Sanskrit: Best Language for Computer-True or False?

We all hear this in many places, in different forums, websites - that Sanskrit is the best suited language for computers; that there are many studies and research in this regard, and even NASA has endorsed it; NASA to echo Sanskrit in space (really?). There was even a petition on change.org regarding this. How much of this true? What are the basis of these statements? Let us explore a little bit.

First, there is no evidence of NASA's endorsement or its study of Sanskrit. Second, there is no need of NASA or anybody's approval to prove the greatness of Sanskrit language. So, why is that the Sanskrit-computer relationship meme so widespread?

Apparently, this relationship has stemmed out of the notion that Sanskrit is a scientific, logical or mathematical language. And computers too are based on logic and mathematics, with some aura of mystery or smartness around them. Let us look at different aspects in play here.

Computer Programming Languages

When we say "language for computers", it is not clear whether it is a language used to program a computer (that is to build a logic to tell a computer what to do), or is it a language that a computer can speak? Some of the computer programming languages are C, C++, PHP etc. Programming of computer logic needs very precise keywords, syntax and semantics. Sanskrit is a contextual language, and not suited for this purpose. This is because computers are dumb machines without contextual understanding. In Sanskrit, the usage and meaning of a word or sentence depends on the context and needs proper interpretation.

Precision in Sanskrit

The closest association of Sanskrit with NASA appears to be in the form of a paper presented in 1985 by Rick Briggs (of NASA) in the AI Magazine (not affiliated to NASA), titled Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence. In this paper, the author puts forth the challenges of artificial intelligence (like robots) in understanding the natural (human) language. The paper explains the shortcomings of English language in adequately establishing the relationship between verb, subject, object and other words in a sentence. Then it mainly dwells upon the simplicity of usage of words in Sanskrit sentences using vibhakti endings (विभक्ति-प्रत्यय) and karakas (कारक). The author posits that this approach could make the human language understandable to the machines. This might work if machines can figure out the context of a sentence.

What matters

Historical and cultural inferences strongly indicate that Sanskrit was once a very widely spoken language in a large geographical area. Panini (around 600 BC - 400 BC) did a great job of compiling various usages in Sanskrit language and devising a set of rules to derive the different forms of nouns and verbs. Though there are some texts by other grammarians suggesting some additions to Panini's work, the original work is almost complete in covering the grammar of Sanskrit. Panini's algorithms established a baseline that is almost strictly adhered over centuries, till today. Based on Panini's work, many computational engines have been written that can spit out different forms of a Sanskrit word on a computer screen. The real wonder here is Panini and his work. Computer is just a tool to translate his algorithms. Artificial intelligence with Sanskrit is totally a different subject, although Panini's work may play a part in that, if the concept ever moves forward.

However, isn't it just wonderful that while Sanskrit can be made to fit within a rigorous grammatical framework, it can also linguistically scale up to the infinite quest of humans in exploring and understanding the universe and self?

Rani Chennamma - राज्ञी चेन्नम्मा

चेन्नम्मा १७७८तमे क्रिस्तशकाब्दे अक्तोबरमासस्य २३तमे दिने भारतदेशे कर्णाटकराज्यस्य काकतिनामकग्रामे जाता | बाल्ये एव सा धनुर्विद्यायां खड्गचालने अश्वारोहणे प्रशिक्षिता निपुणा च अभवत् | यूनावास्थायां कित्तूरुप्रान्तस्य राज्ञा मल्लसर्जेन सह तस्याः विवाहः समपद्यत | सः कालः भारते आङ्ग्लानां शासनकालः | शासनविस्तरपिपासवः ते येनकेनापि मार्गेण प्रान्तीयराज्यान् गिलन्ति स्म |

अचिरादेव पुत्रवती चेन्नम्मा राजकार्येषु राज्ञः मल्लसर्जस्य साहाय्यं कुर्वती सा जनप्रिया मुमोद | विधिलिखिता अन्या एव आसीत् | १८१६तमे वत्सरे मल्लसर्जः अनारोग्यात् पञ्चत्वमवाप | वैधव्येन कुण्ठितमनापि धीरचित्ता राज्ञी चेन्नम्मा बालपुत्रं यौव्वराज्ये अभिषिच्य राजशासनं चकार | 

