198
17. At the present day, with the expansion of Indian life and civilisation under the impact of modern conditions, a greater and still greater need is being felt for technical and other words to indicate new ideas,. new concepts, new objects and new processes which are coming in the. world of Indian life and thought. The words which are names of new objects and sometimes of new processes are generally taken straight. from foreign languages'. For technical terms relating to new concepts and ideas and ideologies in the various domains of human thought, newly coined words are used by the educated classes. While, writing in the various Indian languages, they do not at all feel happy to use foreign terms, English or French or German. The usual practice is to find Sanskrit equivalents, if such are already in existence in Sanskrit; if these equivalents are known to the writers, they are used straightaway' Otherwise, new words are built up with Sanskrit roots. and terminations. In this way, most of the Modern Indian Languages are having the necessary additions to their vocabularies, without much difficulty. As the Official Language Commission points out, the identity of Terminology amongst all the Indian languages is due to its having been "commonly derived from the Sanskrit language and the Sanskrit texts" (p. 58). Dealing with the question of Terminology, the Official Language Commission further adds that the problem of suitable Terminology was "solved by writers in the Indian regional languages drawing freely from the reservoir of Sanskrit, which is a particularly rich language in respect of prefixes, suffixes, prepositions, postpositions, etc. Largely on account of the availability of terminology in the Sanskrit language and literature, our languages have all along been 'borrowing' rather than 'building' languages" (p. 58).
18. In the days-of the British, some of the Native States which managed their own internal affairs, like Baroda, Mysore and Tripura, prepared their own terms in local languages, and these terms were mostly derived from Sanskrit. Thus a move in this direction was made already before Independence. After Independence, this movement went on with greater vigour-in some cases, remarkable enthusiasm was shown in respect of it-both at the Centre as well as in the various States like West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar.
19. But in the matter of evolving new scientific or technical term, to be used whether for the preparation of books for instruction through regional languages or for the administrative set-up, work has not been proceeding as satisfactorily as it should have done. For, only with a reasonable language policy, adopted by the Central and the State Governments, keeping in full view the actual needs of the country as well as the handicaps, can this work proceed systematically and with necessary discrimination. As regards one basic principle in this connection, however, most of the thought-leaders, educationists and administrators
199
are agreed, namely, that, as far as possible, the new terms which are necessary for the Indian languages should be uniform-the same: words should be employed to the utmost extent in all the languages-and that this uniformity can most easily and naturally be achieved through Sanskrit'.
20. Herein, then, is one of the vital services which Sanskrit can render to Modern India, by enriching once again her languages and making them fit for the Arts and the Sciences, for the Thought and the Technology of the. present age. The work that has been already started and accomplished in this direction not only by the States and the Universities but also by some private individuals, who on their own initiative have brought out English-Sanskrit Dictionaries of technical terms, has a lot to commend itself. This Commission would, however, suggest the preparation, through some agency to be set up by Government, (of a comprehensive English-Sanskrit Dictionary of modern Scientific and Technical terms as Well as terms relating to Philosophy and the Humanities'. An attempt should be made, first, to find out what Sanskrit words, which may be used as equivalents of the new English terms, are already in existence;-, and, secondly, to see if new words could be coined with the help of Sanskrit roots and termi- nations on the basis of vernacular or Prakrit words which are in existence but the, Sanskrit equivalents of which are not found in books or lexicons. In this connection, the Commission thinks that the vast amount of scientific and technical literature in Sanskrit has not been sufficiently exploited. Compared to the Sanskrit technical terms of classical usage, some of the new coinings in Sanskrit are too long and laboured and are also not quite precise. Scientists, who are also writers of research-works and text-books in the different Modern Indian Languages, should also form suitable Associations for the different sciences with the object' of ransacking the treasure-house of Sanskrit for equivalents of new technical terms for general use all over India.
6. Sanskrit as an Official Language 21. From what has already been said, it would be clear that Sanskrit has the best claim to be the Official Language of India.The Sanskrit Commission is not considering this question merely out of enthusiasm. nor are we the first to pose this matter. Distinguished Indians among whom are Intellectuals and Scientists like Dr. C. V. Raman and Congressmen and Administrators like Shri Sri Prakasa and Dr. K. N. Katju, have expressed the opinion more than once that they would prefer Sanskrit as the Lingua Indica. Many witnesses, including some leading thinkers, writers and publicists, wanted this question to be viewed in the light of the undesirable differences that have been created
2*This work can go hand in hand with the Sanskrit Lexicon which has been undertaken by the Deccan 'College Research Institute of Poona under the sponsorship of the Government of India.
