जर्मनी देशमें संस्कृतका प्रचार -2015
Will Germans be the eventual custodians of Sanskrit, its rich heritage and culture?
If the demand for Sanskrit and Indology courses in Germany is any indication, that's what the future looks like. Unable to cope with the flood of applications from around the world, the South Asia Institute, University of Heidelberg, had to start a summer school in spoken Sanskrit in Switzerland, Italy and - believe it or not - India too."When we started it 15 years ago, we were almost ready to shut it after a couple of years. Instead, we had to increase strength and take the course to other European countries," said Professor Dr. Axel Michaels, head of classical Indology at the university. In Germany, 14 of the top universities teach Sanskrit, classical and modern Indology compared to just four in the UK.
The summer school spans a month in August every year and draws applications from across the globe. "So far, 254 students from 34 countries have participated in this course. Every year we have to reject many applications," said Dr. Michaels. Apart from Germany, the majority of students come from the US, Italy, UK and the rest of Europe.
Linking Sanskrit with religion and a certain political ideology was "stupid" and "detrimental to the cause" of its rich heritage, the professor said. "Even the core thoughts of Buddhism were in the Sanskrit language. To better understand the genesis of oriental philosophy, history, languages, sciences and culture, it's essential to read the original Sanskrit texts as these are some of the earliest thoughts and discoveries," he added.
