Sanskrit alone can bestow the sense of wisdom and ‘samskara’ in man. But unfortunately, the education policy makers have not considered it necessary to include Sanskrit in the curriculum and denied the young generation the opportunity to gain ‘samskara,’ said Pune University retired professor of Sanskrit Prof V N Jha.

Speaking at the valedictory of the Ammembal Subbarao Pai Memorial national workshop on ‘Concept of Nyaya and Mimamsa and their contribution to the field of law and justice’ organised by Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies and Research in Sanskrit at Canara College here on Monday, he said people of India have the right to have access to the treasure of knowledge in Sanskrit and everyone must be exposed to this valuable and eternal treasure. “We have been distanced from our roots for very long. We had an intellectual tradition, but Macaulay continues to be our ‘guru’. It is our moral, social and national obligation to acquire this treasure. If we neglect Sanskrit, we will go 100 years backwards,” he opined.

For law students, he suggested preparing a new syllabus for law students, preparing a bi-lingual dictionary, that is, Sanskrit to English, dictionary for legal terms from English to Sanskrit, preparing a dictionary of cases of application and documentation of Hindu law. Lamenting that Mangalore University still does not have a Department of Sanskrit, he added that Sanskrit must be made a compulsory subject in schools.

SDM Law College Principal Dr B K Ravindra announced that five students with Sanskrit background will be given free education in LLB and further in LLM. One must be highly qualified to to become a judge and study scriptures as well, he said while lamenting that more foreign scholars are quoted in law books instead of Indian scholars. He also criticised the Bar Council of India stating that the syllabus is not complete and the opinion of scholars who matter are not taken while preparing the syllabus. 

Centre for Inter-Disciplinary Studies and Research in Sanskrit Convenor and Director Dr G N Bhat called upon Sanskrit students to acquire knowledge about Nyaya and Mimamsa. He also informed that a 10-day certificate course will be organised in May and an international-level seminar will be organised in 2009.

Mijar Sadanand Pai of Canara High School Association management hoped that the next generation will be imparted knowledge of Sanskrit at an early stage. Canara College Principal Prof N R Javali was also present.
Delegates from Bangalore, Belgaum and Mumbai participated in the three-day workshop.