Excuse me...Did you say sanskrit? The surprising relevance of sanskrit for today By Sarah Mane
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I WAS RECENTLY on a long-haul flight from Sydney to Vancouver. In the row in front was a young mother with two little boys. The flight attendant announced that no one was to use peanuts as these boys had a severe peanut allergy. All through the flight this mother provided her children with carefully preprepared food. Making sure the boys were occupied, answering their questions, resting when she could. It was very impressive. But what has this got to do with Sanskrit? I’ll get to that. First, what is Sanskrit? It is an ancient language, some would say timeless. It is described as the language of the Universe, and a Mother of Languages. These are grand claims to be sure, so let’s look at Sanskrit on two levels. First, Sanskrit is a spoken language with grammar, vocabulary, sentence structure and so on. As a Mother of Languages, Sanskrit is an etymological matriarch in the vast Indo-European family of languages, which includes Latin and Ancient Greek and the Germanic, Indian and Romance families of languages. English, of course, is an Indo-European language. To get an insight into the care of that young mother taking her boys home to Canada let’s look at the power of ‘mātri,’ the Sanskrit word for ‘mother’. Our
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English ‘mother’ is cognate with matri, so, when we’re speaking English every day, we’re connected with Sanskrit meanings whether we’re aware of it or not. The second, deeper level of Sanskrit is as the language of the Universe. But how is this so? And how did that universal language affect a young family on a transPacific flight? The word ‘Sanskrita’ means ‘purified and perfectly formed’. When we are quiet, open and receptive, without mental distractions, we hear a still small voice within. That voice is always pure and perfectly formed— it is sanskrita. In that quiet state we just ‘know’ the truth of that voice. This communication occurs in our heart. This perfectly formed language then needs to be interpreted into our vernacular language so that our mind and body can take action. This sense of ‘knowing,’ a simple alignment and resonance with this Universal language, shapes itself into a form that our mind and body can use. SANSKRIT CONNECTS TO UNIVERSAL LANGUAGE Sanskrit reflects that universal language. It uses a subtle system of verbal roots to establish a connection to that universal language CONTINUED PAGE 10...
