The Language We Forgot
Let’s revisit it to feel its essence
Dear Readers, today, I plan to share something about a language which we seem to have forgotten.
The language was also termed as God’s own language.
God spoke once. He spoke in Sanskrit, and that is the divine language.
~Swami Vivekananda
But why is it called God’s own language though?
The Sanskrit language was termed as Deva-Vani (‘Deva’ meaning Gods and ‘Vani’ meaning language) as it was believed to have been generated by the god Brahma.
He passed it to the Rishis (sages) living in celestial abodes, who further passed it on to their earthly disciples from where it spread on Earth.
Sanskrit Etymology explained:
The term ‘Sanskrit’ is derived from the conjoining of the prefix ‘Sam’ meaning ‘samyak’ (which indicates ‘entirely’, ‘together’, ‘perfected’), and ‘krit’ which indicates ‘done’.
Thus, the name indicates perfectly or entirely done in terms of communication, reading, hearing, and the use of vocabulary to express emotions.
Let’s talk about its origins…
The origin of the Sanskrit language in written form can be traced back to the 2nd millennium BCE when the Rig Veda, a collection of sacred hymns was written.
The language sustained its existence after being continued for centuries through oral tradition and preservation of verbal knowledge through Vedas in the Guru-Disciple relationship.
Different Types of Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit is found in the Vedas sacred texts, especially the Rig Veda, the Puranas, and the Upanishads, where the most original form of the language was used.
It consists of 52 letters in total, 16 vowels, and 36 consonants.
These 52 letters have never been tweaked or altered and are believed to have been constant since the beginning, thus making it the most perfect language for word formation and pronunciation.
This language is believed to have been generated by observing the natural progression of sounds created in the human mouth, thus considering sound an important element of language formation.
This is one of the prime reasons why Sanskrit has been extensively used in poetry to express the best meanings through perfect sounds that are soothing to the human ear.
Classical Sanskrit
The origins of Classical Sanskrit can be traced back towards the end of the Vedic period when Panini, a descendant of Pani and a grammar and linguistic researcher, introduced the refined version of the language.
The language was introduced in the form of his work ‘Ashtadhyayi’, which means eight chapters. It is known to be the only available foundational and analytical text of Sanskrit grammar because everything that existed before had never been recorded.
The Ashtadhyayi contains 3959 systematized rules that offer wonderful analysis, explanation, and preferential usage of language and word formation.
The language is so vast that it has more than 250 words to describe rainfall, 67 words to describe water, and 65 words to describe the earth. (Blew your mind also, right? It blew mine when I got to know about it.) 😅
This proves the magnanimity of Sanskrit when compared with current modern languages.
Carnatic music also uses Sanskrit in the form of bhajans, shlokas, stotras, and kirtans, all forms of various hymns to the Gods, songs and mantras of God worship.
Let’s talk about its influence:
English, has also been influenced by Sanskrit and has picked up many words from this ancient language.
For example ‘primitive’ from ‘prachin’, meaning historical, ‘ambrosia’ from ‘amaruta’ meaning food of the Gods, ‘attack’ from ‘akramana’ meaning taking aggressive action, ‘path’ from ‘patha’ meaning road or way, ‘man’ from ‘manu’ meaning a male human, ‘nirvana’ from ‘nirvan’ meaning divine liberation or transcendence, ‘door’ from ‘dwar’ meaning a doorway connecting two spaces, ‘serpent’ from ‘sarpa’ meaning snake.
Indian readers, remember that “Namaste London” scene? 👀
I can bet some of us who have watched “Namaste London” are replaying that scene in our head where Akshay Kumar and Katrina make the entire audience on the cruise (that’s where the scene takes place) aware of India’s prowess and culture. During that, they mention a few words from English that have been influenced by Sanskrit.
Now it’s time to get amazed people
Sanskrit is also considered an ideal language for artificial intelligence
Tell me honestly, did you know that? I didn’t until I watched this video of Sushma Swaraj. :)
So, how did it all start? Let me give you a bit of background.
It all began in 1985 when a NASA associate scientist by the name Rick Briggs published a research paper titled “Vedic Science-Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence” in the spring issue of Artificial Intelligence magazine.
“There is at least one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration of almost 1,000 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 vigour until the present century. Their grammar experts devised a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence.”
— Rick Briggs’ statement on the Sanskrit language
But Why Sanskrit though?
The challenge with choosing a natural language for training artificial intelligence was that language should be such that it reduces the ambiguousness, being more literal so that artificial intelligence could understand it.
But most natural languages are ambiguous in the sense that the words which form a sentence in a natural language can behold multiple meanings.
Sarcastic statements are difficult to interpret accurately because understanding sarcasm requires emotional intelligence.
Accurate linguistic analysis of statements with emotions and small tonal fluctuations is difficult for AI, particularly if they are conveyed via a microphone or read out loud by another person.
This is another reason why Sanskrit seems more suitable than other languages. The strict grammar rules, syllables, and words provide reduced ambiguity making the literal meaning of word and sentence.
Sidenotes
Guru Disciple Relationship:
Guru-Disciple relationship acts as a process of transmitting religious teachings in which knowledge is transferred from a guru (teacher) to a ‘sisya’ (disciple).
Such sharing of sacred wisdom is imparted through the formal relationship between the guru and the disciple that has many requirements including extreme respect towards the guru, and unwavering commitment, devotion and obedience in the student.
Sources used for this article:
You can consider reading more about what people have to say about the Sanskrit language here.
P.S. : Sushma Swaraj’s video was my motivation for my writing this article. I am glad, I came across that video. :)
Dear Readers,
Thank you for reading my article till the end. 🙂
As always, I am open to your feedback. Let me know if there is anything you would like me to improve on.
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Signing off,
Your Pal😉
