Modern scientists hail the ancient language of the gods as the only unambiguous natural language on the planet

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This interesting article refers to a NASA article on Sanskrit in AI(Artificial Intelligence) Magazine
in Spring of 1985 written by NASA researcher, Rick Briggs.

(sections in red were highlighted be me - dina)

In ancient India the intention to discover truth was so Spring of 1985 written NASA researcher, Rick
consuming, that in the process, they discovered Briggs.
perhaps the most perfect tool for fulfilling such a
search that the world has ever known -- the Sanskrit In the past twenty years, much time, effort, and
language. money has been expended on designing an
unambiguous representation of natural languages to
Of all the discoveries that have occurred and make them accessible to computer processing. These
developed in the course of human history, language efforts have centered around creating schemata
is the most significant and probably the most taken designed to parallel logical relations with relations
for granted. Without language, civilization could expressed by the syntax and semantics of natural
obviously not exist. On the other hand, to the degree languages, which are clearly cumbersome and
that language becomes sophisticated and accurate in ambiguous in their function as vehicles for the
describing the subtlety and complexity of human life, transmission of logical data. Understandably, there is
we gain power and effectiveness in meeting its a widespread belief that natural languages are
challenges. The access to modern technology which unsuitable for the transmission of many ideas that
has been designed to give ease, efficiency and artificial languages can render with great precision
enjoyment in meeting our daily needs did not exist at and mathematical rigor.
the beginning of the century. It was made possible by
accelerated advancement in the field of mathematics, But this dichotomy, which has served as a premise
a "language" which has helped us to discover the underlying much work in the areas of linguistics and
interrelationship of energy and matter with a high artificial intelligence, is a false one. There is at least
degree of precision. The resulting technology is one language, Sanskrit, which for the duration of
evidence of the tremendous power that is unleashed almost 1000 years was a living spoken language with
simply by being able to make the finer and finer a considerable literature of its own. Besides works of
distinction that a language like mathematics affords. literary value, there was a long philosophical and
grammatical tradition that has continued to exist with
At the same time humankind has fallen far behind the undiminished vigor until the present century. Among
advancements in technology. The precarious state of the accomplishments of the grammarians can be
political and ecological imbalance that we are now reckoned a method for paraphrasing Sanskrit in a
experiencing is an obvious sign of the power of manner that is identical not only in essence but in
technology far exceeding the power of human beings form with current work in Artificial Intelligence.
to be in control of it. It could easily be argued that we This article demonstrates that a natural language can
have fallen far behind the advancements in serve as an artificial language also, and that much
technology, simply because the languages we use for work in AI has been reinventing a wheel millennia
daily communication do not help us to make the old.
distinctions required to be in balance with the
technology that has taken over our lives. The discovery is of monumental significance. It is
mind-boggling to consider that we have available to
Relevant to this there has recently been an us a language which has been spoken for 4-7000
astounding discovery made at the NASA research years that appears to be in every respect a perfect
center. The following quote is from an article which language designed for enlightened communication.
appeared in AI Magazine (Artificial Intelligence) in But the most stunning aspect of the discovery is this:
NASA the most advanced research center in the extraordinary vitality and excitement about
world for cutting edge technology has discovered uncovering the unknown.
that Sanskrit, the world's oldest spiritual
language is the only unambiguous spoken It can also be inferred that the discoveries that
language on the planet. occurred in India in the first millennia B.C. were also
the result of collaboration and inquiry by a
In early AI research it was discovered that in order to community of spiritual scientists utilizing a common
clear up the inherent ambiguity of natural languages scientific language, Sanskrit. The truth of this is
for computer comprehension, it was necessary to further accented by the fact that throughout the
utilize semantic net systems to encode the actual history and development of Indian thought the
meaning of the sentence. Briggs gives the example of science of grammar and linguistics was attributed a
how a simple sentence would be represented in a status equal to that of mathematics in the context of
semantic net. modern scientific investigation. In deference to the
thoroughness and depth with which the ancient
Example: "John gave the ball to Mary." grammatical scientists established the science of
give, agent, John language, modern linguistic researchers in Russia
give, object, ball have concluded about Sanskrit, "The time has come
give, recipient, Mary to continue the tradition of the ancient grammarians
give, time, past on the basis of the modern ideas in general
linguistics."
He further comments, "The degree to which a
semantic net (or any unambiguous nonsyntactic Sanskrit is the most ancient member of the European
representation) is cumbersome and odd-sounding in a family of languages. It is an elder sister of Latin and
natural language is the degree to which that language Greek from which most of the modern European
is "natural" and deviates from the precise or languages have been derived. The oldest preserved
"artificial". As we shall see, there was a language form of Sanskrit is referred to as Vedic . The oldest
(Sanskrit) spoken among an ancient scientific extant example of the literature of the Vedic period is
community that has a deviation of zero." the Rig-Veda . Being strictly in verse, the Rig-Veda
does not give us a record of the contemporary spoken
Considering Sanskrit's status as a spiritual language, language.
a further implication of this discovery is that the age
old dichotomy between religion and science is an The very name "Sanskrit" meant "language brought
entirely unjustified one. to formal perfection" in contrast to the common
languages, Prakrits or "natural" languages. The form
It is also relevant to note that in the last decade of Sanskrit which has been used for the last 2500
physicists have begun to comment on the striking years is known today as Classical Sanskrit. The
similarities between their own discoveries and the norms of classical Sanskrit were established by the
discoveries made thousands of years ago in India ancient grammarians. Although no records are
which went on to form the basis of most Eastern available of their work, their efforts reached a climax
religions. in the 5th century B.C. in the great grammatical
treatise of Panini, which became the standard for
Because of the high level of collaboration required in correct speech with such comprehensive authority
uncovering the nature of energy and matter, it is that it has remained so, with little alteration until
inconceivable that it ever could have taken place present times.
without a common language, namely mathematics.
This is a perfect example of using a language for Based on what the grammarians themselves have
discovering and designing life. The language of stated, we may conclude that the Sanskrit grammar
mathematics, being inherently unambiguous, was an attempt to discipline and explain a spoken
minimizes personal interpretation and therefore language.
maximizes opportunity for exploration and
discovery. The result of this is a worldwide The NASA article corroborates this in saying that
community of scientists working together with Indian grammatical analysis "probably has to do with

