Sanskrit

Sanskrit, the mother-tongue of the Indic branch of the Aryan family, and, on the whole, the best preserved, though not in every respect the most primitive, of all Aryan languages, with nearest congeners Old Persian, Hellenic, and Lithuanian; it is the sacred and oldest literary language of the Hindus, who legard it as of divine origin, and therefore perfect, whence its name samskrita ("made perfect"). Three distinct periods: (1) Vedic (Khandas), language of the Hymns (1500 B.C. 7), of the Brahmanas (800?), and Sutras (500) ; (2) literary language (Bhasha): Panini's grammar (300 B.C. ?), Inscriptions of Kanishka and Rudradaman (1st and 2nd centuries A.D.), Renaissance literature (400 A.D.); (3) Vulgar language (Prakrita): Gatha, Pali, Magadhi, Maharashtri (50-500 A.D.), merging gradually in the Neo-Sanskritic, for which see GAURIAN. [For script see DEVANAGARI] Owing to its religious and literary importance, Sanskrit has never ceased to be cultivated by the Hindus, and has been extensively studied in Europe for its philological interest since the time of Sir William Jones, who first drew attention to its intimate relations with the classical languages of the West. Thus were laid the foundations of comparative philology, which as a science may be said to date from the "discovery" of Sanskrit.