162-506: Traditional Yudhishthira ( Sanskrit : युधिष्ठिर, IAST : Yudhiṣṭhira ) also known as Dharmaraja , was the king of Indraprastha and later the King of Kuru Kingdom in the epic Mahabharata . He is the eldest among the five Pandavas , and is also one of the central characters of the epic. Yudhishthira was the son of Kunti , the first wife of King Pandu , fathered by the god Yama due to Pandu's inability to have children. Yudhishthira held
324-568: A polyandrous marriage with Draupadi , the princess of Panchala , who became the empress of the Indraprastha. After Yudhishthira performed the Rajasuya Yagna , he was invited to play a game of dice by his jealous cousin, Duryodhana and his uncle, Shakuni . Shakuni, a master at the game, represented Duryodhana against Yudhishthira and manipulated him into gambling his kingdom, wealth, the freedom of his brothers, Draupadi, and even himself. After
486-443: A Brahmin rishi, Kindama and his wife were enjoying nature in the forest when Yudhishthira's father Pandu accidentally shot at them, mistaking them for deer. Before dying, Kindama cursed the king to die when he engages in intercourse with any woman. Due to this curse, Pandu was unable to become a father. As an additional penance for the murder, Pandu abdicated the throne of Hastinapura , and his blind brother Dhritarashtra took over
648-401: A beggar could be his friend. This outraged Drona and he wanted revenge. Acquisition of Weapons There was a sage named Agnivesha who was the former disciple of Drona's father, Bharadwaja . Agnivesha studied the use of weapons from the sage, Agastya , and passed his knowledge to Drona and Drupada. Many years later, Drona heard that the sage Parashurama was donating his wealth. However, by
810-561: A belief in dharma (morals and virtues) and was chosen to be the crown prince of Kuru. But after the Lakshagriha incident, he was presumed to be dead and his cousin Duryodhana was appointed as the new heir. The kingdom was split in half due to a succession dispute between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana. Yudhishthira received the barren half, which he later transformed into the magnificent city of Indraprastha . Yudhishthira and his brothers had
972-415: 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." Drona Droṇa ( Sanskrit : द्रोण , IAST : Droṇa ), also referred to as Dronacharya ( Sanskrit : द्रोणाचार्य , IAST : Droṇācārya ),
1134-403: A fierce duel where Yudhishthira was ultimately defeated by Drona. Yudhishthira would later assist his nephew Ghatotkacha in slaying the asura Alambusha. Yudhishthira would later defeat Duryodhana twice and the latter had to be rescued by Drona. Drona and Yudhishthira would engage in an archery duel which would end up as a stalemate. Yudhishthira would later be defeated by Kritavarma . On
1296-433: A focus on Indian philosophies and Sanskrit. Though written in a number of different scripts, 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
1458-568: A gross violation of the rules of war. Arjuna would condemn Dhrishtadyumna for this act. Drona was somewhat parallel to Bhishma both in martial powers, and, compelled by the refuge King Dhritarashtra had given him, in his unwavering commitment to fighting for Hastinapura irrespective of who the ruler was and whether or not the cause was just. Drona is often accused of dragging the Kuru dynasty into his own personal conflicts when he demanded his pupils to capture Drupada . This action would ultimately lead
1620-497: A horse was released to wander for a year, and Yudhishthira's brother Arjuna led the Pandava army, following the horse. The kings of all the countries where the horse wandered were asked to submit to Yudhishthira's rule or face war. All paid tribute, once again establishing Yudhishthira as the undisputed Emperor of Bharatavarsha. During his reign, Yudhisthira duly consulted with and reported to Dhritarashtra on governances. After 15 years,
1782-581: 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
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#17328524608081944-643: A limited role in the Theravada tradition (formerly known as 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
2106-454: 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
2268-479: 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
2430-546: 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
2592-637: A physical form. Upon his arrival, Yudhishthira finds Duryodhana and his Kaurava cousins in heaven but not his brothers and Draupadi. Furious, Yudhishthira demands that Narada take him to where he might find his family. Narada brings Yudhishthira to Hell where he encounters Karna, his brothers, Draupadi, Dhrishtadyumna, and the Upapandavas. Yudhishthira, enraged, decides that he would rather live in Hell with his family than in Heaven with his cousins. Indra then appears and lifts
2754-573: 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
2916-485: A report that his nemesis went into hiding in a nearby swamp. The Pandavas brothers and Krishna thus went to the swamp, and taunted Duryodhana off his refuge. Yudhishthira proposed a final challenge to Duryodhana, to a battle against any of the Pandavas under any weapon of Duryodhana's desire. Yudhishthira also promised Duryodhana that should he win, he would reign as the next King of Hastinapura. With Duryodhana choosing Bhima,
3078-534: 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
