ABOUT SANSKRIT

By Dr.rupnathji(Dr.Rupak Nath)

 Evolution of Sanskrit Language

Sanskrit is an ancient and classical language of India in which ever first book of
the world Rigveda was compiled. The Vedas are dated by different scholars from 6500
B.C. to 1500 B.C. Sanskrit language must have evolved to its expressive capability prior
to that. It is presumed that the language used in Vedas was prevalent in the form of

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different dialects. It was to some extent different from the present Sanskrit. It is termed

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as Vedic Sanskrit. Each Veda had its book of grammar known as Pratishakhya. The

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Pratishakhyas explained the forms of the words and other grammatical points. Later, so

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many schools of grammar developed. During this period a vast literature -Vedas,
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Brahmana-Granthas, Aranyakas, Upanishads and Vedangas had come to existence
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which could be termed as Vedic Literature being written in Vedic Sanskrit.

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Panini (500 B.C.) was a great landmark in the development of Sanskrit language.
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He, concising about ten grammar schools prevalent during his time, wrote the master
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book of grammar named Ashtadhyayi which served as beacon for the later period.
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Literary Sanskrit and spoken Sanskrit both followed Panini’s system of language. Today
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the correctness of Sanskrit language is tested upon the touchstone of Panini’s

Ashtadhyayee.

Sanskrit is said to belong to Indo – Aryan or Indo Germanic family of languages

which includes Greek, Latin and other alike languages. William Jones, who was already
familiar with Greek and Latin, when came in contact with Sanskrit, remarked that
Sanskrit is more perfect than Greek, more copious than Latin and more refined than
either. He said – “Sanskrit is a wonderful language”. It is noteworthy that though
ancient and classical, Sanskrit is still used as medium of expression by scholars
throughout India and somewhere in other parts of the world e.g. America, and
Germany. Sanskrit is included in the list of modern Indian Languages in the eighth
schedule of the constitution of India.

As per the Indian tradition Sanskrit Language has no beginning and no ending.
It is eternal. Self-born God has created it. It is divine. It is everlasting. It was first used in
Vedas and thereafter it has been the means of expression in other fields.

Sanskrit has been the source of later languages and literature in India. Pali and

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Prakrit were first to develop from Sanskrit. Pali was taken as means for exposition of

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Buddhistic ideas and Prakrit was used for the spread of Jain doctrines. Most of the

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Buddhistic literature is written in Pali and that of Jain cult in Prakrit. A vast amount of
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Buddhistic and Jain literature was also written in Sanskrit simultaneously. Prakrit
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language had different shades in different parts of India. So they were named as
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Paishachi, Shourseni, Magadhi, Ardha – magadhi and Maharashtri. These Prakrits were
used for writing ornate poetry like Gaha Saptashati and Karpur Manjari and also in
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Sanskrit drama as dialogues of ladies and illiterate characters. From each type of Prakrit
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various Apabhramsha languages developed bearing the same name as Paishachi

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Apabhramsha, Shaurseni Apabhramsha and so on. Modern Indian Languages are

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developed from these Apabhramsha languages.

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Hindi, the official language of India, is developed from Shauraseni Apabhransha.

It is said that all the modern Indian languages used in north part of India are evolved
from Sanskrit and the other Modern Indian Langauges of South India- Tamil,
Malayalam, Kannada and Telugu are evolved from the Dravidian family of languages.
The South Indian MILs are well enriched and nourished by Sanskrit language.
 History of Sanskrit Literature

Sanskrit literature is as vast as the human life. There are four aims of human life
which are called Purusharthas. They are Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Dharma
stands for the duties and responsibilities of man. Artha communicates the monetary
necessities, Karma stands for the human desires of all types and Moksha is freedom
from birth and re-birth and worldly involvement. Any and every literature surrounds
these four aims of human life. Sanskrit literature first of all presents Vedas which are
the basis for Dharma. Vedas are the root of Dharma. There are four Vedas Rigveda,

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Yajurveda, Samveda, and Atharvaveda. Brahman granthas explain the Vedic literature

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and give the detailed process to perform the Yajnas. Aranyakas and Upanishads discuss

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the internal meaning of the Vedas and the path of renunciation – Moksha Purushartha.
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Pratishakhyas explain the grammatical issues of the Vedas. Six Vedangas i.e. Shiksha,
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Vyakarana, Kalpa, Chhandas, Nirukta, and Jyotish help to understand the Vedas. As
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per the Indian tradition the Veda is not written by any author but in fact it is the
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respiration of God. Veda has been seen by the seers, the Rishis. Later it was diversified
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into four Samhitas by the great seer Vyasa. Some Scholars hold that the Vedas were
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written by different seers and they estimated the time of these writings from 6500 BC to
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1500 BC. The rest of the Vedic literature might have been completed before 600 BC.
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Valmiki was first to write the worldly poetry; Loka – Kavya. He wrote the
Ramayana the great-epic which had the great impact on the later literature. Even today
the latest poetry is written on the line of Valmiki. The Ramayana was written in 500BC.

The second epic Mahabharata was written by Krishanadwaipayana Vyasa which

is known as encyclopedia of knowledge.

Later the Poets like Kalidasa, Ashvaghosa contributed considerably during the
Gupta period. Bharavi, Bhatti, Kumardasa and Magha – all wrote Mahakaavyas.
Harishena and Vatsabhatti were also prominent writers. Some other divisions of the
classical literature and some names of the classical writers are: Kalhan and Bilhan in the
field of historical Kavyas :Bhartrihari, Amaruka, Bilhana, Jayadeva, Somadeva etc. are
famous as lyric poets. The Brihatkatha, Romantic and Didactic Fables, erotic poetry,
champu kavyas, works on poetics and anthologies, gnomic and didactic poetry etc.
form an unparalled part of Sanskrit literature.
The Scientific Literature covers Lexicography, Metrics, Grammar, Law, Science of
Politics, Love, Philosophy and Religion, Medicine, Astronomy, Astrology and
mathematics etc.

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Though lots of Sanskrit literature has seen the light of the day but still much

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more Sanskrit literature is lying in the form of manuscripts and waiting for publication.
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These MSS are kept in general Sanskrit libraries and in houses of Sanskrit Scholars
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whose successors may know or not know the value of the MSS. This is a huge work to
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be done.
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 Eminent Sanskrit Authors
• Adikavi Valmiki

Valmiki is a sage of an excellent power of pen and wisdom. He is called Adikavi

since the moment he cursed an hunter on killing Kraunch bird in a totally original
chhandas. Narada advised Valmiki to write in the same poetic meter the life and deeds
of Rama. Accordingly Valmiki wrote Ramayana, the Adikavya, in seven sections and
24000 couplets full of the most compelling imagery, idioms and metaphors, wisdom
and nobility. He gave birth to a unique literary and philosophical masterpiece, one of

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the greatest works in world literature. Valmiki loved and respected life in all its

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splendor and diversity, the birds, the trees, the rivers, the seasons, forests and even

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scientific inventions.
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Very little is known about the personal life of this sage except that before
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becoming a saint he was earning his livelihood as a decoit. One day Rishi Agastya met
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him and asked him why he committed such crimes. ‘To support my family’ replied
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Mrigavyadha the decoit. ‘Will they be sharing your sins also?’ questioned Agastya’
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Mrigvyadha was deeply disappointed when he received the reply in negative by his
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parents, his wife and the other members of his family. Shocked and under deep sense of
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remorse, he started meditating and went into Samadhi. Ants built their nests around
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him and his body took the shape of an ant-hill. God Varuna feeling very much moved
by his condition and his austere penance, washed off the mud and cured his wounds.
Thereafter he was called Valmiki – arising out a Valmika - an ant hill. God blessed him
and called him a sage. The fundamental teaching of the Ramayana is the sanctity of the
institution of the family which is society in miniature.

Ramayana is the source of many other works in other Indian Languages like
Ramacharitamanasa of Tulsidas in Hindi, the Ramayana in Assamese by Madhava
Kandali, Ramayana in Bengali by Krittibas, Ramayana in Marathi by Eknath, Kamba
Ramayana in Tamil by Kamban, Mulla – Ramayana in Telugu by Mulla, Adhyatma
Ramayana in Malaylam by Ramanuja Edutachhan and also in many other Indian and
foreign languages.

• Maharishi Veda Vyasa

Maharishi Vedavyasa is that famous a personality who outstands as a

representative of extreme human intelligence and vast ocean like knowledge. He is
known to be the grandson of the sage Vasistha and son of Rishi Parashar. He spent his

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life on Badri fruits only in Badrikashram and thus came to be known as Badarayan. He

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was born in an island and hence was called Dvaipayana. He was dark in colour and

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thus acquired the title of Krishna and since he classified the available knowledge of
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Veda into Samhitas, he got the title of Vedavyasa. His mother was Satyawati.
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Vyas not only compiled the Samhitas but also the eighteen Puranas. He also
wrote Brahma Sutras and the Bhagwat Puranam – the touch-stone of human
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knowledge. He wrote Mahabharata – the great epic which is known as the encyclopedia
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of knowledge. It has been written in Mahabharata itself that one who knows the Vedas
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with all its Vedangas and Upanishads but does not know Mahabharata cannot be called
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a learned scholar (Mahabharata, Adiparvan, 2.235). This epic is not only a story of the
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battle between two groups of cousins but is an excellent code of moral conduct. It is a
treasure house of anecdotes, subhashitas and a grand treatise on conflict management.

It is said that Vyas dictated the script of Mahabharata to Ganesh who wrote it on
bark leaves by breaking one of his tusks. Vyas is also a prominent figure in the
Mahabharata. He was the father of Dhritarashtra, Pandu and Vidura.

Vyas was born on Shukla Purnima of Ashadha month which is worshipped even
today in Indian homes as Guru Purnima. He is worshipped as Guru because of his
greatness and vastness of knowledge. It is said that this whole world is pervaded by
Vyasa (Vyasochchhishtam Jagat Sarvam) and there could definitely be no better an
adjective for him.

• Kalidasa

Kalidasa has been the national poet of India and the brightest star in the
firmament of Indian Poetry for the last two thousand years. He has been unanimously
acclaimed as the greatest Sanskrit poet. His genius has been acknowledged, appreciated

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and admired by poets, critics and the literary public alike. Kalidasa enjoys a high rank

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among global poets like Dante, Goethe, Shakespeare etc. Scholars are of different

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opinions regarding his date. Different theories place him anywhere between 200 BC to
600 AD. AK
Tradition mentions Kalidasa as a contemporary and court poet of King
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Vikramaditya who founded an era known after his name, commencing with 57 B.C.
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Hence, most of the scholars opine that Kalidasa flourished in First Century B.C.
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Works

There are about 41 works which are attributed to Kalidasa but the following
seven world famous works are undoubtedly composed by him: two Lyric Poems:
Ritusamhara and Meghaduta; two Mahakavyas : Kumarasambhavam and Raghuvamsham;.
Three Plays: Malavikagnimitram, Vikramorvashiyam and abhijnanashakuntalam.

Ritusamhara, a lyrical poem appears to be the first work of the young poet.
Here, the natural, scenic and floral beauty of six seasons, viz., the grishma (summer),

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varsha (rainy), sharad (autumn), hemanta (dewy), shishira (winter) and vasanta (spring) is

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picturesquely described.

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Kalidasa has introduced a new genre of lyrical poetry by composing Meghaduta
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in Mandakranta meter, wherein an exiled love - lorn yaksha at mountain Ramagiri
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delivers his sandesha-message to his beloved darling residing in Alakapuri (in

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mountain Kailasa) through a cloud – messenger. On the pattern and imitation of

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Meghaduta more than one hundred Sandesha-Kavyas have been composed mostly in
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Mandakranta metre but none equals Meghaduta.

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In Kumarasambhava, the poet has described the penance of Parvati to win Shiva’s
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love, their wedlock finally resulting in the birth of Kumara Karttikeya, the warrior god
who killed demon Taraka.
 In Raghuvamsha, the poet has dealt with the heroic deeds of the solar dynasty of
the ancient Indian barons in 19 cantos. It begins with the description of King Dilipa and
ends with the narrative of Agnivarna. It abounds in beautiful descriptions and
narratives, to name a few, go-seva by Dilipa, Raghu’s digvijaya, Indumati-svayamvara,
Aja-vilapa, etc.

Malavikagnimitram is an intrigue drama which is based on the love-story of

Malavika and King Agnimitra. Vikramorvashiyam is based on the love story of the
celestial nymph Urvashi and King Pururavas. Abhijnana-shakuntalam is the best

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amongst all the plays written in Sanskrit till today. Its plot has been taken from

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Mahabharata and Padmapurana. Kalidasa through his fancy and adeptness in

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introducing new elements in the main plot, adds the episode of the curse on Shakuntala
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by sage Durvasas which lends additional charm to the love-story of Shakuntala and
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King Dushyanta. This also elevates the character of the hero.
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Kalidasa, a peerless poet par excellence, was acquainted with and affluent in
various systems of Philosophy, several schools of religious beliefs Law and Polity,
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Economics, Dramaturgy, Erotics, sixty-four arts including music and fine arts, Zoology
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and Plant-science too. Numerous references to all the aforementioned vidyas are so
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efficiently included in his works that they bring forth the high expertise of the poet.
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Kalidasa’s poetic genius has brought Sanskrit poetry to the highest elegance and
refinement. His style is pure and chaste. It is unartificial and marked by brevity,
simplicity of expression and easy flowing language characterise his works. His writings
are adorned with similies unparalleled for their charm and appropriateness. He is a
poet of Nature. He has delineated everything related to culture and society prevalent in
his times. According to one eulogy while once the poets were being counted, Kalidasa
(as being the first) occupied the last finger. But the ring-finger remained true to its name
(anamika = nameless), since his equal has not yet been found (by whom it could be
occupied).
 This truly testifies his popularity and sovereignty. Numerous honours and titles
have been conferred upon him, viz. Kavikulaguru, Kavikulashiromani, Dipashikha
Kalidasa, the Shakespeare of India, etc. Kalidasa is capable of winning the heart of any
connoisseur of literary taste on earth. He, through his writings is a true representative
of India and Indian culture.

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 • Bhasa

Bhasa was the first great dramatist whose complete dramas are now available to
the world. In the year 1910, Mahamahopadhyaya T. Ganapathi Shastri of Travancore
discovered a collection of 13 plays with a similarity of expression and construction and
declared them as the compositions of one single author, Bhasa. It is certain that this well
known dramatist was a predecessor of Kalidasa. The greatest Sanskrit poet Kalidasa
mentions his name with respect in the prelude to his first drama, the Malavikagnimitram.
Some scholars place him in 2nd or 3rd century A.D. between Ashwaghosha and

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Kalidasa. Probably Bhasa was a devotee of Lord vishnu.

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Bhasa derives his plots from the great epics, Ramayana and Mahabharata, from the
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Purana Shrimadbhagavata and most probably from Brihatkatha of Gunadhya. The thirteen
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plays of Bhasa are as follows:

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The one act plays, based on Mahabharata are – Pancharatram, Dootavakyam,

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Madhyamavyayogam, Dutaghatotkacham, Karnabharam and Urubhangam.

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Dramas, based on Ramayana are - Praitimanatakam and Abhishekanatakam, one is

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based on Shrimadbhagavatam is Balacaritam and the others based on Brihatkatha are

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Pratijnayaugandharayanam and Svapnavasavadattam. Avimarakam and

Daridracharudattam are based on Lokakathas.

Bhasa was a born-dramatist. He has presented various models of Sanskrit drama,

such as Prakarana and Bhana (one act play) etc. In all his small dramas, the poet has
succeeded in making them extraordinarily dramatic.

Bhasa's Svapnavasavadattam is a masterpiece of Sanskrit literature. According to

Acharya Rajashekhara, Svapnavasavadattam was the only drama which proved itself
non-combustible in the fire of criticism. Svapnavasavdattam, means 'the Dream of
Vasavadatta who meets her husband Udayana in a dream'. The plot has probably been
taken from the Brihatkatha of Gunadhya. From the point of view of stage-performance,
Bhasa’s plays are magnificent.

• Harsha

Harsha, also known as Harshavardhana, the second son of Prabhakarvardhana

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and younger brother of Rajyavardhana ruled a large empire in Northern India from 606

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to 647 A.D. He was an orthodox Hindu but later became Buddhist convert. Emperor

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Harsha himself was a great scholar who patronised and sponsored many poets like
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Banabhatta and Mayura. We come to know his life-history from the famous work
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Harshacharitam composed by Banabhatta, the foremost Sanskrit prose writer.
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Harsha is the composer of three Sanskrit works : Nagananda, Ratnavali and

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Priyadarshika. The first one is a nataka whereas the remaining two are natikas.
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The Nagananda is a play in five acts which describes the self-sacrifice of

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Jimutavahana, prince of Vidyadharas. Besides the main theme, there is an interesting

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sub-plot in the drama in which hero's love for Malayavati has been depicted.

The Ratnavali, Harsha's masterpiece is a natika in four acts which deals with the
story of the union of king Udayana and Ratnavali, daughter of the king of Ceylon.

Later dramaturgists like Dhananjaya etc. regard Ratnavali and Priyadarshika as

standard Sanskrit dramas.
 The Priyadarshika is also a natika in four acts, having for its theme the union of
Udayana and Priyadarshika, daughter of King Dridhavarman. In both these dramas,
there is not only a similarity of subject matter and form but also a reminiscence of
Kalidasa's Malvikagnimitram. The noteworthy feature of the Priyadarshika is the
effective introduction of a play which is technically called garbhanka, as an integral part
of the action.

Numerous illustrations from both the natikas Ratnavali and Priyadarshika have
been amply cited by later dramaturgists and are popular amongst teachers and students

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of drama and dramaturgy.

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• PANINI AK
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Panini is, today, recognised all over the world as the greatest model of human
intelligence. Though India had a long tradition of grammarians but the final
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codification of Sanskrit language is ascribed to Panini only whose grammar has

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remained normative for its correct usage ever since. Panini's Ashtadhyayi is the oldest
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complete grammar available but the maturity, depth, and brevity, as found in it, is a
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proof in itself that this work is a link in the long chain of grammatical works. Panini
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himself has mentioned the names of ten grammarians – Apishali, Kashyapa, Gargya,
Galava, Chakraverman, Bharadwaj, Shakatayana, Shakalya, Shonaka and Sphotayana.

Panini's Ashtadhyayi contains 4000 sutras presented in eight chapters of four

quarters each. It is remarkable that the text has come down to us intact without any
interpolation. Ashtadhyayi is written in sutra style. A sutra has to be brief, precise and
unambiguous. The sutras have to be interpreted within their shared context. Thus sutra
is not an independent statement. Panini's many sutras contain references to a living
speech. He has discussed the peculiarities in the usage of the language by easterners
and northerners.

The starting points of this great work are the famous Maheshwara Sutras in which
the sounds have been broadly divided into three categories – Swara, Antastha and
Vyanjana. These sounds have been presented in a remarkably scientific system.

Panini's contribution towards formation of words is superb. He catagories the

words in two main groups i.e. 'Subanta' and 'tinganta', and bases the verb forms on ten

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lakaras, three persons and three numbers, Thus every root can be conjugated into

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ninety inflectional forms and could take care of almost all the modes, aspects and

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voices. Similarly every Subanta could have theoretically twenty four forms based on
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eight cases and three numbers. The roots are grouped into ganas and the members of a
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particular gana constitute similar forms. The nouns are declined according to the last
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varna in a particular gender, Panini believes that the total sentence is an indivisible unit
(Vakyaikyah) and the word is lame without its usage in a sentence. Sometimes nouns are
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also used as verbs. There are separate rules governing case - endings regarding the
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relationship of subject with the object and with other words used in the sentence.
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Panini's Ashtadhyayi has been the sole refuge for later grammarians like Katyayana,
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Patanjali and many others.

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As regards the personal life of Panini, it has been gathered from various external
sources that the names of his parents were Panin and Dakshi. He was
born at Shalatur village near Peshawar and pursued his studies at Takshashila
University. His date could be fixed anywhere in 500 B.C. The saying that 'Sanskrit is
best fitted for Computer' owes its origin to the great sage Panini.
 • Patanjali

The word Patanjali has been explained as Patantyah Anjalaya yasmai i.e. one for
whom the hands are folded as a mark of respect. Patanjali has been regarded as a great
sage and referred to by many names such as Gonardiya, Phani, Adhipati, Sheshraja etc.
According to a legend, he is considered to be an incarnation of Sheshanaga. Patanjali
was an expert of at least three branches of Sanskrit studies namely yoga, vyakarana,
and ayurveda. An ancient verse regards him as a sage who cleansed dirtiness of mind

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with yoga, of speech with grammar and of the body with ayurveda. Thus Patanjali

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contributed immensely towards the science of meditation, science of language and

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science of medicines.
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Patanjali’s Yogasutra is the main basic work of Ashtangayoga Philosophy. The
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eight angas are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana, Dhyana and
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Samadhi. ‘Yoga’ is the control of the senses and the states of chitta. When the mind
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becomes pure, the chances of its being ruffled by external disturbances are generally
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reduced.
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Patanjali’s Mahabhashya is yet another milestone. It is the first and oldest

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existing commentary on the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. Dealing with 1228 rules of Panini, it
has remained supremely authoritative and furnishes the last and final word in all cases
of serious doubts ever raised over grammatical issues. Katyayana wrote a number of
vartikas to supplement Paninian rules but Patanjali proved their futility and supported
Panini. In short, it is an encyclopedic work of this branch. In addition to this, it is
flooded with brilliant quotations the number of which may exceed 700. The whole
discussion is presented in conversational style of question – answer or objection –
refutation etc. It is quite evident that Sanskrit was the spoken language at that time. The
theory of gravitation has first been explained in Mahabhashya only.
 The work on medicines Nidan sutras or Samvediya-Nidan Sutras is also accepted
as the real contribution of Patanjali to the science of medicines.

Some other works attributed to him are Mahanada, Charak – parishkara,

Siddhanta – sarawali, paramartha – sar and lok shastra.

Patanjali belonged to a place called Gonarda which could be Gonda Pradesh of

U.P.or a part of Kashmir. Nothing is known about his parentage. He received his

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education at Takshashila and taught students at Pataliputra. If Patanjali is accepted as

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contemporary to king Pushyamitra then he may be placed around second century B.C.

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• Adi Shankaracharya
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Adi Shankaracharya was not just a philosopher or a scholar. In fact he was a man
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of amazing energy combining in him a mystic, a saint, a scholar, a poet and above all a
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practical reformer and an able organizer.

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Shankara was born in Kalady village in Kerala. Various evidences prove his date
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as 509 BC to 477 BC. His mother Aryamba was a pious devotee of Lord Shiva. His father
Shiv Guru left him when he was only three years old. At the age of five only he had
studied all the Vedas and Vedangas. Staying at Gurukul, he went to beg alms from a
house. The lady was so poor that she could only give a dry Amla and she felt very sorry
for it. Shankara prayed to Goddess Lakshmi who showered gold coins in the shape of
Amla. This stotra a known as Kanakadhara stotra. At the age of seven he returned from
Gurukul and wanted to renounce the world, but his mother denied. He entered a river
and shouted that a crocodile had caught him and would only release him if he is
permitted to renounce the world. The helpless mother granted him the permission for
renunciation with the promise that he would perform her last rites. Thus Shankara left
and on the way crossed rivers, hills, forests, towns, meeting varied personalities and
limitless varieties of the creation experiencing the Brahman-the ultimate reality in every
tiny living and non-living creature. He came across a cave in which Govinda
Bhagwadpad was deeply engrossed in Samadhi. The cave was on the bank of the river
Narmada and its flooding waters started entering the cave. Shankara adjusted a pot in
such a way that the water could not enter the cave. Ultimately Govinda initiated him
into Sanyasa and taught him the four Mahavakyas – Tat tvamasi, Prajnanam Brahma,
Aham Brahmasmi and Ayamatma Brahma. Here Shankar attained Siddhis through

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Yoga and meditation and obtained super natural powers.

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From here he visited Kashi and from there went to Badari Dham and wrote the
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Brahmasutra Bhashya. From here he was proceeding towards Kedar – ashram where he
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saw Kumarila Bhatt trying to immolate himself in fire as a revenge for his own act of
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denying the existence of God. Kumarila requested Shankar to meet Mandan Mishra and
make him his disciple who will propogate the philosophy of Vedanta. Unable to save
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Kumarila, Shankara went to Mandana Mishra’s house and defeated him and his wife
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Sharda in Shastrartha. Acharya Mandan Mishra got engrossed in the propagation of

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Vedanta. From here Shankar proceeded towards Shri Shailam. Here he got the news of
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his mother’s death and true to his promise, he went and performed her last rites. To
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establish geographical, historical and spiritual integrity in India he established four

mathas in four directions of the country – Jyotirmath in North, Govardhan Math at Puri
in east, Shringeri Matha in Karnataka in south and Dwarika math in Gujarat in west
and established Kanchi Kamakoti Peetham at Kanchi as his abode.

Shankara in the short span of his life (only 32 years), wrote Bhashya on
Upanishad and Gita. He also composed 240 stotras, prakaran granthas, introductory
books such as Upadesh Sahasri, Vivek Chudamani, Aparokshanubhuti etc., in all eighty
books in number.
 He spent his last moments in the worship of Bhagwati Kamakshi at
Kanchipuram and left his body at the young age of thirty two only.

