Sanskrit means “purified, devoted, blessed”. Sanskrit is ancient classical lithurgical language of India in which the very first book of world Rigveda was written.
ORIGIN and EVOLUTION:
Numerous theories regarding it’s origin have been proposed/formulated by linguists.
Two main theories of Vedic Sanskrit origin are:
• It divinely originated along with Hindu scriptures like the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Puranas handed over to mankind by sages of Sanatan Dharm.
• Originated from Baltic and Slavic languages spoken in North West during early second millennium BCE.
Around 500 BC, counter Vedic movements like Vedanta and The Buddhism emerged in Pali and Prakrit dialect along with Persian invasions led to decline of Vedic Sanskrit. A blend of Sanskrit with aarsha, prakritisms began to be used in Hindu Epics, the Ramayana, Mahabharata and Buddhist writings (Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit). This form of Sanskrit is called Epic Sanskrit.
This form of Sanskrit continued till Panini re-established Sanskrit called Classical Sanskrit, by defining (rather than describing) the rules, syntax and semantics of Sanskrit grammar known as Astadhyavy.
SCRIPT:
Ancient Sanskrit had no script. The method of preserving the literature was memorizing, reciting. It was handed over orally to next generation. The tradition of writing Sanskrit language came from the written forms of pali and prakrit. The Sanskrit inscriptions from early century B.C. are in Brahmi script. Later the scripts used were Sharda followed by Devanagari(meaning "as used in the city of the gods") along with various regional script.
SANSKRIT IN PRE–COLONIAL INDIA:
Sanskrit came to India through Aryan invaders. Since the beginning of human civilisation both sages and people spoke pure ...
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...tise etc. The Puranas are an excellent example of Sanskrit literary works. More than 3000 of the works have been composed in India in Sanskrit language after independence.
Contemporarily Sanskrit is used as ceremonial language in hymns, mantras etc. But it is still respected as the Divine Mother Language, as the Language of God (which can be heard by God). The discussion above just gives us a glimpse of the course followed by Sanskrit to evolve into the Sanskrit we are presently acquainted to. It seems that Sanskrit will continue to survive for centuries to bridge the generation gap and to instil pride in younger Indian generations.
Works Cited
A History of Sanskrit Literature By Arthur Berriedale Keith
Sanskrit-The_Mother_of_All_Languages_partI (web)
Sanskrit & Prakrit, Sociolinguistic Issues By Madhav Deshpande
WIKIPEDIA
www.bhashaindia.com
Hinduism first started in India around 1500 BC. The word Hindu comes from the Sanskrit word sindhu, or river. The Hindu community define themselves as "those who believe in the Vedas", or also "those who follow the way, or dharma, of the four classes and the stages of life. The four classes being the varnas and the stages of life being the ashramas.
...e first English translation of the Gita was published. All religious texts of ancient India were written in Sanskrit. In November 1784, the first direct translation of a Sanskrit work into English was completed by Charles Wilkins. The book that was translated was The Bhagavad Gita. Friedreich Max Mueller (1823-1900), the German Sanskritist who spent most of his working life as Professor of Comparative Philology at Oxford University, served as the chief editor of the Sacred Books of the East. (Oxford University Press). The Gita was included in this famous collection. Since then, the Gita has become one of the most widely-read texts of the world. True, there are unexplained contradictions and paradoxes in this brief book, but its wide-ranging implications based on the two ancient Darshans of India and its allegorical meanings are still being examined and reinterpreted.
The Vedas, which are the oldest written tradition in India, (2,000 - 600 B.C.) were written largely by the Indo-European invaders of India, known as the Aryans. The Aryans were said to have entered India on chariots, and the original meaning of the word chakra as "wheel" refers to the chariot wheels of the invading Aryans. (The correct spelling is cakra, though pronounced with a ch as in church.) The word was also a metaphor for the sun, which "traverses the world like the triumphant chariot of a cakravartin." (ruler) and denotes the eternal cycle of time called the kalacakra, or wheel of time. In this way, it represents celestial order and balance.
Other books began to join the Rig Veda in the set of the Vedas. Books such as Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda showed that the Aryan culture was changing the way that it viewed its gods, as well as the way that they viewed themselves. The final addition to the Vedas in the classical period, the Upanishad, was added around 800 BCE. This is where terms like samsara, moksha, dharma, and karma first emerged in writing.
most spoken language in the world . Without this major changes , India would have been left in time , different from the modern world for many years until the British or any other developed country would have deflated in showing interest into colonizing the country.
Many of the influences of Tibetan Buddhism came from India thousands of years ago. There were four phases leading up to the Tantric practice that is known today. 560 B.C.E. to 480 B.C.E. marked the first stage, the life of Siddharta Gautama, who Tibetans believe to be the original Buddha. The legend of the Buddha is that he was conceived in ...
