Before reading the article, just pronounce "Pitra". Now say "Patar"! After this say "father"! Ok, now say "Padar". Now, repeat all these words together-Pitra! Pater! Father! Padar!
Undoubtedly, you must have heard a common sound in all these words. These words appear similar to each other to a great extent. But, you will be surprised to know that these words belong to altogether different languages. "Pitra" is a word from the Sanskrit language. Pater, Father, Padar belongs to the Latin, English, and Persian respectively. It is all the more surprising that the meaning of these words that belong to different languages is the same- Father …
Now, a natural inquisitiveness must have kindled within you. Why such a similarity between different languages from different regions? Two possibilities could be there. Either it is a sheer coincidence or else the languages are not basically different at all, i.e. they are born out of each other! If we think of the first possibility to be correct, which indeed is difficult to fathom, it imposes a question mark on the wisdom of humankind. As such, the second possibility seems to be correct, but, if we think this alternative to be feasible, a yet another question arises- Which of these languages actually form the base? Which is the mother-language from which the family of other languages originated? You may say it should be the oldest; meaning, the most ancient. According to the linguists and historians, the most ancient language is "Sanskrit"! As such Sanskrit is the mother of all languages.
If you are not willing to accept this fact plainly, then you may steer your attention to an alternative perspective. Take for example that two identical baskets full of tasty fruits are kept in two different countries. Which country will you agree that the fruits originated from? - The one where the trees of those fruits exist, isn’t it? Similarly, the words of any language are like the fruits. The language in which the trees of these fruits exist, meaning the root of the words belongs, the language should be taken as the basis from which all other languages originate. Sanskrit is such a language where one gets the root of the words.For example, in the word “Pitra”, the meaning of the root “Paa” (rakshane) is ingrained. Other languages do not possess these features.
As such the conclusion is clear- that the Sanskrit words only travelled outside India and visited different countries. However, the linguists and inquisitive scholars of literature moulded those words according to their needs and understanding, and established their ownership on those words.
Consequently, only the sound of the Sanskrit words went to them; but, the aspect like “root” were quite profound, so, they could not catch it. That’s why, in other languages, such (distortrd or moulded) words remained devoid of roots. As such it is crystal clesr that Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, has taught the whole world to speak. It has provided the support to their conversational style. This language has taught conversational and written skills to the entire humankind…. And to the computer as well!!!
What? Vedic language Sanskrit and the Computer!
Yes, you heard it right!
On one hand, the Vedas of the ancient times and their language! And, on the other hand, these complicated programming languages of the computers of the 21st century! Is there any comparison?
Indeed there is! The comparison is a hundred percent valid! No doubt, Sanskrit is the most ancient language; but, it is supremely advanced. Fine, how do you, being a programmer, engage in a conversation with your computer? In which language do you develop your computer program? There can be many options for you to select out of the different programming languages that have been created. For instance, FORTRAN, PASCAL, COBOL, C++,C, JAVA SCRIPT, PERL , JAVA, etc. these languages provide you with a (Systematic) Character Set, Command Statements, Operators, keywords, etc., with the help of which you can prepare your program code.
But, do you know these concepts of computer languages are the gift of Sanskrit to them? The essence of the words in these languages, the features, the well-defined logics, the systematic and logical approach- all these were gifted to the human intellect, first and foremost by Sanskrit. The underlying basis of Sanskrit comprise of great Maheshwar Sutras, Panini’s Ashtadhyayi Grammer and the principles of Mimansa, which offer it the status of a scientific language. Undoubtedly, Sanskrit is a Computer Science of the ancient times. This is not the figment of imagination, but a fact. In the recent past, a book was published by Ved Bharti titled “Vedas and Computers”. Its author Dr. R.V.S.S. has done a comparative study of the language of the Vedas and the computers. On the basis of his findings, some of the stunning facts are being presented here:
Computer Statements v/s Vedic Statements
You must be aware of the fact that the computer program is formulated by a number of the statements, which are written step by step. These statements are generated on the basis of the programming language selected by you, like C, C++, JAVA, etc and its related grammar. These are two types of statements:
- Executable Statements
- Non-Executable Statements
The first type of statements are those in which a command or order is issued. Such statements are understood by the processor and executed accordingly. In other words, the processor acts according to the command and tenders the correct result. Take for example the Assignment Statements like (Var 1= Var 2 + Var 3); Control Transfer Statements like (If-then, GOTO, DO, Continue, Return); I/O Statements like Read, Write, etc.
Non-Executable Statements are those in which there is no command but only information. With the help of these statements, you define the facts. An identity is provided. For Example: Program Title statements, REM Statements, Type Declaration Statements, etc.
Those who have the knowledge od any programming language, they know well about these statements, as how they are generated and where they are written. But, have you ever read the computer programs written by our ancestors? The Vedas are the compilation of the programs written by them. The statements of the Vedas can also be divided into two parts: “Mantra Braahmanaatmakaha shabdaarashihi” i.e. the “Braahmana” and the “Mantra”. The Braahmana part contains the commands and instructions. The statements in Mantra section are not commands; they provide the information only. Meaning by, the Braahmana section contains the Executable Statements and the Mantra section carries the Non Executable statements. Putting it elaborately, in these two sections, the Vedic statements are in the following forms:
- Vidhi Vakya (Command Statement): In these, direct commands are given. For example, “Satyam Vada”- Speak the truth. “Dharmam Chara”- Abide by the principles of Dharma. It can be clearly seen that these are executable statements.
- Mantra Vakya (Informative Statements): These are the sentences from Vedas, in which no command, but information is provided. For example, “Agnimeele purohitam”- in this sentence, a pundit who is performing yagya is just reminded about “agni samskara”. Such statements fall under the category of Non- Executable Statements.
- Naamdheya Vakya (Name Defining statements): Through these the name of any Vedic action or fact are defined. For example, “Udbhidhaa yajet pashukaamaha”-in this statement, a mention is made about the action called “Udbhita” related to Yagnas. Apart from this statement, you will not find this name anywhere in the Vedas. That’s why it is considered as Name Defining Statement. It is just like the Tile Statements or Name Declaration Statements (PROGRAM, FUNCTION, SUBROUTINE, etc) of the computer programs, in which we define the name of a program or sub-program. As such Naamdheya Statement is also a Non-Executable Statement.
Similarly, there are many other sentences in the Vedas, which can be placed in the placed in the above –mentioned two categories.
Likewise, in the present-day computer science, there are innumerable concepts like-keywords, Operators, Programs Sub-programs, Time-Sharing, Password, etc. Such concepts can be read in the ancient text books of computer science, i.e. the Vedas as well......
