individual tuition in the Gita or Vedanta which some well-to-do persons desire to have. This appears to be an expanding activity and augurs well for the revival of interest in Sanskrit.

45. In all regions there are now Sanskrit Academies, Associa- tions, Sabhas, Parisads, etc., which organise the celebration of Sanskrit Poets' Days; lectures on Sanskrit subjects; Sanskrit classes; competitions in Sanskrit essay-writing, Sanskrit elocution, and original composition (Short Story, Poem, Play); Sanskrit Recitals and Dramas; and publication of cheap booklets in Sanskrit. All of these keep up popular interest in Sanskrit. The names of many such associations, whose representatives met us, may be seen in the lists in the Appendices. The Sanskrit Sahitya Parishad, Calcutta, the Sanskrit Academy, Madras, the Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, the Samskrita Visva Parishad which has now over 500 branches all over India, the Brahmana Sabha, Bombay, which has a Sanskrit dramatic troupe, the Akhil Bharatiya Samskrita Sahitya Sammelan, Delhi, may be specially mentioned among the bodies which have been doing sustained work of more than a local provenance. Recently, in Nagpur and Ujjain, societies have been established for the study and propagation of Kalidasa's works, and we were pleased to note that the respective State Governments were helping these societies. The Kalidasa Society at Ujjain, we were told, had a fund of Rs. 1 1/4 lakhs of its own. There are several organisations in the country whose object is to popularise the study of the Gita. Establishments like the Svadhyaya Mandal, Pardi, and the Veda-Dharma-Paripalana-Sangham, Kumbhakonam, take interest in the popularisation of Vedic thought and literature. , Among the modern neo-Hindu movements, the Arya Samaj and the Ramakrishna Mission are doing excellent work for the spread of interest in Sanskrit and its knowledge. Many Sanskrit Colleges and the Sanskrit Departments of Colleges have Associations, which organise regular lectures on Sanskrit subjects, and sometimes also produce Sanskrit dramas.

(ii) Sanskrit in Secondary Schools

46. We think that the most vital question in respect of Sanskrit Education is its place in the General Secondary Schools, for, it is these schools which serve as the feeders for the higher study of San- skrit in Colleges and Universities. They, indeed, form the very basis of Sanskrit study on modern lines. One cannot say that the dual sys- tem of Sanskrit Education, namely, in Pathasalas and modem institu- tions, is an anomaly, and that the two systems must be unified, and, at the same time, not give Sanskrit its due place in the scheme of language study in the Secondary Schools. There was a time when, in several of the former Provinces, Sanskrit was compulsory in all Secondary Schools. In some places, though it alternated with the mother-tongue, the general tendency was to take Sanskrit. In recent years, however, the first place assigned to the mother-tongue, the need for the study of English, and the insistence on the learning of Hindi as- the Official Language--all these have complicated the position, and the eventual

sufferer in all schemes of language-adjustment, is Sanskrit. We pro- pose to discuss this problem at some length in a separate Chapter, but here we would like to draw attention to the present difficult situation, in which Sanskrit is being virtually elbowed out. The mother-tongue, the Official Language, and the language of modern knowledge-these the parents and pupils naturally prefer, and the strength in the Sanskrit classes is fast going down in all schools. In this connection, the students and their parents take the line of the least difficulty and the ,utmost tangible utility. The language position has been in a flux since Independence, and the frequent revisions of policy have tended to produce as certain panicky situation.

47. We found that, in some of the States, there was a definite fan in the number of schools having provision for teaching Sanskrit, and, even in those schools which had such provision, there was a steady fall in the number of students taking Sanskrit. To take a few random examples from the different parts of the country. In Mysore, just before the reorganisation of the States, only 40% of the total number of Secondary Schools, mostly in urban areas, had provision for the teaching of Sanskrit. In that State, according to some recent figures, which were made available to us, out of a total of 84,017 students in the High Schools, only 6,230 studied Sanskrit either as second language or as an optional subject; in a recent S. S. L. C. Examination, out of 24,767 candidates, only 2,208 had taken Sanskrit. In Andhra, only 91 of its about 700 High Schools provide for Sanskrit. Taking an area at the other end of the country, we were told that, in the Panjab University, out of about 1,05,000 candidates who took the Matriculation Examination, only about 10,000 had taken Sanskrit. In Madras, under the excuse of falling numbers, the Sanskrit teachers are being sent out by the managements of schools, and even the few boys who desire to take Sanskrit are forced to go elsewhere, or, as is often the case, to take only the mother-tongue. However, in certain High Schools of Madras, there is a fairly good strength in the Sanskrit classes, but that is mainly because of the peculiar background of those schools. Thus, in the High Schools for Boys and Girls run by the Ramakrishna Mission, 50% students take Sanskrit'; but in a big School of the metropolis like the Hindu High School, Triplicane, where 70% students used to study Sanskrit, the percentage now is 30 in the lower forms, and 20 in the higher. In another High School of Madras, situate in a different kind of residential locality, the percentage is about 30. In the interior of Tamilnad, we checked the figures of Sanskrit students in the High Schools in a place like Chidambaram and they varied from 12 % to 20 %.

