Greatness of Sanskrit

[HareRama123]

Sri Muralidhara Swamiji says:

 

"We speak of the Sanskrit language. If someone leads an undisciplined, life we say that he does not possess good ‘Samskaras’. 'Samskara' means cleansing. Sanskrit is thus a language that is pure; it needs no cleansing."

 

 

Does anyone know Max Muller's views on Sanskrit? Basically I am interested in the Westerners views on this language.

[mystic_seeker]

I am a westerner with a Ph.D. in philosophy, who knows and translates medieval Latin. I can tell you in my academic circle Sanskrit is well respected and regarded as a very precise language.

 

Ancient Greek, in constrast, is given to ambiguity. I have spoken with Ancient Greek Scholars and they lament that as much a genius as Aristotle was, his Greek suffers from more unclarity than they would like.

 

Latin, in my opinion is superior to Greek for philosophy and theology, though thinkers like Duns Scotus and William of Ockham will still bring you to tears with their Latin. The strength of Latin is that its grammar is simple (compared to the complexities of something like French) and very logical (Latin has few exceptions unlike French where there are so many irregular forms.) My own personal critique of Latin would be that some of the noun declensions have the same endings. For example, consider the noun puella (young girl). When it is singular and the direct object of a sentence (accusative) it is puellam. Puellam is unique so once you see it you know it is the direct object, case closed. However the nominative and vocative plural and the genitive and dative singular are all the same: puellae. This makes Latin less precise and more confusing than it should be in my opinion.

 

Assuming I live long enough, and the world does not end, I hope to learn Sanskrit one day.

 

Concluding question: Scholars give 13 years as a benchmark to become fluent in Ancient Greek, and 7 years for Latin.

 

How many years, roughly speaking, would it take for Sanskrit? (Obviously only people who have a good command of Sanskrit should answer this question.)

 

Peace.

[mystic_seeker]

I just found this:

 

"The Sanskrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and in the forms of grammar, than could not possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanskrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family...".

 

--Sir William Jones

[HareRama123]

Its a pretty interesting note! Thanks so much!

 

This is what I found initially:

http://namadwaar.org/articles/researchonscriptures.html