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139-684: The Vishnu Sahasranama ( Sanskrit : विष्णुसहस्रनाम , romanized : viṣṇusahasranāma ) is a Sanskrit hymn containing a list of the 1,000 names of Vishnu , one of the main deities in Hinduism and the Supreme God in Vaishnavism . It is one of the most sacred and popular stotras in Hinduism . The most popular version of the Vishnu Sahasranama is featured in the Anushasana Parva of
278-406: A vegetarian diet, abstaining from all types of animal flesh, fish and eggs. Onion and garlic are also avoided as they are believed to promote a tamasic and rajasic form of consciousness in the eater. Some Gaudiya Vaishnavas, mainly from ISKCON and Gaudiya Matha, also avoid the intake of caffeine, as they believe it is addictive and an intoxicant. Chaitanya Vaishnava traditions refer to
417-536: A Shiva Linga on his crown, signifying the oneness of both deities. In other Vaishnava traditions too, the Vishnu Sahasranama is considered an important text. Within Gaudiya Vaishnavism , Vallabha sampradaya , Nimbarka sampradaya and among Ramanandis , the chanting of the names of Krishna and Rama are considered to be superior to that of Vishnu. Based on another verse in the Padma Purana which says that
556-598: A curse by the great sage Agastya due to his pride and arrogance and became a python for thousands of years. In the commentary to this sloka Sankara states that a fall akin to that of king Nahusha will not happen to that devotee who recites Vishnu Sahasranama daily. The Vishnu Sahasranama has been the subject of numerous commentaries: Other translations: Sanskrit language Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively 𑀲𑀁𑀲𑁆𑀓𑀾𑀢𑀁 , संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] )
695-534: A dead language in the most common usage of the term. Pollock's notion of the "death of Sanskrit" remains in this unclear realm between academia and public opinion when he says that "most observers would agree that, in some crucial way, Sanskrit is dead." The Sanskrit language scholar Moriz Winternitz states, Sanskrit was never a dead language and it is still alive though its prevalence is lesser than ancient and medieval times. Sanskrit remains an integral part of Hindu journals, festivals, Ramlila plays, drama, rituals and
834-639: A deputy magistrate with the British government. Bhaktivinoda Thakur's son grew up to be both an eminent scholar and a highly influential Vaishnava preacher, and was later known as Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati . In 1920, Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati founded Gaudiya Math in India, and later sixty-four Gaudiya Matha monasteries in India, Burma and Europe. In 1933, the first European preaching center was established in London (London Glouster House, Cornwall Garden, W7 South Kensington) under
973-581: A language competed with numerous, less exact vernacular Indian languages called Prakritic languages ( prākṛta - ). The term prakrta literally means "original, natural, normal, artless", states Franklin Southworth . The relationship between Prakrit and Sanskrit is found in Indian texts dated to the 1st millennium CE. Patañjali acknowledged that Prakrit is the first language, one instinctively adopted by every child with all its imperfections and later leads to
1112-522: A means for a community of speakers, separated by geography or time, to share and understand profound ideas from each other. These speculations became particularly important to the Mīmāṃsā and the Nyaya schools of Hindu philosophy, and later to Vedanta and Mahayana Buddhism, states Frits Staal —a scholar of Linguistics with a focus on Indian philosophies and Sanskrit. Though written in a number of different scripts,
1251-535: A meeting of two opposing schools of Hindu philosophy , pure monism (God and the soul as one entity) and pure dualism (God and the soul as absolutely separate). This philosophy largely recapitulates the concepts of qualified nondualism practiced by the older Vedantic school Vishishtadvaita , but emphasizes the figure of Krishna over Narayana and holy sites in and around Bengal over sites in Tamil Nadu. In practice, Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy has much more in common with
1390-454: A natural part of the earliest Vedic language, and that these developed in the centuries after the composition had been completed, and as a gradual unconscious process during the oral transmission by generations of reciters. The primary source for this argument is internal evidence of the text which betrays an instability of the phenomenon of retroflexion, with the same phrases having sandhi-induced retroflexion in some parts but not other. This
1529-479: A negative evidence to Pollock's hypothesis, but it is not positive evidence. A closer look at Sanskrit in the Indian history after the 12th century suggests that Sanskrit survived despite the odds. According to Hanneder, On a more public level the statement that Sanskrit is a dead language is misleading, for Sanskrit is quite obviously not as dead as other dead languages and the fact that it is spoken, written and read will probably convince most people that it cannot be
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#17331053380531668-596: A pan-Indo-Aryan accessibility to information and knowledge in the ancient and medieval times, in contrast to the Prakrit languages which were understood just regionally. It created a cultural bond across the subcontinent. As local languages and dialects evolved and diversified, Sanskrit served as the common language. It connected scholars from distant parts of South Asia such as Tamil Nadu and Kashmir, states Deshpande, as well as those from different fields of studies, though there must have been differences in its pronunciation given
1807-573: A refined and standardized grammatical form that emerged in the mid-1st millennium BCE and was codified in the most comprehensive of ancient grammars, the Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight chapters') of Pāṇini . The greatest dramatist in Sanskrit, Kālidāsa , wrote in classical Sanskrit, and the foundations of modern arithmetic were first described in classical Sanskrit. The two major Sanskrit epics, the Mahābhārata and
1946-534: A restrained language from which archaisms and unnecessary formal alternatives were excluded". The Classical form of the language simplified the sandhi rules but retained various aspects of the Vedic language, while adding rigor and flexibilities, so that it had sufficient means to express thoughts as well as being "capable of responding to the future increasing demands of an infinitely diversified literature", according to Renou. Pāṇini included numerous "optional rules" beyond
2085-590: A select few among his followers, who later came to be known as the Six Gosvamis of Vrindavan , to systematically present his theology of bhakti in their writings. This theology emphasized the devotee's relationship to the Divine Couple, Radha and Krishna, and looked to Chaitanya as the embodiment of both Radha and Krishna. The six were Rupa Goswami , Sanatana Goswami , Gopala Bhatta Goswami , Raghunatha Bhatta Goswami , Raghunatha dasa Goswami and Jiva Goswami . In
2224-439: A similar phonetic structure to Tamil. Hock et al. quoting George Hart state that there was influence of Old Tamil on Sanskrit. Hart compared Old Tamil and Classical Sanskrit to arrive at a conclusion that there was a common language from which these features both derived – "that both Tamil and Sanskrit derived their shared conventions, metres, and techniques from a common source, for it is clear that neither borrowed directly from
2363-564: A thousand names'. In modern Hindi pronunciation, nāma is pronounced [na:m]. It is also pronounced sahasranāmam in South Indian languages. The phalashruti (meritorious verse) of the hymn says that one who reads the text every day with full devotion achieves name, fame, wealth and knowledge in his life. The Vishnu Sahasranama is popular among Hindus , and a major part of prayer for devout Vaishnavas , or followers of Vishnu. While Vaishanvas venerate other deities , they believe that