48. The situation is, however, different in the North. In Uttar Pradesh, almost all schools have provision to teach Sanskrit, and, in Bihar, Sanskrit is compulsory up to the IXth Standard. In 1957, the

1*Formerly, in the institutions conducted by the Ramakrishna Mission, Sanskrit was a compulsory subject, but the force of circumstances compelled them to change that rule. Nevertheless, the Ramakrishna Tapovanam at Tiruppavaitturai still continues the compulsory teaching of Sanskrit.

total number of candidates who had appeared at the School Final Examination in the whole of West Bengal was 73,373; of these 58,738 had offered Sanskrit as one of their subjects. In some States, such as Madhya Pradesh, Sanskrit is taken as an alternative third language, or is studied compulsorily as part of a composite course in mother- tongue and Sanskrit. In Poona, Bombay and the neighbouring regions, the strength of Sanskrit students in Secondary Schools is not particularly disappointing. But the provision in these schools for the study of Ardhamagadhi or Pali as an alternative for Sanskrit makes many students take the former, as these languages seem to ensure an easy pass. Such provision, as we have pointed out elsewhere, is un- desirable.

49. We interviewed many Directors of Public Instruction and other Educational Officers in the country; and they placed before us a variety of solutions for the problem of the language-study in the schools, some of which we have discussed in the Chapter on Sanskrit Education. But the very variety of views offered indicates the unsettled nature of this most tangled question. Whatever solution would be ultimately thought of should, we think, pay due consideration to the question : Do we or do we not want the children of this country to know Sanskrit? If we want them to know Sanskrit, is it not necessary that we evolve a suitable formula for the study of languages in Secondary Schools, in which the place of Sanskrit is made secure? If this is not done, the study of Sanskrit in Indian Universities will become something like that of Assyriology in European Universities, an antiquarian study confined to a few experts who are engaged in research work. The cultivation as such of Sanskrit will again be relegated to the religious circles, and the excellent work which our modern schools and colleges have done in the course of the past century and a half in the matter of liberalising and popularising Sanskrit Education will have been undone.

(iii) Sanskrit in Colleges and Universities

50. In the Colleges and the Universities, Sanskrit is studied both in the general part and as a special subject. Generally speaking, provision is available in most of the colleges in the country for the study of general Sanskrit. There are, no doubt, some exceptions. While the Commission was touring in the country, the collegiate education, in most places, was being reorganised on the basis of the new three-year degree course, with a one-year pre- University course. In view of the consequent differences in the conditions obtaining in different University areas, it is not possible to present a uniform analysis in terms either of the older nomenclature of classes (Intermediate, B. A. and M. A.) or of the new one. The general trends, the strength of students in Sanskrit classes, the nature of the courses and examinations, and the standard of Sanskrit equipment gained may, however, be briefly reviewed here.

51. In the South Indian Universities, the new Three-year Degree Course has already been introduced. Sanskrit is provided for in the new scheme in the pre-University class under the general language part as well as among special subjects, that may- be chosen. Similarly, in the Three-year Degree Courses, Sanskrit is provided under the general part as also as an optional subject for special study. In the special part, provision has also been made for a separate course in Sastras as studied in the traditional Pathasalas. At present, among the colleges under the Madras University, 41 have provision for teaching Sanskrit at the Intermediate (or pre'-University) and B. A. stages; only two Colleges in the City are affiliated for Sanskrit M. A. In Kerala, only 8 out of 38 colleges have provision for teaching Sanskrit and only one, the University College in Trivandrum, provides for B.A. (Honours) and M.A. teaching. As indicated elsewhere in this Chapter, the position in regard to the number of students taking Sanskrit in the Secondary Schools has been deteriorating in recent years as the result of the changing policies in respect of language-study in Schools. Consequently, the number of students available for the Sanskrit sections in colleges has been considerably reduced'. Recently, in the South, many new Colleges- have been started and several of these offer no provision to teach Sanskrit. In the Calcutta University too, we were told, new Colleges rarely sought affiliation in Sanskrit. That the position is no better in Panjab can be seen from the fact that only 60 students out of 400 took Sanskrit in the Government College, Ludhiana. In a Lucknow College, there are only 42 Sanskrit students in B.A.. Bombay and Poona still maintain a sufficiently high percentage of Sanskrit students. In the Bombay University, for instance, more than 75 % of the students appearing for the Inter Arts examination offer Sanskrit. The number of students going in for B.A. special Sanskrit is 220 and for M.A. principal Sanskrit is 20. In West Bengal, out of about 42,000 students in the Arts classes, about 15,000 take Sanskrit. Last year, 5,675 candidates had offered Sanskrit at the Inter Arts examination; 2,821 candidates had offered Sanskrit at the B.A. Examination, out of whom only 57 were for B.A. (Honours) with Sanskrit. This year, there are 55 students for Sanskrit in the fifth year M.A. class and 52 in the sixth year M.A. class.

