The government recently decided to replace German with Sanskrit (or any modern Indian language) as third language for students of class 6 to 8 in Kendriya Vidyalayas (Central schools).
And it is (apparently) facing tremendous criticism for this ‘regressive decision with ulterior agenda’ of promoting Hindutva agenda. It is a different matter that those shouting foul over this are unable to provide a single rational argument to defend their criticism.
The critics argue that Sanskrit is a useless and dead language having no future in a global world. German on contrary is a lucrative language that opens wonderful doors for great career. They quote that since 2008, there has been 114% rise in number of Indian students going to Germany for higher studies. Further, Sanskrit is equivalent to dangerous Hindutva agenda to impose Hinduism and trouble the minorities.
Hollow prejudice against Sanskrit
The entire chain of arguments given by critics is full of loopholes, irrational prejudices and perhaps a deeper disdain for Indian roots. The very force with which these critics are arguing against Sanskrit, however, explains why India had to face slavery for around a thousand years and freedom had to come at price of blood of so many martyrs. Just as India has been birthplace of innumerable genius and heroes, we also perhaps excel in producing spineless who would rather make hole in the plate that gives them food.
Most scientific language of world
To those who are confused about importance of Sanskrit, let it be known that Sanskrit is the most scientific language known in planet. It has been found to be most appropriate for use even in computational work. It is only lack of sufficient research and standardization efforts that is stopping from making technological world benefit from this gift of humanity.
Best language for brain and tongue
Schools in UK are teaching Sanskrit because that helps with better pronunciation and improves brain functioning.
Mother of all languages
Furthermore, Sanskrit forms the foundation of most languages in world. In fact all major Indian languages are children of mother Sanskrit. This includes Tamil as well, irrespective of how much political hatred and north-south divide propaganda be made. If one learns Sanskrit, he or she becomes much more fluent and trained to master any other Indian language.
If there is one language which has the potential to break away division across different vernacular languages, it is Sanskrit.
Foundation of Indianism
What more, Sanskrit is the foundation of entire Indian culture. Right from Vedas to every slogan of Indian organizations come from Sanskrit. Indian Republic, Indian Police, Indian Army, Indian Institutions – every one has a motto in Sanskrit. Be it Satyameva Jayate, or Sad Rakshanaya Khal Nigrahanaya, or Yoga Karmasu Kaushalam, or Yogakshemam Vahamyaham, or Dharmo Rakshati Rakshitah, or Tamaso Ma Jyotirgamaya – it is Sanskrit everywhere. Just to understand what our mottoes are, we need to know Sanskrit.
If one wants to truly be an Indian, one must love the mother of Indian culture – Sanskrit. It is foundation of our scriptures, our worship, our greeting, our mottoes, our festivals, our stories, our literature, our role models, our society, our spiritualism, our tolerance, our global vision, our wisdom, our way of life and our identity. Dissociate Sanskrit from India, and what would remain is a piece of land for which only fools can have emotional attachment. Real India is not merely a piece of land, it is the people of the land, the culture of the people, the foundation of the culture, the roots of the oldest civilization, the language of the roots, the Sanskrit.
Please note that we need not love Sanskrit just because it forms our roots. We need not love Sanskrit just because oldest is best. We need to love Sanskrit because not only it is our root, not only it is oldest, but indeed it is best. The greatest of world philosophies are gift of Sanskrit. The greatest of scientific concepts have foundation in Sanskrit. The very concept of globalization, the very encouragement for learning foreign languages and foreign wisdom, the very foundation of universal humanism hails from Sanskrit.
Sanskrit is more relevant than ever
In today’s scientific and globalized era, Sanskrit is more relevant than ever. It is more complete, more scientific, more brain-stimulating, more unifying than ever. For last 1000 years, we had to really struggle to preserve our roots due to one onslaught after another. Still our forefathers preserved the Sanskrit heritage at cost of their lives. From Qasim to Ghazni to Ghori to Akbar to Aurangzeb to British – the agenda was to loot and destroy Sanskrit and Sanskriti (language and culture). And after sacrifices of innumerable Prataps, Shivajis and Netajis when we finally are in a position to nurture our roots, it is a pity that there is a suggestion from pseudo-intellectuals that we throw it into garbage.
The Hindutva scare
It is also shamefully curious to see how “Sanskrit” is projected to be linked with “Hindutva agenda” that is supposedly similar to Hitler’s Nazism. Nothing can be far from truth.
First, if India, as oldest civilization of world, has anything to be proud of most, it is Hindutva or Hinduism. But unlike what fools would like us to believe out of pettiness of their own minds, Hindutva is not about racial or religious discrimination. On contrary it is about rising above such petty discriminations and considering entire humanity as one family. No other philisophy on earth has such an unequivocal stand on universal humanism as Hindutva – Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam – entire humanity is my own family. The last 2000 years have seen us dividing people on basis of religion, belief, color, gender, race, birth, geography and what not. And in today’s global era when we all unitedly stand up to rise against such discriminations, it is only Hindutva (with roots in Sanskrit) that proudly stands up to say – “Yes, ever since the origin of civilization, we have been saying the same – One world, One emotion, One humanity, One family.”