3240-679: A revered figure in Hindu history, and a pillar of the Indian tradition of respecting one's teacher as an equal not only of parents, but even of God. The Government of India annually awards the Dronacharya Award for excellence in sports tutelage to the best sports teachers and coaches in India . It is believed that the city of Gurgaon ( lit. ' Village of the Guru ' ) was founded as "Guru Gram" by Dronacharya on land given to him by Dhritarashtra ,
3402-623: A sacrificial yagna in order to beget a son who would kill Drona. The sages Upayaja and Yaja helped him to beget such a son Dhrishtadyumna . The sacrificial fire also yielded a daughter, Draupadi . Droṇa received the Brahmastra from Parashurama . Parashurama imparted knowledge of celestial weapons to Drona along with the mantra of invocation and withdrawal of weapons. He had a huge range of weapons like Brahmastra, Brahmashira, Narayanastra, Rudra, Agneya, Vajra etc. Nakula received this sword from Drona. Drona received Brahmashira from Guru Agnivesha and he
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#17328524608083564-427: A serious fight. Drona sent Ashwatthama to stop the fight because seeing this the citizens may get triggered by their fight. Then, Arjuna entered the hall with much appreciation and praises from the citizen of Hastinapura. He showed various archery skills to the people. Drona impressed by his beloved student Arjuna's skills then declared that Arjuna is the greatest archer in the world. Then, Karna gatecrashed and entered
3726-439: 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
3888-692: 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
4050-510: Is a major character of the Hindu epic Mahabharata . In the epic, he serves as the royal preceptor of the Kauravas and the Pandavas . He is one of the primary counsellors and warriors featured in the epic. He is a friend of Sukracharya , the guru of the asuras , as well as Mahabali . He is described to be the son of the sage Bharadvaja , and a descendant of the sage Angirasa . The preceptor
4212-467: Is a master of advanced military arts, including the divine weapons known as astras . He serves as the second commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army, from the 11th day to the 15th day. The acharya fails four times in capturing Yudhishthira (The 11th day, 12th day, 14th day, and the 14th night). He was beheaded by Dhrishtadyumna when he meditates to release his soul on the battlefield. It is said that Drona
4374-582: Is able to bypass his guru. On the 14th night of the Mahabharata war, Drona is instigated by Duryodhana's remarks of being a traitor as he was not able to protect Jayadratha. Sensing his end is near, he used the Brahmastra against the common Pandava soldiers. At that moment, all the Saptarshi appeared on the sky and requested Drona to retract this ultimate weapon used on ordinary soldiers. Drona obeyed, retracting
4536-508: 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
4698-405: Is an incarnation of Shukracharya. He is guru to the Pandavas, Kauravas, Jayadratha, and Ashwatthama , his son. Drona's name means Vessel or Bucket or Quiver. He had many other names. Some of his names are- On a river side, Sage Bharadwaja saw an apsara named Ghritachi . He was filled with desire and his seed fell into a pot or basket. Inside it, a child developed who was named Drona because he
4860-455: Is composed of the words, yudhi (masculine locative singular) meaning "in battle"—from yudh (युध्) meaning 'battle, fighting'—and sthira (स्थिर) meaning 'steady'. His other names are: According to Buddhist sources, by the late and post-Vedic periods, Kuru had become a minor state ruled by a chieftain called Koravya and belonging to the Yuddhiṭṭhila ( Yudhiṣṭhira ) gotta . Once
5022-452: 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
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5184-447: Is impressed with Abhimanyu and praises him endlessly, earning the ire of Duryodhana . With his army facing decimation and spurred on by Duryodhana's criticisms, Drona asked the Kaurava warriors to simultaneously attack Abhimanyu, to strike down his horses and his charioteer and to disable his chariot from different angles. Left without support, Abhimanyu began fighting from the ground. Exhausted after his long and prodigious feats, Abhimanyu
5346-429: Is often cited as an example of Yudhishthira's upright principles. The Yaksha later identified himself as Yudhishthira's father, Dharma, and pointed them to the kingdom of Matsya to spend their last year of exile in anoymity. Along with his brothers, Yudhishthira spent his last year of exile in the kingdom of Matsya. He disguised himself as a Brahmin named Kanka (among themselves Pandavas codenamed him Jaya) and advised
5508-524: 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
5670-475: Is stopped by Dhristadyumna . Drona severely wounds his friend's son, disarming him and forcing him to retreat. When he attempts to chase after Dhristadyumna, he is checked by Satyaki , who insults his teacher's teacher and issues a challenge. Their combat is described as fierce and despite being able to hold off Drona for several hours, Satyaki eventually tires and has to be rescued by the Upapandavas . Later in
5832-479: 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,
5994-580: Is the predominant language of one of the largest collection of historic manuscripts. The earliest known inscriptions in Sanskrit are from 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
6156-526: 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