Not only the land of India but also the entire world today bows before Adi
Shankara’s wisdom, intellect and the principles that he enunciated and the empire of
spirit that he established. In fact, he is the brightest luminary in the galaxy of ancient
Indian thinkers. In fact he was the first torch-bearer of national integration functioning
on the intellectual, philosophical and religious plans, trying to bring about a perfect

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unity of thought all over India.

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 • Kalhana

Kalhana is one poet who composed the first and the best historical Kavya
Rajatarangini which portrays the history of Kashmir. It has covered the entire period of
developments from 1300 B.C. to 1150 A.D.

Rajatarangini contains eight tarangas (wave). He has surveyed the royal

collections with the kings, puranas, various inscriptions, anthologies, seals and coins to
make his work more and authentic. The Kavya starts with one King Govinda of 1300 BC

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and contains the most authentic chronological descriptions of various prominent

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incidents. He has not only mentioned the qualities of the kings but also their immoral

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acts as well. The main objective of this work is the propagation of morality. He has
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appreciated the prevalent religious tolerance in the various sects of Kashmir. Hindus
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and Muslims worked together without ever having a tinge of enmity. He has specially
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opposed the kings who ever tried to disturb this unity. He has bitterly criticized the
greedy priests, indisciplined soldiers and wicked officials. He has showered praises on
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the pious ambitions of Rani Chidda.

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This poetic work contains beautiful figures of speech and is written mostly in
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Anushtubh meter.
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Kalhana was a resident of Kashmir. His father Champak was a true follower of
King Harsha of Kashmir. After the assassination of the King, Champaka left politics and
thus Kalhana also was deprived of the royal grace.

Kalhana was a Shaiva but also appreciated Buddhism. He started writing this
work in 1148 AD and completed it in nearly three years.
 He has spared no pains in collecting the precious material and evidences. He
deserves all credit for being the composer of such an excellent historical Mahakavya.

• Jaideva

Jaideva is an extremely popular lyric poet and his famous Geeti Kavya Geeta
Govinda has influenced the later poets, painters and dancers to base their performances
on this beautiful work. This Kavya describes the pious love of Radha and Krishna
which represents the bondage of Atman with Paramatman. Jaideva was a devotee of

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Krishna. He has described Krishna and Radha leelas in such a beautiful language that

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every syllable of it resounds musically when recited. It abounds in rhythmically

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matching groups of words. Even the long compounds can be tuned perfectly to create a
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soft musical effect. Every song is composed in fixed Raga and tala. These songs are sung
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in the whole of India at special occasions and festivals. It is the best lyric Kavya of
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Sanskrit Literature. It has a beautiful combination of poetry and dialogues which gives
it a dramatic effect. Some western scholars treat it as musical drama.
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Jaideva was a poet in the court of Raja Laxman Sen of Bengal who flourished in
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12th Century A.D. His work has touched the heart of every Indian Bhakta of Krishna.
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 Well-Known Literary works

• Children’s Fables

Fables are the tales written for innocent children to impart knowledge of politics,
economics, worldly wisdom and other day today gimmicks. Their theme is the
attainment of three ends of life i.e. Dharma, Artha and Kama and not Moksha. They are
in narrative form and usually the animals and birds feature in them. They have been
made up to behave and speak like human beings. There is a main story and other short

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stories are interwoven into it. These highlight human follies and weaknesses. Generally

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the whole story is in prose but the moral or the lesson derived from them is usually

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given in verses. In Sanskrit literature Panchatantra and Hitapadesh are the most
popular works of this style. AK
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Panchatantra
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Panchatantra is the oldest work available in its original form. On the basis of
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internal and external clues its time can be fixed as 300 BC. It has been largely influenced
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by the Arthashastra of Kautilya.

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Vishnusharma is the author of Panchatantra. It was written by him to instruct the

three dull Princes of King amarkirti of Mahilaranya. As the name itself denotes
Panchatantra is divided into five chapters – ‘Tantra’. ‘Tantra’ means the secrets. Five
secrets of good administration, kingship and worldly wisdom have been expounded
with the help of the animal fables. There is a quaint humour in these fables because the
animals are made to discuss dharma, gods, myths, legends, politics, economics, ethics
etc.
 These five tantras are Mitrabheda (separation of friends), Mitrasamprapti (union
of friends), Kokolukiya (peace and war), Labdhapranasha (loss of what is gained). And
aparikshitkarakam (doing things without pre-examination). Each division of
Panchatantra has its main story but many others have been interwoven to prove the
main one. The whole story of Panchatantra is in prose but the moral of the story has
been given in the form of verses.

The language of Panchatantra is very easy and simple. The sentences are very
small and easy to understand. The figures of speech used are Anuprasa, Upama,

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Rupaka, Utpreksha etc.

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The truth of life given here is true for all places and for all times.
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The Panchatantra is very popular not only in India but in other countries also as
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is evident from its 250 editions written in about fifty languages in and outside India.
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Hitopadesha
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The most important of all the editions of the Panchatantra is Hitopadesha.

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It is full of good advice imparted through stories. It has been written by Narayan Pandit
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in about 1400 AD. under the patronage of King Dhawalchandra of Bengal. The poet
himself has accepted that Hitopdesha is based on Panchatantra.

Panchatantra has five ‘Tantras’ but Hitopdesha has only four – Mitralabha
(wining of friends), suhridbheda (loss of friends), vigraha (war) and sandhi (peace).
Here the order of the first two chapters has been reversed and third chapter of
Panchatantra has been divided into two and in these two chapters the contents of the
Vth chapter have been inserted. Out of forty three stories in Hitopadesha twenty five
have been drawn from Panchatantra.
 Hitopadesha is a manual of politics for Kings in internal and foreign policy. It
has many portions which are an embodiment of deep rooted political knowledge. Here
the influence of Kamandaka’s Nitisara is evident.

The language of Hitopadesha is simple end easy flowing without any

embellishment yet it is forceful and effective.

Hitopadesha has been much more popular in India and Europe and has been

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translated in many Indian and foreign languages.

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 • Sanskrit Drama

Drama or 'Naatya' is considered as a most beautiful part of Sanskrit literature.

The earliest forms of dramatic literature in India are represented by Samvada – Suktas
(hymns which contain dialogues) of Rigveda. Bharata muni is the founder of the Science
of music and dramaturgy. His Natyashastra, with an encyclopedic character, is the
earliest known book on Sanskrit dramaturgy. The first chapter of Natyashastra relates to
the origin of drama. The gods under the leadership of Indra, expressed their desire for
some sort of drishya (enjoyable by the eye) Shravya ( delightful to the ear) and

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Kridanaka (entertainment to fulfil the desire). Brahma created a fifth Veda – Natyaveda,

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taking the elements from four vedas – Pathya (dialogue or text) from Rigveda, gita

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(music) from Samaveda, abhinaya (acting) from Yajurveda and rasa (emotions) from

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Atharvaveda. Amritamanthan and Tripurdaha were the first two plays, which were
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staged on the occasion of Flag-ceremony of Indra.
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Bharatmuni and his disciples brought this art on the earth from heaven.
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NA

'Rupaka' is the general term in Sanskrit for all dramatic compositions. 'Natya' is
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another wider term for the drama. Sanskrit dramaturgy has classified dramas into two
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types the major and the minor ones (uparupaka). The rupak is divided into ten classes –
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Natak, Prakarana, Bhana, Prahasana, Dima, Vyayoga, Samavakara, Vithi, Anka, and
Ihamriga. There are eighteen classes of uparupakas. Most important of them are Natika,
Sattaka and Trotaka.

Vastu (the plot), neta (the hero) and rasa (the sentiments) are the essential
constituents of a drama or rupak. The plot of a rupak may be borrowed from history or
tradition, or may be fictitious or mixed. The characteristic features of the Sanskrit
drama, are –
(i) Absance of tragedy – Sanskrit drama never has a sad ending. It is a mixed
composition, in which joy is mingled with sorrow. Love is the main theme of most of
the dramas and vidushak is the constant companion of the hero in his love affairs.
(ii) The interchange of lyrical stanzas with prose dialogue.
(iii) The use of Sanskrit and prakrit languages. Sanskrit is employed by the
heroes, kings, Brahmanas and men of high rank, Prakrit by all women and men of the
lower classes.
(iv) Every Sanskrit play begins with a prologue or introduction, which opens with
a prayer – nandi and ends with Bharata – vakya.

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The best productions of the Sanskrit are the compositions of the great dramatists

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– Bhasa, Kalidasa, Bhavabhuti, Shudrak, Vishakhadatta and Rajeshekhar.
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• Sanskrit Poetry
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Sanskrit is the oldest language of the world. Since Sanskrit literature has come
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down to us through oral tradition called the Shruti Parampara, the maximum number
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of works are in poetry only. Starting from the Rigveda, the earliest document in world
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literature, there is a continuous flow of Sanskrit works in poetry. The three Vedas – Rik,
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Sama and the Atharva are composed in verses. The Upanishads are all written in poetry
form. Our great epics Ramayana in 24000 couplets and Mahabarata in one lakh couplets
are in verses only. All the eighteen Puranas, Vishnu, Bhagwatam, Narad, Garud,
Padma, Varah, Brahma, Brahmanda, Brahma Vaivarta, Markandeya, Bhavishya and
Vaman, Shiva, Linga, Skanda, Agni, Matsya and Kurma are composed in verses.

The puranas are followed by the great Mahakavyas. Buddacharitam and

Saunderananda are earliest in this line written by Ashvaghasha. Kalidasa’s
Raghuvansham and Kumarsambhavam are the great works of world fame. Bharavi’s
(6th cent. A.D.) Kiratarjuniyam in eighteen cantos is famous for its depth of expression.
Bhatti’s Ravanavadham (6th cent. A.D.) in 22 cantos excels in the use of grammar rules.
Kumardasa’s Janaki Haranam in 20 cantos is based on Ramayana.

Magha’s Shishupal-vadham has influenced all the later poets by his excellent
usage of words. He flourished in 7th century A.D. Shriharsha’s Naishadhiyacharitam is
based on a story from Mahabharata. It is said that the glow of stars like Bhairavi and
Magha faded down on the rise of the sun like Naishadha Kavya.

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There is a long series of other Kavyas like Ratnakar’s Harivijaya, Kshemendra’s

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Dashavataracharitam, Shrikanthacharitam by Mankha and many others.

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The historical works also are available in verses. The famous ones are
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Vikramankadevacharitam by Bilhan, Rajatarangini by Kalhan, Kumarpalacharitam by
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Hemchandra and many others.

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A huge amount of literature exists in the form of Khanda Kavyas, Giti Kavyas,
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Muktakas and stotra – kavyas. The famous ones are Ritusamhar and Meghadootam by
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world famous poet Kalidasa, Geeta Govinda by Jaideva, Bilhana’s Chaur-panchashika,

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Bhartrihari’s Shatakatrayam, Amaru-shatakam, and stotras by Adi Shankaracharya and

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Pushpadanta.

Even in ancient times there was a long tradition of story telling. There are
voluminous works in the form of collection of stories written in verses. In Panchatantra
and Hitopadesha, the morals of the stories have been written in verses.

The most popular works are Brihat Katha Manjari by Kshemendra containing
7500 verses, Kathasaritasagara by Somadeva written in 24000 couplets, Vaitala-pancha-
vimshtika available in both the forms i.e. poetry and prose.
 A third form of literature came into existence known as champu kavyas written
in mixed style of prose and poetry. Some of the works are Yashastilakchampu, Bharata
champu etc. More than 500 champu kavyas are available till date. The greatest
speciality of Sanskrit Literature is that topics like law, medicine, astronomy, grammar,
poetics, politics, mathematics, philosophy etc have also been written in verses only.
Some of the renowned works are the various Smrities (law), Charaka-samhita, Sushruta
Samhita (medicines), Aryabhatiyam(astronomy), Arthashastra (political economy),
Sahitya-darpanam, Rasagangadhara, Dhvanyaloka (poetics) and Natyashastra

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(dramaturgy) etc.

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The flow of Sanskrit poetry continues till date. Some of the famous poets of the
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21st century are Srinivas Ratha, Ramakant Shukla, Satyavrata Shastri, Bhaskaracharya
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Tripathi, Shrikrishna Semwal, Om Prakash Thakur, Ganesh Dutt Sharma and many
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others. Annual Kavi Sammalens are organized by Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan and the
various other Sanskrit Academies of India.
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• Vedas
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‘Vedas’ are the most ancient literary compositions in the world literature. They
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are the treasure-house of Indian civilization, culture and philosophy. The word ‘Veda’
means ‘knowledge’. It has been derived from root vid ‘to know’ to exist, to gain, to
think etc.’ It is through the Vedas that we learn about the extra-ordinary ways to attain
the desired ends to avoid the undesirable ones. The Vedas are the treasure chest of
knowledge in which each and every subject has been dealt with extensively be it
philosophy, theosophy, ecology, astrology, astronomy, science or poetics. That is why it
has been rightly said ‘sarvjnanamayo hi sah’.
 Vedas approach nature not as an object of enjoyment and exploitation but as
‘Mother Goddess’ Vedic seers believed in universal brotherhood and fraternity.
According to the vedic thought, the entire cosmos is teleological, purposive and goal
oriented. The built in Rita sustains controls and directs the entire world. The Vedas
emphasize participatory living in a community. Move together. Speak with one voice.
Try to understand each others mind-advise the Vedas . Vedic messages are universal in
nature.

The most important texts are the four collections which are called the ‘vedas’ or

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the ‘samhitas’. They are four – Rigveda, Samveda, Yajurveda and Atharvaveda

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respectively.

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o Rigveda AK
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The Rigveda Samhita is the oldest and the most important one in Vedic
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Literature. As is evident from its name itself, it comprises the glorification of various
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gods. These gods represent natural and cosmic phenomena which have been idolized as
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Gods.
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The priest of Rigveda is known as ‘Hota’ because his main function is the
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invocation of these deities. These invocations are known as hymns, mantras or richas.

Rigveda is globally accepted to be the oldest literary work yet no definite date
has been ascribed to its scripting. According to some scholars it has been scripted
between 1200 and 1000 B.C. while according to others, this period is between 4000 and
2500 B.C.

Although twenty one recensions of Rigveda have been mentioned yet only five
are more popular – Shakala, Vashkala, Ashvalayana, Sankhyayana and Mandukayana.
Out of these five also, only Shakala is available. According to Shakala recension, 10600
hymns of the Rigveda have been divided into 1028 suktas which further have been
divided in ten mandalas. II to VII mandalas are the oldest ones and are similar in many
ways. They have been named as ‘Family Books (Parivarika Pustakas)’ because they are
attributed each one to a family of seers. They are Gritsamada, Vishwamitra, Vamdeva,
Atri, Bhardwaja and Vasistha. Both I and VIII mandalas have some similarities and
some dissimilarities also. Hence the first mandala has been put just before the ‘Family
Books’ and the VIII just after them. In IX mandala all the suktas have been offered to
soma. The X mandala is relatively later. ‘Who is the creator of this creation, how was it

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created, what was the material out of which it was created, what becomes of us after

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leaving this mundane world’ all these philosophical queries have been dealt with here.

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There are some suktas which throw ample light on the beliefs, traditions and customs of
the Vedic Aryans. AK
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The Rigvedic religion was originally polytheistic but gradually it became

monotheistic. Indra being the god of power, rain and also the synonym of the sun was
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the most important. Next comes Agni who is the priest and the mediator between men
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and gods. Some of the other gods and goddesses who have been eulogized are Soma,
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Savitr, Surya, Rudra, Mitra, Varuna, Vishnu, Ushas, Vak etc. In fact these were the
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divine manifestations of one great power only.

DR

Vedic Aryans had very practical and optimistic approach towards life. There was
no idol worship in those days.

‘E-kam sad viprah bahudha vadanti’ i.e. the truth is one but is called by many
names.
o Yajurveda
 Yajurveda is the veda of ‘yajush’. Yajush means worship and sacrifice. It contains
sacrificial formulas in prose . This Samhita was meant for ‘Adhvaryuh’, the priest who
was responsible for the sacrificial fire and carrying out of the ceremonies.

Just as the main function of ‘Hota’ the priest of Rigveda is to invoke various gods
similarly to perform ritual ceremonies practically for those gods was the sole
responsibility of ‘Adhvaryuh’ the priest of the Yajurveda. If the Rigveda is theory,
Yajurveda is practical. If the Rigveda is related to knowledge, the Yajurveda is related to
action. ‘Which mantras should be chanted for achieving the desired object, what type of

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offering should be offered, how big and of what shape should be the altar, all this

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practical knowledge is the subject matter of Yajurveda .

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The Vedic yajna has both an inner and outer form. The outer form involved the
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priests and offerings. The inner rituals proceeded through speech, mind-breath, and
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soul and thus was a matter of yogic practice and meditation. Yajna was considered to be
the naval of the universe, the central point of the whole cosmos.
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NA

In fact all the three Vedas are complementary and interdependent. The Rigveda
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contains the mantras offered to various gods, the Samveda teaches how to chant them
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correctly with proper high & low notes while the Yarjurveda explains the sacrificial acts
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accompanying the same . Thus Rigveda is related to knowledge, the Samveda to

devotional sentiments and the Yajurveda to action.

Patanjali , the author of Mahabhashya has made a mention of one hundred

recensions of Yajurveda but presently only six are available. Yajurveda has two
divisions -krishna (Black) and shukla (White). Taittiriya, Maitrayani, Kathaka &
Kapishthala belong to Black Yajurveda while Kanva and Madhyandina are related to
the white Yajurveda.
 White (shukla) Yajurveda is mostly used in northern part of India and Black
(Krishna ) Yajurveda is more popular in southern part of India. Shukla Yajurveda is
known by the name of Vajasaneyi Samhita also. It has forty chapters which describe
different ‘yajnas’ in detail. 34th chapter is the famous shivasankalpasukta, while the 40th
chapter is popularly known as Ishopanishad.

It is noteworthy that the main theme of Yaujrveda is to expound different

sacrificial acts. The mantras are mainly from the Rigveda but the explanations
pertaining to sacrifices are in prose. Moreover , the whole mantra has not been drawn,

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only a part of it has been taken like ‘Agnaye Swaha’ ‘Indraya Swaha’. From the

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Shataraudriya of Shukla Yajurveda started the tradition of eulogizing one god by

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different names. Yajurveda emphasizes the moral and the social responsibilities for a
human being and from here starts the ecology . AK
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Thus the place of Yajurveda is very important in Vedic literature.

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 o Samveda

Samveda means ‘Veda of chants’ . It is a collection of hymns largely drawn from

the Rigveda which have been given a musical mode. Hence Samveda is a system of
melodious chanting of vedic hymns . The vedic hymns are fruitful only when chanted
in rhythm with proper high and low notes called ‘swara’ It is the vibrations created that
give value to the hymns. It has been rightly said that musicology is synonymous to
sama ‘gitishu samakhaya’ moreover, the priest of Samveda is called ‘Udgatri’ a singer,

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who pleases the gods with melodious hymns of Samveda. The use of ‘Jagati ’ &

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‘Gayatri’ metres derived from the root gai-to sing also justify the conclusion.

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Samveda is said to have one thousand recessions ‘Sahsravartma Samvedah’ but
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today only three- Kauthum, Jaiminiya & Ranayaniya recessions are available out of
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which the ‘Kauthum’ is the most popular.

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Samveda has two divisions- purvarchika and Uttararchika. Total mantras are
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1875. Except seventy five mantras all have been taken from the Rigveda. There are 650
NA
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mantras in Purvarchika divided in six ‘Prapathkas’. The first five ‘ Prapathakas’ are
.R

called ‘Gramgana’ while the last and the sixth is called ‘Aranyagana.
DR

Uttararchika has 1225 mantras divided in four hundred songs. Each song has
three mantras in average. According to the other division ‘Uttararchika’ has been
divided in nine ‘ Prapathakas’ which have twenty one chapters. Each sukta further has
2-3 mantras.

Mantras are uttered together with their swaras. Each swara of each letter in the
veda is fixed and maintained. Thus the text could be preserved for generations together.
For all swaras, the basis is sound (nada) which can be characterized with variance –
high, low and middle tone. The pronunciation of the letters are based on six factors -
varna, swara, matra, balam, sama and santana.

There are seven musical notes- Shadaja (Sa), Rishabha (Re), Gandhara (Ga),
Madhyama ( Ma), Panchama (Pa), Dhaiwata (Dha), and Nishada (Ni)

To convert the hymns of the Rigveda into melodious melodies of the Samveda,
some changes are made called ‘Samavikara’

)
The importance of Samveda is immense. It is the main origin of musicology. In

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fact gandharvaveda which has given birth to about sixteen thousand musical notes and

NA
their modifications has been deduced from Samveda only. In fact music is the living
symbol of Vedic civilization. AK
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o Atharvaveda
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Atharvaveda is the fourth and the last Veda. It stands apart from other Vedas in
TH
NA

as much it lays more emphasis on expounding the means essential for making the life
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comfortable and happy.

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DR

Atharvaveda contains a collection of hymns, magic spells and incantations that

represent the beliefs, faiths, traditions, conservations and customs of the masses. It
contains a very high level of scientific knowledge also. Love for the country and mother
earth is reflected in many suktas.

The Atharvaveda means the Veda of the Atharvas or the knowledge of magic
formulas. ‘Atharvangirasa’ is the oldest name for Atharvaveda which means the veda of
Atharvas and Angirasas. The hymns of the first part relate to prevention and cure of
diseases warding off natural and supernatural ills, gaining of health, strength and
success while the other part relates to subjugation, seduction, eradication etc.

Atharvaveda is mentioned to have nine recensions by Acharya Patanjali but

today only two are available- Shaunaka and pippalada. The former is more popular for
all practical purposes.

The Atharvaveda consists of about 6000 mantras divided in 730 Suktas which
further have been arranged in twenty ‘Kandas’. About 1200 mantras have been taken

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from the Rigveda. All the hymns of twentieth ‘Kanda’ have been picked from the

TH
Rigveda.

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AK
Some of the special Suktas of this Veda are ‘Bhaishajyani Suktas’ in which
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number of diseases, their signs and symptoms and treatments have been given. The
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‘Aayushya Suktas’ contain prayers for long life and sound health. In ‘Paushtika Suktas’
there are prayers for the welfare and prosperity of farmers, businessmen, cattle grazers,
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TH

labourers etc. and for the safety of the animals also. In fact the Veda contains medicinal
NA

treatment, surgery, yajna-therapy, naturopathy, mantra and tantra therapy and mani-
UP

bandhan therapy.
.R
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‘Shringara Suktas’ also called the ‘Prasada Suktas’ are prayers for providing
safety from fear, thwarting evils and having the blessings and happiness. In
‘Prayashchita Suktas’ are the mantras for expiation of evils, mistakes committed in
‘Yajnas’ and festivals while ‘Strikarmani suktas’ have the mantras for developing the
love and affection between husband and wife, ensnaring the beloved with the help of
herbs and mantras and for destroying the co-wife. These are called ‘Premsuktas’ also .

In ‘Rajkarmani suktas’, as the name itself denotes, are the hymns for the victory
of Kings . They describe their duties, law and judiciary, warship, weapons etc. The
‘Philosophical Suktas’ mention ‘Brahma, Virat Brahma, Maya, Ishwara, monotheism,
rebirth etc.

In the Atharvaveda for the first time the earth has been honoured and praised as
mother ‘Mata Bhumih putroham Prithivyah’. It expounds the social institutions like
celibacy, household austerity etc.

Thus Atharvaveda Samhita being related with the practical life of human beings
is very much significant. Atharva Veda is rightly called the Bhishag veda and Ayurveda

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has been regarded as a sub system of Atharvaveda only.

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o Brahmana Granthas

AK
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Brahamana Granthas occupy an important place in Vedic literature. They are
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indispensable for understanding Vedic culture, religion and philosophy. Their

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importance can be realised by the very fact that like the Vedic Samhitas, ‘Brahmanas’
JI(

also have been termed as Veda- ‘Mantra brahamanatmako vedah’.

TH
NA
UP

‘Brahman’ this word has been derived from Brihu – vardhane – to increase.
.R

These are the books that explain in great details the significance and importance of the
DR

rituals given in the Vedas. Although there are cosmological myths, tales, legends still
‘yajna’ is the sole theme. They deal with the science of ‘yajna’ describing its ceremonies,
discussing its values and speculating on its origin and significance. Geometry and
mathematics had a ritual origin where the earth was represented by a circular altar and
the heavens were represented by a square alter. The rituals consisted on conversions of
the circle into square of identical area.

Like the Vedas, no definite date can be assigned to Brahmanas also. However, it
can be said that they were composed before the rise of Buddhism i.e. 500 B.C. as
Buddhism is the reaction to the ills in ritual practices. Hence all the Brahmanas must
have been composed much before 600 B.C.

All the four Vedic Samhitas have their own Brahmanas. Two Brahmana Granthas
Aitareya and Kaushitaki or Sankhyayana are attached to Rigveda. Tandya
Mahabrahman or Panchvinsha, Shadvinsha, Adbhuta and Jaiminiya belong to
Samveda. In fact Shadvinsha Brahman is only a completion of Panchavinsha which
consists of 25 chapters while the last part of Shadvinsha Brahmana is called Adbhuta
Brahmana. Shatpatha Brahmana belongs to white (shukla) yajurveda while Taittiriya is

)
attached to Black (Krishna) Yajurveda, Gopatha is the Brahmana Grantha of

TH
Atharvaveda.

