Sanskrit is a Science says Indian Institute of Tech

[Guest guest]

At IIT Delhi, S in Sanskrit stands for Science

NIRMALA GANAPATHY

 

``The idea is to remove the impression that Sanskrit is just a

language. Sanskrit is on the lines of mathematics and linguistics,''

 

----

----------

 

 

NEW DELHI, JANUARY 9: Besides string theory and computer

architecture, students of the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi,

wiil soon have the option of studying Sanskrit texts and the precise

science of Sanskrit grammar.

 

IIT Delhi is offering its students a glimpse into Sanskrit classics

after a directive from the Ministry for Human Resources and

Development. The ministry had sent similar letters to around 40

institutes in the country, including the other IITs and the Indian

Institute of Science in July. Now almost a year later, IIT Delhi has

drafted the curriculum while the others are yet to get back.

 

``Once the proposal is passed, we will send the Delhi IIT model with

another circular to others. It's been easier to deal with IIT Delhi

because they are here,'' said an official at the HRD ministry.

 

The inter-disciplinary programme in Sanskrit will be an elective

course meaning students have a choice to opt for it out of several

other courses, most of them in the humanities and social sciences.

 

While the HRD Ministry wanted a full-fledged centre, IIT plans to

``integrate Sanskrit studies into the IIT system of education'' and

to start degree-awarding programmes.

 

``The idea is to remove the impression that Sanskrit is just a

language. Sanskrit is on the lines of mathematics and linguistics,''

said Wagesh Shukla of IIT's maths department, who is also a Sanskrit

scholar and has speaheaded the effort.

 

``We have notions of what constitutes science which comes from the

West. Sanskrit embodies an alternative approach to intellectuality,'

he says that the proposal had been accepted in principle and only the

formalities have to be fulfilled.

 

B.Tech, M.Tech and other students will have the option of studying

treatises on sciences like the Carakasamhita or on poetics like the

Rasagangadhara or in public administration and management like the

Arthasastra.

 

The decision to start the programme will be ratified by the Senate,

the highest decision-making body at IIT, and then the HRD ministry.

But ``in principle'' the programme has been accepted.

 

But in IIT itself there is growing concern about the induction of

Sanskrit into the system. ``Our boundaries are defined in IIT. This

is like introducing technology in Sanskrit institutions,'' said one

professor on the condition of anonymity.

 

While students are confused about the utility of the course. ``It'll

be interesting as an option,'' said a final year student. ``But they

should also start some foreign language course which will help us in

our careers,'' he added. ``If you want to study Sanskrit, IIT is not

the best place. I would not take it as an option and I don't think

people would go for it,'' says Lavanya Sharan, a second-year B.Tech

student.

 

But Shukla dismisses these murmurs of dissent. ``Why is it that

anything Indian is saffronisation? Our emphasis is on things based in

science and technology,'' he said.

 

The course structure would introduce students to the ``Orders of

Thinking available in Sanskrit,'' to compare the Orders with Western

thought. The curriculum has been prepared by a core group of IIT

professores and an advisory committee with Shukla as the convener and

other experts in the field like Vidyaniwas Mishra and Kutumba Sastry

of the Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan.

 

The other plan is to translate selected texts from Sanskrit and to

prepare course material based on Sanskrit texts which may be used by

other institutions. IIT will also start a text encoding initiative

and create Sanskrit-based software and CDs and DVDs.

 

The HRD letter, dated 25 July 2000, to IIT Delhi specifically said

that the department would ``prepare monographs on the basis of

original Sanskrit texts of various disciplines'' and to prepare

textbooks for the purpose of using in courses.

 

But IIT has decided to concentrate on the scientific areas. One text

which will be taught will be the Astadhyayi, the grammar of Sanskrit

which is ``responsible for the modern linguistic sciences and is

supposed to be the forerunner of artificial intelligence.'' The

programme will also conduct research into the use of Sanskrit as a

``programming language.''

 

``Sanskrit is almost like a computer language. The traditional

scholar is a species which is dying out. Something had to be done. We

want to give our students an opportunity with Sanskrit studies,''

Shukla said.

 

 

2001 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.