Recently, Ministry of Human Resource and Development has proposed that Study of Sanskrit language should also be a part of academic curriculum of IITs. I do not see anything awkward or abnormal in this decision. And why only in IITs; Sanskrit language should also be made part of the curriculum of IIMs and they should be taught original text of Arthashastra, a master piece of Management, Economic policy, Diplomacy and Strategy written by Kautilya in Sanskrit.
IITs are Brand India. Students from IITs are recruited by top companies of the world; and they get the opportunity to work in every nook and corner of the earth. Sometimes they are settled permanently in those foreign countries. They are the real ambassadors of Indian culture and values. If they are taught the Sanskrit language along with the original ancient texts of Astronomy, medicine, Science etc written in Sanskrit language, it will further hone their skills and will enthuse in them the sense of pride that the ancient past of their country was so rich and progressive as far as science and technology is concerned. They will carry this knowledge with them and disseminate it all over the world.
Sanskrit has always been an Integral part of our ancient culture and civilization. Our ancient texts related to Religion, Philosophy, Medicine, Science and Technology, Astronomy, Mathematics have all been written in this language. Aryabhatta, Bhaskaracharya, Shushruta, Charaka, Sage Kapila,Patanjali are some of the great scholars in this field.
Under the influence of Western Culture and language we have allowed our own ancient language and thereby our valuable ancient knowledge to perish. It is on the verge of getting extinct if we do not make realize new generation the importance of this ancient language. Do not just give it a treatment of a means to clear the Civil Service Exams or clearing UGC/NET exam; it deserves much more than that. We must be able to communicate in this language along with Hindi, English, Urdu or other Dravidian languages. We must know that Sanskrit is the mother of most of the languages including some European like German as well as Dravidian like Malyalam, Telugu , etc.This tells the importance of Sanskrit;as it is not just a language, infact it may be called a "Literary Encyclopedia". And we must be proud of it.
It is not just a sheer chance that Max Muller, a German indologist and a expert of Sanskrit language in 19th century took keen interest in Upnishads and Vedas and translated them and other Sanskrit texts in english, he was well aware of the richnes and value of the knowledge contained in these texts.
We remained a slave of a foreign language by relegating our own language into the oblivion and thereby depriving ourselves of its richness for all these years; and Europeans learned, did research and extracted all the valuable knowledge for their own progress. In Germany, Sanskrit is still taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level and its charm and attraction is increasing day by day among the youths of Europian countries as well as among East Asian countries like China and Japan.
Now the time has come to awaken ourselves from the deep slumber and take a vow to repeat the clarion call of Shri Dayanand Saraswati- "Back to Vedas"; and reclaim our lost glory.
Recently, Ministry of Human Resource and Development has proposed that Study of Sanskrit language should also be a part of academic curriculum of IITs. I do not see anything awkward or abnormal in this decision. And why only in IITs; Sanskrit language should also be made part of the curriculum of IIMs and they should be taught original text of Arthashastra, a master piece of Management, Economic policy, Diplomacy and Strategy written by Kautilya in Sanskrit.
IITs are Brand India. Students from IITs are recruited by top companies of the world; and they get the opportunity to work in every nook and corner of the earth. Sometimes they are settled permanently in those foreign countries. They are the real ambassadors of Indian culture and values. If they are taught the Sanskrit language along with the original ancient texts of Astronomy, medicine, Science etc written in Sanskrit language, it will further hone their skills and will enthuse in them the sense of pride that the ancient past of their country was so rich and progressive as far as science and technology is concerned. They will carry this knowledge with them and disseminate it all over the world.
Sanskrit has always been an Integral part of our ancient culture and civilization. Our ancient texts related to Religion, Philosophy, Medicine, Science and Technology, Astronomy, Mathematics have all been written in this language. Aryabhatta, Bhaskaracharya, Shushruta, Charaka, Sage Kapila,Patanjali are some of the great scholars in this field.
Under the influence of Western Culture and language we have allowed our own ancient language and thereby our valuable ancient knowledge to perish. It is on the verge of getting extinct if we do not make realize new generation the importance of this ancient language. Do not just give it a treatment of a means to clear the Civil Service Exams or clearing UGC/NET exam; it deserves much more than that. We must be able to communicate in this language along with Hindi, English, Urdu or other Dravidian languages. We must know that Sanskrit is the mother of most of the languages including some European like German as well as Dravidian like Malyalam, Telugu , etc.This tells the importance of Sanskrit;as it is not just a language, infact it may be called a "Literary Encyclopedia". And we must be proud of it.
It is not just a sheer chance that Max Muller, a German indologist and a expert of Sanskrit language in 19th century took keen interest in Upnishads and Vedas and translated them and other Sanskrit texts in english, he was well aware of the richnes and value of the knowledge contained in these texts.
We remained a slave of a foreign language by relegating our own language into the oblivion and thereby depriving ourselves of its richness for all these years; and Europeans learned, did research and extracted all the valuable knowledge for their own progress. In Germany, Sanskrit is still taught at undergraduate and postgraduate level and its charm and attraction is increasing day by day among the youths of Europian countries as well as among East Asian countries like China and Japan.
Now the time has come to awaken ourselves from the deep slumber and take a vow to repeat the clarion call of Shri Dayanand Saraswati- "Back to Vedas"; and reclaim our lost glory.