यदुच्यते
दुःखान्यापतन्ति सपदि वर्षाभ्रसंघा इव |
तरणं कर्तुमर्हन्ति धीरास्ते लोकसत्तमाः ||

दौर्भाग्येन १८२४तमे वत्सरे तस्याः पुत्रोऽपि मरणं गतः | तस्मिन् वत्सरे एव राज्यसंहवनार्थं चेन्नम्मा शिवलिङ्गप्पनामकबालकं दत्तकपुत्ररूपेण स्वीकृतवती | एतस्य दत्तकविधेः आङ्ग्लशासनस्य सहमतिर्नासीत् | यत्र राज्यस्य औरसोत्तराधिकारी नासीत् तद्राज्यं आङ्ग्लवशे भवेदिति पूर्वभारतसंस्थायाः (East India Company) स्वप्रकाशितनियमः आसीत् | अनेन दुर्व्याजेन भारते नैकानि राज्यानि आङ्ग्लवशीभूतान्यासन् | अत्रापि सा आङ्ग्लसंस्था साहमत्यमदर्शयन्ती कित्तूरुराज्यं समर्पयितुं चेन्नम्मां अभ्यसूचयत | चेन्नम्मया पत्रमुखेन कृताः शान्तिप्रयत्नाः विफला अभवन् | स्वातन्त्र्यस्य स्वजनगौरवस्य रक्षणार्थं युद्धः अनिवार्यः अभवत् |

१८२४संवत् अक्तोबरमासे आङ्ग्लसेना कित्तूरुदुर्गं परिवृत्य शतघ्नीभिः सह आक्रमणमकरोत्| वीरचेन्नम्मायाः नेतृत्वे कित्तूरुसेना शौर्यसामर्थ्येण तस्य प्रतिभटनमकरोत् | कित्तूरुसेनायाः सेनापतिः आमतूरु-बालप्पः आङ्ग्लसेनायाः नेतारं थ्याकरेनामकमहाशयं निहत्य द्वयोः मुख्यसैन्याधिकारिणयोः बन्धनं कृतवान् | आङ्ग्लसेना पराभूता ततः पलायिता | तौ बन्दिनौ मुक्त्यर्थं युद्धविरामं तथा शान्तिसन्धिं प्रास्तौत् चेन्नम्मा | आङ्ग्लसंस्था तदङ्ग्यकरोत् |

परन्तु अनतिकाले एव आङ्ग्लसेना बृहद्बलसंपन्ना पुनः कित्तूरुदुर्गं पर्यावृणोत् | तदापि चेन्नम्मा तथा तस्याः सेना अतिपराक्रमेण युद्ध्यन्ती बहुधा शत्रुसैन्यमत्रासयत् | किन्तु चेन्नम्मायाः पक्षे मल्लप्पः वेङ्कटः इति नामकौ स्वदेशघातकौ शतघ्नीसामग्र्यां पशुमलस्य मिश्रणं कृतवन्तौ | चेन्नम्मायाः शतघ्न्यः निष्क्रियाः बभूवुः | कित्तूरुदुर्गः आङ्ग्लवशीभूतः चेन्नम्मा कारागृहे निपातिता च | चेन्नम्मा १८२९संवत् फ़ेब्रुवरिमासे कारागृहे एव देहत्यागमकरोत् | 

यदुच्यते
इतिहासे सुदुर्लभाः पराक्रमेण पराजिताः |
पिशुनेन च द्रोहेण प्रायः घाताः चमूवराः ||

राज्ञ्याः चेन्नम्मायाः वीरगाथा अद्यापि जनमनसि देशप्रेमभावनां जागरयती सुस्थिरा वर्तते |

Freedom - Beauty or Challenge?

How was the name "India" derived for the country? Here is a quick line of derivation of the word.

India <-- Indus <-- Hindustan <-- Hindu <-- Sindhu

The people living around the Sindhu river in the northwest part of the Indian subcontinent were probably referred by Persians as Hindus which in the language of other foreigners changed to Indus. The land itself came to be known as Hindustan and India. What was the name of the country before it was known as Hindustan or India? Well, most of us know it was Bhaarata (भारत). Today also, the name Bhaarata is used in different contexts. How did this name come? As a popular belief, the country gained its name after the famous Bharata (भरत), son of King Dushyanta and Shakuntalaa. But most ancient scripts state that Bhaarata country was named after the Emperor Bharata, son of Rishabha Deva (ऋषभदेव), the first theertankara in Jainism, also believed to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu. Before Bharata ruled, what was this land known as? Not many people might know that it was known as Anjanaabha (अञ्जनाभ).

