Talk:Scholars of Hindu Languages, Arts & Law

By Vishal Agarwal

Hindus speak and write in dozens of languages today. Most of our scriptures (holy books) and books on other subjects like astronomy and medicine were composed in a very ancient language called Saṃskṛta (Sanskrit).

In ancient times, Saṃskṛta was used in many parts of India, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, Tibet (part of China), and in many other countries for religious purposes and for official government work just like English is used in many countries today.

Saṃskṛta is a very beautiful language. Even prose passages in Saṃskṛta can be sung in a musical tone. When Europeans first discovered Saṃskṛta, they concluded that it was more perfect and complete than old European languages like Greek and Latin. When they studied Saṃskṛta grammar, they were amazed at how systematic and scientific the language was.

In fact, the grammars of many European languages were re-designed by Europeans after studying the Saṃskṛta grammar of Pāṇini, who lived around 500 BCE. In modern times, some people have suggested that Saṃskṛta is the best language for use in computers because it is very logical and scientific.