ಆಷಾಢಸ್ಯ ಪ್ರಥಮದಿವಸೇ

ಇಂದು ಆಷಾಢಮಾಸದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿನ.

"ಆಷಾಢವೆಂದರೆ ಯಾವ ಶುಭಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮವೂ ಇರದ ತಿಂಗಳು. ಯಾವ ದೊಡ್ಡ ಹಬ್ಬವೂ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಮಾಸ." ಎಂದು ಎಲ್ಲರೂ ತಿಳಿಯುವ ವಿಷಯ. ಆದರೆ ಕೆಲವರಿಗೆ ಇದು ಹಬ್ಬ. ಅದೂ ಈ ಮಾಸದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿವಸ.

"ಟಾಟಾ ಇಂಡಿಕಾಮ್" ನ ಜಾಹಿರಾತಿನಲ್ಲೊಬ್ಬಳು "ಐ ಲವ್ ಯೂ" ಎಂದು ಮೂರು ಬಾರಿ ಹೇಳಿದ ಬಳಿಕ ಆ ಕಡೆ ಕೇಳಿಸದಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಆ ಫೋನಿಗೆ "ಐ ಹೇಟ್ ಯೂ" ಎಂದು ಜುಗುಪ್ಸೆಯಿಂದ ಹೇಳುತ್ತಾಳೆ. "ನಾ ನಿನ್ನ ಪ್ರೀತಿಸುವೆ" ಅನ್ನುವ ಮಾತನ್ನು ಹೇಳಲು ಕೂಡ ತಾಳ್ಮೆಯಿಲ್ಲದ ಜನಾಂಗವಾಗಿದ್ದೇವೆ.

ಈ-ಮೈಲ್ ಯುಗದ ಈ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ಸಂದೇಶಗಳು ನಿತ್ಯನಿರಂತರ ಪ್ರವಹಿಸುತ್ತಿರುತ್ತವೆ. ನಮಗೆ ಸಂವಹನವೆಂದರೆ ಎಷ್ಟು ಸುಲಭ! ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಬಂದವರನ್ನು ಮನಸ್ಸಿಗೆ ಬಂದಾಗ ಸಂಪರ್ಕಿಸಬಹುದು. ಈ ಕಡೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಅವರ ಸೆಲ್, ಆ ಕಡೆ ಇನ್ನೊಬ್ಬರದ್ದು. ಮಾತಿಗೆ ಮೊದಲಿಡುವುದು ಬಹಳ ಸುಲಭ. ಆದರೆ ಇಪ್ಪತ್ತು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ ಹಾಗಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವಲ್ಲ! ಫೋನ್ ಎಂದರೆ ಕಷ್ಟ. ಎಲ್ಲ ಪತ್ರವ್ಯವಹಾರವೇ! ಇನ್ನೂರು ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ? ಹೋಗಲಿ, ಸಾವಿರ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದೆ?

ಸಂವಹನದ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಇದೆ. ಆದರೆ ಇದರ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಆಗುವುದು ವಿಶೇಷವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಗಳಿಗೆ. ಈಗಿನ ಕಾಲದಲ್ಲಿ ನಾನು ಮೊದಲೇ ಹೇಳಿದ ಹಾಗೆ ಸಂವಹನದ ಭೌತಿಕ ಕಂದಕವನ್ನು ನಾವು ದಾಟಿದ್ದೇವೆ. ಏನನ್ನು ಹೇಳಲು ಬಯಸುತ್ತಾರೋ - ಅದೇ ಮಾನಸಿಕ ಮತ್ತು ಬೌದ್ದಿಕ ಕಂದಕಗಳು - ಅದನ್ನು ಮೀರಿಸುವ ಕಷ್ಟ ಇದ್ದೇ ಇದೆ. ನಾವಿರುವವರೆಗೂ ಇರುತ್ತದೆ.

ಈಗ ಊಹಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ. ಸುಮಾರು ಎರಡು ಸಾವಿರ ವರ್ಷಗಳ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಕಾಲ. ಅವನು ಬೇಸಿಗೆಯ ಬೇಗೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ತಪ್ತನಾಗಿ ಈಗಿನ ಆಂಧ್ರಪ್ರದೇಶದ ಆಸುಪಾಸಿನಲ್ಲಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಅವಳು ಹಿಮಾಲಯದ ತಣ್ಣನೆಯ ವಾತಾರವರಣದಲ್ಲಿದ್ದರೂ ವಿರಹದ ಬೇಗೆಯಿಂದ ಬೇಯುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾಳೆ. ಈ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಗಳ ಸಂಪರ್ಕ ಹೇಗೆ ತಾನೆ ಸಾಧ್ಯ? ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಕಾವ್ಯಕ್ಕೆ ವಸ್ತುವಾಗಬಲ್ಲುದು ಈ ಸಂಪರ್ಕ. ಆಗಿದೆ ಕೂಡ.

ಈ ವಸ್ತುವನ್ನೇ ನಮ್ಮ ಕವಿಕುಲಕ್ಕೆ ಗುರುವೆನಿಸಿಕೊಂಡ ಕಾಲಿದಾಸನು ತನ್ನ ಮೇಘದೂತದಲ್ಲಿ ವಿಸ್ತರಿಸಿದ್ದಾನೆ. ಮುಂಚೆ ವರ್ಣಿಸಿದ ಪರಿಸ್ಥಿತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಲುಕಿದ ಆ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಗೆ ಯಾವ ದಾರಿಯೂ ಕಾಣದೆ - ಹಾಗೆ ಕಂಡ ಮೋಡವೊಂದನ್ನು ತನ್ನ ದೂತನನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿ ತನ್ನ ಪ್ರಿಯತಮೆಗೆ ಸಂದೇಶ ನೀಡುವುದೇ ಈ ಕಾವ್ಯದ ವಸ್ತು.

ಆ ಮೋಡವನ್ನು ನಮ್ಮ ನಾಯಕ ಕಂಡದ್ದು ಆಷಾಢದ ಮೊದಲನೇ ದಿವಸ. ಆ ಕಾವ್ಯದ ರಸವನ್ನನುಭವಿಸಿದ, ಕಾಲಿದಾಸನ ಅಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಈ ದಿನ ಹಬ್ಬವಲ್ಲದೇ ಮತ್ತೇನು? ಸುಮಾರು ನೂರಹತ್ತು ಮಂದಾಕ್ರಾಂತಾ ಛಂದಸ್ಸಿನ ಪದ್ಯಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಯಕ್ಷನ ಸಂದೇಶವನ್ನು ಮೇಘಕ್ಕೆ ತಿಳಿಸುತ್ತಾನೆ.

