... The language itself, as has been universally recognised by those competent to form a judgment, 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, and its quality and character would be of itself a sufficient evidence of the character and quality of the race whose mind it expressed and the culture of which it was the reflecting medium.
...[Sanskrit] is based on the true and perfect relation of vak and artha. Every one of its vowels and consonants has a particular and inalienable force which exists by the nature of things and not by development or human choice...
There are Sanskrit roots - with some distortions - in all languages.
Sanskrit is better. Sanskrit is a much fuller and subtler language... But these modern languages are so artificial (by this, I mean superficial, intellectual); they cut things up into little pieces and remove the light behind.
...Sanskrit is certainly much more fluid, a better instrument for a more global, more comprehensive light, a light containing more things within itself.
...In these modern languages, it's as if things are passed through a sieve and broken up into separate little bits, so then you have all the work of putting them back together. And something is always lost.
Mother's Agenda > 8 October 1960
The ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue both in quality and in 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 great mass of Sanskrit literature is a literature of human life;
Valmiki, Vyasa and Kalidasa are the essence of the history of ancient India; if all else were lost, they would still be its sole and sufficient cultural history.
It is of the utmost value to a nation, a human group-soul, to preserve its language and to make of it a strong and living cultural instrument. A nation, race or people which loses its language, cannot live its whole life or its real life.
Sri Aurobindo > The Human Cycle > Pg. 517
Even the great Buddha made one false step when he stopped the Sanskrit language from being studied by the masses. He wanted rapid and immediate results, and translated and preached in the language of the day, Pali. That was grand; he spoke in the language of the people, and the people understood him. That was great; it spread the ideas quickly and made them reach far and wide. But along with that, Sanskrit ought to have spread. Knowledge came, but the prestige was not there, culture was not there. It is culture that withstands shocks, not a simple mass of knowledge. You can put a mass of knowledge into the world, but that will not do it much good. There must come culture into the blood. We all know in modern times of nations which have masses of knowledge, but what of them? They are like tigers, they are like savages, because culture is not there. Knowledge is only skin-deep, as civilisation is, and a little scratch brings out the old savage. Such things happen; this is the danger. Teach the masses in the vernaculars, give them ideas; they will get information, but something more is necessary; give them culture. Until you give them that, there can be no permanence in the raised condition of the masses. There will be another caste created, having the advantage of the Sanskrit language, which will quickly get above the rest and rule them all the same. The only safety, I tell you men who belong to the lower castes, the only way to raise your condition is to study Sanskrit...
Swami Vivekananda > Lectures from Colombo to Almora, 1990, p. 220
On 2nd Feb. 1835, Macaulay made a speech in the British Parliament:
"I have travelled across the length and breadth of India and I have not seen one person who is a beggar, who is a thief. Such wealth I have seen in this country, such high moral values, people of such calibre, that I do not think we would ever conquer this country, unless we break the very backbone of this nation, which is her spiritual and cultural heritage, and, therefore, I propose that we replace her old and ancient education system, her culture, for if the Indians think that all that is foreign and English is good and greater than their own, they will lose their self-esteem, their native self-culture, and they will become what we want them, a truly dominated nation."
Sri Aurobindo > A Preface on National Education
6) The language problem harasses India a good deal. What would be our correct attitude in this matter?
Unity must be a living fact and not the imposition of an arbitrary rule. When India will be one, she will have spontaneously a language understood by all.
I have the deepest respect for Indian languages and continue to study Sanskrit when I have time. The Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India. Blessings.
...The ideal would be, in a few years, to have a rejuvenated Sanskrit as the representative language of India, that is, a Sanskrit spoken in such a way that — Sanskrit is behind all the languages of India and it should be that...
On certain issues where You and Sri Aurobindo have given direct answers, we are also specific, as for instance... on the language issue where You have said for the country that (1) the regional language should be the medium of instruction, (2) Sanskrit should be the national language, and (3) English should be the international language.
Are we correct in giving these replies to such questions?
Yes.
Blessings.
The Mother > On Education > 4 Oct. 1971
... Everyone should learn that [Sanskrit]. Especially everyone who works here should learn that... not the Sanskrit of the scholars... all, all of them, wherever they may have been born.
A: In principle, Mother, that is what we are thinking of—next year, to make all the children do Sanskrit, plus their mother tongue.
Yes. Not Sanskrit from the point of view of scholarship, but Sanskrit, a Sanskrit—how to put it?—that opens the door to all the languages of India. I think that is indispensable. The ideal would be, in a few years, to have a rejuvenated Sanskrit as the representative language of India, that is, a Sanskrit spoken in such a way that—Sanskrit is behind all the languages of India and it should be that. This was Sri Aurobindo's idea, when we spoke about it. Because now English is the language of the whole country, but that is abnormal. It is very helpful for relations with the rest of the world, but just as each country has its own language, there should... And so here, as soon as one begins to want a national language, everyone starts quarrelling. Each one wants it to be his own, and that is foolish. But no one could object to Sanskrit. It is a more ancient language than the others and it contains the sounds, the root-sounds of many words.
This is something I studied with Sri Aurobindo and it is obviously very interesting. Some of these roots can even be found in all the languages of the world—sounds, root-sounds which are found in all those languages. Well, this, this thing, this is what ought to be learnt and this is what the national language should be. Every child born in India should know it, just as every child born in France has to know French. He does not speak properly, he does not know it thoroughly, but he has to know French a little; and in all the countries of the world it is the same thing. He has to know the national language. And then, when he learns, he learns as many languages as he likes. At the moment, we are still embroiled in quarrels, and this is a very bad atmosphere in which to build anything. But I hope that a day will come when it will be possible.
So I would like to have a simple Sanskrit taught here, as simple as possible, but not "simplified"—simple by going back to its origin... all these sounds, the sounds that are the roots of the words which were formed afterwards. I don't know whether you have anyone here who could do that. In fact, I don't know whether there is anyone in India who could do it. Sri Aurobindo knew. But someone who knows Sanskrit can....
The Mother > On Education > 11 Nov. 1967
Mother, A common friend writes that Vinoba Bhave would like to know what exactly Mother says about Sanskrit being the common national language of India. I may add, do you expect the difficult grammar of Sanskrit to be learnt by all? Will it be for common use or only for ceremonial purposes, like Latin in England?
For common use I was thinking of a simplified Sanskrit from the grammatical point of view. But of course, I do not know if it is possible.
More answers from The Mother > 8 March 1968
I see no need for any message. Messages only convince those who are already convinced.
It would be better to learn Sanskrit and try to make it a truly living language.
Words of The Mother III > 16 August 1969
Hindi is good only for those who belong to a Hindi-speaking province. Sanskrit is good for all Indians.
More answers from The Mother > About 1970
(Wrongly informed that Sri Aurobindo favoured Hindi as the national language of India, the disciple asked the Mother on what basis she had written: "The Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India.")
I said Sanscrit because Sri Aurobindo had told me so.
More answers from The Mother > About 1971
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... there is a widespread belief that natural languages are unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas that artificial languages can render with great precision and mathematical rigor. But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise underlying much work in the areas of linguistics and artificial intelligence, is a false one. There is at least one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration of almost 1000 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 vigor until the present century. Among the accomplishments of the grammarians can be reckoned 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, Researcher associated with NASA
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