The Vedic mantras are received not by learning Sanskrit, but by hearing from the authorized person. Therefore it is called shruti. It is in Sanskrit because there was no other language. Sanskrit was the only language. So now they're being translated into English. So it doesn't matter whether it is in Sanskrit or English, one has to learn it by hearing from the proper person.
[Posted
June 15, 2008]Vedas unlocked from Sanskrit
2 + 2 in any language still equals 4
Washington Post June 15, 2008
- RAMA LAKSHMI
Summer Camps Revive India's Ancient Sanskrit
He had studied the 4,000-year-old classical Indian language at school for six years. He knew its grammar and could chant the ancient hymns. But he could not converse in it. During a two-week course at the camp, Sanskrit Samvad Shala, he had no choice: He was forbidden to speak any other language.
br> "At first I thought it was impossible. The teachers and attendants spoke to us only in Sanskrit, and I did not understand anything," said Hemant, one of the 150 students gathered inside a Hindu temple on the outskirts of New Delhi. "I knew big, heavy bookish words before, but not the simple ones. But now Sanskrit feels like an everyday language."
Such camps, run by volunteers from Hindu nationalist groups, are designed to promote a language long dismissed as dead, and to instill in Hindus religious and cultural pride. Many Sanskrit speakers, though, believe that the camps are a steppingstone to a higher goal: turning back the clock and making Sanskrit modern India's spoken language. go to story
Sri Guru and Gauranga
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Education History - Human Civilization Knowledge - Enlightenment Krishna Consciousness in Action Religion Spiritual Master - Rittvik - Initiation Vedas - Vedic Authority World Community - Government, Economy, PoliticsSome Western scholars and their camp followers have propagated an erroneous assumption that Sanskrit was only the language of the elite. This is an assumption based on faulty knowledge of history. We know from experience that in any given society, say English or French, the same language is spoken by everybody from prince to pauper, though their style and standard of expression may differ. On the same analogy it should be realized that from time immemorial up to the Mahabharat war and for some centuries thereafter too, everybody from prince to pauper, master to servant, holy man to the devil, old men to children, judge or criminal, policeman or soldier or housewife, midwife, sweepers to prostitutes and burglars to burghers, everybody spoke Sanskrit, because there was no other language then. That is why all literature of ancient times for thousands of years is entirely in Sanskrit. more
The process is to hear from the authorized person
excerpt from Answers to a Questionnaire from Bhavan's Journal, Vrindaban, June 28, 1976
PUSTA KRSNA: Anyway, his question is, "Swami Vivekananda has given a positive suggestion that one of the best ways for harijanas to command respect among all sections of people is to learn Sanskrit, the study of which is being neglected even by brahmanas today. What incentives can be given to harijanas to learn Sanskrit, the repository of Indian culture and religion?"
PRABHUPADA: That is another misgiving. They will never be able to learn Sanskrit, and neither it is possible that by learning Sanskrit they will be elevated. There are many Sanskrit scholars. So how they are elevated? They are rotting. It is not a good suggestion, this. If the harijana actually becomes harijana, then it will benefit. That training we can give. This Krishna consciousness movement is that we can make a harijana, a so-called, I mean to say, chamaras, bhangis... Now they understand harijana means he must be a chamara or bhangi. But that is not the actual... harijana means devotee, "The man of Hari." So in spite of their illiteracy in Sanskrit language, we can make him harijana, actually. So why do you take the trouble of learning Sanskrit? Krishna says in the Bhagavad-gita, mam hi partha vyapashritya ye 'pi syuh papa-yonayah [Bg. 9.32]. Papa-yoni means low-grade birth. So anyone. That includes the chamaras, bhangis, they can be purified if they take to the shelter of Krishna. Because Krishna says, aham tvam sarva papebhyo mokshayishyami. The best thing is to induce them to come to Krishna. Then they will be purified. And the simple method is recommended by Krishna Himself and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, His incarnation: this kirtana. Engage them in sankirtana movement which is being pushed by this Krishna consciousness movement and they will be purified. They don't require to learn Sanskrit even. As he, it is. Let them chant Hare Krishna and they will be purified. And if you want to teach them Sanskrit, it will take three thousand years. [laughter] That is impossible.
PUSTA KRSNA: It is a fact though that the repository of Indian culture and religion is Sanskrit. So are you saying then that the harijanas or these class of people...
PRABHUPADA: Yes, it is Sanskrit, but the Vedic mantras are received not by learning Sanskrit, but by hearing from the authorized person. Therefore it is called shruti. It is in Sanskrit because there was no other language. Sanskrit was the only language. So now they're being translated into English. So it doesn't matter whether it is in Sanskrit or English, one has to learn it by hearing from the proper person. That is wanted. It is... The Vedic mantras are called shruti, not "Sanskriti". [laughter]. It is called shruti. Shruti means the first business is hearing. Tad-vijñanartham sa gurum evabhigacchet [Mundaka Upanishad 1.2.12]. What is the purpose of going to guru? Means guru is the authorized person from hear..., from him hear. So it doesn't require that one has to learn Sanskrit. We have got so many disciples. It is not that they first of all learned Sanskrit. They heard. It may be in Sanskrit language or in English language. It doesn't matter. Let him hear the real fact. That is wanted. Although the Vedic mantras are in Sanskrit, the process to understand is to hear. To hear it may be any language, to hear and understand, then he becomes perfect. It is not the Sanskrit language. It is the hearing which is important.
PUSTA KRSNA: So will this bring respect...?
PRABHUPADA: Shravanam kirtanam vishnu. Hear and chant about Vishnu. That is wanted. Not krin pratyaya, di-pratyaya, du-pratyaya. No. That is not wanted. Na hi na hi rakshati du-krin-karane. This will not save you. If you have become a Sanskrit scholar, du-pratyaya, di-pratyaya, da-pratyaya, that will not save you. Na hi na hi rakshati dukrin-karane, bhaja govindam bhaja govindam bhaja govindam mudha mate [Sri Shankaracharya, Moha-mudgara Stotra: "Worship Govinda, worship Govinda, worship Govinda, you foolish rascal! When inevitable death arrives, your grammatical word jugglery will not save you."]. So this, they are thinking by learning Sanskrit they will become perfect. In the Bhagavad-gita I don't find that "You learn Sanskrit, then you become perfect." No. "You surrender unto Me, then you become perfect." That is wanted. If you learn Sanskrit, there is no harm, but it is not the only condition that you have to learn Sanskrit, then you will be able.