‘Revival of Sanskrit will raise India to new heights’

“We need to be proficient in Sanskrit to access ancient Indian wisdom, which holds the answers to today’s problems. This language is key to India’s success in all fields,” said scientists, management experts, technologists, at the Vijnana Sammelanam at the World Samskrit Book Fair.

“Scholar Charaka had long said all happiness is rooted in good science and science was well-developed in India and China before it was officially acknowledged by the West,” said professor Roddam Narashima, scientist in aerospace and atmospheric phenomenon.

“India is not a rags-to-riches story, but merely a nation striking back to acquire its place in the world. It was always a performing civilisation until the mid-19th century when its economy was destroyed,” said writer S Gurumurthy.

“Revival of Sanskrit will help India rise to the top,” he added. Professor B Mahadevan said Sanskrit texts provide solutions to many problems that management experts grapple with.

“We need inspirational leadership and there are many instances in literature that dwell on this topic. We need to get into Sanskrit to create a new world order, to be sustainableand inspirational, he said.

“The way to popularise the language is to create content that will appeal to the youth, to use modern fora like blogs and podcasts to take information expressed in the language to the end-user,” said Aruna Ramarathnam, a technology enthusiast. Manu Baligar, director of Kannada and Culture department, announced that Kannada books useful to youngsters would be translated to Sanskrit.

On the first day of the three-day fair, books worth `1 crore were sold. At the Pustaka Parishe, visitors can pick up a book free of cost and even donate books. Over 16,000 books were given away on Friday, the first day of the fair. About 25,000 Bhagavad Gitas were also sold. The 154 stalls are offering discounts and books are being sold by the sackfuls, said organisers.

Over 8,000 people from 500 districts, 24 states are attending.Among the attendees are 43 people from Jiree, a ‘Sanskrit village’ in Madhya Pradesh.

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