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| Class text: Samskrita Bharati, based in India, is a source of instructional materials. Joanne Ciccarello – Staff |
Sanskrit echoes around the world
The rise of India's economy has brought an eagerness to learn the ancient 'language of the gods' – and a great-great aunt to English.
from the July 5, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
In India today, Sanskrit is mostly known as the written language of religion and metaphysics. Hindus – who make up 80 percent of the population in India – typically know some Sanskrit prayers by heart. Those who marry by the ceremonial sacred fire recite their vows in Sanskrit. Traces of the ancient language can be found in nearly all of the 15 modern languages spoken in India. (Hundreds of pure Sanskrit words are present in English as well. )
"To dispel the notion that the language was nonliving and difficult to learn," Mr. Shastry says in a phone interview, "we decided to teach basic spoken Sanskrit in 10 days and to teach through Sanskrit only."
An eager network of volunteers experimented with this new method, teaching groups in villages, cities, and abroad through Indian expatriates. "We now hold classes even in prisons," Shastry says.
When the movement began, there was no money for printed flyers to advertise the classes, so publicity was strictly via word-of-mouth. Volunteers performed sidewalk skits about social themes using Sanskrit to draw the attention of passersby.
"[People] saw that Sanskrit need not be confined to rituals and prayer," says Pallamraju Duggirala, a part-time
Samskrita Bharati volunteer (and full-time space physicist) who has been teaching the free classes at MIT since September 2003.
In 25 years, an estimated 7 million people have attended spoken Sanskrit classes offered by Samskrita Bharati in India and abroad, says Shastry. There are 250 full-time volunteers and 5,000 part-time teachers in the United States and India, and their numbers are growing.
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