200
owing to the two major decisions of the Government the Linguistic Reorganisation of States; and the Imposition of Hindi on a country not yet ready for it and, in a considerable portion of it, unwilling to take it. These witnesses proposed that the. Constitution might even be amended on this question. It is not as if we are in total agreement with them, but we feel obliged to refer to the concern and the strong feeling which a large body of persons such as we interviewed-scholars and writers, university-men and intellectuals- have on this question.
22. As already indicated, the Constituent Assembly did not give a smooth-sailing to the Bill on Hindi as the Official Language. The majority which decided such a vital issue was one of the narrowest. During the few stormy days of the Constituent Assembly's discussion of this question. the impasse was sought to be solved by some members by proposing Sanskrit as the Rastrabhasa; and the late Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, who as the Law Member, was piloting the bill, was also re- ported to have favoured that-proposal. In the course of the discussion on this question in the Assembly, several members, including some ardent protagonists of, Hindi,. paid due homage to Sanskrit. Apart from all this, the only other Indian language for the adoption of which as the Rastrabhasa a regular amendment was moved, and discussion on which took a good part of the time of the Assembly, was Sanskrit.
23. As Shri Naziruddin Ahmad, advocating Sanskrit put it on the floor of the House, a language that is adopted for the whole country, where so many languages are spoken, should be impartial, a language which is not the mother-tongue of any area, which is common to all regions, and the adoption of which will not prove an advantage to one part of the country and a handicap to all other parts. The late Lakshmi Kanta Maitra, who moved the amendment seeking to replace Hindi by Sanskrit as the Official Language, observed in the Assembly, that, if Sanskrit was accepted, "all the jealousies, all this bitterness will vanish with all the psychological complex that has been created.......... there will not be the least feeling of domination or suppression of this or that"'. Thus, neutrality (or not being the spoken language of any section) has been urged as the first criterion of a National Language. That is why efforts were being made to create in Europe quite a new language like Esperanto,, to be used as the International Language. When We already have in Sanskrit not a tour de force, like Esperanto, but a rich language perfected for this very purpose of all-India use through all these centuries, why throw it away? The neutrality of Sanskrit is not a mere negative quality; it is also the positive virtue of having grown by incorporating into itself elements from all other languages of
201
the country. In this respect again, Sanskrit, which, as his been pointed out elsewhere, is a synthesis of the best in all the cultural constituents of India, can truly, claim to have been developed and enriched by every part. of India.
24. The second criterion relates to sentiment, historic importance, cultural significance, inherent richness and potentiality, and, above all, universal acceptance as the symbol of the country. Sanskrit possesses all these characteristics, and it is needless to labour this point. No apology is needed for asking the country seriously to adopt Sanskrit.
25. The third criterion is the developed character and the provenance of a language. Here Sanskrit is certainly not worse off than Hindi. In fact, its position is superior, for Hindi, which is still not much developed, hopes to become so only on the basis of Sanskrit. It is to Sanskrit that not only Hindi but all the languages of India look up for replenishment and growth. The linguistic and literary resources of Sanskrit have already been referred to. The proposal for Hindi itself carried with it the recognition of Sanskrit. If Hindi required a particular length of time to be able to take over from English, as the Official Language, Sanskrit would require a shorter time to do so. Regarding the question of provenance, English, which has now come to be widely advocated, is confined to about 1 % of the population and that only in the higher classes, the intellectual elite who give lead to the people. A numerical majority is claimed for Hindi; but without underrating this, we would like to point out that both scholars and enthusiasts cannot afford to ignore the fact that at the back of 'Hindi' are so many dialects and even distinct languages with distinct names (all of which together are called 'Hindi'). Sanskrit is prevalent in all parts of India, and is the real G. C. M. of Indian languages. Its teaching is already provided for all over India. and in most of the modern Universities. With English, it enjoys an International prestige and recognition. To assign to Sanskrit' this pan-Indian role is only to reinstate it in the position which it had been occupying down the centuries*1.
26. Above all, this Commission would urge upon all statesmen and thinkers of the country to reflect calmly on the growing fissiparous tendencies and linguistic parochialism which are jeopardising the political unity of the country and are rocking the very foundations of our freedom. If all such resources as can make the whole country rally round in unity are to be explored and exploited, Sanskrit. the Supreme Unifier, should be, first of all, exploited by making it the basis of a country-wide loyalty.
"Among the Kings who had come from different parts of the country, and who, out of fear that their mother-tongues 'would not be mutually understood, were-carrying on conversation in Sanskrit...."