2502-490: Is Kali Yuga, singing and chanting the various sacred names of God (Krishna) are sufficient for spiritual liberation. One of the defining aspects of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is that Krishna is worshiped specifically as the source of all avataric incarnations of God. This is based on quotations from the Bhagavata Purana , such as " krsnastu bhagavan svayam ", literally "Krishna is God Himself". Jiva Gosvami calls this phrase
2641-458: Is a Vaishnava Hindu religious movement inspired by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1534) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gaura or Gauḍa region of Bengal (present-day Malda district of West Bengal and Rajshahi district of Bangladesh ), with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu ". Specifically, it is part of Krishnaism — Krishna -centric Vaishnavite traditions. Its theological basis
2780-692: Is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages . It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age . Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism , the language of classical Hindu philosophy , and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism . It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia, East Asia and Central Asia in
2919-422: Is accepted as authority by Mahaprabhu himself. Gaudiya Vaishnava theology is prominently expounded by Jiva Goswami in his Sat-sandarbhas , which are six elaborate treatises on various aspects of God. Other prominent Gaudiya Vaishnava theologians include his uncles, Rupa Gosvami , the author of Sri Bhakti-rasamrta-sindhu, and Sanatana Gosvami , the author of Hari-bhakti-vilasa , Visvanatha Chakravarti ,
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#17331053380533058-508: Is akin to that of Latin and Ancient Greek in Europe. Sanskrit has significantly influenced most modern languages of the Indian subcontinent , particularly the languages of the northern, western, central and eastern Indian subcontinent. Sanskrit declined starting about and after the 13th century. This coincides with the beginning of Islamic invasions of South Asia to create, and thereafter expand
3197-452: Is found in the writing of Bharata Muni , the author of the ancient Natya Shastra text. The early Jain scholar Namisādhu acknowledged the difference, but disagreed that the Prakrit language was a corruption of Sanskrit. Namisādhu stated that the Prakrit language was the pūrvam ('came before, origin') and that it came naturally to children, while Sanskrit was a refinement of Prakrit through "purification by grammar". Sanskrit belongs to
3336-533: Is primarily that of the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana (known within the tradition as the Srimad Bhagavatam ), as interpreted by early followers of Chaitanya, such as Sanatana Goswami , Rupa Goswami , Jiva Goswami , Gopala Bhatta Goswami and others. The focus of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the devotional worship (known as bhakti yoga ) of Radha and Krishna , and their many divine incarnations as
3475-524: Is rare in the later version of the language. The Homerian Greek, like Ṛg-vedic Sanskrit, deploys simile extensively, but they are structurally very different. The early Vedic form of the Sanskrit language was far less homogenous compared to the Classical Sanskrit as defined by grammarians by about the mid-1st millennium BCE. According to Richard Gombrich—an Indologist and a scholar of Sanskrit, Pāli and Buddhist Studies—the archaic Vedic Sanskrit found in
3614-504: Is said to be a disciple of Isvara Puri (fl. 14th century) who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri (fl. 14th century) who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha (1420 - 1487) who was a disciple of Vyasatirtha (1469 – 1539) of the Madhva Sampradaya . The Gaudiya Vaishnavas call their tradition "Brahma-Madhva-Gaudiya Sampradaya", which originates from Brahma and has Madhvacharya as the original acharya and Chaitanya Mahaprabhu as
3753-479: Is taken along with evidence of controversy, for example, in passages of the Aitareya-Āraṇyaka (700 BCE), which features a discussion on whether retroflexion is valid in particular cases. The Ṛg-veda is a collection of books, created by multiple authors. These authors represented different generations, and the mandalas 2 to 7 are the oldest while the mandalas 1 and 10 are relatively the youngest. Yet,
3892-415: Is taken up not by natural liking but by consideration of scriptural injunctions. He describes the two categories of the highest bhakti as bhava-bhakti (devotion via feelings of intense emotion) and prema-bhakti (devotion of love). The two are essentially different intensities of the same participation in devotion via emotional expression. Raganuga-bhakti , on the other hand, follows ragatmika-bhakti,
4031-522: Is the object in need of purification. This purification takes place largely through the chanting and singing of Radha and Krishna's names. Specifically, the Hare Krishna (mantra) is chanted and sung by practitioners on a daily basis, sometimes for many hours each day. Famously within the tradition, one of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's close associates, Haridasa Thakur , is reported to have chanted 300,000 holy names of God each day. Gaudiya Vaishnavas follow
4170-437: Is the relationship between words and their meanings in the context of a community of speakers, whether this relationship is objective or subjective, discovered or is created, how individuals learn and relate to the world around them through language, and about the limits of language? They speculated on the role of language, the ontological status of painting word-images through sound, and the need for rules so that it can serve as
4309-487: The shruti-shāstra should be accepted literally, without fanciful or allegorical interpretations ." A Guru—shishya tradition ("lineage" or parampara) denotes a succession of teachers and disciples within some sampradaya (school, tradition). In accordance with the tradition, Gaudiya Vaishnavism as a subschool belongs to the Brahma Sampradaya , one of the four "orthodox" Vaishnavite schools. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
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4448-469: The Bhagavata Purana , the Panchatantra and many other texts are all in the Sanskrit language. The Classical Sanskrit with its exacting grammar was thus the language of the Indian scholars and the educated classes, while others communicated with approximate or ungrammatical variants of it as well as other natural Indian languages. Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside
4587-568: The Dalai Lama , the Sanskrit language is a parent language that is at the foundation of many modern languages of India and the one that promoted Indian thought to other distant countries. In Tibetan Buddhism, states the Dalai Lama, Sanskrit language has been a revered one and called legjar lhai-ka or "elegant language of the gods". It has been the means of transmitting the "profound wisdom of Buddhist philosophy" to Tibet. The Sanskrit language created
4726-472: The Gaudiya-Sarasvata Sampradaya , belongs to the well known International Society for Krishna Consciousness . Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (also transliterated Caitanya , IAST Caitanya Mahāprabhu ; 1486–1534 ) was a Bengali spiritual teacher who founded Gaudiya Vaishnavism. He is believed by his devotees to be Krishna himself who appeared in the form of His own devotee in order to teach
