By Devakinanda
Ashtottaram 42) OṀ DEVABHĀṢHĀBHŨMYAI NAMAH:
Ashtottaram 42: OṀ (AUM) –DEVA-BHAA-ṢHAA-BHOO-MYAI—
NA-MA-HA
ॐ देवभाषाभूम्यै नमः
(Deva: A God or deity; Bhāsha: Language, speech, common vernacular or dialect)
Samskrita, the Sanskrit language is literally, the perfect, polished, or classical language of India and of Hinduism in which the Hindu scriptures and classical Indian epic poems are written and from which many Indian languages are derived.
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How a language, any language for that matter, could attain the present degree of sophistication and artistry, starting with a physical sign language and inarticulate babble is a mystery. It is a mystery that linguistics or phonetics or etymology or philology will never be able to solve! Hinduism, however, has easily solved the same by attributing the origin of all languages and sciences to God himself. An interesting verse in an ancient work called Nandikeśhvara kārikā declares that all the letters of the Sanskrit alphabet (and hence its grammar) have evolved out of the fourteen sounds made by Lord Śhiva through His ḍamaru (a small drum held in hand for making sounds), at the end of His cosmic dance. 'Sam' means complete, full, and 'krit' means done.
'Sam' means complete, full, and 'krit' means done. Pixabay
Though Sanskrit is called devabhāsha, daivēvāk, and Devanāgari bhāsha-the language of the gods in heaven; in practice, it is divided into two categories:- Vaidika (Vedic) and Laukika (secular). The Vedas, the Vedāngās, the Upavedas, and allied literature belong to the first group. All the other literature from the itihāsās, and purāṇās, right up to the modern Sanskrit literature fall under the second group. The earliest form of Sanskrit is that of the Ṛigveda. Since the language of the Vedas was archaic and the concepts were slowly becoming obsolescent, explanatory works became necessary. This resulted in the production of the six Vedāngās (limbs or subsidiary works). There was a gradual evolution of the Sanskrit language from the archaic form of the Saṃhitās to the classical form, first through the Brāhmaṇās and then through the epics.
The Sanskrit language has been the repository of India's history, culture, religion, sciences, and socio-political values for several millennia. It is in the best interest of Indians to learn it, preserve it, and propagate it. It is highly gratifying to note that several countries of the world, both in the east and in the west are encouraging study and research of Sanskrit through their centers of learning.
We are blessed and very fortunate to have Sanskrit as our mother language and our land is 'Devabhāshā Bhūmi'.