202
27. Sanskrit has been recognised as one of the fourteen languages of the Union, and the Constitution (which has been put also in Sanskrit) gives the right to an Indian citizen to address the Government on any matter, in Sanskrit. Since Sanskritised Hindi in the Devanagari script is already declared as the Official Language of the Union, and since, for its general development, Hindi will have to depend mostly on Sanskrit (as the recent trends clearly indicate), nothing new is really asked for by pressing for the recognition' of Sanskrit as an Additional Official Language. While for all administrative and ordinary day-to-day purposes, some pan-Indian form of Hindi may be used, it appears inevitable that, in course of time, the prospective All-India Language-Bharati Bhasa-at least in its written norm, which would be acceptable to all regions of India, especially in the higher reaches of education and literary activity, will be a form of simple and modernised Sanskrit.
28. As we have already mentioned, the, recognition of Sanskrit as the primary source of Hindi places on the State a great responsibility towards Sanskrit; and this responsibility can, in the opinion of the Commission, be adequately fulfilled only if two things are done: first, if Sanskrit is declared as an additional Rastra- bhasa, particularly in respect of ceremonial, educational and cultural purposes; and, secondly, if, under the Special Directives in the Section of the Constitution on Official Language, a special addendum is included that it shall be the duty of the Union to promote the study of Sanskrit throughout its territory, as Sanskrit is the source of Modern Indian Languages, including Hindi; is the ancient repository of the cultural heritage of the country; and is of primary significance in the present context as a potent means of promoting national solidarity and as a bond of friendship with the entire Far East and South-East Asia which had long been, through Sanskrit, culturally related to India.
29. There is nothing out of the way in having more than one Official Language: many Western countries have two, three and even four official languages. In, all International bodies and conferences-cultural, scientific or political-two or three languages figure. The delays or costs of translations and duplications are nothing compared to the ill-feeling and permanent harm caused by insistence on unilinguism; multilinguism is, in fact, the. principle of Panca-sila applied to the language question'.
7. Sanskrit for Indian Administrative Service Officers and
for Personnel in Indian Establishments Abroad. Indian Students going
Abroad and Indian Culture 30. The Indian Administrative Service has the pick of our young- men holding responsible administrative posts all over the country. The service forms one of the greatest factors of pan-Indian unity, and its pan-Indian atmosphere and character should be effectively maintained. From this point of view, it would be, desirable if the officers of the I.A.S. had a grounding in Sanskrit. Sanskrit might not be made a compulsory subject for the I. A. S. Examination; but some arrangements should
203
be made which would enable the I. A. S. Probationers, and Officers to acquire some knowledge of Sanskrit, or at least of the contributions of Sanskrit literature. Of course, they would naturally have to study Indian History and Civilisation as an obligatory subject, and Sanskrit thought and culture would certainly have a prominent place in it. But a knowledge of the Sanskrit language would enable them to appreciate the deeper vein in the life and culture of the people under their charge, and at the same time bring in a touch of, a great humanistic tradition in their mental make-up. There is also another thing. The I. A. S. ,Officers are required to serve in different parts of India, and a linguistic grasp, of Sanskrit would stand them in good stead in quickly getting familiar with the Sanskrit-derived or Sanskrit-based languages in those areas. Moreover, the I.A.S. men, who are usually the most prominent officials of the locality, are often invited to take a leading part in the localiterary, artistic and cultural activities. They would surely be better equipped to play this role effectively if they were imbued with the elements of Sanskrit culture. So, in the opinion of the Commission, the I.A.S. officers should be specially encouraged to study Sanskrit, without its being made a compulsory examination subject.
31. With regard to the personnel in Indian Establishments abroad like Embassies and Consulates, the experience of those, who have so- journed in foreign countries and have come in touch with the work which is being done by these Establishments on behalf of India, has led them, to think that some members of these establishments should be well qualified in Sanskritic culture as also in the Sanskrit language and literature. In most of the advanced countries, whether of Asia or Europe or America, there are always to be found some serious enquirers about matters relating to religion, philosophy, art, history and general culture of India. There are also, in many of these centres, University Departments of Sanskrit and Indology, and teachers and students in these Departments have frequent occasions to seek the assistance of the Indian Establishments there in connection with their work. The Indian Establishments should, therefore, be so equipped with men and material as to be able to give effective and fruitful co- operation in all such circumstances.
32. What these Establishments do generally have today is a small library of representative books on various topics relating to Indian civilisation and culture. But that is not always enough. Moreover, even this library can be easily improved and made known to local people interested in Indian culture. In this connection it may be pointed out that Great Britain has a world-wide organisation, called the British Council,, which is primarily a cultural department devoted, among other things, to the promotion and sustenance of interest in English Language and Literature. The United States Information Service is also doing similar work through its excellent library service in many countries of the world. The Indian Government should also set up some such organisation for the adequate propagation of the knowledge of Indian
204
thought and culture which, on account of the unique position which India has established for herself in international affairs, have evoked in recent years a special interest among the peoples of the world.