ಇದರ ಮೊದಲ ಪದ್ಯ :
ಕಶ್ಚಿತ್ ಕಾಂತಾವಿರಹಗುರುಣಾ ಸ್ವಾಧಿಕಾರಾತ್ ಪ್ರಮತ್ತಃ
ಶಾಪೇನಾಸ್ತಂಗಮಿತಮಹಿಮಾ ವರ್ಷಭೋಗ್ಯೇನ ಭರ್ತುಃ
ಯಕ್ಷಶ್ಚಕ್ರೇ ಜನಕತನಯಾಸ್ನಾನಪುಣ್ಯೋದಕೇಷು
ಸ್ನಿಗ್ಧಚ್ಛಾಯಾತರುಷು ವಸತಿಂ ರಾಮಗಿರ್ಯಾಶ್ರಮೇಷು ||

ಇದರ ಸ್ಥೂಲಾರ್ಥ: ಒಬ್ಬ ಯಕ್ಷನು ತನ್ನ ಸ್ವಾಮಿಯಿಂದ ಕೊಟ್ಟ ಶಾಪದಿಂದ ತನ್ನ ಮಹಿಮೆಯನ್ನು ಕಳೆದುಕೊಂಡವನಾಗಿ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷ ತನ್ನ ಪ್ರೇಯಸಿಯಿಂದ ದೂರನಾಗಿ ಜನಕನ ಮಗಳ (ಸೀತೆಯ) ಸ್ನಾನದಿಂದ ಪಾವನವಾದ ಝರಿಗಳ ಮರಗಳ ಸ್ನಿಗ್ಧವಾದ ನೆರಳಿನಿಂದ ಕೂಡಿದ ರಾಮಗಿರಿಯ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ವಸತಿಯನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದನು.

ಇದರ ಹಿಂದಿನ ಕಥೆ ಹೀಗೆಂದು ಊಹಿಸಲಾಗಿದೆ. ಈ ಯಕ್ಷನು ಯಕ್ಷರ ರಾಜಧಾನಿಯಾದ ಅಲಕಾಪುರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಕುಬೇರನ ತೋಟದ ಮಾಲಿ. ಒಮ್ಮೆ ಇಂದ್ರನು ಐರಾವತವನ್ನು ತೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ತಂದಾಗ ತನ್ನ ಒಡೆಯನ ಮಿತ್ರನ ವಾಹನವನ್ನು ತೋಟದೊಳಗೆ ಬಿಡಲಾರದೆ ಬಿಟ್ಟಾಗ ತೋಟಕ್ಕೆ ಹಾನಿಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಕುಬೇರನು ಇದನ್ನು ತಿಳಿದು ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷದ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ತನ್ನ ಮಾಲಿಯನ್ನು ಗಡೀಪಾರು ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾನೆ. ಈ ಗಡೀಪಾರು ಓದುಗರಾದ ನಮಗೆ ಒಳ್ಳೆಯ ಕಾವ್ಯಾಸ್ವಾದವನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿಸುತ್ತದೆ.

ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷ ತನ್ನ ಹೆಂಡತಿಯಿಂದ ದೂರವಿದ್ದ ಯಕ್ಷನ ವಿರಹದ ಬೇಗೆ ರಾಮಗಿರಿಯ ಬಿಸಿಲನ್ನೂ ಮೀರಿತ್ತು. ತಾಳಲಾರದ ವಿರಹದಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಯಕ್ಷನೇನು ಮಾಡಿದ?

ತಸ್ಮಿನ್ನದ್ರೌ ಕತಿಚಿದಬಲಾವಿಪ್ರಯುಕ್ತಃ ಸ ಕಾಮೀ
ನೀತ್ವಾ ಮಾಸಾನ್ ಕನಕವಲಯಭ್ರಂಶರಿಕ್ತಪ್ರಕೋಷ್ಠಃ |
ಆಷಾಢಸ್ಯ ಪ್ರಥಮದಿವಸೇ ಮೇಘಮಾಶ್ಲಿಷ್ಟಸಾನುಮ್
ವಪ್ರಕ್ರೀಡಾಪರಿಣತಗಜಪ್ರೇಕ್ಷಣೀಯಂ ದದರ್ಶ ||

ಸ್ಥೂಲಾರ್ಥ: ಆ ರಾಮಗಿರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನ ಸ್ತ್ರೀಯ ವಿರಹದಲ್ಲಿ ತಿಂಗಳುಗಳನ್ನು ಕಳೆದ ಆ ಪ್ರೇಮಿಯ ಮಣಿಕಟ್ಟಿನ ಪ್ರದೇಶ ಚಿನ್ನದ ಕಂಕಣ ಅದನ್ನು ಬಿಟ್ಟು ಜಾರಿದ್ದರಿಂದ ಬರಿದಾಗಿತ್ತು. ಆಗ ಆಷಾಢ ಮಾಸದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿವಸ ಬೆಟ್ಟವನ್ನಾಲಿಂಗಿಸಿದ, ಆನೆಯು ತಿವಿದು ಆಡುತ್ತಿರುವಂತೆ ಮನೋಹರವಾಗಿ ಕಂಡ ಮೇಘವನ್ನು ಕಂಡನು.

ಆ ಮಣಿಕಟ್ಟಿನ ಪ್ರದೇಶ ಎಷ್ಟು ವಿರಹವನ್ನು ತನ್ನ ಬರಿದಾಗುವಿಕೆಯಿಂದ ಹೇಳುತ್ತದೆ!

ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಬೇಂದ್ರೆಯವರು ಮೇಘದೂತದ ಪದ್ಯಾನುವಾದ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ "ಕನಕವಲಯಭ್ರಂಶರಿಕ್ತಪ್ರಕೋಷ್ಠಃ" ದ ಅನುವಾದ ಹೇಗೆ ಮಾಡಿದ್ದಾರೋ ತಿಳಿಯದು. ಆದರೆ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದ ಹಲವು ಶಕ್ತಿಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಇಂಥ ಪದವನ್ನು ನಾಮಪದವನ್ನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡುವುದೂ ಒಂದು. ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಅಕ್ಷರಗಳನ್ನು ತೆಗೆದುಕೊಳ್ಳದೆಯೇ ಅಷ್ಟನ್ನು ಹೇಳುವುದು ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತದ ಜಾಡು.

