Tarun Vijay
tarunvijay2@yahoo.com
“Through Sanskrit, Bharatvarsh descends into your heart.” – Mohan Bhagwat, Sarsanghchalak, RSS
Since the days of invaders, the first attack by our enemies has been on the pillars that sustained the nation and its people-libraries, books, authors, and gurus; and then on common men, women, and children. The motive was to dismantle the belief system, erode society’s confidence, and eliminate the institutions that gave strength to the masses.
They sought to destroy the Brahmins, the custodians of the Vedic system, who wrote, memorised, and disseminated knowledge, ran the gurukulas, and intellectually empowered a society that was targeted for destruction and conversion.
Sanskrit was among the first to be targeted. It was the language that nourished the mind and soul of the land and its people; it shielded the masses against foreign influence. Hence, it became a primary target of Islamic and Christian invaders. They banned Sanskrit schools and campaigned to shame both the language and those who spoke, wrote, and worked in it.
The British colonial administration, particularly through the English Education Act of 1835, driven by Lord Macaulay, actively marginalised Sanskrit schools and the traditional Gurukul system. By withdrawing state funding and making English the medium of instruction for higher education, the British systematically replaced vernacular and Sanskrit-based education with a westernised curriculum.
They then declared, with a sense of triumph, that “Sanskrit is a dead language.” Missionaries, Jesuits, and Christian institutions were at the forefront of spreading this claim. It was echoed by sections of society as well.
Yet Sanskrit is a language that permeates life-from birth to marriage to death. It is a language that defines the land, its people, and an ancient knowledge system that contributed to the development of mathematics, including the concept of zero and trigonometry. It was the language of ancient scholars and scientists authors, kings, queens, and the masses-but was pronounced “dead.”
Once, Kashmir was the global hub of Sanskrit learning. The Sharada Peeth (seat of worship) and ancient university ranked alongside Nalanda and Takshila as a supreme seat of learning. Dedicated to the goddess of knowledge, Sharada (Saraswati), this 5,000-year-old site was a global centre of education for Vedic studies, philosophy, and sciences, attracting scholars from Greece, China, and across Asia.
Hundreds of Sanskrit schools flourished under great emperors like Lalitaditya (c. 724-760) and Abhinavagupta (c. 950-1016 CE). Later attacks by Muslim invaders, including Sikandar Shah Miri (1389-1413 CE), known as But-Shikan (idol-breaker), led to the destruction of Sanskrit schools and Sharada Peeth. Brahmins were forcibly converted, bringing about a rapid decline in Sanskrit learning in Kashmir.
Repeated invasions resulted in the destruction of temples and the burning of ancient manuscripts. The forced exodus of Kashmiri Hindus in 1990 led to a massive loss of the traditional keepers of this linguistic and cultural heritage, resulting in the closure of remaining local educational spaces for Sanskrit.
Under the Modi government, Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha has initiated efforts to revive Sanskrit in schools. It is also argued that the state replaced its original mother tongue, Kashmiri, with Urdu as its official language, shaping a distinct identity.
Early 19th-century missionaries often framed Sanskrit literature as pagan, superstitious, and corrupting. John Muir, a Scottish missionary, authored Matapariksha (1839), a work in Sanskrit that criticised Hindu beliefs and attempted to present Christianity as superior, prompting several responses from Hindu pandits.
Robert Caldwell, a bishop, promoted the Dravidian race theory. This framework separated South Indian culture from Sanskrit-based “Aryan” Hinduism, characterising the latter as an oppressive foreign imposition and positioning Christianity as a liberating alternative.
Christian missionaries believed that by attacking Sanskrit and the learning of the Brahmins, they could dismantle the central structure of Hinduism, making conversion of the general population easier.
During the Goan Inquisition, missionaries under Portuguese rule not only condemned Hindu texts but also destroyed them, forbade the teaching of Sanskrit, and enforced conversions.
Against this colonial hostility towards Sanskrit, B. R. Ambedkar advocated for Sanskrit to be declared India’s national language, but the proposal was not accepted. Sanskrit was, however, included among the 22 scheduled languages in the Constitution.
The challenge of responding to what were seen as attacks on the cultural core of Bharat was taken up by Sanskrit scholars inspired by the RSS, and an organisation, Samskrita Bharati, was formed in 1981. It aimed to spread Sanskrit through everyday conversation, making the process simple and accessible. Its efforts proved effective.
Today, there are villages in India where Sanskrit is spoken in daily life, within families. More than 4,500 centres of Samskrita Bharati operate across all states, with active branches in 28 countries. It has trained over 100,000 teachers to teach Sanskrit. There are 18 Sanskrit universities in India (3 central, 1 deemed, and 14 state universities), which have received increased support in recent years.
Two states-Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh-have declared Sanskrit as their second official language. Dehradun airport features signage in English, Hindi, and Sanskrit, and thousands of young people now speak Sanskrit fluently. Based on estimates from the Central Sanskrit University and other reports, approximately 5 crore (50 million) students study Sanskrit at the school level across India.
The world of Sanskrit is becoming increasingly expansive and is spreading at a remarkable pace. A few milestones are outlined below:
School Level: Sanskrit is taught from Classes 1 to 12 as an optional language in various states. Over 14,000 schools affiliated with Vidya Bharati alone teach Sanskrit from Class 2 onwards.
Traditional Education: There are approximately 5,000 traditional Sanskrit pathshalas (schools) and 1,000 Veda pathshalas, with about 3 lakh students studying in this sector.
Higher Education: Roughly 120 general universities offer Sanskrit at undergraduate (UG) and postgraduate (PG) levels, along with 18 specialised Sanskrit universities.
Samskrita Bharati’s Impact: As of 2025, the non-profit organisation Samskrita Bharati reports having trained over 10 million people in spoken Sanskrit and more than 135,000 teachers.
Sanskrit Universities: 18 universities in India are dedicated to Sanskrit studies.
1,220+ Sanskrit Colleges: Affiliated colleges offering specialised education.
26 Adarsh Sanskrit Mahavidyalayas: Institutions for higher study.
These figures are supported by significant government investment, with over Rs 2,500 crore spent on promoting Sanskrit between 2014 and 2025. Surprisingly, it is not Uttarakhand or Himachal Pradesh, but Odisha that leads in privately run Sanskrit colleges and junior-level schools. Odisha hosts numerous voluntary Sanskrit organisations and over 32 colleges offering professional courses, degrees, or diplomas in Sanskrit. According to a 2026 report, Odisha ranks high in the number of recorded Vedic gurukuls (21 listed), competing with other leading states such as Rajasthan.
Institutional Presence: The state hosts the Shree Jagannath Sanskrit Vishvavidyalaya (established in 1981 in Puri), a major public university for Sanskrit studies affiliated with the UGC. There is also a strong presence of private and voluntary organisations offering Sanskrit education in the region, including in cities such as Cuttack, Bhubaneswar, and Balasore.
So, when Samskrita Bharati’s nine-storeyed headquarters was inaugurated by RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Akshaya Tritiya, with the name Pranava (Onkar), it marked a significant step towards reconnecting with Bharatvarsh for all of us. As he aptly said, “When you learn Sanskrit, Bharat descends into your heart.”
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