NA
AK
The essential contents of all the Brahmanas are almost the same. There are two
UP
main divisions of the contents of these –vidhi and arthavada. Vidhi means rule,
.R
DR

regulations. This part describes the rituals and the fruit received therefrom while
Arthvada is the explanatory portion and recommends the rituals. Deep rooted
JI(
TH

symbolical meaning of the mantras has been expounded with the help of myths and
NA

legends.
UP

The most special feature of the Brahmanas is the utmost emphasis laid by them
.R

on ‘Yajna’. Yajna is supposed to be the most important action, ‘yajno vai

DR

shreshthatamam karma’. The beauty and the greatness of these ‘granthas’ lies in
connecting the sacrificial formulas with the sacrificial rite by pointing out on one hand
their direct relation and on the other their symbolical connection with each other.

The society was divided into four castes – Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaishya and
Shudra Brahmins signified the academicians were respected as equivalent to gods
because of their functions as teacher, philosopher and seeker of knowledge. The
Kshatriyas were the defendants, the Vaishyas were traders and earned money for the
country while shudras have been described as ‘Tapas’ which perhaps symbolizes the
physical labour.

The etymologies given by the Brahmana granthas are very important and
significant from the point of view of Philology and Grammar.

Because of the numerous myths and legends having marvellous poetic beauty
the Brahmana granthas occupy a unique place in Vedic Literature. The Philosophical
thought and cosmological knowledge of these books is significant.

)
TH
Thus the Brahmana Granthas are important not only for understanding the

NA
Vedas but are indispensable from theological, geographical, cultural, philosophical,
AK
political, historical and social point of view as well.
UP
.R
DR

o Aranyakas
JI(

The four Vedic Samhitas, Brahmana Granthas, Aranyakas and Upanishads are
TH
NA

the integral part of Vedic Literature. They are interdependent and complimentary to
UP

each other. Aranyakas are the links between the Brahmanas and the Upanishads. Here
.R

the subject matter of Brahmanas has been explained in the style of the Upanishads
DR

meaning thereby that the rituals have a spiritual basis. Thus a perfect co-ordination has
been established by the Aranyakas between the path of action (Karmamarg) and the
path of knowledge (Jnanamarg). They are representative of transitory period as they
gave a philosophical and spiritual explanation of yajna and all the things related to that.

Aranyakas were read and taught in the forests away from the villages. Just as the
Brahmanas contain and explain the rituals and ceremonies for a householder (grihastha)
similarly the Aranyakas explain the laws and rituals for those who have gone into
Vanaprastha - the third ‘ashrama’ according to the Indian culture. Here the secrets and
mysticism of the yajnas have been elaborated tastefully. They throw light on the duties
of the priests also.

Sometimes it becomes quite difficult to differentiate between Aranyakas and the

Upanishads because of their very close similarity.

Just as the Vedas have the Brahmana Granthas attached to them, similarly the
Aranyakas are also attached to the Vedas. Undoubtedly Arnyaka literature must have
been very large but today only eight Aranyakas are available. Aitereya and

)
Sankhyayana belong to Rigveda. Samveda also has two Aranyakas –

TH
Jaiminiyopanishadaranyaka and chhandogyaranyaka. Brihaddaranyaka, Kanva

NA
Brihadaranyaka and Madhyandin Brihadaranyaka are that of white (shukla) Yajurveda
AK
and the Taittariyaranyaka is that of Black (Krishna) Yajurveda. Atharvaveda does not
UP
have any Aranyaka Grantha.
.R
DR

Thus the Aranyakas are the basis of the philosophy that developed later in the
JI(
TH

Upanishads in the form of expounding monotheism, Brahman, Atman, knowledge etc.

NA
UP
.R

o Vedangas ans Sutra Literature

DR

The four Vedas, Brahmanas, Aranyakas and the Upanishads all together
constitute the sacred revealed literature of India. Towards the end of the vedic period
some literature was written in sutra style. ‘Sutra’ means strings. All the works written in
this style on various subjects are one uninterrupted string of short sentences twisted
together in the most concised form. Brevity is the great object of this style.

The works which have been written in sutra style proved to be very useful in
understanding the Vedas. That is why they were named as ‘Vedangas’ also i.e. the
studies accessory to the Vedas. Thus the Vedangas are representative of Sutra literature.
They are six – Shiksha, Kalpa, Vyakarana, Nirukta, Channdas and Jyotish.

Shiksha

Shiksha (Phonetics) explains the proper articulation and pronunciation of vedic

texts. There are six parts of Shiksha – letters (varnas), accent (swara), time consumed in
articulating vowel (matra), effort (bala) Melodius chanting of mantras (sama) and
conjugation of letters (sandhi). If some mistake is committed in any of the above six,

)
instead of giving the desired result it can prove to be disastrous as well.

TH
NA
Pratishakhyas are the oldest representatives of the Vedangas. Different

AK
recensions of the four Vedas had different ways of pronouncing the Vedic texts and
UP
these variations were recorded in pratishakhyas. Some of the other Shiksha granthas are
.R

Narada Shiksha, Yajnavalkya Shiksha, Vyas Shiksha etc. but Panini Shiksha is the most
DR

perfect grantha of Shiksha.

JI(
TH
NA
UP

o Rituals (Kalpa)
.R
DR

These are the rules for the sacrificial rituals in a concised, perspicuous and
connected manner. The theme of this Vedanga is to study the correct ways of
performing rituals. There are four components of Kalpa Sutra (i) Shrauta Sutras are
related to the yajnas propounded in the Vedas (shruti) (ii) Grihya Sutras contain not
only the rituals of a householder but also the ceremonies starting from conception upto
the funeral rites (iii) Dharmasutras provde rules for the conduct of life. They are mainly
concerned with the duties of people (iv) Shulva sutras - Shulva means a measuring
rope. The sutras are related to the making of the geometrical calculations necessary for
the proper construction of the altar. There are six shulva sutras available but the oldest
is Baudhayana Shulva sutras which contain the so-called Pythogorean theorem. It was
necessary that the areas of various alters must match with the standard shyenchiti altar.

o Grammar (Vyakarana)

The analysis and the determination of the Vedic words is the main function of
this Vedanga. Hence it is very important since it clarifies and helps in understanding
the difficult hymns of the Vedas and safeguards them from distortions.
The words have been classified into four categories – Nama (nouns and

)
pronouns), Akhyata (verb), Upasarga (prefix) and Nipata (indeclinable).

TH
NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 o Etymology (Nirukta)

The words which could not come within the reach of grammar have been
discussed and explained by Nirukta. Thus it is complementary to grammar.

The Nirukta of Yaskacharya is the most important. In fact Nirukta is a

commentary on Nighantu, a collection of difficult words occurring in the Vedas but it is
not available today.

)
The main and the most significant contribution of Nirukta is to give the

TH
etymological meaning of every word.

NA
AK
o Meter (Chhandas)
UP
.R

Chhandas is important for the purity and the melodious chanting of the Vedic
DR

hymns. According to Acharya Katyayana a fixed number of letters is called – Chhandas.

JI(
TH

In Vedas there are seven meters – gayatri, anushtubh, pankti, jagati, Brihati,
NA
UP

Ushnik and Trishtubh. Further there are many divisions and sub divisions of these
.R

meters depending on the increase and decrease of letters.

DR

The chhandashastra of Pingala is the oldest and most perfect grantha on meters
which deals with both vedic and the classical meters.
 o Jyotish (Astronomy and Astrology)

To get the desired results of a yajna it is very important that it should be

performed at auspicious time on auspicious day, paksha, month etc. Jyotish determines
the right time for rituals. It is called the eye of Vedas. It contains useful information
about the movements of various planets, their sizes, the eclipses and their effect on
human beings.

Today only one book called Vedang Jyotish is available. Lagadha is supposed to

)
be its author. Later quite a few commentaries were written on this book.

TH
NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 • Upanishads

The Upanishadas are the fountain heads of Indian. Philosophy, the treasury of
the highest knowledge. They are called the 'Vedanta' which means the conclusion (anta)
of the Vedas because with the Upanishads concludes the earliest sacred literature of
India i.e. the Vedic literature. The Upanishads impart that knowledge which leads man
from falsehood to truth, from darkness to light and from death to immortality.

The word Upanishad means to sit near the teacher and attain knowledge. The

)
Upanishad vidya destroys the ignorance, perverts the miseries and leads to union with

TH
Brahma i.e. the freedom from the vicious circles of birth and rebirth.

NA
AK
The Upanishads were not composed at one particular date, but in any case their
UP
composition was completed before 600 B.C. They are regarded as the record and
.R
DR

outcome of academic disputations and transactions of the great sages of the

upanishadic period. The entire teaching of the rishis, kings, philosophers have been
JI(
TH

made available to us through various samvadas. These dialogues were held at the
NA

celebrations of great sacrifices, at the samiti or Parishads arranged by King –

UP

philosohers such as Janak. The ashramas also served as the philosophical laboratories to
.R

discover the spiritual and the highest truth of life.

DR

Like Brahmanas and the Aranyakas, Upanishads are also attached to the four vedas.
There is a large number of Upanishads but eleven of them are masterpieces. They are
Aitreyopanishad of the Rigveda, Kena and Chhandogya of the Samveda, Isha and
Brihadaranyaka of white (Shukla) Yajurveda, Katha, Taittiriya and Shvetashwatara of the
Black (Krishna) Yajurveda while Prashna, Mundaka and Mandukyopnishad belong to the
Athrvaveda.
 In the Upanishads Brahma has been described not as an object or human being
but as all powerful, eternal, endless divine power which is within everybody and is
known as Atman. Atman can not be achieved by sense organs or mind. It can be realised
only and that too within oneself. Various allegories, parables, and analogies have been
profusely utilized to unravel the mysteries of the Highest Self i.e. the famous allegory of
yaksha has been used in Kenopanishad to illustrate the superiority of Brahman to all its
manifestations. Atman can be known by controlling the mind and the sense organs
through continuous meditation over a period of time. This Atman is identical with
Paramatman. 'Aham Brahma Asmi, Tat Tvam Asi, Jivaiv Brahm Naparah' are boldest

)
expressions (Mahavakyas) of the Upanishads.

TH
NA
Brahma is all pervasive ' Ishavasyamidam Sarvam'. He creates, supports and
AK
withdraws all again into itself. That is why it is that from which everything is born, by
UP
whom everything is supported and in when everything merges back. Brahma becomes
.R
DR

known to one who knows one's own self. But to know one's own self one has to get
detached from all worldly pleasures because both of these are diametrically opposed
JI(
TH

and can never meet like two parallel lines. One more point which has been emphasised
NA

in the Upanishads is that a man gets birth according to the 'Karma' done by him in
UP

previous births.
.R
DR

Undoubtedly, the Upanishads lay much emphasis on morality. One has to fulfil
his social responsibilities towards parents, teachers, gods and guests. The 'Yajna' is not
the end (Sadhya) but means (Sadhan) to attain Brahma. Austerity (Tapa), control over
oneself (Dama) and good actions (Karma) have been said to be the means to self
realization and the truth is its abode.

The sole purpose of the Upanishads is to attain Liberation (Moksha) – the

freedom from death and birth but this is achieved through knowledge only -
'Vidyayamritamashnute' one attains knowledge when one realises that one's body and
sense organs are different from the Atman as they are perishable but the Atman is not.
After knowing this one becomes free from all bondages. Upanishads are thus the most
valuable gems of Indian Philosophy which would live for all times and provide solace
to soul and mind in the wilderness of the advancing cultures and civilizations.

)
TH
NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 • Epics

o Ramayana

Ramayana (the path of Rama) is both a work of art and the mirror of a perfect
human soul. This unique piece of poetry flowed from the pen of Valmiki at a time when
no kavya had yet been written in any form. Hence it is called Adikavya and its author
Valmiki the Adikavi. Ramayana starts with the outburst of a curse against a hunter for
killing a male bird while it was courting its partner. This outburst is considered by the

)
creator as an indication of the power of the poet to create a poem of deep human

TH
compassion for the fullness of life. This epic played the role of guide for the poets and

NA
artists of later periods. The characters of Ramayana deserve individual study in view of
AK
their varied natures. Rama is a personification of Dharma because of the perfection of
UP

his human qualities and self sacrificing nature, never violating the laws of truth and
.R
DR

merit.
JI(
TH

Ramayana was composed in Sanskrit by the poet Valmiki and its present form
NA

consists of 24,000 couplets divided into seven kandas. The epic enjoys such great
UP

popularity that its recitation is considered an act of great merit. Many of its translations
.R

are themselves great works of literary merit including the Ramcharit Manas of Tulsidas,
DR

Tamil version of Kamban, Bengali version of Krittibas etc. Throughout north India, the
events of this story are enacted in the form of Ram Leela. In South India both the epics
Ramayana and the Mahabharata even today make up the story of Kathakali dance –
drama of Malabar. Ramayana events are favourite subject of Mughal, Rajasthani and
Pahari paintings.

The story also spread in various forms throughout Southeast Asia especially
Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand, being chosen as themes of traditional Japanese,
Balinese Theatre, dance and shadow play. Incidents from Ramayana are carved on
many Indonesian monuments. In Thailand even today the king is called King Rama and
the main highways as King Rama Roads.

Ramayana also provides glimpses of the great scientific inventions in the form of
bridges which were lifted up and dropped when needed. Many descriptions are
examples of excellent town-planning, engineering, building of bridge over the sea,
aeroplanes in the form of Pushpaka Vimana in which Rama came to Ayodhya
alongwith Sita, Hanuman and other war heroes. Researches are being conducted on the
composition of Jrimbhaka – astra which could make the whole army fall into a deep

)
slumber.

TH
NA
Ramayana displays a code of ideal human rights. Rama does not believe in
AK
capturing Lanka but infact makes Vibhishana take over the power. Rama believes in
UP
removing enmity and establishing virtues. Hence, it is said that Ramayana Katha will
.R
DR

flourish in this world till the existence of mountains and rivers on earth.
JI(
TH

o Mahabharata
NA
UP

Mahabharata, the largest epic in the history of mankind is one of the two major
.R

epics of India, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. It is termed as vishvakosha i.e.
DR

encyclopedia of wisdom because of its high literary merit and religious inspiration. It is
an exposition on Dharma – a code of conduct including the proper conduct of a king, a
warrior, of a man living in times of calamity and also of a person seeking to attain
emancipation from rebirth.

This epic contains one lakh couplets (1,00,000) devided into 18 parvans to which
a supplement has been added called Harivamsha (Geneology of God Hari i.e. Vishnu).
The traditional author is the sage Vyasa who perhaps compiled the existing material
that reached its present form about 400 A.D.
 The epic describes events that took place in Bharata around 5000 BC. The story
revolves around the five Pandavas, sons of deceased king Pandu and one hundred sons
of blind king Dhritarashtra. Due to blindness Dhritrashtra was passed over as King, on
his father’s death, in favour of his brother Pandu. This feeling of jealousy further
sprouted in innumerable forms although he was made the king when Pandu renounced
the kingship to become a hermit. Enmity forced Pandavas to leave the kingdom at the
time of their father’s death. They returned to some years of prosperity in a divided
kingdom but were again forced to return to the forest for 12 years when Yudhishthira

)
lost his kingdom in a game of dice with Duryodhana – the eldest of Kauravas. The feud

TH
culminated in a great battle in the field of Kurukshetra (north of modern Delhi in

NA
Haryana State) in which only five Pnadavas, Draupadi and Lord Krishna survived.
AK
UP
The main story covering about one fifth of the total work is interwoven with
.R
DR

many other famous episodes like Nala-Damayanti, Savitri – Satyawan, Shakuntala –

Dushyanta etc., descriptions of places of pilgrimages, myths, moral precepts,
JI(
TH

geneological accounts of ruling dynasties and a notional history of creation. There is a

NA

totality of life as it is lived here and now and yet there is a firm human will to transcend
UP

it and enter the realm of eternity.

.R
DR

The epic contains references to invaluable war strategies and missiles which are
being researched in modern times. The description of Brahmastra and its after – effects
match the description of modern deadly nuclear weapons. It is said that it does not rain
for twelve years at the place where Brahmastra is used. Modern researchers have found
that the radio-activity of Kurukshetra is still two and a half times greater than that of
other areas. Technology in architecture, construction -engineering, tunneling and
construction of highways was astonishingly advanced as we read about laksha-griha,
tunnel from palace to the forest, royal palace built by Mayasur and the layout of town
Indraprastha.
 Some of the sections of this epic have become famous as separate texts such as
Narayaniyam (Book XIII), the Bhagvadgita (Both VI), the Anugita (Book XIV), Vidur
Niti and Harivamsha in which Krishna is identified with Lord Vishnu and other
avataras are also described.

This gem of our cultural heritage has been further carried over not only in works
after works in Sanskrit but also in all the other Indian languages, languages of Burma,

)
Malaysia, Thailand, Combodia, laos and many others. The story gained such immense

TH
popularity that its various incidents have been portrayed in stone, notably in sculptured

NA
reliefs at Angkorwat and Angkor Thom in Combodia and by many Indian miniature
painters. AK
UP
.R
DR

Thus it has served as a thematic source for many a poems, dramas, novels and
even Television serials. It is said that in Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha, whatever is
JI(
TH

written here may be found elsewhere but that which is not here cannot be found any
NA

where else.
UP
.R

 The Bhagwadgita
DR

The Bhagwadgita is an immensely important religious philosophical treatise of

universal wisdom. Its central message is to call for the development of all that is
potential in human personality. It forms a part of the Bhishma Parva of Mahabharata. It
comprises of only 700 shlokas but the range of its content is enormous. Gita goes far
beyond the ethical question with which it begins, to consider broadly the nature of God
and the means by which man can know him. It beautifully harmonizes the philosophy
of action, devotion and knowledge. A familiar verse compares the Upanishad to a cow
and Krishna to the milkman who milks the nectar in the form of this Gita with the calf
Arjuna beside him.

Gita teaches us to do selfless service to all without consideration of their religion.

The truly learned person looks upon all with equanimity, whether it be a saint, or evil
doer or even an animal. He wants us to be active and not passive and idle.
Krishna talks of general paths to the divine such as those of knowledge,
meditation, good deeds, renunciation of attachment and love and surrender to God.
Gita is above religion. Gita is for the whole mankind. In fact Gita is the science of

)
managing one’s self.

TH
Its popularity is evident from the number of commentaries, glossaries and

NA
expository books written on it in both ancient and modern times. The earliest
AK
commentary is that of the great philosopher Shankara. Other important commentaries
UP
of ancient times are those of Bhaskar, Ramanuj, Madhva, Nilkanth, Shridhar,
.R
DR

Madhusudan etc. In outstanding modern commentaries are those of B.G. Tilak,

Aurobindo, Gandhi, Radhakrishnan. It has been translated in almost all the languages
JI(
TH

of the world.
NA
UP

In fact Gita with its eternal values can serve the whole mankind as a path finder
.R

forever.
DR
 Sanskrit and Other Classical Languages

Sanskrit is one of the languages of Indo-European family. Indo-European is the

name given to the family of languages to which Sanskrit belongs. The name is based on
the fact that this family covers most of Europe and extends eastward as far as northern
India, with a total body of speakers of nearly one and a half billion. Indo-Germanic is a
synonymous term preferred by German linguists based on the fact that it includes the
easternmost and western most members of the family.

)
Sanskrit has its close relationship with other classical Languages of Indo-

TH
European group like, Latin Greek, French, German etc,. For Example the numerals from

NA
one to ten are mostly similar in these languages. In Italian Sie- six, settle- seven, otto-
AK
eight, nove- nine, etc. The words of closes family relationship like father, mother, sister,
UP

brother, etc. as well as a number of other fundamental words of Sanskrit resemble with
.R
DR

other classical languages of this family. For example: Bhratr in the Sanskrit, Brother in
the German, bhratheir in the Irish brat in the Russian, beradar in the Persian. Pitr in the
JI(
TH

Sanskrit, Frater in the Latin Pharater in Greek.

NA
UP

Some other similarities can be found between Sanskrit and other classical Languages.
.R

Sanskrit German Greek Latin English

DR

Matri Mutter Mateera Mater mother

Sunus Sohn Yas Natus Son

Svasri Schwester altheffee sorror sister

Apas, jalam wasser neero acqua water

Dvi zwei theeo duo two

Ashta acht okta Octo eight

 The verbal system of Avestan so clearly resembles with that of Sanskrit, that a
student of Sanskrit after mastering Avestan phonology can easily understand Sanskrit.
The Slavic language which is one of the chief languages of Satam group of Indo-
Uropean languages outside Asia, has many resemblances. Not only in the languages
but similarities can be found between Slavic and Indian Culture.

Curiously enough, the Sanskrit Imperative Ending -u seems to be preserved in

some Gothic imperative forms of the third person singular and plural like at-steigadau,
lingandau. It is evidently the same- au which is evident in all the quotable forms of
passive optative in Gothic.

)
TH
NA
The peculiar perfect endings in Sanskrit veda, vettha, veda have their exact counter parts

AK
in Greek, oida, oistha, oide. The endings of reduplicating perfects are not so easily
UP
reconcilable, but see, Greek.: gegona, and in Sanskrit yajna.
.R
DR

In perfect tense, Latin has generalized the medial endings. Thus tutudi, though in
JI(

meaning identical with Sanskrit tutoda, agrees in form more with Sanskrit tutude,
TH

tutudai.
NA
UP
.R

From the above illustrations, it is clear that the Sanskrit language has many
DR

resemblances with other classical languages of Indo-European group like, Latin, Greek,
German, Iranian, Slavic etc.
 Sanskrit and Modern Indian Languages

Languages spoken in India belong to various language families like (i) Indo-
European Family, (ii) Dravidian Family (iii) Austric, (iv) Sino-Tibetan etc, which include
179 languages and about 544 dialects. The languages spoken in North India are called
Indo-Aryan Languages and come under Indo- European Family. The languages spoken
in South India belong to Dravidian family. The Languages of Kashmir and Assam
belong to Sino-Tibetan Family. Some dialects of Andaman and Nikobar Islands, West
Bengal, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Tamilnadu and Orissa belong to Austric Family.

)
The geographical position of a language has very often had a great deal of

TH
NA
positive influence upon its development. So Sanskrit being the oldest language of India
has influenced all other languages of India, even those, which have not directly
AK
originated from it. There are ample evidences that all the languages of Indo-Aryan
UP

Group are the offsprings of Sanskrit Languages. Sanskrit is considered to be the mother
.R
DR

of most of Indian Languages except Dravidian Family.

JI(

All the Modern Indian Languages, like, Hindi, Marathi, Gujrati, Oriya, Bengali,
TH

Sindhi, Maithili, Kashmiri, Assamese, Konkani, Rajsthani, Manipuri, Punjabi etc., have
NA

been enriched with the words of Sanskrit. Sanskrit has influenced other languages also
UP

which have not originated from it, like Urdu and the Dravidian languages like Telugu,
.R

Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam.

DR

Another Evidence of the influence of Sanskrit on the Modern Indian Languages

is its literary component. The Ramayana, the Mahabharata, the two oldest epics of
Sanskrit are the sources of many other literatures the Ramacaritamanasa in Hindi by
Tulasidas, the Adhyatmaramayana in Malayalam by Ramanuja Eutachh, the
Kambaramayana in Tamil by Kamban, the Mullaramayana in Telugu and the
Krttibasaramayana on Bangla by Krttivasab. The notable evidence of the influences of
Sanskrit language on modern Indian languages is the literary heritage of it.
 Sanskrit and the Sciences

• Astronomy

Astronomy was called ‘Nakshatravidya’, ‘Jyotirvijnyanam’ or Jyotish in ancient

India. The word ‘Nakshatradrashta’ is used for an Astronomer in Shuklayajurveda
(30/10) and ‘Nakshatravidya’ for Astronomy in Chhandogya Upanishad (7/1/2).

The earliest references of Astronomy are found in the Rigveda. The Vedic Seers

)
always appreicated the appearance of the light in the sky. Many stars are mentioned in

TH
Atharvaveda. We also find natural scientific observations regarding the course of the

NA
planets. The Aitareya Brahmana (3/44) says that the sun actually neither rises nor sets

AK
but through it’s revolution round the earth, causes day and night.
UP
.R

To perform the Vedic rituals and sacrifices, calculation of appropriate time was
DR

necessary and this need introduced The Vedang - ‘Jyotish’ in the history of Indian
JI(

Astronomy.
TH
NA
UP

‘Vedanga Jyotish’ of Lagadha the first treatise on Astronomy, contains two parts:
.R

Arch Jyotish in 36 shlokas and Yajush Jyotish in 43 shlokas.

DR

It is exclusively devoted to calculation of time. An attempt to cast a calander is

also found in this vedang.

