|
|
| Sanskrit:
The Mother of All Languages - Part I of III
The
Origin of Sanskrit
Click
here to read Part II - A
Glimpse of the Perfection of Sanskrit Grammar
Click
here to read Part III - Six
Unmatched Features of Sanskrit
|
The
one which is introduced or produced in its perfect
form is called Sanskrit. The word Sanskrit is formed
from “sam + krit” where (sam)
prefix means (samyak) ‘entirely’ or ‘wholly’
or ‘perfectly,’ and krit means ‘done.’ Sanskrit
was first introduced by Brahma to the Sages of the
celestial abodes and it is still the language of the
celestial abode, so it is also called the Dev
Vani. |
|
|
Sanskrit
was introduced on the earth planet, by the eternal Sages of
Sanatan Dharm along with the Divine scriptures such
as the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Puranas. A famous verse
in Sage Panini’s Ashtadhyayi tells that the Panini grammar
that is in use now is directly Graced by God Shiv. |
 |
| Once,
at the end of His Divine ecstatic dance induced by the enthralling
effects of Krishn love, God Shiv played on His damru
(the mini hand-drum which God Shiv holds in His hand). Fourteen
very distinct sounds came out of it. Sage Panini conceived
them in his Divine mind and on the basis of those Divine sounds,
reestablished the science of Sanskrit grammar which already
eternally existed. |
Since
the start of human civilization on the earth, people and the
Sages both spoke pure Sanskrit language. The historical records
indicate that three public programs of the recitation of the
Bhagwatam and the discourses on Krishn leelas had
happened in Sanskrit language in 3072 BC, 2872 BC and 2842
BC in which Saints and the devotees participated. Later on
when the population increased, the prakrit form of
speech with partly mispronounced words (called apbhranshas)
was developed in the less educated society and became popular. |
| |
| The
Manu Smriti says that the ambitious chatriyas of
Bharatvarsh went abroad to the neighboring countries to establish
their new kingdoms and, as they were cut off from the mainstream
of the Bhartiya civilization and culture, they developed their
own language and civilization as time went on. Natural calamities
(such as ice ages) totally shattered their civilizations but
still the survivors, in the spoken form of their primitive
languages, held many apbhransh words of the original
Sanskrit language which their remote ancestors had retained
in their memory. As a result of this affiliation with Bhartiya
culture and the Sanskrit language, Sanskrit became the origin
of the growth of the literary development in other languages
of the world. |
| The
phonology (the speech sound) and morphology (the science of
word formation) of the Sanskrit language is entirely different
from all of the languages of the world. Some of the unique
features of Sanskrit are: |
| 1.
|
The
sound of each of the 36 consonants and the 16 vowels of Sanskrit
are fixed and precise since the very beginning. They were
never changed, altered, improved or modified. All the words
of the Sanskrit language always had the same pronunciation
as they have today. There was no ‘sound shift,’ no
change in the vowel system, and no addition was ever made
in the grammar of the Sanskrit in relation to the formation
of the words. The reason is its absolute perfection
by its own nature and formation, because it was the first
language of the world. |
| 2. |
The
morphology of word formation is unique and of its own kind
where a word is formed from a tiny seed root (called dhatu)
in a precise grammatical order which has been the same since
the very beginning. Any number of desired words could be created
through its root words and the prefix and suffix system as
detailed in the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. Furthermore, 90 forms
of each verb and 21 forms of each noun or pronoun could be
formed that could be used in any situation. |
| 3.
|
There
has never been any kind, class or nature of change in the
science of Sanskrit grammar as seen in other languages of
the world as they passed through one stage to another. |
| 4.
|
The
perfect form of the Vedic Sanskrit language had already existed
thousands of years earlier even before the infancy of the
earliest prime languages of the world like Greek, Hebrew and
Latin etc. |
| 5. |
When
a language is spoken by unqualified people the pronunciation
of the word changes to some extent; and when these words travel
by word of mouth to another region of the land, with the gap
of some generations, it permanently changes its form and shape
to some extent. Just like the Sanskrit word matri,
with a long ‘a’ and soft ‘t,’ became mater in Greek
and mother in English. The last two words are called
the ‘apbhransh’ of the original Sanskrit word ‘matri.’
Such apbhranshas of Sanskrit words are found
in all the languages of the world and this situation itself
proves that Sanskrit was the mother language of the world. |
| Considering
all the five points as explained above, it is quite evident
that Sanskrit is the source of all the languages of the world
and not a derivation of any language. As such, Sanskrit
is the Divine mother language of the world.
|
Click
here to read Part II - A
Glimpse of the Perfection of Sanskrit Grammar
Click
here to read Part III - Six
Unmatched Features of Sanskrit
|
This
article was compiled from, “The
True History and the Religion of India” by Dharm Chakravarty
Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. This landmark encyclopedia of authentic
Hinduism gives detailed information on related topics such as the
perfection of Sanskrit grammar, the six unmatched features of the
Sanskrit language, and the origin of Sanskrit grammar. © 2004
The Vedic Foundation
This article may be reprinted with permission in writing from
The Vedic Foundation. |
|