52. There are several Indian Universities, in which no B.A. Hons. or M.A. courses in Sanskrit are available. In the Sri Venkateswara University at Tirupati, students desiring to study for M.A. in Sanskrit are sent to Madras or Andhra Universities with necessary financial aid. In Andhra, they have just started Sanskrit Hons. and M.A. Utkal and Gauhati Universities have still to provide for this. At the latter place, there is a proposal soon to appoint some Sanskrit teachers in the University. In some Universities, the various groups are, unfortunately, so arranged that the students who take science subjects are automatically debarred from reading any Sanskrit. This, we were told, was the

1*Some random figures would illustrate the position in Madras Colleges Jain College, Madras : Inter. 80 out of 400 ; B. A. 55 out of 250 ; St. Josephs, Tiruchi: Pre-University 66 ; Inter 60; B. A. 30. National, Tiruchi: Pre-University 194 out of 1200. The lowest figure is shown by the Madura Colleges.

case in the Nagpur, the Gauhati and the Panjab Universities. In res- pect of higher education at least, one expects a broader conception of knowledge and consequently a necessary provision in all the Colleges of the country for the teaching of such an important subject in Indian Humanities as Sanskrit and Indian Philosophy. We would like to ,recall here what Shri Justice Mangalamurti, Vice-Chancellor of the Nagpur University, told us. He said that foreigners, who visited his University and Were shown round, invariably asked the question: " where is your Department of Philosophy?" and that he always felt unhappy to say that there was none in his University.

53. In some Universities there is a Department or a College of Indology. In Nagpur, a Professor of Indology was recently appointed. A few years ago, in Mysore a new Indology Department was started; but we were told that the Sanskrit Department there was suffering an eclipse by the side of this new Department. As regards the Sri Venka- teswara University, it was reported that the Central Government would help the starting only of an Indology Department in the University and not of a pure Sanskrit Department. Indology, as a subject for the Degree course, is a conglomeration of several subjects, among which Sanskrit occupies but a minor place. An Indology Department can, therefore, hardly be a substitute for a Sanskrit Department or a full M.A. course in Sanskrit. It would be more desirable if M.A.s in Sanskrit or History were encouraged to take such a composite course as Indology by way of additional equipment.

54. So far as the B.A. (Honours) or M.A. courses in Sanskrit and their teaching were concerned, we found that, in the syllabuses of the South Indian Universities, there was provision for the study of different Sastras in groups of two, by rotation. In some other Universities also, such provision was found. But generally speaking, the provision for Sastraic study in the Universities is not at all adequate. Not only is it necessary to increase the quantum of Sastraic study, but also qualified Pandits need to be appointed for the teaching of Sastras in the M.A. classes. Some teachers of M.A. Sanskrit complained that there were too many texts in the syllabus, and suggested that, if the number of the texts was reduced, the teaching of those few texts could be made more intensive, and a Sanskrit M.A. would thereby obtain a deeper knowledge of the subject. Another point which was frequently pressed before us was that the foundations of or the Steps leading to the superstructure at the higher stages were not strong enough. Thus, like the gap between the High School and the Intermediate standards, there was also a gap between the Intermediate and the B.A. Hons. and M.A. standards. If the M. A. student was to do justice to the subjects and texts prescribed, a strengthening of the lower stages is definitely called for. No useful purpose would be served by merely including an imposing array of texts in the syllabus, if those texts were either not handled at all or were only inadequately studied and understood'.

1*Incidentally it may be pointed out that, except in the Visvabharati University. there is at present no provision anywhere for a viva voce at the M. A. Sanskrit examination.