4865-613: The Indo-European family of languages . It is one of the three earliest ancient documented languages that arose from a common root language now referred to as Proto-Indo-European : Other Indo-European languages distantly related to Sanskrit include archaic and Classical Latin ( c. 600 BCE–100 CE, Italic languages ), Gothic (archaic Germanic language , c. 350 CE ), Old Norse ( c. 200 CE and after), Old Avestan ( c. late 2nd millennium BCE ) and Younger Avestan ( c. 900 BCE). The closest ancient relatives of Vedic Sanskrit in
5004-744: The Rigveda had already evolved in the Vedic period, as evidenced in the later Vedic literature. Gombrich posits that the language in the early Upanishads of Hinduism and the late Vedic literature approaches Classical Sanskrit, while the archaic Vedic Sanskrit had by the Buddha 's time become unintelligible to all except ancient Indian sages. The formalization of the Saṃskṛta language is credited to Pāṇini , along with Patañjali's Mahābhāṣya and Katyayana's commentary that preceded Patañjali's work. Panini composed Aṣṭādhyāyī ('Eight-Chapter Grammar'), which became
5143-532: The Rigveda , a collection of 1,028 hymns composed between 1500 BCE and 1200 BCE by Indo-Aryan tribes migrating east from the mountains of what is today northern Afghanistan across northern Pakistan and into northwestern India. Vedic Sanskrit interacted with the preexisting ancient languages of the subcontinent, absorbing names of newly encountered plants and animals; in addition, the ancient Dravidian languages influenced Sanskrit's phonology and syntax. Sanskrit can also more narrowly refer to Classical Sanskrit ,
5282-526: The Rāmāyaṇa , however, were composed in a range of oral storytelling registers called Epic Sanskrit which was used in northern India between 400 BCE and 300 CE, and roughly contemporary with classical Sanskrit. In the following centuries, Sanskrit became tradition-bound, stopped being learned as a first language, and ultimately stopped developing as a living language. The hymns of the Rigveda are notably similar to
5421-501: The Vishnu Sahasranama . He translates the 27th name, Shiva to mean:"One who is not affected by the three Gunas of Prakrti , Sattva , Rajas ,and Tamas ; The Kaivalaya Upanishad says, "He is both Brahma and Shiva." In the light of this statement of non-difference between Shiva and Vishnu, it is Vishnu Himself Who Is exalted by the praise and worship of Shiva." Based on this commonly held Advaitan point of view which has been adopted by Smartas , Vishnu and Shiva are viewed as one and
5560-595: The bhakti present in Krishna's eternal associates, which is driven by raga , a natural absorption in the object of service. Jiva Goswami 's conclusion in Bhakti Sandarbha is that raganuga-bhakti is the only abhidheya , viable process, recommended by the Bhagavatam . Within his Siksastaka prayers, Chaitanya compares the process of bhakti-yoga to that of cleansing a dirty place of dust, wherein our consciousness
5699-406: The sandhi rules, both internal and external. Quite many words found in the early Vedic Sanskrit language are never found in late Vedic Sanskrit or Classical Sanskrit literature, while some words have different and new meanings in Classical Sanskrit when contextually compared to the early Vedic Sanskrit literature. Arthur Macdonell was among the early colonial era scholars who summarized some of
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5838-500: The verbal adjective sáṃskṛta- is a compound word consisting of sáṃ ('together, good, well, perfected') and kṛta - ('made, formed, work'). It connotes a work that has been "well prepared, pure and perfect, polished, sacred". According to Biderman, the perfection contextually being referred to in the etymological origins of the word is its tonal—rather than semantic—qualities. Sound and oral transmission were highly valued qualities in ancient India, and its sages refined
5977-431: The "Hare Krishna Movement". According to Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy, consciousness is not a product of matter , but is instead a manifestation of the soul . All living beings ( jivas ), including animals and trees, have a soul. That soul is distinct from their current physical body – the nature of the soul being eternal, immutable, and indestructible without any particular birth or death. The soul does not die when
6116-519: The "paribhasha-sutra" (definitive rule) of the theology of the Gaudiya Vaishnava school and a mahavakya (governing proposition). A particularly distinct part of the Gaudiya Vaishnava philosophy espoused by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is the concept of Achintya Bheda Abheda , which translates to "inconceivable oneness and difference" in the context of the soul's relationship with Krishna, and also Krishna's relationship with his other energies (i.e.
6255-414: The 13th century, a premier center of Sanskrit literary creativity, Sanskrit literature there disappeared, perhaps in the "fires that periodically engulfed the capital of Kashmir" or the "Mongol invasion of 1320" states Pollock. The Sanskrit literature which was once widely disseminated out of the northwest regions of the subcontinent, stopped after the 12th century. As Hindu kingdoms fell in the eastern and
6394-560: The 1st century BCE, such as the Ayodhya Inscription of Dhana and Ghosundi-Hathibada (Chittorgarh) . Though developed and nurtured by scholars of orthodox schools of Hinduism, Sanskrit has been the language for some of the key literary works and theology of heterodox schools of Indian philosophies such as Buddhism and Jainism. The structure and capabilities of the Classical Sanskrit language launched ancient Indian speculations about "the nature and function of language", what
6533-449: The 325th name, Sthanadah, the 387th name and Srivibhavanah, the 609th name. Bhavanah, according to Sankara's interpretation, means "One who generates the fruits of Karmas of all Jivas for them to enjoy." The Brahma Sutra (3.2.28) "Phalmatah upapatteh" speaks of the Lord's function as the bestower of the fruits of all actions of the jivas . Sections from Swami Tapasyananda 's translation of
6672-521: The 7th century where he established a major center of learning and language translation under the patronage of Emperor Taizong. By the early 1st millennium CE, Sanskrit had spread Buddhist and Hindu ideas to Southeast Asia, parts of the East Asia and the Central Asia. It was accepted as a language of high culture and the preferred language by some of the local ruling elites in these regions. According to
6811-516: The Brahma-Madhva affiliation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism was propounded by Baladeva Vidyabhushana was in the 18th century. And to this day, there is no mention of Chaitanya in the annals of the Madhva Sampradaya. For secular scientists this means, originality and non-affiliation of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with other previous branches. At the same time, there is the consensus of scholars, that Chaitanya
6950-521: The Dravidian languages borrowed from Sanskrit vocabulary, but they have also affected Sanskrit on deeper levels of structure, "for instance in the domain of phonology where Indo-Aryan retroflexes have been attributed to Dravidian influence". Similarly, Ferenc Ruzca states that all the major shifts in Indo-Aryan phonetics over two millennia can be attributed to the constant influence of a Dravidian language with
7089-513: The Dravidian words and forms, without modifying the word order; but the same thing is not possible in rendering a Persian or English sentence into a non-Indo-Aryan language. Shulman mentions that "Dravidian nonfinite verbal forms (called vinaiyeccam in Tamil) shaped the usage of the Sanskrit nonfinite verbs (originally derived from inflected forms of action nouns in Vedic). This particularly salient case of
