality, that is one, is variously expressed by the seers) it expresses that process of knowledge by identity. The same identity is expressed when the Upanishads declare: tat tvam asi (That art thou), sarvam khalu idam brahma and sarvāņi bhutāni atma eva abhūt (self being has become all existences).

Let us consider the relevance of this epistemology to the modern developments of physical and other sciences. It is not necessary for our purpose to argue that the Cartesian dualism and Newtonian mechanistic model of the universe have now been surpassed. We may simply state that there are four factors which have contributed to the transcendence of dualistic or fragmented perception of the universe. Firstly, Jagdish Chandra Bose, the great Indian scientist, demonstrated a hundred years ago to the scientific world that there is in the universe unity of life and mind, and even of matter and life. Secondly, in the wake of the development of the Darwinian theory of evolution, questions have been raised in regard to the origin of Mind in life and mater. Has Mind suddenly erupted? Was Mind already present in matter and life? Scientists and philosophers of science are increasingly dissatisfied with the refusals to enter into the realm of explanation or to answer the question in terms of chance or in terms of mechanical explanation. Penrose, for example, has come to suggest that it is quite possible, in physics, to have fundamentally a new property, completely different from any contemplated hitherto, hidden, unobserved in the behaviour of ordinary matter. The very title of his great book indicates a new shift in scientific thought. The title of his book is Shadows of the Mind: A Search for a Missing Science of Consciousness.

Philosophers like Bergson, Alexander, Whitehead, Teilhard de Chardin and Sri Aurobindo have been led to posit consciousness as the underlying driving force of evolution. Thirdly, developments in quantum mechanics have led scientists to recognise the importance of Heisenberg's principle of uncertainty and of Bell's Theorem which indicates unity in the operations of sub-atomic matter. David Bohm, the celebrated physicist, points out that the quantum theory presents a much more serious challenge to the idea of mechanistic order, going far beyond that provided by the Theory of Relativity. Bohm has even suggested that matter and consciousness are manifestations of an implicate order, which enfolds all that which is. Fourthly, researches in extra-sensory perception and in higher levels of the mind have led psychologists to increasing acknowledgement of cosmic consciousness.

Momentous consequences follow for the relevance of Sanskrit. For if there is one language where endless writings have continued to pour on the theme of consciousness, on the theme of methods of knowledge and on the theme of validity of knowledge and certainty of knowledge, it is Sanskrit. From the dateless antiquity when numerous seers composed the Vedic hymns, thousands of varieties of experiences and realisations of various levels of consciousness have been enquired into and verifiable statements regarding them have been recorded. These will need to be studied by all who belong to the frontier areas of research. Consequently, this will have multiplier effect on all interdisciplinary studies. Inescapably, Sanskrit which is already a world language will become a leading world language.

Science in Sanskrit Literature - VI

We have not yet referred to a number of subjects such as agriculture and animal husbandry, and to subjects that deal with machines and instruments which have been described in Sanskrit works. Recent works in Sanskrit, such as Vedic Mathematics by Sri Bharati Krishna Tirthaji, have not been touched upon. We have also refrained from those important reflections in philosophy, in art, and various other domains of knowledge which had close connection with the developments and science in India and which are to be discovered by further research in Sanskritic texts. The subject is very vast. We have to realise that a large number of manuscripts which have come to be collected have not yet been studied and scrutinised.

Vedic Sanskrit: A Linguistic Approach

Vedic Sanskrit: A Linguistic Approach - I

Linguistics is a discipline of mental science and has its origin in the study of the Veda itself. Indeed towards the close of the 18th century, a fresh linguistic study of the Veda opened up with Sir William Jones' perception of intimate correspondence among Sanskrit, Greek and Latin words. It is true that in the middle of the 19th century, when Max Muller began to exult in the formula, "pita, pater, pater, vater, father"; it appeared that the science of language was at the point of self-revelation. This science, however, proved to be so difficult that retrospectively Max Muller's famous formula can now be seen as only a gateway to bankruptcy of the science of the comparative study of languages. The great philologist Renan was obliged in the later part of his career to a deprecating apology for the "little conjectural sciences" to which he had devoted his life's energies. It is again only recently that science of language is now making some headway, but even then we have not been able to investigate rigorously into rules and laws of the development of languages, and we are in need to trace more scientifically the origin and history of them. It is in this context that the study of the Vedic Sanskrit will be found to be of utmost importance.