‘Panchasiddhantika’ of Varahmihira mentions five siddhantas of earliar

Astronomy in which a complete system of Astronomy is presented. They are –
Pitamaha siddhanta, Vashistha siddhant, Paulisha siddhanta, Surya siddhanta and
Romaka siddhanta.
 Surya Siddhanta is the most prominent treatise of Siddhant period. According to
the introductory verses Surya the Sun God disclosed it to Asura Maya in the city of
Romaka. The cosmological timecycles and the Solar Planetary cycles are described here.
The average length of the Sideral year (the length of the Earth’s revolution round the
sun) is 365.2563627 days which is only 1.4 seconds longer than the modern value of
365.2563627 days.
The following works and the authors have an eminent place in the history of
Astronomy:

)
i. Aryabhatiyam of Aryabhata also called the Arya siddhanta, consist of four parts –

TH
the Dashagitika sutra, Ganita Pada, Kalkriyapada and Golapada. The first and

NA
second part are related to Mathematics. The Third part, in 25 verses contains the
AK
basic principals of astronomical time – calculations. The fourth part, in 50 verses
UP
deals with the celestial sphere.
.R

ii. Arya Siddhanta of Aryabhata IInd, is a voluminous work on astronomy.

DR

iii. Brahma-sphuta-siddhant of Brahmagupta, treats the astronomy more elaborately

JI(

and more methodically.

TH
NA

iv. Siddhantshiromani of Bhaskaracharya is divided into four parts – Lilavati, the

UP

Bijganita, the Grahaganitadhyaya and the Goladhyaya. Goladhyaya contains a

.R

section, in which difficult austronomico – mathematical problems are posed and

DR

solved. It also deals with astronomical instruments and description of the

seasons.
v. Rajmriganka of Bhoja
vi. Bhasvati of Shatananda
vii. Grahalaghava or the siddhantrahasya of Ganesha
viii. Siddhantatattva viveka of Kamalakara
ix. Karanapaddhati of Nilakantha somayaji.
 The Indian Astronomy is closely associated with astrology. According to
Varahmihira there are three branches of jyotish shastra –

1. Tantra, the astronomic- mathematical branch, that is devoted to the calculative

astronomy;
2. Hora, that is devoted to casting of horoscopes and
3. Shakha or Samhita, that teaches the natural Astrology; the discipline about
forecasts that are deducible from natural incidents.

)
• Mathematics

TH
NA
‘Ganita’ the term used in Sanskrit for mathematics; is derived from the root
AK
‘gana’, which means to count or to enumerate. Mathematics in India has been cultivated
UP
in connection with Astronomy. Like the other streams of knowledge, the early
.R

references of mathematics, are also found in the vedic literature. The word ‘Rashividya’
DR

is used for mathematics in Chhandogya Upanishad (7.1.2). Some hymns of Shuklayajureda

JI(

reveal the knowledge of odd numbers and tables (18/24,25). The Brahmana texts like ;
TH
NA

‘ekaya svaha, dvabhyam svaha, tribhyah svaha’ reflect the vedic concept of arithmetical
UP

progressions. In Pingal sutra there is a discourse on the calculation of squares and

.R

square roots.
DR

The Indians; earlier than other nations; became familiar with the system of place
value of numerals. Undoubtedly the Europian system of enumeration is of Indian
origin. India is the birth place of several mathematical concepts including zero, the
decimal system, algebra, algorithm, square root and cube root etc. The origin of calculus
was in India, even more than three centuries before Leibnitz and Newton introduced
their own theorems.
 The concept of zero, i.e. shunya, which means ‘void’, a figure to indicate the
absence of a position of number is virtually void. A round figure, symbol for zero, i.e.
‘0’ had emerged to represent the philosophical concept of void.

Mathematics in India might have started more than five thousand years ago.
Since 1000 B.C. almost for a period of two thousand years, many a number of
mathematical works were produced in India. Since the 5th centruay A.D., the method of
graduated calculation had been introduced in India. By that time, the geometric theories
were known to the Indians. We may see some displays of motifs on the walls of ancient

)
temples. Those motifs ideally reflect the patterns available in Indian architecture, as we

TH
see the admixture of floral and wall pattern of geometric method. These concepts, were

NA
collected and developed further by the mathematicians like Aryabhata who flourished
AK
in the 5th Century A.D. His work Aryabhatiyam is equally important for Mathematics
UP
and Astronomy. The first part of the book explains the special system of writing
.R
DR

numerals that was introduced by Aryabhata alone. The Second part gives a small
anthology of mathematical teachings of Aryabhatta. He deals in his work with
JI(
TH

evolution and revolution, area and volumes, progressions and algebraic identities.
NA
UP
.R

Brahmagupta’s work ‘Brahma-sphuta-siddhanta’ covers very briefly the

DR

arithmetical operations, square and cube roots, interest, progressions, geometry and
simple algebraic identities.

Bhaskaracharya the great astronomer, enjoys high reputation as a mathematician

also. His work Lilavati, in which a lovely maiden is addressed and problems set to her,
is a famous book on mathematics. The second book Bijaganita, is the fullest and most
systematic account of Indian algebra.
 Ganitasarasangraha of Mahaviracharya, Trishati of Shridhara, Bijaganita of
Narayan are some prominent Sanskrit treatises on Indian Mathematics.

• Chemistry

Chemistry is the branch of science, which deals with the study of elements of
organic as well as inorganic nature. In India the knowledge of chemistry was current
since the Vedic era, praising Agni (The fire), as we see in the first sukta of the Rigveda. It
is believed that the basic idea of smelting reached India since the Rigvedic period.

)
Metallurgy, one of the main branches of chemistry has remained as the central key to all

TH
the civilizations from the Bronze Age to the Iron Age.

NA
AK
UP
Ancient India's advanced chemical science was distinct feature in the Vedic
.R

contents like the Brahmanas. The chemical action was known as the pakaprakriya. The
DR

science of chemistry, due to its Vedic antiquity might have been first recognized in
JI(

India, as a separate discipline. Alchemy and the science of medicine gave rise to the
TH

study of chemistry in India. The ancient masters as mentioned in connection with

NA

chemistry are: Patanjali,Bhavya Dattadeva, Vyadi, Svacchanda, Damodara, Vasudeva,

UP

Caraka, Sushruta, Harita and Vagbhata. Ancient Sanskrit documents about the
.R

advanced chemical science find the expression in activities like distillation of perfumes
DR

and fragrant ointments. It is also found in activities like manufacturing of dyes and
chemical preparation of pigments and colours and polishing of mirrors. In India itself,
certain objects testify to the high level of metallurgy.

There are around fifty Sanskrit works in original found on chemistry. A few of
them are as follows:

Work Author Date

 The Rasaratnakara Nagarjun - 8th century A.D.

 The Rasarajamriganka Bhoja – 11th century A.D.

 The Rasendracudamani Somadeva —12th century A.D.

 The Rasaprakasa-sudhakara Yasodhara —13th century A.D.

 The Rasasara Govindacarya —14th century A.D.

 The Rasarajalaksmi Vishnudeva —14th century A.D.

 The Sharngadharasamhita Sharngadhara —14th century A.D.

 The Rasendrasarasangraha Gopalakrishna —14th Century A.D.

 The Arkaprakasha by Ravana; Arka is the Sanskritized form of the Persian word arrak

)
meaning tincture. Distillation of liquor is mentioned in the Sanskrit work called

TH
Madirarnava.

NA
AK
The Carakasamhita mentions about the Ancient Indians who knew how to prepare
UP

sulphuric acid, nitric acid, the oxides of copper tin and zinc, the sulphate of copper, zinc
.R
DR

and iron and the carbonates of lead and iron. The weapons mentioned in the
Mahabharata and the Ramayana were actually the products of Chemistry.
JI(
TH
NA

Indian chemists knew the production of gunpowder and it was called as

UP

aurbagni, which was attributed to Aurba, the preceptor of Sagara. The work called
.R

Niticintamani discusses about the ingredients and power of fire of Aurba. It says; "
DR

combining burnt wood, saltpeter and sulphur by parts gradually lessened, a terrible fire
is produced by which even water and others are burnt."

• Architecture And Engineering

Architecture the Vastu vidya or Sthapatya is one of the basic Arts of ancient
India. The word ‘vastu’ is derived from ‘vas’ to ‘reside’. Thus ‘vastu’ denotes all sorts of
buildings – religious, residential and military like – Prasada, mandapa, sabha, shala,
prapa, ranga, skandhawara and fort. It also implies town planning, planning of
commercial cities, laying out gardens, making roads, bridges, dams, tanks etc. Thus
architecture includes the complete science of Civil Engineering.

There are innumerable references in Rigveda which indicate a very advanced

Vastushilpa in Rigvedic age. The Vedic deities Mitra and Varuna are described as
residing in a great palace with thousand pillars and thousand gates.

The chief development of the Indian Architecture centres round the Hindu

)
Temple. Specimen of different styles of Temple Architecture particularly, the Northern

TH
and Dravidian are found in the two parts of India, north and south. The Temple

NA
Architecture reflects the spiritual ideals of India. Temples are the abode of gods and
goddesses on earth. AK
UP
.R
DR

The main Sanskrit treatises on Architecture are the Mayamata, Manasara,

JI(
TH

Vishvakarma - VastuShastra, Samaranganasutradhara, Aparajita - Priccha, Manasollasa,

NA

Prasadamandana, Shilparatnam etc.

UP
.R

Mechanical Engineering is known as ‘Yantra Vidya’ in Sanskrit Shastras. There

DR

are many references in Sanskrit literature which speak of the mechanical skills of
Indians. The samarangana-sutradhara describes three classes of yantras (i) yana yantra
– conveyances like vimanas and chariots, (ii) udakayantra – water machines –
variyantra and dharayantra, (iii) sangramayantra – like Agneyastra, Varunastra,
bhushundi, shataghni and sahasraghni etc.

• Medicine
 Indian the medical science is popularly known as ‘Ayurveda’ which means ‘the
Veda for lengthening of the span of life’. The beginning of Medical Science goes back to
the age of Vedas. The Vedic Indians, who wanted to live for hundred full years with
prosperity and good health, developed a holistic approach in the field of healthcare and
medical systems, which emphasizes the physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual
aspects of a human being.

‘Bhaishajya-suktani’ of Atharvaveda reveal the knowledge of medical science in

ancient India. Atanomy, embryology and hygiene were also known from the Vedic

)
times.

TH
NA
Ayurveda is considered as an ‘Upanga’ (subsidiary) to the Atharvaveda. It is
AK
inclusive of Achar (the life style), vichar (the thinking process) and ahar (the dietetics).
UP
.R
DR

Ayurveda is divided into eight main branches such as : shalya –tantra (major
surgery), shalakyatantra (minor surgery), kaya chikitsa (treatment of diseases of the
JI(
TH

body), bhutavidya (demonology), kumarbhritya (paediatrics), agad tantra(toxicology),

NA

rasayana (elixir) and vajikaran (aphrodisiaca).

UP
.R

Physiology, Pathology, Materia-Medica, therapeutics, Pediatrics, Hygiene,

DR

Dietetics, the science of pulse, veterinary science, the treatments of elephants horses,
cattle, ornithology etc. were the different branches of Ayurveda developed in ancient
India.

Atreya, Harita, Kashyapa, Agnivesha, Bhela and jivaka are the ancient scholars,
who are named by traditions.

The earliest work on the Indian medicine is the Charakasamhita of Charaka in

the first century A.D. It consists of eight chapters: 1)Sutrasthan, that in general describes
means of healing, diet, duities of a physician etc. 2)Nidansthan, on the eight principal
ailments 3)Vimansthan, on tastes, food, general pathology, and medical stadium
4)Sharirsthana, on anatomy and embryology 5) Indriyasthan, on diagnosis and
prognosis 6)Chikitsasthan, on special therapy 7) Kalp and 8)Siddhant sthan, on general
therapy.

Charaka, Sushruta and Vagbhata are prominent contributors to the Ayurvedic

Literautre. Sushrutasamhita, of Sushruta, Ashtangsangraha of Vagbhata, Madhavanidan
of Madhava, Ayurvedadipika of chakrapanidatta are some other important works in

)
this field.

TH
NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 Ayurveda has a well developed school of surgery. Sushruta was most probably
the first surgeon in the world to deal systematically, exhaustively and elaborately with
the entire subject of surgery including gynaecology, obstetrics, eye-diseases, plastic
surgery, artificial limbs etc. Surgical instruments are also described, 101 kinds of blunt
instruments and 21kinds of sharp instruments. Vagbhata had classified diseases into
seven distinct groups. He has given a complete list of various diseases. He has enlisted
94 eye diseases, 29 ear disorders, 18 diseases related to nose and 75 diseases related to
mouth cavity.

)
TH
NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 Sanskrit and Metaphysical Subjects

• Philosophy

a. What is Metaphysics?

Metaphysics is the science that investigates into the first principles of nature and
thought. It is that part of philosophy, which is concerned with the study of things and

)
their ultimate causes and their underlying but unseen nature, often called philosophy.

TH
Philosophy is the study of the nature of knowledge. Philosophy is a covered system of

NA
thoughts, backed by logic as reason and arguments and manifests itself as a cream or
essence of spirituality. AK
UP
.R

b. Metaphysical subjects in Sanskrit:

DR
JI(

In Sanskrit literature the branch of Metaphysics is called darshana, i.e. sight or vision.
TH
NA

The vision of real nature of the substance may be called philosophy.

UP
.R

b.i. The schools of philosophy in Sanskrit:

DR

The philosophy in Sanskrit is divided into two broad groups: the school of Astika
(theist) and the school of Nastika (atheist). The Astika system is one, which accepts the
authority of the Vedas. They are six in number: i.e. Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga,
Mimamsa, and Vedanta. On the contrary another system called Nastika Darsana does
not believe in the authority of the Vedas. It has also three main groups – Buddhism,
Jainisam and Charvak philosophy.

The School of Astika Darsana

b ii. 1. Nyaya and Vaisheshika Systems:

In the school of Astika Philosophy, the first twin systems are the Nyaya and the
Vaisheshika systems. The two systems are allied together. The Vaisheshika system
outlines the scheme of the ontological categories and describes their nature, the
origination and the dissolution of the world. The Nyaya System examines the logical
explanation, apparatus of human knowledge, the criterion of truth and falsehood, the
nature and function of knowledge, its instruments, their limits defects and problems

)
relating to the validity or knowledge. Rishi Gautam wrote the famous Nyayasutra on

TH
which an excellent commentary was written by Vatsyayan followed by many othrs. The

NA
initiator of Vaisheshika darshan was Kanada whose Vaisheshika sutras were followed
AK
by many other explanatory works like Bhasha – Parichcheda by Vishwanatha.
UP
.R
DR

b. ii.2. Sankhya System:

JI(
TH

The Sankhya System is considered to be the oldest Indian Philosophical system. There
NA

are references to this system in the Upanishads, the Gita, and the Mahabharata. The
UP

word Sankhya has two meanings; the knowledge and number. Maharshi Kapila is the
.R

originator of the system. The two important source books for the system are Isvara
DR

Krishna's Sankhyakarika and the Vachaspati’s -Tattva- Kaumudi. This system contains
elaborate discussions on Purush and Prakriti.
b. ii.3. The Yoga System:

Amongst all the systems of Astika school, the Yoga System of Maharshi Patanjali is the
most widely known and popularly appreciated system of thought. The system of Yoga
is a psychosomatic process for training the mind and keeping the body under control.
The source and significantly single inspiration for Indian psychology is the Yoga Sutras
of Patanjali. The date assigned to Patanjali is the second century B.C. The Yoga system
is considered to be complementary to the Sankhya. If Sankhya is the theory; yoga is its
practical side. The Yoga System enables one to realize kaivalya (liberation), i.e., his true

)
nature.

TH
NA
b. ii. 4. The Mimamsa System:
AK
Among the philosophical systems, the Mimamsa and the Vedanta are exclusively based
UP
on the authority of the Vedas. The word Mimamsa means an enquiry. This system holds
.R
DR

that the Vedas issue commands and have ritual actions for the purport. This also
prescribes certain actions and prohibits certain others. The prime purport of the Vedas
JI(
TH

is to command duties and prohibit some acts. It is a list of do’s and don'ts. The System is
NA

pragmatic in approach.
UP
.R

b. ii. 5. The Vedanta System:

DR

What is living and vital in Indian Philosophy today is the Vedanta system in its various
forms. The Vedanta is the crowning edifice of all the systems. The other philosophical
systems are mainly studied as accessories to the study of Vedanta and not as ends in
themselves. There are different branches of Vedanta which have grown from the
interpretation of the triple text: (i) the Upanishads, (ii) the Gita, (iii) the Vedantasutras.
All the commentators claim alike that the systems of philosophy, they have built, are in
complete accord with the total unitary import of the three texts, that these texts should
have lent themselves to a variety of interpretations even contradictory to one another, is
the most amazing nature of these scriptures and their inexhaustible significance. The
branches of this system are, the system of Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism) of Shankara,
the system of Dvaita Vedanta (dualism) of Madhva, the Dvaitadvaita Vedanta of
Nimbarkacharya and Vishistadvaita (qualified non-dualism) of Ramanujacharya.

The Nastika Darhsanas

b.iii.1. The Charvaka System:

)
TH
The Charvaka School of Philosophy represents the Indian Pattern of atheism and

NA
materialism. It is not a dogmatic statement of opinions. It is an argued and reasoned
AK
system of materialism. It has a special attraction and glamour for those who believe in
UP
uninhibited sensuous living. The superficially reflective and sense -bound vision of man
.R

easily accepts the Charvaka philosophy. Scientific empiricism and hedonistic ethics are
DR

the foundations of the system.

JI(
TH
NA

b.iii.2. The System of Buddhism:

UP
.R

The sayings of Buddhas were gathered into three baskets (pitakas), namely (i)
DR

Abhidhammapitaka, (ii) Vinayapitaka and (iii) Suttapitaka. The Abhidhammapitaka

sets forth the metaphysical views of the Buddha, the Vinayapitaka sets fourth the rules
of discipline i.e., the Sadhana aspects of the religion. Suttas contain the stories, parables
and the teachings. They are the utterances of Buddha himself.

b.iii. 3. The system of Jainism:

Jainism is an independent non-Vedic school of philosophy originating from the

views of some twenty-three saints before Mahavira. The 23rd is Parsvanatha and the
first is Rishsabhadeva. The saints who had the spiritual experience and could attain
kaivalyaajnana are called Tirthankaras. They are worshipped by the Jains. Its literature
is in ardhamagadhi and Sanskrit. The special features of the Jainism are logic and ethics.
The Jaina conception of Reality is not like that of the Buddhists, nor like the unchanging
Brahman of the Advaita. It admits both, permanence and change. It is a complex
concept. Their classification of philosophical categories goes into two broad divisions:
non-spirit (ajiva) and, spirit (jiva). The souls are infinite in number. Their essential
properties are omniscience and blissfulness. They are eternal. The second category of

)
reality is non-spirit (ajiva). This category comprises time, akasa (space) and matter. All

TH
these items have no consciousness.

NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
 Sanskrit and Humanities

• History

History is the discipline that studies the chronological record of events. In

Sanskrit it is known by the name of Itihasa which means ‘Iti +Ha+As i.e. it was
definitely like this.

The recording of History in Sanskrit starts from the Vedas which contain a list of

)
teachers. The documents, biographies, artifacts, currencies etc. are the main sources of

TH
History.

NA
AK
Though innumerable books are of historical value but four of them deserve
UP
special mention. They are Harshacharitam, Navsahasankcharitam,
.R

Vikramankadevacharitam and Rajtarangini.

DR
JI(

The Harshacharita of Banabhatta is the first historical Kavya written in prose in

TH
NA

7th Century A.D. It has eight chapters called ‘Uchchhavas’. In the first three chapters the
UP

poet has given autobiographical account of himself. This kavya gives insight into the
.R

administration and reign of king Harshavardhan who ruled from 606-647 AD the
DR

Historical details given in Harshacharita are similar to those of Hieun Tsang, a Chinese
travellor.

Navsahasankcharita is the record historical Kavya written by Padmagupta in

1005 AD. Navsashasankcharita was the nick name of King Sindhuraja the younger
brother of King Munja.

Written in 18 cantos, it relates the winning of Shashiprabha, the daughter of

Naga King by Sindhuraja or Navasahsank. In the 12th canto all the former kings of
Parmara dynasty have been mentioned in chronological order. These have been
confirmed by the records inscribed on inscriptions.

The Vikramankdevacharitam written by a Kashmiri Poet Bilhana in 1085 AD

delineates the history of Chalukya Kings. The birth of the founder of Chalukya Dynasty
has been traced from the chuluk (kamandala) of Brahma.

The Kavya gives the life of Vikramaditya VI who ruled from 1076 -1127 AD the
historical description of the Chalukya Kings given by the poet was proved by many

)
other Chalukya inscriptions also.

TH
NA
The most important work written on History in Sanskrit literature is the
AK
Rajatarangini of Kalhana. It was completed by the poet in 1148 AD after a long research.
UP
7826 verses have been divided into eight books called ‘Tarangas’. Rajtarangini itself
.R
DR

means ‘the river of kings’. In this, the poet has tried to trace the history of Kashmir
starting from very ancient time upto 12th Cent. AD. It starts with the description of the
JI(
TH

kings of Govinda Dynasty. The first date mentioned here is 813-814 AD. Starting from
NA

here upto 1150 AD all the facts given are historical.

UP
.R

Like a true historian the poet has not hesitated in penning down even the
DR

tyrannies and the atrocities of his pattron King Harsha of Kashmir.

The Rajtarangini can be called a historical Kavya in the true sense.

• Political Economy
 It is a branch of social science which later developed into economics but in India
it means the theories and the manuals taken together that deal with practical life,
domestic economy , administration and particularly politics.

KAUTILYA’S ARTHASHASTRA

Kautilya’s Arthashastra in 15 Adkikaranas and 180 Prakaranas, represents an important

tradition in Indian intellectual history. This valuable work was apparently composed and
written somewhere around 320 B.C. since Kautilya is regarded as the master teacher Chanakya
– the strategist, responsible for the rise of Chandragupta Maurya, the founder of the Mauryan

)
TH
dynasty. Kautilya laid the first cornerstones of the Indian state. The text is mainly in prose form

NA
but intermingled with aphorisms and rhythmic verses, Kautilya’s saintly king provides a model
of Vedic political leadership. His Arthashastra gives us a sense of early thought on realism in
AK
domestic policy and in international relations. He emphasizes the importance of Artha – i.e. the
UP
material wellbeing as the gateway to Dharma -the basis of Kingdom. Kautilya refers to the
.R
DR

Vedas, Manu, various systems of Philosophy and to tribal and republican politics. Kautilya has
a conception of distributive justice under the umbrella of a political community. He speaks of
JI(

state as a creator of order out of anarchy. He lays special emphasis on moral goals. He shows a
TH

great commitment to political economy and public administration, encouraging activity and
NA

productivity. Without productivity in agriculture, other functions can begin to crumble. The
UP

Agricultural division of labour is complemented with manufacturing and the work of skilled
.R

artisans. His conception of work ethics includes quality control by the state and punishment of
DR

dishonesty and theft. Consumer protection measures are described in great details. The State
governed standards should govern fraud in materials, their production and in office
transactions. Kautilya goes far beyond in developing an extensive theory of international
relations. The three components of power – enthusiasm, military might and the power of
counsel are mentioned in ascending order of importance.

His description of elaborate administrative machinery is superb. National

administration is divided into thirty four departments, each with a chief and an appropriate
number of subordinates. Forestry, mining, mint, state trading, weights and measures,
surveying, shipping, passports, textiles, jails and other major functions are minutely discussed
alongwith job descriptions and qualifications. There are long lists of administrative procedures,
codes of ethics and sanctions for stealing gems from the treasury, if found guilty the sanction is
death. Kautilya also outlines a system of jurisprudence including codification of offences, role of
judges, a policy manual for prisons and rules of evidence and other procedures.

The study of Kautilya can add a lot to cross cultural Intellectual history and early
political realism in diplomacy.

Even the great Sanskrit poets like Bhasa, Kalidasa, Banabhatta, Vishnusharma

)
TH
etc. have paid their respects to Kautilya and Arthashastra.

NA
The Nitisara of Kamandaka written in about 700 A.D. is based on Arthashastra. It
AK
is in the form of poetry and is in 20 cantos. It preaches about morality and describes
UP

policy also.
.R
DR
JI(

Nitivakyamrita of Somadevasuri throws light on the duties of Kings.

TH

Nitirantnakara of Chandreswara, Shukraniti of Shukra also deserve special mention.

NA
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 • Law (Dharamashastra)

The law in Sanskrit is known by the name of Dharmashastra i.e. the science of
ordinance but the scope of Dharmashastra is more extensive than what is denoted by
‘law’. Dharma can be defined as ordinance, duty, right, justice, morality, virtue,
religion, good actions etc. Kalpasutras are the Primary source of ‘dharma’. These
‘Dharmashastras’ contain rules of conduct and rituals, duties of people at various stages
of life. They discuss purification rites, forms of hospitality, daily oblations and judicial
matters.

