Portal:India/Today's selected article/April 17, 2006



Sanskrit is a classical and liturgical language of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is one of the oldest Indo-European languages in the world and boasts a rich tradition of poetry, literature, and philosophical and religious texts. It is one of the 22 languages in India. According to recent reports, it is being revived as a vernacular in Mattur near Shimoga in Karnataka. Today it is mostly used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals in the forms of hymns and mantras. It is pre-Classical form of Vedic Sanskrit and most ancient text being the Rigveda. In India, it is prized as a storehouse of scripture and the language of prayers in Hinduism. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit mantras are recited by millions of Hindus. Most higher forms of Indian vernacular languages like Bengali, Gujarati, Marathi, Telugu and Hindi are much more heavily sanskritized. The national anthem, Jana Gana Mana is higher form of Bengali, so Sanskritized as to be archaic in modern usages. The national song of India Vande Mataram is in pure Sanskrit. Sanskrit words are found in many other present-day non-Indian languages. (more...)