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Sanskrit language is an ancient language of India. India’s heritage, religion, culture and philosophy are in Sanskrit language. J.L.Brockington in his paper on "Sanskrit" pp.215 says that "Sanskrit, in its older form of Vedic Sanskrit (or simply Vedic), was brought into the northwest of India by the Aryans sometime in the second half of the second millennium B.C.E and was at that period relatively little differentiated from its nearest relation within the Indo-European group, Avestan in the Iranian family of languages (these two being the oldest recorded within the Indo-Iranian branch of Indo-European). From there it spread to the rest of North India as the Aryans enlarged the area that they occupied, developing into the classical form of the language, which subsequently became fixed as the learned language of culture and religion throughout the sub-continent, while the spoken language developed into the various Prakrits. There is ample evidence of rapid evolution during the Vedic period with the language of the latest phase, attested for example in the Upanishads, showing considerable grammatical simplification from that of the earliest hymns. The later Vedic is, in broad terms, the form of the language that Pāṇini described with such exactness in his grammar around the fourth century B.C.E, thereby creating – no doubt unintentionally – an absolute standard for the language thereafter. His work is clearly the culmination of a long grammatical tradition, based on concern to preserve the Vedas unaltered (hence the stress on Phonetics) and is itself intended for memorization and oral transmission as its brevity indicates".
From the above statement of J.L.Brockington we can preserve that Sanskrit was in use in ancient India and it was a spoken language. Dr.H.S.Ananthanarayana, in his paper on 'Sanskrit and Indian heritage' published by the Central Institute of Indian Languages, in a book entitled "Linguistic Heritage of India and Asia", (Edited by Omkar N.Koul and L.Devaki) pp.245 says that "Sanskrit was a spoken language and the Vast literature in this language is a solid testimony to this fact. It was not limited to any particular area, but was spoken throughout the length and breadth of the country". Regional peculiarities observed by Pāṇini and others confirm this thesis. It was spoken not only by the Brahmins but was equally used and understood by other social classes. If the word Samskrta is taken in the meaning 'polished', 'purified', 'correct speech', it may then be thought of as the speech of the educated class of the Aryan society. Others must have spoken substandard form and may have even mastered it so as to use it on occasion. The fact that Sanskrit and Prākrit were used side by side suggests that they were mutually intelligible and the people were bilinguals. Within their class, the members may have used their own speech as a mark of identity and whenever it involved members of the upper class.
Coming to the modern India, Ananthanarayana in the same paper quoted above says that "It is tried out, as a language of day-to-day communication in a village called Mattur in Shimoga District of Karnataka and it has turned out 100% successful. Not only those belonging to the upper caste, everyone including persons like postman speaks here in Sanskrit" (page 247).
Patañjali (150 A.D) in his work 'Mahābhāsya' (requoted from the book 'Pāṇinian Linguistics' by P.S.Subramanyam (pp. 18)says "Even by the time of patañjaliSanskrit was a living language and that there were still people for whom it was the mother tongue, but not one acquired from grammar books and literature. Most probably, such people belonged to the upper crust of the society and were also less in number since as evidenced by the Mahābhāsya itself, a variety of the prakrit language called Apabhraṁśa in that work has already come into vogue and was spoken chiefly by the uneducated masses".
In Modern India, Sanskrit has a special status. Government of India has recognized it as a language listed under 8th schedule to the constitution. It is also given a status of classical language. Sanskrit language is used even today in the areas of religion and prayers and traditional scholars of Sanskrit use this language as a medium of communication either for knowledge or for argument sake or for teaching sake.
Sanskrit was the cultural language of India. It was uniting people speaking different languages. Indian people even today respect those who speak in Sanskrit. Hence, Sanskrit survives even today as the language of religion and scholarship. Even today, Vedas are recited with accurate accents for the religious purposes.
In modern India, Sanskrit is taught in all schools, colleges and universities.
In primary schools, Sanskrit is not taught hence the question of medium of instruction and subject does not arise. At the primary level, throughout the country, the mother tongue of the child is used as the subject and the medium of instruction. However, in traditional schools where Sanskrit is taught, it is taught even for the children of younger age but not in the government owned schools.
In secondary level, Sanskrit is taught for 8th 9th and 10th standards as an optional subject carrying one full paper of 100 marks. Sanskrit text books are prepared by the education department for teaching Sanskrit. In the secondary stage where Sanskrit is taught, the medium of instruction is English in the English medium schools or the regional language of the state concerned where the medium of instruction is the regional language of the state.
Sanskrit is taught at the Pre-university level, Degree level, and Post-graduate levels also in the colleges. In colleges it is taught either through the medium of English or in the regional language of the state concerned. It is offered as optional subject in the college level. 4. University:
Sanskrit is taught in almost all Universities of India. It is offered as the subject in the Post-graduate level. The medium of instruction will be English or regional languages of the state concerned.
Universities also provide opportunities for doing research in Sanskrit awarding Ph.D Degree for the successful students. There are certain Universities and Institutions where Sanskrit alone is taught along with related subjects. Every university in India has a department of Sanskrit. Government of India has also established National Institutes of Sanskrit like - Rashtriya Sanskrit Samsthana”. The medium is English or the regional language of the state.
There are many Institutions which undertake professional studies in Sanskrit. Such studies include study and Research in Vedas, Grammar, Medicine etc. There are institute of Vedic studies.
Even European countries like England, America, Germany, France etc have undertaken studies on Sanskrit. German scholars like, Maxmuller and others have translated Vedas and epics in German language. George Cardona and others of United States have done lot of work on Panini and Indian Grammatical traditions. There are Oriental Institutions and Sanskrit colleges where Sanskrit is taught through the medium of Sanskrit using the regional language for explanation wherever necessary.
