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 re¬awakening. 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 still groping and has still 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 Spirit and Matter.

The second lesson that we can derive is that of 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?

श्रोत्रस्य श्रोत्रं मनसो मनो यद् वाचो ह वाचं स उ प्राणस्य प्राणः ।

>Sri Aurobindo, Kena and Other Upanishads: First Part

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 from only 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 centred 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, both national and global. 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

In the end, I should like to 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.

Policy on Sanskrit

Introduction

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: Language Par Excellence

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.

Vast Scope of Knowledge Contained in Sanskrit Texts

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 Liebnitz 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.

Sanskrit and the Theme of Consciousness

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 Hisenberg and Bell’s Theorem in Quantum Mechanics have 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.

Sanskrit, the Living Language

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 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.

Reiteration of the Importance of Sanskrit

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.”

Indian Constitution and 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.

Jawaharlal Nehru on Sanskrit

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.”

Strengthening National Awakening to the Study and Spread of Sanskrit

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:

a) 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.

b) 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.

c) 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 have wrote profusely. It is also to be noted that Sanskrit is the one speech which, in spite of the heave 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.

d) 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.

e) 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.

f) 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.”

g) 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.

h) 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.

i) 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.

Sanskrit and National Unity

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 its Place in the Curriculum

Considering the importance of Sanskrit, facilities should be provided in the country to study Sanskrit at all stages of education, formal and non-formal, wherever students wish to study it. Every school in India will, therefore, receive henceforth financial assistance from the Central Government where classes of at least 12 students are conducted for the study of Sanskrit.

In the application of the three-language formula, Sanskrit will preferably be an elective third language. Sanskrit will also be supported as an additional language for study by students who want to study it, particularly for those who offer English as the second or third language. Necessary budgetary support will be provided by the Central Government.

Curricula proposed by Boards and Institutions supported by Central Government will recommend study of Sanskrit as an elective language for a duration of at least five years so as to achieve good proficiency in the language and to serve as an effective stimulant to the study of Sanskrit in the tertiary level of education as an elective language.

In all curricula of tertiary education, study of Sanskrit will be a necessary part in all courses which relate to Indian culture and comparative courses where knowledge of Indian culture is required. University Grants Commission will make special provisions of financial assistance in this regard.

A new scheme will be formulated and implemented for the award of Merit Scholarships in the country so that students are encouraged to study Sanskrit, -- either as a part of regular school programme or as an additional language.

State Governments will also be encouraged to adopt the same or similar measures to promote Sanskrit.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, in consultation with NCERT as also in consultation with the Central Board of Secondary Education, will lay down standards of Sanskrit at all levels of school education. University Grants Commission will similarly lay down standards of Sanskrit at the tertiary level of education, wherever Sanskrit is offered as an elective language or wherever Sanskrit is a necessary part of courses relating to Indian culture.

National Council of Educational Research and Training and Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will undertake a programme of revising the contents and methods of teaching and learning of Sanskrit at different levels of education in respect of schools. University Grants Commission will also undertake a similar exercise in respect of courses in Sanskrit at the tertiary level.

In general, learning of Sanskrit through the medium of Sanskrit will be given special importance and encouragement, and measures will be taken so that students attain adequate efficiency in conversing in Sanskrit. The recommendations regarding the revision of contents and methods will be implemented, and financial assistance will be provided to facilitate the implementation. In this context, suitable teaching and learning material will be produced, and financial assistance will be provided so that the required teaching and learning material is made available to students and teachers at comparatively low prices.

Apart from textual materials, special efforts will be made to produce teaching and learning materials for supplementary study and for enrichment of the study of Sanskrit.

A new scheme will be formulated and implemented for the award of Merit Scholarships in the country so that students are encouraged to study Sanskrit and attain higher levels of excellence in Sanskrit.

Sanskrit and the Promotion of Indian Culture

All the languages included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution of India will be encouraged and developed as a part of the promotion of Indian culture in the country. Sanskrit being one of these languages will receive from the Central Government adequate financial support for the schemes that aim at the promotion of Indian culture.

Correspondence courses in Sanskrit will be developed in such a way that Sanskrit can be learnt both through medium of Sanskrit as also through the medium of the languages mentioned in the 8th Schedule.

Special courses of Sanskrit will be so designed that Sanskrit words, phrases, verses and passages which are often used, recited or narrated in various cultural events, festivals and programmes or in various contexts (such as satyam eva jayate) become intelligible through various means including translations in the languages mentioned in the 8th Schedule; and these courses will be made available to the people through correspondence, radio programmes, television broadcasts, internet and similar allied facilities. Adult education classes in respect of these courses will also be encouraged and supported through a special scheme of Government of India. State Governments will also be encouraged to support all these programmes by adopting similar measures.

