originally , "refined speech" is a historical IndoAryan language, the primary liturgical(relating to religious worship or to a service of worship,) language of Hinduism

sm and a literary and scholarly language in Buddhism and Jainism. Developing from Vedic Sanskrit, today it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India[3] and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand The corpus of Sanskrit literature encompasses(cover, take in) a rich tradition of poetry and drama as well as scientific, technical, philosophical and dharma texts. Sanskrit continues to be widely used as a ceremonial language in Hindu religious rituals and Buddhist practice in the forms of hymns and mantras. Spoken Sanskrit has been revised in some villages with traditional institutions, and there are attempts at further popularization..[4] Sanskrit holds a prominent position in Indo-European studies.

The Sanskrit verbal adjective sskta- may be translated as "put together, constructed, well or completely formed; refined, adorned, highly elaborated". It is derived from the root saskar- "to put together, compose, arrange, [5] prepare", where sa-"together" (as English same) and (s)kar- "do, make".

The term in the generic meaning of "made ready, prepared, completed, finished" is found in the Rigveda. Also in Vedic Sanskrit, as nominalised neuter sasktm, it means "preparation, prepared place" and thus "ritual enclosure, place for a sacrifice". As a term for "refined or elaborated speech" the adjective appears only in Epic and Classical Sanskrit, in the Manusmriti and in the Mahabharata. The language referred to as saskta "the cultured language" has by definition always been a "sacred" and "sophisticated" language, used for religious and learned discourse in ancient India, and contrasted with the languages spoken by the people, prkta- "natural, artless, normal, ordinary". Classical Sanskrit is the standard register as laid out in the grammar of Pini, around the 4th century BCE. The pre-Classical form of Sanskrit is known as Vedic Sanskrit, with the language of the Rigveda being the oldest and most archaic stage preserved, its oldest core dating back to as early as 1500 BCE.[8] This qualifies Rigvedic Sanskrit as one of the oldest attestations of any Indo-Iranian language, and one of the earliest attested members of the Indo-European languages, the family which includes English and most European languages.[9]

The deviations from Pini in the epics are generally considered to be on account of interference from Prakrits, or "innovations" and not because they are prePaninean.[12]Traditional Sanskrit scholars call such deviations ra (), meaning 'of the is', the traditional title for the ancient authors. In some contexts, there are also more "prakritisms" (borrowings from common speech) than in Classical Sanskrit proper. In theRepublic of IndiaSanskrit is included in the 14 originallanguages of the Eighth Schedule to the Constitution. The state ofUttarakhandin India has ruled Sanskrit as its second official language. In October 2012 noted social activistHemant Goswamifiled awritpetition in thePunjab and Haryana High Courtfor declaring Sanskrit as a 'minority' language, so that itRepublic of India: ' ' Satyameva Jayate "Truth alone triumphs" Nepal: ' ' Janani

Janmabhmisca Svargdapi garyasi "Mother and motherland are greater than heaven" coThe earliest attested Sanskrit texts are Brahmanical texts of theRigveda, which date to the mid-to-late second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if ever existed. However, scholars are confident that the oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they were ceremonial literature whose correct pronunciation was considered crucial to its religious efficacyuld enjoy special protection as available to minorities under the Constitution of India.[18][19][20]

The earliest attested Sanskrit texts are Brahmanical texts of theRigveda, which date to the mid-to-late second millennium BCE. No written records from such an early period survive, if ever existed. However, scholars are confident that the oral transmission of the texts is reliable: they were ceremonial literature whose correct pronunciation was considered crucial to its religious efficacy From the Rigveda until the time of Pini (fl. 4th century BCE) the development of the early Vedic language may be observed in other Vedic texts: the Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharvaveda, Brahmanas, and Upanishads. During this time, the prestige of the language, its use for sacred purposes, and the importance attached to its correctenunciation all served as powerful conservative forces resisting the normal processes of linguistic change.[29] However, there is a clear, five-level linguistic development of Vedic from the Rigveda to the language of the Upanishads and the earliest Sutras (such asBaudhayana) Standardisation by Panini The oldest surviving Sanskrit grammar is Pini's Adhyy("Eight-Chapter Grammar"). It is essentially a prescriptive grammar, i.e., an authority that defines correct Sanskrit, although it contains descriptive parts, mostly to account for some Vedic forms that had become rare in Pini's time. Classical Sanskrit became fixed with the grammar of Panini (roughly 500 BCE), and remains in use as a learned language until the present day.

Coexistence with vernacular languages The term "Sanskrit" was not thought of as a specific language set apart from other languages, but rather as a particularly refined or perfected manner of speaking. Knowledge of Sanskrit was a marker of social class and educational attainment in ancient India and the language was taught mainly to members of the higher castes, through close analysis of Sanskrit grammarians such as Pini andPatanjali, who exhorted that one should speak proper Sanskrit at all times, and at least during ritual.[30] Sanskrit, as the learned language of Ancient India, thus existed alongside the Prakrits (vernaculars), also called Middle Indic dialects, and eventually into the contemporary modern Indo-Aryan languages. Mahmud the Gazanavi used Sanskrit on his coins, and Sanskrit was in use as an official language during early Muslim rule in Kashmir.

Sanskrit is recognised as a storehouse of scripture and as the language of prayers in Hinduism. Like Latin's influence on European languages and Classical Chinese's influence on East Asian languages, Sanskrit has influenced most Indian languages. While vernacular prayer is common, Sanskrit mantras are recited by millions of Hindus, and most temple functions are conducted entirely in Sanskrit, often Vedic in form. Of modern day south Asian languages, Hindi, Nepali, Bengali, Assamese, Konkani, and Marathistill retain a largely Sanskrit and Prakrit vocabulary base, while Hindi and Urdu tend to be more heavily weighted with Arabic and Persianinfluence. The Indian national anthem, Jana Gana Mana, is written in a literary form of Bengali (known as sadhu bhasha); it is Sanskritised to be recognisable but is still archaic to the modern ear. The national song of India, Vande Mataram, which was originally a poem composed by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay and taken from his book called 'Anandamath', is in a similarly highly Sanskritised Bengali. Malayalam, Telugu and Kannada also combine a great deal of Sanskrit vocabulary. Sanskrit also has influence on Chinese through Buddhist Sutras. Chinese words like chn(Devanagari: kaa 'instantaneous period of time') were borrowed from Sanskrit.