Miscellaneous - This Day That Age

dated April 9, 1952: Teaching of Sanskrit

Mr. K. M. Munshi who was delivering the convocational address of The Bihar Sanskrit Association in Muzzafurpur said that unless the traditional methods of teaching Sanskrit were reoriented and vitalised "our `patasalas' will disappear and with them will go Sanskrit as living spoken language."

He believed that: "If we, in India, failed to maintain Sanskrit as the living inspiration of our lives we will lose not only the great heritage our ancestors have left behind but also the leadership of the world in thought culture and matters of the spirit."

Turning out of `pundits', `shastris' and `jyotis' could not be the sole aim of Sanskrit education, he said. Its aim should be to maintain Sanskrit as a living language to produce lovers of Sanskrit who would influence the ways of their everyday life, not necessarily through religion and philosophy but through every aspect of it. If, however, this was to be done, Mr. Munshi said, the courses of Sanskrit must be revised both in the `patasalas' and universities. The `patasala' system must be reoriented, enlarged and vitalised by teaching not merely grammar, classics and philosophy but history, ancient and modern physical and social sciences, literature not merely Sanskrit but of other lands as well but through the medium of Sanskrit. That was the only way if our traditional system should serve a useful purpose in the future, he added.

Mr. Munshi said it was unfortunate for well nigh 75 years the study of Sanskrit in the universities had remained unattractive because of emphasis of grammatical Sanskrit and cramming to the neglect of literary studies and the direct method. If the `patasalas' and the universities made a point that the direct method was used in teaching Sanskrit throughout the course, that its beautiful literature was made accessible to the students before grammar and compound rules made their life hideous, the popularity of Sanskrit would grow.

Referring to the belief that the study of Sanskrit hindered progress and induced an other-worldly outlook, the Minister said, that facts, however, were otherwise.

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