Reprt on the Sanskrit Parva/Conference

[Guest guest]

Thursday September 11 2003 00:00 IST

 

Scholars debate present and future of a 'dead' language

 

IANS

 

AHMEDABAD: All those who think Sanskrit is a dead language can sit up

and take note -- it is not only thriving but spreading with major

works still being written in the language.

 

"It is true that today Sanskrit is not the language of social

exchange and it is mostly spoken by priests and scholars," says

Morari Bapu, the Gujarat-based storyteller and social worker.

 

"But it is also true that many people are learning Sanskrit in

schools and universities and more and more people are showing

interest in the language," he added.

 

Bapu was speaking at a three-day convention, 'Sanskrit Parva', or

Sanskrit conference, at his hermitage by the Malan river in Gujarat's

Bhavnagar district.

 

Sanskrit scholars from all over the country assembled to discuss the

past, present and the future of what they called the "language of the

Gods".

 

"The tradition started by Ashwaghosh who authored 'Buddhcharita' in

100 A.D. is very much thriving. We have at least 11 epics authored

since independence. Their content varies from 11 to 80 chapters and

each chapter has 50 to 150 stanzas," said Rashmi Mehta, director of

the Maharshi Academy of Vedic Science in Ahmedabad.

 

Added Vinod Adhvaryu, a former Gujarat University professor: "Epics

are the expression of a civilisation's accumulated experiences and

values... Greeks have Iliad, Germans have Faustus and Indians have

Ramayana and Bhagvat.

 

"In these epics, authors have put together the myths and legends,

sentiments and values of the population concerned."

 

Epics sung or penned in ancient times in India were full of the above-

mentioned themes. "Understandably so," said Mehta, adding, "Just as

post-independence epics tell the stories of (India's first prime

minister) Jawaharlal Nehru, (first home minister) Sardar Patel, and

former prime minister Indira Gandhi."

 

Mehta has compiled a list of 71 epics written in Sanskrit beginning

100 A.D. to now. The themes vary from mythical and imaginary heroes

to historical characters like Vikramaditya and emperor Akbar.

 

Apart from discussing the past glory of Sanskrit, the three-day

gathering also considered its present and its future.

 

"Efforts are being made to make the language more popular. This

annual convention is but a small attempt," said Bapu.

 

He referred to a teacher from Orissa, Gajendra Panda, who has

developed a technique to teach people conversational Sanskrit in 60

days.

 

"He has taught thousands of people Sanskrit and has vowed to make at

least 100,000 people speak Sanskrit in his lifetime," said Bapu.

 

The famous storyteller dismissed the view that organising Sanskrit

meets amounted to looking backwards.

 

"Can you move ahead without having a perspective of your past?

Besides, if your past is glorious why not look into it to draw

inspiration? We have a glorious past with rich literary-cultural

traditions which instil in us higher values and shows the way ahead,"

Bapu asserted.

 

Moreover, such meetings help in the exchange of ideas.

 

"Scholars can take with them new ideas gained during interaction with

each other. Young scholars learn things from seniors and, as you can

see, school and university students too gain from this," said Gautam

Patel, president of the Gujarat Sanskrit Akademy.

 

Bapu added another dimension on why such conferences help.

 

"People do turn to literature in quest of pleasure. Some people

create literature, others read it, recite it for their own pleasure.

Didn't we enjoy the recitations of the verses by scholars?" he asked,

referring to the address by Srinivas Rath, a former director of the

Ujjain-based Kalidas Akademy.

 

Rath quoted extensively from Kalidas' works to highlight the salient

features of Sanskrit epics.

 

Homer was inspired by war, Milton by Satan and God, Goethe by human

greed. But "ancient Indian epics are a unique combination of words

and devotion to gods", he said.

 

Elaborating further on the salient features of Sanskrit epics,

Adhvaryu said they were "enabling" and "ennobling".

 

"Homer sang his epic Iliad in the lanes of Greece. He was inspired by

the war (of Troy) but says little about peace. As against this,

Mahabharat describes the bloodshed following the fierce battle

between Kauravas and Pandavas but ends with a message of peace," he

said.

 

Some of the epics written after 1947 are K.V. Simon's Vedviharam

(1950) inspired by the Bible. There is also the Khristu Bhagwat based

on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ with 33 chapters.

 

Harisambhav Mahakavya was written in 1958. It has 17 chapters and

tells about the life of Swami Sahajanand, the founder of the

Swaminarayan sect of Hinduism.

 

In 1990, Shivprasad Bhardwaj has penned the life of India's first

home minister Vallabhbhai Patel in 32 chapters in Lauh Purushavadatam.

 

The Chinese aggression of 1962 is the theme of Shrikant Acharya's 15-

chapter epic "Seematikraman" written in 1991.

 

Veer Savarkar, one of the pioneers of the cultural nationalism of the

Hindu rightwing, inspired Kavi Kedar to write Swatantra Veergatha in

1992. Kedar also wrote a 14-chapter epic on Mahatma Gandhi.