Our Mother Tongue: 108 Facts about Sanskrit

It is important to note that the gap between Vedic and Classical Sanskrit is not as great as is made out by the Western authorities. The difference between Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit is not as great as between Old English and Modern English.The key changes from Vedic to Classical are losses rather than additions - the loss of the pitch accent (this is a big loss, as the accent had very significant grammatical and semantic functions); the loss of the subjunctive mood (again a big loss;

The R̥g Veda represents the oldest stage of the language, and the Yajur and the Atharva Vedas represent the next. You can see the language changing a bit as you go from the R̥g Veda through the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas and the Upaniṣads. [The Brāhmaṇas and the Āraṇyakas are a collection of speculations about the meanings of the various parts of the Vedas, and the Upaniṣads are texts that contain the beginnings of the vast philosophical systems of India.] The Vedic Sūtras, which are manuals

This episode discusses the contributions of Yāska, the greatest etymologist of the ancient world. The Nirukta of Yāska is a treatise on etymology and semantics, explaining how words in the Vedas got their meanings. There were many etymologists before him and Yāska built his theories over the vast amount of work that existed before him. Gārgya was one such ancient etymologist Yāska quotes but disagrees with. Yāska claims to be a successor of Śākaṭāyana, an early etymologist, who also he

This episode looks at introducing the great amount of literature that was available in Sanskrit. Sanskrit has a tradition of being the vehicle for reporting on a great many areas of research and literature. Some of the outputs of these researches and literature are: the Vedas, the Brāhmaṇas, the Āraṇyakas, the Upaniṣads, epics like the Rāmāyaṇa and the Mahābhārata, Purāṇas like the Bhāgavata, the Viṣṇu Purāṇa and many others, Buddhist writings and literature, literary outputs like

This episode explores the possibility that the people of the Indus Saraswathi (Indus Valley) civilization spoke a variety of Sanskrit. It talks of a continuity of Sanskrit tradition from 6000 years ago to now. It uses Michel Danino's speculations, internal evidence of the Vedas, archeological evidence and the evidence of the Sutras to do this. Enjoy. Visit my websites oursanskrit.com for Sanskrit lessons and other interesting inputs and my author website paramukurumathur.com for details of my

This episode establishes the fact that the Rig Veda and parts of the Yajur Veda were composed over 6000 years ago. The arguments presented to for this include: Bal Gangadhar Tilak's findings That the Vedas were composed before writing was invented The episode also argues that the findings of western Sanskritists that the Vedas were composed around 3500 years ago are wrong. Enjoy. Enjoy. Visit my websites oursanskrit.com for Sanskrit lessons and other interesting inputs and my author website