Sanskrit has been studied by Western scholars since the late 18th century. In the 19th century,Sanskrit studies played a crucial role in the development of the field ofcomparative linguistics of theIndo-European languages. During theBritish Raj (1857–1947), Western scholars edited many Sanskrit texts which had survived in manuscript form. The study ofSanskrit grammar and philology remains important both in the field ofIndology and ofIndo-European studies.
The study ofSanskrit in theWestern world began in the 17th century.[1] Some ofBhartṛhari's poems were translated intoPortuguese in 1651.[1] In 1779 alegal code known asvivādārṇavasetu was translated byNathaniel Brassey Halhed from aPersian translation, and published asA Code of Gentoo Laws. In 1785Charles Wilkins published an English translation of theBhagavad Gita, which was the first time a Sanskrit book had been translated directly into a European language.[2]
In 1786Sir William Jones, who had foundedThe Asiatic Society[3] two years earlier, delivered the third annual discourse;[4] in his often-cited "philologer" passage, he noted similarities between Sanskrit, Ancient Greek and Latin—an event which is often cited as the beginning ofcomparative linguistics,Indo-European studies, and Sanskrit philology.[5]
The Sanscrit language, whatever be its antiquity, is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than theGreek, more copious than theLatin, and more exquisitely refined than either, yet bearing to both of them a stronger affinity, both in the roots of verbs and the forms of grammar, than could possibly have been produced by accident; so strong indeed, that no philologer could examine them all three, without believing them to have sprung from some common source, which, perhaps, no longer exists; there is a similar reason, though not quite so forcible, for supposing that both theGothic and theCeltic, though blended with a very different idiom, had the same origin with theSanscrit; and the oldPersian might be added to the same family.
This common source of theIndo-European languages eventually came to be known asProto-Indo-European, following the work ofFranz Bopp and others.
In 1789 Jones published a translation ofKālidāsa'sThe Recognition of Sakuntala. The translation captured the admiration of many, notablyGoethe, who expressed his admiration for the Sanskrit playShakuntala:[6][7]
Wouldst thou the young year's blossoms and the fruits of its decline
And all by which the soul is charmed, enraptured, feasted, fed,
Wouldst thou the earth and heaven itself in one sole name combine?
I name thee, O Sakuntala! and all at once is said.
Goethe went on to borrow a device from the play for hisFaust, Part One.[8]
In the introduction toThe World as Will and Representation, written in 1818,Arthur Schopenhauer stated that "the access to [theVedas], opened to us through theUpanishads, is in my eyes the greatest advantage which this still young century enjoys over previous ones, because I believe that the influence of the Sanscrit literature will penetrate not less deeply than did the revival of Greek literature in the fifteenth century".[9]
The Irish poetWilliam Butler Yeats was also inspired by Sanskrit literature.[10] However, the discovery of the world ofSanskrit literature moved beyond German and British scholars and intellectuals —Henry David Thoreau was a sympathetic reader of theBhagavad Gita[11] — and even beyond thehumanities.Ralph Waldo Emerson was also influenced by Sanskrit literature. In the early days of thePeriodic Table, scientists referred to as yet undiscovered elements with the use of Sanskritnumerical prefixes (seeMendeleev's predicted elements).J. Robert Oppenheimer in 1933 met the IndologistArthur W. Ryder at Berkeley and learned Sanskrit. He read the Bhagavad Gita in the original language.[12] Later he cited it as one of the most influential books to shape his philosophy of life,[13] and his quotation from the Bhagavad Gita "Now, I become Death, the destroyer of worlds." in reference to theTrinity test is well known.[14]
The nineteenth century was a golden age of Western Sanskrit scholarship, and many of the giants of the field (Whitney,Macdonnell,Monier-Williams,Grassmann) knew each other personally. Perhaps the most commonly known example of Sanskrit in the West was also the last gasp of its vogue.T. S. Eliot, a student ofIndian Philosophy and of Sanskrit underLanman, endedThe Waste Land with Sanskrit:"Shantih Shantih Shantih".
Sanskrit is taught in many South Asia Studies and/or Linguistics departments in Western universities. In addition to this, it is also used during worship inHindu temples in the West, being theHinduliturgical language, andSanskrit revival attempts are underway amongst expatriate Hindu populations. Similarly, Sanskrit study is also popular amongst the many Western practitioners of Yoga, who find the language useful in understanding theYoga Sutra.
An Islamic institute's unique inclusion of Sanskrit in its syllabus has recently caught the attention of major national news and media outlets. The institute's innovative approach has received widespread coverage in the press.[15] The Institute is located in Thrissur, Kerala, South India.[16]