Use of Sanskrit through various media will be encouraged and selected newspapers and magazines in Sanskrit will be selectively supported. Production of plays and films in Sanskrit will receive special encouragement. Programmes and recitation of Sanskrit poems, -- particularly those of Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa as also programmes of assemblies of Sanskrit poets will be encouraged and supported. Elocution programmes in Sanskrit will be selectively supported.

Rapid courses and classes for spoken Sanskrit will be encouraged and supported, and teachers for these courses and classes who will undertake full-time work will receive financial assistance from the Government of India. Publications in Sanskrit, particularly teaching-learning material, will be encouraged and supported so that deserving material is made available to students and teachers at reduced prices.

Special Programmes for Sanskrit Institutions

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will be reorganised and enlarged so as to include the responsibilities of determination and maintenance of standards of teaching and learning of Sanskrit in the country and will advise University Grants Commission so as to ensure determination and maintenance of standards of Sanskrit in the Universities. Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will also serve as a channel of grants from the Central Government for promoting programmes for Sanskrit, other than those programmes which are or will be supported and aided by the University system or by other institutions or agencies in the country.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will also undertake a programme of collecting manuscripts in Sanskrit and to ensure that collections being made by selected institutions will be properly preserved. Existing catalogues of manuscripts will continue to be updated through grants given by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will also undertake a programme of publications in a methodical manner so that knowledge contained in the manuscripts or in unpublished texts is preserved and developed.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will also undertake programmes which will:

a) Promote and foster research in Sanskrit;

b) Encourage Sanskritic pedagogy;

c) Promote the efficiency of teachers of Sanskrit through intensive programmes of training of teachers;

d) Promote the use of Sanskrit in modern information technology;

e) Publication of rare valuable texts, which may not have any immediate marketability;

f) Coordinate and advise Sanskrit and Oriental Institutions in the country in respect of various programmes with a view to secure economy, avoidance of duplication and concentrated effort to promote Sanskrit and Sanskrit studies;

g) Provide training to scholars, -- particularly young scholars – to decipher Sanskrit manuscripts, to edit, and prepare final texts through computer – as also to achieve efficiency of translation of Sanskrit texts into various Indian and foreign languages; and

h) Promote such other programmes that will enhance learning and scholarship in Sanskrit.

Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan will also be so reorganised that it will serve as the National Sanskrit Academic Council which will continuously review and advise relevant institutions in respect of academic programmes of study and research.

The Central Government will undertake programmes to ensure that every State in India establishes a Sanskrit Academy and a Sanskrit Vidyapeetha and a Sanskrit University; it will also encourage setting up of viable Sanskrit institutions in the country, and for that purpose will support its own agencies to provide to selected non-government organisations grants for buildings, libraries, and conducting specialised courses in Sanskrit.

Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Vidya Pratishthan (MSRVVP) will be enlarged so that activities envisaged under its scope will be strengthened and developed and benefits of these activities made available to larger and larger sections of people in the country. MSRVVP will develop training programmes for teachers so as to impart to them knowledge contained in the Vedas and make them conversant with the relevance of that knowledge to the subsequent developments in humanities, sciences, technologies and fine arts and crafts, MSRVVP will establish and develop Research Centres in the country so as to:

a) Promote understanding of the true meaning of the Vedic texts; and

b) To establish the linkage between the Veda and the Vedangas, Veda and Upavedas, Veda and Epics, Veda and Puranas and Tantras, Veda and Indian Philosophy, and Veda and Karmakanda, and Veda and latest studies and research being conducted in respect of Vedic knowledge in India and abroad.

Sanskrit and Modern Knowledge

Programmes will be developed whereby scientists, philosophers, researchers, experts and others in the country will be aided and supported in the task of gaining acquaintance and even expertise in the system of knowledge which were developed during the long history of India and which were embodied in Sanskritic texts. There will also be help to promote to integrate the knowledge developed in the past in India with the modern knowledge and develop programmes of studies for the new generations so that they would be able to take advantage of the past treasures of knowledge and spring forward towards the future with confidence and courage.

Special emphasis will be laid on the recovery of the old spiritual knowledge in its amplitude and to allow that knowledge to flow into the current movements of studies and research in science, philosophy, critical knowledge as also those in applied sciences, technologies, arts, crafts, health sciences and practices. Programmes will be supported and aided whereby a new synthesis of the past knowledge and the new knowledge, of the East and the West, of science and spirituality, with a special emphasis on the theme of consciousness and Yoga, could be progressively developed.

Since in these tasks, Sanskrit will play a major role, such programmes, which will enable Sanskrit to fulfil that role, will be encouraged and supported.