(Daily News Scan - DNS English) 3 August : World Sanskrit Day
Sanskrit is considered to be one of the ancient language in the world. The earliest form of Sanskrit in written form is used in the Rig Veda. Sanskrit language has been termed as Dev Vani or the language of Gods. To keep focus on the ancient Indian language and to promote its revival and maintenance Sanskrit day is celebrated.
It is celebrated on Sravana Poornima every year that is the Poornima day of Sravana month in the Hindu calendar. This year it is being celebrated on 3RD August. Not only this, The All India Radio aired its first ever special program in Sanskrit titled "Bahujan Bhasha - Sanskrit Bhasha" to mark the occasion.
Even though Sanskrit is such an old language, still very small percentage of people of India can fluently speak or write in Sanskrit. The main reason to celebrate Sanskrit Day is to promote the language.
You will be surprised to know that there is a newspaper which is published in Sanskrit language. This newspaper is known as Sudharma, which was started in the year 1970 and it is one of oldest newspaper published in Sanskrit.
You will be intrigued to know that Sanskrit language has connections with European languages. Several Sanskrit words have similarities with Greek and Latin. For instance, the Sanskrit word for ‘three’, that is ‘trayas’, is similar to the Latin ‘tres’ and the Greek ‘treis’.
In 1786, English Philologist William Jones, suggested in his book ‘The Sanscrit Language‘ that Greek and Latin were related to Sanskrit, and perhaps Gothic, Celtic and Persian languages, too Similarly, the Sanskrit for ‘snake’, is ‘sarpa’, which shares a phonetic link with ‘serpens’ in Latin. As the studies of the languages went further, it became clearer that apart from Greek and Latin, Sanskrit words could be found in most other European languages. For instance, ‘mata’ or mother in Sanskrit, is ‘mutter’ in German. ‘Dan’ or ‘to give’ in Sanskrit is ‘donor’ in Spanish.
A surprising fact that came out was, there were many such words which were clearly born out of the same root. The Sanskrit for ‘father’, ‘pitar’ for instance, has remarkable phonetic relations across European languages. It is ‘pater’ in Greek and Latin, ‘padre’ in Spanish, ‘pere’ in French, and ‘vader’ in German.
English scholar Thomas Young coined the term, ‘Indo-European’ for this widely spread group of related languages.
Another fascinating fact, a village in the Shimoga district of Karnataka, called Mattur, is believed to have preserved the Sanskrit language. From shopkeepers to children and street vendors, everyone in the village speaks in the ancient classical language of Sanskrit.
Sanskrit language is believed to be the most computer-friendly language. One can find the Sanskrit newspaper Sudharma online as well.
Besides being the celebration of the language, the day essentially speaks of the importance of learning and knowing it, despite it being not as widely spoken as in ancient times. The day aims to educate younger generations of the history and the significance of the language. In schools and colleges, students who are learning the language, take part in many cultural programmes and competitions.