ಮೇಘದೂತದ ಮೊದಲ ಐದು ಪದ್ಯಗಳು ಮಾತ್ರ ಕವಿ ಹೇಳುವವು. ಇದಾದ ಮೇಲೆ ಎಲ್ಲ ಯಕ್ಷ ಮೇಘವನ್ನುದ್ದೇಶಿಸಿ ಹೇಳುವುದೇ. ಅಚೇತನವಾದ ಮೇಘವನ್ನೇ ಏಕೆ ದೂತನ್ನನಾಗಿ ಮಾಡಿದನೆಂಬುದಕ್ಕೆ ಐದನೆ ಪದ್ಯ ಹೀಗೆ.

ಧೂಮಜ್ಯೋತಿಃಸಲಿಲಮರುತಾಂ ಸನ್ನಿಪಾತಃ ಕ್ವ ಮೇಘಃ
ಸಂದೇಶಾರ್ಥಾಃ ಕ್ವ ಪಟುಕರಣೈಃ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಭಿಃ ಪ್ರಾಪಣೀಯಾಃ |
ಇತ್ಯೌಸುಕ್ಯಾದಪರಿಗಣಯನ್ ಗುಹ್ಯಕಸ್ತಂ ಯಯಾಚೇ
ಕಾಮಾರ್ತಾ ಹಿ ಪ್ರಕೃತಿಕೃಪಣಾಶ್ಚೇತನಾಚೇತನೇಷು ||

ಧೂಮ, ಜ್ಯೋತಿ, ನೀರು ಮತ್ತು ಗಾಳಿಗಳ ಕೂಡಿಕೆಯಲ್ಲವೇ ಮೋಡ? ಸಂದೇಶಗಳು ಪಟುವಾದ ಕರಣಗಳುಳ್ಳ (ಅಂದರೆ ಜ್ಞಾನೇಂದ್ರಿಯಗಳು ಚೆನ್ನಾಗಿರುವ) ಚೇತನವಾದ ಪ್ರಾಣಿಗಳಿಂದ ತಾನೆ ಒಯ್ಯಲ್ಪಡಬೇಕು? ಆದರೂ ಉತ್ಸುಕತೆಯಿಂದ (ನಮ್ಮ ಯಕ್ಷನಿಗೆ ಬೇರೇನೂ ಕಂಡಿರಲಿಲ್ಲವೇನೋ? ಅಥವಾ ವಿರಹದ ಔತ್ಸುಕ್ಯ ಪರಾಕಾಷ್ಠೆಯನ್ನು ಆಗ ಮುಟ್ಟಿತೋ?) ಇದನ್ನು ಯೋಚಿಸದೆ ಯಕ್ಷನು ಮೋಡವನ್ನೇ ಬೇಡಿದನು. ವಿರಹತಪ್ತರಾದವರು ಚೇತಾನಾಚೇತನಗಳ ನಡುವೆ ಭೇದವನ್ನೆಂದು ಎಣಿಸುವರು?

ಹೀಗೆ ಮೊದಲಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಯಕ್ಷನ ಸಂದೇಶ. ಮೋಡವನ್ನು ಹೊಗಳಿ ಒಲಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು, ರಾಮಗಿರಿಯಿಂದ ಅಲಕಾಪುರಿಗೆ (ಯಕ್ಷರ ಒಡೆಯನಾದ ಕುಬೇರನ ನಗರ) ಹೇಗೆ ಹೋಗಬೇಕು ಎಂಬುದನ್ನು ವಿವರವಾಗಿ ಹೇಳುವುದೇ ಪೂರ್ವ ಮೇಘ. ಅಲಕಾಪುರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆಯುವ ಸಂಗತಿಯು ಉತ್ತರಮೇಘದ್ದು.

ಒಂದೊಂದು ಪದ್ಯವೂ ಸುಮನೋಹರವಾಗಿದೆ. ಭಾವ ಉಕ್ಕಿ ಹರಿಯುತ್ತದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಓದಿಯೇ ಆಸ್ವಾದಿಸಬೇಕು!

ಶತಾವಧಾನಿ ಆರ್. ಗಣೇಶರು ಗೋಖಲೆ ಸಾರ್ವಜನಿಕ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆಯಲ್ಲಿ ಮೇಘದೂತದ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸಮಾಲೆಯನ್ನು ಮಾಡಿದ್ದರು. ಎರಡು ಎಂ.ಪಿ.೩ ಸಿ.ಡಿ.ಯಷ್ಟಿರುವ ಈ ಉಪನ್ಯಾಸ ಬಹಳ ಸೊಗಸಾಗಿದೆ. ಇದನ್ನು ಕೇಳಿ, ಮೇಘದೂತವನ್ನು ಕೊಂಡು ತಂದೆ. ಮೇಘದೂತವನ್ನು ಓದಲಾರದೆ ಇರುವವರು ಈ ಸಿ.ಡಿ.ಯನ್ನಾದರೂ ಕೇಳಬೇಕು. ಎಷ್ಟು ಸೊಗಸು! ಕಾರ್ಯಾಲಯಕ್ಕೆ ಕಾರಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಹೋಗುವಾಗ ಈ ಮೇಘದೂತವೂ ನನ್ನೊಂದಿಗೆ ಹಲವು ದಿನಗಳ ಮಟ್ಟಿಗೆ ಜೊತೆ ನೀಡಿತು.

ಮೋಡಗಳನ್ನು ಕಾಣುವುದೇ ಈಗ ಬೇರೆಯ ನೋಟದಿಂದ.

