Evening star., 1932-05-27
Teachers and Priests
Now Employ Sanscrit

A recent inquirer in Mr.. Haskin's
column asks whether there is . Ian
guage now in use which Is descended
from the Sanscrit.
The reply given by Mr.. Haskin IS
substantially correct, but the impor-
tance Of the subject is 50 great, and its
nature 30 complicated that . complete
answer requires greater space. Classi.
cal Sanscrit, as It Is found IN the epic
poems, the law codes and the later
literature. is IN itself a descendant, or,
perhaps, 1t is more correct to say, q de-
velopment Of the original Sanscrit Of
the Mautra. or Vedio hymns. The pc
riod Of the transition or development
from one class to the other shows the
production of the Brahmana. the
the Vedas. The Drakrit dialects repre-
sent the common, or vulgar speech of
the Hindus, as contrasted with the
proper, or more scholarly language of
the Brahmin sages.
These dialects are mainly derived
from the Sanscrit, but also show the in
fluence Of Parsee, Greek and the Ian
guages Of other peoples who invaded
India during the early ages. From
these dialects the modern Hindustani
has been derived. In some parts of
Southern India, the dialects of the
Hindus have to a great extent been
commingled with Tamil, Telugu, Kara
nese and other tongues Of the ancient
Dravidian inhabitants.
Pail, the language of the sacred liter
ature Of the Buddhists is also a de-
scendant of the Sanscrit, through one
of the Prakrit dialects. 1t is well, in
this connection, to remember that the
Sakyamuni Buddha did not reduce his
religious doctrines to writing, and that
in view OF his reputation Of the caste
system. his disciples were drawn from
the lower classes, who were probably
more familiar with the local Prakrit
dialect of Dude than with the Sanscrit
of the classics. Soon after his death,
his followers, in three councils, having
frst reduced his teachings to writing,
divided them into three classes, cover
Ing discourses, disciplinary exercises and
inspired teachings. The Buddha him
self was born a prince of the royal
house Of Kapilavastu, and his philo-
sophical works are in classical Sanscrit.
The academic courses Of the Sanscrit
College at Benares are given in the
SanScrit and in English. These courses
include religion. philosophy, laws, lit
erature and other arts and sciences Of
the ancient Hindu civilization The
college Is attended by some Moham-
medans and Christians. but is princi-
pally used by candidates for the Brah-
min priesthood.
Sanscrlt philology among Europeans
is OF comparatively recent origin. 1t
has also been the source of much con-
troVersy. The introduction of the
drama Abhijnana Sakuntala, by Kali
daSa. in 1889 to England and thereby
to Europe by Sir William Jones was
the starting point Of the European
study OF Sanscrit. The opinion voiced
by Sir William, in which he was sup
ported by Henry Colebrooke and other
members OF the Asiatic Society, that
the Sanscrit was derived from the same
source which had Produced the Latin,
Greek, Gothic, Celtic and ancient Per-
sian languages. was received with much
opposition. Notable among the op-
ponents Of Jones theory was Dugald
Stewart, then professor Of moral phil
osophy at the University of Edinburgh,
who held that Sanscrit had never been
the language Of a people. but had been
constructed by the Brahmins from the
Greek and Latin. Subsequent develop
ments lead to the belief that the views
voiced by Stewart and others were based
upon conviction that the admission
OF common source Of the languages
would constitute an Acknowledgement of
an chronological relationship with the
Hindus. The researches of the brothers
Van Schlegel which we're partially
shown in the work issued by Friedrich
Won Schlegel in 1903, under the title
of On the Language and Wisdom of
the Indians" sustained the position
taken by Jones and Colebrooke. In
this work Won Schlegel classed Sanscrit
Medo-Pel sian, GalIo-Celtic, Graeco-
Latin, Germanic and Lithuanian-Sla-
vonian as belonging TO one group, under
the name Of the Indo- -Germanic Ian
guages. The interest aroused by the
researches of Won Schlegel is generally
regarded as the foundation Of the mod
ern science OF comparative philology.
Sanscrit and Prakrit are both found
IN the dramas and lyric poems of Kali
oasa, PanditaraJa and others. The
nayaka and pratinayaka thero and his
antagoniSt) and the other principal
characters speak Sanscrit, while the
Prakrit dialect Is spoken hC the heroine,
or naylka, her inevitable confidential.
SoiupdHlon ana the eunuchS, barbirianS
ana other lesser characters.
lnasmuch as its Use is confined
mainly to the teachers and priests of
the Brahmins, Sanscrit may be said to
be dead language. 1t IS not a Ian
guage OF trade marts, stock exchanges
or law courts. Its wealth of material
Tor research work will, however, help
to perpetuate its use. 1t is only by a
study of the Vedas, the philosophical
WORKS of Jaimini and Vyasa and other
works relating to the first cause, uni
'ersal spirit, or omnipotent being. that
we can have any true realization of the
distance the Hindus have wandered in
their present-day pantheistic beliefs
and ceremonies. Their philosophers.
poets and historians were without the
of divine revelation. lived
and died before the birth of modern
science, and had no conception of the
magnitude of the universe to which
they belonged; nevertheless, the scope
OF their activities, the beauty Of their
productions and the profound sincerity
OF their meditations make them worthy
OF a place In the history of Aryan
civilization. ROBERT CONROY.
p4@-~a1ae TT