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#17331053380537228-691: The Gaudiya Vaishnavite mission in the West was Baba Premananda Bharati (1858–1914), author of Sree Krishna – the Lord of Love (1904) – the first full-length treatment of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in English, who, in 1902, founded the short-lived "Krishna Samaj" society in New York City and built a temple in Los Angeles. He belonged to the circle of adherents of the guru Prabhu Jagadbandhu with teachings similar to
7367-481: The Gaudiya succession of spiritual masters should be considered. Chaitanya refused to formally initiate anyone as a disciple, only inspiring and guiding his followers. Chaitanya neither founded the community nor named a successor. That is why, from the very beginning, the sampradaya was divided into several lines of succession that were practically not connected with each other and that still exist today. One of them, namely,
7506-480: The Hinayana) but the Prakrit works that have survived are of doubtful authenticity. Some of the canonical fragments of the early Buddhist traditions, discovered in the 20th century, suggest the early Buddhist traditions used an imperfect and reasonably good Sanskrit, sometimes with a Pali syntax, states Renou. The Mahāsāṃghika and Mahavastu, in their late Hinayana forms, used hybrid Sanskrit for their literature. Sanskrit
7645-469: The Indo-Aryan language underwent rapid linguistic change and morphed into the Vedic Sanskrit language. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit . The earliest attested Sanskrit text is the Rigveda , a Hindu scripture from the mid- to late-second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if any ever existed, but scholars are generally confident that
7784-507: The Indo-European languages are the Nuristani languages found in the remote Hindu Kush region of northeastern Afghanistan and northwestern Himalayas, as well as the extinct Avestan and Old Persian – both are Iranian languages . Sanskrit belongs to the satem group of the Indo-European languages. Colonial era scholars familiar with Latin and Greek were struck by the resemblance of
7923-521: The Muslim rule in the form of Sultanates, and later the Mughal Empire . Sheldon Pollock characterises the decline of Sanskrit as a long-term "cultural, social, and political change". He dismisses the idea that Sanskrit declined due to "struggle with barbarous invaders", and emphasises factors such as the increasing attractiveness of vernacular language for literary expression. With the fall of Kashmir around
8062-489: The Muslim rulers. Hindu rulers such as Shivaji of the Maratha Empire , reversed the process, by re-adopting Sanskrit and re-asserting their socio-linguistic identity. After Islamic rule disintegrated in South Asia and the colonial rule era began, Sanskrit re-emerged but in the form of a "ghostly existence" in regions such as Bengal. This decline was the result of "political institutions and civic ethos" that did not support
8201-488: The Saṃskṛta language, both in its vocabulary and grammar, to the classical languages of Europe. In The Oxford Introduction to Proto-Indo-European and the Proto-Indo-European World , Mallory and Adams illustrate the resemblance with the following examples of cognate forms (with the addition of Old English for further comparison): The correspondences suggest some common root, and historical links between some of
8340-616: The South India, such as the great Vijayanagara Empire , so did Sanskrit. There were exceptions and short periods of imperial support for Sanskrit, mostly concentrated during the reign of the tolerant Mughal emperor Akbar . Muslim rulers patronized the Middle Eastern language and scripts found in Persia and Arabia, and the Indians linguistically adapted to this Persianization to gain employment with
8479-447: The Vedic Sanskrit in these books of the Ṛg-veda "hardly presents any dialectical diversity", states Louis Renou – an Indologist known for his scholarship of the Sanskrit literature and the Ṛg-veda in particular. According to Renou, this implies that the Vedic Sanskrit language had a "set linguistic pattern" by the second half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Beyond the Ṛg-veda, the ancient literature in Vedic Sanskrit that has survived into
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#17331053380538618-451: The Vedic Sanskrit's bahulam framework, to respect liberty and creativity so that individual writers separated by geography or time would have the choice to express facts and their views in their own way, where tradition followed competitive forms of the Sanskrit language. The phonetic differences between Vedic Sanskrit and Classical Sanskrit, as discerned from the current state of the surviving literature, are negligible when compared to
8757-574: The acharya-successor. However, this traditional point is at least debatable. Some modern scholars and confessional authors critically assess and pair the Gaudiya Vaishnavism's affiliation with the Madhva tradition . For example, the famous American Indologist and historian of religion Guy L. Beck, with regard to the Chaitanya Sampradaya, notes the following historical events. The first time
8896-733: The active missionary work of the reformed Gaudiya Math and its followers, most of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community in India remained under the influence of hereditary brahmins - goswamis , who run famous old Gaudiya mandirs, as one example, the Radha Raman Temple in Vrindavan and its prominent scholar-acharya Shrivatsa Goswami . Although sharing a common set of core beliefs, there are a number of philosophical differences which distinguish Gaudiya Vaishnavism from other Vaishnava schools: "O most munificent incarnation! You are Krishna Himself appearing as Sri Krishna Caitanya Mahaprabhu. You have assumed
9035-407: The alphabet, the structure of words, and its exacting grammar into a "collection of sounds, a kind of sublime musical mold" as an integral language they called Saṃskṛta . From the late Vedic period onwards, state Annette Wilke and Oliver Moebus, resonating sound and its musical foundations attracted an "exceptionally large amount of linguistic, philosophical and religious literature" in India. Sound
9174-701: The author of Sri Camatkara-candrika and Baladeva Vidyabhushana , author of Govinda Bhashya . Jiva Gosvami frequently references Sridhara Swami, particularly quoting from Sridhara Swami's commentary on the Bhagavata Purana (Bhavartha-dipika), throughout the Sat-sandarbhas. In the Catuhsutri section of the Paramatma-sandarbha , Jiva Gosvami references Ramanuja's commentary on Brahma Sutras . The strictly centralized form of church-type organization and
9313-685: The benefit of chanting the one thousand names of Vishnu can be derived from chanting one name of Rama, and a verse in the Brahma Vaivarta Purana equating the benefit of chanting three names of Rama with one name of Krishna. However, it is important to realize that those verses in those puranas are not to be interpreted literally, as many believe that there is no difference between Vishnu and Krishna and Rama. This theological difference can be expressed as follows: Many Vaishnava groups recognize Krishna and Rama as an Avatar of Vishnu, while others, instead, consider Him (Krishna) to be svayam bhagavan , or
9452-509: The body dies, but it is transmigrated into another new body and takes new birth in a new body. Souls which are captivated by the illusory nature of the world ( Maya ) are repeatedly reborn among the various 8.4 million number of species of life on this planet and in other worlds in accordance to the laws of karma and individual desire. This is consistent with the concept of samsara found in Hindu , Sikh and Buddhist beliefs. Release from
9591-440: The capacity to understand the old Prakrit languages such as Ardhamagadhi . A section of European scholars state that Sanskrit was never a spoken language. However, evidences shows that Sanskrit was a spoken language, essential for oral tradition that preserved the vast number of Sanskrit manuscripts from ancient India. The textual evidence in the works of Yaksa, Panini, and Patanajali affirms that Classical Sanskrit in their era