ಇಂದು ಆಷಾಢದ ಮೊದಲ ದಿವಸವೆಂದು ತಿಳಿದು ಅದರ ಸಂತಸವನ್ನು ಹಂಚಿಕೊಳ್ಳೋಣವೆಂದು ಈ ಲೇಖನ ಬರೆದೆ.

|| ಇತಿ ಶಮ್ ||

॥ सुभाषित-रत्न-भाण्डागारम् ॥

बेङ्गलूरु-नगरे चामराजपेट-स्थितम् आपणं वॆदान्ताभिधानं भारतीय-संस्कृतौ आस्कतेषु सुविख्यातम् । तत्र संस्कॄतग्रन्थानाम् अवलोकनं तु नितराम् प्रमोदावहम् । तर्क-व्याकरण-मीमांसा-वॆदान्त-शास्त्र-विषयकाः ग्रन्थाः तत्र तत्र स्थिताः रॊमाञ्चनमेव जनयन्ति । अन्यत्र कविवराणां माघ-बाण-भास-भारवि-कालिदासादीनां शिशुपालवध-शाकुन्तलादि-महाकाव्यानि रसभरितानि नम्रेषु तरुषु पक्व-फलानीव शोभन्ते । बालॊ यथा मिष्टानाम् आपणे "किं खादेयमि"-ति वक्तुमजानन् मुग्धॊ भवेत् तथैव मम स्थितिः ।

अस्यापणस्य समीपमॆव अन्यदापणं पूजाभिधानम् । तत्र न सर्वाणि पुस्तकानि लभ्यन्ते परं यानि लभ्यन्ते तानि न्यून-मूल्ययुतानि भवन्ति वॆदान्तापणापेक्षया । एतावत्पर्यन्तम् एताभ्यां न जाने कियत् धनं दत्तं कियन्ति च पुस्तकानि क्रीतानीति । तदस्तु ।

प्रौढशालायां पठनसमये सुभाषितानाम् अध्ययनं तु सर्वैस्संस्कृतच्छात्रैः क्रियते । अपि च पाठ्यपुस्तकॆषु यदा सुभाषितानां मूलं लिखितं तदा तु सामान्यतया "सुभाषित-रत्न-भाण्डागारम्" इति लिखितमासीत् । मया तु तदा चिन्तितं यत् भाण्डागारं नाम किमपि पुरातनं स्यादिति । एष एव ग्रन्थः पूजाभिधाने आपणे दृष्टः । तस्मिन् उपोद्घाते यद् दृष्टं तेन त्वहं चकिततां गतः ।

गते शतमाने निर्णयसागर-मुद्रणालयः उत्तमानां संस्कृतग्रन्थानां सुष्टु मुद्रणं कृत्वा सार्थकतामाप्नॊत् । तस्यैव कार्यमेतत् भाण्डागारमिति ज्ञात्वा त्वहं विस्मयावृतः । न केवलं तत् । मुद्र्णालयस्य विद्वद्भिरेव महाकार्यमेतत् कृतमिति तु ज्ञात्वा कृतज्ञतापूर्वक-नमःसुमाञ्जलिः मनसैव दत्ता ।

स ग्रन्थो महानिति वक्तुमपि हर्षमनुभवामि । तस्मिन् उपचतुःशतपृष्टात्मकॆ ग्रन्थे देवतास्तुतिभिरारभ्य नानाविषयकाः श्लॊकाः कतिपयेभ्यॊ ग्रन्थेभ्यो द्विरेफाः यथा नानापुष्पॆभ्यः मधु आहरन्ति तथैव आहृताः दृश्यन्ते । आङ्ग्लादि-लॊकभाषासु अनुवादः अस्मिन्नास्ति परं किञ्चित्संस्कृतज्ञातृभ्यो मादृशॆभ्यॊऽपि अन्वर्थानामायं ग्रन्थः ।

एतच्चिन्तयन् ग्रन्थक्रयम् अकरवम् । अस्य इदानीं चौखम्बामुद्रणालयेन पुनःप्रकाशितस्य मूल्यं त्रिशतं रूप्यकाणि परं त्रिदशालयसुखं तु निश्चप्रचं आप्नुवन्त्यस्य पाठकाः।

तस्योपरि श्लोकद्वयं रचयित्वा स्वानन्दं प्रकटीकृतम् मया लेखकेन ।

अहो भाग्यमहॊ भाग्यमहॊ भाग्यं ममैव यत् ।
महाकृतिरियं नित्यं काव्यास्वादाय कल्पते ।।

सुभाषितसुधाभाण्ड! काविवाग्रत्नमण्डित !
गृहमेतत्त्वयास्माकं सुधर्माम्बुधिसन्निभम् ॥

तेन युग्मेन एतत् लेखनं समाप्यते ।

॥ सर्वेभ्यः शुभं भूयात् ॥

संस्कृते आधुनिक-संवहनम् ।

संस्कृतं देवभाषा गीर्वाणभाषा चेति सुविख्याता । संस्कृतवाङ्मयं अनुपमं श्रॆष्ठं च इति तु सर्वविदितम् । तस्यां प्रहेलिका-सुभाषित-काव्येतिहास-वैद्यक-खगोल-रसायन-शास्त्रादयः सुष्ठु निबद्धाः । संस्कृतं तथा अनिर्दिष्टापि भारतदेशस्य राष्ट्रभाषा इव इति सर्वैः अङ्गीक्रियते स्म । संस्कृतविद्वांसः भूरि-गौरव-राजाश्रय-सम्पन्नाः तस्याः सॆवायै कटिबद्दाः आसन् । मृच्छकटिकादिषु नाटकॆषु दृष्टॆन सम्भाषणेन ज्ञायते यत् संस्क्रुतं न केवलं विद्वद्भाषासीत् परं लोकभाषाप्यासीदिति । एतस्मात् संस्कृतं जनादरप्राप्ता भाषा इति तु सुस्पष्टम् ।

तथापि गतद्विशतसंवत्सरॆषु कदापि संस्कृतस्य लोकभाषासु गणनं स्थगितम् । तस्य कारणनानि बहूनि स्युः । संस्कृतम् अस्य देशस्य संस्कृतिस्रॊतः, तस्मात् ताम् अभिभवभाजां(?) कुर्म इति मत्वा सर्वकारेण मतीययप्रज्ञया वा व्यवस्थापितरीत्या अस्यां आदरः न्यूनीकृतः स्यात् । प्राथमिक-संस्कृत-ज्ञान-विहीनाः संस्कृति-नद्याः संस्कृतात् दूरॆ स्थापिताः संस्कृतविमलजलम् अप्राप्य संस्कृतिहीनाः भवन्तः सन्ति । भारतीयसंस्कृतॆः औन्नत्यं वैशाल्यं च अदृष्ट्वा तां संस्कृतिमेव दूषयन्तः स्वदेशप्रतिकूलकारकविषयान् भूषयन्तः "बुद्दिजीवाः" सर्वत्र दृश्यन्ते।