The language in question is the most complex and difficult to learn in all of human history, so certainly with that reputation there must, consequently, be a way to speak it that is set in stone. Right? Well, the answer is in the past. Skim back to 1500 C.E. England, and what will be found is a much different version of the language spoken in
‘The Vedas are probably the earliest documents of the human mind, they are the original scriptures of Hindu teachings. Veda means wisdom, knowledge or vision, and it manifests the language of the gods in human speech. The laws of the Vedas regulate the social, legal, domestic and religious customs of the Hindus to the present day.’3
The first appearances of Hinduism appeared with the introduction of Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a sacred language and the first recorded writings of this language appeared in the ancient Vedas (scriptures). These ancient scripture appeared between 1500-1200 B.C.(Pandian 62). These writings were the beginnings of the Hindu religion and had great influence on Valmiki when he was writing the Ramayana. Pre-Hindu religion before the writing of the Ramayana involved several similarities to the Hindu religion. The most influential similarity that Valmiki kept in his text was the focus on the individual. David R. Kinsley in his book Hinduism says this about the Vedic (pre-Hindu) beliefs "The realization of…truth wins the adept liberation…from the shifting world of constant flux and the endless cycle of rebirth, which is…determined by all one's action."(13) The Ramayana kept this central idea, but also focused on political aspects
And also the appendix to the Vedic hymn. Vedanta can also be secondhand as a noun to explain one who has learned all four of the earliest Vedas. The four Vedas are Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda. In the former writings Sanskrit Vedanta clearly mentioned the Upanishads which is the most theoretical and philosophical of the Vedic texts. Still in the medieval age of Hindusim, the word Vedanta came to close to the school of philosophy that explained the Upanishads.
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and was originated in the Indian subcontinent. Is rare that a big religion like Hinduism don’t have a single founder, religious organization, specific theological system and don’t even a system of morality, but it is a religion that has evolved over thousands of years. Hinduism has a diverse body of cultural and philosophical practices. Hinduism consists of belief and tradition. The most recognized belief and traditions of the Hinduism are Karma, Dharma, Samsara and Moshka. Hindu people don’t believe in violence, but they do believe in prayers, honesty, truth, austerity, celibacy and penance. The Hindu scriptures are collectively referred to as the Shashtras. The Hindu scriptures were initially passed on orally from generation to generation until finally ancient scholars wrote them down; mainly in the Sanskrit language that was the prevailing language of the time. Some of the Hindu scriptures are the Shruti and Smritis. The Shruti primarily refers to the Vedas which represent eternal truths revealed to ancient sages but some other Hindu individuals associated the Vedas with a God or a powerful person. The Smritis are all of the other text different than the Shruti. The most know of the Smritis are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although the Hindus worship a large pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, they believe in the one Supreme Power that manifests itself in various forms.
Starting at the core of India, its heart can be correlated with Hinduism. Hinduism started in Indian approximately the third millennium BC and is still practiced in the present day. Also, as it is of Indian origin, its rightful place can be considered the heart of India. It can be said that Hinduism is substantially “outdated” by today’s standards as formidable religion of Indian majority. During the period of the caste social structure within India it was en excellent fit. But this ensures its position of the heart of India by being fundamental to the development of ancient India and forming modern India.
Hindu mythology has been around for ages; it is the world’s oldest surviving religion. Hinduism was formed through diverse traditions in the year 2,000 B.C.E. There is no single person that gets the credit of developing Hindu Mythology because one person did not create it. Hinduism was originated in India, where it is the most practiced now. Hinduism has over a billion followers and about two-thirds of those people are in India. There are many temples open to worship gods and goddesses. “The needs of the gods would be met by the worshipers who have to prepare themselves through purification rites to draw near to their god” (Organ,193) Hinduism is not only the oldest religion but one of the biggest, with Islam then Christianity being above it.
As English governed the India , they used an efficient way to destroy the revolt from the Indian . They taught Indian English instead of their original language. Hindi is the traditional language in India, and it has thousands of the years ’ history. English gives Indian more opportunities on global business and makes Indian have higher status in the world, however, at the same time, it causes many problems. With Indian use English to communicate with foreigners, they forgot the original language. Most young people recognize that English is more fashionable. Our educational policies systematically discourage the teaching of Sanskrit, and one wonders again whether that is in deference to Macaulay, who found that great language (though he confessed ...
Today, Hinduism stands as India’s primary religion. In fact, India houses 90% of the world’s Hindi population and 79.8% of India’s population follows the Hindu religion, according to the 2011 census. It is thought by some to be the oldest religion in the world and the “eternal law” (Fowler). This culture is truly one as defined by Edward Taylor: “A complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capability and habit acquired by man as a member of society.” In order to have somewhat of an understanding about what the Hindu religion entails, one must study the Hindu conception of God, its basic concepts and key beliefs, as well as symbolism.