SANSKRIT KARYALAYA

The Sanskrit Karyalaya of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram has been active for a number of years in promoting and popularising a simple form of Sanskrit. This is in keeping with the declared wish of the Mother of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram that a simple form of Sanskrit should be the national language of India.

The Mother, who was deeply influenced by this classical language, desired that for the common use it should be a simple form of Sanskrit which can be written, spoken and understood with ease, so as to remove the prevalent dread of the language as a very difficult one and meant only for scholars.

The research work of the Sanskrit Karyalaya of the Ashram in this direction has so far produced a number of innovative books for teaching and learning Sanskrit adopting a different method. Beginners especially will find these books extremely helpful to learn quite easily the language which is believed to be difficult.

A few publications deserve special mention: Surabharati, Saralasamskritasarani, Sanskritam Bhashamahai, Learn Sanskrit the Natural Way, are some of the books which both beginners and the learned will find immensely helpful in learning, mastering and popularising the language.

The Sanskrit Karyalaya has also published a comprehensive book: Sanskritasya Vyavaharikaswarupam - Functional Sanskrit: Its Communicative Aspects (335 pages, Rs.180.00) by Dr.Narendra, a scholar and an inmate of the Sri Aurobindo Ashram. This unique book by Dr. Narendra is a systematic study and an in-depth research work for establishing that Sanskrit can be made both simple and fully communicative. Click here to see the review .

“The ideal would be”, as the Mother said, “…to have a rejuvenated Sanskrit as the representative language of India”. And every Indian perhaps has a role to play in not only reviving Sanskrit, an indispensable element of the ancient Indian cultural heritage, but also to make it once again living and vibrant.

The ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue both in quality and in body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of speech and in the height and width of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank among the world's great literatures. The language itself, as has been universally recognised by those competent to form a judgement, is one of the most magnificent, the most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary instrument developed by the human mind, at once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and clearly-formed and full and vibrant and subtle, and its quality and character would be of itself a sufficient evidence of the character and quality of the race whose mind it expressed and the culture of which it was the reflecting medium.

-- Sri Aurobindo

Sanskrit ought to be the national language of India.

-- The Mother

Sanskrit is good for all Indians.

-- The Mother

For common use I was thinking of a simplified Sanskrit from the grammatical point of view...

-- The Mother

The ideal would be...to have a rejuvenated Sanskrit as the representative language of India...

-- The Mother

Sanskritasya Vyavaharikaswarupam Functional Sanskrit:
Its Communicative Aspect -- Dr.Narendra

335 pages, Rs.180.00, ISBN 978-81-7058-448-3

This book is intended to be a convenient handbook for both teaching and learning simple Sanskrit.

The introductory and the concluding chapters of the book deal with the relevance of Sanskrit in the present context. The first chapter presents a comparative study of Sanskrit with English, French, Tamil and Hindi and also a glossary of common words found in eleven major Indian languages. Conversations, stories, songs, plays etc. in simple Sanskrit are included in the second chapter. The third chapter consists of eleven graded lessons and a glossary of terms in both Sanskrit and English useful for daily use. Sanskrit is considered difficult mainly because one has to memorise the numerous conjugations and declensions and the rules of gender and sandhi. Chapters from fourth to seventh are devoted to showing how these difficulties can be systematically removed by using a novel method. Use of English at the appropriate places make this book easily approachable by all.

The uniqueness and importance of this book has been aptly described by Dr.Keshab Chandra Das, Head of the Department of Nyaya, Sri Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya, Puri, in his Foreword to this book: "Everywhere there is a demand that Sanskrit should be simple so that it can be learned easily. The demand is genuine. But how to fulfil it? This book is the first of its kind to serve this end... The book is an in-depth study and a good piece of progressive research for establishing that Sanskrit can be both simple and fully communicative."

He concludes with the remark: "The Author has evolved and presented some new techniques and methods to facilitate rapid learning.

"I hope this work of Dr.Narendra will receive the attention of learners and learned critics for its pragmatic features, new methodology and freshness of ideas."