तदस्तु इदानीम् । संस्कृतेन किम् आधुनिकसंवहनं शक्यते कर्तुमित्येव मम जिज्ञासा। प्रथमतः कथमेष प्रश्नः समुत्पन्नः? अहं तु आधुनिक-शिक्षण-पद्धतॆः छात्रः। तस्मात् न संस्कृतं मया प्रौढशालायाः पूर्वस्मिन् काले कदापि अभ्यस्तम् । अपि च संस्कृतं नाम कापि भाषास्ति यस्यां "रामः रामौ रामाः" इति रटनतत्पराः एव परिणतिमाप्नुवन्ति इति तु भावना उत्पादिता सार्वाकारीय-शिक्षण-पद्धत्या। तस्मात् संस्कृतकक्ष्यायाः बहिरागत्य कथम् इदानीमपि संस्कृते आसक्तोऽस्मि इति तु चित्रमेव! अन्येषां गतिस्तु शक्यते ऊहितुम् ।

सौभाग्यवशात् संस्कृतभारती तथा न चिन्तयति । तस्याः कार्यकर्तारः श्रवण-वदन-लेखन-द्वारा एव भाषायाः अध्ययनं कारयन्ति । तस्मात् मादृशा अपि संस्कृतेन विना कष्टं व्यवहर्तुं समर्था भवामः ।

एवं कृताध्ययनाभ्यासाः संस्कृतेन आधुनिकमपि संवहनं कर्तुमर्हन्ति । तत्र तत्र व्याकरणदॊषाः भवेयुः। परं लॊकभाषायाम् एवमेव भवति, भवितव्यमेव। सम्भाषणं विना किं कापि भाषा भाषायते? संस्कृतेन एव किमर्थमाधुनिकं संवहनं करणीयमिति केचन पृच्छॆयुः । उत्तरं मम एवमस्ति - "संस्कृतेन ये व्यवहरन्ति तेषां तु संस्कृतवाङ्मये प्रवेशः भवेत्। अनॆन काव्यकलातत्त्वशास्त्रादीनि तॆषां मनःपटलेषु स्थापितानि भवितुमर्हन्ति" इति । पुनः काव्यादीनां व्यासङ्गेन किं भविष्यति इति पृच्छतः प्रश्नस्य उत्तरं केन वा दातुं शक्यते ?

अतः मम विचारः एवमस्ति । आम् । संस्कृतेन आधुनिक-संवहनम् अवश्यं शक्यते कर्तुम् । मम गृहे मम पत्न्या सह संस्कृतेन एव व्यवहारः क्रियते, कोलाहलोऽपि !! ब्लाग् अपि लिख्यते ! मम सौभाग्यं यत् व्यास-वाल्मीकि-कविकुलगुर्वादीनां ग्रन्थान् विनानुवादं अवगमने यत्नं कर्तुं समर्थॊऽस्मीति ।

॥ जीयात् गीर्वाणभारती॥

Panini the grammarian par excellence

yenAkSharasamAmnAyam adhigamya maheshvarAt |
kRutsnaM vyAkaraNaM proktaM tasmai pANinaye namaH ||

I recently have been having the fortune of attending classes on the laghu-siddhAnta-kaumudI, a Samskrit grammar text for beginners taught by a very well known and respected grammarian. Even in the first couple of prakaraNas (chapters), I have found myself in awe of the genius of pANini, the great grammarian who put the vyAkaraNa sUtras together in eight chapters. The collective work is known as the aShTAdhyAyii.

The shloka at the beginning of this post salutes pANini by whom Samskrit grammar in its entirety has been described after having obtained the requisite knowledge by the grace of Lord Maheshvara. The legend behind pANini's composition of the aShTAdhyAyI itself is quite interesting.

Legend has it that pANini was born a dull child, but as one whose interest in learning knew no bounds. An astrologer who happened to pass through his school read pANini's palm and broke to him the news that the child's palm had no line for learning. The heartbroken but not completely dissuaded boy wanted no impediments to his learning. Soon after, pANini's Guru saw a happy boy whose palm was bleeding. Upon asking, pANini answered that he had drawn the "line of learning" on his palm with a knife. The guru was overjoyed on seeing the interest in learning that pANini had and vowed to make him a scholar.

As time passed, pANini prayed to Lord Shiva to bless him with a grammar for Samskrit. Pleased by his penance, Lord Shiva appeared in front of pANini and danced while beating his Damaru (Drum). Fourteen sounds issued forth from the Damaru and they provided the much needed insight for pANini to compose a grammar of Samskrit.

Before the remaining part of this post, I would like to make a disclaimer. I am no expert in Samskrit (and especially in vyAkaraNa) and mistakes in this post, if any (I am sure there will be quite a few), are mine only. My intention here is just to share the enthusiasm I have about the subject.

In the remaining part of this post, letters in italics (in ITRANS) are supposed to denote the letters of the sUtras of pANini (as much as possible). The fourteen sounds, known as the mAhesvara-sUtrANi are as follows -
| a i uN | R^i lR^i k | e o ~G | ai au ch | ha ya va ra T | la N | ~Ja ma ~Ga Na na M | Jha bha ~J | gha Dha dha Sh | ja ba ga da sh | kha pha Cha Tha tha cha Ta tav | ka pa y | sha Sha sa r | ha l ||

Hearing them again and again, it really feels as if they came out of a drum. But these sUtras form the bedrock of Samskrit grammar. Even though there were several grammars for Samskrit in existence before that of pANini, pANini's grammar outshone all the others in such a fashion that the other older grammars are but known just by name. pANini's grammar has apparently been so effective that there have been no significant attempts to compose any grammar after that.

Historically, pANini was born in Attock in today's Pakistan in the 6th century BCE. Just a brief digression about his birth and its place. Attock is a place close to Peshawar, which is the capital of the now lawless North Western Frontier Province, where Osama bin Laden is supposed to be hiding now. Recently there was an interesting program on television which showed the lawless trigger happy folk of the NWFP. I could not help but think that around a couple of thousand years ago, even these people would have been cultural sanAtana dharmIyas. Looking at how notorious this place has become on the world map, it made me cringe when I realized that pANini was also born around the same place. Does the Pakistan government even realize that such great people walked its soil before the RoP (I am sorry that I have to give such a link) wrought havoc in the area? Do the people in that area even realize that their ancestors were the likes of pANini? Or is the official position that they were all supposed to be in jahiliyya? Anyway, let me get back to pANini's wonderful grammar.

