Words of Jagadguru Shankaracharya Sri Sri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji in 1983 on Sanskrit

#Sanskrit was called a Dead #language long back & #Jagadguru #Shankaracharya #SriSri Bharati Tirtha Mahaswamiji had refuted the same masterfully as below way back in 1983! The same counter is valid even today... No wonder the wise say that The words of Sages never age !

Three objections are raised by people against the study of Sanskrit. The first is, "Sanskrit is a dead language". Those who say so deserve to be questioned whether they regard Sanskrit as "dead" because it is not spoken universally or because no one uses it. If a language is considered dead because it is not used by all, then most regional languages must also be regarded as dead because all people do not use them. On the other hand if a language is regarded as dead because no one uses it then Sanskrit cannot be regarded as dead many including pandits etc. do use Sanskrit for conversation & discussion even today.
The second objection raised is, "Sanskrit is meant for the select few". This is not true. Panini speaks of the intonation of the women folk of Saurasatra who dealt in curds. If the women folk of Saurashtra who sold curds were to speak Sanskrit then is it not proof that Sanskrit was commonly spoken in Panini's time.
The third objection is "Sanskrit grammar is ver tough" This objection is also baseless. This is because "Tough" and "Easy" are relative terms. To one proficient in Sanskrit, Sanskrit grammar is easy. On the other hand for one who does not know Sanskrit, its grammar is tough. The same rule applies equally well to all other languages.
Hence we can safely conclude that the objections raised against the study of Sanskrit are unfounded and further conclude that the study of Sanskrit is indeed very beneficial.

#Samskitam #SanatanDharma #संस्कृत #भाषा #संस्कृतम्