Sri Bharatamata

Ashtottaram 42

 

 

42) OṀ DEVA BHĀṢHĀ BHŨMYAINAMAH:

      OṀ (AUM) - DEVA -BHAA-ṢHAA --BHOO- MYAI-

                                                            -NA-MA-HA

 

(Devah: means-A God or deity; Bhāsha: means-language; speech; common vernacular

or dialect)

 

 

How a language-any language for that matter-could attain the present degree of sophistication and artistry, starting with a physical sign language and inarticulate babble is a mystery. It is a mystery that linguistics or phonetics or etymology or philology will never be able to solve! Hinduism, however, has easily 'solved' the same by attributing the origin of all languages and sciences to God Himself! An interesting verse in an ancient work called Nandikeśvarakārikā declares that all the alphabets of the Sanskrit language (and hence its grammar) have evolved out of the fourteen sounds made by Lord Śiva through His ḍamaru (a small drum held in hand for making sounds), at the end of His cosmic dance. 'Sam' means completely, fully and 'krit' means done.

 

Though Sanskrit is called devabhāsha, daivēvāk, and devanāgari bhāsha-the language of the gods in heaven-in practice it is divided into two categories: the vaidika (Vedic) and the laukika (secular). The Vedas, the Vedāngās, the Upavedas and allied literature belong to the first group. All the other literature from the itihāsās and purāṇās right up to the modern Sanskrit literature-fall under the second group. The earliest form of Sanskrit is that of the Ṛigveda. Since the language of the Vedas was archaic and the concepts were slowly becoming obsolescent, explanatory works became necessary. This resulted in the production of the six Vedāngās (limbs or subsidiary works). There was a gradual evolution of the Sanskrit language from the archaic form of the Saṃhitās to the classical form, first through the Brāhmaṇās and then through the epics.

 

The Sanskrit language has been the repository of India's history, culture, religion, sciences and socio-political values for several millennia. It is in the best interest of Indians to learn it, preserve it and propagate it. It is highly gratifying to note that several countries of the world-both in the east and in the west-are encouraging a study and research of Sanskrit through their centers of learning. Once upon a time, Sanskrit used to be the world language, like English now. It is but meet to declare that India, the motherland of Sanskrit, should in no way lag behind.

 

We are blessed and very fortunate to have Sanskrit as our mother language and our land is 'Deva Bhāsha Bhūmi.'