The Ministry of Human Resource Development has given its go ahead to the establishment of a proper board for Sanskrit and Vedic studies in India, The Bhartiya Shiksha Board. On January 12, 2018 The India Express reported that the council of the Maharshi Sandipani Rashtriya Vedavidya Pratishthan (MSRVP), in a meeting chaired by the HRD minister Prakash Javadekar, has shown the green signal to set up a Bhartiya Shiksha Board (BSB). MSRVP is an autonomous body under the HRD ministry and was formed in 1987 to promote Vedic learning. It has been given a week to create the bylaws for the board.
The BSB would standardise Vedic learning in India and will perform all the other functions of a board, from compiling syllabus to providing certificates. Apart from this, the BSB is also expected to establish a curriculum in which Vedic and modern learning will be fused together. This will be beneficial for the existing traditional schools with Gurukul system (such as Acharyakulam, Vidya Bharati schools and gurukuls run by the Arya Samaj). The certificates from these school are not recognised by many institutions, and the setting up of the board will deal with that issue as it will allow the traditional schools to maintain a class 12 model in their education.
The Board seems like a positive step towards reviving the ancient Indian culture; however, there are a few things that are troubling, which one cannot simply ignore.
1. Attempt At Saffronisation, Yet Again?
With the BJP governments’ thinly veiled attempts at saffronising the country, the minorities cannot help but feel uneasy. One has to keep in mind that India is a complex nation with a plethora of languages and cultures, each having their own rich and vivid history. And with this complex heterogeneity of ethnic and lingual groups, comes the politics of it.
It is not new in India to see language being used as a political tool in the elections – be it the constant debate over the spread of English; the imperialism of Hindi; or the battle between the languages of the South and the North. Not to forget that many languages, such as Punjabi, Urdu, Sanskrit, are often associated with a certain religious group, rather than the region.
Keeping all this in mind, one cannot be sure whether the step to promote Sanskrit would be a step in the right direction or not. There is no denying that the board has the potential of being used as a political weapon to garner Hindu votes, and just as strong a political weapon to outrage the non-Hindu votes. And with the current way the BJP government is going, it is not an unfound concern.
It is also important to notice that the beneficiary schools are mostly associated with the BJP government. Most of these schools are run by RSS, Arya Samaj, and Baba Ramdev. Hence, the board has a very crucial job in its hand. It will have to assure the people and make constant effort to avoid any kind of political manipulation to the texts and syllabus. It is a challenge in itself, and the board will have to cradle its duties with care in order to maintain the sanctity if its purpose, and ensure that an education reform for the revival of Sanskrit does not turn into a political disaster.
2. Defying Modernity Under The Pretext of Reviving Culture?
The other thing that is of concern is that ancient Indian tradition is not limited to Sanskrit and the Vedas, if the government is really seeking to revive the culture that is slipping away in the light of modernity, then it needs to be a little more inclusive than just Sanskrit.
One does not need a reminder of the importance of the all the other regional languages that are slowing dying and need just as urgent attention as Sanskrit. And even if one sets aside this urgency to take similar measures for other regional languages and tribal dialects, one has to remember that even Sanskrit is not limited to the Vedas and goes far beyond.
3. Sanskrit: A Language Of Relevance Beyond Hinduism
The board will need to ensure that the content not only deals with Sanskrit as the language of the Hindu religious texts, but also as a historical language. It should be taught like any other language should; with its rise and falls, its political and historical implications, and, most importantly, its relation to all the other languages. Because Sanskrit was not simply a language to communicate; there was a time when it was a language that was used to distinguish between the elite and the backward, it was the language that was once denied to the backward castes, it was a language which was the pride for some and an oppressor for the others. There is so much more to a language than just the texts in which it was used. And one can only hope that, while showing the unquestionable glory and beauty of an ancient language, the board does not omit its vices.
4. A More Inclusive Approach To Study Indian Culture
It would be advisable to include a study of the contemporary texts of other languages too, even if in translations, but a comparative study nonetheless. And if the BSB, with time, expands to include and promote other aspects of ancient Indian culture, then it would be even better. After all, Indian culture is never defined by one language, one culture, one religion, and one tradition, but it is always recognised by its capacity to accommodate and cater to hundreds of languages, cultures and ethnicities. And, any study of an ancient language of such a country is incomplete without capturing this aspect of vast diversity, as it is India’s most distinguishable feature.
5. The Economics Of Knowledge: Creating Employment And Job Security
In this extremely competitive world, everyone wants to study a course that will benefit them- both financially and socially. Promoting traditional Indian languages would also need a boost in its economical and financial benefits. Students are more inclined to opt for subjects that would ensure them better employment opportunities, or at least open gateways to regions and areas where they wish to work. Sanskrit, sadly, is not seen as one such subject in the eyes of the present student generation. Because, one of the major reasons why a language loses its appeal is when it loses its purpose.
In a world controlled by the market, Indian languages need to be marketable. They should open employment opportunities, and only then will they be truly promoted. It is a cycle; the more a language is used, the more appealing it gets, the more aspirants it attracts and the more employment it creates as it becomes more demanded and useful. And the reverse cycle goes the same way; the less a language is used, the less appealing it gets, the less demanded it becomes, and then, just like that, it slips away.
6. Reviving A Language Is More Difficult Than We Think
Another thing that one needs to keep in mind is that, while a proper regulatory body is a commendable step towards the revival of a language, it is not enough. The death of a language is slow and its revival is even slower. One must understand that Sanskrit, or any other Indian language for that matter, has gone, or is going, out of use for several reasons, one being their failure to cope up with the fast and ever changing world around us. Simply adding the language to the syllabus will not make students choose it.
Reviving a language, would also need a revival of its art, its music, its dance, its stories, and so much more. A language is not simply ink on paper, its an ideology, a thought, an identity, a mark of an era. And its revival cannot be dependent on centuries old content; it needs new content, one which coincides with the contemporary scenario, but still sticks to its roots. And thus the promotion of Sanskrit should go beyond textbooks, and extend to various performing arts. Presenting the same old text again and again will not do – the approach needs to be changed.
Conclusion
After the fall of Constantinople, when various ancient classical texts were rediscovered, and Europe went through a period of transition from the dark ages to the Renaissance, then, it was not simply literature that was discovered – with it came Shakespeare and his plays, the theatres and the schools of rhetoric, Da Vinci and his paintings. Renaissance was not simply a rediscovery of classical texts, but the rebirth of art and literature.
Somewhere between the colonial rule, the subsequent rise of modernisation and English, Indian literature and classics have also lost themselves to the dark ages of globalisation and western influence. It’s time that our ancient texts are also revived and reborn. It is time that India witnesses its own 21st century renaissance of ancient culture, music, dance forms, music, poetry and more.