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Sanskrit: Bringing Arts, Humanities & Science Together


As controversy raged over making Sanskrit available to kids over German, I was gifted a book written by the former Chairman of India's Atomic Energy Commission Dr Raja Ramanna. The book is called 'Sanskrit & Science'.


Its a short booklet that very effectively makes its point. I have never studied Sanskrit but the book did inspire me to study the language. 

 Here is what I picked up from the book-

  • Sanskrit has a scientific base unlike any other language driven largely by its grammatical organisation. 
  • The grammatical organisation was formulated by Panini 2500 years ago in a set of 8 books of 4 chapters each.
  • Sanskrit grammar is made up of 2 parts - roots and rules. Roots are embody certain general concepts - vowel, consonant, noun, pronoun etc. Rules define how words can be constructed by rules and create compound words form words. Those familiar with modern day 4th generation programming languages will find this very familiar.
  • Phonetics as a science is completely Sanskritic - its easy to analyse what is a vowel or a consonant based on the position of the tongue or the organs involved in producing the letter sound.
  • Verses in Sanskrit not only combine the elements of prose and poetry but also follow a accurate mathematical pattern. The combination of mathematical patterns and logic makes Sanskrit very unique. 
  • The rules of grammar allow for abstract expressions which is why you will find it easy to use Sanskrit for the expression of  mythology, literature, science, philosophy, music, dance etc. 
  • Dr Raja then goes on to quote Sanskrit verses written by Baudhayana ( 600 BC) which when translated to English is nothing but the Pythogoras theorem. Similar works from Aryabata are also explained which explain the concept of Pi and its value to the forth decimal.
Lastly Dr Raja ends by stating 

"Sanskrit is not merely a language, it is a poetic testament of the genius of a race and a culture and the living embodiment of the thoughts and fancies that have moulded them. It represents a culture which has remained alive and unbroken over a period of nearly 5000 years. It is a singular idiosyncrasy of Sankrit language that the very word Sankriti means culture"

Steve Jobs once famously said that when art, humanities and technology come together, it makes our hearts sing.

If there ever was a language that brings arts, humanities and science together - its Sanskrit.

- Viva

PS: To learn Sanskrit visit http://samskritabharati.in

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