"It Is Ours Too": Pakistan Brings Back Sanskrit, Plans Gita, Mahabharata Studies

Waz said:
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For the first time since Partition, Sanskrit has made its way back into classrooms in Pakistan. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has launched a four-credit course in the classical language, an initiative that grew out of a three-month weekend workshop that received strong interest from students and scholars.

As part of the course, students are also being exposed to the Urdu rendition of "Hai katha sangram ki", the iconic theme from the Mahabharat television series.

Dr Ali Usman Qasmi, Director of the Gurmani Centre, told The Tribune that Pakistan has one of the richest yet most neglected Sanskrit archives at the Punjab University library. "A significant collection of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts was catalogued in the 1930s by scholar JCR Woolner, but no Pakistani academic has engaged with this collection since 1947. Only foreign researchers use it. Training scholars locally will change that," he said.

The university also aims to expand with upcoming courses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. "In 10-15 years, we could see Pakistan-based scholars of the Gita and the Mahabharata," Dr Qasmi said.






"It Is Ours Too": Pakistan Brings Back Sanskrit, Plans Gita, Mahabharata Studies​

The university also aims to expand with upcoming courses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. "In 10-15 years, we could see Pakistan-based scholars of the Gita and the Mahabharata," Dr Qasmi said.​



The change has been brought about through the efforts of Dr Shahid Rasheed, Associate Professor of Sociology at Forman Christian College.

"Classical languages contain much wisdom for mankind. I started with learning Arabic and Persian, and then studied Sanskrit," Dr Rasheed said. Adding that he relied on learning through online platforms, studying under Cambridge Sanskrit scholar Antonia Ruppel and Australian Indologist McComas Taylor. "It took almost a year to cover classical Sanskrit grammar. And I'm still studying it."

Dr Rasheed said that people often question his choice to study Sanskrit. "I tell them, why should we not learn it? It is the binding language of the entire region. Sanskrit grammarian Panini's village was in this region. Much writing was done here during the Indus Valley Civilisation. Sanskrit is like a mountain – a cultural monument. We need to own it. It is ours too; it's not tied to any one particular religion."

He said that South Asia will see a more cohesive state of affairs if people try to learn each other's classical traditions. "Imagine if more Hindus and Sikhs in India started learning Arabic, and more Muslims in Pakistan took up Sanskrit, it could be a fresh, hopeful start for South Asia, where languages become bridges instead of barriers."
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my grand mother wrote poetry in Hindi. I will like to learn to read and write Sanskrit.
And if for somebody, doing so will make me less of an Arab and a Turk and I am fine with that.
 
Foinikas said:
French has brutal grammar. If it wasn't for the grammar and partly the accent,I would have learned it already. I get disheartened by their grammar and often give up trying to speak with a French accent and switch to normal "r" again.
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I heard Finish is by far the hardest though.
 
Foinikas said:
French has brutal grammar. If it wasn't for the grammar and partly the accent,I would have learned it already. I get disheartened by their grammar and often give up trying to speak with a French accent and switch to normal "r" again.
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Since English is my first language, learning French isn't too bad.

But since you are Greek, I assume it might be a little difficult for you.
 
Waz said:
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For the first time since Partition, Sanskrit has made its way back into classrooms in Pakistan. The Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) has launched a four-credit course in the classical language, an initiative that grew out of a three-month weekend workshop that received strong interest from students and scholars.

As part of the course, students are also being exposed to the Urdu rendition of "Hai katha sangram ki", the iconic theme from the Mahabharat television series.

Dr Ali Usman Qasmi, Director of the Gurmani Centre, told The Tribune that Pakistan has one of the richest yet most neglected Sanskrit archives at the Punjab University library. "A significant collection of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts was catalogued in the 1930s by scholar JCR Woolner, but no Pakistani academic has engaged with this collection since 1947. Only foreign researchers use it. Training scholars locally will change that," he said.

The university also aims to expand with upcoming courses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. "In 10-15 years, we could see Pakistan-based scholars of the Gita and the Mahabharata," Dr Qasmi said.