6318-460: The Chakravyuha strategy to capture Yudhishtira, knowing that only Arjuna and Krishna would know how to penetrate it. The Trigartas were distracting Arjuna and Krishna into another part of the battlefield, allowing the main Kaurava army to surge through the Pandava ranks. Unknown to many, Arjuna's young son Abhimanyu had the knowledge to penetrate the formation but did not know the way out. At
6480-508: The Akshaya Patra , to Yudhishthira, saying that any food cooked in that vessel would be inexhaustible, until Draupadi finished her daily meal. He also blessed Yudhishthira that the latter would regain his kingdom fourteen years later. Sage Vyasa imparts the Pratismriti to Yudhishthira and tells him to pass it down to Arjuna. On Vyasa's advice, Yudhishthira permits Arjuna to perform penance in
6642-568: 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
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6804-613: 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
6966-531: The Kurukshetra War and defeated many venerable warriors such as Shalya . He then ruled the Kuru Kingdom for 36 years until announcing his retirement. At the end of the epic, he was the only one among his brothers to ascend to heaven while retaining his mortal body. The word Yudhiṣṭhira is an aluk compound (meaning it preserves the case ending of its first part). It means "one who is steady in battle". It
7128-744: 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
7290-532: 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 ,
7452-526: 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
7614-406: 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
7776-500: 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
7938-464: The 10th day, he became the Chief Commander of the Kaurava army on the 11th day of war. Duryodhana manages to convince Drona to try to end the war by capturing Yudhishthira . Though he killed hundreds and thousands of Pandava troops, Drona failed to capture Yudhishthira on the 11th and 12th day of the war, as Arjuna was always there to repel his advances. On the 13th day of the war, Drona formed
8100-414: 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
8262-409: The 15th day, Yudhishthira was approached by Drona , in the latter' inquiry on the death of his son Ashwatthama whom he heard to have died at Bhima's hand. Torn between his duty to cripple Drona and upholding his morals, Yudhishthira opted to half truth where he confirmed the death of Ashwatthama the elephant, but omitted the contextual part that it was an elephant and not his son. This was effective in
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#17328524608088424-521: 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
8586-425: The Classical Sanskrit language launched ancient Indian speculations about "the nature and function of language", what 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
8748-521: 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
8910-513: 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
9072-455: The Himalayas and obtain celestial weapons from the gods. During Arjuna's absence, Sage Brihadashva consoles Yudhishthira by narrating the story of Nala and Damayanti . Brihadashva advises Yudhishthira not give in to misery despite the wretched conditions he lives in. At the end of the story, Yudhishthira received a mantra from the sage, which makes him a master of gambling. One day, while Bhima
9234-469: 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
9396-507: 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
9558-564: The Kingdom of Panchala developing hostile relations with Hastinapura. Drona was also notably silent during Draupadi 's disrobing as he was afraid of antagonizing the Kauravas. Drona was criticized for many of his actions during the war: Drona's overarching actions during the war are portrayed differently. When he became commander-in-chief , the rules of war were averted. Divine weapons were used against ordinary soldiers, war continued throughout
9720-474: The Kuru princes, he demanded that they invade Panchala and bring Draupada as their Gurudakshina. Arjuna succeeds in defeating Drupada and brings the captured king to Drona. Drona reminds Drupada about their days of friendship and his false promise before taking away half of the Panchala kingdom. Drona would make Ashwatthama the king of the annexed half of the Panchala kingdom. This action would lead Drupada to perform
9882-521: 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
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#173285246080810044-489: 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
10206-454: The Pandavas, accompanied by a dog, made their final journey of pilgrimage to the Himalayas . During their pilgrimage, each one starting with Draupadi, fell down dead upon the mountains. Yudhishthira cites Draupadi's partiality for Arjuna, Sahadeva's pride in his wisdom, Nakula's vanity in his beauty, Arjuna's boastfulness of his archery, and Bhima's negligence of the needs of others while eating as
10368-488: 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
10530-616: 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
10692-447: 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
10854-451: 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
11016-455: 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
11178-409: The arena and surpassed everyone's expectations and performances with the permission of Drona. He then challenged Arjuna for a duel and Kripa demanded that Karna state his lineage. Karna could not answer as he does not know who are his real parents. Duryodhana then made Karna the king of Anga. Then sunset occurred and the duel of Karna and Arjuna was stopped. After Drona completed the formal training of
11340-428: The art of maces, Ashwatthama excelled in the use of astras, Nakula and Sahadeva excelled in swordsmanship, Yudhishthira excelled in charioteering, and Arjunaexcelled in archery. When Arjuna, inspired by his brother Bhima 's nocturnal eating, mastered archery in absolute darkness, Drona was moved. Drona was greatly impressed by Arjuna's concentration, determination, and drive, and promised him that he would become
11502-511: The battlefield to search for him, only to find him taking refuge in camp. Furious at Arjuna for not killing Karna yet, Yudhishthira insults him by suggesting Arjuna should hand over the Gandiva to another warrior if he does not think he is able to slay Karna. Arjuna, enraged from Yudhishthira's insult, attempted to kill him with his sword but was stopped from doing so due to Krishna's intervention. Filled with regret, Arjuna attempted to commit suicide but
11664-445: The battlefield, the brothers proved valiance, defending King Virata before finally defeating King Susharma. While Yudhishthira and King Virata were away battling Susharma, the city was marched upon by the host from Hastinapur. Prince Uttar and Brihannala ( Arjuna ), who were left in defense of the city, rallied to defend the kingdom, where Arjuna revealed his identity and fended off the invasion. When King Virata returned from his battle,
11826-440: 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
11988-472: The characteristics of the Yugas, the story of King Shibi , and the story of Savitri and Satyavan . He also narrated the story of Rama to Yudhishthira, and discoursed on spiritual philosophy. During their exile, the four other Pandavas happened upon a lake, which was haunted by a Yaksha . The Yaksha challenged the brothers to answer his moral questions before drinking the water; the four Pandavas laughed and drank
12150-517: 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
12312-609: 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
12474-639: 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
12636-509: The day, Yudhishthira sends Satyaki to aid Arjuna. When Satyaki comes upon Drona, he circumvents him, saying he must follow in his teacher's footsteps. When Yudhishthira later sends Bhima , Drona recounts what happened with Arjuna and Satyaki, and hence makes sure he does not allow Bhima also to circumvent him. Angrily rebuking him, Bhima shatters Drona's chariot with his mace. Drona takes up another chariot, only for Bhima to smash that one as well. In total, Bhima smashes eight of Drona's chariots and
12798-512: The demonstration of weapon-game by the princes. An arena was prepared. Drona entered the arena. Drona worshiped the gods as a form of preparatory rites. Then he invited the Brahmins to bless his disciples. After that the students gave gold, precious stones, clothes and other valuables to the teacher. The teacher blessed him. With this the demonstration started. Bhima and Duryodhana showed their skills by fighting with each other. The mock fight turned into
12960-467: 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
13122-467: 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
13284-456: 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
13446-483: 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
13608-477: The education of the Kuru princes. After being insulted by Drupada, Drona and his family went to live with his brother-in-law, Kripa , in Hastinapura. There, Drona encountered the young Kuru princes and demonstrated his skill by pulling their ball from a well using only stalks of grass attached from end-to-end with the power of mantras. Upon learning this feat, Bhishma immediately recognised Drona and appointed him as
13770-469: The entire Pandava army that day. Knowing it would be impossible to defeat an armed Drona that day since Arjuna refuses to kill his guru, Krishna suggests a plan to disarm Drona by some means of contrivance. Bhima would then proceed to kill an elephant named Ashwatthama, and then claim to Drona that he has killed his son. Disbelieving his claim, Drona approached Yudhishthira, knowing of Yudhishthira's firm adherence to Dharma and honesty. When Drona asked for
13932-543: 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
14094-536: The former king, his consort Gandhari , Queen Mother Kunti , and Prime Minister Vidura decided to retire to the forest, where they pass away years later. These events greatly saddened Yudhishthira and the Pandavas brothers. Upon the onset of the Kali Yuga and the departure of Krishna, Yudhishthira and his brothers retired, leaving the throne to their only descendant to survive the war of Kurukshetra, Arjuna's grandson, Parikshit . Giving up all their belongings and ties,
14256-551: The former purpose of crippling Drona, but also caused his own chariot to finally fall down to the ground, instead of slightly levitating as it had been before this incident. Yudhishthira was one of 5 individuals who witnessed Drona's spirit leaving his body. On the 17th day, he injured Duryodhana badly and was about to kill him but decided to spare him on Bhima's advice who reminded him of his vow to kill Duryodhana. Yudhishthira would be defeated by both Karna and Ashwatthama . Worried for Yudhishthira's safety, Arjuna retreats from
14418-412: 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
14580-512: The game again and was forced into exile for 13 years, which included one year in anonymity. Some time after going to the forests, Yudhishthira became troubled upon realising that he was unable to feed the Brahmanas who followed him to the forests. On the advice of his priest, Sage Dhaumya, Yudhishthira stood in river and appeased Surya , the Sun god, by reciting his 108 names. The god gifted a copper plate,
14742-486: The game of dice to the king. Following the death of Kichaka by Bhima, Matsya was invaded by King Susharma of Trigarta , in retaliation to the raidings his kingdom had suffered by Kichaka, and in cooperation with Duryodhana of Hastinapur. When Susharma's army closed the kingdom, Kanka volunteered to follow King Virata to face the invader, and took along his three brothers, Vallabha ( Bhima ), Granthika ( Nakula ), and Tantripala ( Sahadeva ), with him and while disguised. On
14904-448: The game, the Pandavas and Draupadi were sent into exile for thirteen years, with the last year requiring them to go incognito. During his exile, Yudhisthira was tested by his divine father Yama. For the last year of the exile known as Agyaata Vaasa , Yudhishthira disguised himself as Kanka and served the King of Matsya Kingdom . Yudhishthira was the leader of the successful Pandava faction in
15066-537: 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. — Rigveda 10.71.1–4 Translated by Roger Woodard The Vedic Sanskrit found in
15228-525: The greatest archer on earth. Ekalavya , the son of a Nishadha chief, approached Drona seeking his instruction. But since Ekalavya belonged to the Nishada tribe, Drona refused to train him alongside the Kauravas and Pandavas. Undeterred, Ekalavya began study and practice by himself, having fashioned a clay idol of Drona's to watch over his training. Solely by his determination, Ekalavya became an archer of exceptional skill. One day, Ekalavya's focus in training
15390-431: 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
15552-441: The identities of all Pandavas were revealed, and Yudhishthira congratulated the marriage between Princess Uttarā and Abhimanyu , as Arjuna has suggested. When the period of exile was completed, Duryodhana refused to return Yudhishthira's kingdom. Yudhishthira made numerous diplomatic efforts to retrieve his kingdom peacefully but in vain. Left with no other option, Yudhishthira wages war. The flag of Yudhishthira's chariot bore
15714-514: The illusion, informing Yudhishthira of his deception. Indra reveals that Yudhishthira has been shown a glimpse of Hell due to deceiving Drona with his white lie. Yama congratulates his son on passing his third and final test, the first being the Yaksha Prashna, and the second being his refusal to abandon the dog. Yudhishthira would then bathe in the Heavenly Ganga, casting off his mortal form and
15876-495: The image of a golden moon with planets around it. Two large and beautiful kettle-drums, called Nanda and Upananda, were tied to it. Before the war started, Yudhishthira stepped down from his chariot to take blessings from his grandsire Bhishma , teachers Drona and Kripa and uncle Shalya , who all were in his opposite side in the war showing his respect towards his elders. He also asked the willing Kauravas to join his side. On his request one of Dhritarashtra sons, Yuyutsu joined
16038-478: 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
16200-558: The kingdom to Pandavas to rule. However the land was under the control of Takshaka . Pandavas defeated Takshaka and with the help of Mayasura , they built a magnificent city named Indraprastha . Some years after his coronation at Indraprastha, Yudhishthira set out to perform the Rajasuya yagna. Arjuna , Bhima , Nakula , and Sahadeva led armies across the four corners of the world to obtain tributes from all kingdoms for Yudhishthira's sacrifice. The non-compliant Magadha king, Jarasandha
16362-432: The largest cultural heritage that any civilization has produced prior to the invention of the printing press. — Foreword of Sanskrit Computational Linguistics (2009), Gérard Huet, Amba Kulkarni and Peter Scharf 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
16524-412: 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
16686-503: 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 ,
16848-501: 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
17010-429: 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
17172-401: 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
17334-593: 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
17496-522: The night, warriors no longer engaged each other one-on-one, etc. Specifically, he was willing to try to end the war by capturing Yudhishthira , while Karna was not, as he considered it lacking honor. In other versions, Drona's differences in strategy are shown as a difference in philosophy - Drona believed, that as the commander-in-chief of the Kaurava army, his goal was to ensure the protection of his soldiers through any means necessary. The acharya remains
17658-583: 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,
17820-403: 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
17982-445: The other Pandavas brothers, Krishna and Balarama witnessed the mace duel between the mace fighters. When Bhima finally defeated Duryodhana and started insulting his nemesis, Yudhishthira became sufficiently displeased with his brother's disrespect and ordered Bhima off the battleground. Ultimately, Yudhishthira heard out Duryodhana's final conversation and lamentation, before leaving the fallen Kauravas' overlord on his deathbed. After he
18144-431: 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
18306-414: 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
18468-443: The preceptor of the Kuru princes. But out of all of them, Arjuna stood was the most prominent. Once, Arjuna had saved Drona from a crocodile while the latter was bathing in a stream. As a reward, Drona gave Arjuna mantras to invoke the super-powerful divine weapon of Brahma known as Brahmashirshastra , but told Arjuna not to use this invincible weapon against any mortal. Under Drona's tutelage, Duryodhana and Bhima excelled in
18630-439: 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
18792-509: The princes and their mother survived. They were heartbroken and decided to hide from Hastinapura. Later, Arjuna attended Draupadi's swayamvar and won her hand in marriage. But due to Kunti's misunderstanding, Draupadi became the common wife of all the Pandavas. Later at Indraprastha , Draupadi bore Yudhishthira a son, Prativindhya and a daughter, Suthanu. Suthanu was later married to Asvabhanu, Krishna and Satyabhama's eldest son. Although Yudhishthira had another wife named Devika , Draupadi
18954-480: 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
19116-464: The reasons for their fall. Finally, it was Yudhishthira who was able to reach the top, with the dog accompanying him. On reaching the top, Indra congratulates him and promises Yudhishthira immortality and godhood upon his ascent to Heaven. However, Indra asks him to abandon the dog before entering Heaven. But Yudhishthira refused to do so, citing the dog's unflinching devotion as a reason. Indra retorts that he has abandoned his brothers and wife to reach
19278-596: 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
19440-410: The reins of the kingdom. After knowing the curse of Pandu, Kunti told him that he could be the father of the child and told her boon of sage Durvasa. Then Pandu requested Kunti to apply her boon and suggested to call Dharma to get a truthful, knowledgeable and justice knowing son who can rule Hastinapur. On the full moon of May (Sanskrit: Jyeshth masa) first and the eldest of the Pandavas, Yudhishthira
19602-490: 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,
19764-477: The request of Yudhishthira, Abhimanyu agreed to lead the way for the Pandava army and was able to penetrate the formation. However, he was trapped when Jayadratha , the King of Sindhu , held the Pandava warriors who were following him, at bay. Abhimanyu did not know how to get out of the Chakravyuha , but embarked upon an all-out attack on the Kaurava army, killing tens of thousands of warriors single-handedly. Drona
19926-558: The role of language, the ontological status of painting word-images through sound, and the need for rules so that it can serve as 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
20088-502: The royal families visited Bhishma , who had been lying on the bed of arrows since his defeat. Bhishma bestowed the new king with Anushasana , teaching the new king in series of dharma and royal conducts, before the elder guardian surrendered his life by his own will. Yudhishthira then cremated the former protector of Hastinapur in a great ceremony. Later, he performed the Ashvamedha on Krishna and Vyasa 's insistence. In this sacrifice,
20250-641: The same guru Drona that Arjuna was learning. Drona was in a tangle: on the one hand, he promised Arjuna that he would make him the greatest archer on earth; on the other hand, Ekalavya had indeed been training as his pupil without his consent, albeit being guided only by his idol. To resolve the matter, Drona accepted Ekalavya as his student, but demanded the thumb on his dominant hand as gurudakshina , or teacher's payment, in order to limit his abilities and further growth in archery, thus pacifying Arjuna. Ekalavya, being an exemplary disciple, immediately cut off his thumb and presented it to Drona. Dhritarashtra approved
20412-491: 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
20574-551: 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
20736-594: 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
20898-481: The time Drona reached Parashurama's hermitage in the Mahendra Mountain, the latter had already given away all his wealth. He had only his body and his weapons to give away. Drona chose to have Parashurama's weapons and acquired the knowledge of weapons from the sage. Thus, Drona was able to become a renowned warrior and an instructor of archery and other weapons. Drona along with Kripa was brought by Bhishma for
21060-401: The time. He closed his eyes and came out of the gambling hall even when he lost everything. Otherwise the entire Kuru court and all the one who were present would be burnt into ashes. Sanskrit Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively 𑀲𑀁𑀲𑁆𑀓𑀾𑀢𑀁 , संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] )
21222-409: The top of the Himalayas, but Yudhishthira said he could not prevent their deaths, but to abandon a poor creature was a great sin. It turns out that the dog was his father Yama in disguise. Yama congratulates his son and commends him on his unwavering principles. Yudhishthira proceeds to Heaven upon a celestial vehicle with Narada as his guide, who informs him that he is the first mortal to enter Heaven in
