What is language? What is its purpose? How does it communicate? What are the challenges and difficulties it faces? What is the role of grammar and phonetics? How do they originate? What are the basic fundamental sounds? How do the vocal chords produce them and how does one organize and arrange these sounds in a systematic manner?
Language is not something we normally think about. It is an extension of our cultural environment where we learn to voice our opinions, thoughts and emotions in a common medium of expressions. Normally we learn our alphabets, our grammars and native languages from early childhood. So rarely do we investigate into the questions mentioned above. Language is an expression of who we are, but the science of language itself is rarely investigated into, it is rather a denomination we learn to accept in order to better communicate with others. However the questions referred to above were analyzed in great details by the codifiers of the Sanskrit language and those who have the patience to study it a little will soon come to realize the profundity of this language.
In the early 19th Century there was a great fascination with the Orient, its culture, ritual and languages. Early travelers returned to Europe and spoke about an enchanted language uttered by priest in their rituals and spoken by the educated elite. Soon Modern Scholarship with their best linguist tried to understand and analyzes this language and was baffled with the complexity, order and the sense of refinement they came across. Professor Friedrich Schlegel, writer and critic, whose brother held the first chair of Indology in Bonn, Germany, said:
Justly it is called Sanskrit, that is 'perfect, finished'. Sanskrit combines these various qualities possessed separately by other tongues: Grecian copiousness, deep-tone Roman force, the divine afflatus characterizing the Hebrew tongues. Judged by an organic standard of the principals of language, Sanskrit excels in grammatical structure and is indeed the most perfectly developed of all idioms, not excepting Greek and Latin.
But this is only one aspect of the discovery. A language derives its value not merely from its logical and grammatical structure, but from the manner in which it has been used and the richness of its literature. Whether we look at the simple, unsophisticated folk style found in fable books like Panchatantra and Hitopadesha, or the short aphorisms, sutras found in the Shastras (authorities on philosophies) and expanded upon in their commentaries (bhasyas), it may be poetry of sophisticated thought for a trained audience well versed in the various sciences or the thousands of proverbs existing, we may study the great epics like the Mahabarata and the Ramayana that is a world in themselves, or the crest jewel of all philosophies found in the Upanishads - whatever study you take up you can be certain that the Sanskrit language is a treasure house full of great gems and jewels.
W.C. Taylor and early American Indologist expressed his fondness of the language and its literature when he pointed out it was not just the question of phenomenal quantity and variety, but also of the highest quality:
It was an astounding discovery that Hindustan possessed, in spite of changes of realms and changes of time, a language of unrivalled richness and variety….a philosophy compared with which, in point of the age, the lessons of Phytagoras are but of yesterday, and in point of daring speculation, Plato's boldest efforts were tame and commonplace. This literature, with all its colossal proportions - which can scarcely be described without the semblance of bombast exaggeration - claimed, of course, a place for itself. It stood alone and it was able to stand alone.
It was therefore not without reason the well-known historian Will Durant, while writing about India and Sanskrit affirms:
India was the Motherland of our race and Sanskrit the mother of Europe's languages; she was the mother of our philosophy, mother through the Arabs, of much of our mathematics; mother through the Buddha, of the ideals embodies in Christianity; mother through the village community of self government and democracy. Mother India is in many ways the mother of us all.
In a certain sense all language is an attempt to find the perfect unity of the word, the sound and all meaning. And perhaps this has never been achieved as perfectly and harmoniously as in the Sanskrit language. Sanskrit is rich in every way - rich in vocabulary, rich in literature, rich in thoughts and ideas, rich in meaning and values. The greatness, magnificence and beauty of Sanskrit has perhaps not been described better than by Sri Aurobindo, the great Rishi and Yogi of modern India:
The ancient and the classical creation of the Sanskrit tongue, both in quality and in body and abundance of excellence, in their potent originality and force and beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in grandeur and justice and charm of speech, and in the height and width of their spirit stand very evidently in the front rank among the world's great literatures. The language itself as has been universally recognized by those competent to form a judgment, it is one of the most magnificent, the most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary instruments developed by the human mind; at once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and clearly formed and full and vibrant and subtle….
The study of any of the Sanskrit sciences or philosophies can be a lifetime study in itself. Those who know a little of Sanskrit are well aware of how time consuming it may be to come to know a little bit, but those who have studied it for a lifetime are fully aware of how little they actually know. The Sanskrit language with all its diversity of beliefs, expression, culture, history, religion, philosophy and refined level of thought is like an ocean - deep, all-encompassing and with a new horizon always to be explored. So the great pundits of this language did not try to cover everything, they knew that was impossible, so the tradition supported specialization of one subject rather than an overview of all. Perhaps this is why the language has refused to die out over the millenniums. The very thesis of the language is to refine, Samskrta means that which is made perfect; the particular subject of interest you give your full attention to and of course, the mind that engages with it. As they were refined, the Sanskrit language became refined and of course, those that had the patience to receive it.
Unfortunately many people are of the opinion that Sanskrit is a dead language. This is far from the case. Today here in India there are books, magazines, journals and newspapers all written in Sanskrit and published on a daily and weekly basis. Some people are of the opinion that Sanskrit is only the archaic language of the Vedas and soul property of the priests and spiritual aspirants of this country. It is indeed through that it is the most ancient language of the world and was previously called Devavaani or Devabhaasa, the language of the gods. However the very foundation of the language seeks to give justice to eternal relation between speech/sound and meaning. This can often be conventional, but the Sanskrit language tries to understand the universality of sound/ vibration. It may manifest from within, from without or all around, but when there is a correspondence between the two, a harmony of expression will issue forth.
Dr. Sampadanna Mishra and Vijay have dedicated much research to this particular subject. For further interest I would suggest their book 'The wonder that is Sanskrit' In conclusion I would therefore like to refer to how they define language and the greatness of Sanskrit:
The greatness of any language depends on how perfectly it can communicate and arouse in the listener the exact experience of the speaker. It has to encompass the infinite variety of richness of life, its moods its depths and its heights and reflect them like a perfect mirror, without any distortion. This is indeed a difficult and challenging task. It demands the capacity to harmonize contradictory qualities. The language must be subtle and flexible, capable of subtle shades and nuances, and yet efficacious, clear, precise and unambiguous. It must be compact and succinct, as well as rich and opulent; concise yet suggestive, strong and powerful yet sweet and charming, capable of growth and expansion to meet new challenges of the future, and at the same time an inspiring repository of all the great achievements of the past. An impossible demand, one would say. But Sanskrit has met this challenge so beautifully that it is even known as 'Sanskrit' - that which have been well structured and refined to the utmost.
For anybody who desires to take up the study of this language may find it incredibly tedious, but then again a refinement of ones mind, intellect and all the sense organs was never meant to be easy. But for those that do, they are given an opportunity to find greater clarity and expression of ones being through the knowledge of sound.
(來源http://www.pure-yoga.com/en/taipei/articles/index.php?article_id=126&folder_id=9)
沒有留言:
張貼留言