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The Battle for Sanskrit

One would wonder why scholars, academic institutions (Columbia/Harvard) and Hindu intellectuals are involved in a high profile global battle for Sanskrit, a language spoken and written by a very small minority globally.

Rajiv Malhotra in his book 'The Battle for Sanskrit' decodes the academic 'mumbo-jumbo' of western Indologists  to reveal a well networked global ecosystem which is working hard to take charge of Sanskrit with one motive - to take charge of our Sanskriti or culture.



The modus operandi of this ecosystem super headed by Sheldon Pollock of Columbia University is very clear ..

1) Establish Sanskrit as a source of violence, oppression and a means of promoting atrocity literature. Ramayana is cited as an example of atrocity literature that encourages violence and oppression by the likes of Sheldon Pollock who claims that the caste system of India as well Hitler's concentration camps have their roots in Sanskrit. Sheldon Pollock also claims that a mere telecast of Ramayan on TV in India can cause destruction of mosques. History is twisted and presented in a very bizarre way by these American Indologists to claim the Sanskrit is the DNA of violence and oppression. 

2) Given the toxicity of Sanskrit, these Indologists want to cleanse it contain it to museums so that this 'virus of oppression' does not spread further. With this aim in mind, these Indologists are attacking the oral tradition of teaching Sanskrit. According to the likes of Sheldon Pollock anything that  is learned orally is primitive and un-scientific. Indian music is learned orally unlike western music which is read and hence is also primitive.

3) Once Sanskrit is de-toxified and confined to museums , its would be very easy to contaminate Indian sanskriti (culture) by distorting history and use it influence to political/social discourse. 

This anti Hindu ecosystem run by these American Indologists is very well entrenched in India with presence in universities, media houses, political parties, intellectuals etc. The influence of this ecosystem on the social and political discourse in India is so profound that Sheldon Pollock who calls Ramayana an atrocity literature was conferred the prestigious Padma Sri award in 2010. The Narayan Murthy foundation has pledged millions of dollars to Sheldon Pollock for translating Sanskrit texts. It is assumed that de-texofication of Sanskrit will accompany the translation.

Rajiv Malhotra does a brilliant job at exposing this anti-Sanskrit and anti-Sanskriti eco-system, its modus operandi as well its ring leader. Rajiv Malhotra has also proposed a framework to counter this eco-system. 

Rajiv Malhotra's work is a must read for anyone one who believes in Indian culture and way of life for the soul of India lies in her sanskriti. 



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