Well, that is an interesting tidbit. But what was/is the religion of the people living there? What were/are their holy books? What language did they speak? It is generally known that the religion of the people there is Hinduism. Vedas are their most sacred holy books. Sanskrit was the common language used among them.

Sanaatana Dharma
However, identification of Hinduism with these people is a modern phenomenon. Unlike other religions and people, at the core of the Hinduism, there is no concept of religion - that it was founded by a person, or a group or even a god. In fact, it is not a religion. It is called Sanaatana Dharma (सनातन धर्म) which literally means the practice being followed (exists) eternally. A religion defines a set of rules one has to follow in order to achieve an objective or god. Dharma goes beyond religion. There are no set rules. It is a framework of loose guidelines to realize one's own potential - physically, mentally and spiritually. In this quest, emphasis is on seeking one's own nature, nature of the universe and its creator, relationship of self with the universal forces. This makes it very personal for every individual. The high level principles are subject to one's own adaptions. The abstraction at the high level has manifested into hundreds of communities and sub-communities within the Sanaatana Dharmaa with their own rules, practices and rituals. The whole group of these communities is now known to be Hindus. Even there, some communities want themselves to be called Hindus, while others do not. With very diverse rules and rituals, there is often a varying degree of friction between these communities too.

Sanskrit Language
The ancient language that the followers of Sanaatana Dharma spoke had also no name. It was just bhaashaa (भाषा) - meaning a means to communicate. Probably, as the other languages evolved in the society, this bhaashaa came to be known as Sanskrit - meaning refined. And it continued to be the link language between different communities in the Indian subcontinent for thousands of years. In this phonetic language, there are only guidelines and a word is mostly made up of letters or sub-words based on the function or meaning of the referred object. Each sound (or letter) might have multiple meanings and when these letters are combined to form a word, that word might have multiple meanings. Many times, a word can have hundreds of meanings. Though this structure greatly enhances the beauty of the language, it could pose a challenge while adapting the language to everyday use. For a common man's everyday use, the objects or things in the real world need to be identified by finite and specific words. Since in Sanskrit the same object can be referred to by a host of words, and the same word can refer to many objects, it is left to the listener or the reader to discern what the speaker or writer is trying to say. For example, to refer to the Sun, there are many words like: रवि, भानु, खग, पूषन्, दिवाकर, दिनकर, सूर्य, आदित्य, भास्कर etc. Each of these words may mean other things too. सूर्य = a knowledgeable person, आदित्य = any person/god born to Aditi, भास्कर = anything that makes something shine, पूषन् = anything that supports, खग = anything that moves in the sky. How many words one can think for the Sun in English? In such a situation, coining new words in Sanskrit and their adaptation by the masses becomes a challenge. Could this be the reason that Sanskrit lost its favor with the vast public and remained as the language of scholars - गीर्वाणभारती or the language of the gods?

Vedas
Similar argument can be made about the Vedas - the ultimate sacred scriptures of the Hindus. The contents of these scriptures, as the Hindus believe, are not the creation of any human, but were revealed to humans through seers or well-accomplished sages. The Vedas are in Sanskrit and as posited above, each word is subject to various interpretations. And the Vedic meaning of many words and their current meaning may be totally opposite. For example: अन्तरिक्ष in Vedas may mean sea, but its meaning in current Sanskrit usage is space or sky. Given this situation, there have been hundreds of interpretations for Vedas, many of them with complete opposite meanings, resulting into different branches and schools of thought within Hinduism - and some even disproving the existence of God with the words of these scriptures!

The Challenge
While it is great to have the freedom to explore one's spirituality, dive into the beauty of the language, and experiment and experience the Vedic facts, the community as a whole faces the challenge of identity. While Hindu is the word that should be used for anyone living in the Indian subcontinent, Sanaatana Dharma, Sanskrit language and the Vedas cannot be attached to one community. The principles and guidelines in them are very much universal in nature. However, to preserve, practice, enhance and to spread the awareness to the mankind, unity in diversity on all these fronts is needed, especially in these modern times and the times to come.