)
TH
After Dharmashastra, smrities define ‘dharma’. Although there is mention of

NA
eighteen smrities yet Manusmriti compiled by Manu in about 200-300 BC is the most
AK
authentic and popular. It has 2694 verses divided into twelve chapters. It deals with
UP
various topics such as cosmogony, dharma, initiation and Vedic study, the eight forms
.R
DR

of marriage, hospitality, dietary, law, rights and duties of four castes and four stages of
life (varnashramas) etc. Its influence has been enormous. Medhatithi Govindraja and
JI(
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Kulluka Bhatta wrote their commentaries on Manusmriti which are very popular.
NA
UP

After Manusmriti comes the Yajnavalkya Smriti. It is related to the Paraskara

.R

Grihya Sutra of white (Shukla) Yajurveda. It has 1013 verses which have been
DR

distributed under the three headings of good conduct (achara), Law (vyavahara) and
Repentence (pryashchitta). As compared to Manusmriti it is more progressive in
thoughts and has been written in more systematic manner. Of all the commentaries, the
commentary of Vignaneshwara written by the name of Mitakshara became more
accepted.

Besides these two smrities, the smritis of Narada, Brihaspati, Ushna, Harita,
Katyayana, Parashara, Gautama etc. are also well-known. The Mahabharata is one of
the accepted texts of Dharmashastra. It is to be noted that the Smriti texts have been
binding the Indians together till date.

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 Sanskrit and Religion

• Hinduism

Hindu religion owes its origin to the Vedas. They are the Rgveda, the Yajurveda,
the Samveda and the Atharvaveda. Its full development appears in the Puranas.

The two important constituents of Vedic Religion were prayer and sacrifice. The
Rgvedic seers ask Gods to bestow wealth and victory on them and to favour them with

)
TH
heroic sons. They also pray for long life, health and comfort. The Vedas were followed

NA
by the Brahmana-literature to interpret Vedic ritual consisting of different Yajnas
(Sacrifice). In the Upanisad-books the definition of Sacrifices has been changed.
AK
UP
Upanisads (the Chhandogya and the Mundaka) declare that man himself is Yajna
.R

(Sacrifice) Special importance is now attached to knowledge (i.e. the Kena Upanisad ).
DR

Later on, the devotional creeds centre largely around the two deities, Vishnu and Siva.
JI(

Vasudeva or Vishnu became the foundation of the Bhagavata religion. In contradiction

TH

to Vedic emphasis of Sacrifice and Upanishadic emphasis on knowledge, the Bhagavata

NA

religion lays emphasis on devotion and grace as the desirable forms of relationship
UP

between man and God.

.R
DR

In short, some of the most prominent features of Hinduism are—

1. The general recognition of the Vedas.

2. The conception of God. It is elaborated into two forms—Absolute (Nirguna

Brahman) and God in Human form (Saguna Brahman). God in figure is
worshipped under three main forms—Shiva, Shakti and Vishnu.

3. Human life is submitted to the law of retribution and rebirth. Man wanders from
life to life carrying with him the consequences of the actions of his previous
existence.
4. Liberation (Moksa) consists in escaping from the cycle of rebirth. The way of
knowledge, or devotion or ritual works (Jnana, Bhakti, Karman) purifies man’s
activity and gives the true goal of human liberation.

5. In the way of Bhakti, the appearance of God (Avatara) is fully established.

In the practical conduct of human life, the system of castes, of the four stages of life,
the four aims (Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksa) have become the established frame-
work in earthly existence.

• Buddhism

)
TH
NA
Buddhism arose in 6th century B.C. in the wake of the Upanishadic speculation.
Its originator Gautama Buddha was one of religious ferment. He was largely influenced
AK
by the liberal thinking of the Upanishadic sages, the prevailing ideas of knowledge and
UP

Yoga practices, leading to mental concentration, the theory of Karman and the Value of a
.R
DR

mendicant life. Karman or one's own deeds influence the destiny of a being, but he
JI(

denied the authority of the Vedas and Vedic sacrifices. From his spiritual experience,
TH

Buddha became convinced of the four noble truths, that there is suffering (Duhkha), that
NA

it has a cause (Samudaya), that it can be suppressed (Nirodha) and that there is a way to
UP

accomplish this (Marga). He accepts that birth is painful, decay is painful, disease is
.R

painful, death is painful, union with the unpleasant and separation from the pleasant
DR

and dissatisfaction are painful. There is sorrow because all things are transient. They
vanish as soon as they occur. Ignorance is the main cause, out of which false desire
springs. When knowledge is attained, suffering ends. Life is nothing but a series of
manifestations of becoming and destruction. There is nothing that is permanent.

That which breaks the series of sufferings is called eightfold path (Astangamarga)
or middle path (Madhyamamarga). They are Samyagdrishti, Samyaksankalpa, Samyagvak,
Samyakkarma, Samyakajiva, Samyag-vyayama, Samyaksmriti and Samyaksamadhi.
The oldest of all the Buddhist literatures are Tripitakas (the Collection of Three Baskets).
The Tripitakas consist of the Vinayapitaka, the Suttapitaka and the Abhidhammapitaka. The
Vinayapitaka includes the Suttavibhaga, the Khandhakas and the Parivaras. The Suttapitaka
consists the Digghanikya, the Majjhimanikaya, the Samyuttanikaya, the Anguttaranikaya
and the Khuddakanikaya.

The Abhidhammapitaka has seven books, The Dhammasangani, the Vibhanga, the
Dhatukatha, the Puggalapannatti, the Katthavatthu, the Yamaka and the Patthana. Other
books are Milindapanha, The Mahavastu, the Lalitvistara etc.

)
TH
• Jainism

NA
AK
Jainism is closely associated with the name of Mahavira. Jainas regard him as the
UP

24th in the long line of Tirthankaras and the Jina. Jainism is, therefore, the religion of
.R
DR

those who aim at conquering the Karman—rebirth—cycle under the guiding influence
of the lives and teachings of the Tirthankaras as systematized by Mahavira Jina.
JI(
TH

In Jainism, there are two main streams, Digambara (Space clothed) and
NA

Svetambara (clothed in white). Mahvira's community has remained a well- knit

UP

organization comprising four Tirthas (orders) called Muni (monks), Sadhvi (nuns)
.R

Sravaka (Laymen) and Sarvika (Lay Women).

DR

According to Jainism the universe is made of four living (jiva) and five non-living
(ajiva) kinds of substances. They all are eternal and uncreated. Karman is the link
between Jiva, and Ajiva. Accumulated Karman follows the soul after death through all its
transmigrations. To achieve liberation from them, two tactics should be employed. The
first is to check the inflow of new Karman (Samvara). The second is to cause Karman from
past to fall off (Nirjara). This is achieved through mortification. Twelve types of such
austerities (tapas) are usually recommended. When the soul is completely purged of all
burdens, it takes the form of straight line and then develops into its natural form,
obtains perfection and puts an end to all the miseries.

The Jiva ascends to that Nirvana (liberation) by ladder of fourteen steps. The five
great rules of conduct are Ahimsa, (Non Violence), Satya (Truth), Asteya (not to steel),
Brahmacharya (celibacy)and Aparigrarha (non worldly possessions). The three restraints
(three Guptis) are Manogupti (control of mind), Vacanagupti (control of speech),
Kayagupti (control of bodily Movements) and ten pious duties are also the part of
Jainism. Dravyasangraha, Nayachakra etc. are the source books of Jainism.

)
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NA
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 Sanskrit and the Arts

• Theatre

Prosperity of Sanskrit related theatre is unmatched for its creatively written plays
and disciplinary science of Art of Theatrical performance.

Accomplished dramatist Bhasa wrote 13 plays among them the

Svapnavasavadatta, the Pratijnayaugandharayana, and the Pratimanataka are well-known,

)
TH
Abhijnanasakuntala of Kalidasa is a much celebrated work and is in UNESCO’S world

NA
heritage. Mricchakatika of Sudraka is regarded as the most important play of world
literature by international critics. Bhavabhuti's Uttararamacharitam is known for its all
AK
UP
inclusiveness of tragic sentiment Karuna. The Mudraraksasa of Vishakhadatta is a great
.R

drama of political intrigue, in which, interest in the action never ceases, Ratnavali of
DR

Harsha and the Venisamhara of Bhattanarayana are inexhaustible mines of illustrations

JI(

of the theories of dramaturgy.

TH

The above-mentioned works are a few to be named. There is a long list of

NA

Sanskrit plays, which can provide subjects or plots with varied aura and spectra of
UP

senses.
.R
DR

As a disciplinary science of stagecraft, Sanskrit keeps inexhaustible treasury of

dramaturgical works, whose exploitation for the present day theatre is yet to be made.
The Natyashastra of Bharata is encyclopaedic in its content. Other than this, relevant
parts of Puranas, the Natyasarvasvadipika of Adi Bharata, the Abhinayadarpana and the
Bharatarnava of Nandikesvara, the Dasharupaka of Dhananjaya, the Natyadarpana of
Ramachandra and Gunachandra, etc., are a few dramaturgical works to be named here.
These treatises discuss minutest of the details and throw light on remotest of areas.
 As far as present day scenario is concerned, Sanskrit theatre is living and vibrant.
Sanskrit plays are staged in national and International drama festivals and
competitions. Annual drama competitions of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, New Delhi,
Kalidasa Academy, Ujjain, and Delhi Sanskrit Akademi are famous ones.
Koodiyattam—the age old ritualistic Sanskrit theatre of Kerala is recognized by
UNESCO, as one of the masterpieces of the oral and intangible heritage of humanity.

The above mentioned is a very short account of the potentialities of the Sanskrit
drama and dramaturgy, which, if explored thoroughly, can infuse excellence in modern

)
TH
day theatre and cinema of the Globe.

NA
• Dance
AK
UP
.R

Dance or Dancing is for the creation of rasa (sentiment) through particular

DR

suggestions, by suitable movements of different parts of the body, as per the tradition of
JI(

Sanskrit. There are three main components, Natya, Nritta and Nritya, which together
TH

with their subsidiaries make up the classical dance. Natya is the dramatic element of a
NA

stage performance. Nritta is the rythmic movement of body in dance. It virtualizes and
UP

reproduces beat (tala) and rythm (laya) by means of abstract gestures of the body and
.R

hands and extensive and precise use of footwork. On the otherside, Nritya is that
DR

element of dance which suggests rasa (sentiment) and bhava (mood), conveyed by facial
expressions and appropriate gestures. The object of both, Nritta and Nritya, is to depict
ideas, themes, moods and sentiments by using abhinaya (acting). The practice of abhinaya
involves four techniques; angika (of gestures), vachika (of speech), sattvika
(representation of feelings), and aharya (of costumes, makeup etc).

In Sanskrit, many treatises on art of dancing are available. The Natyashastra of

Bharata and the Abhinayadarpana of Nandikesvara have been authoritative sources of
instruction for Indian classical dances. The Dasharupaka of Dhananjaya, the
Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, the Sangitaraja of Kumbhakarna, the Nrityanirnaya of
Pundarika Vitthala, the Nrityaratnavali of Jayasenapati, the Sangitasaramrita of
Tulajaraja, the Balaramabharata of Balaramavarman, etc. are few other works from a long
list of rich treatises on the art of dance in Sanskrit.

At present, all the chief schools of Classical dance in India are based essentially upon
the Natyashastra. The Bharatanatyam, which means dance according to the principles of
Bharata, follows most closely the Natyashastra. Kuchipudi, Kathakali, Mohiniattam,
Manipuri, Odissi, etc. accept the Natyashastra as their authority. Apart from art and

)
technique of dance, Sanskrit has been the main source of stories and subject matter of

TH
NA
dance-dramas. Stories from the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Puranas have been
most sought after themes for Indian classical dances. Yakshagana, a dance-drama of
AK
Mysore, has about fifty plays based on both the great epics of Sanskrit for its subject
UP

matter. Rasalila of Brija and Manipuri dance of Manipur owes much to the Bhagavata
.R
DR

Purana and the Gitagovinda. The Gitagovinda of Jayadeva was composed for dancing and
its verses and themes are amply used in Indian classical dances. Thus, Sanskrit is the
JI(
TH

most important source of technique and subject-matter for Indian Classical dances.
NA
UP

• Music
.R
DR

In Sanskrit, music is called gana, giti or sangita. The later Sanskrit treatises on
music, explained sangita as the combination actually trio of vocal music, instrumental
music, and dance (gita, vadya and nritya). On the ground of reality, all the three arts are
independent of each other, but in spite of their independence gana subordinates vadya,
and vadya subordinates nritya. So, vocal aspect (Gita) is predominant. Gana or gita
originates with the succession of tones that produce agreeable and pleasing sensations.
Musical sound is impregnated with divine lustre (lavanya), aesthetic sentiment (rasa)
and mood (bhava). Melody or melodic form (raga) is soul of music. Sangita is
accompanied by pathya or sahitya (text part)

A Brief History

The association of Indian Music with Sanskrit is as old as Sanskrit itself. In the
Vedic age, the Samagana method of chanting Vedic verses was in practice. The
Samaganas were possessed of different numbers of notes, registers, metres and literary
compositions (sahitya). Musicological rules and other relevant details about Samagana

)
TH
are spread all over in different Pratishakhyas, Sikshas and other Sanskrit texts of that

NA
age. In the Classical period, Gandharva type of music, was evolved which was a kind of

AK
stage song or Natyadharmigiti, possessed of svara, tala and pada. Afterwards, Bharata
UP
systematized the form and system of Music in the Natyashastra. The genuine type of raga
.R

came into being, with ten determining characteristics (dashalakshanas) and psychological
DR

values, with the new names of gitiraga and gramaraga. Jatis are the forerunners of ragas
JI(

or the parent ragas, which gave birth to all Classical ragas and formalized deshiragas.
TH

After Bharata, Kohala, Matanga and other Sanskrit Musicologists made their
NA

contributions and hundreds and thousands of ragas developed with their new and
UP

novel themes and forms. The ancient gramas were gradually replaced by murcchanas
.R

(groupings of upward and downward notes). In the 15th and 16th century A.D.,
DR

musicologists like—Lochana, Ramamatya etc. represented new trends in music.

Murcchanas, as generators or determining factors of ragas appeared with a new

nomenclature of mela or thata. Method of classification of ragas changed from raga-
ragini-putra- vargikarana into janya-janaka or genus- species(cause-effect) method, and
most of the ragas appeared with their, new tonal forms. Approximately at the same
time, Pandita Damodara, etc., presented Ragamurtis (visual pictures) and Dhyanamantras
(poetical descriptions and contemplative compositions) of ragas and raginis for their
better appreciation and intuitive perception. In 17th-18th centuries, Abohala, Shrinivasa,
etc. altered the total bases (Svarasthana) in relation to the microtones (shrutis). Thus, by
this way, Sanskrit musicologists produced volumes of authoritative works on Indian
music and shaped both Hindustani and Karnataka (Carnatic) Music to their present-
day-status. Contribution of Sanskrit towards Indian Music is great. This contributory
association can generally be understood from two points of view—

i. Sahitya or Pathya (Literary compositions or texts) for music and

ii. Sanskrit treatises on Musicology.

i. Sahitya or Pathya: Sanskrit was a medium of Music from the very ancient time.

)
TH
It formed the text part (sahitya) of Vedic music samagana. The Ramayana was itself

NA
a Geyakavya. In the Mahabharata and the Puranas, we find many references of

AK
music with marga or deshi type of songs with Sanskrit text parts. Many gatha-
UP
ganas of the Buddhist text Lalitavistara are in Sanskrit pathya. Musicological works
.R

in Sanskrit are full of different types of songs with Sanskrit pathya. Classical
DR

Sanskrit Literature comprises many references of music with Sanskrit pathya.

JI(

Sanskrit hymnal literature (stotrasahitya) and many other gathas are Sanskrit
TH

pathyas. Padagitis of Jayadeva’s Gitagovinda and Lilashuka-Bilvamangala’s

NA

Srikirshnakarnamrita and many other songs are in Sanskrit. Legendary vocalists of

UP

present age, like M.S. Subbulakshmi, Pandit Jasrraja and many others have used
.R

Sanskrit pathya for their musical renderings.

DR

ii. Sanskrit Treatises on Musicology: Most of the authoritative works on Indian

Music are in Sanskrit. Different Siksha, Pratishakhya and other Vedic Texts related
to Samagana, the Natyashastra of Bharata, the Bharatarnava of Nandikeshvara, the
Brihaddesi of Matanga, the Naradiya Siksa and the Sangitamakaranda of Narada, the
Sangitaratnakara of Sarngadeva, the Ragatarangini of Lochana, the
Svaramelakalanidhi of Ramamatya, the Sadragachandrodaya, the Ragamala, and the
 Ragamanjari of Pundarika Vitthala, the Ragavibodha of Somanatha, the
Sangitadarpana of Damodara, the Caturdandiprakshika of Venkata makhi, the
Sangitaparijata of Ahobala, the Ragatattvavibodha of Shrinivasa, the
Sangitasaramirta of Tulajaraja, are few a from a very long list of Sanskrit treatises
on Musicology.

• Sculpture

The sculpture or the Taksanashilpa is the allied Science of Architecture and other

)
cognate Arts. It is derived from the word “Sculp” or “Taksa” which means to “carve” or

TH
to “engrave”. The heavenly architect “Tvashta” was the mythical originator of this Art.

NA
AK
Sculpture in Sanskrit literature may be seen in making images of deities, in
UP

decoration of the temples, in making thrones (sinhasanas), royal umbrellas, chariots,

.R
DR

couches (paryanka) kalpavriksas (the ornamental trees) beautifully decorated with

creepers) colourful jewels, ornaments and garlands.
JI(
TH
NA

Iconography or pratima vijnyana is an important branch of sculpture. Pauranic

UP

religion, Agams and Tantras, Buddhism and Jainism gave encouragement to this art.
.R

The images may be classified into nine broad divisions:

DR

(i) Trimurti (Tri-image), (II) Vaishnava, (iii) Shaiva, (iv) Shakt, (v) Saurya, (vi) Bauddha,
(vii) Jain, (viii) Yaksha and (ix) Shalbhanjaka (images).

Eight types of materials were used in making images – the clay, wood, stone,
metals, precious stones, ivory and mixed substances.

The images were made according to pratima laksan shastras, Mayamata,

Mansara, Samaranganasutradhar, Hayashirsha – Pancharatna, kashyapasamhita,
vishnudharmottarpurana (chitra sutra) Brihat Samhita etc. are some prominent treatises
on sculpture.

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 Sanskrit hymns and Subhashitas

The land of Bharata is called Deva-bhu and Sanskrit language – a devine

language. There is an undercurrent of spirituality in the entire Sanskrit literature, which
is primarily based on the achievement of the four-fold objectives called Purushartha –
chatushtayam i.e. Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha. Hence there is hardly any work
which may be found lacking in the usage of excellent effective sayings, but from ancient
times, specific works have been written by poets and scholars to compose beautiful

)
collections of good saying only in order to inculcate moral values in the coming

TH
generations. Some of the ancient works in this direction are Raja-niti Samuchchaya,

NA
Chanakya-Niti-Darpanam, Nitisara, Niti-Pradeep etc.
AK
UP
Later on, in modern times, efforts have been made to collect such sayings from
.R

the entire ocean of Sanskrit literature. Subhashita-ratna-bhandagara is one such popular

DR

collection. There is one more Subhashita Sangraha in a number of volumes by Ludwig.

JI(

Sanskrit Academy has published seventen volumes of Sukti samgraha which contain
TH
NA

subhashitas from vedic hymns, puranas, epics, Jain and Bauddha granthas,
UP

Mahakavyas, works on various sciences and poetics etc. Prof. Satya Vrata Shastri’s
.R

Subhashita Sahasri contains 1000 verses collected subjectwise from various sources.
DR

Kapil Deva Dvivedi’s Sukti Sangraha is also very popular. Some private publishers
have also come forward to bring out very useful works. Manjula Manjusha and Shiksha
Sukti sangraha published by Nita Prakashan, Sanskrit Sukti Sindhu by Madan Lal
Verma are excellent efforts in this direction.

Sanskrit works like Panchatantra, Hitopadesha, Epics Ramayana and

Mahabharata, Bhartihari’s Nitishatakam are excellent encyclopaedias of subhashitas.
 The Great Personalities Of Sanskrit

From The West

Contribution To Vedic Literature

Sanskrit is considered to be the richest language in the world, due to its literary
contents. Some Western scholars may be put on the first rank, to bring it into the light of
the world, who translated Sanskrit texts in various foreign languages.

)
Contributions to Vedic Literature:

TH
NA
i. Fredric Rozane, was a German Scholar, who edited and translated some parts of
the Rigveda into German in 1830.
AK
UP
ii. S.A. Longlois, of France, translated the whole text of the Rigveda into French,
.R

which was published in Paris, during 1848-51.

DR

iii. Friedrich Max Muller (1823-1900) lived in England, sacrificed his own life in the
JI(

study of the Vedas, and edited the whole Rigveda with its Sayanabhashya that was
TH

published by East-India Company. He published his "Vedic Hymns" on famous

NA

Suktas of the Rigveda, under the Sacred Books of the East.

UP

iv. Theodar Benfey (1909-81), translated 130 Suktas of Ist Mandala of the Rigveda
.R
DR

into German. He also translated the whole text of the Kauthuma Shakha in
German that was published with illustrations and lexicons in the year 1848.

v. Hermann Grassman (1809-77), was a German Scholar, who made a poetic

translation of the Rigveda and a Lexicon of the Rigveda in German titled,
Worterbruchzum Rgveda.

vi. Alfred Ludwig (1832-1911), belonged to Germany, was a Professor of Sanskrit in

the University of Prague. He prepared the German translation of the Rigveda,
titled Der Rigveda with 230 important Suktas of the Atharvaveda translated into
Germany.
vii. Harace Hymen Wilson of 19th Century A.D. belonged to England and lived in
India for a long time. He edited and translated the text of the Rigveda with the
Sayana Bhashya into English.

viii. R.T.H. Griffith 1828-1906, was the first and the last after H. H. Wilson, who
translated the whole text of the Rigveda into English. He has also published his
poetic translation of the Yajurveda, the Samaveda and the Atharvaveda.

ix. A.Weber 1805-1901, was very famous among those who contributed to Vedic
literature. He was a French Missionary. He translated the Shukla Yajurveda
Samhita's Ninth and Tenth Chapters into Latin and its 16th chapter into German.

)
TH
He also translated the Atharvaveda into German, published under the title Indische

NA
Studien.

AK
x. A.B. Keith, was the student of McDonnell, who translated the Taittiriya Samhita
UP
into English, that was published under the Harward Oriental Series in 1914 in
.R

America.
DR
JI(
TH

Contribution Of Other Western Scholars

NA
UP

Sir William Jones (1746-94 A.D.), British scholar and founder of Royal Asiatic
.R

Society, famous institution involved in Indological studies, admired the theme, form,
DR

power and beauty of Sanskrit Language and stressed its affinity to Greek and Latin. He
translated the Shakuntala in English, the Manusmriti in English and German, and edited
the Ritusamhara, which was his first printed work in Sanskrit.

Charles Wilkins (1750-1836), a British scholar translated Hitopadesha and the

Bhagavadgita in English. His translation of the Bhagavadgita (London 1785), was first
Sanskrit book to be directly translated into an European language. For his book 'Sanskrit
Grammar' (1808), Sanskrit type was used for the first time in Europe, a type that the
author himself had made. The Shakuntala episode of the Mahabharata (1793) was also his
work.

H.T. Colebrooke, a French Scholar (1765-1837) who edited and/or translated. The
Shakuntala (1830) the Amarushataka (1831). The Hitopadesa (1804), the Amarakosa (1808),
the Shatakatraya of Bhartrihari (1804), Samkhyakarika of Ishvarakrishna (1837) and two
treatises on Hindu law of inheritance (1810). His work on algebra with arithmetic and
mensuration based on Sanskrit works of Brahmagupta and Bhaskara preceded by a
dissertation on the state of science as known to Hindus was published in 1917 in

)
TH
London. His Digest of the Hindu Law on Contracts and Recessions (1997-98) was a

NA
translation of composition, prepared by native scholars, on the law of succession and
contract, from the Indian law books. He also wrote the 'Grammar of the Sanskrit
Language' (1805). AK
UP
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A.W.V. Schlegel (1767-1845), a German scholar, founded a periodical 'Indische

JI(

Bibliothek' (First Vol. appeared in 1823). He contributed the Ramayana, the Hitopadesha
TH

and also first critical edition of the Bhagavadgita with Latin translations (1823).
NA
UP

Max Muller (1823-1900) a German scholar, was associated with The Sacred Books
.R
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of the East Series. He translated Upanisads and Apastamba-Sutras in English, and edited
the Rigveda with Commentary of Sayana (6 Vols.) He also edited the Hitopadesa, the
Meghaduta (1847), the Rigveda Pratishakhya (1859-69) with German translations. He wrote
many books on Philosophy, Grammar and History related to Sanskrit.

Monier Williams (1819-89) a British scholar wrote An Elementary Grammar of the

Sanskrit language (1846), A Practical Grammar of the Sanskrit Language, A Sanskrit Manual
for Composition (1862) and composed English- Sanskrit (1851) and Sanskrit-English
(1872) Dictionaries. He edited and translated the Shakuntala (1856), the
Vikramorvashiyam, the Nalopakhyanam (1879) and wrote many other books like the
Hinduism (1877) and the Indian Wisdom (1878).

William Dawight Whitney (1827-94), an American scholar , edited the

Atharvaveda (1856) and wrote the Sanskrit Grammar (1879) and The Roots, Verb-forms and
Primary Derivations of Sanskrit language (1885). He edited the Atharvaveda Pratishakhya
(1862) and the Taittiriya Pratishakhya, with commentary and translation. He also edited
and translated the Surya Siddhanta, a treatise on Astronomy and Astrology and
produced the Oriental and Linguistic Studies in two volumes (1873-74).

