GUWAHATI, Aug 7 - As part of �Sanskrit Week Celebrations�, city�s Royal Global University (RGU) organised a virtual programme �Reawakening of Indian Culture through Sanskrit� on August 6, said a press release issued here today.
Taking part in the programme, Prof Malinee Goswami, Vice Chancellor, Assam Women�s University, Jorhat, spoke on the existence of Sanskrit, the language of high culture and the elite, before 3500 BC. She referred to Sanskrit as historically belonging to the�Indo-European family of languages and how it is one of three ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as�Proto-Indo-European language. It is the primary�liturgical language of Hinduism and the predominant language of most works of�Hindu philosophy�as well as some of the principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism, she added.
Prof Goswami further said that Sanskrit, in its variants and numerous dialects, was the�lingua franca�of ancient and medieval India. It is traceable to the 2nd millennium BC in a form known as�Vedic Sanskrit,�with the�Rigveda as the earliest known composition. It is a language used in science, maths, plastic surgery, engineering, poetry, drama, etc., and depicts Indian culture. She spoke about more than 3,000 Sanskrit works that have been composed since India�s independence, about Sanskrit words listed in the English dictionary. She also spoke how Sanskrit has significantly influenced the grammar, phonology and vocabulary of the Kannada, Telugu,�Tamil and Malayalam languages of South India.
Speaking on the reawakening of Indian culture through Sanskrit, Prof Goswami stated that the very foundation, fundamentals, ideologies, ideas of Indian culture are in Sanskrit language. For example, the lofty ideal �Satya Mave Jayete�, an eternal phrase in Sanskrit, is inscribed in Indian currency and Ashoka stupa and has kept the Indian people united, she said.
She said 700 years of foreign rule � Moghuls and Britishers � had distorted the Sanskrit language, which can be reorganised/restored to its previous glory as seen in present-day usage of it in ayurveda, science and technology.
RGU Vice Chancellor Prof SP Singh, deliberating on �God�s Language�, spoke on Sanskrit, an old Indo-Aryan language and its importance across all spectrums of life. He said there are 18 Sanskrit universities in India and the language is used extensively across the world for its varied inscriptions on science, maths, poetry, drama, philosophy, etc. He also pointed out that Sanskrit is the second official language of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, is the predominant language of Hindu philosophy, principal texts of Buddhism and Jainism and how Sanskrit is being used across Europe and other countries. He spoke on Sanskrit being the ancestor of the Prakrits and Pali and consequently of modern languages like Assamese, Marathi, Punjabi, Kashimri, etc.
Prof AK Buragohain, Chairperson Academics, RGU; Prof PJ Mahanta, Dean, RSHSS; faculty, staff and students of RGU as well as from across India attended the programme which was moderated by Stuti Goswami, Assistant Professor, RSL, the release added.