9730-517: The close relationship between the Indo-Iranian tongues and the Baltic and Slavic languages , vocabulary exchange with the non-Indo-European Uralic languages , and the nature of the attested Indo-European words for flora and fauna. The pre-history of Indo-Aryan languages which preceded Vedic Sanskrit is unclear and various hypotheses place it over a fairly wide limit. According to Thomas Burrow, based on
9869-399: The concluding verses of Vishnu Sahasranama , state the following: "Nothing evil or inauspicious will befall a man here or hereafter who daily hears or repeats these names." That comment is noteworthy. King Nahusha , a once righteous king, ancestor of Yudhishthira , after performing a hundred Ashwamedha sacrifices, became king of devas, but was later expelled from Svarga or heaven due to
10008-609: The context of a speech or language, is found in verses 5.28.17–19 of the Ramayana . Outside the learned sphere of written Classical Sanskrit, vernacular colloquial dialects ( Prakrits ) continued to evolve. Sanskrit co-existed with numerous other Prakrit languages of ancient India. The Prakrit languages of India also have ancient roots and some Sanskrit scholars have called these Apabhramsa , literally 'spoiled'. The Vedic literature includes words whose phonetic equivalent are not found in other Indo-European languages but which are found in
10147-639: The crystallization of Classical Sanskrit. As in this period the Indo-Aryan tribes had not yet made contact with the inhabitants of the South of the subcontinent, this suggests a significant presence of Dravidian speakers in North India (the central Gangetic plain and the classical Madhyadeśa) who were instrumental in this substratal influence on Sanskrit. Extant manuscripts in Sanskrit number over 30 million, one hundred times those in Greek and Latin combined, constituting
10286-556: The deity Vishnu is Brahman itself (not just an aspect of Brahman). Again, he notes that "only Hari (Vishnu) is eulogized by names such as Shiva ", a position consistent with interpretations of the Srivaishnavite commentator Parasara Bhattar . Parasara Bhattar had interpreted Shiva to mean a quality of Vishnu, such as "One who bestows auspiciousness". However, this interpretation of the name Shiva has been challenged by Swami Tapasyananda 's translation of Shankara 's commentary on
10425-467: The detailed and sophisticated treatise then transmitted it through his students. Modern scholarship generally accepts that he knew of a form of writing, based on references to words such as Lipi ('script') and lipikara ('scribe') in section 3.2 of the Aṣṭādhyāyī . The Classical Sanskrit language formalized by Pāṇini, states Renou, is "not an impoverished language", rather it is "a controlled and
10564-467: The differences between the Vedic and Classical Sanskrit. Louis Renou published in 1956, in French, a more extensive discussion of the similarities, the differences and the evolution of the Vedic Sanskrit within the Vedic period and then to the Classical Sanskrit along with his views on the history. This work has been translated by Jagbans Balbir. The earliest known use of the word Saṃskṛta (Sanskrit), in
10703-456: The distant major ancient languages of the world. The Indo-Aryan migrations theory explains the common features shared by Sanskrit and other Indo-European languages by proposing that the original speakers of what became Sanskrit arrived in South Asia from a region of common origin, somewhere north-west of the Indus region , during the early 2nd millennium BCE. Evidence for such a theory includes
10842-451: The dominant language of Hindu texts has been Sanskrit. It or a hybrid form of Sanskrit became the preferred language of Mahayana Buddhism scholarship; for example, one of the early and influential Buddhist philosophers, Nagarjuna (~200 CE), used Classical Sanskrit as the language for his texts. According to Renou, Sanskrit had a limited role in the Theravada tradition (formerly known as
10981-601: The dualistic schools especially closely following theological traditions established by Madhvacharya 's Dvaita Vedanta. Jiva Goswami wrote Sat Sandarbhas as an analysis of Bhagvata Purana to elaborate the philosophy of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu . The six treatises are: The practical process of performing devotional acts in ones life is described as bhakti or bhakti-yoga, and is supported by activities of nine different types. The two distinct divisions of sadhana-bhakti are vaidhi-bhakti and raganuga-bhakti . Rupa Goswami defines vaidhi-bhakti as that bhakti which
11120-483: The early medieval era, it became a language of religion and high culture , and of the political elites in some of these regions. As a result, Sanskrit had a lasting impact on the languages of South Asia, Southeast Asia and East Asia, especially in their formal and learned vocabularies. Sanskrit generally connotes several Old Indo-Aryan language varieties. The most archaic of these is the Vedic Sanskrit found in
11259-658: The epic Mahabharata . Other versions exist in the Padma Purana , the Skanda Purana , and the Garuda Purana . There is also a Sikh version of the Vishnu Sahasranama found in the work Sundar Gutka . In Sanskrit , sahasra means 'thousand'. The meaning of sahasra is context-dependent. nāma ( nominative , the stem is nāman- ) means 'name'. The compound is of the Bahuvrihi type and may be translated as 'having
11398-543: The first language of the respective speakers. The Sanskrit language brought Indo-Aryan speaking people together, particularly its elite scholars. Some of these scholars of Indian history regionally produced vernacularized Sanskrit to reach wider audiences, as evidenced by texts discovered in Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Maharashtra. Once the audience became familiar with the easier to understand vernacularized version of Sanskrit, those interested could graduate from colloquial Sanskrit to
11537-412: The foundation of Vyākaraṇa, a Vedānga . The Aṣṭādhyāyī was not the first description of Sanskrit grammar, but it is the earliest that has survived in full, and the culmination of a long grammatical tradition that Fortson says, is "one of the intellectual wonders of the ancient world". Pāṇini cites ten scholars on the phonological and grammatical aspects of the Sanskrit language before him, as well as
11676-476: The gods Varuna, Mitra, Indra, and Nasatya found in the earliest layers of the Vedic literature. O Bṛhaspati, when in giving names they first set forth the beginning of Language, Their most excellent and spotless secret was laid bare through love, When the wise ones formed Language with their mind, purifying it like grain with a winnowing fan, Then friends knew friendships – an auspicious mark placed on their language. The Vedic Sanskrit found in
11815-568: The golden colour of Srimati Radharani, and You are widely distributing pure love of Krishna. We offer our respectful obeisances unto You." Although this viewpoint outside of the Gaudiya tradition was disputed, Chaitanya's followers prove it by pointing at verses throughout the Puranic literatures as evidence to support this claim. Evidences such as the Krishna-varnam verse SB 11.5.32 have many interpretations by scholars, including Sridhara Svami who
11954-431: The historic Sanskrit literary culture and the failure of new Sanskrit literature to assimilate into the changing cultural and political environment. Sheldon Pollock states that in some crucial way, "Sanskrit is dead ". After the 12th century, the Sanskrit literary works were reduced to "reinscription and restatements" of ideas already explored, and any creativity was restricted to hymns and verses. This contrasted with
12093-462: The idea that one has to be an unconventional ( uttama ) spiritual master introduced by the reformer Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati and his Gaudiya Math were not characteristic of the traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism with its hereditary brahmins-goswamis and family teachers ( kula gurus ). Much of the Gaudiya Vaishnava community in India remained committed to the unreformed and loosely organized tradition. Many modern organisations are independent branches of
12232-478: The intense change that must have occurred in the pre-Vedic period between the Proto-Indo-Aryan language and Vedic Sanskrit. The noticeable differences between the Vedic and the Classical Sanskrit include the much-expanded grammar and grammatical categories as well as the differences in the accent, the semantics and the syntax. There are also some differences between how some of the nouns and verbs end, as well as
12371-459: The largest cultural heritage that any civilization has produced prior to the invention of the printing press. Sanskrit has been the predominant language of Hindu texts encompassing a rich tradition of philosophical and religious texts, as well as poetry, music, drama , scientific , technical and others. It is the predominant language of one of the largest collection of historic manuscripts. The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit are from
12510-453: The later ISKCON mission. His followers formed several organizations including the now defunct Order of Living Service and the AUM Temple of Universal Truth. The reform change of traditional caste Gaudiya Vaishnavism of 19th century is believed to have happened largely in India due to the efforts of a particularly adept preacher known as Bhaktivinoda Thakur , who also held the position of
12649-412: The linguistic expression and sets the standard for the Sanskrit language. Pāṇini made use of a technical metalanguage consisting of a syntax, morphology and lexicon. This metalanguage is organised according to a series of meta-rules, some of which are explicitly stated while others can be deduced. Despite differences in the analysis from that of modern linguistics, Pāṇini's work has been found valuable and
12788-503: The literary works. The Indian tradition, states Winternitz , has favored the learning and the usage of multiple languages from the ancient times. Sanskrit was a spoken language in the educated and the elite classes, but it was also a language that must have been understood in a wider circle of society because the widely popular folk epics and stories such as the Ramayana , the Mahabharata ,
12927-429: The loosely organized tradition became acquainted with other branches along with their respective theological and practical nuances. That notwithstanding, the tradition has maintained its plural nature, having no central authority to preside over its matters. The festival of Kheturi allowed for the systemization of Gaudiya Vaishnava theology as a distinct branch of Vaishnava theology . During the 17th–18th centuries, there
13066-437: The material world). In quality , the soul ( jiva ) is described as being identical to God, but in terms of quantity, individual jivas are said to be infinitesimal in comparison to the unlimited Supreme Being. The exact nature of this relationship (being simultaneously one and different with Krishna) is inconceivable to the human mind but can be experienced through the process of Bhakti yoga . This philosophy serves as
13205-501: The modern age include the Samaveda , Yajurveda , Atharvaveda , along with the embedded and layered Vedic texts such as the Brahmanas , Aranyakas , and the early Upanishads . These Vedic documents reflect the dialects of Sanskrit found in the various parts of the northwestern, northern, and eastern Indian subcontinent. According to Michael Witzel, Vedic Sanskrit was a spoken language of
13344-500: The mood and complexion of his source of inspiration Radha . Over the three centuries following the disappearance of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu , the Gaudiya Vaishnava tradition evolved into the form in which we largely find it today in contemporary India. In the early years of the tradition, the followers of Nityananda Prabhu, Advaita Acharya and other companions of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu educated and initiated people, each in their own locales across Bengal . Chaitanya Mahaprabhu requested
13483-429: The more advanced Classical Sanskrit. Rituals and the rites-of-passage ceremonies have been and continue to be the other occasions where a wide spectrum of people hear Sanskrit, and occasionally join in to speak some Sanskrit words such as namah . Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pāṇini , around the fourth century BCE. Its position in the cultures of Greater India
13622-401: The most advanced analysis of linguistics until the twentieth century. Pāṇini's comprehensive and scientific theory of grammar is conventionally taken to mark the start of Classical Sanskrit. His systematic treatise inspired and made Sanskrit the preeminent Indian language of learning and literature for two millennia. It is unclear whether Pāṇini himself wrote his treatise or he orally created
13761-593: The most archaic poems of the Iranian and Greek language families, the Gathas of old Avestan and Iliad of Homer . As the Rigveda was orally transmitted by methods of memorisation of exceptional complexity, rigour and fidelity, as a single text without variant readings, its preserved archaic syntax and morphology are of vital importance in the reconstruction of the common ancestor language Proto-Indo-European . Sanskrit does not have an attested native script: from around
13900-643: The name "Gaudiya Mission Society of London". Soon after Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's death (1 January 1937), a dispute began, which divided the original Gaudiya Math mission into two administrative bodies still in existence today. In a settlement, they divided the sixty-four Gaudiya Math centers into two groups: the Sri Chaitanya Math headed by Bhakti Vilasa Tirtha Maharaj and the Gaudiya Mission headed by Ananta Vasudev (Bhakti Prasad Puri Maharaj). Many of Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati's disciples disagreed with
14039-583: The numbers are thought to signify a wish to be aligned with the prestige of the language. Sanskrit has been taught in traditional gurukulas since ancient times; it is widely taught today at the secondary school level. The oldest Sanskrit college is the Benares Sanskrit College founded in 1791 during East India Company rule . Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial and ritual language in Hindu and Buddhist hymns and chants . In Sanskrit,
14178-403: The oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they are ceremonial literature, where the exact phonetic expression and its preservation were a part of the historic tradition. However some scholars have suggested that the original Ṛg-veda differed in some fundamental ways in phonology compared to the sole surviving version available to us. In particular that retroflex consonants did not exist as
14317-471: The original form of the Lord. Yet these verses can be interpreted as it is more important to have pure bhakti or devotion than merely repeating the many names of God without emotion. Indeed, Shri Krishna Himself said, "Arjuna, One may be desirous of praising by reciting the thousand names. But, on my part, I feel praised by one shloka . There is no doubt about it.” Many names in the Vishnusahasranama,
14456-431: The other." Reinöhl further states that there is a symmetric relationship between Dravidian languages like Kannada or Tamil, with Indo-Aryan languages like Bengali or Hindi, whereas the same relationship is not found for non-Indo-Aryan languages, for example, Persian or English: A sentence in a Dravidian language like Tamil or Kannada becomes ordinarily good Bengali or Hindi by substituting Bengali or Hindi equivalents for
