Thread by @ganeshbv1

Interesting from First Sanskrit Commission Report. The Commission was appointed by the Government of India in 1956 with Dr. Suniti Kumar Chatterji as its chairman. Seven other scholars of repute from various parts of the country were members.

Some may criticize that the kings and thepriests had their own motives, i.e. dominating the others in society in promoting Sanskrit.But the Sanskrit Commission’s report makes it clear that even Muslims and Christians in certain parts of the country actively participated

in the learning of Sanskrit. Nor was it the case that the Brahmin community alone was learning and preserving Sanskrit.Cutting across the barriers of caste and religion, Sanskrit was embraced by all people in India. Neither was gender a barrier in learning Sanskrit.

The following statements of the First Sanskrit Commission testify to this “That Sanskrit does not belong to any particular community is proved by Andhra and Kerala where the entire non-Brahman classes are imbued with Sanskrit, and speak a language highly saturated with

Sanskrit. In Kerala, even Izhavas, Thiyas, Moplas and Christians read Sanskrit. In Madhya Pradesh, we were told, a paper in Sanskrit was compulsory at the School Final Examination and even 66 Muslims took it.

In a Lucknow Intermediate College, there are Muslim girls studying

Sanskrit; in Gujarat, Parsis study it; in Panjab, there are several Sikhs among Sanskrit students and teachers, and Sastris and research scholars in Sanskrit.

The Director of Public Instruction of Madhya Pradesh, who is a Christian, told us that he advised the Anglo-Indian

students also to read Sanskrit. It was necessary that, as future citizens of India, they gained an insight into the mind and the culture of the bulk of the Indian people. And this, he added, was possible only through the study of Sanskrit.” –(Sanskrit Commission Report 1957:64)

This patronage of Sanskrit by Muslims and Christians is not a new phenomena. The Commission opines that it is part of the historical continuity of the interest of the non-Hindu communities in Sanskrit.

To quote –
“This aspect of Sanskrit, that it was not exclusively religious,

was appreciated even by some of the Muslim rulers of India, who patronised Sanskrit literature, and, in some cases (as in Bengal and Gujarat), had their epigraphic records inscribed in Sanskrit.

It was the scientific and secular aspect of Sanskrit literature that made the Arabs welcome Indian scholars to Baghdad to discourse on sciences like Medicine and Astronomy, and to translate books in these subjects into Arabic.

The Ayurveda system of medicine, until recently, was the truly National Indian System, which was practised everywhere, and access to this was through Sanskrit books, which even Muslim practitioners of the Ayurveda in Bengal studied.”

–(Sanskrit Commission of India Report 1957:79)
This is yet another statement from the Commission’s report which is relevant to be quoted here–
“In the course of our tours in South India,

we interviewed several non- Brahmans in high position and active in public life, business, etc., and we found them all favourable to Sanskrit. In Madras City itself, we found that, both in the recognised schools and private classes, non-Brahmans, and even a few Muslims and

Christians, studied Sanskrit. n one of the High Schools of Chidambaram, a Muslim student was reported to have stood
first in Sanskrit; and in another School, there were Harijans among the Sanskrit students.

In Chidambaram we were glad to find a group of leading non-Brahman merchants of the town who appeared before us for
interview as staunch supporters of Sanskrit education and culture.”–(Sanskrit Commission of India Report 1957:65)

The Commission further adds –
“In Tanjore also, we were told by the Headmasters and Sanskrit teachers of local schools that non-Brahmans, Muslims and Christians freely took Sanskrit

It was again the non-Brahmans, particularly the great benefactors belonging to the Chettiar community, who had, in the recent past, endowed many Pathasalas for Veda and Sanskrit.” –(Sanskrit Commission of India Report 1957:66)

Thus it becomes evident from the above excerpts that all religious groups and caste groups patronized Sanskrit. Moreover, it also becomes evident
that there is also no north-south divide in promoting Sanskrit. From the Commission’s report it was shown that cutting across r

religious, caste divisions people learn and love Sanskrit. It is very educative to note, when we see the Sanskrit Commission state that, even in the creation of Sanskrit literature over the ages, it was not the case that it was just one community was involved.

The Commission notes –

“It must be further pointed out that the large mass of literature in Sanskrit was not produced by any particular community.
Several instances
can be quoted of non-Brahman and non-Hindu authors who have made significant contributions

to Sanskrit literature. It is definitely wrong to assume that Sanskrit represents only the religious literature of the
Hindus.”–(Sanskrit Commission of India Report 1957:79) Thanks & Credits to Jayaraman Mahadevan @YogaJayaraman

#Sanskrit