Having read the Article How to teach Sanskrit by Nikhil Govind in the Education column of todays

Hindu i.e of April 29, 2016 I make this attempt to draft these few lines. From the information given at
the bottom of the article it is known that the author is the Head of the Manipal Centre for Philosophy
and Humanities. From the references given in the article it can be inferred that the author is well
acquainted with the similes and metaphors of Bhavabhuti and few other classical writers of middle ages.
But the conclusions drawn in this article are to disprove the horizons of ancient Indian knowledge
delimiting to the range of the said writers of Bhavabhutis rank.

If one wants to say that similes and metaphors are the only ultimate things to be learnt from Sanskrit
language, if he further wants to say that Sanskrit is difficult language for the most to learn, with its
endless tables, these will surely be thoughts to be revised. As mathematics has certain basic formulae by
learning which it enables one to understand and appreciate that subject, as philosophy has certain basic
doctrines by learning which one can have an easy access to relish the higher philosophical texts, so also
learning Sanskrit is. How can a person, who runs away from learning Sanskrit on seeing its endless
number of tables, without understanding the underlying principles in preparing those tables, be entitled
to draw conclusions that Sanskrit is a difficult language. For learning any subject enough patience is
required in the initial years.

Even before the scientific development in west, India had a good historic record of wonderful scientific
achievements. Ancient Indian texts on architecture like Manasara and Samarangana Sutradhara deal
with subjects like building not only individual houses but also villages, townships and cities. There are
volumes of information about the conservation of forests and purification of rivers. These are a few to
quote. Even today a plethora of independent treatises of ancient India are available pertaining to
Mathematics, Astronomy, Atmospheric Science, Environmental Science, Zoology, Animal husbandry,
Health science, Metallurgy, Hydrology, Architecture, Management studies etc. Under these
circumstances is it acceptable to say that science in India, like anywhere in the world till the rise of the
modern West was never the centre of research or scholarly endeavor.

Here is another statement of the author of the above article: The state of Sanskrit scholarship in the
country in proportion to how important Sanskrit is to our intellectual heritage is truly abysmal. I
restructure this : The state of interest in learning the ancient Indian knowledge systems in the
contemporary Indian academic circles in proportion to how important Sanskrit is to our intellectual
heritage is truly abysmal. But there is a baffling criticism from those whose subject is not Sanskrit at
any considerable level.

As this is a letter to the editor in format I force myself to confine to the following conclusion: Please
approach the very few Sanskrit scholars who are at least available now to pass on the treasures of
knowledge we possess with us to the future generations and to contemporarize the scientific knowledge
existing in Sanskrit. We are here to join our hands to contribute a lot.

From Prof. Rani Sadasiva Murty, Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha, Tirupati 517507 Mob: +919440246354