Sanskrit studies
Sanskrit has been studied by Western scholars since the late 18th century. In the 19th century, Sanskrit studies played a crucial role in the development of the field of comparative linguistics of the Indo-European languages. During the British Raj (1857–1947), Western scholars edited many Sanskrit texts which had survived in manuscript form. The study of Sanskrit grammar and philology remains important both in the field of Indology and of Indo-European studies.
History
The study of
In 1786 Sir William Jones, who had founded The Asiatic Society[3] two years earlier, delivered the third annual discourse;[4] in his often-cited "philologer" passage, he noted similarities between Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Latin—an event which is often cited as the beginning of comparative linguistics, Indo-European studies, and Sanskrit philology.[5]
The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both the Gothic and the Celtic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with the Sanscrit; and the old Persian might be added to the same family.
This common source of the Indo-European languages eventually came to be known as Proto-Indo-European, following the work of Franz Bopp and others.
In 1789 Jones published a translation of
Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
Goethe went on to borrow a device from the play for his
In the introduction to The World as Will and Representation, written in 1818, Arthur Schopenhauer stated that "the access to [the Vedas], opened to us through the Upanishads, is in my eyes the greatest advantage which this still young century enjoys over previous ones, because I believe that the influence of the Sanscrit literature will penetrate not less deeply than did the revival of Greek literature in the fifteenth century".[9]
The Irish poet
The nineteenth century was a golden age of Western Sanskrit scholarship, and many of the giants of the field (
Current usage and study
Sanskrit is taught in many South Asia Studies and/or Linguistics departments in Western universities. In addition to this, it is also used during worship in
An Islamic institute's unique inclusion of Sanskrit in its syllabus has recently caught the attention of major national news and media outlets. The institute's innovative approach has received widespread coverage in the press. [15] The Institute is located in Thrissur, Kerala, South India. [16]
See also
- Sanskrit grammarians
- Hinduism in the West
- International Alphabet of Sanskrit Transliteration
- Sacred Books of the East
- Hindu American Foundation
- Hindu denominations
- Hindu Temple Society of North America (Ganesh Temple, Queens)
- Hindu University of America
- Sanskrit prosody
- Invading the Sacred
- List of Hindu temples in the United States
- Parliament of the World's Religions
References
- ^ ISBN 978-81-208-0027-4
- ^ Winternitz, Maurice (1972), History of Indian Literature, vol. 1, New Delhi: Oriental Books Reprint Corporation, p. 11 Second revised reprint edition. Two volumes. First published 1927 by the University of Calcutta.
- ^ T. K. John, "Research and Studies by Western Missionaries and Scholars in Sanskrit Language and Literature," in the St. Thomas Christian Encyclopaedia of India, Vol. III, Ollur[Trichur] 2010 Ed. George Menachery, pp.79 - 83
- ^ A Reader in Nineteenth Century Historical Indo-European Linguistics: The Third Anniversary Discourse, On the Hindus Archived 2012-08-05 at archive.today
- ^ Friedrich Max Müller (1859), A History of Ancient Sanskrit Literature, Williams and Norgate, p. 1
- ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1876), Śakuntalā, Clarendon Press, p. 10
- ^ Telford, John; Barber, Benjamin Aquila (April 1876), "Classical Sanscrit", The London Quarterly Review, vol. XLVI, pp. 309–335
- ISBN 978-0-19-283911-4
- ^ Arthur Schopenhauer: The World as Will and Representation (Preface to the First Edition). Translated by R.B. Haldane and J. Kemp.
- ^ "The Collected Works of W.B. Yeats Vol. V: Later Essays" by William Butler Yeats, p. 390-391
- ^ "The Sanskrit Epics" By J. L. Brockington
- ^ "Einstein and Oppenheimer: The Meaning of Genius", by Silvan S. Schweber, Page 189
- ^ Hijiya, James A. (June 2000), "The Gita of Robert Oppenheimer" (PDF), Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 144 (2)
- ^ Original quote "kālo'smi lokakṣayakṛtpravṛddho lokānsamāhartumiha pravṛttaḥ", appeared in various forms in English; see J. Robert Oppenheimer for discussion of this quote.
- ^ "Academy of Sharia and Advanced Studies", Wikipedia, 2023-02-26, retrieved 2023-03-09
- ^ "Bhagavad Gita Part Of Sanskrit Syllabus Of Islamic Institute In Kerala". NDTV.com. Retrieved 2023-03-09.
Further reading
- CHAUDHURI, S. K. (2011). Sanskrit in China and Japan. New Delhi, International Academy of Indian Culture and Aditya Prakashan.
- ISBN 978-9351775386)