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Thus Spake the Great Men
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“Samskrit language, as has been universally recognized by those competent to form a
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judgment, is one of the most magnificent, the most perfect, the most prominent and
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wonderfully sufficient literary instrument developed by the human mind.”

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Sri Aurobindo
“Without the study of Samskrit one cannot become a true Indian and a true learned
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man.”
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Mahatma Gandhi
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“If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her
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finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Samskrit language and
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literature and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance and so long as this
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endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India
continue. If our race forgot the Buddha, the Upanishads and the great epics (Ramayana
and Mahabharata), India would cease to be India .”
Jawaharlal Nehru
“Samskrit has moulded the minds of our people to the extent to which they themselves
are not conscious. Samskrit literature is national in one sense, but its purpose has been
universal. That was why it commanded the attention of people who were not followers of
a particular culture.”
Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
“The language of Samskrit is of a wonderful structure, more perfect than Greek, more
copious than Latin and more exquisitely refined than either. Human life would not be
 sufficient to make oneself acquainted with any considerable part of Hindu literature.”
Sir William Jones
Samskrit was at one time the only language of the world. It is more perfect and copious
than Greek and Latin.”
Prof. Bopp
“Samskrit is the origin of modern languages of Europe .”
Mr Bubois
Samskrit is the unsurpassed zenith in the whole development of languages yet known to
us.”
Wilhelm von Humboldt
“The intellectual debt of Europe to Samskrit literature has been undeniably great. It may

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perhaps become greater still in the years that are to come. We (Europeans) are still

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behind the making even our alphabet a perfect one.”

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Prof. Macdonell

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“Samskrit is the greatest language of the world.”
Max Muller
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“ India was the motherland of our race and Samskrit the mother of Europe ’s
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languages…Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.”

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Will Durant
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“If Samskrit would be divorced from the everyday life of the masses of this country, a
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light would be gone from the life of the people and the distinctive features of Hindu
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culture which have won for it an honoured place in world-thought would soon be
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affected to be great disadvantage and loss both of India and of the world.”
Sir Mirza Ismail
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~ SANSKRIT Language: Scientific Base, Computer Programming Usage & Free Online
Resources
January 7, 2013

Sanskrit ( means ‘Refined Speech”) is one of the oldest languages on the earth. It is an Indo-Aryan language and mother of many Indian languages . Indo-
European studies also focuses on Sanskrit. Sanskrit learning and speaking also helps to improve pronunciation and broaden one’s linguistic skills. Sanskrit
is also studied in UK , Irland, Harvard-USA and New Zealand and some other countries in the world apart from Indians. A New Zealand school teacher
says Sanskrit helped their kids to learn English! See an discussion on benefits of learning sankrit, a western perspectives.

Hollywood Movie Matrix and Sanskrit Connection!

• Hollywood movie Matrix and Sanskrit usage:

• Upanishads Verses which reflects the Matrix philosophy:
• Intellectual and Interesting discussion “Matirx- Vedanta Reloaded :
Sanskrit at British Schools (NDTV report): Kids say Sanskrit is helping them to pronounce difficult words and understanding the world better!

Sanskrit ( Indian Language) and European languages have common root. Even many English words actually have Sanskrit origin. Watch this
ThinkingallowedTV discussion about Sanskrit – The most Scientific, ancient , Spiritual Language

Sanskrit as Computer Programming Language and for Artificial Intelligenece:

Recent reserch shows that Sanskrit is useful for computer software programming. NASA research paper demonstrates how Sanskrit can be used for
computer in publication – Knowledge representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence. Also, see interesting fact that NASA to use Sanskrit as
computer language Article discussed that using Sanskrit message can be sent by the computer in least number of words! More similar views on this by a
scribed user here. Sanskrit usage is also published in a scientific paper where they used it in Computer simulation concept . Find various articles on
Sanskrit usage as programming language for computer :

• Sanskrit as programming language

• Discussion forum- Is Sanskrit the most suitable language for computer software?
• Other interesting facts about Sanskrit as software language and origin

Very soon the traditional Indian language Sanskrit will be a part of the space, with the United States of

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America (USA) mulling to use it as computer language at NASA. After the refusal of the Indian Sanskrit
scholars to help them acquire command over the language, US has urged its young generation to learn

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Sanskrit.

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On visit to Agra, Aurobindo Foundation (Indian Culture) Puducherry Director Sampadananda Mishra told
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Dainik Jagran about the prospects of Sanskrit. Mishra said, “In 1985, NASA scientist Rick Briggs had
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invited 1,000 Sanskrit scholars from India for working at NASA. But scholars refused to allow the
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language to be put to foreign use.”

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According to Rick Briggs, Sanskrit is such a language in which a message can be sent by the computer in
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the least number of words.

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After the refusal of Indian experts to offer any help in understanding the scientific concept of the
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language, American kids were imparted Sanskrit lessons since their childhood.
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The NASA website also confirms its Mission Sanskrit and describes it as the best language for computers.
The website clearly mentions that NASA has spent a large sum of time and money on the project during
the last two decades.

The scientists believe that Sanskrit is also helpful in speech therapy besides helping in mathematics and
science. It also improves concentration. The alphabets used in the language are scientific and their
correct pronunciation improves the tone of speech. It encourages imagination and improves memory
retention also.

Mishra told the daily that even the call centre employees are improving their voice by reading Sanskrit,
besides the language being used by news readers, film and theatre artist for alternative voice remedy.
- See more at: http://post.jagran.com/NASA-to-use-Sanskrit-as-computer-language-
1332758613#sthash.lG6tpspC.dpuf
Very soon the traditional Indian language Sanskrit will be a part of the space, with the United States of America (USA) mulling to use it as computer language at NASA. After the
refusal of the Indian Sanskrit scholars to help them acquire command over the language, US has urged its young generation to learn Sanskrit.

# संस्कृत बनेगी नासा क� भाषा, पढ़ने से ग�णत और �व�ान क� �श�ा म� आसानी

On visit to Agra, Aurobindo Foundation (Indian Culture) Puducherry Director Sampadananda Mishra told Dainik Jagran about the prospects of Sanskrit. Mishra said, “In 1985,
NASA scientist Rick Briggs had invited 1,000 Sanskrit scholars from India for working at NASA. But scholars refused to allow the language to be put to foreign use.”
According to Rick Briggs, Sanskrit is such a language in which a message can be sent by the computer in the least number of words.
After the refusal of Indian experts to offer any help in understanding the scientific concept of the language, American kids were imparted Sanskrit lessons since their childhood.
The NASA website also confirms its Mission Sanskrit and describes it as the best language for computers. The website clearly mentions that NASA has spent a large sum of
time and money on the project during the last two decades.
Mishra told the daily that even the call centre employees are improving their voice by reading Sanskrit, besides the language being used by news readers, film and theatre artist
for alternative voice remedy
Mishra told the daily that even the call centre employees are improving their voice by reading Sanskrit, besides the language being used by news readers, film and theatre artist
for alternative voice remedy
Researchers at NASA
give, object, ball
give, recipient, Mary
give, time, past
Based on what the grammarians themselves have stated, we may conclude that the Sanskrit grammar was an attempt to discipline and explain a spoken language.
Another hope for the return of Sanskrit lies in computers. Sanskrit and computers are a perfect fit. The precision play of Sanskrit with computer tools will awaken the capacity in
human beings to utilize their innate higher mental faculty with a momentum that would inevitably transform the world. In fact the mere learning of Sanskrit by large numbers of
people in itself represents a quantum leap in consciousness, not to mention the rich endowment it will provide in the arena of future communication.

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The scientists believe that Sanskrit is also helpful in speech therapy besides helping in mathematics and science. It also improves concentration. The alphabets used in the
language are scientific and their correct pronunciation improves the tone of speech. It encourages imagination and improves memory retention also.

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Researchers at NASA have been looking at Sanskrit as a possible computer language because of its perfect morphology that leaves very little room for error.
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Pāṇini’s Ashtadhyayi shows significant similarities to the Backus-Naur Form grammar that is used to describe modern programming languages today. Many
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Sanskrit enthusiasts and linguists hope that, one day, Sanskrit will become the language of the world. Its clear and precise language structure enhances

communication and opens alternative means for expression.

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Modern scientists hail the ancient language of the gods as the only unambiguous natural language on the planet
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This interesting article refers to a NASA article on Sanskrit in AI(Artificial Intelligence) Magazine in Spring of 1985 written by NASA researcher, Rick Briggs.
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In ancient India the intention to discover truth was so consuming, that in the process, they discovered perhaps the most perfect tool for fulfilling such a search that the world has
ever known — the Sanskrit language.

Of all the discoveries that have occurred and developed in the course of human history, language is the most significant and probably the most taken for granted. Without
language, civilization could obviously not exist. On the other hand, to the degree that language becomes sophisticated and accurate in describing the subtlety and complexity of
human life, we gain power and effectiveness in meeting its challenges. The access to modern technology which has been designed to give ease, efficiency and enjoyment in
meeting our daily needs did not exist at the beginning of the century. It was made possible by accelerated advancement in the field of mathematics, a “language” which has
helped us to discover the interrelationship of energy and matter with a high degree of precision. The resulting technology is evidence of the tremendous power that is unleashed
simply by being able to make the finer and finer distinction that a language like mathematics affords.

At the same time humankind has fallen far behind the advancements in technology. The precarious state of political and ecological imbalance that we are now experiencing is
an obvious sign of the power of technology far exceeding the power of human beings to be in control of it. It could easily be argued that we have fallen far behind the
advancements in technology, simply because the languages we use for daily communication do not help us to make the distinctions required to be in balance with the
technology that has taken over our lives.

Relevant to this there has recently been an astounding discovery made at the NASA research center. The following quote is from an article which appeared in AI Magazine
(Artificial Intelligence) in Spring of 1985 written NASA researcher, Rick Briggs.
In the past twenty years, much time, effort, and money has been expended on designing an unambiguous representation of natural languages to make them accessible to
computer processing. These efforts have centered around creating schemata designed to parallel logical relations with relations expressed by the syntax and semantics of
natural languages, which are clearly cumbersome and ambiguous in their function as vehicles for the transmission of logical data. Understandably, there is a widespread belief
that natural languages are unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas that artificial languages can render with great precision and mathematical rigor.

But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise underlying much work in the areas of linguistics and artificial intelligence, is a false one. There is at least one language,
Sanskrit, which for the duration of almost 1000 years was a living spoken language with a considerable literature of its own. Besides works of literary value, there was a long
philosophical and grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with undiminished vigor until the present century. Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be
reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence. This article demonstrates that
a natural language can serve as an artificial language also, and that much work in AI has been reinventing a wheel millennia old.

The discovery is of monumental significance. It is mind-boggling to consider that we have available to us a language which has been spoken for 4-7000 years that appears to be
in every respect a perfect language designed for enlightened communication. But the most stunning aspect of the discovery is this: NASA the most advanced research
center in the world for cutting edge technology has discovered that Sanskrit, the world’s oldest spiritual language is the only unambiguous spoken language on the
planet.

In early AI research it was discovered that in order to clear up the inherent ambiguity of natural languages for computer comprehension, it was necessary to utilize semantic net

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systems to encode the actual meaning of the sentence. Briggs gives the example of how a simple sentence would be represented in a semantic net.

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Example: “John gave the ball to Mary.”

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give, agent, John

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He further comments, “The degree to which a semantic net (or any unambiguous nonsyntactic representation) is cumbersome and odd-sounding in a natural language is the
degree to which that language is “natural” and deviates from the precise or “artificial”. As we shall see, there was a language (Sanskrit) spoken among an ancient scientific
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community that has a deviation of zero.”
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Considering Sanskrit’s status as a spiritual language, a further implication of this discovery is that the age old dichotomy between religion and science is an entirely unjustified
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one.

It is also relevant to note that in the last decade physicists have begun to comment on the striking similarities between their own discoveries and the discoveries made
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thousands of years ago in India which went on to form the basis of most Eastern religions.
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Because of the high level of collaboration required in uncovering the nature of energy and matter, it is inconceivable that it ever could have taken place without a common
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language, namely mathematics. This is a perfect example of using a language for discovering and designing life. The language of mathematics, being inherently unambiguous,
minimizes personal interpretation and therefore maximizes opportunity for exploration and discovery. The result of this is a worldwide community of scientists working together
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with extraordinary vitality and excitement about uncovering the unknown.

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It can also be inferred that the discoveries that occurred in India in the first millennia B.C. were also the result of collaboration and inquiry by a community of spiritual scientists
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utilizing a common scientific language, Sanskrit. The truth of this is further accented by the fact that throughout the history and development of Indian thought the science of
grammar and linguistics was attributed a status equal to that of mathematics in the context of modern scientific investigation. In deference to the thoroughness and depth with
which the ancient grammatical scientists established the science of language, modern linguistic researchers in Russia have concluded about Sanskrit, “The time has come to
continue the tradition of the ancient grammarians on the basis of the modern ideas in general linguistics.”

Sanskrit is the most ancient member of the European family of languages. It is an elder sister of Latin and Greek from which most of the modern European languages have
been derived. The oldest preserved form of Sanskrit is referred to as Vedic . The oldest extant example of the literature of the Vedic period is the Rig-Veda . Being strictly in
verse, the Rig-Veda does not give us a record of the contemporary spoken language.

The very name “Sanskrit” meant “language brought to formal perfection” in contrast to the common languages, Prakrits or “natural” languages. The form of Sanskrit which has
been used for the last 2500 years is known today as Classical Sanskrit. The norms of classical Sanskrit were established by the ancient grammarians. Although no records are
available of their work, their efforts reached a climax in the 5th century B.C. in the great grammatical treatise of Panini, which became the standard for correct speech with such
comprehensive authority that it has remained so, with little alteration until present times.

The NASA article corroborates this in saying that Indian grammatical analysis “probably has to do with an age old Indo-Aryan preoccupation to discover the nature of reality
behind the impressions we human beings receive through the operation of our senses.”
Until 1100 A.D., Sanskrit was without interruption the official language of the whole of India. The dominance of Sanskrit is indicated by a wealth of literature of widely diverse
genres including religious and philosophical; fiction (short story, fable, novels, and plays); scientific literature including linguistics, mathematics, astronomy, and medicine; as
well as law and politics.

With the Muslim invasions from 1100 A.D. onwards, Sanskrit gradually became displaced by common languages patronized by the Muslim kings as a tactic to suppress Indian
cultural and religious tradition and supplant it with their own beliefs. But they could not eliminate the literary and spiritual- ritual use of Sanskrit.

Even today in India, there is a strong movement to return Sanskrit to the status of “national language of India.” Sanskrit being a language derived from simple monosyllabic
verbal roots through the addition of appropriate prefixes and suffixes according to precise grammatical laws has an infinite capacity to grow, adapt and expand according to the
requirements of change in a rapidly evolving world.

Even in the last two centuries, due to the rapid advances in technology and science, a literature abundant with new and improvised vocabulary has come into existence.
Although such additions are based on the grammatical principles of Sanskrit, and mostly composed of Sanskrit roots, still contributions from Hindi and other national and
international languages have been assimilated. For example: The word for television, duuradarshanam, meaning “that which provides a vision of what is far away ” is derived
purely from Sanskrit.

Furthermore, there are at least a dozen periodicals published in Sanskrit, all-India radio news broadcast in Sanskrit, television shows and feature movies produced in Sanskrit,
one village of 3000 inhabitants who communicate through Sanskrit alone, not to mention countless smaller intellectual communities throughout India, schools, as well as families

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where Sanskrit is fostered. Contemporary Sanskrit is alive and well.

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The discussion until now has been about Sanskrit, the language of mathematical precision, the world’s only unambiguous spoken language. But the linguistic perfection of
Sanskrit offers only a partial explanation for its sustained presence in the world for at least 3000 years. High precision in and of itself is of limited scope. Generally it excites the
brain but not the heart. Sanskrit is indeed a perfect language in the same sense as mathematics, but Sanskrit is also a perfect language in the sense that, like music, it has the

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power to uplift the heart. UP
It’s conceivable that for a few rare and inspired geniuses, mathematics can reach the point of becoming music or music becoming mathematics. The extraordinary thing about
Sanskrit is that it offers direct accessibility by anyone to that elevated plane where the two, mathematics and music, brain and heart, analytical and intuitive, scientific and
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spiritual become one. This is fertile ground for revelation. Great discoveries occur, whether through mathematics or music or Sanskrit, not by the calculations or manipulations of
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the human mind, but where the living language is expressed and heard in a state of joy and communion with the natural laws of existence.

Why has Sanskrit endured? Fundamentally it generates clarity and inspiration. And that clarity and inspiration is directly responsible for a brilliance of creative expression such
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as the world has rarely seen.

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The Ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue both in quality and in body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty, in their
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substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of speech and in the height and width of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank among
the world’s great literatures. The language itself, as has been universally recognized by those competent to form a judgment, is one of the most magnificent, the most
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perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary instruments developed by the human mind, at once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and clearly-formed and full and
vibrant and subtle, and its quality and character would be of itself a sufficient evidence of the character and quality of the race whose mind it expressed and the culture of which
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it was the reflecting medium.

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Sanskrit after all is the language of mantra — words of power that are subtly attuned to the unseen harmonies of the matrix of creation, the world as yet unformed. The
possibility of such a finely attuned language is only conceivable by drawing upon sounds so inherently pure in combinations so harmoniously blended that the result is as
refreshing and pure as the energy of creation forming into mountain streams and lakes and the flawless crystal structures of natural gems, while at the same time wielding the
power of nebulae and galaxies expanding into the infinitude of space.

But from the perception of Rishis, the source of language transcends such conceptions. In Sanskrit, Vaak,speech, the “word” of Genesis, incorporates both the sense of “voice”
and “word”. It has four forms of _expression. The first, Paraa , represents cosmic ideation arising from the original and absolute divine presence. The second, Pashyantii
(literally “seeing”) is Vaak as subject “seeing,” which creates the object of madhyamaavaak , the third and subtle form of speech before it manifests as vaikhariivaak, the gross
production of letters in spoken speech.

Sanskrit is a language whose harmonic subtlety, mysteriously sources the successive phases of creation all the way to origination. This implies the p ossibility of having speech
oriented to a direct living truth which transcends individual preoccupation with the limited information available through the senses. Spoken words as such are creative living
things of power. They penetrate to the essence of what they describe. They give birth to meaning which reflects the profound interrelatedness of life.

It is a tantalizing proposition to consider speaking a language whose sounds are so pure and euphonically combined. The mere listening or speaking inspires and produces joy
and clarity. And yet it has been precisely the tendency of humanity as a whole to merely be tantalized by happiness, but not actually to choose it. It’s as though we had been
offered the most precious gem and we answered, “No, I’d rather be poor.” The only possible background for such a choice is the unconscious belief that, “I can’t have it. I can’t
be that.”
Interestingly enough, this is exactly what is triggered in people who are faced with the opportunity to learn Sanskrit. The basic attitude towards learning Sanskrit in India today is,
“It’s too difficult.” Actually Sanskrit is not difficult. On the contrary, there are few greater enjoyments. The first stage, experiencing the individual power of each of the 49 basic
sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet is pure discovery, especially for Westerners who have never paid attention to the unique distinctions of individual letters such as location of
resonance and tongue position. The complete alphabet must have been worked out by learned grammarians on phonetic principles by long before it was codified by Panini
around 500 B.C. It is arranged on a thoroughly scientific method, the simple vowels (short and long) coming first, then the complex vowels (dipthongs), followed by the
consonants in uniform groups according to the organs of speech with which they are pronounced.

The unique organization of the Sanskrit alphabet serves to focus one’s attention on qualities and patterns of articulated sound in a way that occurs in no other language. By
paying continuous attention to the point of location, degree of resonance and effort of breath, one’s awareness becomes more and more consumed by the direct experience of
articulated sound. This in itself produces and unprecedented clarity of mind and revelry in the joy of language. Every combination of sound in Sanskrit follows strict laws which
essentially make possible an uninterrupted flow of the most perfect euphonic blending of letters into words and verse.

The script used to depict written Sanskrit is known as Devanaagari or that “spoken by the Gods.” Suitably for Sanskrit, it is a perfect system of phonetic representation.
According to linguists, the phonetic accuracy of the Devanaagari compares well with that of the modern phonetic transcriptions.

Because of its inherent logic, systematic presentation and adherence to only the most clear and most pure sounds, the Sanskrit alphabet in its spoken form, is perhaps the
easiest in the world to learn and recall. Once the alphabet is learned, there is just one major step to take in gaining access to the Sanskrit language: learning the case and tense

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endings. The endings are what make Sanskrit a language of math-like precision. By the endings added onto nouns or verbs, there is an obvious determination of the precise

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interrelationship of words describing activity of persons and things in time and space, regardless of word order. Essentially, the endings constitute the software or basic program
of the Sanskrit language.

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The rigor of learning the case endings is precisely the reason why many stop in their pursuit of Sanskrit. Yet by an effective immersion method, fluent reading of the Devanagari
script, accurate pronunciation, and the inputting of the case and tense endings can easily be accomplished. Such a method must take advantage of the fact that Sanskrit

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grammar is structured by precise patterns, and once a pattern has been noted it is a simple exercise to recognize all the individual instances that fit the pattern; rather than see
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the pattern after all the individual instances have been learned. Color coding provides a tremendous support in this regard.
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Learning the case endings through the chanting of basic pure sound combinations in musical and rhythmic sequences is a way to overcome learning inhibitions, attune to the
root power of the Sanskrit language and access the natural computer efficiency, speed and clarity of the mind.
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Although learning Sanskrit in some ways presents challenges similar to those of learning calculus or music, it also induces a lubrication and acceleration of mental
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function that actually makes such a process exciting and enjoyable. Perhaps the greatest immediate benefit of learning Sanskrit by this method is that it requires
participants to relinquish control, abandon prior learning structures and come into a direct experience of the language.
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The actual simplicity and enjoyment of the sounds of Sanskrit provides everyone with an opportunity to learn a subject which is technically precise with fluidity and ease. This
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tends to produce a complete reversal of the inhibiting competitive environment in which most life education traditionally took place, by creating an atmosphere in which mutual
support generates personal breakthrough and vice-versa.
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One thing is certain, Sanskrit will only become the planetary language when it is taught in a way which is exciting and enjoyable. Furthermore it must address individual learning
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inhibitions with clarity and compassion in a setting which encourages everyone to step forth, take risks, make mistakes and learn. Already we have outstanding examples of this
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approach in the work of teachers such as Jaime Escalante, whose remarkable achievements in teaching advanced calculus to underprivileged high school students in East Los
Angeles were featured in the Academy Award nominated movie, “Stand and Deliver.”

Sanskrit has always inspired the hearts, mind and souls of wise people. The great German scholar Max Muller, who did more than anyone to introduce Sanskrit to the West in
the latter part of the 19th century, contended that without a knowledge of the language (Sanskrit), literature, art, religion and philosophy of India, a liberal education could hardly
be complete — India being the intellectual and spiritual ancestor of the race, historically and through Sanskrit.

Max Muller also pointed out that Sanskrit provides perfect examples of the unity and foundation it offers to the Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, Germanic and Anglo-Saxon languages,
not to mention its influence on Asian languages.The transmission of Buddhism to Asia can be attributed largely to the appeal to Sanskrit. Even in translation the works of
Sanskrit evoked the supreme admiration of Western poets and philosophers like Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Melville, Goethe, Schlegel and Schopenhauer.

The fact is that Sanskrit is more deeply interwoven into the fabric of the collective world consciousness than anyone perhaps knows. After many thousands of years, Sanskrit
still lives with a vitality that can breathe life, restore unity and inspire peace on our tired and troubled planet. It is a sacred gift, an
opportunity. The future could be very bright

ONE COSMIC DAY OF CREATOR BRAHMA

(as per Hindu scriptures, particularly the Srimad-Bhagavatam)
 • The one day is divided into 14 periods. Six such periods are over. We are now in the 7th.
• Each period is named after the One Ruler who is appointed to rule the entire earthly
world during that period. The generic name for such a ruler is Manu. The period is called
a Manvantara.
• The name of the present Manu is Vaivasvata, the son of the Sun-God.
• How long is the day of Brahma ? (4.32 billion years)
• What is the present age of this universe ?
• What is the Hindu concept of Time ?

Names of the manvantaras of this day of Brahma upto the present seventh.
(each manvantara is of duration 306,720,000 human years)

1.Svaayambhuva Beginning of Creation

Dhruva Episode
Descent of the Lord as Half-man-half-lion to blessPrahlada

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2.Svaarochisha The Episode of King Suratha

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3. Uttama

4.Taamasa AK
The Episode of Gajendra, the elephant-devotee
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5. Raivata
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6. Chaakshusha The churning of the Ocean of milk

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7. Vaivasvata PRESENT MANVANTARA

There are seven more manvantaras to go in the future
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We are in the 7th manvantara .

Each manvantara is divided into 71 maha-yugas.
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We are in the 28th maha-yuga of this manvantara.