Considering the importance of the need to establish the correct meaning of the Veda, Sri Aurobindo has suggested a new line of inquiry into the origins of Aryan speech. He has even suggested that it would be profitable to include among these Aryan tongues not only Sanskrit, Latin and Greek but also Tamil, without, however, implying any opinion as to the relationship of the four languages or the racial origin of the people speaking them or even of the ethnic origin of the Sanskrit speaking people. Unfortunately, the book he had intended to write on the origin of the Aryan speech remained incomplete for want of time, but it is evident that in his own linguistic analysis of the Veda, he has presented to us mature results of his own research in the origin and development of Sanskrit, and his conclusions were based on the evidence of the Sanskrit language helped out by those parts of the Greek, Latin and Tamil tongues which are cognate to the word-families of Sanskrit.

As we know, Sri Aurobindo's interpretation of the Veda has given rise to the psychological theory according to which the Veda has a double aspect and system of parallelism by which the cosmic powers referred to in the Veda as cosmic deities were at once internal and external powers of universal Nature. Sri Aurobindo points out that the Vedic Rishis managed the expression of their thought through a system of double values by which the same language served for their worship in both aspects. His conclusion is that the psychological aspect dominates in the Veda and it is more pervasive, close-knit and coherent than the physical. For him, Veda is primarily intended to serve for spiritual enlightenment and self-culture. In arriving at this conclusion; he has made full use of the ancient and modern systems of interpretation of the Vedic Sanskrit and particularly of Vedic symbolism. As he points out:

"Sayana and Yaska supply the ritualistic framework of outward symbols and their large store of traditional significances and explanations. The Upanishads give their clue to the psychological and philosophical ideas of the earlier Rishis and hand down to us their method of spiritual experience and intuition. European scholarship supplies a critical method of comparative research, yet to be perfected, but capable of immensely increasing the materials available and sure eventually to give a scientific certainty and firm intellectual basis which has hitherto been lacking. Dayananda has given the clue to the linguistic secret of the Rishis and reemphasised one central idea of the Vedic religion, the idea of the One Being with the Devas expressing in numerous names and forms the many-sidedness of His unity."¹

As Sri Aurobindo points out, Vedic Sanskrit is, even in its outward features less fixed than any other classical tongue, that it abounds in a variety of forms and inflexions, and that it is fluid and yet richly subtle in its use of cases and tenses. He further points out that, on its psychological side, the Vedic Sanskrit had not yet crystallised, was not entirely hardened into the rigid form of intellectual precision and that the world for the Vedic Rishi was still a living thing, a thing of power creative, formative, and therefore it carried within it the memory of its roots. As a simple example, Sri Aurobindo points out that the word Dhenu meant the fosterer, nourisher and therefore a cow. The basic point is that the original and general sense predominated in the consciousness of the Rishis and that the derived and particular sense was secondary. As Sri Aurobindo explains, it was thus possible, for the fashioner of the hymn to use these common words with a great pliability, sometimes putting forward the image of the wolf or the cow, sometimes using it to colour the more general sense, sometimes keeping it merely as a conventional figure for the psychological conception on which his mind was dwelling sometimes losing the sight of the image altogether. It is against that background that the peculiar figures of Vedic symbolism are to be understood.

Sri Aurobindo has suggested that we need to divide the history of the origin of speech origin into two parts: the first part should deal with the embryo of the language and the second part should deal with its structural development. In dealing with the embryonic part, we need to underline the importance of the root in the formation of words in the early language. He pointed out that when philology began its journey in the 19th century, a fatal mistake was committed when the scholars fixed the correlation of formed words such as pita, paler, pater, vater. father as the key. The real key he suggested, would be actual correlation that has s to be found in the root words such as dalbhi, dalana, dolabr, dolo, delphi; (cavern or ravine), which leads to the idea of a common mother-root common word-families, common word-clans, kindred languages. He points out that if it had been noticed that in all these languages, ─ Latin, Sanskrit and Greek, ─ dala means pretence or fraud and other common or kindred significance and if some attempt had been made to discover the reason for one sound having these various significant uses, the foundation of a real science of languages might have been formed. He suggests that we would incidentally have discovered, perhaps the real connections of the ancient languages and the common mentality of the so-called Aryan peoples. We would have noted dolabra (axe) in Latin, dolon `(dagger) in Greek, dala (Weapon), dalapa (weapon) and dalmi (Indra's thunderbolt) in Sanskrit were all various derivatives freely developed from the root dal to split, and all were used for some kind of weapon; we would have got hold of a fruitful and luminous certainty. We could have then seen that not the possession of the same identical formed words, but the selection of a root word and of one among the several children of the same root word to express a particular object or idea was the secret both of the common element and of the large and free variation that we actually find in the vocabulary of the Aryan languages.

