“Through Sanskrit, Bharatvarsha descends into your heart.” — Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak, RSS
Since the days of invasions, the first attacks by enemies have often been directed at the pillars that sustained the nation and its people—libraries, books, authors, and gurus—followed by common men, women, and children. The motive was to dismantle belief systems, erode society’s confidence, and destroy the institutions that gave strength to the people. There was also an attempt to diminish respect for Brahmins, who were the custodians of the Vedic system. They wrote, memorized, and disseminated knowledge, ran gurukuls, and intellectually sustained a society that was being targeted for destruction and conversion.
Sanskrit was one of the first targets. It was the language that nourished the mind and soul of the land and its people, and it served as a shield against foreign influence. As a result, it became a focus of Islamic and Christian invaders. Sanskrit schools were banned, and campaigns were launched to shame the language and those associated with it.
Once Kashmir was the global hub of sanskrit learning and undreds of schools flourished under Hindu rule. The destruction of Sanskrit schools, along with the broader, centuries-long decline of Sanskrit learning in Kashmir, is historically rooted in the barbaric Islamic invasions and the forced conversions of Hindus. All Muslim invasions, resulted in the destruction of temples and the burning of ancient manuscripts. The forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus by Islamic terrorists in 1990 led to a massive loss of the traditional keepers of this linguistic and cultural heritage, resulting in the closure of remaining local educational spaces for Sanskrit.Under Modi govt Lt Governor Manoj Sinha has initiated efforts to revive Sanskrit in schools. it is an Islamic extremist posture that India’s one state rejected its original, mother language Kashmiri to be its state langauge and imposed Urdu as its official language in favour of its so called Muslim identity.
During British colonial rule, particularly through the English Education Act of 1835 led by Thomas Babington Macaulay, Sanskrit education and the traditional gurukul system were further marginalized. By withdrawing state funding and making English the medium of instruction for higher education, the British replaced vernacular and Sanskrit-based learning with a Westernized curriculum. Over time, the claim that “Sanskrit is a dead language” gained traction. Missionaries and those educated in colonial institutions often promoted this idea, which was later echoed by sections of Indian society.
This characterization ignored the fact that Sanskrit has long been embedded in cultural and social practices—from birth rituals to marriage and death ceremonies. It has played a key role in India’s intellectual traditions, including early developments in mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy.
In the early 19th century, some missionaries portrayed Sanskrit literature as pagan, superstitious, and corrupting. John Muir wrote Matapariksha (1839), a critique of Hindu beliefs in Sanskrit, which prompted responses from Hindu scholars. Robert Caldwell promoted the Dravidian theory, distinguishing South Indian culture from Sanskrit-based traditions and portraying the latter as an imposed system.
Some missionaries believed that weakening Sanskrit and Brahmin-led learning would make religious conversion easier. During the Goan Inquisition, Hindu texts were condemned or destroyed, Sanskrit teaching was restricted, and conversions were enforced.
Amid these developments, B. R. Ambedkar is known to have suggested Sanskrit as a potential national language, though the proposal was not accepted. However, Sanskrit was included among the 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution of India.
Efforts to revive and promote Sanskrit continued in independent India. Organizations such as Samskrita Bharati, founded in 1981, have worked to popularize spoken Sanskrit and make it accessible in everyday life. Today, there are villages where Sanskrit is used in daily communication, and the organization operates thousands of centers across India and in several other countries.
Sanskrit education has expanded significantly. It is taught as an optional subject from primary to higher secondary levels. There are thousands of traditional pathshalas and Vedic schools, as well as many universities offering Sanskrit at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, including 18 dedicated Sanskrit universities. States such as Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh have declared Sanskrit as a second official language, and public places like the airport in Dehradun display signage in Sanskrit alongside Hindi and English.
According to various estimates, millions of students study Sanskrit at the school level across India. Odisha has emerged as a significant center for Sanskrit education, with institutions such as Shree Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya contributing to its growth.
The expansion of Sanskrit education has been supported by both government initiatives and voluntary organizations, along with increased funding and institutional development in recent years.
The inauguration of a new headquarters named “Pranava” (Omkar) by Mohan Bhagwat on the occasion of Akshaya Tritiya symbolizes a continued effort to promote Sanskrit and its cultural significance. As he remarked, learning Sanskrit can deepen one’s connection to Bharat.
Disclaimer
Views expressed above are the author’s own.
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