Emergence of the Sanskrit Language

Logic (nyaya), social code (smrti), Sanskrit grammar and the science of spirituality were included in the educational curriculum of the then period.

But that which we call philosophy today had not yet been born.

The oldest philosophy in the world is the Samkhya philosophy of Kapila.

This was written down some time after the Mahábhárata period. But the philosophical trend had already crept into the minds of the people of that period.

The first world philosophy was formulated in India. It was prepared on the battlefield of the Mahábhárata.

The Vaedika era had spiritual teaching but no philosophy nor books.

The Mahábhárata era had spiritual teaching and books, but no philosophy.

After the Mahábhárata, due to Lord Krśńa’s teachings in the Gita, people began to think very seriously about:

• the origin of the world
• the duties of human beings

Due to these questions, people created the first philosophy after getting the answers.

Therefore Maharsi Kapila came after the Mahábhárata, not prior to it.

In the Mahábhárata age, education was given through Sanskrit.

The Vedic language was a dead language then.

The people’s language was Prakrit but teaching was not in the Prakrit medium.

Books in Prakrit were also very few. Generally people did not write in Prakrit.

The Prakrit language was reformed into Sanskrit.

Sanskrit is not the Vedic language.

Prakrit was born after the death of the Vedic language.

Sanskrit is the synthetic language which was made by rectifying the Prakrit language.

• “Sanskrit” means “reformed”

In the Vedic age:

• the expression of address was “Bho arya” – “arya” means “ respectable.”
• a gentleman was addressed as “arya”

In the Mahábhárata age in Shaorasenii Prakrit, “arya” became “ajja.”

After that, when Shaorasenii died, “ajja” became “ajjii” in Ardha Shaorasenii, the mother of Hindi.

“Ajjii” became “jii” in present Hindi.

In that age, after the death of Vedic language, there emerged 7 Prakrit languages:

1. Magadhii Prakrit was towards the east of Allahabad in East India
2. Shaorasenii Prakrit was towards the west of Allahabad and east of Delhi, i.e., in Northern Central India
3. Paeshacii Prakrit was in the Punjab, Kashmir and Himachal, i.e., to the northwest of Delhi
4. Pashcatya Prakrit was towards the west and north of this Paeshachii land (in Afghanistan and South Russia)
5. Pahlavii Prakrit was towards the south of Multan, i.e., in Sindh and South Baluchistan
6. Malavii Prakrit in Central India
7. Maharastrii Prakrit was in Southwest India, i.e., Maharastra and Goa

Educated persons did not use Prakrit. They wrote few Prakrit books.

The leaders of the Mahábhárata, the Pandavas and the Kaoravas, spoke in Shaorasenii Prakrit. But they did not write that language.

When the Pandavas were talking with Kuntii they used a blended language of Paeshacii and Shaorasenii Prakrit.

• But when they spoke with a gentleman they used Sanskrit.

Sanskrit was not the natural language (matrbhasa) of anybody nor had it ever been.

The natural language of Krishna was Shaorasenii Prakrit.

He talked to Vasudeva, Nanda and Yashoda in Shaorasenii Prakrit.

• But he talked to the Pandavas and the Kaoravas in Sanskrit.

The education in that period was in Sanskrit.

• People wrote on bhurja leaves, not palm leaves.

The famous book of that age is the Mahábhárata, a part of which is the Gitá.

In the Mahábhárata age, people began to write the Veda.

But the writing was completed after a pretty long time.

The book Vedic Upaniśads influenced the Giitá.

The portion of the Veda dealing with knowledge is the Upaniśads.