Talk:Sanskrit Language

By Swami Harshananda

Sanskrit Language Origin

How a language could attain the present degree of sophistication and artistry, starting with a physical sign language and inarticulate babble is a mystery. It is a mystery that linguistics or phonetics or etymology or philology will never be able to solve!

Religion has easily ‘solved’ the same by attributing the origin of all languages and sciences to God Himself. There is an interesting verse in an ancient work called Nandikeśvarakārikā which declares that all the alphabets of the Sanskrit language and hence its grammar have evolved out of the fourteen sounds made by Lord Śiva through his ḍamaru at the end of his cosmic dance.

Two Divisions

Though Sanskrit is called devabhāṣā, the language of the gods in heaven, in practice it is divided into two categories:

1. The Vaidika - It is also called as Vedic. The Vedas, the Vedāṅgas, the Upavedas and allied literature belong to this group.
2. The Laukika - It is also known as Secular. All the other literature from the itihāsas and purāṇas up to the modern Sanskrit literature falls under this group.

Vedic Literature

The earliest form of Sanskrit is that of the Rgveda. According to the orthodox tradition, the entire body of the Vedic mantras was originally one mass. The sage Kṛṣṇa Dvaipāyana collected all these Vedic mantras and divided them into four groups as per the needs of sacrificial religion that was in vogue. Hence he was called Vedavyāsa or Vyāsa. The four groups are:

1. Ṛk
2. Yajus
3. Sāma
4. Atharva

In course of time three more sections were gradually added to each of the four Vedas. They are: Brāhmaṇa, Āraṇyaka and Upaniṣad. Since the language of the Vedas was archaic and the concepts were slowly becoming obsolescent, explanatory works became necessary. This resulted in the production of the six Vedāṅgas. They are:

1. Sikṣā - phonetics
2. Vyākaraṇa - grammar
3. Chandas - prosody
4. Nirukta - etymology
5. Jyautiṣa - astronomy
6. Kalpa - practical method

The four Upavedas were Ayurveda, Dhanurveda, Gāndharvaveda and Arthaśāstra are also sometimes included under the Vedic literature. Various anukramaṇīs<reef>Anukramaṇīs means works similar to an index.</ref> by authors such as Saunaka and Kātyāyana may also be classed under the Vedic literature.

Itihāsas and Purānas

Mahābhārata of Vyāsa are known as the itihāsas. They contain ancient history and also plenty of religio-philosophical teachings. The original basic material of the purāṇas which is known as the Purāṇasamhitā is as old as the Vedas. Over the centuries, it gradually took the shape of the present purāṇas and upapurāṇas. Of these, the Viṣṇupurāṇa and the Bhāgavata are considered to be important.

Classical Sanskrit Literature

There was a gradual evolution of the Sanskrit language from the archaic form of the Samhitās to the classical form, first through the Brāhmaṇas and then through the epics. This vast and varied literature, both in content and in methodology, may now be summarized very briefly in the English alphabetical order for convenience:

Alankārsāhitya

It is the science of figure of speech. The Nātyaśāstra of Bharata seems to be the earliest attempt at systematization of poetics and dramaturgy. However, it is the well-known authors like Bhāmaha and Daṇḍin, Ānandavardhana and Mammaṭa who have contributed much to the development of this science. They were also responsible for the evolution of several sampradāyas or schools.

Campusāhitya

There is a balanced combination of elegant prose and poetry, each embellishing the other. The Vedic ākhyānas might have laid the foundation to the later campu literature. The extant campukāvyas belong to a period later than the 9th century A. D. The following is a list of some of the more well-known works belonging to the campu literature:

1. Nalacampu of Trivikramabhaṭṭa
2. Campurāmāyana of Bhoja
3. Bhāgavata-campu by Abhinava Kālidāsa
4. Nilakantha-vijayacampu of Nīlakaṇthadikṣita
5. Viśva-gunādarśacampu of Veṅkaṭādhvarin

Darśanaśāstras

Philosophical schools are known as darśanas. The three heterodox schools and the six orthodox schools and also several others have produced a voluminous literature in the form of sutras and commentaries and also independent works. It is the Brahmasutras of Bādarāyaṇa that has induced the maximum number of works.