Painting by: Casey Vogt

Mahatma Gandhi Anecdotes - गान्धिमहात्मनः उपकथाः

विमला - अयि कमले उत्तिष्ठ शयनात् | आरुणो दारुणो भवत्यचिरात् |
कमला - किमिदं विमले | मा विस्मर अक्टोबरमासे द्वितीयमद्य तु न पाठशाला | इतोऽपि स्वपिमि |
विमला - अहो अनुजे, अतिशयनात् बुद्धिहानिः यतोऽहि उच्यते -

अपठनेऽपि संग्राह्यं ज्ञानं सदा हि पूजितम् |
क्षणशः कणशश्चैव विद्यामर्थं च साधयेत् ||

कमला - महात्मनः गान्धिवर्यस्य कथां को न जानाति | भारताद्यन्तं स्वतन्त्रताभावं उद्बोध्य आङ्ग्लशासनविरोधाय जनसंघटनं कृतवान् | तस्य असहकारान्दोलनं हिंसारहितं जगत्प्रसिद्धं जातम् | तस्य महाप्रयत्नेन एव भारतदेशः आङ्ग्लशृङ्खलाभ्यः मुक्तोऽभवत् | ततः एव भारतस्य राष्ट्रपिता इत्युच्यते सः किल |
विमला - आम् आम् | तच्चरित्रं तु सर्वविदितमेव | अतः एव वैज्ञानिकस्य ऐन्स्तीनमहोदयेन एवमुदीरितम् -

भविष्यकाले ह जनैरचिन्त्यं सारल्यमूर्तिश्च सत्यावलंबी |
गान्धीमहात्मा च सरक्तमांसे मनुष्यदेहे धरणीं चचार ||▲

परन्तु महात्मनः जीवने केचन स्वारस्यमयघटनाः अपि संभूताः | श्रोतुमिच्छसि किम् ?
कमला - अवश्यम् | उच्यताम् |
विमला - गान्धिमहोदयः सामान्यजनप्रेमी आसीत् | सरलजीवनं इच्छति स्म | आन्दोलनकाले सर्वदा देशप्रवासं धूमशकटे (train) अवरायां तृतीयकक्ष्यायां (3rd class) करोति स्म | तदवलोक्य विस्मितः एकः वार्ताहरः एकदा महोदयं अपृच्छत् - एतावान् प्रभावशाली पुरुषः त्वं किमर्थं प्रथमकक्ष्यायां न प्रवासं करोषि इति | महोदयः स्मयमानः अब्रवीत् - किमित्युक्ते चतुर्थकक्ष्या न वर्तते !
कमला - गान्धिमहोदयस्य परिहासप्रज्ञापि आसीदिति न ज्ञातं मया | अन्यदाख्यानं श्रोतुमिच्छामि |
विमला - तर्हि शृणु | यदा महोदयः बालक आसीत्तदा स्वभ्रातुः कनकाभरणात् किञ्चित् सुवर्णकणिकामचोरयत् | केनापि एतदकार्यं ज्ञातुं शक्यमपि नासीत् | तथापि स्वापराधेन पीडितः बालकः प्रायश्चित्तरूपेण स्वपितरं पत्रं लिखित्वा कम्पमानेन हस्तेन दत्तवान् | तस्य पिता तत्पत्रं पठित्वा पुत्रस्य सत्यनिष्ठाकारणेन हृष्टः सगद्गदोऽभवत् |
कमला - इतोऽपि श्रावय | नूनमेतानि रोचकानि |
विमला - अस्तु | एकदा प्रवासार्थी गान्धिमहोदयः चलनोद्युक्तं धूमशकटं त्वरया आरोहत् | तदा पादत्राणमेकं तस्य पादान्निसृत्य भूमौ पतितम् | तदा तूर्णमेव सः अन्यपादत्राणमपि अपातयत् | सहयात्रिकः विस्मयेन महोदयं कीदृशमियं चेष्टा इत्यपृच्छत् | महोदयः अवदत् - एकेन पादत्राणेन किं मे प्रयोजनं, कश्चित्तत् युगलं प्राप्य उपभोक्तुमर्हति इति |
कमला - आहा! अत्युच्चाः महोदयस्य वृत्ताः | अस्तु भगिनि | महानसात् पाकपरिमलो जिघ्र्यते | बुभुक्षिताहं गच्छाम्यधुना | त्वमपि त्वरस्व |

▲“Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth. (said of Mahatma Gandhi)” - Albert Einstein

Sanskrit - Is it a Language?

