Sanskrit Literature is Dying: Are You Interested in Keeping It Alive?

In the late '90s, when Tek Chand Meena was pursuing undergraduate studies at Maharishi Dayanand Saraswati University, Ajmer, he attended a 10-day Sanskrit-speaking camp in Ganganagar. That was his first brush with the ancient language. After savouring its richness, he was hooked to it for life.

"After the camp ended, I attended a two-week advanced-level workshop in Bikaner followed by another camp in Gujarat. When we returned after seven weeks, we were conversant in Sanskrit, a fact which floored everyone in the university, including my Sanskrit teacher," says Meena.

That was the sense of fulfillment and achievement which tempted him to explore Sanskrit literature. After college, he came to Delhi for his postgraduation in Sanskrit, followed by an MPhil from the University of Delhi (DU). And he enjoyed every bit of it. "Sanskrit is a language which opens doors to several other areas, including yoga, Ayurveda, astrology, archaeology, manuscriptology and others. Moreover, it has a very rich literature too," adds Meena, who is now an assistant professor of Sanskrit in DU.

Dr Dipti S Tripathi, director, National Mission of Manuscripts, also takes pride in being a Sanskrit teacher and scholar. "Our knowledge base of 5,000 years is written in Sanskrit. This language is not only defined by its literature but also spreads into the realms of philosophy, science, technology, medicine architecture and sociology," says Tripathi.

Young students also learn more about moral values, thanks to Sanskrit. Says Natwar Mangalav, a Sanskrit teacher in Model Convent School, Delhi, "Sanskrit (in textbooks in schools) deals with issues of discipline, inculcates virtues and helps you lead a happy and healthy life. Once I taught a chapter which taught students about respecting elders - which leads to longevity, makes you more knowledgeable, popular, and strong. After that class, I got to know in a PTA (parents-teachers association) meeting that some children had started touching their parents' feet every morning." At times, his students are all ears in class. "I never have to ask the students to stay silent. There is always pin drop silence whenever a Sanskrit lecture is on," adds Mangalav.

Mangalav thinks highly of the language and has taken his teaching beyond the school classroom. "I have trained hundreds of students in 10-day Sanskrit-speaking camps (the kind of camp Meena had attended) purely out of my love of the language," he says.

Though he can't teach at such camps now, thanks to his school job, he enjoys doing what he is best at - teaching Sanskrit to young people. "I am glad that I have studied Sanskrit. It gives me a sense of satisfaction. In retrospect, I think that my life would have been incomplete without Sanskrit," he says.

The only downside of the language is its low popularity. Students normally don't study it after Class 10 which offers little incentive to them to take it up at the postgraduation level because there are barely any positions for postgraduate teachers (PGTs) at the school level. This is the reason why Mangalav has to remain content with his job teaching students from Class 6 to Class 8 even though he is an MPhil.

 

Author: Vimal Chander Joshi (HT Horizons)

Date: 31st December, 2010

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