The aforementioned fourteen sutras, if we observe carefully, contain all the letters of the Samskrit varNamAla - the svaras (vowels) a, i, u, R^i, lR^i, e, ai, o, au and all the vyanjanas (consonants). Using these, pANini makes more formulae known as pratyAhAras. For example, aN - would mean a i u N (if you looked at the above 14 sUtras, a i u N is the first sUtra). Similarly ak would mean a i u N R lR k i.e it would include all the varNas (letters) between a and k. You could make up other pratyAhAras such as ha T (which would denote ha ya va ra ) and ech (e O ~G ai au ch). Of course, the underlined letters in the above just serve as silent separators (known as it). This is just a minor part of vyAkaraNa which has a whole lot more than just pratyAhAras.

Let us take the first sUtra of the aShTAdhyAyI to just see how pANini has used these. The first one is || vR^iddhirAdaich ||. This is a two worded sUtra which can be split as vRuddhiH Adaich. It just means that "whenever in the following sUtras the word vRuddhi is encountered, it means Adaich". Now the question is - what is Adaich ? It can be split as At aich. "At" denotes the letter "aa" and aich from the preceding paragraphs and the mAheshvara-sUtrANi becomes "ai au ch". Hence the complete meaning of the sUtra is that the term vRuddhi is used to denote the vowels aa, ai and au. This terminology is then used in subsequent chapters. This was just to get a flavor for how pANini's sUtras are.

Sutras themselves mean terse axioms explaining a specific topic. pANini's aShTAdhyAyI has almost four thousand sUtras divided into eight adhyAyAs or chapters. Each adhyAya has pAdas and each pAda has the individual sUtras. In nearly four thousand sUtras, pANini has managed to capture both versions of Samskrit - worldly and vedic.

Just to clarify, pANini did not invent the Samskrit language. Samskrit had been spoken for a long time before pANini. pANini "merely" (if you can call it that) codified rules to describe correct Samskrit. pANini's effort is probably one of its kind as it uses a synthetic method to completely capture a natural language. As a result, it becomes possible for somebody born ten years ago to speak and understand the same language as somebody else who was born a couple of thousands of years ago. pANini's monumental effort has not strait-jacketed Samskrit - but has defined its boundaries and correct forms very well.

The methodology used by pANini apparently has the same expressive power as the Backus Naur Form (also known now as the pANini-Backus form in deference to pANini who had discovered it first), a method used to express formal languages. But pANini was the first one to use it for a natural language and that too for a language as great and vast as Samskritam. The intricacies in the sUtras (even recursion is used wonderfully) are too much for a human mind to comprehend and constantly remind us of a programming language. Of course, Samskrit itself is not a language suitable for computer programming as many Hindu enthusiasts have been led to believe. pANini's method is what is close to computing. But pANini's effort is definitely the first of its kind in the history of linguistics and so has been acknowledged by several modern linguists such as Noam Chomsky. Of course, pANini-maharShi has been praised to no end by the great bhAShyakAra patanjali himself (author of the mahAbhAShya) and does not need Chomsky's as well as our endorsements of his work.

I just had a final comment in this post on how important true recognition of our heritage is. While we have people like the Communists on the left end of the spectrum, who think that ancient India offered nothing lasting to the world and was forever mired in evils like caste and sati, we also have simple minded people in the likes of the VHP for whom anything good has to be Indian and Hindu in origin; conveniently forgetting the fact that Ravana and Duryodhana were also "Hindus". The truth is probably somewhere in the middle and in my opinion, closer to the right than to the left. It is for us to see what the truth is.

pANini's work is a monument to Human Genius. We can just humbly echo Saint tyAgarAja's wonderful words - "endaro mahAnubhAvulu; andariki vandamulu"

|| bhagavate pANinaye namaH ||
|| jIyAt gIrvANabhAratI ||

Sudharma - the only Samskrit daily publication

Though this is a topic that has been written about in this blog, it had been in Samskrit. And after having realized that not many people read his Samskrit jottings, this blogger is compelled to write about this Samskrit publication in English.

As we well know, Samskrit is one of the oldest surviving languages in this world. The Samskrit words used today have been in use for thousands of years now. This is the language that Rama and Krishna spoke in. This is the language of the veda and the purANas. Kalidasa's classics are written in this Divine Language. This blogger has the tendency to go all hyperbolic when it comes to Samskrit and Her glory - but Samskrit deserves all praise and more, especially in this age and time when anything Indian is looked at with scorn or worse - indifference. Suffice it to say that Samskrit epitomizes Indian culture. Indian Culture and Samskrit are inseparable - just as kAlidAsa wrote in his immortal Raghuvamsha - vAk arthau iva, we could easily say samskriti-samskRte cha.

Samskrit learning had always been considered as the sign of a refined mind, and it is correct to recall now that Samskritam itself means refined. This consideration, however, began to go out of vogue once the British began to rule over India. While the western mode of thinking was not exactly a bane, it caused several educated and otherwise intelligent Indians to neglect their culture and ape an alien one. This resulted in a decline in the position of Samskrit. She suffered the humiliation of dethronement by her own children.

Even as India became independent, Samskrit's fortunes did not experience an upswing. She was not made the national language of India owing to petty caste feuds. The socialist mindset continued to keep Samskrit in dusty old museums and manuscripts. Lip service, of course, was paid and we could see several schools, nay Universities come up that were dedicated to Samskrit. But ask a common man on the street about Samskritam and you will see him blinking blankly. Publications in Samskrit continued to exist - but one could never see a kAlidAsa or a bANa. Why? Because Samskrit continued to be thrust away from the mainstream of national life. If one asks why it should be Samskrit that needs to be brought back into the mainstream, this blogger would just ask that person to study some literature in Samskrit. BhartRhari's shatakas should be a good introduction.

This blogger has digressed enough from the main point that he wants to make - but he considers it a necessary digression to give a context to the following matter.

To bring a language back to the mainstream, (this blogger has never used the word revive or the phrase "bring back to life" just because Samskrit has always been alive - alive in the countless temples and in the daily devotions of millions of Hindus - but only as a weak stream and not like a roaring river that Samskrit was and deserves to be) there need to be publications in that language - publications catering to different sections and strata of society and to society's different needs.