What? Sanskrit is not a language? Then what is it? Sanskrit could be very ancient, mother/father/cousin/whatever of Indo-European languages. However, here the proposition is that Sanskrit is not a language in the way we typically know a language in a traditional sense.

As names of different languages suggest, they have the genesis in their geographical areas or communities - like English of England, Russian of Russia, French of France, and even within India also - Gujarati of Gujarat etc. But, the word "संस्कृतभाषा/Sanskrit" does not attach itself to any geography or commune. It is a भाषा - a method of communication which is संस्कृत - "refined" or "properly done".

In that sense, Sanskrit is really a platform, a construct rooted in the science of sounds in the universe and nature. It is a way to bring out or to address the qualities within an object. Here, everything or every word has and has to have निरुक्तम् or etymology. At the base level, each vowel or consonant represents a sound - and each of these sounds has its own independent meaning. For example, अ represents the quality of Brahma etc. The meanings of each of these sounds may be a lost or fading science today. Words themselves indicate the qualities of objects they refer to. This creates a powerful framework of communication with those qualities. No object is randomly identified with a word. Sanskrit is a natural way of identifying an object or communicating.
Some simple examples:
अग्नि Fire -अगं-नयति इति - one which moves a stationary object (like causing water to boil etc.)
वायु Air वाति इति - one which flows
अगः Mountain - न गच्छति इति - one which cannot move
ब्रह्म God - बृंहति इति - one which grows (all-pervasive)
बालकः boy - बलते इति - one which gains strength (as grows)

In Sanskrit, a word is not randomly made up. The object's qualities or attributes determine how it should be referred to. So the word genesis may be represented as:
Look at an object --> What are its attributes? --> Combine the base words representing those attributes --> come up with a word for that object
For example:
Airborne object --> flies in the sky --> ख for sky चर for moving around --> खेचर
Burglars/nocturnal animals --> wanders in the night --> निशा night चर moving around --> निशाचर
In this, even निशा has the etymology of नितरां श्यति amply reduces (the activities in the world/people) = night.

This is necessarily not the case with other languages. The genesis frequently goes like this:
Look at an object --> Make up a word using the words for similar objects --> Or borrow from other languages --> Or coin a new word, randomly or based on who discovered the object

That is why, knowledgeable people say, though the mantras (prayers) in Sanskrit are nice to utter or hear, but they are fully effective only when we understand the meaning of those words and focus (meditate) upon those underlying meanings. Without this focus, which is called अनुसंधान, the uttering remains only as amusement for the audience. Many of the ancient knowledge using the mantras for weapons, or medicines etc. is lost now because the meanings were lost. At the very least, we should try and preserve what remains now and pass it on to the next generation.


(Inspired by a lecture of sarpv Chaturvedi)

गजवदन याचेऽहम् - Sanskrit Song on Lord Ganesha

(मूलम् - पुरन्दरदासवरेण्येन "गजवदन बेडुवे" कन्नडभाषागीतम्)

