[Advaita-l] Brief speech in Sanskrit

[Ajit Krishnan]

namaste,

> That's because Sanskrit is the only language
> until modern times where the grammar came first than the speech. If you
> speak ungrammatical English then you are just speaking bad English.  If
> you speak ungrammatical Sanskrit then you are not speaking Sanskrit at
> all.

Perhaps I misunderstand.

Of vedic samskritam and puranic samskritam, which one is wrong? Of the
Maheshwara, Saraswata and Aindra systems of samskritam, which ones are
wrong? What was the need for the supplementary unadi etc sutras? Does
Kalidasa stick to the letter of the grammatical letter of the law when
it comes to the lakArA-s...particularly with the multiple futures and
pasts? Why are there no newly coined words which retain their suffixes
in samasas (vanecaraH etc)?

Samskritam was codified by the grammarians, that much is clear. The
grammar reflects the diversity in speech, that much is also clear.

The problem with divinifying everything is that no-one makes an
attempt. Such is the case with Samskritam. So also with mahApuruShas
who are said to be avatAra-s. "They were avatAra-s so it was possible
for them. It is not possible for me. Therefore I should not aspire,
neither should I try". This line of reasoning is much too common.

bhavadIyaH,

         ajit


On 6/18/07, Jaldhar H. Vyas <jaldhar at braincells.com> wrote:
> On Sat, 9 Jun 2007, Ajit Krishnan wrote:
>
> > [1] This is the way every other language is taught. The Samskritam
> > world is the only one I know of to put so much emphasis on the
> > grammar-translation method. A vast portion of grammar learning comes
> > very naturally in a language as you try to speak it.
>
> Sanskrit ("perfected, systematized") differs from all Prakrit ("natural")
> languages in this way.  That's because Sanskrit is the only language
> until modern times where the grammar came first than the speech. If you
> speak ungrammatical English then you are just speaking bad English.  If
> you speak ungrammatical Sanskrit then you are not speaking Sanskrit at
> all.