Sanskrit: The Mother of All Languages - Part I of III

The Origin of Sanskrit Click here to read Part II - A Glimpse of the Perfection of Sanskrit Grammar

Click here to read Part III - Six Unmatched Features of Sanskrit



The one which is introduced or produced in its perfect form is called Sanskrit. The word Sanskrit is formed from sam + krit where (sam) prefix means (samyak) entirely or wholly or perfectly, and krit means done. Sanskrit was first introduced by Brahma to the Sages of the celestial abodes and it is still the language of the celestial abode, so it is also called the Dev Vani. Sanskrit was introduced on the earth planet, by the eternal Sages of Sanatan Dharm along with the Divine scriptures such as the Vedas, the Upnishads and the Puranas. A famous verse in Sage Paninis Ashtadhyayi tells that the Panini grammar that is in use now is directly Graced by God Shiv. Once, at the end of His Divine ecstatic dance induced by the enthralling effects of Krishn love, God Shiv played on His damru (the mini hand-drum which God Shiv holds in His hand). Fourteen very distinct sounds came out of it. Sage Panini conceived them in his Divine mind and on the basis of those Divine sounds, reestablished the science of Sanskrit grammar which already eternally existed. Since the start of human civilization on the earth, people and the Sages both spoke pure Sanskrit language. The historical records indicate that three public programs of the recitation of the Bhagwatam and the discourses on Krishn leelas had happened in Sanskrit language in 3072 BC, 2872 BC and 2842 BC in which Saints and the devotees participated. Later on when the population increased, the prakrit form of speech with partly mispronounced words (called apbhranshas) was developed in the less educated society and became popular. The Manu Smriti says that the ambitious chatriyas of Bharatvarsh went abroad to the neighboring countries to establish their new kingdoms and, as they were cut off from the mainstream of the Bhartiya civilization and culture, they developed their own language and civilization as time went on. Natural calamities (such as ice ages) totally shattered their civilizations but still the survivors, in the spoken form of their primitive languages, held many apbhransh words of the original Sanskrit language which their remote ancestors had retained in their memory. As a result of this affiliation with Bhartiya culture and the Sanskrit language, Sanskrit became the origin of the growth of the literary development in other languages of the world. The phonology (the speech sound) and morphology (the science of word formation) of the Sanskrit language is entirely different from all of the languages of the world. Some of the unique features of Sanskrit are: 1. The sound of each of the 36 consonants and the 16 vowels of Sanskrit are fixed and precise since the very beginning. They were never changed, altered, improved or modified. All the words of the Sanskrit language always had the same pronunciation as they have today. There was no sound shift, no change in the vowel system, and no addition was ever made in the grammar of the Sanskrit in relation to the formation of the words. The reason is its absolute perfection by its own nature and formation, because it was the first language of the world. 2. The morphology of word formation is unique and of its own kind where a word is formed from a tiny seed root (called dhatu) in a precise grammatical order which has been the same since the very beginning. Any number of desired words could be created through its root words and the prefix and suffix system as detailed in the Ashtadhyayi of Panini. Furthermore, 90 forms of each verb and 21 forms of each noun or pronoun could be formed that could be used in any situation. 3.

There has never been any kind, class or nature of change in the science of Sanskrit grammar as seen in other languages of the world as they passed through one stage to another. 4. The perfect form of the Vedic Sanskrit language had already existed thousands of years earlier even before the infancy of the earliest prime languages of the world like Greek, Hebrew and Latin etc. 5. When a language is spoken by unqualified people the pronunciation of the word changes to some extent; and when these words travel by word of mouth to another region of the land, with the gap of some generations, it permanently changes its form and shape to some extent. Just like the Sanskrit word matri, with a long a and soft t, became mater in Greek and mother in English. The last two words are called the apbhransh of the original Sanskrit word matri. Such apbhranshas of Sanskrit words are found in all the languages of the world and this situation itself proves that Sanskrit was the mother language of the world. Considering all the five points as explained above, it is quite evident that Sanskrit is the source of all the languages of the world and not a derivation of any language. As such, Sanskrit is the Divine mother language of the world.

Click here to read Part II - A Glimpse of the Perfection of Sanskrit Grammar

Click here to read Part III - Six Unmatched Features of Sanskrit This article was compiled from, The True History and the Religion of India by Dharm Chakravarty Swami Prakashanand Saraswati. This landmark encyclopedia of authentic Hinduism gives detailed information on related topics such as the perfection of Sanskrit grammar, the six unmatched features of the Sanskrit language, and the origin of Sanskrit grammar. © 2004 The Vedic Foundation

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