Sanskrit

[Guest]

Modern scientists hail the ancient language of the gods as the only
unambiguous natural language on the planet
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This interesting article refers to a NASA article on Sanskrit in AI
(Artificial Intelligence) Magazine
in Spring of 1985 written by NASA researcher, Rick Briggs.

In ancient India the intention to discover truth was so consuming, that in
the process, they discovered perhaps the most perfect tool for fulfilling
such a search that the world has ever known -- the Sanskrit language.

Of all the discoveries that have occurred and developed in the course
of human history, language is the most significant and probably
the most taken for granted. Without language, civilization could
obviously not exist. On the other hand, to the degree that language
becomes sophisticated and accurate in describing the subtlety and
complexity of human life, we gain power and effectiveness in meeting
its challenges. The access to modern technology which has been designed
to give ease, efficiency and enjoyment in meeting our daily needs did
not exist at the beginning of the century. It was made possible by
accelerated advancement in the field of mathematics, a "language" which
has helped us to discover the interrelationship of energy and matter
with a high degree of precision. The resulting technology is evidence
of the tremendous power that is unleashed simply by being able to make
the finer and finer distinction that a language like mathematics affords.

At the same time humankind has fallen far behind the advancements in
technology. The precarious state of political and ecological imbalance
that we are now experiencing is an obvious sign of the power of
technology far exceeding the power of human beings to be in control
of it. It could easily be argued that we have fallen far behind the
advancements in technology, simply because the languages we use for daily
communication do not help us to make the distinctions required to be in
balance with the technology that has taken over our lives.

Relevant to this there has recently been an astounding discovery made
at the NASA research center. The following quote is from an article
which appeared in AI Magazine (Artificial Intelligence) in Spring of
1985 written NASA researcher, Rick Briggs.

In the past twenty years, much time, effort, and money has been expended
on designing an unambiguous representation of natural languages to make
them accessible to computer processing. These efforts have centered around
creating schemata designed to parallel logical relations with relations
expressed by the syntax and semantics of natural languages, which are
clearly cumbersome and ambiguous in their function as vehicles for the
transmission of logical data. Understandably, there is a widespread
belief that natural languages are unsuitable for the transmission of
many ideas that artificial languages can render with great precision
and mathematical rigor.

But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise underlying much work
in the areas of linguistics and artificial intelligence, is a false
one. There is at least one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration
of almost 1000 years was a living spoken language with a considerable
literature of its own. Besides works of literary value, there was a long
philosophical and grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with
undiminished vigor until the present century. Among the accomplishments
of the grammarians can be reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in
a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current
work in Artificial Intelligence. This article demonstrates that a natural
language can serve as an artificial language also, and that much work
in AI has been reinventing a wheel millennia old.

The discovery is of monumental significance. It is mind-boggling to
consider that we have available to us a language which has been spoken
for 4-7000 years that appears to be in every respect a perfect language
designed for enlightened communication. But the most stunning aspect
of the discovery is this: NASA the most advanced research center in
the world for cutting edge technology has discovered that Sanskrit,
the world's oldest spiritual language is the only unambiguous spoken
language on the planet.

In early AI research it was discovered that in order to clear up the
inherent ambiguity of natural languages for computer comprehension,
it was necessary to utilize semantic net systems to encode the actual
meaning of the sentence. Briggs gives the example of how a simple sentence
would be represented in a semantic net.

Example: "John gave the ball to Mary." give, agent, John give, object,
ball give, recipient, Mary give, time, past

He further comments, "The degree to which a semantic net (or any
unambiguous nonsyntactic representation) is cumbersome and odd-sounding
in a natural language is the degree to which that language is "natural"
and deviates from the precise or "artificial". As we shall see, there
was a language (Sanskrit) spoken among an ancient scientific community
that has a deviation of zero."

Considering Sanskrit's status as a spiritual language, a further
implication of this discovery is that the age old dichotomy between
religion and science is an entirely unjustified one.

It is also relevant to note that in the last decade physicists have begun
to comment on the striking similarities between their own discoveries
and the discoveries made thousands of years ago in India which went on
to form the basis of most Eastern religions.