गजवदन याचेऽहं गौरीतनय |

त्रिजगवन्दित देव सुजनानां पालक || ० ||

पाशाङ्कुशधर परमपवित्र |

मूषकवाहन मुनिजनप्रेम || १ ||

मुदया ते पदौ दर्शय मे त्वं

साधुवन्दित हे आदरतया भजे || २ ||

सरसिजनाभश्रीपुरन्दरविट्ठलं |

सास्मर्यमाणं कुरु मम चित्तम् || ३ ||


Sung by Smt. Vasumathi Nagarajan - on YouTube

गणेशतत्त्वम् - The Essense of Ganesha

कमला - प्रियभगिनि, त्वरस्व तावत् | विलम्बः जायते | शालां गच्छेव |
विमला - अयि कमले, तव भोजनपेटिकाऽपि मयैव सज्ज्यते | अत एव विलम्बः | अस्तु इदानीं सिद्धा | गच्छावः |
(उभे शालां प्रति मार्गे चलन्त्यौ)
कमला - भगिनि, तव हस्ते एषः अन्यः स्यूतः किमर्थम् ? को विशेषः अद्य ?
विमला - अद्य मम वर्गे गणेशपूजा विद्यते | तदर्थं पुष्पाणि नयामि |
कमला - अहो गणेशः! मम प्रियदेवः | गजमुखः सः रोचककथानकैः सर्वेषां मनः हर्षयति |
विमला - का कथा? यथा सः पार्वतीदेव्याः स्नानसमये परप्रवेशनिरोधाय तस्याः तनोः मालिन्येन सृष्टः?
कमला - आम् बह्व्यः सन्ति | त्वया तु श्रुताः एव | परन्तु पार्वतीदेव्याः देहात् तावत् मालिन्यं कथम् उदभवत् इति मम शङ्का |
विमला - कमले, उत्तमः प्रश्नः | एतादृश्यः कथास्तु साङ्केतिकाः वर्तन्ते | शृणु अत्र | वस्तुतः गणपतिः आकाशतत्त्वाभिमानी देवः इत्युच्यते शास्त्रेषु | पार्वतीदेवी भगवान् शङ्करश्चापि आकाशतत्त्वनियामकौ | तस्मात् आकाशनियामकयुगलादेव गणपतेः जन्म |
कमला - अस्तु | देहमालिन्यस्य विषयः ?
विमला - तामसाहङ्कारात् आकाशस्य सर्जनमिति वेदविदो वदन्ति | भूमृत्तिका तामसगुणस्य संकेतः | अतः एव पार्वती या आकाशतत्त्वदेवता तस्याः मृत्तिकायाः नाम तामसगुणात् गणपतेः जन्म |
कमला - अहहा! अधुना कथा सा अवगम्यते | कथं च गणपतिः विघ्नहर्ता इति स्तूयते?
विमला - कार्यकरणयोर्मध्ये अनवकाशः एव विघ्नः | गणपतिः आकाशदेवता | सः कार्यकरणयोर्मध्ये अवकाशं कल्पयित्वा विघ्नान् परिहरति | अतः एव विघ्नहर्ता |
कमला - कथम् आननं गजस्य तस्मै ? शूलपाणिना शम्भुना छिन्नमुखः सः हस्तिमुखयोजनेन गजानन अभूदिति कथा खलु ?
विमला - साऽपि कथा एव | वैश्वानररूपिणः परमात्मनः ज्ञानात्मकमुखं गजमुखमिति पण्डिता आहुः | तस्य वैश्वानरस्य उपासनां कृत्वा गणपतिः गजाननं प्राप्तवान् |
कमला - एकदन्तस्य का कथा ? महाभारतग्रन्थं लेखितुं दन्तस्य एकस्य उपयोगं कृतवान् किल ?
विमला - तत्तु दन्तकथा एव | गणेशस्य सर्वाणि आयुधानि नियमनं सूचयन्ति | दन्तस्य एकस्य उन्मूलनमपि अहङ्कारस्य दमनं सूचयति |

कमला - उदरोपरि सर्पः किमर्थम् ? यथेच्छं भोजनं कृत्वा उदरात् बहिरागतं खाद्यं पुनः अन्तर्निवेश्य सर्पेण उदरबन्धनमकरोत् इति कथा प्रसिद्धा |
विमला - बालविनोदिनी सा कथा | उदरं तु शरीरे आकाशस्य उत अवकाशस्य स्थानम् | सर्पः कुण्डिलिनीशक्तिबोधकः | ऊर्ध्वमुखसर्पः शरीरमनोनियमनेन साधनं कुर्यात् इति बोधयति |
कमला - इदं संभाषणम् उद्बोधकमासीत् भगिनि | अनेन गणेशे महादरः भक्तिश्च जायते | आवयोः प्राप्यस्थानमागतम् | देवं तं प्रार्थयन्त्यौ शालां प्रविशावः |

वक्रतुण्ड महाकाय कोटिसूर्यसमप्रभ |

निर्विघ्नं कुरु मे देव सर्वकार्येषु सर्वदा ||

(साधारमिदं लेखनम् - विदुषः बन्नञ्जेगोविन्दाचार्यस्य व्याख्यानम्)