55. Elsewhere we have referred to the commendable efforts made in some quarters to convert the courses of the traditional Pathasalas into Degree courses or to provide for a pure Sastra branch in the M.A. course. This would naturally mean two different types of Sanskrit M.A.s. In Kerala, where they now had these two types of M.A.s, it was represented to us by students and teachers, particularly of the older Arts M.A. course, that these two types constituted an anomaly and should, therefore, be discontinued. We think that, as an interim provision, the two. types of M.A.s will have to continue until such time as a properly integrated M.A. course with adequate Sastraic studies evolves in all the Universities. We must, however, refer to another point in this connection. In some Universities in the North, as for instance in Banaras and Agra, students who have passed the Acharya Examination are allowed to sit for the M.A. Examination in Sanskrit or Hindi, without having to undergo any formal training. In Madras, certain exemptions are granted to Siromanis to enable them to become M.A.s. This has resulted in producing a number of M.A.s. in Sanskrit who have little or no knowledge of English and modern Western thought and methods. They only succeed in adding a high-sounding Degree after their names, and perhaps in getting better jobs which they would not have got with a mere Sastraic Degree. To deserve the M.A. Degree, such persons should be made to undergo the necessary formal training which is normally expected of M.A.s.

56. In some of the Universities a wide variety of allied subjects are offered as special branches under Sanskrit M.A., as, for instance, Epigraphy in Panjab, Calcutta and Nagpur; and, sometimes, such branches prove a greater attraction to the students. The core of a Sanskrit M.A. course should, however, always be the study of an adequate number of Sanskrit texts-both literary and Sastraic.

57. As already mentioned, at the beginning of modem education in this country, Sanskrit was either a compulsory subject of study or was an alternative for the mother-tongue. Such provision for a strong background in Sanskrit continues today only in few centres. Because of the disproportionately great importance that has recently come to be attached to the mother-tongue, we found that everywhere, even in the general part, the mother-tongue was provided for up to the end of the college course. This is obviously unnecessary. No University in the West teaches students their mother-tongue at the higher stages, unless they desire to specialise in that language. The gradual displacement of Sanskrit from the Colleges has resulted in a general loosening of the Indian youth's cultural moorings. Attempts to pull up the youth of the country culturally have been made in different ways by different Universities. One of the declared aims of the foundation of the Banaras Hindu University, for instance, was to give all its students a Sanskrit grounding, and consequently Sanskrit was made compulsory for all students of that University. In the Lucknow University, Sanskrit is, now compulsory for all students of Humanities and the marks in that paper are taken into account for a

pass in B.A. We were told that the M.S. University, Baroda, and the Panjab University had made the passing in Sanskrit at the S.S.L.C. examination a prerequisite for admission to their Arts courses.

58. There is another way in which some North Indian Universities have tried to make a larger number of students study Sanskrit. Students who take the Regional Language as their special subject are required to study Sanskrit also. In Panjab, for M.A. in Panjabi, there is half a paper in Sanskrit or Persian *1. In the Hindi M. A. courses of the Universities in Uttar Pradesh, there is a better provi- sion for Sanskrit, a whole paper being devoted to it. But, in view of the fact that Hindi has to draw upon Sanskrit for its further growth, the provision for the study of Sanskrit in the Hindi courses ought to be still greater. In the M.A. course in Oriya, there is a subsidiary Sanskrit paper. In Gauhati, M.A. course in Assamese includes a paper on Sanskrit, studied in translations. In the Universities in the Bombay State, a paper in Sanskrit is not compulsory in any course of modern Indian languages. It can, however, be taken as an allied language. In the South, there is provision for a full paper in Sanskrit under the Related Language in the B.A. and M.A. courses in Telugu, Malayalam and Kannada. Mysore even provides for two papers in Sanskrit in the Kannada courses. Whether IndoAryan or Dravidian, all modem Indian languages have grown in the lap of Sanskrit; and, from a purely scientific point of view, no linguistic or literary study of any Indian language can be deemed complete without a good grounding in Sanskrit.

59. Like the Regional Languages, Philosophy also, has a close relation with Sanskrit. We were glad to find that, in most of the Universities, the M.A. course in Philosophy had some provision for Indian Philosophy in the general part, as also as a special branch. In many Universities, Vedanta, Nyaya, Buddhism, etc., can be offered as optional or special subjects in Philosophy. Though Sanskrit is helpful to Ancient Indian History, Archaeology and Epigraphy, we did not find any provision for the study of Sanskrit in the History course at any centre. The extent of the provision for the study of the history of the Sanskrit Language and Indo-European Philology as part of the M.A. course in Sanskrit varies from place to place. In all the South Indian Universities, this subject has one' and a half papers assigned to it.

60. The over-all picture of the University-Sanskrit is decidedly better than that of the Pathasala-Sanskrit. The only criticism is that the depth of Sanskrit learning in the Universities suffers on account of a more comprehensive and broad-based course. How this deficiency can be remedied, we have discussed below in the Chapters on Sanskrit Education and Teaching of Sanskrit. Though compared to the

1*Panjabi, it was Pointed out by many witnesses, was closer to Sanskrit and preserved words which were nearer to Sanskrit than their cognates in other Sanskrit-born languages. This really means that those who take their highest degree in Panjabi, should read more Sanskrit than what is provided for in half a paper alternating with Persian.