Because of the high level of collaboration required in uncovering the
nature of energy and matter, it is inconceivable that it ever could
have taken place without a common language, namely mathematics. This is
a perfect example of using a language for discovering and designing
life. The language of mathematics, being inherently unambiguous,
minimizes personal interpretation and therefore maximizes opportunity for
exploration and discovery. The result of this is a worldwide community
of scientists working together with extraordinary vitality and excitement
about uncovering the unknown.

It can also be inferred that the discoveries that occurred in India
in the first millennia B.C. were also the result of collaboration
and inquiry by a community of spiritual scientists utilizing a
common scientific language, Sanskrit. The truth of this is further
accented by the fact that throughout the history and development of
Indian thought the science of grammar and linguistics was attributed a
status equal to that of mathematics in the context of modern scientific
investigation. In deference to the thoroughness and depth with which
the ancient grammatical scientists established the science of language,
modern linguistic researchers in Russia have concluded about Sanskrit,
"The time has come to continue the tradition of the ancient grammarians
on the basis of the modern ideas in general linguistics."

Sanskrit is the most ancient member of the European family of
languages. It is an elder sister of Latin and Greek from which most of
the modern European languages have been derived. The oldest preserved
form of Sanskrit is referred to as Vedic . The oldest extant example
of the literature of the Vedic period is the Rig-Veda . Being strictly
in verse, the Rig-Veda does not give us a record of the contemporary
spoken language.

The very name "Sanskrit" meant "language brought to formal perfection"
in contrast to the common languages, Prakrits or "natural" languages. The
form of Sanskrit which has been used for the last 2500 years is known
today as Classical Sanskrit. The norms of classical Sanskrit were
established by the ancient grammarians. Although no records are available
of their work, their efforts reached a climax in the 5th century B.C. in
the great grammatical treatise of Panini, which became the standard for
correct speech with such comprehensive authority that it has remained so,
with little alteration until present times.

Based on what the grammarians themselves have stated, we may conclude
that the Sanskrit grammar was an attempt to discipline and explain a
spoken language.

The NASA article corroborates this in saying that Indian grammatical
analysis "probably has to do with an age old Indo-Aryan preoccupation
to discover the nature of reality behind the impressions we human beings
receive through the operation of our senses."

Until 1100 A.D., Sanskrit was without interruption the official language
of the whole of India. The dominance of Sanskrit is indicated by a
wealth of literature of widely diverse genres including religious
and philosophical; fiction (short story, fable, novels, and plays);
scientific literature including linguistics, mathematics, astronomy,
and medicine; as well as law and politics.

With the Muslim invasions from 1100 A.D. onwards, Sanskrit gradually
became displaced by common languages patronized by the Muslim kings as a
tactic to suppress Indian cultural and religious tradition and supplant
it with their own beliefs. But they could not eliminate the literary
and spiritual- ritual use of Sanskrit.

Even today in India, there is a strong movement to return Sanskrit to
the status of "national language of India." Sanskrit being a language
derived from simple monosyllabic verbal roots through the addition of
appropriate prefixes and suffixes according to precise grammatical laws
has an infinite capacity to grow, adapt and expand according to the
requirements of change in a rapidly evolving world.

Even in the last two centuries, due to the rapid advances in technology
and science, a literature abundant with new and improvised vocabulary
has come into existence. Although such additions are based on the
grammatical principles of Sanskrit, and mostly composed of Sanskrit roots,
still contributions from Hindi and other national and international
languages have been assimilated. For example: The word for television,
duuradarshanam, meaning "that which provides a vision of what is far away
" is derived purely from Sanskrit.

Furthermore, there are at least a dozen periodicals published in
Sanskrit, all-India radio news broadcast in Sanskrit, television shows
and feature movies produced in Sanskrit, one village of 3000 inhabitants
who communicate through Sanskrit alone, not to mention countless smaller
intellectual communities throughout India, schools, as well as families
where Sanskrit is fostered. Contemporary Sanskrit is alive and well.

The discussion until now has been about Sanskrit, the language of
mathematical precision, the world's only unambiguous spoken language. But
the linguistic perfection of Sanskrit offers only a partial explanation
for its sustained presence in the world for at least 3000 years. High
precision in and of itself is of limited scope. Generally it excites
the brain but not the heart. Sanskrit is indeed a perfect language in
the same sense as mathematics, but Sanskrit is also a perfect language
in the sense that, like music, it has the power to uplift the heart.