Sanskrit is used in Mass media also. According to the 1991 census, the total number of Sanskrit speakers in India was 49,736. Out of which 42833 people live in the rural areas constituting 86.12 percent of the total speakers of Sanskrit and 6903 people live in urban areas constituting 13.88 percent of the total speakers of Sanskrit. Naturally, Mass media covers Sanskrit language also.
Sanskrit is used in T.V. News in Sanskrit is broadcast/released through T.V for the benefit of the Sanskrit speakers. Different programmes on Sanskrit and in Sanskrit are relayed at different intervals. Sanskrit is also taught through T.V.
Attempts are made to prepare films in Sanskrit. For example: (late) G.V.Aiyar had produced films in Sanskrit on the life and philosophy of Sankaracharya, Ramanujacharya and Madvacharya, the proponents of Advaita, Vishisthādvaita and Dvaita schools of thought respectively. Attempts are also made to prepare Dramas based on Mrachhakatika, Pancatantra etc.
Radio is an important media. News in Sanskrit is broadcast in Radio also like television everyday for five minutes. Many Sanskrit songs, plays, Subhashitas are broadcast through Radio. Sanskrit is also taught through the Radio weekly thrice.
Some newspapers are also published in Sanskrit. ‘Sudharma’ is a daily newspaper published from Mysore. In addition to this “There are number of Journals and magazines in Sanskrit. They include dailies, weeklies, fortnightlies and monthlies. There are also quarterly journals, half yearly Journals and Journals issued once in a year” (Dr.H.S.Ananthanarayana).
As said above, good numbers of Journals are published in Sanskrit. Even Department of Sanskrit in all universities in India publish a magazine on behalf of the department of Sanskrit projecting the activities of the Department including Academic papers both in Sanskrit and English/regional language.
Sanskrit was the language of Administration in the Ancient India. According to A.B.Keith, "Through the initiative of the Śaka Satrapas of western India in the course of the second century A.D, one of whom, Rudradāman, is responsible for the first official inscription in Sanskrit throughout, and whose official nomenclature seems to be reflected in the rules for the use of titles in the Sanskrit drama laid down in the Bhāratīya Nātya śāsta".
In modern India, Administration is done in Hindi at the centre which is the official language of India. Administration is also done at the centre in English also which is the associated official language of India. Regional languages of the states concerned are the languages of Administration.
Sanskrit is not a language of any state. It is an All-India language. India is divided into different linguistic states where the dominant language of the state is the language of Administration. For example, in Karnataka it is Kannada, In Andhra it is Telugu, In Tamilnadu it is Tamil, in U.P, M.P. Haryana, Bihar it is Hindi are the languages of Administration in their respective states. However, English is also used for administration purpose at the state level in some states.
Sanskrit is not used. The regional language concerned is used for administration purpose.
Sanskrit is not used. The regional language concerned is used for administration purpose.
Sanskrit is not used. Regional languages of the states concerned are used at the block level also.
Sanskrit is not used. Regional languages of the concerned states are used at the village panchayat level.
Administration across the state is done as follows:
(1) With the centre either in Hindi or in English.
(2) With different states either in English or in Hindi if that state language is also Hindi. Hindi speaking state uses Hindi for another Hindi speaking state and with the centre. Non-Hindi speaking states use English or Hindi. Government of India encourages the Central Government Employees to use Hindi in Administration.
(3) National level: Hindi which is the official language of India is used at the National level. English which is an associated official language of the country is also used at the National level.
(4) Across the Nation: Across the nation, English is used as the Language of Administration.
In the modern India, Sanskrit is not used at the state level. English or the regional languages of the states concerned are used.
State language of the concerned state is not used as the language of Judiciary. However, English also continues in the Non-Hindi speaking states.
At the District level, state language of the concerned state is used. Due to the policy of the State Governments, the language of the states shall be the language of the Administration or Judiciary at the District level.
Judicial language at the Taluk level is always the language of the state concerned.
Bills and Acts are used in English as well as the state language of the region.
Debates in the legislature are done through the official language of the respective states. However, English is also used freely along with the regional language in Non-Hindi speaking states. In centre, Debates are done either in Hindi or in English or mixed.
The language of the Reports is Hindi in Hindi speaking states and in the regional language of the respective states. In the centre, it may be in Hindi or English.
In the area of Science and Technology, English plays an important role at the professional level. In Hindi speaking states, Both Hindi and English are used. Code switching from English to the regional language and vice versa is also possible. In Sanskrit universities and Institutions, Sanskrit is also used along with English.
In Graduation level, English and regional languages are used. In Hindi speaking area Hindi is used. In Non-Hindi speaking area the language of the state concerned along with English is used.
It is the local/state language of the state that is used at the school level. If it is an English medium school, English is used; if it is the regional language medium school, regional language is used depending upon the situation.
I conclude this chapter with the quotation from Dr.H.S.Ananthanarayana as follows:
"India has always been a nation of many languages. This multilingual situation did not, however, come in the way of unity and oneness of Indian culture. Language has never been an issue and Sanskrit, of course, was taken as the binding bilinguals and even multilingual. The role of these languages in the life of an Indian was clearly defined and there was never a conflict between their functions. Sanskrit was used in more formal situations like religious ceremonies, discussions on philosophical and scientific matters, and the vernaculars were employed in informal occasions such as routine conversations among friends and relatives. Thus, we may say that Sanskrit and the spoken dialects were in complementation where Sanskrit had its role to play in the religious as well as cultural life and the spoken forms in the social life".
Copyright CIIL-India Mysore