Importance of Sanskrit language
As Gandhiji said, Sanskrit is like the river Ganga for our languages. … But I have no doubt that whatever shape that future may take, one of the biggest, the strongest and the most powerful and the most valued of our legacies will be the Sanskrit language.
– MOHANDAS K. GANDHI.
“My idea is first of all to bring out the gems of spirituality that are stored up in our books… I want to make them popular. I want to bring out these ideas and let them be the common property of all, of every man in India… The great difficulty in the way is the Sanskrit language–the glorious language of ours…Therefore the ideas must be taught in the language of the people; at the same time, Sanskrit education must go on along with it, because the very sound of Sanskrit words gives a prestige and a power and a strength to the race. (C.W., Vol-3, p.290)”
– Swami vivekanandji
“The only solution to be reached was the findings of a great sacred language of which all others would be considered as manifestations and that was found in Sanskrit.”
-Swami Vivekananda
“ The ancient classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue, both in quality and body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of speech, and in the height and width of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank among the world’s great literatures. The language itself, as has been universally recognised by those competent to form a judgement , is one of the most magnificent, the most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary instruments developed by the human mind; at once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and clearly formed and full and vibrant and subtle.”
— Sri Aurobindo
Sanskrit has moulded the minds of our people to the extent to which they themselves are not conscious. Sanskrit literature is national in one sense, but its purpose has been universal. That is why it commanded the attention of people who were not followers of a particular culture.
– Dr. Radhakrishnan
The reasons for studying Sanskrit today are the same as they aver were: that the vast array of Sanskrit texts preserves for us a valuable part of the cultural heritage of mankind, including much beautiful literature and many interesting, even fascinating, ideas.
– Prof. Richard Gombrich (holds the Bolden chair at Oxford)
“Samskrit language, as has been universally recognized by those competent to form a judgment, is one of the most magnificent, the most perfect, the most prominent and wonderfully sufficient literary instrument developed by the human mind.”
– Sri Aurobindo
“Without the study of Samskrit one cannot become a true Indian and a true learned man.”
– Mahatma Gandhi
“If I was asked what is the greatest treasure which India possesses and what is her finest heritage, I would answer unhesitatingly that it is the Samskrit language and literature and all that it contains. This is a magnificent inheritance and so long as this endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue. If our race forgot the Buddha, the Upanishads and the great epics (Ramayana and Mahabharata), India would cease to be India .”
– Jawaharlal Nehru
“Samskrit has moulded the minds of our people to the extent to which they themselves are not conscious. Samskrit literature is national in one sense, but its purpose has been universal. That was why it commanded the attention of people who were not followers of a particular culture.”
– Dr. S. Radhakrishnan
“The language of Samskrit is of a wonderful structure, more perfect than Greek, more copious than Latin and more exquisitely refined than either. Human life would not be sufficient to make oneself acquainted with any considerable part of Hindu literature.”
– Sir William Jones
Samskrit was at one time the only language of the world. It is more perfect and copious than Greek and Latin.”
– Prof. Bopp
“Samskrit is the origin of modern languages of Europe .”
– Mr Bubois
Samskrit is the unsurpassed zenith in the whole development of languages yet known to us.”
– Wilhelm von Humboldt
“The intellectual debt of Europe to Samskrit literature has been undeniably great. It may perhaps become greater still in the years that are to come. We (Europeans) are still behind the making even our alphabet a perfect one.”
– Prof. Macdonell
“Samskrit is the greatest language of the world.”
– Max Muller
“ India was the motherland of our race and Samskrit the mother of Europe ’s languages…Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.”
– Will Durant
“If Samskrit would be divorced from the everyday life of the masses of this country, a light would be gone from the life of the people and the distinctive features of Hindu culture which have won for it an honoured place in world thought would soon be affected to be great disadvantage and loss both of India and of the world.”
– Sir Mirza Ismail
Sanskrit has moulded the minds of our people to the extent to which they themselves are not conscious. Sanskrit literature is national in one sense, but its purpose has been universal. That is why it commanded the attention of people who were not followers of a particular culture.
– Dr. Radhakrishnan
There is no language in India which can take the place of Sanskrit because no other language has the same intimate contact with the inner spirit of our lives. We may carry the dead weight of English as long as we choose but it is not and can never be an Indian language. It has no roots in our soil. Sanskrit and Sanskrit alone is associated with the life of the people over the whole country. It is heard in the family circle, in the market placeand in the temple. Let us not play with this great heritage. It can never be replaced but once we lose it, we shall cease to be Indians. Even our political independence will be of hardly much value either to ourselves or to the world at large.
– Sri Sampurnananda, Samskritavishvaparishat, Bangalore, May
1966, p. 42