"It Is Ours Too": Pakistan Brings Back Sanskrit, Plans Gita, Mahabharata Studies​

The university also aims to expand with upcoming courses on the Mahabharata and the Bhagavad Gita. "In 10-15 years, we could see Pakistan-based scholars of the Gita and the Mahabharata," Dr Qasmi said.​



The change has been brought about through the efforts of Dr Shahid Rasheed, Associate Professor of Sociology at Forman Christian College.

"Classical languages contain much wisdom for mankind. I started with learning Arabic and Persian, and then studied Sanskrit," Dr Rasheed said. Adding that he relied on learning through online platforms, studying under Cambridge Sanskrit scholar Antonia Ruppel and Australian Indologist McComas Taylor. "It took almost a year to cover classical Sanskrit grammar. And I'm still studying it."

Dr Rasheed said that people often question his choice to study Sanskrit. "I tell them, why should we not learn it? It is the binding language of the entire region. Sanskrit grammarian Panini's village was in this region. Much writing was done here during the Indus Valley Civilisation. Sanskrit is like a mountain – a cultural monument. We need to own it. It is ours too; it's not tied to any one particular religion."

He said that South Asia will see a more cohesive state of affairs if people try to learn each other's classical traditions. "Imagine if more Hindus and Sikhs in India started learning Arabic, and more Muslims in Pakistan took up Sanskrit, it could be a fresh, hopeful start for South Asia, where languages become bridges instead of barriers."
.

Click to expand...

Formal Bangla uses many Sanskrit words, and their pronunciation is not easy.

They are used in literature, but most people don’t use them in their daily conversations. I think Punjabi speakers may be able to pronounce them properly(I am guessing), but native Urdu/Pashto speakers will have a difficult time with the pronunciation.
 
Irfan Baloch said:
I heard Finish is by far the hardest though.
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I tried learning Finnish back in the late 2000s. It wasn't that bad. The problem is,there's only some 5-6 million people speaking it.

For me the languest with the easiest grammar(apart fron english),is Arabic. I learned how to write arabic on my own. For me it's extremely easy to read BUT...one of the thing that stops me from reading arabic or any language with arabic script,like Urdu,Farsi etc. is the fact that I KNOW there's probably some hidden vowel somewhere and that makes me automatically pause. If I know the word,no problem. If I don't,I just pause and try to guess if there's an a or y or o/w somewhere. One of the reasons I gave up arabic after 2-3 years was this. The other was the difference between standard Arabic and coloquial. The street language sounded different. The every day talk. The standard Arabic that I used,to the small extend I had learned,all Arabs could understand but they'd say "hey,this guy speaks like the king".

But anyway,that's also why I feel more "familiar" with the Urdu script rather than the Sanskrit/Bangla. I love learning languages and alphabets. But there are some I don't even care about. For example: Sanskrit and all the subcontinent ones that look like it,
the southeast Asian ones(Burma,Thailand,Indochina),Indonesia,Malaysia and Assyrian,Georgian,Ethiopian and all other weird african ones. No I'm not interested in any of that. Armenian I tried to learn the alphabet once or twice,but it felt too alien.
 
Foinikas said:
French has brutal grammar. If it wasn't for the grammar and partly the accent,I would have learned it already. I get disheartened by their grammar and often give up trying to speak with a French accent and switch to normal "r" again.
Click to expand...

In our French lessons we just learnt their swear words.

Horrible language, forces you to sound like a donkey.

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Liquidator said:
In our French lessons we just learnt their swear words.

Horrible language, forces you to sound like a donkey.

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It wasn't always like that. In the middle-ages,French sounded more normal,more...how can I say it? More "manly". They had the normal "r" and most of the final letters were pronounced,I think.

Guynextdoor said:
Continuus work, continuous progress, day after day, year after year
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I'm sorry,but you guys are always talking about how strong and developed your country is,but the fact is the entire world still considers India a third world junkyard. The population still has a 70's village person mentality. It's been unchanged since then 90's. Decades pass and Indians still have this "I try to look cool" mentality of rural areas people,but in a '70s or '80s kind of way. But not USA '80s,we're talking about Third World '80s.
 
...It is those who earned Allah’s condemnation and displeasure—some being reduced to apes* and pigs and worshippers of false gods (5:60)

Ramayana is a must to understand the mindset of the Ram Rajya of Hindutva Bharat.......

By the by, the greatest epic of Bangla literature is Meghnad Badh Kabya by Michael Madushudan Datta (a Hindu converted into Christianity), one of the greatest poets of the subcontinent in the 19th century. And, it dealt with the backstabbing by Ram via employing traitors in Ravana regime to kill Meghnad (also known as Indrajit), their top-most warrior who couldn't be defeated in a face-to-face battle. Call it the Hindutva SOP....

Two immediate take-aways:
  • Turning the Taliban into Hanuman* (large-sized monkeys whose numbers are inexhaustible) to do the heavy but mindless work against Pak to be the foremost line of offense
  • Employing as many traitors as possible to eliminate the "Indrajits" of Pakistan via treachery, backstabbing, conspiracy etc.
 
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Foinikas said:
It wasn't always like that. In the middle-ages,French sounded more normal,more...how can I say it? More "manly". They had the normal "r" and most of the final letters were pronounced,I think.


I'm sorry,but you guys are always talking about how strong and developed your country is,but the fact is the entire world still considers India a third world junkyard. The population still has a 70's village person mentality. It's been unchanged since then 90's. Decades pass and Indians still have this "I try to look cool" mentality of rural areas people,but in a '70s or '80s kind of way. But not USA '80s,we're talking about Third World '80s.
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Video 2 I shared was made 16 years ago. It says '28 billion in IT exports'. IT exports today is almost 200 billion. Every single one of those descriptions are bigger and better today than when the video was released.

Rest of what you said is fluff. Continuous growth day in and day out, year in and year out. Sometimes faster, some times slower- but always continuously working and growing.
 
Guynextdoor said:
Video 2 I shared was made 16 years ago. It says '28 billion in IT exports'. IT exports today is almost 200 billion. Every single one of those descriptions are bigger and better today than when the video was released.

Rest of what you said is fluff. Continuous growth day in and day out, year in and year out. Sometimes faster, some times slower- but always continuously working and growing.
Click to expand...
Continuous growth and still a shithole of a country? Seriously?
 
@Waz why haven't these two been executed yet for derailing the thread?
 
Bruhh,,i have seen many retarded and delusional takes but this takes the cake.. it is revered among hindus as it is famous for its message of doing your duty inspite of hardships and to follow the rule of dharma and justice.. i dont know what madrassa taught the meghanada backstabbing verbal tirade!! Lol.
Hakikat ve Hikmet said:
...It is those who earned Allah’s condemnation and displeasure—some being reduced to apes* and pigs and worshippers of false gods (5:60)

Ramayana is a must to understand the mindset of the Ram Rajya of Hindutva Bharat.......

By the by, the greatest epic of Bangla literature is Meghnad Badh Kabya by Michael Madushudan Datta (a Hindu converted into Christianity), one of the greatest poets of the subcontinent in the 19th century. And, it dealt with the backstabbing by Ram via employing traitors in Ravana regime to kill Meghnad (also known as Indrajit), their top-most warrior who couldn't be defeated in a face-to-face battle. Call it the Hindutva SOP....

Two immediate take-aways:
  • Turning the Taliban into Hanuman* (large-sized monkeys whose numbers are inexhaustible) to do the heavy but mindless work against Pak to be the foremost line of offense
  • Employing as many traitors as possible to eliminate the "Indrajits" of Pakistan via treachery, backstabbing, conspiracy etc.
Click to expand...
 
DAVIDBENGURION said:
Bruhh,,i have seen many retarded and delusional takes but this takes the cake.. it is revered among hindus as it is famous for its message of doing your duty inspite of hardships and to follow the rule of dharma and justice.. i dont know what madrassa taught the meghanada backstabbing verbal tirade!! Lol.
Click to expand...
The only delusion here is you thinking you're Israeli.
 
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