Gadyasāhitya

Earliest specimens of available prose originate to the era 3000 B. C. the age of the Brāhmaṇas. Some of the Upaniṣads like the Chāndogya and the Brhadāranyaka which are mostly in prose, go back to the same or an even earlier period. In the sutra-period also we come across prose in the form of the bhāsyas or commentaries, some of which are quite elegant.

Literary prose must have been popular even in ancient times as mentioned by Patañjali in his Mahābhāśya on the Astādhyāyi. They are the ākhyāyikās connected with Vāsavadatta, Sumanottara and others. Depending on the style of writing, these prose works of the literary or classical type are divided into three groups:

1. Romances
2. Popular tales
3. Didactic fables

The following works may be cited as examples of exquisite prose compositions:

1. Daśakumāracarita of Daṇḍin
2. Kādambarī of Bāṇa
3. Vāsavadatta of Subandhu
4. Tilakamañjari of Dhanapāla
5. Gadya-cintāmaṇi of Oḍeyadeva

Kathāsāhitya

Sanskrit literature did not lag behind in the creation and propagation of stories. These stories were composed not only to reflect the nature of the contemporary society but also keep some great ideals before it.

Though the Vedic literature has stories in the form of ākhyānas, a serious attempt to compile a single volume, only of stories, is first found in the Brhatkathā in the Paiśācī language. The Kathāsaritsāgara of Somadeva is said to be a faithful translation of the Brhatkathā, the original of which is not available. The Brhatkathāmañjarī of Kṣemendra is an earlier attempt of the same type. The other reputed works in this field are:

1. Pañcatantra\ Hitopadeśa
2. Vetāla-pañcavimśati
3. Vikramacarita
4. Suka-saptati

Kāvyasāhitya

Sanskrit literature is replete with kāvyās or poetical works of the highest quality. Starting with the Rāmāyana of Vālmīki as the earliest in the series rightly called as the Ādikāvya, there has been a galaxy of great poets and their works.

Nātakasāhitya

There is enough evidence, like the Samvādasuktas of the Rgveda, to prove that nātakas or dramas have existed since the most ancient times. The epics contain references to dances, dramas and theatres. Bharata’s Natyaśāstra was the earliest treatise on dramaturgy.

Purāṇasāhitya

Starting with the ākhyāyikās or stories carried over from the ancient days, the purāṇa literature has now grown into a huge mass comprising the eighteen Mahāpurāṇas and the eighteen or even more Upapurāṇas.

Strotrasāhitya

The stotrasāhitya or hymnal literature in Sanskrit is almost limitless. Great mystics and devotee-poets, in their moments of divine ecstasy have burst forth into innumerable hymns. These hymns are in various poetical metres and contain a variety of feelings and descriptions. They are addressed to the different deities of the religious pantheon such as:

1. Śiva
2. Devi
3. Viṣṇu
4. Gaṇapati
5. Subrahmaṇya
6. Others

A small fraction of these hymns have been mentioned here. They are:

1. Sivamahimnastotra of Puṣpadanta
2. Saundaryahari of Saṅkara
3. Mukundamālā of Kulaśekhara
4. Stotraratna of Yāmuna
5. Krsnakarnāmrta of Līlāśuka
6. Pādukā-sahasra of Vedānta Deśika
7. Laksmi-sahasra of Veṅkaṭādhvari
8. Nārāyaniyam of Nārāyaṇa Bhaṭṭatiri
9. Dvādaśastotra of Madhva
10. Mukapañcaśatī of Mukakavi
11. Ānandasāgarastava of Nīlakaṇṭha-dīkṣita

Apart from this, the epics and the purāṇas too contain a legion of exquisitely beautiful hymns, some of which like the Viṣṇusahasranāma, the Lalitasahasranāma, the Adityahṛdaya and the Durgā-saptaśatī have acquired the status of potent mantras. They are extremely popular even now.

