SANSKRIT - CONVERSATION

Mother: Good morning, mam, can you clarify some of my doubts.
Teacher: good morning, mam. Please go on with your questions.

Mother:  My child finds it difficult to learn the letters in Sanskrit?

Sanskrit comprises of fifty one letters or aksharas. In other languages, we refer to the alphabet  which denote the set of letters in the language.

 In contrast, the word "akshara" denotes the set of letters of Sanskrit from the first to the last.

To give an example, the word "guru" consisting of the aksharas "gu" and "ru" stands for a teacher- one who dispels darkness (ignorance) of the mind (person). "gu" means darkness and "ru" means the act of removal.

Mother: ‘Fine, but so why should my son have to learn another subject in his busy school-day?’

Teacher:  your child is indeed fortunate that this extraordinary subject is part of his curriculum.

Sanskrit is the oldest language of the world.  The oldest literature of the world, the Vedas, the Puranas and the Ithihasas are still available in the same form.

The grammar of Sanskrit has attracted scholars world over. From the very beginning, scientific principles have been hidden in the verses found in the Vedas, Upanishads and the great epics of India. Concepts and principles seen in present day mathematics and astronomy, are all hidden in the compositions and treatises of many early scholars of the country.

Even now, as we enter the twenty first century, Sanskrit is spoken by an increasing number of people, thankfully many of them young.

Mother:  In what way will he benefit from the study of Sanskrit in 2014?

The qualities of Sanskrit will become the qualities of your child- that is the mind and heart of your child will become beautiful, precise and reliable. Sanskrit automatically teaches your child to pay FINE attention. By studying Sanskrit, other languages can be learnt more easily. If your son can express themselves well through language he will be the leader of the next generation.

Mother: Thank you very much. You have opened my eye.

Teacher: you are welcome.

Why does my child do Sanskrit?
by Rutger Kortenhorst

Rutger Kortenhorst, a Sanskrit teacher in John Scottus School in Dublin, speaks on the value of teaching Sanskrit to children, based on his own experience with the language.
Good evening Ladies and Gentlemen, we are going to spend an hour together looking at the topic ‘Why does my child do Sanskrit in John Scottus?’ My bet is that at the end of the hour you will all have come to the conclusion that your children are indeed fortunate that this extraordinary subject is part of their curriculum.

Sanskrit is the only exception. It is a never-dying constant. The reason for the constancy in Sanskrit is that it is completely structured and thought out.

There is not a word that has been left out in its grammar. This does not mean there is no room for new words either. Just as in English we use older concepts from Greek and Latin to express modern inventions like a television: ‘tele [far] – vision [seeing]’ or ‘compute –er’.

Sanskrit in fact specializes in making up compound words from smaller words and parts. The word ‘Sams – krita’ itself means ‘completely – made’.

Why does my child study Sanskrit?