Sanskrit vs FATE Languages
Language and Creativity
Language is deeply connected to the process of creativity. Man became man, when he discovered language and started cogitating on deeper and more abstract problems related to life, existence and culture. A regional language is deeply intimate with the culture, society, politics, food and all other aspects of human culture of the people inhabiting that linguistic and cultural space and the metaphors and idioms that come out in a regional language are capable of expressing the peculiarities and uniqueness of those people and culture. Such a language is capable of conveying deep messages in short metaphors, as the connection with that audio-visual and mental image is instant in the users of that language.
Take an example of the saying in Hindī ‘na sāvan harae, na bhādon sūkhae…’
For an Indian, monsoon is a lived reality. He knows that once a year there are torrential rains and when even deserts turn green. An Englishman who is privy to occasional storms and low drizzles twice a year, would not be able to even understand that sāvana greens and bhādon dries.
When a colonial language like English is forced upon a people then their creativity is withered, stunted and finally killed.
The English language for example has many positive notes connected to summers which are seen wistfully as the best time of the year. This geographical reference would be culturally lost on anyone using English in India.
All these examples show that by replacing Indian languages or Sanskṛta words in Indian languages would kill the very soul of Bhāratīya culture and civilization. If we want to preserve our identity then we need to nourish regional and local languages. Our creativity depends upon the vitality of our regional languages and their Sanskṛta Niṣṭha vocabulary. Replacing them with English or FAT words will only result in the death of our creativity.
How Sanskṛta helps Dialects evolve into Languages
A dialect becomes a language when words and phrases for conveying the greatest of philosophical principles are created or imported and when great literature is written in that language. In India this process of vernacular languages becoming classical languages was overseen by Devabhāṣā Sanskṛta which provided the ready-made vocabulary for conveying some of the most fundamental ideas universal to all over Bhāratīya cultural regions, whether the language in question was Gujarati, Bangla, Telugu or Hindī.
Sanskṛta was the language in which all the scriptures of this country were written. It was the language of philosophy, of gods. The ṛṣis had meditated deeply on various aspects of life and created words and systems able to convey the deepest of thoughts that our species can have. That is why it informed the vernaculars in some of the most fundamental and crucial aspects of our culture and made them richer. It was through the input of Sanskṛta vocabulary which elevated these languages to classical level. This process happened all over India in various parts.
The input of Sanskṛta terminology and the creation of great literature is the process which elevates a language to classical level.
This should be enough to tell us how Sanskṛta is vital for the survival of Sanātana dharma, for the continued linguistic diversity of India and for the creative genius of this great land.
The battle between Sanskṛta and FATE languages for the domination of the Śiva tattva of our languages is the battle which will decide the cultural fate of Bhāratavarśa. The victory of Sanskṛta in this battle will mean the preservation of the Sanātana soul of India; the unification of its diverse peoples, regions and languages by providing the philosophical seed, the Śiva tattva of language; and the continued preservation and propagation of the kṣetrīya languages boosting originality, creativity and vitality of our tradition. The victory of Sanskṛta will be a linguistic equivalent of decolonization of India.
The victory of English or any other colonial language like Farsi, Arabic, Turkish or Urdu would signal, on the other hand, a bleak future where our souls, through the changing character of our languages will be available to conversion to alien ideas and religions; where the Śiva tattva of our languages will be lost; where all our languages and regions will fight with each other in a mutually destructive cultural war; and where the creative genius of this great land will die as its kṣetrīya languages die a slow death under the onslaught of English and FATE languages.
The Need for Sanskrit Nishth Hindi
But things are not so bad. The grammar of our languages is still alive. The structure that we use is still Indic, it is still Sanātana. From the Hindū point of view, the Śakti tattva of our languages, the manifestation is still our own, and from here we can make a start and bring back the Indic seed/ principle back to our languages.
Śrī Aurobindo said that the rise of Sanātana dharma is the rise of Bhāratavarṣa. When Sanātana dharma rises, India will rise, if Sanātana dharma shall fall then India will also fall. But he had no doubt that Sanātana dharma will rise. Another great philosopher of India, Śrī Ram Swarup too said that the soul of Sanātana dharma lies in the roots of our languages, in the names of our gods. The consciousness of our civilization lies in the names of our gods, which are directly connected to Indian languages. The rise of Sanātana dharma will also mean the rise of Indian languages.
And this is the opportunity for a new beginning. Time has come to rediscover the roots of our culture through our languages.
The Hindū consciousness is no longer underground. It has started surfacing. The spark of Hindū renaissance is now turning into a huge flame. We are putting the Hindū eye to philosophy, society and politics. Time has come now for this Hindū consciousness to break into the level of arts and literature. Time has now come for us to discuss what does Hindū darśana say about arts and literature. Time has come to do this in regional Indian languages with all the regional richness and beauty that usually accompanies them. Time has come for the Hindū consciousness to take the next leap and reach each nook and corner of Hindū society, through our great tradition of story-telling, in regional languages.
Hindū culture respects the connoisseur as much as the artist. A rasikā is someone who takes rasa, ānanda(high pleasure) in arts and in general in life. Hindū civilization is neither one to reject pleasure seeking completely and turn into a penal code of dos and don’ts, nor is it a civilization which is limited to hedonistic pleasure seeking. Instead it has found a middle path of leading its followers to the highest path of knowledge while enjoying what the world has to offer. Here, a rasikā can also be a mumukṣu, one who wants to proceed on the path of knowledge.
A Hindū can walk on the path of knowledge even while enjoying saṃsāra. The concept of rasa niṣpatti proves this. Reflecting the entirety of human experience, the eight rasas intend to give us the joy of life, and the ninth rasa, the śānta rasa aims to take us to the highest knowledge. It is supposed to contain all other rasas inside it.
In Hindū culture, nāgarika is not simply a person who lives in a city. Nāgarika is someone who is deeply interested in arts, architecture, sculpture, dance etc. When a bhakta goes to a temple, his only goal is to have darśana of the deity in front of the garbhā-gṛha. He is unconcerned with the beauty of the sculpture, the philosophy behind the architecture and the paintings on the wall of the temple. His only goal is to have darśana in the garbhā-gṛha and that is the primary goal of going to a Hindū temple.
But like always, Sanātana dharma does not ignore the world even in this aspect. Instead it turned the process of enjoying the world into a means of acquiring knowledge. In Hindū culture, a nāgarika is someone who would go to a temple, and along with having darśana of the deity, he will also admire the beauty of sculpture, architecture, painting and everything else. He will enjoy the world, while at the same time aiming to transcend worldly limitations.
The job of a nāgarika is to respect and promote art, to take pleasure in life and world along with knowledge seeking.
Edward O. Wilson, the evolutionary biologist, says that man became man when he discovered language and started using language to tell stories to each other at the campfire during evenings. This made individuals rise above their individual consciousness towards the universal consciousness. It was language which made us capable of cogitating on some of the deepest questions like Who are We?, Why life? Why death? What is the reason for our existence and the existence of the universe?
It is story-telling which made us humans. It is story-telling which created culture as we know it, which created the cultural and civilizational consciousness of humankind and of Bhāratavarṣa. It was language which gave us our cultural identities.
Authored by Pankaj Saxena. Published by Brhat.