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Research Institutes, Libraries, Manuscript Collections, etc., besides attending meetings of Pandits, Vedic recitations, Sastrartha and presentation of plays and variety programmes in Sanskrit. Just as many of the replies to the Questionnaire received by the Commission were in Sanskrit, quite a number of interviews also took place in Sanskrit. It was not the Pandits alone who gave their evidence in Sanskrit; many Sanskritists of the modern type also freely discussed with the Commission through the medium of Sanskrit. This once again proved that Sanskrit still continued to be the lingua franca of Sanskrit scholars of this country, irrespective of the. different regions to which they belonged.

20. A glance at the tour programme and interviews of the Commission would show that the Commission had practically combed the country and had seen to it that no type of Sanskrit study and no kind of institution had escaped its attention. It visited places like Navadwip, Varanasi, Ayodhya, Mathura, Ujjain, Kanchi, Tanjore, Mysore, Trivandrum and Tripunittura, which had been celebrated centres of Sanskrit learning down the centuries; it visited the birthplaces of two of the greatest figures in the history of medieval Sanskrit, Sankara and Ramanuja; and, it called on the present representatives of the Maths of the three great Acharyas-Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. The programme of work in the different regions was normally in charge of the Members of the Commission, who were in touch with the Institutions, individuals and authorities in those areas. Every care was taken to see that the evidence before the Commission was drawn from all the diverse quarters and through accredited and representative bodies and individuals.

21. Summaries of all the interviews as also of the many memoranda which were submitted to the Commission were duly supplied to Members. The Members thus had at their disposal quite a large amount of material bearing on the various aspects of Sanskrit Education and Research.

22. The Commission would like to take this opportunity of expressing its thanks to the State Governments, Universities, Public Institutions, Officials and Private Individuals, who were very helpful in its work. The most abiding impression of the Commission's tour was one of great paradox. On the one hand, the Commission saw a tremendous enthusiasm for Sanskrit both among Sanskritists and non- Sanskritists, and, on the other, a depressing deterioration in the extent and standard of Sanskrit learning in traditional as well as modern institutions. On the one hand, Sanskrit scholars, members of the public, educationists and authorities were keenly alive to the importance of Sanskrit studies; and, on the other, there was one kind or another of official and administrative difficulty or lack of practical assistance which produced a sense of frustration. On the one hand, both Pandits and modem Sanskrit scholars were held in esteem as votaries and repositories of culture; and, on the other, the badge of being the poor

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relations of the house was evident on their persons. Nevertheless, the Commission could see that there was created a general atmosphere of hope and expectation owing to its appointment by the Union Govern- ment. And this fact, while it encouraged the Commission on the one hand, always reminded it, on the other, of the great and momentous responsibility which was laid on it.

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