Suktisāhitya

A sukti or a subhāṣita is like a popular maxim or proverb. It contains the quintessence of the experience of a whole race over several generations. The Sanskrit language is full of such sayings. They are found interspersed almost in every branch of the literature. However, several scholars have made serious attempts to bring these sayings together in an organised manner. The following is the list of some of the better-known compilations:

1. Subhāsita-ratnakośa of Vidyādhara
2. Subhāsitāvali of Vallabhadeva
3. Saduktikarnāmrta of Śrīdharadāsa
4. Sārñgadharapaddhati of Sārṅgadhara
5. Subhāsitaratnabhāndāgāra of Kāśīnāthaśarma
6. Subhāsitasudhānidhi of Sāyaṇa
7. Subhāsitanivī by Vedānta Deśika

Upadeśasāhitya

Seeing the abominable deterioration of the moral standards in the society of their times, quite a few poets of the middle ages wrote works in a scintillating style which not only described the things as they were, but also as they should be. Such works may be classified as upadeśasāhitya. A few such works may be mentioned here:

1. Kuttanīmata of Damodaragupta
2. Kalāvilāsa of Kṣemendra
3. Drstānta-kalikāśatakam of Kusumadeva
4. Kali-vidambana of Nīlakanṭhadīkṣita
5. Anyokti-muktālatā of Sambhu
6. Bhāvavilāsa of Rudrakavi

Vyākaraṇsāhitya

The earliest references to Sanskrit grammar are found in the Gopatha Brāhmana and the Taittiriya Samhitā. Even though Pāṇini was the most brilliant of the grammarians and his Astādhyāyī eclipsed the earlier works, he does refer to a number of his predecessors such as:

• Apiśali
• Kāśyapa
• Gārgya
• Gālava
• Bhāradvāja
• Sākatāyana
• Sākalya

Many schools of grammar appeared in the post-Pāṇinian period. However, of the six such schools, the one based on the Sarasvatikanthābharana of the Paramāra king Bhoja became the most extensively used. Some of the following works are:

• Sañksiptasāra of Kramadiśvara
• Mugdhabodha of Bopadeva
• Supadmavyākarana of Padmanabha
• Sārasvatavyākarana of Narendrācārya

Renowned Poets

A very brief list of their names and some of their works may now be given:

• Kāudāsa - He lived in 100 B. C. His poetical works are Kumārasambhava, Meghaduta, Raghuvanśa and Ṛtusamhāra. Out of these, the Raghuvanśa has forty commentaries, the Sañjīvinī of Mallinātha being the best.
• Bhāravi - He lived in 450 A. D. Kirātārjurdya is his only work.
• Bhatti - He lived in 5th century A. D. The Bhattikāvya is his only work. Along with beautiful poetry, this work tries to make Sanskrit grammar easy for the students of that subject.
• Māgha - He lived in A. D. 650. His magnum opus and the only work is the Siśupālavadha. It has eight commentaries out of which the Sandeha-visausadhi of Vallabha is the best.
• Ksemendra - He was born in A. D. 1000. Though nineteen works have been authored by him, significant ones are the two poetical works named Rāmāyana-mañjari and Bhāratamañjari. These are brief works but elegant.
• Śrīharṣa - He lived in 12th century A. D. Out of his nine works, the Naisa-dhiyacarita dealing with the story of Nala and Damayantī is considered the best. He also wrote a highly polemical work on Advaita Vedānta called Khandana-khanda-khādya, which reflects his erudition in that branch.
• Vedānta Deśika - He lived from A. D. 1268-1369. Though well-known as a prolific and scholarly writer on Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, Vedānta Deśika was also a great litterateur. He was an author of two significant works Yādavābhyudaya and Haṅsasandeśa. The former contains the story of Kṛṣṇa whereas the latter deals with that of Rāma and Sītā, especially the sorrow of their separation.

Renowned Authors

Some of the renowned authors of this language are denoted below.