14595-473: The participants. This openness received a boost from Bhaktivinoda Thakur 's broad-minded vision in the late 19th century, Baba Premananda Bharati's mission in the United States in the beginning of 20th century and was institutionalized by Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakur in his Gaudiya Math in the 20th century. A renaissance began at the start of the 20th century both in India and the West. One pioneer of
14734-443: The people of this world the process of Bhakti and how to attain the perfection of life. This they say with several evidences in scripture. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu is said to be a disciple of Isvara Puri who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha who was a disciple of Vyasatirtha (1469–1539) of Madhvacharya's Sampradaya. He is considered as the most merciful manifestation of Krishna. Chaitanya Mahaprabhu
14873-414: The possible influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is only one of many items of syntactic assimilation, not least among them the large repertoire of morphological modality and aspect that, once one knows to look for it, can be found everywhere in classical and postclassical Sanskrit". The main influence of Dravidian on Sanskrit is found to have been concentrated in the timespan between the late Vedic period and
15012-488: The practice of raganuga-bhakti through works such as Raga-vartma-chandrika . His student Baladeva Vidyabhushan wrote a famous commentary on the Vedanta-sutra called Govinda Bhashya . The 18th century saw a number of luminaries headed by Siddha Jayakrishna Das Babaji of Kamyavan and Siddha Krishnadas Babaji of Govardhan . The latter, a widely renowned teacher of the mode of internal worship ( raga-bhajan ) practiced in
15151-439: The previous 1,500 years when "great experiments in moral and aesthetic imagination" marked the Indian scholarship using Classical Sanskrit, states Pollock. Scholars maintain that the Sanskrit language did not die, but rather only declined. Jurgen Hanneder disagrees with Pollock, finding his arguments elegant but "often arbitrary". According to Hanneder, a decline or regional absence of creative and innovative literature constitutes
15290-480: The problems of interpretation and misunderstanding. The purifying structure of the Sanskrit language removes these imperfections. The early Sanskrit grammarian Daṇḍin states, for example, that much in the Prakrit languages is etymologically rooted in Sanskrit, but involves "loss of sounds" and corruptions that result from a "disregard of the grammar". Daṇḍin acknowledged that there are words and confusing structures in Prakrit that thrive independent of Sanskrit. This view
15429-418: The process of samsara (known as moksha ) is believed to be achievable through a variety of spiritual practices, and in general, is the ultimate aim in life. However, within Gaudiya Vaishnavism, it is bhakti in its purest state (or "pure love of God") which is given as the ultimate aim, rather than liberation from the cycle of rebirth. Gaudiya Vaishnav tradition asserts that in the current yuga , which
15568-596: The regional Prakrit languages, which makes it likely that the interaction, the sharing of words and ideas began early in the Indian history. As the Indian thought diversified and challenged earlier beliefs of Hinduism, particularly in the form of Buddhism and Jainism , the Prakrit languages such as Pali in Theravada Buddhism and Ardhamagadhi in Jainism competed with Sanskrit in the ancient times. However, states Paul Dundas , these ancient Prakrit languages had "roughly
15707-490: The relationship between various Indo-European languages, the origin of all these languages may possibly be in what is now Central or Eastern Europe, while the Indo-Iranian group possibly arose in Central Russia. The Iranian and Indo-Aryan branches separated quite early. It is the Indo-Aryan branch that moved into eastern Iran and then south into South Asia in the first half of the 2nd millennium BCE. Once in ancient India,
15846-574: The rites-of-passage. Similarly, Brian Hatcher states that the "metaphors of historical rupture" by Pollock are not valid, that there is ample proof that Sanskrit was very much alive in the narrow confines of surviving Hindu kingdoms between the 13th and 18th centuries, and its reverence and tradition continues. Hanneder states that modern works in Sanskrit are either ignored or their "modernity" contested. Gaudiya Vaishnavism Traditional Gaudiya Vaishnavism ( IAST : Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇavasampradāyaḥ ), also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism ,
15985-416: The same God, being different aspects of preservation and destruction respectively. As many Sanskrit words have multiple meanings, it is possible that both Vishnu and Shiva share names in this instance, e.g., the name Shiva itself means "auspicious" which could also apply to Vishnu. The Deities Ananthapadmanabha and Shankaranarayana are worshipped by Hindus, as is Panduranga Vitthala, a form of Krishna with
16124-491: The same relationship to Sanskrit as medieval Italian does to Latin". The Indian tradition states that the Buddha and the Mahavira preferred the Prakrit language so that everyone could understand it. However, scholars such as Dundas have questioned this hypothesis. They state that there is no evidence for this and whatever evidence is available suggests that by the start of the common era, hardly anybody other than learned monks had
16263-479: The second generation of the tradition, Narottama, Srinivasa and Shyamananda, three students of Jiva Goswami , the youngest among the six Goswamis, were instrumental in spreading the theology across Bengal and Orissa . The festival of Kheturi (approx 1574), presided over by Jahnava Thakurani , the wife of Nityananda Rama , was the first time the leaders of the various branches of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu's followers assembled together. Through such festivals, members of
16402-551: The semi-nomadic Aryans . The Vedic Sanskrit language or a closely related Indo-European variant was recognized beyond ancient India as evidenced by the " Mitanni Treaty" between the ancient Hittite and Mitanni people, carved into a rock, in a region that now includes parts of Syria and Turkey. Parts of this treaty, such as the names of the Mitanni princes and technical terms related to horse training, for reasons not understood, are in early forms of Vedic Sanskrit. The treaty also invokes
16541-594: The social structures such as the role of the poet and the priests, the patronage economy, the phrasal equations, and some of the poetic metres. While there are similarities, state Jamison and Brereton, there are also differences between Vedic Sanskrit, the Old Avestan, and the Mycenaean Greek literature. For example, unlike the Sanskrit similes in the Ṛg-veda, the Old Avestan Gathas lack simile entirely, and it
16680-534: The spirit of these two factions and/or started their own missions to expand their guru's mission. In the 1960s, the one of his disciples, A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada went to the West to spread Gaudiya-Vaishnavism and establish the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON), "the most successful of the Gaudiya Math's offspring," an organization that continues today. However, despite
16819-430: The supreme forms of God, Svayam Bhagavan . Most popularly, this worship takes the form of singing Radha and Krishna's holy names, such as " Hare ", "Krishna" and " Rama ", most commonly in the form of the Hare Krishna (mantra) , also known as kirtan and dancing along with it. Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the spiritual and philosophical foundation of the well-known International Society for Krishna Consciousness , a.k.a.
