FRIENDS DO SEND IN UR FREE AND FRANK OPINION
January 29, 2011
In general I agree with Pollock's views and I wish him success on his Indian classics series. My one reservation is over his observation:
"I have been coming to India for long, but in all these years I am yet to meet a student at the university level who knows enough Sanskrit that could fill this cup of coffee."
I can only say that he has been going to the wrong places. I can find him at least a dozen students in and around Bangalore who would be happy to engage him in conversation in Sanskrit. The real problem is the competence and capacity of Sanskritists in Western academia.
They are quite articulate in English but become tongue tied when they have to express themselves in Sanskrit. This was painfully apparent when Michael Witzel of Harvard toured India in 2009 summer when schoolchildren exposed his limitations in Sanskrit.
Of course, no Western Sanskritist has produced any worthwhile literature in Sanskrit, while many Indians have attained distinction in English and other languages. I hope Sheldon Pollock proves to be an exception.
N.S. Rajaram
Dear Scholars
Please visit this link to read Sheldon Pollock's interview to the magazine named 'Business World' recently.
http://www.businessworld.in/
He has very cleary and modestly put up his ideas about various issues related to Sanskrit. I feel it is very necessary to voice our modest agreement or disagreement to his views. This will help us avoid the development of a general feeling that these are the views of all the Sanskrit scholars in general and have only been voiced by Sheldon Pollock .Thanks to this group we have a forum of scholars almost all at one place to put this up and ensure that it is thoroughly discussed.
I am pasting the same article bellow for the convenience of those who for some reason may not be able to access the link provided above -
Renowned scholar Sheldon Pollock’s monograph, The Language Of The Gods
In The World Of Men: Sanskrit, Culture And Power In Premodern India (2006), is a journey of the pundit's love affair with Sanskrit and Indian culture. A Padma Shri winner, Pollock continues to fight for recognition of Sanskrit and other classic languages of India. He is general editor of the Murty Classical Library of India. BW’s Anjana Saproo caught up with him over a few cups of coffee during the Jaipur Literature Festival.
Do you think Sanskrit should get more space in Indian curriculum?
I would love to see Sanskrit being taught extensively at the university level. This is a subject that needs academic rigour. And why just Sanskrit, we should teach classical Kannada, classical Tamil, among others, at the Bachelor’s level. At the school level, Sanskrit teaching does not make sense simply because of the way it is being taught. The approach of most teachers is pedantic, and it is being taught in the rote manner – memorisation by repetition – and this destroys its very relevance.
What does the future hold for Sanskrit as language of communication?
Sanskrit is dying an exotic death. Over the years, we have seen it become a tool in the hand of fanatics, creating grave discomfort among academicians and the public. The relevance of Sanskrit lies in using its principles of thinking in various other aspects of scientific study. The reduced number of students doing humanities India has gone
down drastically unlike in the West. This is, in some way, linked to the decline in Sanskrit learning.
I have been coming to India for long, but in all these years I am yet
to meet a student at the university level who knows enough Sanskrit
that could fill this cup of coffee.
What kind of students take up Sanskrit at Columbia where you are a faculty?
There are three types of students. First, the post-modern hippies. They are interested in a little yoga and Ayurveda and then want to learn Sanskrit too. They fall off on the wayside pretty soon. Then there are some ABCDs who actually are the ideal students. They are
Indians born in the west and want to have a connection with Indian culture. So, they spend 2-3 years learning Sanskrit and then go on to become successful lawyers, doctors and even scientists. They are ideal because they carry with them a great Indian cultural resource, which they apply in life. Finally, there are the videsi students, who come
to pick up a degree in Sanskrit and most of them go back to their country.
I have an inbred connection to India and its language. I was lucky enough to have many good Sanskrit teachers in India. Above all, I am married to a professor of Hindi; I call her the Hindiwali.
What are the barriers that you faced in India while promoting Sanskrit?
I was expecting this question. A group of scholars and I had approached the Bikaner princess, Rajyashree Kumari, for access to the thousands of Sanskrit manuscripts lying in their library. We wanted to photograph these manuscripts and create an online archive, where any scholar could go and read about the rich Indian culture. But it was impossible to do so. I waited for four days in Bikaner. And they didn't allow us to do that. It was so frustrating and killed my enthusiasm in this whole project. Such historical relics are meant to be deciphered and disseminated and are not meant to be locked up in royal palaces to die a dusty death.
So, what next?
I am involved in two or three things, but I would like to talk about the newest initiative – The Ambedkar Sanskrit Fellowship Program at Columbia. It aims to establish an endowment to fund graduate studies in Sanskrit for students from historically disadvantaged communities.
We are ready to support the students till they are able to stand on their own feet
--
अथ चेत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि।
ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि।।
तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चयः।
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
--
अथ चेत्त्वमिमं धर्म्यं संग्रामं न करिष्यसि।
ततः स्वधर्मं कीर्तिं च हित्वा पापमवाप्स्यसि।।
तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चयः।
निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः।। (भ.गी.)
From
Dr. Ashutosh Angirash
Wed, Feb 9, 2011
ashutosh angiras sriniket2008@gmail.com
Title: Fwd: {भारतीयविद्वत्परिषत्} Re: An interview of Sheldon Pollock- Your views?