Ever since a newspaper has been published, we have seen its power - not only over the minds of its readers but also the way in which it influences a language. Sudharma is the example in this case. Founded in 1970 by a Samskrit scholar Vidyanidhi Sri KN Varadaraja Iyengar, this publication fortunately and unfortunately continues to be the only Samskrit daily published. Several spiritual and political leaders and statesmen have acknowledged Sudharma's contribution to culture and language. Sudharma, published from the city of tradition, Mysore, is now edited by Sri KV Sampath Kumar, son of the founder.

Running a newspaper is no joke and especially if there is a dearth of advertisers and readers, and more so if it is in a language that is misguidedly considered anachronistic. The language issue assumes importance in another angle, as there are few people who can write for the newspaper in Samskrit. This job of running the newspaper looks more and more onerous as one considers the various obstacles it has had to face. But Sri Sampath kumar is a brave soul. He soldiers on for the cause of Samskritam and sudharmA has entered her thirty sixth year.

This blogger wishes to draw the kind attention of all those who claim to love Indian culture and sanAtana dharma to this publication. To commemmorate the thirty sixth year, there is a special edition being brought out. In a Kannada note that this blogger received, the issue is supposed to contain short and long stories, poems, news, humor, children's stories, articles on science and pretty much everything else that one would expect to find in a mainstream publication. To continue running it, the publisher requests your financial and cultural attention. sudharmA is offering advertisements from Rs 750 (quarter page) to Rs 2500 (full page) (15 USD to around 50 USD). This is close to nothing for people earning dollars in the US.

If you are a lover of Samskritam, this blogger requests you to put your money where your heart is and help out sudharmA. The contact details are as follows:

Sudharma
Editor: Sri KV Sampath Kumar
No. 561, 2nd cross,
Ramachandra Agrahara,
Mysore - 570 004
Karnataka
INDIA
0821-244-2835

One could also subscribe to this publication. This blogger is willing to provide details about overseas subscriptions if somebody is interested as he has heard that a few copies go abroad.

This is the first time that this blogger has put in a pitch for financial help - but it is for a worthy cause. If you share this concern, please do what is necessary.

|| jiyAt gIrvANabhAratI ||

Update: I just enquired with the publisher and he is still checking with the postal department as to what the exact postage is. His email-id (was not working till a little while ago) is sudharmasktdly@sancharnet.in. sudharma.sanskritdaily@gmail.com

पुनः स एव विचारः

भाषाया यस्या अपि उपयोगः अधिकं न क्रियतॆ तस्यां तु अभ्यासः न्यूनीभूत्वा तया भाषया संवहनमेव दुस्तरं भवति । तन्मास्त्वित्येवेदं लेखनं लिख्यतॆ मया । मम संस्कृतेन लिखितॆ पूर्वस्मिन् "ब्लाग्"-मध्येऽपि एष एव विचार आसीत् । तस्मादेव अस्य लेखनस्य शीर्षिका "पुनः स एव विचार" इत्यस्ति ।

तद्भवतु । इदानींतनदिवसेषु मया पठ्यमानो ग्रन्थः कविकुलगुरोः श्रीकालिदासस्य रघुवंशमहाकाव्यम् । ग्रन्थानम् उपोद्घातानि यदा दृष्टानि तत्र सर्वत्र कालिदासस्य नाम "श्री" इत्यभिदानशीर्षिकया विनाऽसीत् । तत् किमर्थम् इति न जानामि । माघस्य विचारे तु श्रीमाघः इत्यागच्छति । परन्तु न तथा कालिदासस्य विषये । मम विचारः एवमस्ति यत् कालिदासः कविकुलस्य गुरुरित्यस्मात् स सर्वॆभ्यः काव्यव्यासङ्गमग्नॆभ्योऽपि आत्मीयोऽस्ति । किं च यत आत्मीयेषु औपचारिकता न भवति कालिदासः अनल्पकाव्यश्रीयुक्तोऽपि श्रीनामशीर्षिकया विमुक्तोऽस्ति ।

अन्यत् कार्यमपि कुर्वन्नस्मि । तदस्ति विसर्गसन्धीनामभ्यासः। गते संवत्सरॆ एका चर्चा प्रवृत्ता मम चान्यसय मध्ये । तस्य संस्कृतपद्यरचनायां कृतश्रमस्य प्रश्न एवमासीत् । भगवद्गीतासु सर्वत्र "अर्जुन उवाच" इत्यागच्छति । परन्तु न "अर्जुनः उवाचे"-ति । तत् किमर्थमिति । तदा तु ऋजूत्तरं आवाभ्यां न ज्ञात्वैव चर्चा समाप्ता । तदनन्तरं किञ्चिद्व्याकरणाध्ययनसमयॆ ज्ञातं यत् "अर्जुन उवाच" इत्यत्र विसर्गसन्धिर्भवतीति । "अर्जुनः उवाच" इत्यस्मिन् पदसमूहॆ पूर्वपदः विसर्गसन्धिप्रक्रिययां स्वविसर्गं विहाय प्रक्रियासमाप्तिर्भवति । न जानामीदानीं यत् सा चर्चा मम परीक्षार्थमासीद्वेति ।

अन्यदप्यस्ति । संस्कृतभारत्याः यस्याः कायकर्तृष्वेकोऽस्मि पत्रिका सम्भाषण-सन्देश इति मासिका बेङ्गलूरुतः प्रकटिता वर्ततॆ । तत्र सुलभेन संस्कृतेन परं व्याकरणशुद्धेन सर्वाणि लेखनानि लिखितानि । परं सन्धयः पठनासौलभ्यकारणात् सर्वत्र पत्रिकयां न दृश्यन्तॆ । विशेषेण विसर्गसन्धीनां तु दर्शनमेव तत्र दुर्लभम् । तस्याः पाठकेषु एतस्य लेखनस्य (अत्रापि पश्यन्तु । तत्र तत्र सन्धयः न कृताः ) लेखकोऽप्यॆकः । स्वं सन्धिनिर्माणाभ्यासॆ नियुक्तं करवाणीत्येव लेखनमिदं लिखितम् ।

संस्कृत-ब्लाग्-लेखकाः जालविश्वे न दृश्यन्तॆ । पाठका अपि विरला इति भासतॆ । यदि केऽपि पठन्ति ममैतदरण्यरोदनं तर्हि ते कृपया प्रतिक्रियासुवाक्यैरेतं लेखकमनुगृह्णन्त्वित्याशे ।