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an age old Indo-Aryan preoccupation to discover the The discussion until now has been about Sanskrit, the
nature of reality behind the impressions we human language of mathematical precision, the world's only
beings receive through the operation of our senses." unambiguous spoken language. But the linguistic
perfection of Sanskrit offers only a partial
Until 1100 A.D., Sanskrit was without interruption explanation for its sustained presence in the world for
the official language of the whole of India. The at least 3000 years. High precision in and of itself is
dominance of Sanskrit is indicated by a wealth of of limited scope. Generally it excites the brain but
literature of widely diverse genres including religious not the heart. Sanskrit is indeed a perfect language in
and philosophical; fiction (short story, fable, novels, the same sense as mathematics, but Sanskrit is also a
and plays); scientific literature including linguistics, perfect language in the sense that, like music, it has
mathematics, astronomy, and medicine; as well as the power to uplift the heart.
law and politics.
It's conceivable that for a few rare and inspired
With the Muslim invasions from 1100 A.D. onwards, geniuses, mathematics can reach the point of
Sanskrit gradually became displaced by common becoming music or music becoming mathematics.
languages patronized by the Muslim kings as a tactic The extraordinary thing about Sanskrit is that it
to suppress Indian cultural and religious tradition and offers direct accessibility by anyone to that elevated
supplant it with their own beliefs. But they could not plane where the two, mathematics and music, brain
eliminate the literary and spiritual- ritual use of and heart, analytical and intuitive, scientific and
Sanskrit. spiritual become one. This is fertile ground for
revelation. Great discoveries occur, whether through
Even today in India, there is a strong movement to mathematics or music or Sanskrit, not by the
return Sanskrit to the status of "national language of calculations or manipulations of the human mind, but
India." Sanskrit being a language derived from where the living language is expressed and heard in a
simple monosyllabic verbal roots through the state of joy and communion with the natural laws of
addition of appropriate prefixes and suffixes existence.
according to precise grammatical laws has an infinite
capacity to grow, adapt and expand according to the Why has Sanskrit endured? Fundamentally it
requirements of change in a rapidly evolving world. generates clarity and inspiration. And that clarity and
inspiration is directly responsible for a brilliance of
Even in the last two centuries, due to the rapid creative expression such as the world has rarely seen.
advances in technology and science, a literature
abundant with new and improvised vocabulary has The Ancient and classical creations of the Sanskrit
come into existence. Although such additions are tongue both in quality and in body and abundance of
based on the grammatical principles of Sanskrit, and excellence, in their potent originality and force and
mostly composed of Sanskrit roots, still contributions beauty, in their substance and art and structure, in
from Hindi and other national and international grandeur and justice and charm of speech and in the
languages have been assimilated. For example: The height and width of the reach of their spirit stand
word for television, duuradarshanam, meaning "that very evidently in the front rank among the world's
which provides a vision of what is far away " is great literatures. The language itself, as has been
derived purely from Sanskrit. universally recognized by those competent to form
a judgment, is one of the most magnificent, the
Furthermore, there are at least a dozen periodicals most perfect and wonderfully sufficient literary
published in Sanskrit, all-India radio news broadcast instruments developed by the human mind, at
in Sanskrit, television shows and feature movies once majestic and sweet and flexible, strong and
produced in Sanskrit, one village of 3000 inhabitants clearly-formed and full and vibrant and subtle, and its
who communicate through Sanskrit alone, not to quality and character would be of itself a sufficient
mention countless smaller intellectual communities evidence of the character and quality of the race
throughout India, schools, as well as families where whose mind it expressed and the culture of which it
Sanskrit is fostered. Contemporary Sanskrit is alive was the reflecting medium.
and well.

