From: bsoman@sloth.Reed.Edu (Bakul Arun Soman)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian
Subject: Re: Sanskrit and the Unity of India
Keywords: the improbality of the task
Date: 12 Sep 92 03:17:30 GMT
Article-I.D.: reed.1992Sep12.031730.10591
Organization: Reed College, Portland, OR











IIn article <1992Sep8.191502.8477@constellation.ecn.uoknor.edu>  
mchundat@kittyhawk.ecn.uoknor.edu (Mathai Chundattu) writes:
> 
> 	The unity of India is strongly connected with the availability
> of a common national language. Even though Hindi was imposed upon all
> the states to be adopted as the national language the survival of this
> language in this position is doubtful. Considering the history of India
> I would suggest that Sanskrit deserves a true consideration to be the
> national language. The reasons for the suggestion are the following.
> 
> 1.	Sanskrit was the undoubted national language of a united India.
> The India which evolves from the Vedas, Upanishads and the literature of
> the past has Sanskrit as the national language.
> 
> 2.	Sanskrit is a highly respected language in South India. The
> objections to Hindi are voiced predominantly from the southern states.
> On the other hand, Sanskrit would be easily accepted as the national
> language.
> 
> 3.	By adopting and learning Sanskrit Indians will be exposed to the
> rich Vedic heritage of ancient India. Indians will be more aware of
> their unity in the past.
> 
> 4.	Sanskrit alphabet is similar to all of the South Indian
> languages. Only the script is different. The grammar is easy to learn.
> 
> 5.	Many of the Sanskrit literature of the past view India as
> united. This will help in realizing the unity of all Indians.
> 
> 6.	There are Sanskrit speaking townships in South India. This shows
> that Sanskrit should not be considered as a dead language. 
> 
> 7.	One of the main reason to study a language is the lierature in
> that language. Sanskrit boasts of an immense collection of literary
> works unlike the more recent language like Hindi of which the literature
> is alien to most of South Indians.
> 
> 8.	Many South Indians view Hindi as more alien than English. One
> reason for this is that they have no consideration for the Hindi
> literature which appeals to only a fraction of Indians.
> 
> 
> Mathai
> -- 
> Mathai Chundatt
> Department of Chemical Engineering & Material Science
> University of Oklahoma, Norman
>
I fully agree with you when you say that the India of the past had  
sanskrit as the national language  but today , this simply cannot be done 

I am surprised that you do not recognise the improbality of this gigantic  
task .Just how are you going to make the entire population of learn this  
language which unfortunately but  essentially  is dead?True, sanskrit has  
one of the richest stores of literature in the world  but that doesn't  
make a language living.I would argue that it died out in the post vedic  
ages when it became an eclectic language.

At independence, making hindi the national language was the most practical  
thing to do, considering that the majority of the population spoke that  
language.India had enough problems as it is without taking up an  
additional one of teaching a whole nation a classical language.making  
sanskrit a national lang. would have necessitated that day to day  
activities  take place in that lang.Imagine having to fill out forms in  
sanskrit.Another reason  why the entire exp. would fail is that sanskrit  
simply doesn't have the vocabulary to suit our demands.ex:What sanskrit  
words would you use for:keyboard,  
paranoia,AIDS,euthanasia,proletariat,automobile...so on and so forth.So  
ultimately we have to realise the unfortunate reality that sanskrit is not  
and can never be the national language of modern india.

also,I did not understand your point about the alphabet of sanskrit and  
the south indian lang. being the same the difference being only in the  
script.AS far as I can understand,such a condition cannot exist.

you can argue your case.my address is
bsoman@reed.edu       
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian