Landmark in the Didactics of Sanskrit:

Le Sanskrit by Nalini Balbir according to the method “Assimil”

Consisting of a book of almost 900 pages plus a number of CDs (1 MP3 CD, 4 audio-CDs), this is the FIRST EVER teaching method of Sanskrit (since more than 200 years of Sanskrit didactics) which presents the language as a lively means of expression and communication AND which is entirely based on (first) adapted and (in later lessons) attested examples from literature (drama, fables and other stories), to be learned through the widely tested method of intuitive assimilation rather than through a grammar plus exercises. The book is NOT an introduction to “Spoken Sanskrit” (in India several introductions and learning methods for this are available of varying quality), although it does seem to have the capacity to bring someone VERY close to it, so that any transition to a really active and expressive use of Sanskrit should become natural and without the risk that one deviates too much from a classical style of “correct” Sanskrit. A willingness to coin new terms for new, non-classical “things” and “concepts” is the minimum needed to embark on a full-fledged active use of Sanskrit after going through this course. For instance, the concept of the method of assimilation in learning a language could be adequately rendered as nipāna-rītiḥ (निपान-रीतिः). An English version of Balbir’s Le Sanskrit is under preparation.

Information on the book including an audio-example can be found at:

http://fr.assimil.com/methodes/2678/declinaisons/super-pack-livre-cd-audio-cd-mp3-3969

Why is this a landmark and why can it be expected to be a turning point in the didactics of Sanskrit? When the Europeans encountered Sanskrit in India in the 17th and 18th century they encountered a highly sophisticated communicative device << the question whether or not it was agreeing to externally imposed definitions of a “language, dead or alive” is hardly interesting >> which had BOTH an archival function for traditional religious hymns, ancient legends etc. AND an expressive-communicative function. Curiously enough, from the first full-fledged grammar onwards (the one by Wilkins), the main aim was to cater for an interest in the archival function only but definitely not for any interest in communication with those who actively used the communicative device. The result is a fast and remarkable process that can be labeled as a complete “antiquarianisation” of Sanskrit, and its assimilation with largely defunct classical languages of Europe, Latin and ancient Greek. One of the results of 200 years of didactics of Sanskrit as a “dead” classical language is that the first thing any student has to do if by chance s/he has the natural interest in learning to know Sanskrit as a device that ALSO has an expressive-communicative function, is either to shift to studying Hindi or Tamil or to give up that interest and learn to learn Sanskrit as a purely antiquarian tool giving priviliged access to archives of a supposed ancient indo-european civilisation and to “real” (rather than "remembered" or “lived”) Indian history (with as an additional interest, almost like an excuse already mentioned by Wilkins, to have access to a large part of the vocabulary of modern Indian languages). Although the fact that the fast and complete antiquarianisation of Sanskrit took place is *understandable* from the point of view of the European context in which the “discovery” was done and found its constructed place and no-one need to be *blamed* for it, it is no less *absurd* from both an Asian and a global point of view. It can be predicted that Balbir’s Le Sanskrit and its English version that is under preparation will indeed be a turning point because the natural demand of students will be, every year again, to learn the complete thing even if the preference of older generations of teachers will remain for some time with the outdated, very incomplete and inadequate grammars and teaching manuals – which, of course, in their own way represent a labour of love and passion by previous authors – to which they have become so emotionally attached. The older generations of teachers, hoping in vain that what they learned and taught was indeed “all” ever needed to learn of Sanskrit, might for a few more years succeed to mold new generations of students into the shackles of their old grammars and inadequate methods, but sooner or later the demand of students and interested public will become too strong to be neglected. Just as the fun of learning maths is in doing it, the fun of learning Sanskrit is in using it – also – for expression and communication.  

My felicitations to the author and commemoration of the encouraging event of the publication of this new method of learning Sanskrit, I would like to express as follows:

निपानरीतिमार्गेण  संस्कृताध्यापनार्थकम् ।

चकार नलिनी शास्त्रम्  अतोऽध्येता प्रसिद्ध्यति ॥

nipānarītimārgeṇa   saṁsktādhyāpanārthakam /

cakāra Nalinī śāstram   ato’dhyetā prasiddhyati //