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Sanskrit after all is the language of mantra -- words in India today is, "It's too difficult." Actually Sanskrit
of power that are subtly attuned to the unseen is not difficult. On the contrary, there are few greater
harmonies of the matrix of creation, the world as yet enjoyments. The first stage, experiencing the
unformed. The possibility of such a finely attuned individual power of each of the 49 basic sounds of
language is only conceivable by drawing upon the Sanskrit alphabet is pure discovery, especially for
sounds so inherently pure in combinations so Westerners who have never paid attention to the
harmoniously blended that the result is as refreshing unique distinctions of individual letters such as
and pure as the energy of creation forming into location of resonance and tongue position. The
mountain streams and lakes and the flawless crystal complete alphabet must have been worked out by
structures of natural gems, while at the same time learned grammarians on phonetic principles by long
wielding the power of nebulae and galaxies before it was codified by Panini around 500 B.C. It is
expanding into the infinitude of space. arranged on a thoroughly scientific method, the
simple vowels (short and long) coming first, then the
But from the perception of Rishis, the source of complex vowels (dipthongs), followed by the
language transcends such conceptions. In Sanskrit, consonants in uniform groups according to the
Vaak,speech, the "word" of Genesis, incorporates organs of speech with which they are pronounced.
both the sense of "voice" and "word". It has four
forms of _expression. The first, Paraa , represents The unique organization of the Sanskrit alphabet
cosmic ideation arising from the original and serves to focus one's attention on qualities and
absolute divine presence. The second, Pashyantii patterns of articulated sound in a way that occurs in
(literally "seeing") is Vaak as subject "seeing," which no other language. By paying continuous attention to
creates the object of madhyamaavaak , the third and the point of location, degree of resonance and effort
subtle form of speech before it manifests as of breath, one's awareness becomes more and more
vaikhariivaak, the gross production of letters in consumed by the direct experience of articulated
spoken speech. sound. This in itself produces and unprecedented
clarity of mind and revelry in the joy of language.
Sanskrit is a language whose harmonic subtlety, Every combination of sound in Sanskrit follows strict
mysteriously sources the successive phases of laws which essentially make possible an
creation all the way to origination. This implies the p uninterrupted flow of the most perfect euphonic
ossibility of having speech oriented to a direct living blending of letters into words and verse.
truth which transcends individual preoccupation with
the limited information available through the senses. The script used to depict written Sanskrit is known as
Spoken words as such are creative living things of Devanaagari or that "spoken by the Gods." Suitably
power. They penetrate to the essence of what they for Sanskrit, it is a perfect system of phonetic
describe. They give birth to meaning which reflects representation. According to linguists, the phonetic
the profound interrelatedness of life. accuracy of the Devanaagari compares well with that
of the modern phonetic transcriptions.
It is a tantalizing proposition to consider speaking a
language whose sounds are so pure and euphonically Because of its inherent logic, systematic presentation
combined. The mere listening or speaking inspires and adherence to only the most clear and most pure
and produces joy and clarity. And yet it has been sounds, the Sanskrit alphabet in its spoken form, is
precisely the tendency of humanity as a whole to perhaps the easiest in the world to learn and recall.
merely be tantalized by happiness, but not actually to Once the alphabet is learned, there is just one major
choose it. It's as though we had been offered the most step to take in gaining access to the Sanskrit
precious gem and we answered, "No, I'd rather be language: learning the case and tense endings. The
poor." The only possible background for such a endings are what make Sanskrit a language of math-
choice is the unconscious belief that, "I can't have it. like precision. By the endings added onto nouns or
I can't be that." verbs, there is an obvious determination of the
precise interrelationship of words describing activity
Interestingly enough, this is exactly what is triggered of persons and things in time and space, regardless of
in people who are faced with the opportunity to learn word order. Essentially, the endings constitute the
Sanskrit. The basic attitude towards learning Sanskrit software or basic program of the Sanskrit language.

