I have often encountered a strange discussion whether Samskrita is older than Tamil as a language. I too, have been dragged into this frivolous discussion first initiated by Robert Caldwell as a measure of fractionating well-integrated Hindu society in spite of my profound reluctance to join such a futile exercise. Finally, as a measure of an educational exercise, I decided to expound my view-point once for all.
We all creatures are ‘Beings’ ‘enveloped’ within an ‘envelope’. This ‘envelope’ is the gross body, ‘enveloped’ is the subtle body and ‘Beings’ are nothing but our innermost Self, Atma. Gross body is constituted of five Bhuta-s i.e. Prthvi (Earth), Jala ( Water), Vayu (Wind), Agni (Fire) and finally Aakasa (Space). These are five elements that are fundamental/elemental in nature, constituting entire gross creation known to humanity. Subtle body is blueprint of the Being, its past, present and future. It includes all its Karma-s too and the roadmap to the ultimate salvation. Subtle body is constituted of seven Cakra-s and seventy-two thousand Nadi-s. These Cakra-s are regional centres of Prana and the complex labyrinthine of Nadi-s, passage-ways to facilitate flow of Prana throughout gross body. Uninterrupted flow of Prana throughout gross body through Nadi-s ensures, being remains a being and not a dead object. Seven Cakra-s are Sahasrara (on top of head), Ajna (between eye-brows), Visuddha (centre of throat), Anahata (centre of chest), Manipuraka (just above navel), Svadhisthana (just below navel) and lastly, Muladhara (just below the tail-bone). All features and components of the blueprint mentioned earlier, are neatly distributed among these seven Cakra-s with an amazing degree of finesse that is simply impossible to accomplish without indulgence of divine intelligence.
Dhvani (sound) of entire Varnamala i.e. alphabets of Samskrita is distinctly and individually embedded deep within these seven Cakra-s. Sound of this i.e. Samskrita Varnamala has been distinctly perceived/heard by innumerable realized, Brahmachari saints who inhabited this divine land known as Bharatvarsa (not India, of course !) all these years since time immemorial. Entire Dhvani of Samskrit Varnamala can be perceived distinctly by anyone by pursuing eight organs of Astanga Yoga of Maharsi Patanjali. That ‘anyone’ may be any individual, Secular-Ayatollahs and -Benedicts included !! All other sounds in the world, of all languages and their alphabets, are merely derivatives/syntheses of one or more, of the Samskrita Varnamala i.e. its Dhvani. There is no Dhvani i.e. sound that ever existed in the cosmos since its creation, which is not included in Dhvani-s of Samskrita Varnamala.
Vyakarana i.e. Grammer of Samskrita language was enunciated by Maharsi Panini, an inhabitant of Gandhar, now in Afghanistan, in an intensive state of trance attained through profound Dhyana when he was in direct communion with the Supreme Existence. Vyakarana, beyond domain of human intellect, is so rich and intense that it mesmerises scholars of linguistics everywhere in the world.
So the means of communication that Samskrita has been since infinity including its Vyakarana, has always been in the form of Sruti. Entire knowledge, entire wisdom used to be stored in the form of Sruti and transmitted through Sruti from generation to generation, Yuga to Yuga. So we all creatures are made up of Samskrita !! Samskrita is within us i.e. entire mankind and we all are in Samskrita as well. We are born with Samskrita, we live in Samskrita and we die with Samskrita always in our subtle existence. As soon as Atma/Jivatma came into being, Sruti of Samskrita came into being concurrently. No language, no means of communication anywhere in the cosmos has ever pre-dated origin of Samskrita. It is just impossible for any language to have come into existence before advent of Samskrita or without being a derivative of Samskrita Varnamala and its Vyakarana. Practice of writing came into existence much later. There have been controversial claims that script of Tamil was the first one to come into existence. However, Samskrita remains to be the most sacrosanct, most ancient means of communication throughout the history of entire existence.
Enormity of primacy of Samskrita is so thunderous, so conspicuous that anyone claiming to be the first in script or anything else, is simply obscured into insignificance. That Samskrita is Deva-Bhasa is an incontrovertible fact. For Tamil to have been older than even Samskrita immediately leads to the conclusion that Tamilians came into existence even before all Deva-s, Devi-s i.e. all deities !!
That amounts to stretching it to limits of ludicrousness.
Oldest text is Rg Veda, approximately 5000 years ancient while earliest Sangam Tamil literature is 1000 years ancient. These are conclusions drawn on the basis of scientific probing by western indologists. That’s another affirmation that Samskrita is most ancient than any other language.
In Kamba Ramayana, Kamban addresses Maharsi Valmiki as ‘Adikavi’ and none else. Hence, that Samskrita is older than Tamil is a straight confession of a celebrated Tamil poet himself.
I hope, this article shall succeed in eradicating the cobweb of controversies in every ones mind forever.
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