So far as the structure of the language is concerned, Sri Aurobindo has suggested that it should be correlated with the psychology of the use of the structure. He further suggests that among the Aryan tongues, the present structure of the Sanskrit language still preserves the original type of the Aryan structure and he finds in that ancient tongue alone the original stuff and rules of formation, the skeleton and the entrails of the organism that we call Sanskrit.

Sri Aurobindo's study of the development of Sanskrit right from the Vedic and earlier times suggests that the whole of the language with all its forms and inflexions is the inevitable result of the use by the Nature in man of one single rich device, one single fixed principle of sound formation employed with surprisingly few variations, with astonishingly fixed, imperative and almost tyrannous regularity but also a free and even superfluous original abundance in the formation. In regard to the inflexional character of Aryan speech, he points out that it is itself no accident but the inevitable result, almost physically inevitable, of the first seed selection and circulation of sound-process, that original apparently trifling selection of the law of the individual being which is at the basis of all Nature's infinitely varied regularities. His conclusion is that in the outward form of Sanskrit, there is the operation of a regular natural law proceeding almost as precisely as Nature proceeds in the physical world to form a vegetable or an animal genus and its species.

Two important features of the early history of Sanskrit that can be discerned in the light of Sri Aurobindo's analysis is that in the first state of language the sound of the word is as living or even a more living force than its idea; sound determines sense. In its last stage the position even reverses; the idea becomes all-important, and the sound secondary. As a result, the intellectual use of language has developed out of the sensational and emotional by a natural law. Words, which are originally vital ejections full of vague sense-potentiality, have evolved into fixed symbols of precise intellectual significances. The second feature of the early history of the language is that it expresses at first a remarkably small stock of ideas and these are the most general notions possible and generally the most concrete, such as light, motion, touch, substance, extension, force, speed and others. Afterwards there is a gradual increase in the variety and precision of idea. Progression that is seen is from the general to the particular, from the vague to the precise, from the physical to the mental, from the concrete to the abstract, from the expression of an abundant variety of sensations about similar things to the expression of precise difference between similar things, feelings and actions. It is also noticed that this progression is worked out by processes of association in ideas which are always the same, always recurrent and although no doubt due to the environments and actual experiences of the men who spoke the language, wear the appearance of fixed natural law of development.

One important consequence of these features of the past history of Sanskrit that can be derived in regard to Vedic interpretation is that by a knowledge of the laws under which the relations of sound and sense formed themselves, it is possible to a great extent to restore the past history of individual words. It is further possible to account for the meanings actually possessed by them, to show how they were worked out through the various stages of language-development, to establish the mutual relations of different significances and to explain how they came to be attached to the same word in spite of the wide difference and sometimes even direct contrariety of their sense-values. Again, it is further possible to restore lost senses of words on a sure and scientific basis and to justify them by an appeal to the observed laws of association which govern the development of the old Aryan tongues, to the secret evidence of the word itself and to the corroborative evidence of its immediate kindred.

Vedic Sanskrit: A Linguistic Approach - II

Vedic Sanskrit has a special quality, and it has been best expressed by a phrase of Sayana, "the multi-significance of roots". It was this quality which the Vedic Rishis had before them when they composed the Vedic hymns and it served their purpose admirably That purpose was to express Vedic knowledge through symbols and what may he called algebraic formulas in such a way that while the initiates could get at the secret knowledge in the living form from their illuminated teachers it could be concealed from those, who had not gone beyond the ordinary consciousness and could have misused the secret knowledge, would have been hurt if they had used it prematurely without sufficient training. This multi-significance of roots diminished greatly in course of time when the language became more and more intellectual and precise. But even then Sanskrit of the later days still maintained a good deal of fertility as a result of which the classical Sanskrit literature abounds in rhetorical figure of double entendre or shlesha. If we do not take into account this special feature of the Vedic Sanskrit and try to fix the meaning of the Veda without making any effort to go behind the external meaning, the result would be, as it has been in the hands of the Western scholarship, an impression of a mixture of high ideas jumbled with obscurity and sometimes even grotesque abracadabra. On the other hand, if we take up certain key words such as ritam, shravas, krtau and many others, and study them by means of scrupulous care in going to the history of these words and succeed in fixing their esoteric meanings, we shall find that the Veda emerges, in the words of Sri Aurobindo as "a Scripture not confused in thought or primitive in its substance, not a medley of heterogeneous or barbarous elements, but one, complete and selfconscious in its purpose and in its purport, veiled indeed by the cover, sometimes thick, sometimes transparent, of another and material sense, but never losing sight even for a single moment of its high spiritual aim and tendency."¹