It's conceivable that for a few rare and inspired geniuses, mathematics
can reach the point of becoming music or music becoming mathematics. The
extraordinary thing about Sanskrit is that it offers direct accessibility
by anyone to that elevated plane where the two, mathematics and music,
brain and heart, analytical and intuitive, scientific and spiritual
become one. This is fertile ground for revelation. Great discoveries
occur, whether through mathematics or music or Sanskrit, not by the
calculations or manipulations of the human mind, but where the living
language is expressed and heard in a state of joy and communion with
the natural laws of existence.

Why has Sanskrit endured? Fundamentally it generates clarity and
inspiration. And that clarity and inspiration is directly responsible
for a brilliance of creative expression such as the world has rarely seen.

The Ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit tongue both in quality
and in body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality
and force and beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in
grandeur and justice and charm of speech and in the height and width
of the reach of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank
among the world's great literatures. The language itself, as has been
universally recognized by those competent to form a judgment, is one of
the most magnificent, the most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary
instruments developed by the human mind, at once majestic and sweet and
flexible, strong and clearly-formed and full and vibrant and subtle,
and its quality and character would be of itself a sufficient evidence
of the character and quality of the race whose mind it expressed and
the culture of which it was the reflecting medium.

Sanskrit after all is the language of mantra -- words of power that
are subtly attuned to the unseen harmonies of the matrix of creation,
the world as yet unformed. The possibility of such a finely attuned
language is only conceivable by drawing upon sounds so inherently pure
in combinations so harmoniously blended that the result is as refreshing
and pure as the energy of creation forming into mountain streams and
lakes and the flawless crystal structures of natural gems, while at the
same time wielding the power of nebulae and galaxies expanding into the
infinitude of space.

But from the perception of Rishis, the source of language transcends
such conceptions. In Sanskrit, Vaak,speech, the "word" of Genesis,
incorporates both the sense of "voice" and "word". It has four forms
of _expression. The first, Paraa , represents cosmic ideation arising
from the original and absolute divine presence. The second, Pashyantii
(literally "seeing") is Vaak as subject "seeing," which creates the object
of madhyamaavaak , the third and subtle form of speech before it manifests
as vaikhariivaak, the gross production of letters in spoken speech.

Sanskrit is a language whose harmonic subtlety, mysteriously sources the
successive phases of creation all the way to origination. This implies
the p ossibility of having speech oriented to a direct living truth which
transcends individual preoccupation with the limited information available
through the senses. Spoken words as such are creative living things of
power. They penetrate to the essence of what they describe. They give
birth to meaning which reflects the profound interrelatedness of life.

It is a tantalizing proposition to consider speaking a language whose
sounds are so pure and euphonically combined. The mere listening or
speaking inspires and produces joy and clarity. And yet it has been
precisely the tendency of humanity as a whole to merely be tantalized
by happiness, but not actually to choose it. It's as though we had
been offered the most precious gem and we answered, "No, I'd rather be
poor." The only possible background for such a choice is the unconscious
belief that, "I can't have it. I can't be that."

Interestingly enough, this is exactly what is triggered in people who are
faced with the opportunity to learn Sanskrit. The basic attitude towards
learning Sanskrit in India today is, "It's too difficult." Actually
Sanskrit is not difficult. On the contrary, there are few greater
enjoyments. The first stage, experiencing the individual power of each of
the 49 basic sounds of the Sanskrit alphabet is pure discovery, especially
for Westerners who have never paid attention to the unique distinctions of
individual letters such as location of resonance and tongue position. The
complete alphabet must have been worked out by learned grammarians on
phonetic principles by long before it was codified by Panini around 500
B.C. It is arranged on a thoroughly scientific method, the simple vowels
(short and long) coming first, then the complex vowels (dipthongs),
followed by the consonants in uniform groups according to the organs of
speech with which they are pronounced.

The unique organization of the Sanskrit alphabet serves to focus one's
attention on qualities and patterns of articulated sound in a way that
occurs in no other language. By paying continuous attention to the point
of location, degree of resonance and effort of breath, one's awareness
becomes more and more consumed by the direct experience of articulated
sound. This in itself produces and unprecedented clarity of mind and
revelry in the joy of language. Every combination of sound in Sanskrit
follows strict laws which essentially make possible an uninterrupted flow
of the most perfect euphonic blending of letters into words and verse.

