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100+ SANSKRIT RESOURCES ( + A BRIEF INTRODUCTION )

LEARN THROUGH SELF STUDY | WHY STUDY SANSKRIT

|| INTRODUCTION ||

The study of languages is always fascinating .
For this reason alone , one can study or learn Sanskrit .

The members of the Samskritapriyah group are more than fascinated by this language . They come from different disciplines and have had a long lasting association with Sanskrit .

This group , comprising scientists , linguistic scholars , computer scientists , Indologists and above all , well respected Sanskrit scholars , feels convinced that there are aspects to Sanskrit not yet seen or observed in other languages .

While the lessons are the primary means to learning the language , the information presented alongside will more than arouse the curiosity of the reader . It must be emphasized that the views expressed here are not intended to start a big debate on the language itself . The group has carefully studied the information presented here , for validity , correctness and authenticity .

As a consequence , the information should appeal to the scientific mind .

|| DISCLAIMER ||

The Views expressed here are specific to the Samskritapriyah group and the Samskrit Education Society . IIT Madras , has only made available the web pages as a courtesy to the group .

|| SANSKRIT IS THE EARLIEST OF ANCIENT LANGUAGES ||

There is sufficient evidence available today to say that Sanskrit is the oldest language of the world .

Among the current languages which possess a hoary antiquity like Latin or Greek , Sanskrit is the only language which has retained its pristine purity . It has maintained its structure and vocabulary even today as it was in the past .

The oldest literature of the world , the Vedas , the Puranas and the Ithihasas which relate to the Indian subcontinent , are still available in the same form as they were known from the very beginning .

There are many many scholars in India who can interpret them today , much the same way great scholars of India did years ago . Such interpretation comes not by merely studying earlier known interpretations but through a steady process of assimilation of knowledge linking a variety of disciplines via Sanskrit .

|| SANSKRIT IS AS MODERN AS ANY LANGUAGE CAN BE ||

Sanskrit is very much a spoken language today . Even now , as we enter the twenty first century , Sanskrit is spoken by an increasing number of people , thankfully many of them young .

Among the learned in India , it continues to be a bridge across different states where people , in spite of their own native tongue , use it to exchange scholarly and even general information relating to the traditions of the country .

The News service offered by the Government of India through television and radio continues to feature daily Sanskrit program catering to local as well as international news .

The grammar of Sanskrit has attracted scholars world over . It is very precise and uptodate and remains well defined even today .

Of late , several persons have expressed the opinion that Sanskrit is the best language for use with computers .

The Samskritapriyah group does not subscribe to this view however .

|| SANSKRIT IS A SCIENTIST'S PARADISE ||

Sanskrit , the vocabulary of which is derived from root syllables , is ideal for coining new scientific and technological terms . The need to borrow words or special scientific terms does not arise .

From the very beginning , scientific principles have been hidden in the verses found in the Vedas , Upanishads and the great epics of India .

Concepts and principles seen in present day mathematics and astronomy , are all hidden in the compositions and treatises of many early scholars of the country . Some of these principles and concepts will be shown in the information section that will accompany the lessons .

|| LINGUISTICS ||

The precise and extremely well defined structure of Sanskrit , coupled with its antiquity offers a number of areas in linguistics research including Computational Linguistics .

Also , Sanskrit distinguishes itself in that it is the only known language which has a built-in scheme for pronunciation , word formation and grammar .

|| SANSKRIT IS A LANGUAGE FOR HUMANITY ||

Sanskrit is a language for humanity and not merely a means for communication within a society .

The oldest surviving literature of the world , viz the Vedas , encompass knowledge in virtually every sphere of human activity .

The fact that many profound principles relating to human existence were given expression through Sanskrit , continue to amaze those who study Sanskrit . A Sanskrit scholar understands the world better than most others .

Sanskrit perfectly depicted ( and continues to depict ) the social order of the day and offers clues to historical developments within the society .

The language has been used effectively to describe the virtuous and the not so virtuous qualities of great people , rulers , the philosophers and saints of the country .

|| PHILOSOPHY THEOLOGY & SANSKRIT ||

Sanskrit abounds in Philosophy and Theology related issues .