Please note that even Supreme Court has agreed that Hinduism has nothing to do with religion. It existed when there was no religion at all to make people fight against each other. Hinduism is a Way of Life. It is the Way of Life of tolerant, rational and intelligent. It is only later day confusions due to exclusivist religions that make one think that Hindutva is a religion. One cannot be Muslim if he does not believe in Prophet and Quran. One cannot be Christian if he does not believe in Christ and Bible. But one can be Hindu, irrespective of his beliefs, only if he has desire to constructively utilize his life. Hindutva has nothing to do with region, religion, caste and belief.
To know more about Hinduism, please read : Why I am proud to be Hindu
Hindutva is way above religious discriminations. It is way above the tendency to impose one’s philsophy on others. It is about tolerance and mutual respect. It must be the agenda of every sane person on earth.
And Hindutva – the oldest, smartest, most tolerant way of life – has its roots in Sanskrit the oldest, smartest and most complete language. We must be thankful that we got such wonderful gifts to enlighten our own lives and that of entire mankind. Instead of false scares and baseless prejudices, we must strive to nurture these gifts with smile, tolerance, love and enthusiasm.
Sudden love for German
It is also a cold irony that suddenly this love of German emerges from nowhere among “Hindutva haters”. If indeed there is genuine concern that our students must be trained for global world, why German? Why not French which has much better prospects in business world as per projections? Why not Spanish which has a larger population base? Why not Chinese which is the most spoken language of world? If career for Indians be the sole criteria, then German stands far away in list of priorities. In fact Bengali and Punjabi are more popular than German.
If indeed, Germans would be thinking in this manner, they would have started teaching Hindi or Spanish or French or Chinese in their schools as well.
Do we lack self respect?
The difference lies in notion of self-respect. Germans have respect for their roots. French have respect for their roots. But many Indians have utter disdain for their own roots. The cause of many of our problems is neither poverty nor corruption. These are mere symptoms. The root is lack of self-respect.
Please note that India is different from any other country in world. We have the oldest civilization, we have greatest diversity in language and culture and we have the longest thriving cultural heritage. To jettison our entire cultural roots because we feel adopting foreign ways will give us more money is the thought process of Mir Zafars, Jai Chands and babus serving Union Jack.
No we are not against learning foreign languages. On contrary, we believe we should learn as many languages as possible. That is good for brain and helps integrate with entire world.
But not at cost of rejecting our own roots. The government has not stopped teaching of German. It has continued with the same. All it has done is to replace German as a “cumpulsory” third subject to an optional. This is the right thing to do.
Also please note that Sanskrit is not “imposed”. “Imposition” is against “Hindutva” ethics. Instead students are given a choice to pick one from among Sanskrit and any other modern Indian language. And of course, they can also learn German or any other foreign language as well.
So irrespective of how so much we love Sanskrit or Telugu or Tamil or Bengali or any other Indian language, we believe in choice and not imposition.
English is sufficient
The truth of the matter is that English is the de-facto business language of world. So if one knows English, that suffices to establish oneself in business world. If one indeed wants to explore careers through other languages, there is no stopping. No one plans for a career in German in class 6 to 8. One can always take a German course as and when required during later years of career. We took French and German while studying at IIM. It is a different matter that it did not help much because English and Hindi were sufficient to build a career and contribute adequetely to country.
Let us be more ambitious
Let us rise, as a nation, from beggar mentality of just seeking who can give more coins to us. Let us think big, act bigger and make the whole world come to us through the value we create for them. It is only people with such ambitious mindsets that can make India lighthouse of the world once again. Let us be proud of our timeless culture. Unless we ourselves take pride in our culture, how do we expect others to respect us?
Just saying “I love India” is not enough. Let us strive to make our country more attractive more worthwhile for world. Let us nurture our roots.
If Sanskrit is not nurtured in India, where else in world you think it can be nurtured? And if Sanskrit is not nurtured in India, how do we preserve our timeless heritage? People across globe take so much pains to preserve endangered buildings, species, manuscripts and ecosystems even though there is no direct benefit in that. Is is not a termite mindset, hence, to even think of killing the very foundation of our existence just because it is not giving us money in short-run?
How is this mentality different from those who smuggle ancient artefacts for money, or sell their wives and children for money, or gamble their parents away for money?
Maithilisharan Gupt rightly said : “One who has no pride for one’s nation or roots is not a human. He is merely an animal and in fact a dead animal.”
Let us come back to life. Let us assert our intelligence. Let us declare that we are not petty chemical reactions. Let us stand up to protect, preserve and nurture our cultural roots. Let us become champions of our Sanskrit and Sanskriti.
Let whole world be dazzled and enlightened with our heritage. The century belongs to India. Let us rise up to fulfill the call of the destiny.
Vande Mataram
PS : If you are not in Class 6 to 8 in Kendriya Vidyalaya and still want to learn Sanskrit by yourself please visit :
http://agniveer.com/series/sanskrit-lessons/
Source : Agniveer