21384-451: The truth, Yudhishthira responded with "Ashwatthama is dead, the elephant." Adding the word elephant indistinctly so that Drona could not hear it. Then Drona descended from his chariot, laid down his arms and sat on the ground in meditation to find his son's soul. Pandavas wanted to use this opportunity to arrest him, but enraged by the death of his father and several Panchala warriors, Dhrishtadyumna took this opportunity and beheads him, in
21546-641: 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
21708-408: 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
21870-564: 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
22032-485: The war on the side of Pandavas. Yudhishthira was described to be an excellent car-warrior and a master at spear-fighting. Yudhishthira defeated many warriors in the war, like Duryodhana. Yudhishthira’s spear originally belonged to Ishana which he would use to kill Shalya during the war. On the 14th day of the war, while Arjuna was busy searching for Jayadratha , Drona attempted to capture Yudhishthira but Arjuna would foil Drona's plans. Yudhishthira and Drona engaged in
22194-539: The water anyway. As a result, they choked on the water and died. Yudhishthira went in last, answered many questions put forth to him by the Yaksha. After the Yaksha was satisfied with the answers, he offered Yudhishthira the choice to bring back one of his brother, and Yudhishthira chose Nakula. When the Yaksha questioned him on his reasoning, Yudhishthira replied that he is still alive as Kunti's lineage, but there are no one alive as Madri 's lineage, so he chose Nakula. The Yaksha
22356-408: The weapon. The rishis continue and berate Drona for violating the rules of war, criticizing him for using divine weapons so indiscriminately. On the 15th day, Drona kills many Pandava soldiers, including Virata in arrow-play and Drupada in a sword fight. Lamenting the deterioration of their friendship, Drona pays his respect to Drupada's corpse. Drona and his son Ashwatthama unleashed havoc upon
22518-497: 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
22680-440: Was Jayadratha and stood at the head of the box formation or Shakata vyuha In the early part of the day, Arjuna and he duel, and Arjuna is unable to bypass his preceptor. With Krishna's prodding, Arjuna circumvents Drona. When Duryodhana rages at Drona, Drona replies and that he intends to capture Yudhishthira while Arjuna is away and would only hasten their victory. In a notable battle, Drona attempts to capture Yudhishthira but
22842-408: 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
23004-427: 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
23166-472: 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
23328-722: 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
23490-415: Was also the student of Sage Bharadwaja. Drona had been the preceptor of most kings involved in the Kurukshetra War on both sides. Drona strongly condemned Duryodhana exiling the Pandavas, as well as the Kauravas' general abuse towards the Pandavas. But being a servant of Hastinapura , Drona was duty-bound to fight for the Kauravas, and thus against his favorite Pandavas. After the fall of Bhishma on
23652-479: Was born in a pot and was brought to the ashram. In Sage Bharadwaja's ashram, his son Drona and Prince Drupada were educated. Drona and Drupada became best friends, and Drupada promises to share his wealth and kingdom with Drona when he becomes king. Time passed, and Drupada became the king of Panchala, and Drona became a sage and teacher. Drona had a son named Ashwatthama . Drona was not interested in material wealth and became poor. Once, Drona's son Ashwatthama
23814-432: Was born to this couple. When the Pandavas returned to Hastinapura after hiding, there was conflict between Yudhishthira and Duryodhana regarding as the crown prince of Hastinapura. Yudhishthira was originally made the crown prince of Hastinapura, but after the event of Lakshagriha, people thought that he was dead, and Duryodhana was made the new crown prince of Hastinapura. On Bhishma 's advice, Dhritarashtra gave half of
23976-414: Was born. Yudhishthira's four younger brothers were Bhima (born by invoking Vayu ); Arjuna (born by invoking Indra ); and the twins Nakula and Sahadeva (born by invoking Aśvins ). Yudhishthira was trained in religion, science, administration and military arts by the Kuru preceptors, Kripa and Drona . Specifically, he became a master in using the spear and war chariot. It is said that his spear
24138-432: Was defeated by Bhima and Krishna. At his sacrifice, Yudhishthira chose Krishna as his honored guest. At the yajna, many kings were present there, including Duryodhana and Shishupala . Shishupala was beheaded by Krishna for his evil deeds. An annoyed and jealous Duryodhana returned to Hastinapura. Yudhishthira was challenged to play a game of dice in Hastinapura by his cousin, Duryodhana. Duryodhana invited him because he
24300-441: Was dissuaded from doing so by Krishna . The brothers would reconcile their differences and embrace each other. On the last day of the war, Yudhishthira was highly energetic for the day, and engaged in a fierce duel against the Kauravas' final supreme commander, Shalya . With Bhima's assistance, Yudhishthira managed to slay his uncle. With the battlefield cleared of the Kauravas but no sight of Duryodhana, Yudhishthira received