The script used to depict written Sanskrit is known as Devanaagari or that
"spoken by the Gods." Suitably for Sanskrit, it is a perfect system of
phonetic representation. According to linguists, the phonetic accuracy
of the Devanaagari compares well with that of the modern phonetic
transcriptions.

Because of its inherent logic, systematic presentation and adherence to
only the most clear and most pure sounds, the Sanskrit alphabet in its
spoken form, is perhaps the easiest in the world to learn and recall. Once
the alphabet is learned, there is just one major step to take in gaining
access to the Sanskrit language: learning the case and tense endings. The
endings are what make Sanskrit a language of math-like precision. By the
endings added onto nouns or verbs, there is an obvious determination of
the precise interrelationship of words describing activity of persons
and things in time and space, regardless of word order. Essentially, the
endings constitute the software or basic program of the Sanskrit language.

The rigor of learning the case endings is precisely the reason why many
stop in their pursuit of Sanskrit. Yet by an effective immersion method,
fluent reading of the Devanagari script, accurate pronunciation, and the
inputting of the case and tense endings can easily be accomplished. Such a
method must take advantage of the fact that Sanskrit grammar is structured
by precise patterns, and once a pattern has been noted it is a simple
exercise to recognize all the individual instances that fit the pattern;
rather than see the pattern after all the individual instances have been
learned. Color coding provides a tremendous support in this regard.

Learning the case endings through the chanting of basic pure sound
combinations in musical and rhythmic sequences is a way to overcome
learning inhibitions, attune to the root power of the Sanskrit language
and access the natural computer efficiency, speed and clarity of the mind.

Although learning Sanskrit in some ways presents challenges similar to
those of learning calculus or music, it also induces a lubrication and
acceleration of mental function that actually makes such a process
exciting and enjoyable. Perhaps the greatest immediate benefit of
learning Sanskrit by this method is that it requires participants to
relinquish control, abandon prior learning structures and come into a
direct experience of the language.

The actual simplicity and enjoyment of the sounds of Sanskrit provides
everyone with an opportunity to learn a subject which is technically
precise with fluidity and ease. This tends to produce a complete reversal
of the inhibiting competitive environment in which most life education
traditionally took place, by creating an atmosphere in which mutual
support generates personal breakthrough and vice-versa.

One thing is certain, Sanskrit will only become the planetary language
when it is taught in a way which is exciting and enjoyable. Furthermore
it must address individual learning inhibitions with clarity and
compassion in a setting which encourages everyone to step forth, take
risks, make mistakes and learn. Already we have outstanding examples
of this approach in the work of teachers such as Jaime Escalante, whose
remarkable achievements in teaching advanced calculus to underprivileged
high school students in East Los Angeles were featured in the Academy
Award nominated movie, "Stand and Deliver."

Another hope for the return of Sanskrit lies in computers. Sanskrit and
computers are a perfect fit. The precision play of Sanskrit with computer
tools will awaken the capacity in human beings to utilize their innate
higher mental faculty with a momentum that would inevitably transform the
world. In fact the mere learning of Sanskrit by large numbers of people
in itself represents a quantum leap in consciousness, not to mention
the rich endowment it will provide in the arena of future communication.

Sanskrit has always inspired the hearts, mind and souls of wise
people. The great German scholar Max Muller, who did more than anyone to
introduce Sanskrit to the West in the latter part of the 19th century,
contended that without a knowledge of the language (Sanskrit), literature,
art, religion and philosophy of India, a liberal education could hardly
be complete -- India being the intellectual and spiritual ancestor of
the race, historically and through Sanskrit.

Max Muller also pointed out that Sanskrit provides perfect examples of
the unity and foundation it offers to the Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic,
Germanic and Anglo-Saxon languages, not to mention its influence on Asian
languages.The transmission of Buddhism to Asia can be attributed largely
to the appeal to Sanskrit. Even in translation the works of Sanskrit
evoked the supreme admiration of Western poets and philosophers like
Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau, Melville, Goethe, Schlegel and Schopenhauer.

The fact is that Sanskrit is more deeply interwoven into the fabric of
the collective world consciousness than anyone perhaps knows. After many
thousands of years, Sanskrit still lives with a vitality that can breathe
life, restore unity and inspire peace on our tired and troubled planet. It
is a sacred gift, an opportunity. The future could be very bright.

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