Sanskrit Diwas: The day is marked to promote Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages
Sanskrit Diwas 2020: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday thanked everyone involved in promoting, teaching and using the Sanskrit language, on World Sanskrit Day. Sanskrit Day is observed every year on the full moon day in month of Shravan or Sawan, the fourth month in the Hindu calendar.
In a tweet in Sanskrit, the Prime Minister described Sanskrit as a beautiful language which has made India a repository of knowledge for many years. He urged everyone to work towards making Sanskrit popular.
अद्य संस्कृतदिवसे ये संस्कृतभाषां पठन्ति तथा च जनेषु तस्याः प्रचारार्थं प्रयासं कुर्वन्ति तान् सर्वान् प्रणमामि। संस्कृतभाषा सुन्दरी भाषा अस्ति किञ्च सहस्रशः वर्षेभ्यः अस्माकं श्रेष्ठायाः संस्कृत्याः भागभूता अस्ति। आगामिषु वर्षेषु संस्कृतभाषायाः लोकप्रियता नितराम् अभिवर्धताम्।
— Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) August 3, 2020
Sankskrit Diwas: Five things to know
- Sanskrit Day or Sanskrit Diwas was announced by the government of India in 1969, to revive and popularise the language.
- A Sanskrit daily, Sudharma, which has an online version also, is published from Karnataka.
- There are 50 letters in Sanskrit – the first 16 are vowels and next 34 are consonants.
- Sir William Jones, an English scholar and founder of the Asiatic Society, translated Kalidasa’s Abhijnana Shakuntala and Ritu Samhara into English. He also translated Jayadeva’s Gita Govinda and the Manusmriti.
- Another scholar, Sir Charles Wilkins translated the Bhagavad Gita into English.
On Sanskrit Diwas, Education Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal said, Sanskrit is the link that unifies India. “Sanskrit is the oldest language in the world. This ancient language links India as a whole. My greetings to the nation on World Sanskrit Day 2020,” Mr. Pokhriyal wrote in Sanskrit on Twitter.