One of the central key words in the Veda is, according to Sri Aurobindo, the great word "ritam", since the central objective of the seeking of the Rishis was a spiritual or inner Truth, a truth of ourselves, a truth of things, a truth of the world and the gods, a truth behind all we are and of what things are. Instead of fixing its inner meaning, word ritam has come to be interpreted in all kinds of senses according to the convenience or fancy of the interpreter, such as "truth", "sacrifice", "water", "one who has gone", even "food", not to speak of a number of other meanings. By consistently giving it the same master sense, Sri Aurobindo has shown how luminous and sublime meaning emerges wherever this word occurs. A similar result is obtained in respect of all other important words, such as shravas, krtau, go, ashva, ghrita, agni, Mitra, Varuna and other names of gods and goddesses such as Sarasvati, Ila, Daksha, and Bharati.

Vedic Sanskrit: A Linguistic Approach - III

We need to recall that there has been a long and uninterrupted tradition of the view that the Veda contains secret knowledge and that the words of the Veda are secret words, ninya vacamsi, which are expressive to the Rishi, Kavaye nivncana. The Rishi Dirghatamas speaks of the Riks, the mantras of the Veda, as existing "in a supreme ether, imperishable and immutable in which all the gods are seated," and he adds "one who knows not That what shall he do with the Rik? " (Rigveda 1.164.39) Dirghatamas also refers to the four planes from which the speech issues, three of them hidden in the secrecy while the fourth is human, and from there comes the ordinary word. He, however, points out that the word and thought of the Veda belong to higher planes (Rig Veda I.164.46). Again in X.71, the Vedic Word is described as that which is supreme and the topmost height of speech, the best and the most faultless. It is, however, stated that the real word is something that is hidden in secrecy and comes out from there and gets manifested. Again, that speech has been said to have entered into true seers, the Rishis, and is to be found by following the track of their speech. It is admitted that all cannot enter into its secret meaning, and it has been remarked that those who do not know the inner sense are like men who while seeing, see not, hearing, hear not, and that it reveals its meaning only to one who is true to it like the beautifully clad ardent wife disrobing her body to her husband. Others unable to grasp steadily the meaning of the Word, it is suggested, move with the Vedic cow as one that gives no milk; to him the word is a tree without flowers or fruits. It is, thus, clear that the Vedic Rishis themselves regarded their hymns as words having secret meaning. All of us, therefore, who are striving to understand Vedic Sanskrit and who are dedicated to the linguistic approach, should not fall short of the deeper research by getting arrested at the superficial and ordinary meanings tangible at the surface.

We need to recall also Yaska who had declared that there is a triple knowledge and therefore a triple meaning of the Vedic hymns, a sacrificial or ritualistic knowledge, a knowledge of the gods and finally a spiritual knowledge. He has further pointed out that the spiritual knowledge is the true sense and when one gets it the others drop out or are cut away. In other words, he considered the spiritual sense as that which saves and the rest is outward and subordinate. He further stated that "the Rishis saw the truth, the true law of things, directly by an inner Vision". In due course, the knowledge and the inner sense of the Veda were almost lost and the Rishis who still knew it had to save it by handing it down through initiation and disciplines, and at last stage outward and mental meanings had to be found through Nirukta and other Vedangas. But even then, as pointed out by Yaska, "the true sense of the Veda can be recovered directly by meditation and tapasya"; and those who can use these means need no outward aids for this knowledge.

It is evident that the scholars who are called upon to interpret the Veda and employ linguistic approach to the Vedic Sanskrit have before them a very difficult task, since scholastic abilities have to be combined with inner methods of direct and intimate knowledge by identity.