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Each maha-yuga is divided into 4 yugas shown below for the current maha-yuga.
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We are presently in the kaliyuga

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of the 28th maha-yuga
of the 7th manvantara of Brahma’s day
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(Duration of every kali-yuga = 432,000 years)
Notation λ: = 432,000
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Age of the Universe

Portion of Brahma’s day elapsed so far Duration Table
(till say, 2000 A.D.) consists of
 • 6 manvantara-twilights (6 x 4λ ) Duration of Kali-yuga (λ ) =
• 6 manvantaras completed (6 x71 x10λ ) 432,000 (human years)
• 1 manvantara-twilight before the 7th (4 λ ) Duration of Dvapara-yuga (2λ )
• 27 maha-yugas past in this manvantara (27 x 10λ ) Duration of Treta-yuga (3λ )
• elapsed yugas in this maha-yuga ((4 + 3 + 2) λ )
Duration of Satya-yuga (4λ )
• 5102 years in kali-yuga
Duration of maha-yuga:

This adds up to 4567 λ + 5102 = (λ + 2 λ + 3 λ + 4λ ) = 10λ

1,972,949,102 human years Duration of manvantara: 71 x 10λ
This is the present (as of 2000A.D.) age of the universe Duration of one manvantra- twilight : 4λ
in this day of Brahma
(one before every manvantara)

)
TH
Duration of Brahma’s day

NA
One day of Brahma is of duration equivalent to 1000 mahayugas. His night is equally

AK
long. At the beginning of every day creation starts. At the end of the day all that was
created merge in the Absolute and Brahma ‘sleeps’ as it were. 360 such days and
UP
nights make one year of Brahma. According to the Puranas, He has spent 50 years like
this and this day is the first day in his fifty-first year!
.R
DR

One day of Brahma = 14 manvantaras + 15 manvantara twilights

(because there is an extra manvantara - twilight at the end of all the 14 manvantaras)
JI(
TH

= 14 x 71 mahayugas + 15 x 4 λ
= 994 mahayugas + 60 λ
NA

= 994 mahayugas + 6 mahayugas

UP

= 1000 mahayugas
= 1000 x10 λ = 4,320,000,000 human years.
.R
DR

One ‘second’ of Brahma ‘Back to

= 4,320,000,000 / 12x60x60 the future’
= 100,000 human years Story

Names of the remaining seven (future) manvantaras of this day of Brahma

• 8 Saavarni -------------------> The next Manu (i.e., the eighth) will be Saavarni. This promise
• 9 Daksha-saavarni was made by Mother Goddess to one King Suratha during the
• 10 Brahma-saavarni second Manvantara. To him (and another) the triple story of
• 11 Dharma-saavarni Mother Goddess is narrated in the Devi-bhagavatam ( also
Chandi or Durg A-saptasati ). The story begins from a
• 12 Rudra-saavarni
• 13 Deva-saavarni mythological event that happened after the end of the last kalpa
• 14 Indra-saavarni (= day of Brahma) and ends up by forecasting the feats of Mother
Goddess that are yet to happen in this kalpa. One such is the
after which cosmic night will follow prediction that Suratha will be born as Manu Saavarni.

BACK TO THE FUTURE

(Source: Srimad-Bhagavatam, IX - 3)

In the mid-satya-yuga of the first maha-yuga of the present manvantara i.e., around 115
million years ago there lived a King of the Solar dynasty, by name Kakudmi, and his
beautiful daughter Revati. Not trusting the astrologers of his time, yet believing in the
maxim ‘marriages are made in heaven’ Kakudmi took his daughter to the celestial world

)
of Brahma the Creator (Note: in every satya-yuga such journeys are supposed to be

TH
possible) in order to ask the Creator Himself as to who would be the right marital match
for his daughter. Kakudmi had somebody in his own mind. But Lord Brahma was

NA
available to him only after a twenty minutes or so of waiting time (by the standards of
that world). When Kakudmi finally had the opportunity to ask Brahma his question,
Brahma laughed and said:
AK
UP
My dear Kakudmi, from the time you came here your earthly world has passed through
.R

27 maha-yugas and so none of whom you have in mind or their descendents are alive
DR

now. Right now people are enjoying the avatara (=descent) of Lord Krishna on the
Earth. Go back and marry off your daughter to Balarama, the elder brother of Krishna’.
JI(
TH

Thus it was that Kakudmi and Revati travelled ‘back to their future’ -- from the 1st
mahayuga to the 27th -- and Revati was married to Balarama.
NA
UP

Note: 1 mahayuga = 43.2 ‘seconds’ for Brahma.

.R

THE HINDU CONCEPT OF TIME

DR

According to Hindu religion and cosmology the flow of Time is eternal. Creation and
Dissolution are only two events in a long cyclic succession of Cosmic events. There is
no beginning in the past and there is no end to the future. Creation is a manifestation in
concrete terms of the Absolute. Dissolution is when all the created universe merges in
the Absolute. And that is when the period of non-manifestation begins. The periods of
manifestation and of non-manifestation alternate. These are the days and nights of
Brahma.

Brahma Himself is a manifestation of the Absolute. He has a life of 100 years in His
time.

Between one kalpa (technical name for Brahma’s day) and the next, the only thing that
survive are, Brahma himself (who has to be ‘brought back to memory’, by the Absolute,
after his ‘sleep’ !), the vedas in their latent form and the collected aggregate of
vaasanaas (imprints of actions and thoughts) of all individual souls. Just as each kalpa
is followed by another kalpa with an intervening Cosmic Night, so also one Brahma is
followed by another Brahma.

Environmental Awareness in Ancient India

India was a cradle of civilization in the ancient world.

An interesting feature of all ancient civilization was that its inhabitants realised the tremendous value of water in human life. Each of these
civilizations was located on the banks of a river (s) or within a convenient distance from the sea. This was to ensure a perennial supply of water
for day to day activities.

The Rig Veda

It is indeed astonishing to realize that at the dawn of civilisation, the humans understood the significance and importance of water. Apart from
cooking, personal cleanliness and hygiene, water was vital for cultivation and irrigation of crops. In that early age, water was a major mode of

)
transport; with further progress and development water again became an invaluable source of food as well as trade and commerce.

TH
According to ancient Hindu beliefs, the universe, the cosmic world comprises five basic elements ─ kshiti (earth), apah (water), teja (light/heat),
marut (air) and vyoma (ether/space).

NA
According to the RigVeda, all life on this planet is evolved from apah (water). Water is usually acknowledged as the basic need of all living
creatures upon the face of this earth. There are copious references in Vedic literature about medicinal properties of water, uses of water, last

AK
but not the least the importance of conservation and preservation of water. Pure water is termed as ‘divyajal’ due to its following properties:
Sheetam (cold to touch), Suchihi (clean), Shivam (replete with useful minerals and trace of useful elements), Istham (transparent), Vimalam
Lahu Shadgunam (its acid-base balance should not exceed normal limits).
UP
.R
DR

Panchabhuta -the five elements

JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
Water Conservation

The Indus Valley Civilization, that flourished along the banks of the river Indus and other parts of western and northern India about 5,000 years
ago, had one of the most sophisticated urban water supply and sewage systems in the world. The fact that this civilization was well acquainted
with hygiene and sanitation is evident from the covered drains running beneath the streets of the ruins at both Mohenjodaro and Harappa. Yet
another excellent example is the well-planned city of Dholavira, in Gujarat.

Though nature has blessed the Indian landmass with a large number of perennial rivers, unlimited rainfall in most areas, yet the pragmatism
and prudence of the ancient seers, scholars and learned individuals led them to ponder over the issue of water conservation

One of the oldest water harvesting systems is found about 130 km from Pune, along a place known as Naneghat, situated in the Western
Ruins of Mohen jo Daro
Ghats. A large number of tanks were cut in the rocks to provide drinking water to tradesmen who used to travel along this ancient trade route.
Each fort in the area had its own water harvesting and storage system in the form of rock-cut cisterns, ponds, tanks and wells that can be seen
in use even today.

In ancient times, houses in the western part of Rajasthan were constructed in such a way that each had a rooftop water harvesting system.
Though scanty, rainwater from these rooftops was directed into underground tanks. This system can be seen in use even today in all the forts,
palaces and dwelling houses of the region.

Earthen pipes and tunnels, (placed underground) to maintain the flow of water besides transporting it to distant places, are still functional at
places like Burhanpur (Madhya Pradesh), Golconda (Andhra Pradesh), Bijapur in Karnataka, and Aurangabad in Maharashtra

)
TH
Naneghat

NA
AK
UP
.R
DR
JI(
TH

Water Purification
NA

Purification of ground water in the dug wells is dealt with at length in Brihat-Samhita written and compiled by Varahamihira. He suggested an
infusion be made from a mixture of powdered herbs namely Anjan, Bhadramustha, Khas (vetiver), Amla (emblica officinalis, gooseberry) and
Nirmali (bhui amla / kataka) in water, which in measured quantities was to be added to water in the wells for purification. Detailed practical
UP

guidance for water purification is given in the famous treatise of Indian physician, Sushruta. Sushruta disclosed that muddy water could be
purified with herbs and naturally occurring substances; Nirmali seeds, roots of Kamal (lotus/water lily), rhizomes of algae and three stones,
Gomed (garnet) Moti (pearl) Sphatik (quartz crystal) were used. He recommended the disinfection of contaminated water by exposing it to the
.R

sun or immersing red hot iron or hot sand in it.

DR

The ancient Indian custom of storing drinking water in brass vessels for good health has now been proved scientifically by researchers.
Microbiologists affirm that water stored in brass containers can help combat many water-borne diseases and should be used in developing
countries rather than their cheaper counterparts i. e plastic containers.

The scientific principle involved in this is the fact that any metal or alloy tends to disrupt biological systems. The element acts by interfering with
the membranes and enzymes of cells; for bacteria, this can mean death. Pots made of brass, (an alloy of copper and zinc), shed copper
particles into the water that they contain. But the miniscule amount that circulates into the water, while destroying the bacteria cannot harm
human beings.
Environmental Awareness in Ancient India

Contribution of Architecture and sculpture towards a better environment

The ancient science of Sthapatya Veda provides extensive knowledge about life supporting building and design principles. It was
believed that a properly designed home will promote harmony between parents and children, better physical health, besides
financial success.

The word Sthapatya, derived from Sanskrit, means establishment. Veda means knowledge. Thus Sthapatya Veda means the
knowledge of establishing a relationship between the owner, house and/or building and the cosmic order.

In the arena of ancient temple construction, there is ample evidence of extensive application of Sthapatya Veda’s design principles.
In addition to the spiritual activities at these temples, there are precise mathematical and astrological calculations, proportions of
building plan, specific orientation and the applied knowledge of subtle physical properties which produces this feeling of well being.

The ancient Indians firmly believed that the universe is in perfect order since its birth. If an architect can establish a good
Indian Astrology
relationship between building design and order of universe, the life of an individual can be healthier, devoid of stress, creative and
blissful. Sthapatya Veda was born out of the fusion of two branches of Veda; Ayur Veda and Jyotish Shastra. AyurVeda is the
science of health and the longevity of the human body, while Jyotish Shastra encompasses knowledge of man's relationship to the
universe, and the fluctuating effects which tthehe universe exerts on man. Thus Sthapatya Veda encompasses the needs of the
human body and the environment in one holistic science.

Indian Vastu Shastra

Ayurveda and Environment

Ayurveda is an upaveda (subsection) of Atharva, the fourth Veda composed during the period 3,000 to 2,000 BC. Ayurveda has
several disciplines v.i.z Kayachikitsa (Internal Medicine), Shalakya Tantra (thoracic surgery, opthalmology and otolaryngology),
Shalya Tantra (Surgery), Agada Tantra (Toxicology), Bhuta Vidya (Psychiatry), Kaumarabhritya (Pediatrics), Rasayana (rejuvenation
or anti-aging), Vajikarana (the science of fertility).
The most fascinating aspect of Ayurvedic system of medicine was the diversified method of treatment and cure ─ yoga
(meditation),aromatherapy, use of gems, precious stones and amulets, herbs, diet, jyotish (astrology), color and surgery. It is amply
evident that each of these methods of treatment had a direct connection with nature i.e the eco-system around us. The use of
synthetics and chemicals (a part of Allopathy) was conspicuous by its absence.

Though Ayurveda came into being as a part of Atharva Veda, it has close links with other Vedas also. For instance the Yajur Veda,

)
which lays down elaborate rituals to pacify the panchabhutas (the five basic elements of nature) for the purpose of healing both the

TH
Cosmic Being as well as the individual soul, is related to ayurveda in its principles and regulations of lifestyle. Additionally, another
upaveda, the Dhanur Veda (related to warfare and the martial arts) and Ayurveda both lay emphasis on the marmas (sensitive points
in the body) ─ a precursor of accupressure and acupuncture perhaps!!!

NA
The famous
Dhanvantari, believed to be a reincarnation of Lord Vishnu, was the guiding spirit of Ayurveda. He made this science of health and
longevity popular and widely prevalent. Two major Samhitas (treatises) were written in the early part of 1000 BC. The great physician
physician, Charaka

AK
Charaka authored Charaka Samhita which has remained a landmark of internal medicine till date. The famous surgeon Susruta,
wrote Susruta Samhita, a vast treasure house of knowledge about surgery to replace limbs, cosmetic surgery, caesarian operations
UP
and even brain surgery. He is famed for his innovation of cosmetic surgery on the nose (rhinoplasty).

Ayurveda’s relevance in the present age lies in its, subtle, scientific, and holistic approach to the cure and treatment of a disease. It
.R

aims at healing not only the body, but also the mind and spirit. Its understanding of the similarities of the laws of nature and the
functioning of the human body helps to strike a balance between Man and Nature.
DR
JI(
TH
NA

The famous
UP

surgeon,Sushruta
Environment and Aesthetics
.R

In ancient India, a man’s life was assumed to be of a 100 years; it was sub-divided into four stages, each comprising 25 years ─
DR

Brahmacharya (celibacy) Garhastya (householder) Vanprastha (gradual detachment) and Sanyasa (renunciation of the world)

During the first phase, the main task of an individual was acquiring of education and other useful skills. Those days there were no
schools, colleges or universities; composite education on diverse subjects was imparted by learned men and scholars who were
hailed as Acharyas and Gurus. The Guru was a father figure, a guardian, an advisor, a counsellor and a confidante. In this
connection it was mandatory for a young male to spend a number of years in what was known as a gurukula. This was some kind of
a residential college.

The students lived with the guru’s family members, each performing a specific set of chores, apart from imbibing education and
ideology. These gurukulas or ashrams were located far away from cities towns and villages.

Since they lived in a natural environment, the students as well as their gurus were concerned about its preservation. They protected
trees and worshipped them as Vriksha Devta (tree god), the forest covers as Van Devta (forest god) and the rivers as sources of
delicious life-giving water. The ancient people cared for wildlife too. Terms and titles such as Nag Devta (snake god), Kamdhenu (the
cow that fulfills your desires) and Kalpavriksha (the wish –fulfilling tree) symbolized the benefits that accrued to human beings from
nature and their respect for wildlife. Thus pantheism or animism, by whatever name we may call it, eventually pointed to ecological An Ashram of
balance and conservation of nature.
ancient India
It would be interesting to note that compassion and reverence for life are among the basic tents of Jainism. The term Ahimsa (a =
non, himsa = violence), is rooted in positive aims and actions which are directly related to environmental issues. Ahimsa ought to be
practised not only towards human beings, but towards all living creatures including plants. By not killing or destroying plants or
animals one can help to maintain the ecological balance.
 Democracy In Vedic Society

In a nomadic society, the State is not a

territorial entity, but a flexible one - lacking a
physical status but ultimately very cohesive.
Shifting settlements meant a shifting State.
Kings, for instance, ruled over tribes, and Vedic

)
literature of the period refers to rulers of

TH
individual tribes such as the Kurus, the

NA
Pañcälas, the Yadus, and the Turvasas.
Nowhere are these rulers described as regional

AK
monarchs nor their kingdoms defined in terms
UP
other than tribal.
.R

With the previously nomadic State

DR

metamorphosing into a clearly bounded,

physical entity, the agricultural
JI(

communities too became a reality.

TH
NA

The political structure was, naturally

enough, a Monarchy - republics or
UP

oligarchies were rare. The Vedas offer an

appropriate origin for this form of
.R

government: the continuously vanquished

DR

Devas concluded that only the presence of a

suitable leader could assure them of victory
against the Asuras. Lord Indra was thus
annointed King of the Devas and he led the
exultant gods to victory. The choice was
based on Lord Indra's military might and on
a subsequent occasion, this stood
challenged and defeated by Lord Varuna
who proved himself mightier than the
mighty!

Clearly, the need for a stable, established

kingship was neccessitated by the fact of
war against the non-Aryans, and became an
 important concept in Aryan/Vedic society.
War notwithstanding, the roots of kingship
are clearly traceable to the patriarchal social
system already in existence among the
Vedic peoples. Within the family structure
(kul), these individuals were accustomed to
the presence of, and deference to, a family
head, the kulapati (or patriarch). Several
kulas comprised a vis, dominated by a
vispati; several visas combined into a jana,
ruled by a janapati. These gradations were
not unlike the gens, curiae and tribes of the
ancient Romans.
WAS KINGSHIP ELECTIVE?

)
TH
It remains easy to understand the concept and selection of a Kulapati - he was

NA
the family patriarch; the selection of a vispati and janapati remains
speculative. Assumably, the seniormost kulpati was accorded the honour of

AK
being the vispati. Similarly, the choice of janapati was possibly based on like
UP
consideration. Kings (janapatis) were elected on occasion by the visas
(people), as we know from the
.R

Rig-Veda. The Atharva-Veda recommends this form of selection, although it

DR

was in all probability the vispatis rather than the general populace who formed
the electorate. This text contains, too, the assuring 'Let your enemies challenge
JI(

you, we have elected you' message from the people to their King. He was
TH

generally more feared than loved, elections a rare occurrence, and kingship
more often than not hereditary . The Vedic period witnessed, for instance,
NA

hereditary kingship over four generations of the Purus and ten generations of
the Srnjayas.
UP
.R

The Vedic kingdom could not have been larger than the city-state of ancient
DR

Greece. This was to change during the later Vedic period and the Brahmanas
testify to the concept of an empire 'from the Himalayas to the seas'. References
have also been made to the exalted political status of samrat (or emperor) and
the rajasuya and asvamedha sacrifices. Titles such as raja, maharaja, svarat,
bhoja, and samrat are indicative of the different levels of power and status
attributed to and wielded by Kings. These differences, although not clearly
stipulated, are referred to in later
Vedic literature.

KING'S POWER

Initially, the elected monarch was a 'first among equals' (as was the Homeric
king) - he accepted his elected post but could not ipso facto demand taxes.
Voluntary payments and gifts were the norm. His power remained restricted,
and tellingly enough, a poet is depicted as offering prayers on the King's
behalf - for the receipt of regular taxes from the people! This changed with the
gradual increase in monarchial power, signalled by court grandeur, land
ownership and the possession of cattle herds. This, together with his existent
command of the military force, led to a position of absolute strength. Religion
was never far behind - religious duties were the domain of the royal purohit
(priest) who was vital to the continuing prosperity of realm and ruler. The
King, like the pharoahs of Egypt, performed no religious ceremonies himself.

Powers of Samiti or Parliament

The King remained absolute ruler but with the increase in power

)
TH
came the necessary restrictions. The Samiti (Parliament) was the most
powerful of the assemblies and the coronation ceremony came to

NA
include the prayer that the wishes of the Samiti be in sync with those

AK
of the newly annointed ruler. Likewise, a horrific curse from a
Brahman to an unjust King would be that of a disagreeable Samiti!
UP
Vedic texts do not provide any clear information on the election,
.R

constitution and full powers of the Samiti or the other two assemblies.
DR

These were the Vidatha i.e. probably, assembly of scholars and the
Sabha i.e. probably, assembly of villagers.
JI(
TH

War & peace, and justice were the chief duties of the King,
although the first two were undoubtedly his exclusive
NA

prerogative. His military might was the means to maintaining

UP

peace and warding off aggression, and the epithet dhrtavrata

demonstrates the additional requirement of establishing moral
.R

order. Whilst cases were tried by the village courts, the monarch
DR

remained the supreme judge of the land.

Kings Divinity

. Ratnins or King's Councillors

The exaltation of the monarch from mortal to divine was

arguably the result of needing to explain the power accorded to
one individual. Only in the later Samhitas is the office of King
imbued with divinity : the ruler as the earthly representative of
Lord Prajapati, the god Savitr the chief witness at the coronation
(the coronation believed to be at his request), and Lord Indra's
power manifesting in the King! Early Vedic writings do not exalt
 the King thus. On one occasion, King Purukutsa is referred to as
ardha-deva (demi-god) because according to popular legend, he
was gifted to his widowed mother by the Lords Indra and
Varuna. In another instance, the Atharva-Veda speaks of King
Parikshit as a divinity on earth, but this can be seen in the light of
subjectivity. These are rare instances - Kings are described and
praised, but not deified.

RATNINS OR KING'S COUNCILLORS

A council of able councillors assisted in the administrative and

military duties of the King. Later Vedic texts refer to these
individuals as ratnins and their council is the predecessor to the
council of ministers of a later date. Comprising this selective

)
circle were the senani (commander-in-chief), purohit (priest),

TH
sangrahitr (treasurer), suta (charioteer), bhagadhuk (tax-
collector), gramani (village head), ksattr (chamberlain), aksavapa

NA
(game companion), and amazingly, the mahisi (the crowned
queen).
AK
UP
A small kingdom required no provincial or district government;
the village head (gramani) and his Sabha (village assembly) were
.R

well-equipped to administer to all defence and legal needs at the

DR

village level. There was no concerted effort at writing, thereby

precluding the existence of a Secretariat.
JI(

Republics
TH
NA

.
UP

The rare instance of a State without a King

.R
DR

meant that the state was a republic - where

the population was both ruler and ruled. The
Aitreya Brahmana refers to vi-rat (Kingless
States) across the Himalayas, and there are
also references to the republican States of
Uttarakurus and Uttaramadras.

Oligarchies were more common - other

rulers selecting the King (as in vispatis and
kulapatis electing the janapati) or other
Kings selecting the one to be King. One
Vedic passage is adamant in its espousal of
this last. The repeated selection of
individuals from a specific family,
 continuing through generations, heralded
hereditary kingship.
The Vedic age can be assessed through the
limited material available. One fact clearly
emerges from the remnants of history -
political sophistication meant, too, the
advance of social and artistic factors.

)
TH
NA
AK
UP
Sanskrit & Artificial Intelligence — NASA
Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence
.R
DR

by
Rick Briggs
Roacs, NASA Ames Research Center, Moffet Field, California
JI(
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR

Abstract

In the past twenty years,

much time, effort, and
money has been expended
on designing an
unambiguous representation
of natural languages to make them accessible to computer
processing. These efforts have centered around creating
schemata designed to parallel logical relations with relations
expressed by the syntax and semantics of natural languages,
which are clearly cumbersome and ambiguous in their
function as vehicles for the transmission of logical data.
Understandably, there is a widespread belief that natural
languages are unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas
that artificial languages can render with great precision and
mathematical rigor.

)
TH
But this dichotomy, which has served as

NA
a premise underlying much work in the
areas of linguistics and artificial
AK
UP
intelligence, is a false one. There is at
.R

least one language, Sanskrit, which for

DR

the duration of almost 1,000 years was

JI(

a living spoken language with a

TH

considerable literature of its own.

NA

Besides works of literary value, there was a long philosophical

UP

and grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with

.R

undiminished vigor until the present century. Among the

DR

accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned a

method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical
not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial
Intelligence. This article demonstrates that a natural language
can serve as an artificial language also, and that much work
in AI has been reinventing a wheel millenia old.
 )
TH
First, a typical Knowledge Representation Scheme (using

NA
Semantic Nets) will be laid out, followed by an outline of the
method used by the ancient Indian Grammarians to analyze
AK
sentences unambiguously. Finally, the clear parallelism
UP
between the two will be demonstrated, and the theoretical
.R

implications of this equivalence will be given.

DR
JI(

Semantic Nets
TH

For the sake of comparison, a brief overview of semantic nets

NA

will be given, and examples will be included that will be

UP

compared to the Indian approach. After early attempts at

.R

machine translation (which were based to a large extent on

DR

simple dictionary look-up) failed in their effort to teach a

computer to understand natural language, work in AI turned
to Knowledge Representation.

Since translation is not simply a map from lexical item to

lexical item, and since ambiguity is inherent in a large number
of utterances, some means is required to encode what the
actual meaning of a sentence is. Clearly, there must be a
representation of meaning independent of words used.
Another problem is the interference of syntax. In some
sentences (for example active/passive) syntax is, for all
intents and purposes, independent of meaning. Here one
would like to eliminate considerations of syntax. In other
sentences the syntax contributes to the meaning and here
one wishes to extract it.

)
TH
NA
AK
UP

I will consider a "prototypical" semantic net system similar to

.R
DR

that of Lindsay, Norman, and Rumelhart in the hopes that it is

fairly representative of basic semantic net theory. Taking a
JI(

simple example first, one would represent "John gave the ball
TH

to Mary" as in Figure 1. Here five nodes connected by four

NA

labeled arcs capture the entire meaning of the sentence. This

UP

information can be stored as a series of "triples":

.R
DR

give, agent, John

give, object, ball

give, recipient, Mary

give, time, past.

