संसकृत

Restoring the lost glory

Ujjwol Lamichhane
Saturday, August 8,
2009
Welcome

सवागतम्

2009
About Me
Who is presenting this ?

Ujjwol Lamichhane
Dhalko-17, Kathmandu, Nepal

Email: ujjwol@fedoraproject.org

Blog:
ujjwollamichhane.blogpsot.co
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 Warning !
What should I remember ?
• This session can get interesting and boring
at the same time.

• This presentation should be considered as a

compilation of the information on Sanskrit just
to make aware and inform about Sanskrit.

• It must be emphasized that the views expressed

here are not intended to start a big debate on the
language itself and offend any group of people.

• And this Information should appeal to the

scientific mind.
In this Session
What is in this session ?
• introduction

• specialty of sanskrit language

• sanskrit and computing

• sanskrit as computing language

• restoring the glory

• conclusion
Introduction
“ The word Sanskrit means
completed, refined and
perfected.

Sum (Complete) + krt

Introduction
What is Sanskrit ?
• Sanskrit is a historical Indic language, one of the
liturgical languages of Hinduism and Buddhism,
and one of the oldest languages in the world, and
in use since 1200 BC as the religious and
classical literary language of Indian Subcontinent.

• It is also called dēva-bhāṣā meaning the "divine

language".

• Sanskrit is generally written in the syllabic

Devanagari script composed of 51 letters or
aksharas.

• This language contrasted with the languages

“ The Sanskrit language, whatever
be its antiquity, is of a wonderful
structure; more perfect than the
Greek, more copious than the
Latin, and more exquisitely
refined than either. ”
Forms of Sanskrit
Vedic Sanskrit : Forms of Sanskrit
What are the forms of Sanskrit ?
• Vedic Sanskrit is the language of the
Vedas, a large collection of hymns,
incantations (Samhitas), theological
discussions, and religio-philosophical
discussions (Brahmanas, Upanishads)
which are the earliest religious texts of
 Classical Sanskrit : Forms of
What are the forms of Sanskrit ?
• From the middle of first millennium BC, Sanskrit
made the transition from a first language to a
second language of religion and learning, the
Classical period began.

• It is a significant form of post-Vedic Sanskrit and is

found in the Sanskrit of the Hindu Epics—the
Ramayana and Mahabharata.

• There have been "prakritisms" (borrowings from

common speech) in this form of Sanskrit.

• Classical Sanskrit became fixed with the grammar

of Paanini (roughly 500 BC), and remains in use as a
Spoken Sanskrit & its decline
Why did spoken Sanskrit decline ?
• Over the centuries, the Prakrits underwent
language change to a degree that vernaculars
and Sanskrit ceased to be
intercomprehensible and had to be learned as a
separate language, rather than a
distinguished or noble register of the popular
language.

• This transition was completed by the Early

Middle Ages (Middle Indic).
“ Thus this [king], who did not
speak the language of the gods
but used vulgar speech fit for
drunkards, showed that he was
descended from a family of spirit-
distillers. “
….possible clue of termination of Sanskrit as a spoken language
Traces of Spoken Sanskrit Now ?
Is there any place where people speak this
Sanskrit is used as everyday
spoken language in….
• The village of Mathoor near Shimoga in
Karnataka state, southern India and

• Jhiri Village in Madhya Pradesh's Rajgarh district

of India.

Inhabitants of all castes learn Sanskrit starting in

childhood and converse in the language.
Specialty of
Misconception
What are misconception regarding Sanskrit

• Dead Language

• Out-dated

• Not a spoken language

Earliest of Ancient Languages
What Sanskrit is ?
• Sanskrit, earliest of the ancient languages but,

• has maintained structure and vocabulary even

todayas it was in the past.
• the oldest literature of the world, the Vedas, the
Puranas and the Ithihasas(histories) which relate
to the Indian subcontinent, are still available in
the same form as they were known from the
very beginning.
Modern as any language can be
What Sanskrit is ?

• The grammar of Sanskrit has

attracted scholars world over.

• It is very precise and upto date

and remains well defined even today.
Scientist's paradise
What Sanskrit is ?
• the vocabulary of which is derived from root
syllables, is ideal for coining new scientific and
technological terms

• The need to borrow words or special scientific

terms does not arise.

• Scientific principles have been hidden in the

verses found in the Vedas, Upanishads and the
great epics in Sanskrit.

• Concepts and principles seen in present day

mathematics and astronomy, are all hidden in the
compositions and treatises of many early
 Linguistics
What Sanskrit is ?
• The precise and extremely well defined
structure of Sanskrit, coupled with its
antiquity offers a number of areas in
linguistics research including Computational
Linguistics.

• Sanskrit distinguishes itself in that it is the only

known language which has a built-in scheme
for pronunciation, word formation
and grammar.
Sanskrit, a language for Humanity
What Sanskrit is ?
• Sanskrit is a language for humanity and not
merely a means for communication within
a society.

• The fact that many profound principles

relating to human existence were given
expression through Sanskrit, continue to
amaze those who study Sanskrit (Vedas).

• A Sanskrit Scholar understands the world

better than most others.
Philosophy, Theology and Sanskrit
What Sanskrit is ?
• There are so many words one encounters
within Sanskrit that convey subtly differing
meanings of a concept that admits of only one
interpretation when studied with other
languages.

• The language thus has the ability to offer

links between concepts using just the
Sanskrit for your emotions
What Sanskrit is ?
• The connoisseurs(experts) of the Sanskrit
language know that it is the language of the
heart.
• Whatever be the emotion one wishes to
display, be it devotion, love, affection, fear,
threat, anger, compassion, benevolence,
admiration, surprise and the like, the most
appropriate words of Sanskrit can flow
Sanskrit’s way of
Sanskrit’s Way of Language
How is Sanskrit as language ?
• It is a natural language.

• There is a directlink between the sound

and signs; it is phonetic.
• We write Sanskrit exactly as we say which
means that the writing of Sanskrit language is
based on the sound of the spoken form.
• Sanskrit has no spelling.
Sanskrit’s Way of Language
How is Sanskrit as language ?
• There is only one set of alphabet in Sanskrit (No
capital /small)

• There aren't many punctuation marks found in

Sanskrit (Devanagari) script.

• There is an easy-flowing, natural and logical way

to proceed.

• There is logic in its sound system.

• Sanskrit sentence structure is flexible.

• The order of words in a sentence does not matter.

Unique about
Unique about Sanskrit
What’s unique ?
• Sanskrit is the oldest and living language
on our planet.

• Sanskrit is a spiritual language and is the

language of Divinity; language of gods.

• It is a language of classical literature which is

rich and abundant.
• As its name itself explains, it is systematized
and perfected. Its alphabets are impeccably
arranged. They are easy to remember and help in
memorizing textual stanzas.
Unique about Sanskrit
What’s unique ?
• Sanskrit literature is unique in its
overwhelmingly poetic character.

• Rationality is in everything including the

arrangement of its alphabets.

• It is a global language. It hasn't got local

variations or vernaculars nor dialects nor
usages of slang words.

• It has written rules of grammar, phonetics,

etymology and epistemology which are all
followed wherever Sanskrit is used.
 Unique about Sanskrit
What’s unique ?
• There is infinity in its word-formation possibilities
and they are all well-structured, computerized
long before the computers came in use.

• There is a vibration or resonance in the sounds

well-expressed in Sanskrit speaking.

• Absolute freedom is in using this language

because of "No syntax". This means that even a
beginner can proceed with words as one’s
thoughts progress.

• Flexibility or adaptability - Same sentence can be

said in a variety of ways.
 Unique about Sanskrit
What’s unique ?
• Its universality. It can do all functions, - scriptural
(holiness), technical (precision and derivative
power) and romantic (resourceful and flowery
style) but can never be slang.

• Has a very rational derivative power.

• Its economy. Sanskrit letters can be used to write

other languages as well.

• Sanskrit words possess a special vibration of

sound waves whose resonance is very effective.
People use Sanskrit Mantras for healing.
Learning Sanskrit
Learning Sanskrit
Why learn Sanskrit ?
Learning Sanskrit
What after learning Sanskrit ?
• Since Sanskrit is the oldest language of our
planet, your ability to speak it amounts to a
unique experience (and perhaps your special
status!).

• A glimpse of ancient world religions, languages,

customs, traditions, culture can be easy to get
through the glass of Vedic and Sanskrit literature.

• You have now access to the most systematized

oriental language.