अलं लेखनकार्येण । पुनर्मिलामः । सर्वे जनाः सुखिनो भवन्तु ।

सुधर्मा

संस्कृतॆन ब्लाग् कृत्वा बहूनि दिनानि गतानि । गतसप्ताहॆ वा तत्पूर्वं मद्गृहसमीपस्थितमहॊदयॆन गृहं प्रति आगतम् । स तु राष्ट्रिय-स्वयंसेवकसङ्घस्य सदस्येष्वॆकः । संस्कृतमजानन्नपि तस्य संस्कृतविषयॆ महती भक्तिः वर्ततॆ । महाभागॆनैव सुधर्मापत्रिकायाः विचारः उक्तः ।

न जानामि कियन्तः जनाः ऎतत् पठन्तीति । तथापि लिखामि यतः आगामिषु दिवसॆषु कॆनापि ऎतत् पठ्यतॆ इति विश्वासमिदानीमपि करॊमि । तदस्तु ।

सुधर्मॆति संस्कृतदिनपत्रिका मैसूरुनगरतः गतॆषु उपचत्वारिंशद्वर्षेषु प्रकटिता वर्ततॆ । आम् । दिनपत्रिका । न मासपत्रिका । नापि संवत्सरपत्रिका । सम्पादक-महाभागॆन संस्कृतगङ्गावतक-भगीरथसदृशॆनॊत्तमं कार्यमिदं क्रियत अद्यापि । मया विशेषसञ्चिकायां प्राप्तायां सम्पादकः विलपति "न कॆनापि लॆखनानि लिख्यन्तॆ । सर्वकारॊऽपि साहाय्यं न यच्छति । कदापि धनिकॆन संस्कृत-प्रॆम्णा धनसाहाय्यं प्राप्यतॆ । ग्राहक-पाठकानां सङ्ख्या न्यूनास्ति । तथापि गीर्वाणभारत्याः सेवायां रतः पितृवाक्यं परिपालयन् कर्यॆऽस्मिन् मग्नोऽस्मी"ति ।

सुधर्मायाः नाम मय श्रुतपूर्वमेव । परमजानन् यतः ग्राहकत्वं स्वीकुर्यामिति ऎतावत्कालपर्यंतं तूष्णीमासन् । महाभागॆन यॆन पत्रिकाविचार उक्तः स एव विशेषाङ्कस्य मुद्रणानि मह्यं दत्तवान् । अमेरिकॆ मम मित्राणि संस्कृतासक्तानि सन्तीति मत्वा तॆभ्यः पञ्चावृत्तयः मह्यमददत् । प्रेषणीयानि मया ।

संस्कृतपत्रिकास्तीति विषयः नितरां प्रमॊददायकः । परं मुद्रादोषाः आसन्नेव । सम्पादकॆन श्रमः कृतः । तथापि ऎतदभवत् । कथं न भवॆत् ? असहायॆन एकाकिना सर्वं कर्तुं कथं शक्यतॆ ? एतच्चिन्तयित्वैव धनसाहाय्यं लेखनसाहाय्यं च करोमीति कृतविचारोऽस्मि ।

संस्कृतबन्धी ! कृपया सुधर्मायाः ग्राहकत्वं स्वीकुरु ! दॆवभाषा पुनः लॊकभाषा भवतु । संस्कृतस्य मौनपूजनेनालम् ! सम्भाषण-लेखनाद्युपचारैरर्चयामः ! अस्मदुत्तमविचारस्य निवेदनं कुर्मः ।

जीयात् गीर्वाणभारती । जयतु संस्कृतम् । जयतु मनुकुलम् ।

Geopolitics and Sanskrit Phobia by Rajiv Malhotra on Sulekha

Geopolitics and Sanskrit Phobia by Rajiv Malhotra on Sulekha

A very interesting read (a trifle long). One part I would like to quote is this -

There are pragmatic reasons behind the intensifying clash of civilizations, and ideology may often be a weapon rather than the underlying cause: Only one billion out of the six billion people in the world today live at Western levels of consumption, but by mid century most of the ten billion people (projected population level by mid century) will mimic Western consumerist lifestyles, and this will further pressure the environment, resources, capital and labor markets.

Looking at this piece, I thought for a moment that Malhotra was exhorting the world to cast away Western consumerist lifestyles. IMO, western consumerist lifestyles have proved to be very harmful to the environment. Untrammeled greed and the desire to make oneself more and more comfortable regardless of what it may cost the world are characteristics of this malady. This leads to trends such as the protracted use of fossil fuels that harm the atmosphere, uncontrolled mining, denuding tropical forests (especially in the Third world), and other such acts. Even if environmental concern is reflected, it is limited more often than not to their own homelands without even considering that their lifestyle is causing a strain on natural resources elsewhere in the world.

The end consumer may not even be educated enough to recognize that he/she is in fact the perpetrator of such an environmental tragedy.

But in the next paragraph itself - Malhotra enters geopolitics again. But of course - this article speaks of Geopolitics even before Samskrit.

BTW, the Adi Hastings that this article mentions had visited Samskrita Bharati, an organization solely dedicated to the spread of spoken Samskrit. He was treated so well by the people there, I heard and yet, he chose to continue to see the activities of Samskrita Bharati via a communalistic lens. People in Samskrita Bharati felt very bad when their hospitality was repaid with a hostile (and incorrect, I may add) thesis.

I've been thinking on similar lines on how much a language influences our thinking. Samskrit and Samskriti are indeed inseparable.

On an entirely different note (slightly related to language and the culture it reflects), I see people in India ending their emails with "Warm regards". In India, especially in South India, it is warm throughout the year. It is considered hospitality when people are served cool (even cold) beverages on hot days. How would "warm regards" work on a very hot day?

In Indian literature, shItala or coolness is what is much desired because of the prevalent climatic conditions. Likewise, in the West, warm feelings are the norm. The "warm regards" phenomenon is what happens when a language such as English gains international currency. It probably sounds OK to most people but just think of it -- don't warm regards on a hot day make the situation more uncomfortable? Yes, yes, I realize that "warm" is about the feelings and all that ... but that's what I am saying. Because of the English language, "warm" has changed its meaning to "cordial" .

To be sure, I use "best" regards whenever I can - but I may have slipped on an occasion or two. But is that really a slip or am I using the language like it should be?