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The rigor of learning the case endings is precisely the the Academy Award nominated movie, "Stand and
reason why many stop in their pursuit of Sanskrit. Deliver."
Yet by an effective immersion method, fluent reading
of the Devanagari script, accurate pronunciation, and Another hope for the return of Sanskrit lies in
the inputting of the case and tense endings can easily computers. Sanskrit and computers are a perfect fit.
be accomplished. Such a method must take The precision play of Sanskrit with computer tools
advantage of the fact that Sanskrit grammar is will awaken the capacity in human beings to utilize
structured by precise patterns, and once a pattern has their innate higher mental faculty with a momentum
been noted it is a simple exercise to recognize all the that would inevitably transform the world. In fact the
individual instances that fit the pattern; rather than mere learning of Sanskrit by large numbers of people
see the pattern after all the individual instances have in itself represents a quantum leap in consciousness,
been learned. Color coding provides a tremendous not to mention the rich endowment it will provide in
support in this regard. the arena of future communication.

Learning the case endings through the chanting of Sanskrit has always inspired the hearts, mind and
basic pure sound combinations in musical and souls of wise people. The great German scholar Max
rhythmic sequences is a way to overcome learning Muller, who did more than anyone to introduce
inhibitions, attune to the root power of the Sanskrit Sanskrit to the West in the latter part of the 19th
language and access the natural computer efficiency, century, contended that without a knowledge of the
speed and clarity of the mind. language (Sanskrit), literature, art, religion and
philosophy of India, a liberal education could hardly
Although learning Sanskrit in some ways presents be complete -- India being the intellectual and
challenges similar to those of learning calculus or spiritual ancestor of the race, historically and through
music, it also induces a lubrication and Sanskrit.
acceleration of mental function that actually
makes such a process exciting and enjoyable. Max Muller also pointed out that Sanskrit provides
Perhaps the greatest immediate benefit of perfect examples of the unity and foundation it offers
learning Sanskrit by this method is that it to the Celtic, Teutonic, Slavonic, Germanic and
requires participants to relinquish control, Anglo-Saxon languages, not to mention its influence
abandon prior learning structures and come into on Asian [Link] transmission of Buddhism to
a direct experience of the language. Asia can be attributed largely to the appeal to
Sanskrit. Even in translation the works of Sanskrit
The actual simplicity and enjoyment of the sounds of evoked the supreme admiration of Western poets and
Sanskrit provides everyone with an opportunity to philosophers like Emerson, Whitman, Thoreau,
learn a subject which is technically precise with Melville, Goethe, Schlegel and Schopenhauer.
fluidity and ease. This tends to produce a complete
reversal of the inhibiting competitive environment in The fact is that Sanskrit is more deeply interwoven
which most life education traditionally took place, by into the fabric of the collective world consciousness
creating an atmosphere in which mutual support than anyone perhaps knows. After many thousands of
generates personal breakthrough and vice-versa. years, Sanskrit still lives with a vitality that can
breathe life, restore unity and inspire peace on our
One thing is certain, Sanskrit will only become the tired and troubled planet. It is a sacred gift, an
planetary language when it is taught in a way which opportunity. The future could be very bright.
is exciting and enjoyable. Furthermore it must
address individual learning inhibitions with clarity +_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+
_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_+_.
and compassion in a setting which encourages
everyone to step forth, take risks, make mistakes and
learn. Already we have outstanding examples of this
approach in the work of teachers such as Jaime
Escalante, whose remarkable achievements in
teaching advanced calculus to underprivileged high
school students in East Los Angeles were featured in