• You are capable of learning most of the current

world languages easily.
Sayings on Sanskrit
“ The most useful language for medication
i.e. persons by talking Sanskrit will be
healthy and free from disease like blood
pressure, diabetics, cholesterol etc.. as
talking in Sanskrit makes activate the
nervous system of the human body so
that the person’s
-American body gets activated
Hindu University
“ The language which contains
most advanced technology in it in
their books called Vedas,
Upanishads, Shruti, Smruti,
Puranas, Mahabhaarath,
- Russian State University
“ Samskrit language, as has been
universally recognized by those
competent to form a judgment, is
one of the most magnificent, the
most perfect, the most prominent
and wonderfully sufficient literary
instrument
-Sri Aurobindo developed by the
“ Mother of all languages of
the world - all the languages
(97%) have been directly
or indirectly influenced by
this
- UNO
language. “
“
Samskritam is the
greatest language of the
world.”
-Max Muller
“ The script used is known as
devanagari or the "city of the
gods." The phonetic accuracy of
devanagari compares well with
that of the modern phonetic
transcriptions. “
Sanskrit and
“ Sanskrit is the most
convenient language for
computer software
programming. “
-Forbes magazine(July, 1987)
Sanskrit and Computing
What’s about Sanskrit and
• unambiguous sanskrit

• object oriented sanskrit

• precission

Which is just the result of the perfect

Paaninian Grammar, it’s divine nature
and a perfect script; the Devnagri
Script…
Unambiguous
 Unambiguous Sanskrit
What does Unambiguous Sanskrit
un·am·big·u·ous
adj. having or exhibiting no ambiguity or
uncertainty; clear

• is the only unambiguous natural language

• Sanskrit shows the power of unambiguity over

other prakrit language like English.

• Making it suitable for being developed as artificial

intelligent , semantic based language and natural
language processing.
NASA’s speak on Unambiguous
What did NASA say on Sanskrit ?
An article "Sanskrit & Artificial Intelligence",
which appeared in AI (Artificial Intelligence)
magazine in spring of 1985, written by a NASA
researcher Rick Briggs;

• discovered that Sanskrit, the world's oldest

spiritual language, is the only unambiguous
spoken language on the planet.

• Sanskrit is a perfect example of using a language

for discovering and designing life.

• It appears to be in every respect a perfect

language designed for enlightened
“
The degree to which a semantic net (or
The degree to which a semantic net (or
any unambiguous nonsyntactic
representation) is cumbersome and odd-
sounding in a natural language is the
degree to which that language is 'natural'
and deviates from the precise or 'artificial.'
As we shall see, there was a language
(Sanskrit) spoken among an ancient
scientific
-"Sanskrit &community that has
Artificial Intelligence“ a deviation
AI Magazine,
Rick Briggs
Object Oriented
Object Oriented Sanskrit
What Sanskrit and Object
• One great virtue of the Paaninian Sanskrit
Grammmer system is that it operates at the level
of roots and suffixes.

• Infinite words can be made from the basic roots

and suffixes.

• The object oriented approach of Sanskrit's word

formation makes it a perfect language for
computing purpose.

• And the entire Sanskrit language in all the details

of its structure is fully based on basic rules of
Paani’s grammer.
Sanskrit is precision
Sanskrit is precision
What is Sanskrit’s degree of
• Unaltered pronunciation since the beginning of
the language

• Each word formed from its root (dhätu)

• Ideal for coining new scientific and technological

terms

• Paani's syntax notation equivalent to the modern

Backus-Naur form

• Sanskrit; a language of mathlike precision

Sanskrit as
Programming
Language
Sanskrit as programming
Can Sanskrit be used as programming
YES, Sanskrit can be used as the programming
language due to it’s unique nature and divine gift
and primarily :

Paaini’s Grammar

The qualities described here can also be considered

for it’s potential in computing.
 Sanskrit as programming
How is Sanskrit best for computerized
• Sanskrit's potential for scientific use was greatly
enhanced as a result of the thorough
systemization of its grammar by Panini.

• On the basis of just under 4000 sutras (rules

expressed as aphorisms), he built virtually the
whole structure of the Sanskrit language, whose
general 'shape' hardly changed for the next two
thousand years.

• One great virtue of the Paaninian system is that it

operates at the level of roots and suffixes.
 Sanskrit : Paaini’s Grammar
What great about Paani’s Grammar ?
• It consists of nearly 4,000 rules divided into eight
chapters.

• It provides a collection of 2,000 roots.

• Being composed with the maximum conceivable

brevity, this grammar describes the entire
Sanskrit language in all the details of its
structure, with a unity which has never been
equaled elsewhere.