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations - I

The story of the modern Sanskrit literature does not coincide exactly with that of the other Indian literatures during the corresponding period. But there is an undoubted link between the two. In the beginning, the Indian climate for literature was greatly determined by the impact of English literature and Western thought. The intellectuals, who were few in number but were powerful by their talent and originative vigour, admitted practically the occidental view of our past culture as only a half-civilisation. Their governing ideals were borrowed from the West or at least centrally inspired by the purely Western spirit and type of their education. This movement of thought did not and could not endure. Although something of it still continues, its engrossing power has passed away. However, three important consequences that resulted during this period were of immense value from the point of view of the re-awakening of India. The first result was that Indian mind revived its old unresting thirst for all kinds of knowledge; the critical faculty of the human mind and passion for exhaustive observation began to become more generalised as an essential equipment of the intellect. Secondly, modern ideas became fixed before our view in such a way that we were obliged to consider them and deal with them in a rather radical manner. Finally, we were obliged to look upon our past with new eyes, and we began to bring out from the ancient knowledge a new light and its new potentiality of creation and evolution.

During the next period the occidental idea and inspiration remained, but it drew itself willingly to ancient ideas contained in the Sanskrit and other classical languages and it coloured itself more and more with their essential spirit. In due course, this suffusing element over-flooded and the thought and spirit became characteristically Indian. The works of Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Rabindra Nath Tagore illustrate this stage of transition. Parallel to this movement, there was a current of vindication and re-acceptance of everything Indian because it was Indian. This current marked the beginning of a more subtle assimilation and fusion. For the process of vindication necessitated some kind of a synthesis of the old mentality and the new, the traditional and the critical mind. As a result, there was a seeking to arrive at the spirit of the ancient culture and increasing readiness to remould, to reject the outworn and to admit whatever new motives seemed assimilable to the old spirituality. This provided a greater freedom to the Indian spirit for a larger and progressive evolution. We may mention in this connection that Swami Vivekananda was the leading examplar and the most powerful exponent of the freer dealing with the past and the present, of preservation by reconstruction.

But the issue of Indian culture and external influences continued to occupy the best minds of our country, and the evolution of the modern Sanskrit literature has to be seen in this context. A number of Sanskrit scholars and writers felt encouraged to utilise the available opportunity for self-developed transformation and of an immense and vigorous renascence. The taking over in literature the form of the novel, the short story, the critical essay, and a number of other adoptions testifies to this new spirit of assimilative appropriation, atmasatkarana.

At this stage, three important lines of development began to become quite clear. Firstly, it became clear that the recovery of the old spiritual knowledge and experience in all its splendour, depth and height was the most essential work of the Indian renaissance. Secondly, it was felt that the recovered spirituality should flow into new forms of philosophy, literature, art, science and critical knowledge. And, thirdly, there grew a feeling that modern problems should be dealt with in the light of Indian spirit and there should be a bold attempt to build up spiritualised society. Much initial work was attempted in respect of these three elements of reawakening. But we have to admit that during the last five or six decades there has been deviation from these perceptions and the earlier promises have hardly been fulfilled or have been fulfilled only inadequately.

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations - II

It is this which explains a general climate of dissatisfaction in respect of every field of creative activity. We expected more, and we have been found wanting. This also explains why there is dissatisfaction in regard to the achievements of the modern Sanskrit literature, and why there is a demand for innovations. In some quarters, it is felt that the modern Sanskrit literature is too much tied up with the tradition and that it is not able to meet the needs of the time by effecting radical innovations.

It is admitted that Sanskrit poets of our own times have adopted contemporary themes for the Mahakavyas, and some of the Sanskrit dramas come nearer to the modern taste. It is also admitted that some genuine lyricists have produced remarkable lyrics; Appa Shastri's "Panjarabaddhah Shukah" has often been quoted as an example of the lyric which deals with the burning problems of the present. One may also refer to Dr. Varnekar's Teertha Bharatam, Shri Rama Sangitika and Shri Krishna Sangitika, and several others, which continue the tradition of Jayadeva's "Geeta Govinda" with refreshing beauty. Novels such as Shivraj Vijaya of Pandit Ambika Dutt Vyasa and Anandavardhana's "Kusumalakshmih" reflect refreshing advance in the needed new directions. It is also acknowledged that there is a good crop of short stories in recent times and some of them show admirably the technique and spirit of innovative modern short story. It is also appreciated that critical essays have attained some kind of maturity, although a great number of them are research articles. It has also been noted that the publication of journals in Sanskrit has been a remarkable phenomenon and that the establishment of Sanskrit Universities, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and Kendriya Sanskrit Vidyapeethas in the country have encouraged the development of Sanskrit literature, including research literature. The contributions made by several Departments of Sanskrit in various Universities and those of institutions like Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute have also been appreciated. But it is still felt that the modern Sanskrit literature is groping and has not found the right rhythm and law of its development in the context of rapidly changing scenario of today.

