Sanskrit revival is a resurgence of interest in and use of the Sanskrit language, both in India and in Western countries such as Germany, [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] the United Kingdom, [6] the United States, China [7] [8] and in many European countries. [9] [10] [11]
Sanskrit is one of the 22 official languages in India. [12] In 2010, Uttarakhand became the first state in India to have Sanskrit as its second official language. [13] In 2019, Himachal Pradesh became the second state to have Sanskrit as the second official language. [14] There are 2,360,821 total speakers of Sanskrit in India, as of 2011. [15] There have been numerous efforts to restore Sanskrit to its former prominence, but these attempts have not yielded significantly satisfactory outcomes. [16] [17] In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, [a] but the numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. [16] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22]
Sanskrit was added to Google Translate in 2022, as it was the most requested language at that time. [23] [24]
In 1891, there was organized activity among the Theosophists in India promoting and participating in the revival of Sanskrit. [25] In 1894 the American Asiatic and Sanskrit Revival Society was established. [26]
In India, Sanskrit is included in the 14 original languages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. Many organizations, like the Samskrta Bharati , are conducting Speak Sanskrit workshops to popularize the language. The All-India Sanskrit Festival has been hosting composition contests since 2002.[ citation needed ]
The state of Uttarakhand has become the first state in India to declare Sanskrit as an official language. The Central Board of Secondary Education in India has made Sanskrit a third language in the schools it governs (though it is an option for a school to adopt it or not, the other choice being the state's own official language). In such schools, learning Sanskrit is an option for grades 5 to 8 (Classes V to VIII). This is true of most schools, including but not limited to Christian missionary schools, including those which are affiliated to the ICSE board, especially in those states where the official language is Hindi. An option between Sanskrit and a local language as a second language exists for grades 9 and 10.[ citation needed ]
There is a Sanskrit literature movement to revive Sanskrit. [27]
The Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR) has started giving "World Sanskrit Award" to eminent Sanskrit scholars to recognise their outstanding contribution to the study, teaching, research in Sanskrit language and literature. Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand was conferred the first ‘World Sanskrit Award’ in 2016. [28] In 2017, Robert Goldman was awarded the World Sanskrit Award. [29]
There are also many Sanskrit writers who won Sahitya Akademi Award winners. [30]
Samskrita Bharati is an organization working for Sanskrit revival. It is a tax exempt nonprofit organization with its headquarters in New Delhi, India. The International Centre, Aksharam, a complex located in Bangalore, India, is its international centre. It houses a research wing, a library, audio-visual lab, and staff quarters. It also has several state-units spread across the country both in the United States and India. The US chapter is a registered nonprofit tax-exempt organization with its headquarters in San Jose, California. Samskrita Bharati functions as an umbrella organization for various organizations working for promotion of Samskrita. Being the liturgical language of Hindus, it is used during worship in Hindu temples in the West. It is taught in many South Asian studies/linguistics departments in universities across the West. Also, Sanskrit revival attempts are underway amongst expatriate Hindu populations in the west. [31] It is also popular amongst the many practitioners of yoga in the West, who find the language useful in understanding the Yoga Sutra [ citation needed ].
Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan is an India educational trust. It was founded on 7 November 1938 by K. M. Munshi, with the support of Mahatma Gandhi. The trust programmes through its 119 centres in India, seven centres abroad and 367 constituent institutions. One of its purposes is the promotion of Sanskrit over "all aspects of life from the cradle to the grave and beyond" – thus filling "a growing vacuum in modern life".[ This quote needs a citation ]
In the last few years sporadic efforts have been made to form Sanskrit universities for Sanskrit studies and vyakarana in India. The Sanskrit Universities Bill is aimed at converting Sanskrit deemed to be universities to central universities. [32] The partial list of such universities is given below in chronological order:
The Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Veda Sanskrit Shiksha Board (MSRVSSB) is a national-level school education board which grants the Veda Bhushan (10th) and Veda Vibhushan (12th) certificates to the students of affiliated schools. MSRVSSB certificates are accredited by the Association of Indian Universities (AIU) and AICTE as the recognised qualifications for admission into other tertiary institutions for a higher degree. Along with the modern subjects, the students are also taught Hindu scriptures, vedas, upnishads, ayurveda and sanskrit. [33]
Andhra Pradesh has several dozens Sanskrit institutes, including the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth and Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeeth (deemed university) at Tirupati. [34]
Assam and Northeast India, where Sanskrit has reached by the late vedic period, has Kamarupa Anusandhan Samiti which was established in 2012 to research Sanskrit, Ananda Ram Baruah institute of languages publishes Sanskrit manuscripts, and Assam Sanskrit Board is responsible for researching and preserving Sanskrit documents and manuscripts. [34]
Bihar has Sanskrit institutes like Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University. [35] Bihar Sanskrit Shiksha Board [36] conducts the Annual Secondary School Examination in February/March and the Supplementary School Examination in August/September, following the course/syllabus prescribed by the state government.