Note that grammatical information has been transformed into

an arc and a node (past tense). A more complicated example
will illustrate embedded sentences and changes of state:
John Mary

book past

Figure 1.

"John told Mary that the train moved out of the station at 3
o'clock."

As shown in Figure 2, there was a change in state in which

the train moved to some unspecified location from the station.

)
It went to the former at 3:00 and from the latter at 3:O0.

TH
Now one can routinely convert the net to triples as before.

NA
AK
The verb is given central significance in this scheme and is
UP
considered the focus and distinguishing aspect of the
sentence. However, there are other sentence types which
.R
DR

differ fundamentally from the above examples. Figure 3

illustrates a sentence that is one of "state" rather than of
JI(

"event ." Other nets could represent statements of time,

TH

location or more complicated structures.

NA
UP

A verb, say, "give," has been taken as primitive, but what is

.R

the meaning of "give" itself? Is it only definable in terms of

DR

the structure it generates? Clearly two verbs can generate the

same structure. One can take a set-theoretic approach and a
particular give as an element of "giving events" itself a subset
of ALL-EVENTS. An example of this approach is given in Figure
4 ("John, a programmer living at Maple St., gives a book to
Mary, who is a lawyer"). If one were to "read" this semantic
net, one would have a very long text of awkward English:
"There is a John" who is an element of the "Persons" set and
who is the person who lives at ADRI, where ADRI is a subset
of ADDRESS-EVENTS, itself a subset of 'ALL EVENTS', and has
location '37 Maple St.', an element of Addresses; and who is a
"worker" of 'occupation 1'. . .etc."

The degree to which a semantic net (or any unambiguous,

nonsyntactic representation) is cumbersome and odd-
sounding in a natural language is the degree to which that
language is "natural" and deviates from the precise or
"artificial." As we shall see, there was a language spoken
among an ancient scientific community that has a deviation of

)
zero.

TH
NA
The hierarchical structure of the above net and

AK
the explicit descriptions of set-relations are
essential to really capture the meaning of the
UP

sentence and to facilitate inference. It is

.R
DR

believed by most in the AI and general

linguistic community that natural languages do not make such
JI(

seemingly trivial hierarchies explicit. Below is a description of

TH

a natural language, Shastric Sanskrit, where for the past

NA

millenia successful attempts have been made to encode such

UP

information.
.R
DR

Shastric Sanskrit

The sentence:

(1) "Caitra goes to the village." (graamam gacchati caitra)

receives in the analysis given by an eighteenth-century

Sanskrit Grammarian from Maharashtra, India, the following
paraphrase:
(2) "There is an activity which leads to a connection-activity
which has as Agent no one other than Caitra, specified by
singularity, [which] is taking place in the present and which
has as Object something not different from 'village'."

The author, Nagesha, is one of a group of three or four

prominent theoreticians who stand at the end of a long
tradition of investigation. Its beginnings date to the middle of
the first millennium B.C. when the morphology and
phonological structure of the language, as well as the

)
framework for its syntactic description were codified by

TH
Panini. His successors elucidated the brief, algebraic

NA
formulations that he had used as grammatical rules and

AK
where possible tried to improve upon them. A great deal of
UP
fervent grammatical research took place between the fourth
.R

century B.C and the fourth century A.D. and culminated in the
DR

seminal work, the Vaiakyapadiya by Bhartrhari. Little was

JI(

done subsequently to advance the study of syntax, until the

TH

so-called "New Grammarian" school appeared in the early part

NA

of the sixteenth century with the publication of Bhattoji

UP

Dikshita's Vaiyakarana-bhusanasara and its commentary by

.R

his relative Kaundabhatta, who worked from Benares.

DR

Nagesha (1730-1810) was responsible for a major work, the

Vaiyakaranasiddhantamanjusa, or Treasury of dejinitive
statements of grammarians, which was condensed later into
the earlier described work. These books have not yet been
translated.

The reasoning of these authors is couched in a style of

language that had been developed especially to formulate
logical relations with scientific precision. It is a terse, very
condensed form of Sanskrit, which paradoxically at times
becomes so abstruse that a commentary is necessary to
clarify it.

One of the main differences between the Indian approach to

language analysis and that of most of the current linguistic
theories is that the analysis of the sentence was not based on
a noun-phrase model with its attending binary parsing
technique but instead on a conception that viewed the
sentence as springing from the semantic message that the
speaker wished to convey. In its origins, sentence description

)
was phrased in terms of a generative model: From a number

TH
of primitive syntactic categories (verbal action, agents, object,

NA
etc.) the structure of the sentence was derived so that every

AK
word of a sentence could be referred back to the syntactic
UP
input categories. Secondarily and at a later period in history,
.R

the model was reversed to establish a method for analytical

DR

descriptions. In the analysis of the Indian grammarians, every

JI(

sentence expresses an action that is conveyed both by the

TH

verb and by a set of "auxiliaries." The verbal action (Icriyu-

NA

"action" or sadhyu-"that which is to be accomplished,") is

UP

represented by the verbal root of the verb form; the "auxiliary

.R

activities" by the nominals (nouns, adjectives, indeclinables)

DR

and their case endings (one of six).

The meaning of the verb is said to be both vyapara (action,

activity, cause), and phulu (fruit, result, effect). Syntactically,
its meaning is invariably linked with the meaning of the verb
"to do". Therefore, in order to discover the meaning of any
verb it is sufficient to answer the question: "What does he
do?" The answer would yield a phrase in which the meaning of
the direct object corresponds to the verbal meaning. For
example, "he goes" would yield the paraphrase: "He performs
an act of going"; "he drinks": "he performs an act of
drinking," etc. This procedure allows us to rephrase the
sentence in terms of the verb "to do" or one of its synonyms,
and an object formed from the verbal root which expresses
the verbal action as an action noun. It still leaves us with a
verb form ("he does," "he performs"), which contains
unanalyzed semantic information This information in Sanskrit
is indicated by the fact that there is an agent who is engaged
in an act of going, or drinking, and that the action is taking
place in the present time.

)
TH
Rather that allow the agent to relate to the syntax in this

NA
complex, unsystematic fashion, the agent is viewed as a one-

AK
time representative, or instantiation of a larger category of
UP
"Agency," which is operative in Sanskrit sentences. In turn,
.R

"Agency" is a member of a larger class of "auxiliary activities,"

DR

which will be discussed presently. Thus Caitra is some Caitral

JI(

or instance of Caitras, and agency is hierarchically related to

TH

the auxiliary activities. The fact that in this specific instance

NA

the agent is a third person-singular is solved as follows: The

UP

number category (singular, dual, or plural) is regarded as a

.R

quality of the Agent and the person category (first, second, or

DR

third) as a grammatical category to be retrieved from a

search list, where its place is determined by the singularity of
the agent.

The next step in the process of isolating the verbal meaning is

to rephrase the description in such a way that the agent and
number categories appear as qualities of the verbal action.
This procedure leaves us with an accurate, but quite abstract
formulation of the scntcnce: (3) "Caitra is going" (gacchati
caitra) - "An act of going is taking place in the present of
which the agent is no one other than Caitra qualified by
singularity." (atraikatvaavacchinnacaitraabinnakartrko
vartamaanakaa- liko gamanaanukuulo vyaapaarah:) (Double
vowels indicate length.)

If the sentence contains, besides an agent, a direct object, an

indirect object and/or other nominals that are dependent on
the principal action of the verb, then in the Indian system
these nominals are in turn viewed as representations of
actions that contribute to the complete meaning of the

)
sentence. However, it is not sufficient to state, for instance,

TH
that a word with a dative case represents the "recipient" of

NA
the verbal action, for the relation between the recipient and

AK
the verbal action itself requires more exact specification if we
UP
are to center the sentence description around the notion of
.R

the verbal action. To that end, the action described by the

DR

sentence is not regarded as an indivisible unit, but one that

JI(

allows further subdivisions. Hence a sentence such as: (4)

TH

"John gave the ball to Mary" involves the verb Yo give," which
NA

is viewed as a verbal action composed of a number of

UP

auxiliary activities. Among these would be John's holding the

.R

ball in his hand, the movement of the hand holding the ball
DR

from John as a starting point toward Mary's hand as the goal,

the seizing of the ball by Mary's hand, etc. It is a fundamental
notion that actions themselves cannot be perceived, but the
result of the action is observable, viz. the movement of the
hand. In this instance we can infer that at least two actions
have taken place:

(a) An act of movement starting from the direction of John

and taking place in the direction of Mary's hand. Its Agent is
"the ball" and its result is a union with Mary's hand.
(b) An act of receiving, which consists of an act of grasping
whose agent is Mary's hand.

It is obvious that the act of receiving can be interpreted as an

action involving a union with Mary's hand, an enveloping of
the ball by Mary's hand, etc., so that in theory it might be
difficult to decide where to stop this process of splitting
meanings, or what the semantic primitives are. That the
Indians were aware of the problem is evident from the
following passage: "The name 'action' cannot be applied to

)
the solitary point reached by extreme subdivision."

TH
NA
The set of actions described in (a) and (b) can be viewed as

AK
actions that contribute to the meaning of the total sentence,
vix. the fact that the ball is transferred from John to Mary. In
UP

this sense they are "auxiliary actions" (Sanskrit kuruku-

.R
DR

literally "that which brings about") that may be isolated as

complete actions in their own right for possible further
JI(

subdivision, but in this particular context are subordinate to

TH

the total action of "giving." These "auxiliary activities" when

NA

they become thus subordinated to the main sentence

UP

meaning, are represented by case endings affixed to nominals

.R

corresponding to the agents of the original auxiliary activity.

DR

The Sanskrit language has seven case endings (excluding the

vocative), and six of these are definable representations of
specific "auxiliary activities." The seventh, the genitive,
represents a set of auxiliary activities that are not defined by
the other six. The auxiliary actions are listed as a group of
six: Agent, Object, Instrument, Recipient, Point of Departure,
Locality. They are the semantic correspondents of the
syntactic case endings: nominative, accusative, instrumental,
dative, ablative and locative, but these are not in exact
equivalence since the same syntactic structure can represent
different semantic messages, as will be discussed below.
There is a good deal of overlap between the karakas and the
case endings, and a few of them, such as Point of Departure,
also are used for syntactic information, in this case "because
of". In many instances the relation is best characterized as
that of the allo-eme variety.

To illustrate the operation of this model of description, a

sentence involving an act of cooking rice is often quoted: (5)

)
"Out of friendship, Maitra cooks rice for Devadatta in a pot,

TH
over a fire."

NA
AK
Here the total process of cooking is rendered by the verb form
"cooks" as well as a number of auxiliary actions:
UP
.R

1. An Agent represented by the person Maitra

DR
JI(

2. An Object by the "rice"

TH

3. An Instrument by the "fire"

NA
UP

4. A Recipient by the person Devadatta

.R
DR

5. A Point of Departure (which includes the causal

relationship) by the "friendship" (which is between Maitra and
Devadatta)

6. The Locality by the "pot"

So the total meaning of the sentence is not complete without

the intercession of six auxiliary actions. The action itself can
be inferred from a change of the condition of the grains of
rice, which started out being hard and ended up being soft.
Again, it would be possible to atomize the meaning expressed
by the phrase: "to cook rice": It is an operation that is not a
unitary "process", but a combination of processes, such as "to
place a pot on the fire, to add fuel to the fire, to fan", etc.
These processes, moreover, are not taking place in the
abstract, but they are tied to, or "resting on" agencies that
are associated with the processes. The word used for "tied to"
is a form of the verbal root a-sri, which means to lie on, have
recourse to, be situated on." Hence it is possible and usually
necessary to paraphrase a sentence such as "he gives" as:

)
"an act of giving residing in him." Hence the paraphrase of

TH
sentence (5) will be: (6) "There is an activity conducive to a

NA
softening which is a change residing in something not
AK
different from rice, and which takes place in the present, and
UP
resides in an agent not different from Maitra, who is specified
.R

by singularity and has a Recipient not different from

DR

Devadatta, an Instrument not different from.. .," etc.

JI(
TH

It should be pointed out that these Sanskrit Grammatical

NA

Scientists actually wrote and talked this way. The domain for
UP

this type of language was the equivalent of today's technical

.R

journals. In their ancient journals and in verbal

DR

communication with each other they used this specific,

unambiguous form of Sanskrit in a remarkably concise way.

Besides the verbal root, all verbs have certain suffixes that
express the tense and/or mode, the person (s) engaged in the
"action" and the number of persons or items so engaged. For
example, the use of passive voice would necessitate using an
Agent with an instrumental suffix, whereas the nonpassive
voice implies that the agent of the sentence, if represented by
a noun or pronoun, will be marked by a nominative singular
suffix.

Word order in Sanskrit has usually no more than stylistic

significance, and the Sanskrit theoreticians paid no more than
scant attention to it. The language is then very suited to an
approach that eliminates syntax and produces basically a list
of semantic messages associated with the karakas.

An example of the operation of this model on an intransitive

sentence is the following:

)
TH
(7) Because of the wind, a leaf falls from a tree to the
ground."

NA
AK
Here the wind is instrumental in bringing about an operation
UP
that results in a leaf being disunited from a tree and being
.R

united with the ground. By virtue of functioning as instrument

DR

of the operation, the term "wind" qualifies as a representative

JI(

of the auxiliary activity "Instrument"; by virtue of functioning

TH

as the place from which the operation commences, the "tree"

NA

qualifies to be called "The Point of Departure"; by virtue of the

UP

fact that it is the place where the leaf ends up, the "ground"
.R

receives the designation "Locality". In the example, the word

DR

"leaf" serves only to further specify the agent that is already

specified by the nonpassive verb in the form of a personal
suffix. In the language it is rendered as a nominative case
suffix. In passive sentences other statements have to be
made. One may argue that the above phrase does not differ
in meaning from "The wind blows a leaf from the tree," in
which the "wind" appears in the Agent slot, the "leaf" in the
Object slot. The truth is that this phrase is transitive, whereas
the earlier one is intransitive. "Transitivity" can be viewed as
an additional feature added to the verb. In Sanskrit this
process is often accomplished by a suffix, the causative suffix,
which when added to the verbal root would change the
meaning as follows: "The wind causes the leaf to fall from the
tree," and since English has the word "blows" as the
equivalent of "causes to fall" in the case of an Instrument
"wind," the relation is not quite transparent. Therefore, the
analysis of the sentence presented earlier, in spite of its
manifest awkwardness, enabled the Indian theoreticians to
introduce a clarity into their speculations on language that
was theretofore un- available. Structures that appeared

)
radically different at first sight become transparent transforms

TH
of a basic set of elementary semantic categories.

NA
AK
It is by no means the case that these analyses have been
UP
exhausted, or that their potential has been exploited to the
.R

full. On the contrary, it would seem that detailed analyses of

DR

sentences and discourse units had just received a great

JI(

impetus from Nagesha, when history intervened: The British

TH

conquered India and brought with them new and apparently

NA

effective means for studying and analyzing languages. The

UP

subsequent introduction of Western methods of language

.R

analysis, including such areas of research as historical and

DR

structural linguistics, and lately generative linguistics, has for

a long time acted as an impediment to further research along
the traditional ways. Lately, however, serious and responsible
research into Indian semantics has been resumed, especially
at the University of Poona, India. The surprising equivalence
of the Indian analysis to the techniques used in applications of
Artificial Intelligence will be discussed in the next section.

Equivalence

A comparison of the theories discussed in the first section with

the Indian theories of sentence analysis in the second section
shows at once a few striking similarities. Both theories take
extreme care to define minute details with which a language
describes the relations between events in the natural world.
In both instances, the analysis itself is a map of the relations
between events in the universe described. In the case of the
computer-oriented analysis, this mapping is a necessary
prerequisite for making the speaker's natural language
digestible for the artificial processor; in the case of Sanskrit,
the motivation is more elusive and probably has to do with an

)
age-old Indo-Aryan preoccupation to discover the nature of

TH
the reality behind the the impressions we human beings

NA
receive through the operation of our sense organs. Be it as it
AK
may, it is a matter of surprise to discover that the outcome of
UP
both trends of thinking-so removed in time, space, and
.R

culture-have arrived at a representation of linguistic events

DR

that is not only theoretically equivalent but close in form as

JI(

well. The one superficial difference is that the Indian tradition

TH

was on the whole, unfamiliar with the facility of diagrammatic

NA

representation, and attempted instead to formulate all

UP

abstract notions in grammatical sentences. In the following

.R

paragraphs a number of the parallellisms of the two analyses

DR

will be pointed out to illustrate the equivalence of the two

systems.

Consider the sentence: "John is going." The Sanskrit

paraphrase would be

"An Act of going is taking place in which the Agent is 'John'

specified by singularity and masculinity."

If we now turn to the analysis in semantic nets, the event

portrayed by a set of triples is the following:

1. "going events, instance, go (this specific going event)"

2. "go, agent, John"

3. "go, time, present."

The first equivalence to be observed is that the basic

framework for inference is the same. John must be a semantic
primitive, or it must have a dictionary entry, or it must be

)
further represented (i.e. "John, number, 1" etc.) if further

TH
processing requires more detail (e.g. "HOW many people are

NA
going?"). Similarly, in the Indian analysis, the detail required

AK
in one case is not necessarily required in another case,
UP
although it can be produced on demand (if needed). The point
.R

to be made is that in both systems, an extensive degree of

DR

specification is crucial in understanding the real meaning of

JI(

the sentence to the extent that it will allow inferences to be

TH

made about the facts not explicitly stated in the sentence

NA
UP
.R
DR

The basic crux of the equivalence can be illustrated by a

careful look at sentence (5) noted in Part II.

"Out of friendship, Maitra cooks rice for Devadatta in a pot

over a fire "

The semantic net is supplied in Figure 5. The triples

corresponding to the net are:

cause, event, friendship

friendship, objectl, Devadatta

friendship, object2, Maitra

cause, result cook

cook, agent, Maitra

)
TH
cook, recipient, Devadatta

NA
cook, instrument, fire

AK
UP
cook, object, rice
.R

cook, on-lot, pot.

DR
JI(

The sentence in the Indian analysis is rendered as follows:

TH
NA

The Agent is represented by Maitra, the Object by "rice," the

Instrument by "fire," the Recipient by "Devadatta," the Point
UP

of Departure (or cause) by "friendship" (between Maitra and

.R
DR

Devadatta), the Locality by "pot."

Since all of these syntactic structures represent actions

auxiliary to the action "cook," let us write %ook" uext to each
karakn and its sentence representat(ion:

cook, agent, Maitra

cook, object, rice

cook, instrument, fire

cook, recipient, Devadatta

cook, because-of, friendship

friendship, Maitra, Devadatta

cook, locality, pot.

The comparison of the analyses shows that the Sanskrit

sentence when rendered into triples matches the analysis
arrived at through the application of computer processing.

)
That is surprising, because the form of the Sanskrit sentence

TH
is radically different from that of the English. For comparison,

NA
the Sanskrit sentence is given here: Maitrah: sauhardyat
Devadattaya odanam ghate agnina pacati.
AK
UP

Here the stem forms of the nouns are: Muitra-sauhardya-

.R
DR

"friendship," Devadatta -, odana- "gruel," ghatu- "pot," agni-

"fire' and the verb stem is paca- "cook". The deviations of the
JI(

stem forms occuring at the end of each word represent the

TH

change dictated by the word's semantic and syntactic

NA

position. It should also be noted that the Indian analysis calls

UP

for the specification of even a greater amount of grammatical

.R
DR

and semantic detail: Maitra, Devadatta, the pot, and fire

would all be said to be qualified by "singularity" and
"masculinity" and the act of cooking can optionally be
expanded into a number of successive perceivable activities.
Also note that the phrase "over a fire" on the face of it sounds
like a locative of the same form as "in a pot." However, the
context indicates that the prepositional phrase describes the
instrument through which the heating of the rice takes place
and, therefore, is best regarded as an instrument
semantically. cause
Of course, many versions of semantic nets have been
proposed, some of which match the Indian system better than
others do in terms of specific concepts and structure. The
important point is that the same ideas are present in both
traditions and that in the case of many proposed semantic net
systems it is the Indian analysis which is more specific.

A third important similarity between the two treatments of the

sentence is its focal point which in both cases is the verb. The
Sanskrit here is more specific by rendering the activity as a

)
"going-event", rather than "ongoing." This procedure

TH
introduces a new necessary level of abstraction, for in order to

NA
keep the analysis properly structured, the focal point ought to

AK
be phrased: "there is an event taking place which is one of
UP
cooking," rather than "there is cooking taking place", in order
.R

for the computer to distinguish between the levels of

DR

unspecified "doing" (vyapara) and the result of the doing

JI(

(phala).
TH
NA
UP
.R
DR
A further similarity between the two systems is the striving for
unambiguity. Both Indian and AI schools en-code in a very
clear, often apparently redundant way, in order to make the
analysis accessible to inference. Thus, by using the distinction
of phala and vyapara, individual processes are separated into
components which in term are decomposable. For example,
"to cook rice" was broken down as "placing a pot on the fire,
adding fuel, fanning, etc." Cooking rice also implies a change
of state, realized by the phala, which is the heated softened
rice. Such specifications are necessary to make logical

)
pathways, which otherwise would remain unclear. For

TH
example, take the following sentence:

NA
"Maitra cooked rice for Devadatta who
AK
UP
burned his mouth while eating it."
.R
DR

The semantic nets used earlier do not

give any information about the logical
JI(

connection between the two clauses. In order to fully

TH

understand the sentence, one has to be able to make the

NA

inference that the cooking process involves the process of

UP

"heating" and the process of "making palatable." The Sanskrit

.R

grammarians bridged the logical gap by the employment of

DR

the phalu/ vyapara distinction. Semantic nets could

accomplish the same in a variety of ways:

1. by mapping "cooking" as a change of state, which would

involve an excessive amount of detail with too much
compulsory inference;

2. by representing the whole statement as a cause (event-

result), or
3. by including dictionary information about cooking. A further
comparison between the Indian system and the theory of
semantic nets points to another similarity: The passive and
the active transforms of the same sentence are given the
same analysis in both systems. In the Indian system the
notion of the "intention of the speaker" (tatparya, vivaksa) is
adduced as a cause for distinguishing the two transforms
semantically. The passive construction is said to emphasize
the object, the nonpassive emphasizes the agent. But the
explicit triples are not different. This observation indicates

)
that both systems extract the meaning from the syntax.

TH
NA
Finally, a point worth noting is the Indian analysis of the

AK
intransitive phrase (7) describing the leaf falling from the
UP
tree. The semantic net analysis resembles the Sanskrit
.R

analysis remarkably, but the latter has an interesting flavor.

DR

Instead of a change from one location to another, as the

JI(

semantic net analysis prescribes, the Indian system views the

TH

process as a uniting and disuniting of an agent. This process

NA

is equivalent to the concept of addition to and deletion from

UP

sets. A leaf falling to the ground can be viewed as a leaf

.R

disuniting from the set of leaves still attached to the tree

DR

followed by a uniting with (addition to) the set of leaves

already on the ground. This theory is very useful and
necessary to formulate changes or statements of state, such
as "The hill is in the valley."

In the Indian system, inference is very complete indeed.

There is the notion that in an event of "moving", there is, at
each instant, a disunion with a preceding point (the source,
the initial state), and a union with the following point, toward
the destination, the final state. This calculus-like concept
fascillitates inference. If it is stated that a process occurred,
then a language processor could answer queries about the
state of the world at any point during the execution of the
process.

As has been shown, the main point in which the two lines of
thought have converged is that the decomposition of each
prose sentence into karalca-representations of action and
focal verbal-action, yields the same set of triples as those
which result from the decomposition of a semantic net into

)
nodes, arcs, and labels. It is interesting to speculate as to

TH
why the Indians found it worthwhile to pursue studies into

NA
unambiguous coding of natural language into semantic

AK
elements. It is tempting to think of them as computer
UP
scientists without the hardware, but a possible explanation is
.R

that a search for clear, unambigous understanding is inherent

DR

in the human being.

JI(

Let us not forget that among the great accomplishments of

TH

the Indian thinkers were the invention of zero, and of the

NA

binary number system a thousand years before the West re-

UP

invented them.
.R
DR
Their analysis of language casts doubt on the humanistic
distinction between natural and artificial intelligence, and may
throw light on how research in AI may finally solve the natural
language understanding and machine translation problems.

References
Bhatta, Nagesha (1963) Vaiyakarana-Siddhanta-Laghu-
Manjusa, Benares (Chowkhamba Sanskrit Series Office).

Nilsson, Nils J. Principles of Artificial Intelligence. Palo Alto:

Tioga Publishing Co

)
TH
Bhatta, Nagesha (1974) Parama-Lalu-Manjusa Edited by

NA
Pandit Alakhadeva Sharma, Benares (Chowkhambha Sanskrit
Series Office). AK
UP
.R

Rumelhart, D E. & D A. Norman (1973) Active Semantic

DR

Networks as a model of human memory. IJCAI.

JI(

Wang, William S-Y (1967) "Final Administrative Report to the

TH

National Science Foundation." Project for Machine Translation.

NA

University of California, Berkeley. (A biblzographical summary

UP

of work done in Berkeley on a program to translate Chinese.)

.R
DR