One must, however, try to understand and appreciate tremendous handicaps under which the contemporary Sanskrit author is working. The genius of a language and literature develops at the right pace when there is a widespread communication and interchange not only among the scholars, but also among larger sections of society and people in general. Such a condition does not obtain adequately in regard to Sanskrit. Secondly, the educational system prevents or discourages study of Sanskrit literature and classical traditions. In an environment where market value tends to be an exclusive consideration for the pursuit of any discipline of knowledge, important subjects like Sanskrit and classical languages, philosophy, spirituality tend to be neglected almost totally. Indological research is at a very low ebb. The number of Indologists is dwindling, and the facilities for studies of ancient traditions are very poor. A radical change in respect of all these factors must come about if Sanskrit can make the right promises and fulfil them.

The greatest demand that is being made on the Sanskrit author is that he should combine, both in substance and style, the elements of sublimity, modernity and luminosity. But it is not sufficiently realised what exactly are the implications of this demand. The heritage of the Sanskrit literature is very vast; it is extremely varied, and unless the best of the Sanskrit traditions is sufficiently understood and digested, one cannot expect self-possession and innovative mastery of self-expression. In reality, the modern Sanskrit author is required to understand, assimilate and embody the spirit and atmosphere of different epochs of Sanskrit literature before he can give adequate expression to his imagination, to his feeling of substance, and to the required variations of style.

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations - III

But why do we turn to tradition? Is it because we are tradition-bound? The answer is, No.

Sanskrit literature has been great in its past and it would be natural to expect to regain its greatness even as it emerges into the new age of renaissance. Before it began to decline, this literature passed through important stages of varied greatness, and we need to understand them if we are to understand the real genius and direction of this literature. Surprisingly, our very first record of Sanskrit literature consists of exquisite poetry and sublimest substance. This is unlike any other literature in the world. We find that the creators of this record, the Vedic Rishis, were masters of consummate technique, their rhythms were great in movement and subtle in modulation. Their speech was lyric by intensity and epic by elevation. And they spoke of the human struggle and of the epic battle for the higher realisation of the supreme reality and of the attainment of immortality. And, these records contain the secrets of the methods and results of the highest knowledge.

Again, the second stage of Sanskrit literature is marked by the Upanishads which are the supreme works of the Indian mind. Upanishads contain sublimest poetry and they are a record of deepest spiritual experiences. They are documents of revelatory and intuitive philosophy of an inexhaustible light, power and largeness. As in the Vedas so in the Upanishads, we find unfailing inspiration expressing itself in inevitable expression, bearing the power of mantra. Where else shall be find the heritage such as that of the Upanishads which contain epic hymns of self-knowledge and world-knowledge and God-knowledge?

The third stage of Sanskrit literature is represented by the two epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Apart from the heroic stories which they contain, they reflect a period of highly developed intellectual, ethical and social culture. They are not only great poems but also dharmashastras. Mahabharata has been built like a vast national temple, and it is representative of the central ideas and ideals of Indian life and culture. Vedic traditions and the ideas of the Upanishads and of the great philosophies are brought in as in the Gita, and they are interwoven into epic narrative. The Ramayana is the work of the same essential kind as the Mahabharata. But it is less philosophic, more poetic, more artistic. The ethical and aesthetic mind of India finds in the Ramayana a harmonious unity and it reached an unexampled pure wideness and beauty of self-expression. While the diction of the Mahabharata is spontaneous and almost ascetic in its simplicity and directness, that of the Ramayana is shaped in a more attractive mould, a marvel of sweetness and strength, lucidity of warmth and grace. These two epics are so wonderful not only in their poetic quality but also in their epic grandeur of substance that there is no wonder that the contemporary Sanskrit authors, like many other authors in other Indian languages, are often tempted to go back to these epics.

The fourth stage of Sanskrit literature is that of the classical age. This period marks a long and opulent maturity, and as its sequence, an equally opulent and richly coloured decline. The difference in spirit and mould between the epics and the speech of Bhartrihari and Kalidasa is enormous. The language and movement of the epics have vigour, freedom and spontaneous force; the speech of Kalidasa is an accomplished art; it is an intellectual and aesthetic creation; it is consummate, deliberate, finely ornate; it is carved like a statue and coloured like a painting; there is a masterly artifice and device, and yet it is not artificial. It is carefully natural and bears the accomplished air of ease. As in the epics, so in Kalidasa, we have an exposition of the contemporary Indian culture. Just as we find national consciousness in Valmiki and Vyasa, so we find it also in Kalidasa. Kalidasa had a richly stored mind, possessed of all the learnings of his time, and without the touch of pedantry, Kalidasa expounds the culture of his time through the artistic and poetic creations which reached some kind of perfection.