24462-419: Was disturbed by the barking of a dog belonging to the Kuru princes. Ekalavya fired arrows that filled up the dog's mouth without spilling blood or causing injury to the dog. The Kuru princes were amazed by the trick and looked for the archer when they saw Ekalavya, who introduced himself as a pupil of Drona's. This made Arjuna jealous and sad about Ekalavya's archery skills as he said that he learnt indirectly from
24624-523: Was eventually killed. After that, several who fought against Abhimanyu were criticized for their murder, such as Bhurishrava , Drona and Karna . The devious murder of his son enraged Arjuna, who swore to kill Jayadratha the next day or immolate himself. Drona constructed 3 combined vyuhas to protect Jayadratha, first was the Shakata vyuha then was Padma Vyuha and last was the Srigantaka vyuha and at its rear
24786-419: Was his chief consort as well as the empress. Yudhishthira was married to Devika in a self-choice marriage ceremony, arranged by her father Govasena, who was the king of Sivi Kingdom . They had a son, Yaudheya. According to Puranas, Yaudheya was also the name of the son of Prativindhya. The Bhagavata Purana , as well as Vishnu Purana , also mention Pauravi as one of the wives of Yudhishthira. A son named Devaka
24948-686: Was impressed again, and revived all of the Pandavas siblings. The Yaksha asked for any other wish as he was impressed and told him he could ask for wealth, strength, power, anything he wished. Yudhishthira said he already got the strength, wealth and power when all his four brothers were revived and said he could not ask for any other wish. Yudhishthira replied, "It is enough that I have beheld thee with my senses, eternal God of gods as thou art! O father, whatever boon thou wilt confer on me I shall surely accept gladly! May I, O lord, always conquer covetousness and folly and anger, and may my mind be ever devoted to charity, truth, and ascetic austerities!" This story
25110-522: Was jealous of Yudhishthira's wealth and power that he witnessed at the Rajasuya. Shakuni used the dice made from the bones of his father, which always ensured that he got the number he wanted and Yudhisthira was allowed to bet whatever he had he was proud of and had right over. After losing his brothers and his empire, he bet himself and also his wife which lead to the Vastraharan. Later, he lost his kingdom in
25272-453: Was made aware that Karna was his elder brother, Yudhishthira cursed all women with not being able to hide any secrets. Had Yudhishthira's mother Kunti not kept that fact a secret, the war might have been averted, with millions spared. After getting victory in the war, Yudhishthira was crowned as the Emperor of Hastinapura and reigned for 36 years. Fifty days after the war, Yudhishthira and
25434-440: Was playing with his friends. His friends were drinking milk and he wanted to drink it too. But his friends mixed flour with water and gave it to him. Ashamed of being unable to provide for his son due to his poverty, Drona remembers Drupada 's promise. He went to Drupada's palace in hopes that Drupada would remember his promise and share his wealth with him. But Drupada, having grown vain, refused. He also insulted Drona by asking how
25596-587: Was reunited with his family in Svarga . Yudhishthira was master in spear-fighting and chariot racing. Yudhishthira was a polyglot, knowing unusual languages. After being exiled by Duryodhana, Yudhishthira became adept at controlling the dice after learning a mantra from Sage Brihadashwa. He was a hero known for his honesty, justice, sagacity, tolerance, good behavior and discernment. Yudhishthira could burn down anyone into ashes when he sees someone with his wrath and anger. That's why he used to be calm and composed most of
25758-421: Was roaming the forests, he was captured by a giant serpent, who suppressed the Pandava's might with his gaze. Meanwhile, a worried Yudhishthira searched for Bhima and found him at the mercy of the snake. To Yudhishthira's shock, the snake introduces itself to be the ancient King Nahusha , the father of Yayati , and the legendary ancestor of the Pandavas. Nahusha posed questions on spirituality to Yudhishthira and
25920-729: Was satisfied with his answers. In turn, he also clarified Yudhishthira's doubts on some spiritual topics. Nahusha then narrated his story to Yudhishthira, on how he used to rule Svarga in the days of yore, how he became intoxicated with hubris, and how he turned into a snake due to the curse of the sages, Bhrigu and Agastya . Nahusha used his own story to warn Yudhishthira about the consequences of being arrogant. Agastya and Bhrigu had prophesized that Yudhishthira would rescue Nahusha from his curse. After conversing with Yudhishthira, Nahusha regained his original form and returned to Svarga. The ever-youthful sage, Markandeya , once visited Yudhishthira. He narrated many stories to Yudhishthira, including
26082-481: Was so strong that it could penetrate a stone wall as though it were a piece of paper. His chariot always flew at a 4 finger distance above the ground due to his piety. After Yudhishthira and his brothers completed their studies, they returned to Hastinapur . Duryodhana along with Shakuni planned to kill them and sent Yudhishthira, his siblings, and his mother to a palace made of wax called Lakshagriha . One night, Shakuni's man, Purochana , set it on fire. However,
26244-442: 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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