16958-462: The thousand names of Vishnu allude to the power of God in controlling karma . For example, the 135th name of Vishnu, Dharmadhyaksha, in Sankara 's interpretation means, "One who directly sees the merits ( Dharma ) and demerits ( Adharma ), of beings by bestowing their due rewards on them." Other names of Vishnu alluding to this nature of God are Bhavanah, the 32nd name, Vidhata, the 44th name, Apramattah,
17097-595: The tradition, is largely responsible for the current form of devotional practice embraced by some of the traditions based in Vrindavan . The "Manipuri Vaishnavism" is a regional form of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with a culture-forming role among the Meitei people in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur . There, after a short period of Ramaism penetration, Gaudiya Vaishnavism spread in the early 18th century, especially from beginning its second quarter. Raja Gharib Nawaz (Pamheiba)
17236-471: The tree of the Gaudiya Math. Many of branches of the Gaudiya Math (not all) are members of the World Vaisnava Association — Visva Vaisnava Raj Sabha (WVA–VVRS), which had been established in 1994 by some Gaudiya leaders. But after this establishment, there is little real cooperation among Gaudiya organisations. There are adherents of Gaudiya Vaishnavism in all strata of Indian society, but
17375-641: The turn of the 1st-millennium CE, it has been written in various Brahmic scripts , and in the modern era most commonly in Devanagari . Sanskrit's status, function, and place in India's cultural heritage are recognized by its inclusion in the Constitution of India 's Eighth Schedule languages . However, despite attempts at revival, there are no first-language speakers of Sanskrit in India. In each of India's recent decennial censuses, several thousand citizens have reported Sanskrit to be their mother tongue, but
17514-707: The universe, including the other divinities such as Shiva and Devi , are ultimately a manifestation of the Supreme Vishnu. Despite the existence of sahasranamas of other gods , referring a sahasranama as "The Sahasranama," generally refers to the Vishnu Sahasranama alone, thereby indicating its wide popularity and use. The names in Vishnu Sahasranama that refer to Shiva are "Shiva" (names # 27 and # 600 in Advaitin Adi Shankara 's commentary) itself, "Shambhu" (name # 38), "Ishanah" (name #6 4), and "Rudra" (name # 114). Adi Sankara of Advaita Vedanta asserts that
17653-408: The variants in the usage of Sanskrit in different regions of India. The ten Vedic scholars he quotes are Āpiśali, Kaśyapa , Gārgya, Gālava, Cakravarmaṇa, Bhāradvāja , Śākaṭāyana, Śākalya, Senaka and Sphoṭāyana. In the Aṣṭādhyāyī , language is observed in a manner that has no parallel among Greek or Latin grammarians. Pāṇini's grammar, according to Renou and Filliozat, is a classic that defines
17792-564: The vernacular Prakrits. Many Sanskrit dramas indicate that the language coexisted with the vernacular Prakrits. The cities of Varanasi , Paithan , Pune and Kanchipuram were centers of classical Sanskrit learning and public debates until the arrival of the colonial era. According to Lamotte , Sanskrit became the dominant literary and inscriptional language because of its precision in communication. It was, states Lamotte, an ideal instrument for presenting ideas, and as knowledge in Sanskrit multiplied, so did its spread and influence. Sanskrit
17931-477: The writings of previous acharyas in their respective lineage or sampradya as authoritative interpretations of scripture. While many schools like Smartism and Advaitism encourage interpretation of scriptures philosophically and metaphorically and not too literally, Chaitanya Vaishnavism stresses the literal meaning ( mukhya vṛitti ) as primary and indirect meaning ( gauṇa vṛitti ) as secondary: sākṣhād upadesas tu shrutih - "The instructions of
18070-497: The Ṛg-veda is distinctly more archaic than other Vedic texts, and in many respects, the Rigvedic language is notably more similar to those found in the archaic texts of Old Avestan Zoroastrian Gathas and Homer's Iliad and Odyssey . According to Stephanie W. Jamison and Joel P. Brereton – Indologists known for their translation of the Ṛg-veda – the Vedic Sanskrit literature "clearly inherited" from Indo-Iranian and Indo-European times
18209-457: Was a period of general decline in the movement's strength and popularity, its "lethargic state", characterized by decreased public preaching and the rise of persons following and promoting tantric teachings and practices. These groups are called apasampradayas by the Chaitanyaits. In the 17th century, Vishvanath Chakravarti Thakur held great merit in clarifying core doctrinal issues over
18348-408: Was a spoken language ( bhasha ) used by the cultured and educated. Some sutras expound upon the variant forms of spoken Sanskrit versus written Sanskrit. Chinese Buddhist pilgrim Xuanzang mentioned in his memoir that official philosophical debates in India were held in Sanskrit, not in the vernacular language of that region. According to Sanskrit linguist professor Madhav Deshpande, Sanskrit
18487-427: Was a spoken language in a colloquial form by the mid-1st millennium BCE which coexisted with a more formal, grammatically correct form of literary Sanskrit. This, states Deshpande, is true for modern languages where colloquial incorrect approximations and dialects of a language are spoken and understood, along with more "refined, sophisticated and grammatically accurate" forms of the same language being found in
18626-472: Was adopted voluntarily as a vehicle of high culture, arts, and profound ideas. Pollock disagrees with Lamotte, but concurs that Sanskrit's influence grew into what he terms a "Sanskrit Cosmopolis" over a region that included all of South Asia and much of southeast Asia. The Sanskrit language cosmopolis thrived beyond India between 300 and 1300 CE. Today, it is believed that Kashmiri is the closest language to Sanskrit. Reinöhl mentions that not only have
18765-722: Was also the language of some of the oldest surviving, authoritative and much followed philosophical works of Jainism such as the Tattvartha Sutra by Umaswati . The Sanskrit language has been one of the major means for the transmission of knowledge and ideas in Asian history. Indian texts in Sanskrit were already in China by 402 CE, carried by the influential Buddhist pilgrim Faxian who translated them into Chinese by 418 CE. Xuanzang , another Chinese Buddhist pilgrim, learnt Sanskrit in India and carried 657 Sanskrit texts to China in
18904-600: Was initiated by the two gurus of a Vaishnava-oriented group within Adi Shankara 's Dashanami order . The Prameya Ratnawali of the above-mentioned gaudiya-acharya Baladeva Vidyabhushana contains the following canonical list of disciplic succession: Krishna , Brahma , Narada , Vyasa , Madhva , Padmanabha, Nrihari, Madhava, Akshobhya, Jayatirtha, Gyanasindhu, Dayanidhi, Vidyanidhi, Rajendra, Jayadharma, Purushottama, Brahmanya, Vyasatirtha , Lakshmipati Tirtha , Madhavendra Puri , Isvara Puri , and Chaitanya. One feature of
19043-613: Was initiated into the Chaitanya tradition. Most devotee ruler and propagandist of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, under the influence of Natottama Thakura 's disciples, was raja Bhagyachandra , who has visited the holy for the Chaytanyaits Nabadwip . Rasa Lila dance became a feature of the regional folk and religious tradition. From the very beginning of Chaitanya's bhakti movement in Bengal, Haridasa Thakur and others Muslim by birth were
19182-616: Was the proponent for the Vaishnava school of Bhakti yoga (meaning loving devotion to God), based on Bhagavata Purana and Bhagavad Gita . Of various incarnations of Vishnu, he is revered as Krishna, popularised the chanting of the Hare Krishna mantra and composed the Siksastakam (eight devotional prayers) in Sanskrit . His followers, Gaudiya Vaishnavas , revere him as a Krishna with
19321-442: Was visualized as "pervading all creation", another representation of the world itself; the "mysterious magnum" of Hindu thought. The search for perfection in thought and the goal of liberation were among the dimensions of sacred sound, and the common thread that wove all ideas and inspirations together became the quest for what the ancient Indians believed to be a perfect language, the "phonocentric episteme" of Sanskrit. Sanskrit as
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