In due course, the creations of Sanskrit literature tended to become more decorative rather than creative. We find that intellect had become too detached and too critical observant to live things with the natural force of the life or with the intuitive identity. This is the quality and also the malady of an overdeveloped intellectualism which invites any literature to a period of decline. In the case of Sanskrit literature, decline was gradual. Evolution of the culture appeared more and more in the philosophic writings of the time. At the same time, there were refreshing jets of religious poetry of Puranas and the Tantras. Even in the philosophic literature, while we do not find the epic greatness of the Upanishads, or of the Gita. We have still during this period admirable literature combining philosophic genius with a remarkable literary talent. Some of the poems are noble and careful constructions, embodying the highest thought, using well all the weighty, compact and sparing phrases of the classical Sanskrit speech. And they achieved the harmony and noble elegance of its rhythm. These merits are seen at their best in poems like the Viveka Chudamani attributed to Shankaracharya. In the Puranas and Tantras we find an immense and complex body of psycho-spiritual experience, and there is also a system of physical images each with its psychical significance. The Puranas are essentially a true religious poetry, an art of aesthetic presentation of religious truth. Some of these Puranas are remarkable literary creations and they maintain much of the direct force and height of the old epic style. There are also as in Vishnu Purana and in the Bhagavata, lyrical elements of lucid sweetness and beauty and a number of narratives of the finest verve and skilful simplicity of poetic workmanship.

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations - IV

We cannot review here the entire course of Sanskrit literature and refer to the immense literary activity of which we have only a few surviving remnants. This is not a place where we can speak of the greatness of the Veda and the Upanishad, of the Mahabharata and Ramayana, of Bhartrihari and Kalidasa. Nor can we discuss great writers like Magha, Bharavi, Bhasa, Bana or Harsha or great works such as Jatakas, Katha Sarit Sagar, Panchatantra, Hitopadesha and others. We cannot even dilate on the greatness and poetic beauty of Jayadeva's Geet Govinda, or of Puranas and Tantras or of writings of great scholars. Nor do we have the space to discuss the reasons for the decline of Sanskrit literature. But we must mention that the literature of the Sanskrit tongue did not come to any abrupt end. Poetry of the classical type continued to be written especially in the South down to a comparatively late period. Even then, Sanskrit continues to remain still the language of philosophy and of all kinds of scholarship, and we have today a vibrant modern Sanskrit literature.

But mere survival and mere living and vibrating is not enough. We need to arrive and we need to move towards fulfilment.

At this stage, what is important is to derive lessons from the tradition for purposes of the discovering of directions and indications of innovations. First of all, it may be said that the dominant trend of the tradition is its emphasis on spiritual experience. Throughout the history of Sanskrit literature, there has been the celebration of the spirit, not in any dogmatic manner, but in the manner of refreshing, renewal and repeated personal discovery, as also of expansion and opening of new domains by subtilisation and increasing effectivity. This is the dominant concern, and in our rush for innovations, we should not ignore or bury this concern. The majesty and grandeur of the Sanskrit literature owes primarily to the highest substance of spiritual experience and varieties of spiritual realisation. Innovations here would be to reawaken our interest in this domain and recover the past and the present contributions, particularly of modern India in the field of the synthesis of spiritual experience, exemplified so greatly in Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. In doing so, we shall have followed the direction that emerges from the Veda and the Upanishads and the entire history of Sanskrit literature. Thus, we shall regain for ourselves and for posterity a vast field of the sovereign theme of the synthesis of Spirit and Matter.

The second lesson that we can derive is that the spiritual and the intellectual, the spiritual and the ethical, and the spiritual and aesthetic need not quarrel. Mahabharata and Ramayana have shown admirably how these important motives of life can be blended. A similar blending can be attempted as an innovation in the context of the modern and post-modern era. We have to take note of the contemporary explosion of intellectual, critical, scientific and technical knowledge. We need even to run faster than the advancing age. The subjectivism of the 20th century, which promised deeper understanding of human psychology and a deeper understanding of cultural, social and political upheavals of our times, has failed to achieve its goal.