• It is at once the shortest and fullest grammar in

the world.
Sanskrit : Feature for
More on Paani’s Grammar
An interesting point about Panini's grammar is that
it

• is notably descriptive;

• does not attempt to tell people how they should

speak and write

• Is only concerned with what people actually did

say and write

This underscores the point about Sanskrit as a

 Sanskrit and BNF equivalent by
Can Sanskrit be used as programming
In order to create the grammar,

• Panini "invented a notation which is equivalent

in its power to that of Backus [BNF], and has
many similar properties.

• Given the use to which the notation was put, it is

possible to identify structures equivalent to the
Backus '|' and to the use of the meta-brackets '<'
and '>' enclosing suggestive names.

• Panini avoided the necessity for the character

'::=' by writing the meta-result on the right rather
Sanskrit as programming
Affect of perfect Panini’s Grammar
• Panini uses metarules, transformations, and
recursion in such sophistication that his grammar
has the computing power equivalent to a Turing
machine.

• An indirect consequence of Panini's efforts to

increase the linguistic facility of Sanskrit soon
became apparent in the character of scientific
and mathematical literature," i.e. that the
flourishing of Indian Subcontinetal mathematics
may have been a direct consequence of the
systematization of the grammar of Sanskrit, and
of the formal tools which were developed in order
Rumors on Sanskrit
Rumors on Sanskrit ?
Are there any interesting rumors on Sanskrit ?
• United States is creating a 6th and 7th
generation super computers based on the
Sanskrit language for the use of super
computers to their maximum extent.

• Project deadline is 2025 (6th generation)

2034(7th generation) after this there will be a
language revolution all over the world to
Restoring the lost
Restoring the Lost Glory
What can be done to revive the perfect
• Informing people on existence of a language with
this perfection and features

• Learning Sanskrit by ourselves or any education

centers

• Bringing back the spoken Sanskrit community

• Studying the Sanskrit Literature

• Blogging and writing articles about it

• And anything to restore our glory

Restoring the Lost Glory
How are we leaving our glory
Youth follow Actors/Directors
They follow west
Thus youth end up following west, and so the
people, and hence everyone

• Though the above pattern seem awkward it is

what happens.

• So speaking the truth people here would start

speaking and using Sanskrit only when west
starts to do.
 Restoring the Lost Glory
What makes it difficult to restore
• The basic attitude towards learning Sanskrit
today is,

"It's too difficult."

• Actually Sanskrit is not difficult. On the contrary,
there are few greater enjoyments.

• Sanskrit will only become the planetary language

when it is taught is exciting and enjoyable.
Although learning Sanskrit in some ways
presents challenges similar to those of
learning calculus or
music, it also induces a lubrication and
acceleration of mental function that
actually makes such a process exciting and
enjoyable. Perhaps the greatest immediate
benefit of learning Sanskrit by this method
is that it requires participants to relinquish
control, abandon prior learning structures
Why Switch Back ?
Why Switch Back ?
Why do we switch back to
• Once we switch to Sanskrit it is not switching
back but switching towards perfection
• Sanskrit is simple to learn.

• Like mathematics it excites the brain and

like music it has power to uplifts the heart.
Innovation for the
development of
Nepal
Innovation for the development of
What can Sanskrit do for Nepal’s Development.
• Computer software industry as well, particularly
in the fields of natural language processing and
artificial intelligence can be greatly improved.

• Many new scientific research on Sanskrit and

works written on Sanskrit can greatly aid to the
development process which includes study of
Vedas and other works.

• During the development our culture and history

get’s preserved.

• Our nation get’s recognized as nation that uses

perfect language.
References
 References
Where did I looked for this all information ?
• The Mother on Sans-krit by Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry,India.

• A History of Sans-krit Literature by Arthur A. MacDonnell,

• M.A., Ph.D., Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, 1962.

• A Short History of Sans-krit Literature by H. R. Aggarwal, M.A.,

• P.E.S., R.D.E., Munshi Ram Manohar Lal, Delhi, 1963.

• A Companion to Contemporary Sans-krit by Hajime Nakamura,

• Motilal Banarsidas, Delhi, 1973.

• Sans-krit by V. V. Ivanov and V. N. Toporov, Nauka Publishing

• House, Moscow, 1968.

• And other are published at

www.ujjwollamichhane.blogspot.com
Let’s Barcamp
Let’s Bar camp
What to do now ?

THE IDEA OF RESTORING THE LOST GLORY

 :
धनयवाद

Thank you
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