• Bhāsa - Earliest of the playwrights, Bhāsa might have lived during the period 500 to 400 B.C. The dramas attributed to him are thirteen. Out of these the most significant ones are Pratimānātaka; Pratijñāyaugandharāyana and Svapna-vāsavadatta.
• Kālidāsa - He lived in 100 B. C. The three well-known dramas of Kālidāsa are: Mālavikāgnimitra\Vikramorvaśīya and Abhijñānaśākuntala. The last has been considered as the best of all the Sanskrit dramas. It is woven around the love between the king Duṣyanta and the damsel Sakuntalā of divine beauty.
• Viśākhadatta - He lived in 7th century A. D. The Mudrārāksasa is his magnum opus though two more dramas were composed by him. How Cāṇakya, the famous kingmaker and prime-minister of Candragupta Maurya won over Rākṣasa, the loyal premier of the Nandas and made him agree to be the prime-minister of Candragupta Maurya is the main theme of this work.
• Śudraka - He lived in 5th century A. D. Śudraka was perhaps a king. His only work is the Mrcchakatikā. It is in ten acts and concerns mainly with the story of love between Vasantasenā and Cārudatta a decent brāhmaṇa of noble character. The drama is replete with Prākṛt words also.
• Śrīharśa or Harśvardhana - The well-known emperor Srīharṣa or Harṣavardhana ruled at Sthāṇeśvara from A. D. 606 to 647. He was not only a great king but also an erudite author. Ratnāvali, Nāgānanda and Priyadarśikā are the three dramas authored by him.
• Bhattanārāyaṇa - He lived in 7th century A. D. The Veṇisamhāra, a six-act play drawing its material from the Mahābhārata, is his only work. Bhīma’s character has been highlighted and represented ably.
• Bhavabhuti - He lived in 8th century A. D. He is considered almost equal to Kālidāsa as to the qualities of his dramas which are three: Mālatimādhava\Mahāvīracarita and Uttararāmāyana. He was also well-versed in the philosophical lore. His last seven acts are more famous. It draws the story from the Uttarakānda of the Rāmāyana making some interesting changes in the original story to enhance the literary grace of the work.
• Murāri - He lived in 8th century A. D. His significant work was Anarghyarāghava.
• Rājaśekhara - He lived in circa A. D. 900. His famous work were Bālarāmāyana, Bālabhārata and Karpura-mañjari.
• Saktibhadra - He lived in 9th century A. D. His penned Āścaryacudāmanī.
• Jayadeva - He lived in 13th century A. D. He authored Prasannarāghava.

Nighantu

Nighaṇṭu means a dictionary. The first ever dictionary in Sanskrit is the Nighantu, an ancient dictionary of Vedic words by an unknown author. The Nirukta of Yāska is a commentary on this Nighantu. Till now 87 Sanskrit dictionaries have been traced and found to have existed. Only, very few of them have been printed so far.

The Nāmalingānuśāsanam of Amara Simha, more popularly known as the Amarakośa, is the best of Sanskrit dictionaries. It has 38 commentaries. Some of the other dictionaries worth mentioning are:

• Liñgānuśāsana of Vyāḍi
• Trikāndakośa of Bhāguri
• Sabdārnava of Vācaspati
• Hārāvalī of Puruṣottamadeva
• Abhidhānaratnamālā or Halāyudhakośa of Halāyudha
• Nānārthaśabdakośa or Medinlkośa of Medinīkara
• Kalpadruma-kośa of Keśava
• Śabdakalpadruma of Rādhākāntadeva
• Vācaspatya of Tārānātha-tarka-vācaspati
• Nānārthār-navasañkṣepa of Keśavasvāmin

Conclusion

The Sanskrit language has been the repository of country's history, culture, religion, sciences and socio-political values for several millennia. It is in the best interest of the residents to learn it, preserve it and propagate it. It is highly gratifying to note that several countries of the world, both in the east and in the west, are encouraging the study and research of Sanskrit through their centres of learning.

References

• The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore