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dated February 14, 1953: India's Sanskrit: India's gift to the world

Mr. Hugo Valvanne, Minister for Finland in India, delivered on the 11th the convocation address at the Government Sanskrit College in Benares (now Varanasi). He wanted India never to forget the study and maintenance of Sanskrit, her great and glorious language, and went on to say, "On free India lies now the great task to uphold and develop Sanskrit tradition both at home and abroad, and to make India the centre of Sanskrit studies in the whole world. We are moving now towards world unity, and different nations are called upon each to make its own contribution to world culture. The West has contributed to India technical knowledge in different branches. But free India has her own contribution to give to the West which, in the rush of technical progress, has to some extent lost her soul. In the rich heritage of Sanskrit culture, India has a precious treasure of spiritual wisdom to share with other nations. Through Sanskrit, Indian thought has civilized and mellowed Europe to some extent directly, and partly through the medium of Latin. For a very long time, however, Europe had remained a closed region for Sanskrit. The Sanskrit College in Benares has, through its work, made Europe aware of the beauties of Sanskrit language and literature."

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