THE BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT Is Sanskrit political or sacred, oppressive or liberating, dead or alive? Rajiv Malhotra HarperCollins Publishers India Dedicated to our purva-paksha and uttara-paksha debating tradition. With gratitude to the purva-pakshins (opponents) I have learned from. May we engage in this intellectual yajna with mutual respect. Contents Introduction: The Story Behind the Book Meeting with the US-based Sringeri leader and one of the major donors Meeting with Sheldon Pollock Trip to Sringeri Sharada Peetham Who will control our traditions? What is at stake? Assault on Sanskrit goes mainstream 1. The Hijacking of Sanskrit and Sanskriti Why this book matters? Highlighting the disputes between the two intellectual camps Where is the home team? Offering my humble attempts 2. From European Orientalism to American Orientalism Origins of Orientalism The rise of European Orientalism Sir William Jones, the European Orientalist The American frontier The rise of American Orientalism Comparing European Orientalism and American Orientalism Impact of American Orientalism on the study of Sanskrit Introducing Sheldon Pollock: Pandit from America Comparing two pioneering Orientalists: Sir William Jones and Sheldon Pollock 3. The Obsession with Secularizing Sanskrit Integral unity of Hindu metaphysics Discarding the transcendent/sacred aspects of Sanskrit Sidelining the oral tradition Accusing yajnas of being linked to social hierarchy Rejecting the shastras as Vedic dogma Using Buddhism as a wedge for secularizing Sanskrit Disconnecting kavya from Vedas and shastras 4. Sanskrit Considered a Source of Oppression The crisis of Indology and a novel solution Exposing Sanskrit’s ‘poisons’ Response: Debating varna Blaming Sanskrit for European atrocities Pollock’s call to action to politicize Sanskrit studies 5. Ramayana Framed as Socially Irresponsible Pollock’s view of Ramayana as a project for propagating Vedic social oppression The divinization construct The demonization construct Sociological criticism of the Ramayana Claiming Ramayana was popularized to demonize Muslims since the eleventh century Ramayana considered secular Claiming Valmiki Ramayana came after Buddhist influence Summary: Ramayana interpreted as atrocity literature Ramayana-based political action plan of intervening in Indian politics 6. Politicizing Indian Literature A dramatic break from earlier Orientalism Sacredness removed from rasa and kavya The theory of the aestheticization of power Kavya characterized as primarily political 7. Politicizing the History of Sanskrit and the Vernaculars Overview of Pollock’s account of history of how power shaped languages Introducing the ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’ and sidelining sanskriti Grammar as a form of political power The role of itihasas in spreading the Sanskrit cosmopolis Summary of issues with the grammar-itihasa- power theory The rise of the vernaculars What led so many kings to vernacularize? Claiming parallels between European and Indian vernacularization 8. The Sanskriti Web as an Alternative Hypothesis Diglossia versus hyperglossia models Approaches suggested by T.S. Satyanath Integral unity, open architecture and sanskriti web 9. Declaring Sanskrit Dead and Sanskriti Non-existent Agenda in declaring the death of Sanskrit Claiming Sanskrit has been dead for many centuries Claiming Hindu kings killed Sanskrit, and Muslim rulers tried to save it Accusing other Indian languages of killing Sanskrit Sparing British colonialism and Nehruvianism Silence on the extraction and digestion of Sanskrit shastras into the West Chamu Krishna Shastry responds on behalf of the tradition Western academic critiques of Pollock The history of attempts to ‘kill’ Sanskrit Rejecting Indian civilization and Indian nation 10. Is Sheldon Pollock Too Big to Be Criticized? Two goals The academic ecosystem The hegemonic discourse goes mainstream Third-party echoes: Pollock’s ideas go viral The re-colonization of Indian minds The Murty Classical Library of India The rise of the American-English cosmopolis Reversing the gaze: Interpreting Pollock using his own concepts 11. Conclusion: The Way Forward The Sanskrit ecosystem must be revived in a holistic way Non-translatable Sanskrit terms must enter the mainstream Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation New itihasas and smritis must be written ‘Sacred philology’ must compete against political/liberation philology The purva-paksha tradition must be revived Well-qualified home team and institutions must be developed Defining the hard work that is needed Appendix A: Pollock’s Theory of Buddhist Undermining of the Vedas Appendix B: Ramayana Evidence Prior to the Turkish Invasion Appendix C: Pollock’s Political Activism Appendix D: Acknowledgements Appendix E: Editorial Policies Adopted Notes Bibliography Index About the Book About the Author Praise for The Battle for Sanskrit Copyright Introduction: The Story Behind the Book There is a new awakening in India that is challenging the ongoing westernization of the discourse about India and the intellectual machinery that produces it. Serious readers, regardless of their ideological affiliations, would benefit from open and honest discussions between experts on opposite sides. Rather than having two separate monologues, it is better to bring together both sides of such encounters into dignified conversations with mutual respect. However, any such conversation requires each side to be well informed about the other. Unfortunately, this is often not the case today on several key topics. Although the westernized side has systematically studied the traditional Indian side’s texts and practices, the reverse has not been the case: traditional Indian experts using their own categories and frameworks have not adequately studied the scholarship being produced by Western and westernized Indian scholars. My work is a humble attempt to fill this knowledge gap in the traditional camp. In each book, I take up a specific important topic with the hope of informing the traditional scholars so they can participate in the discourse as equals. This book seeks to wake up traditional scholars of Sanskrit and sanskriti (Indian civilization) concerning an important school of thought that has its base in the US and has started to dominate the discourse on the cultural, social and political aspects of India. This academic field is called Indology or Sanskrit