Why Learn Sanskrit?

If I have any complaints on my parents, it is this. They should have appointed a tutor for teaching me Sanskrit while in school. Even though I chose Sanskrit as one of the languages in XI and XII, Sanskrit is too vast to learn in 2 years of part time study. But it introduced me to beauty of language. I still remember the lesson on GoSeva (Service to Cow) by legendary Kalidas. I have been introduced him as greatest of the poets and ‘Upama Kalidasasya’ – translating to he made phenomenal use of Upama Alankara or simile. But unfortunately could not continue the love with the language during engineering days not because of lack of time but because of lack of focus.

It may appear outdated and out of fashion for someone to wanting to learn Sanskrit when the alternatives we have around are likes of French, Spanish, German. I actually know few people who consider Sanskrit as a dead language. It pains me to hear such things.

It comes back to basic question of why learn a new language. Fundamentally language is a means of communication. So on this front in order to converse in Sanskrit we need to have someone who only understands Sanskrit and no other languages we know like hindi, english and regional language. Argument holds good for likes of French as well. In one of his speeches veteran devotional speaker Shri Malladi Chandrasekhara Sastri Garu quipped “if you need to converse with God Sanskrit is the only medium. You can use English to send money orders not for conversation with God”. Some truth in it as most pujas are performed using Sanskrit and learning the language will help you perform it with cognizance rather than following instructions of priest.

Another reason could be to benefit from the rich knowledge repository in that language and its literature. Nothing beats Sanskrit here. Vedas, Upanishads, Kavyas  dramas and all probably the vast in the world and needs more than a life time to read. There used to be Rishi named Bhardwaja who wanted to study Vedas. He prayed to God and asked for 1000years of life so that h can study Vedas. After 1000years he is not done yet and so asked for another 1000. After next 1000 years, he asked God how much he completed. God has picked a handful of sand from a big heap and said you finished this much in 2000 years. That illustrates the vast nature of literature in Sanskrit, pity large portion of it is not available to us today and is still vast.

Employment opportunities is one reason for study for some. It doesn’t apply to me as I hold a job already. But I recently got to know that in the heart of the city I live in, we have 2 French tutors and in 6 km radius we could not find a Sanskrit tutor for the kids who have opted for that language. So there is plenty of opportunity here as well as in universities.

Some may disagree with me but I feel Sanskrit is easier to learn than likes of French. This is because most regional languages originated from Sanskrit and have many words borrowed from Sanskrit. So the learning and comprehending would not be too tough. On the other hand one needs to go through steep learning curve for other languages like French.

Given the merits associated with the language, I would suggest given an opportunity pursue study of Sanskrit. Also encourage your kids to study this alongside the curriculum prescribed by the contemporary education system.