Governor Vajubhai R. Vala has called for revival of Sanskrit to tap the ancient wisdom and knowledge enshrined in that language.
Speaking at a conference of Sanskrit experts organised by Samskara Bharati at the Ganapati Sachchidananda Ashram here on Saturday, the Governor said revival of Sanskrit was necessary to strengthen the roots of Indian culture. Education in one’s mother tongue was necessary but so was the study of Sanskrit as it will help infuse values of life, he added.
ISRO Chairman A.S. Kiran Kumar traced the oral transmission of knowledge in Sanskrit by committing it to memory in ancient days as a result of which it was a storehouse of knowledge. But the knowledge was lost to posterity during the course of history while the ‘gurukula’ system was destroyed, he added.
The ISRO chief underlined the need to study Sanskrit scientifically and subject it to greater scrutiny in the present times all of which will only help in advancement of knowledge, he said. If not for anything else such an effort is required to understand the cultural roots of the country, he added.
While a large portion of Sanskrit literature has been lost for posterity, a significant portion has been preserved and some are in other countries and efforts should be made to bring them back for subjecting it to detailed analysis, said Mr. Kiran Kumar.
He said there was a tendency to dismiss anything ancient as superstition but a Chinese scholar studied ancient system of medicine of that country, identified a few herbs mentioned in that, studied the properties and worked on it demonstrating its efficacy for malaria which led to the scholar being awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2015.
Ancient texts
“India too has ancient texts and it was necessary to learn and study the language in our effort to become a knowledge power,” Mr. Kiran Kumar said.
Dinesh Kamath, organising secretary, described Sanskrit as the mother of all Indian languages and said local languages can be saved if Sanskrit is promoted. He said too many English words had penetrated into Kannada and learning Sanskrit was necessary to protect Kannada.
ISRO chief stresses need to study Sanskrit scientifically and subject it to greater scrutiny
