Sanskrit

[Meenaradchagan Vishnu]

'S Krishna' wrote:

> Sidestory: In the not-too-distant past, somebody ;-) quoted the Same Dr
> Walker about the deleterious effect that Samskrt had on other languages
> and asked Dr George Hart for his reaction.. Dr Hart's reply was that
> such ideas were decidedly fascist.

Please do not put words into others mouth.  Regarding post-brahmanical
revival period *Sanskrit Literature* (not language!!!), Walker wrote:

--begin quote--
Everything', says Sidhanta, ` is viewed from the angle of the priest,
and instead of a straightforward narrative, we have didactic digression
on the sanctity of the priestly class.' As Pargiter points out, ` The
brahminical versions are a farrago of absurdities and impossibilities,
utterly distorting all the incidents.'
--end quote--


and said:

--begin quote--
The period of Brahminical revival was the age that fixed the criterion
for every subsequent interpretation of Hindu life and culture. It was
the time when the ancient Indian traditions as they existed in the
regional languages were taken over, adapted to the priestly bias and
hammered into the new mould of Sanskrit. Into the sacred tongue the
earlier tomes wer transcribed for the deification of brahmins and the
damnation of sudras. Under heavy pressure of brahmin orthodoxy the
indigenous writings were first sanskritized and then the whole of
Sanskrit literature brahminized.

It was in many ways a calamitous substitute. Local nomenclature was
altered to fit the Sanskrit alphabet; native sentiments were put
through the mill of Sanskrit syntax, and a great deal of indigenous
material irretrievably lost.

Interpretations of pre-Sanskrit and what might be called `un-Sanskrit'
life were further distorted by wilful tendentiousness that shaped into
orthodox form the mythology, history and even the geography of ancient
India. Its corruptions crept into the regional languages by its
insistence on its own sanctity and stilted rules.

And in most cases it debased what it influenced. The noble early poetry
of Tamil, characterized by simplicity and realism, never recovered its
freshness after contact with Sanskrit, and Tamil literature was
thereafter subjected to the artificialities of the northern tongue.
Practically every vernacular after contact with Sanskrit, and Tamil
literature was thereafter subjected to the artificialities of the
northern tongue. Practically every vernacular literature has suffered
in like manner as long as it lay under the influence of Sanskrit
influence.
--end quote--

I asked Dr. Hart his opinions on the above assetions by Walker.
However, I do not recall Dr. Hart calling Walker's ideas a "decidedly
fascist"

FYI
Word: fascist
fas-cism \'fash-,iz-em also 'fas-,iz-\ n
[It fascismo, fr. fascio bundle, fasces, group, fr. L fascis bundle
     & fasces fasces]
(1921)
1 often cap :a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that
     of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual
     and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed
     by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation,
     and forcible suppression of opposition
2: a tendency toward or actual exercise of strong autocratic or dictatorial
     control <early instances of army fascism and brutality
     --J. W. Aldridge>
-- fas-cist \-est\ n or adj, often cap
-- fas-cis-tic \fa-'shis-tik also -'sis-\ adj, often cap
-- fas-cis-ti-cal-ly \-ti-k(e-)le^-\ adv, often cap

Meenan Vishnu