In the meantime, we are witnessing an unprecedented crisis and we seem to be confronted with dilemmas of intellectual and ethical dimensions. Somewhat like Arjuna, we are in need of a new light, a need of Krishna. It is true that literature is not supposed to be a means of didactic instruction or moral preaching or prescription. But it can legitimately be expected that literature should present sensitive and profounder experiences of the dilemmas and of the acute search, that it should bring home to the reader deeper and deeper perceptions of what lies behind the appearances, that it should translate in literary forms the largest and profoundest issues in a manner that stirs the deepest recesses of the soul. The demands of innovation that we can make on Sanskrit literature are in this direction.

The third lesson that we can derive from the classical age is that the sensuous and sublime can also be combined, that the highest artistry can be expressed with naturalness, ease and perfection. Interest of life and pursuit of beauty, even sensuous beauty, were blended by Kalidasa with intellectual passion for higher things, religious ideas, ethical ideal, even the greatness of ascetic self-mastery. This difficult balance would seem to be so relevant today when the life of senses has become overwhelming, and we are obliged to admit the values of sense-life and yet to transmute them into their corresponding sublime and spiritual values. Here lies perhaps one of the most difficult challenges to the modern author when he is seeking innovations. Can we, as in the Kena Upanishad, see the sight of our sight, hearing of our hearing, mind of our mind, speech of our speech, life of our life-breath?

Both in substance and style, the modern author is asked to reveal the profoundest truths that lie behind the sense-life and sense-experience. In this task, help can be obtained not only from the lessons of our classical age, but also of English poetry, since it started with the experiences of the physical consciousness, powerfully expressed by Chaucer, and it passed through Shakespeare, the creator and master of vital poetry which centered a great deal on the emotional, dynamic and sensuous elements of the human experience. And in the poetry of Wordsworth, Byron, Shelly and Keats, we have rendering of the truth of the spirit by passing behind the appearances of the sense-life and intellectual life. In some great moments of this poetry we find a native voice of the spirit, in Wordsworth's revelations of the spiritual presence in the Nature and its scenes, in Byron's rare forceful sincerities, but most of all perhaps in the lyrical cry and ethereal light of Shelly. Finally, we get in Keats a turning away to a rich artistic and sensuous poetical speech, marvellous in its perception and opulence, resource and colour.

This and recent English poetry, as also relevant Continental and American and Asiatic poetry could be very useful in effecting innovations. But our search in modern Sanskrit literature has to be for a still greater fulfilment. It is the grand possibility of an orchestral symphony and of the rich music of the intellectual, ethical, aesthetic, vital, sensuous experiences bathed, surcharged and transformed with the supreme intuitive and revelatory light and expression. Here we have to get back to the Veda and the Upanishad, to Ila and Saraswati, to the goddess Vak and derive from the deepest inspiration and open our gates of the future.

Again, as an important lesson of our past story of Sanskrit literature, we have to note when literature becomes more decorative, when creativity and naturalness and spontaneity begin to recede, and when the substance of writing begins to dwell on lower ranges, many defects begin to arise, and we must avoid them if we are to create once again living and great literature. In all our innovative effort, we need to strive to combine three highest intensities, namely, the highest intensity of rhythm and word movement, the highest intensity of interwoven verbal form and thought substance, and the highest intensity of the soul's vision of truth. These intensities are not foreign to the Sanskrit literature. But they need to be brought forward, re-cultivated and made manifest more and more increasingly in terms and in the context of the contemporary situation and visions of the future. It is easier for Sanskrit than in the case of many other languages. For Sanskrit is the most perfect literary instrument. It is at once majestic and sweet and flexible; it is vibrant and subtle; and it has expressed the sublimest themes of human culture with supreme suggestiveness, colour and precision.

Modern Sanskrit Literature: Tradition and Innovations - V

n the end, we may emphasise that Sanskrit literature can offer a ready means of creative unfailing sense of unity and solidarity of Indian culture. Vyasa, Valmiki and Kalidasa are our three greatest national poets, who have imparted to Sanskrit the air and atmosphere of the inner soul of India. Through Sanskrit, the inner unity of India, rooted in its soul, begins to express itself spontaneously and inevitably. Therefore, the growth and development of Sanskrit literature has also to be viewed from this extremely important point of view.

The central challenge before Sanskrit literature today is to find ways and means by which it can grow rapidly so as to meet the highest demands that are being made upon it. It is also important that increasing number of authors of other Indian languages should take to Sanskrit and contribute to its development. Finally, this work has to be done both creatively and deliberately.