Mr. Thomas Burke kicked off the lecture series on “Languages and Literature of India” with an erudite presentation on Sanskrit language and literature.  The lecture series is sponsored by the Outreach Committee of the Department of Sanskrit and Indian Studies at Harvard University and was held on Saturday, December 9 in Hall A of the Harvard University Science Center.  The series is to consist of sixteen lectures and will end in 2008. 

Mr. Burke is a linguist and is an expert in Sanskrit and many other Indo-European languages.  The lecture tried to present a comparative analysis of the structure and grammar of Sanskrit with other classical languages. He first discussed the evolution of Sanskrit language and its relationship to the Indo-European and to the Dravidian languages. He suggested that there was a proto language that possibly gave birth to both the Dravidian and Indo Aryan languages; this language is lost.  Sanskrit is a structured language with strict rules for construction of words and sentences. The structure can be very elaborate, resulting in many unique forms for a number of situations. For example, there are 39 conjugations for verbs in Sanskrit, while English has only seven. Additionally, words are accented, as in Chinese; however, the accent seems to have been lost in classical Sanskrit. Therefore, the pronunciation is very important. Mr. Burke gave an example of how critical the accent is. In one of the stories a demon wanted as a boon to become Indrashatru (an enemy of Indra, who will kill Indra). Unfortunately for him, he accented the first letter instead of the last, which changed the meaning to ‘one killed by Indra,’ resulting in really bad luck for the demon. 

The Vedas are among the first Sanskrit literature, followed by the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and finally the Upanishads. All these are constructed according to prescribed meters.  Around 500 BC, Panini authored the grammar rules leading to the evolution of “classical” Sanskrit.  The literature in classical Sanskrit is rich beginning with the epics- the Ramayana and the Mahabharata. Treatises in astronomy, mathematics, engineering, medicine, music, dance and sculpture are gradually being discovered and critically examined.  Sanskrit dramas by Kalidasa have made the literature popular in the west.Bhavabhuti, Dandi, Harsa and Magha have enriched the literature with masterful writings.

While the evolution of script and writing system could not be covered because of time pressure, Mr. Burke did comment on the modern day movement to use the language in daily conversation.  He discussed the facility of creating new words in Sanskrit and noted the delineation of periodic table of elements in Sanskrit.  The point was well made by Mr. Giri Bharathan and Mr Satya Kanakagiri from the Samskrta Bharati group who presented a humorous skit on the futuristic view of software engineers of Indian origin.  Mr Giri Bharathan also presented a Vedic recitation from Taittiriya Upanishad and Ms Rajam Raghunathan of Harvard University recited sections from the kavya “Shishupalavadha”.   All recitations and the skit were well appreciated by the audience.

The Outreach Committee lectures are followed by a thirty minute Question and Answer period and there was lively discussion and exchange of information on Sanskrit language and literature.  Topics covered ranged from the regional variation of Sanskrit accents to the ease of oral training in the language.  The popularization projects and manuscript restoration project were touched upon.  Members of the audience commented on the lack of proper phonetic training on Sanskrit in the west and suggested that remedial measures should be undertaken.  Poet Brother Blue of Cambridge thanked Mr. Burke for his academic work and research.  A formal vote of thanks was offered by Dr Bijoy Misra of the Outreach Committee.

The next lecture in the series on Gujarati Language and Literature is scheduled for February 10, 2007 at 3:00 PM in Hall A of the Harvard University Science Center.  The speaker will be Dr. Neelima Shukla-Bhatt, Visiting Assistant Professor of South Asian Studies, Wellesley College.  The series schedule is updated at the website http://www.fas.harvard.edu/~sanskrit/outreach.html.

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