Sanskrit - The knowlwge therein, and the socio-political dimensions.

12 July 2016 at 09:33 ·

Sanskrit - The knowlwge therein, and the socio-political dimensions.

"Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Good article saying it as it was/is. Love the line on Sanskritisation and medieval status quo!

Aparna Krishnan I really think this anti-sanskrit position is a case of throwing out the baby with the bathwater, at huge loss. Much of our traditional knowlege is kept in tomes which can only be unlocked with an indepth knowlege of sanskrit. This includes a wealth of health perspectives which is what may yet rescue this nation from a pervasive ill health. Of Ayurveda i am able to speak of with some confidence. I am sure the same holds for vrkshayurveda and other different disciplines as well. To take on English hegemony and superiority would be a more worthwhile exercise imo.

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula Aparna Krishnan everything can be translated into our languages for access. When a language is denied from the people for two millennia, it won't be suddenly accepted. People have moved on, and our languages have evolved with the times.

Aparna Krishnan Certianly, and we are not asking for public proficiency in the language. But the scholarship in sanskrit is essential to access the knowlege and translate. To keep denying Sanskrit and to keep calling it brahminical helps no cause. Maybe best to stop flogging that and simply focus on demanding local language rights and primacy. That is the essential point anyway.

Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula The politics behind Sanskritization needs to be addressed. We will all let Sanskrit be, but the push to include it in our education, puts us in a dilemma of limiting what languages we can learn. Ideally, 3 languages can be learnt in school,

1) mother/native tongue.

2) English

3) minority language of the states or languages of the neighboring states or any other language.

Where does Sanskrit feature here? Neither does it have the utilitarian value of English nor does it have emotional connect of our own languages.

When Sanskrit or Hindi is imposed as one of the 3 options, that means we have to make a choice and in 9 out of cases, our own languages suffer as English won't be rejected.

This is why Sanskrit is hated when it is pushed. it's the sociopolitical agenda behind it that makes people resist it.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan I'm skeptical about this claim about learning three languages in school. The majority of the Indian population consists of Tamil speakers in TN, Marathi speakers in MH, Hindi speakers in a number of the northern states ... ... The numbers don't correlate with the predominant sentiment of resistance towards learning the language. There are other, more important political factors at play.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan For most students, mother tongue is the same as the local language spoken around them. Two out of the three languages in the school system formula collapse into each other.

Aparna Krishnan yes, and the third can be any other language of choice including hindi, sanskrit, languages of other states ...

Vidyasankar Sundaresan Right. And how many schools in AP/Telangana have teachers who can impart knowledge of Kannada, Tamil, Marathi and Oriya?

Vidyasankar Sundaresan Learning a language, like learning music or dance, should be a joy, not a chore. The approach to Indian language education needs to change completely, from the root.

Komakkambedu Himakiran There is a substantial linguistic minority population in all states of languages from neighboring states. When govt can think it can find Hindi teachers in places 2500 kms away, finding teachers of Telugu or Malayalam in Tamilnadu won't be a problem.

Komakkambedu Himakiran You can check census data to see migration patterns between and inside states. Almost 91% people don't leave their home state, out of which 85% odd don't leave their home districts. From amongst the ones who leave their state, almost all go to neighboring states.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan Migrations, between and within states, have been happening for a thousand years or more. Marathi and Telugu and Kannada speakers in Tamil Nadu became Tamil speakers over a few generations and still retained the languages of their great grandparents. In addition to Sanskrit. Same story with Tamil speakers who moved to Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra. Like I said, the attitude and approach towards teaching and learning Indian languages needs to change. Including Sanskrit.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan So, roughly 91% of the population of any given state consists of native language speakers. Just proves my point that for the vast majority, mother tongue and local language are the same.

Komakkambedu Himakiran Vidyasankar Sundaresan wrong conclusion. 91% don't leave the state.

Depending on the state linguistic minorities range from 5-25%. Point is they would rather learn their own language as a third language rather than Hindi or Sanskrit.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan So, what about the 75-95% linguistic majority, for whom their own language is already taken care of? As second language, if not first.

Komakkambedu Himakiran They can learn any language they want to learn as third language.

Vidyasankar Sundaresan Komakkambedu Himakiran Anugula, in theory, yes. In practice? I think almost every Indian state has failed in teaching either a neighboring state's language or Sanskrit as the third. In the Hindi speaking belt, the problem is especially acute. In the south, the default formula is English, Hindi and local language. Not much room for anything else.

Komakkambedu Himakiran North doesn't teach Hindi properly let alone other languages.

South performs much better, there are Telugu, Kannada, Malayalam medium schools in border districts. Same is the case in other states. Hindi is where they lack teachers.

Aparna Krishnan Bringing back local languages is essential. From my village I can be categorical that that is what will start leveling the field. But is there any chance of this new report seeing the light of day.

Aparna Krishnan And the debate about local language/mother tongue needing priority over sanskrit - few will differ with that. But the diatribe against Sanskrit per se is reactionary. Not least because it is only through the language that vast resources can be accessed.