How to get a passion to learn the Sanskrit language?
Sanskrit is a classical language of South Asia belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age. Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism, the language of classical Hindu philosophy, and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism. It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture, and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies.
Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan varieties. The most archaic of these is Vedic Sanskrit found in the Rig Veda, a collection of 1,028 hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE by Indo-Aryan tribes migrating east from what today is Afghanistan across northern Pakistan and into northern India. Vedic Sanskrit interacted with the preexisting ancient languages of the subcontinent, absorbing names of newly encountered plants and animals; in addition, the ancient Dravidian languages influenced Sanskrit’s phonology and syntax. “Sanskrit” can also more narrowly refer to Classical Sanskrit, a refined and standardized grammatical form that emerged in the mid-1st millennium BCE and was codified in the most comprehensive of ancient grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī (“Eight Chapters”) of Pāṇini.}} The greatest dramatist in Sanskrit Kālidāsa wrote in classical Sanskrit, and the foundations of modern arithmetic were first described in classical Sanskrit. The two major Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and the Rāmāyaṇa, however, were composed in a range of oral storytelling registers called Epic Sanskrit which was used in northern India between 400 BCE and 300 CE, and roughly contemporary with classical Sanskrit. In the following centuries, Sanskrit became tradition-bound, stopped being learned as a first language, and ultimately stopped developing as a living language.
The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to the most archaic poems of the Iranian and Greek language families, the Gathas of old Avestan and Iliad of Homer. As the Rigveda was orally transmitted by methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, as a single text without variant readings, its preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor language Proto-Indo-European. Sanskrit does not have an attested native script: from around the turn of the 1st-millennium CE, it has been written in various Brahmic scripts, and in the modern era most commonly in Devanagari.
Sanskrit’s status, function, and place in India’s cultural heritage are recognized by its inclusion in the Constitution of India’s Eighth Schedule languages. However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first-language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India’s recent decadal censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but the numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. Sanskrit has been taught in traditional gurukuls since ancient times; it is widely taught today at the secondary school level. The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in 1791 during East India Company rule. Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial and ritual language in Hindu and Buddhist hymns and chants.
Sanskrit, the oldest known language, revered for its contributions to world overages, is slowly and consistently making a comeback with many learning the language. Evidently, in many of the colleges, the number of students pursuing Sanskrit as a course is on a rise.
How do you keep your passion to learn the Sanskrit language alive? Let us look at some of the possible ways.
First and foremost, is that all ancient scriptures of India are in Sanskrit. Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad-Gita and so many other divine scriptures and shlokas were originally written in Sanskrit. We may have the translations of these available, however, understanding the original scriptures in their original language is a next-level thing. Sometimes, it is very difficult to find the true translation of a word in other languages which leads to the use of synonyms that may not give the true essence of the original scriptures. This can be your only and biggest passion and reason to learn Sanskrit.
Bhagavad-Gita the holy book of Hindus is not just a sacred or divine book but if understood properly and its knowledge implemented in the right way can help a person lead a calm and successful life. There are many corporate gurus who vouch for this.
Spiritual or just love for Sanskrit, if you are interested in learning the language and get disappointed by the fact that there are not enough opportunities to learn, you may be wrong.
To keep your passion for Sanskrit ignited and stay on the path of learning this beautiful language it may help you to know that apart from the many universities that offer courses in Sanskrit, there are many options available online as well.
You need to find the right resources to learn the language to stay connected with the language. For those of you who know Hindi, the script is not difficult because it is the same script that is Devanagari. Also, for all those who speak any regional language in India, it is not very difficult to find the shlokas in their own language, thus making it easy to read. Once you can read and write the language with the help of a good teacher you can easily learn the grammar.
The knowledge of grammar can help you understand and interpret the language easily. Though learning through books has always been an option and people have practised it for many years, in today’s digital age, you may find an equally well qualified Sanskrit teacher online who can help you learn the language as it should be learnt.
Many people have learnt Sanskrit in schools as a third language or chose as a second language to score better, however, those are the same people who have actually decided to pursue learning Sanskrit at a later age after understanding its beauty and importance with respect to understanding the original texts in Sanskrit.
Finally,
Whatever is your reason to learn Sanskrit, you will find N number of reasons to pursue Sanskrit the moment you step into its realm! With so many online resources and teaching options available to learn it in the right way you will sure find your motivation and passion for the language.