There are so many words one encounters within Sanskrit that convey subtly differing meanings of a concept that admits of only one interpretation when studied with other languages .

The language thus has the ability to offer links between concepts using just the words .

|| SANSKRIT FOR YOUR EMOTIONS ||

The connoisseurs of the Sanskrit language know that it is the language of the heart .

Whatever be the emotion one wishes to display , be it devotion , love , affection , fear , threat , anger , compassion , benevolence , admiration , surprise and the like , the most appropriate words of Sanskrit can flow like a gushing stream .

|| SOME UNIQUE CHARACTERISTICS OF THE LANGUAGE ||

Sanskrit is co-original with the Vedas . The vedas cannot be studied without the Vedangas , which are six in number . The first three deal with the spoken aspects of the language .

The first of these three , namely Siksha , tells us how to pronounce the letters of the aksharas . Siksha divides the letters into three classes — Swaras , Vyanjanas and Oushmanas . Depending on the effort ( Prayatna ) , place of origin in the body ( Sthana ) , the force used ( Bala ) and the duration of time ( Kala ) , the letters differ from each other in their auditory quality and meaning .

Vyakarna , known as the grammar of Sanskrit , is the second Vedanga which describes meaningful word formations . This is usually referred to as Sphota or meaningful sound .

The third Vedanga , Niruktam , describes certain fundamental root words used in the Vedas . Classification of words into groups of synonyms is an example . For instance , approximately a hundred and twenty synonyms for water are given in Niruktam .

The fourth Vedanga , Chandas , describes the formation of sentences in metrical form . Unlike English which used a very limited number of metres ( basically four ) , Sanskrit offers about two dozen Vedic metres and innumerable conventional metres .

The remaining two Vedangas , Kalpa and Jyothisha deal with space and time .

|| THE LETTERS OF SANSKRIT ||

Sanskrit comprises fifty one letters or aksharas .

In other languages , we refer to the letters of the alphabet of the language .

We know that the word alphabet is derived from the names of the first two letters of Greek . The term alphabet has no other meaning except to denote the set of letters in the language .

In contrast , the word " akshara " in Sanskrit denotes something fundamental and significant .

One of the direct meanings of the word is that it denotes the set of letters of Sanskrit from the first to the last . The word also means that the sound of the letter does not ever get destroyed and thus signifies the eternal quality of the sound of the letters .

The consequence of this meaning is that the sound of a word is essentially the sounds of the aksharas in the word , a concept which will help simplify text to speech applications with computers .

There are two aspects of non destruction in the above explanation . The first one refers to the phonetic characteristics of the language , ie , in any word , the aksharas retain their sound .

The second aspect of non destruction , amazingly , is that the aksharas retain their individual meanings as well !

To give an example , the word " guru " consisting of the aksharas " gu " and " ru " stands for a teacher — one who dispels darkness ( ignorance ) of the the mind ( person ) . " gu " means darkness and " ru " means the act of removal .

Now , arent we beginning to see something very interesting ?

The popular Sanskrit language is based on root syllables and words .

Unlike the other languages of the world , every word in Sanskrit is derived from a root .

It is a well accepted fact that all Indo-European languages have a common origin . On the basis of the above mentioned fact that all the words of Sanskrit are traceable to specific roots , a feature not seen in other languages , one can presume that Sanskrit is most certainly the origin .

|| MASSIVE YET PRECISE ||

One can learn Sanskrit purely for the sake of the great epics of India .

The Ramayana has 24,000 verses fully in metre and the Mahabharata qualifies as the world's largest epic with 100,000 verses . The Mahabharata says , " what is here may be elsewhere , what is not here is nowhere " .

The precision with which the verses convey information on so many different aspects of life in a society , is a factor one must reckon as the ultimate in composition .

ARTICLE SOURCE : http://www.acharya.gen.in:8080/sanskrit/why_sans.php

100+ SANSKRIT RESOURCES | UPDATE 04.21.2016 | SATYAVEDISM.ORG