Delhi has at Delhi University, Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Delhi Sanskrit Academy Department [37] and Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha (deemed university) undertaking research and teaching in Sanskrit. [38]
Gujarat has Shree Somnath Sanskrit University and 50 Sanskrit pathshalas (schools) of which 38 are officially recognised by the government. [39]
Haryana state has over 24 Sanskrit colleges offering education equivalent to bachelor's degree, additionally masters and doctoral level degrees are also offered by the Kurukshetra University and Maharshi Dayanand University. [40] In 2018, Haryana established Maharishi Balmiki Sanskrit University, Kaithal as a teaching and affiliating university for research in Sanskrit, vedas, Indic languages, Indian culture and Indian philosophy. [41]
Himachal Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes. [42] In 2019 the Himachal Pradesh government decided to make Sanskrit the second official language replacing Punjabi. [43] Also, Himachal Pradesh government has plans to teach Sanskrit as a compulsory language from 3rd to 5th standards. [44] [45] Currently Sanskrit is taught from 5th to 10th standards in the state. The state government has also intended to open a Sanskrit university to revive the language in the state. [46]
Kerala has many Sanskrit institutes, including Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit. [47]
Madhya Pradesh has many Sanskrit institutes, including Maharishi Sandipani Rashtriya Ved Vidya Pratishthan and Maharishi Panini Sanskrit Evam Vedic Vishwavidyalaya. [48]
Maharashtra has Sanskrit institutes like Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University. [49]
Odisha has many Sanskrit institutes, including Shri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidayalaya. [50]
Rajasthan has Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University. [51]
Tamil Nadu has many Sanskrit institutes, [52] including the Madras Sanskrit College established in 1906.
Uttar Pradesh has Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. [53] [ better source needed ]
West Bengal has at least four universities with Sanskrit departments. [54]
Over 100 institutes outside India offer academic studies in Sanskrit: [55]
The following nations in the Indosphere offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:
The following nations in Africa offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:
The following nations in the Americas offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:
The following nations in the Middle East offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:
The following nations in Europe offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies, most notably Germany, France, UK, Italy and the Netherlands:
The following nations in Oceania offer opportunities for Sanskrit studies:
Sanskrit is also the only scheduled language that shows wide fluctuations — rising from 6,106 speakers in 1981 to 49,736 in 1991 and then falling dramatically to 14,135 speakers in 2001. "This fluctuation is not necessarily an error of the Census method. People often switch language loyalties depending on the immediate political climate," says Prof. Ganesh Devy of the People's Linguistic Survey of India. ... Because some people "fictitiously" indicate Sanskrit as their mother tongue owing to its high prestige and Constitutional mandate, the Census captures the persisting memory of an ancient language that is no longer anyone's real mother tongue, says B. Mallikarjun of the Center for Classical Language. Hence, the numbers fluctuate in each Census. ... "Sanskrit has influence without presence," says Devy. "We all feel in some corner of the country, Sanskrit is spoken." But even in Karnataka's Mattur, which is often referred to as India's Sanskrit village, hardly a handful indicated Sanskrit as their mother tongue.
The study of any ancient (or dead) language is faced with one main challenge: ancient languages have no native speakers who could provide us with examples of simple everyday speech
Some of the migrated languages ... such as Sanskrit and English, remained primarily as a second language, even though their native speakers were lost. Some native languages like the language of the Indus valley were lost with their speakers, while some linguistic communities shifted their language to one or other of the migrants' languages.