_Languages of the Indians._
The _Samskrda_ is the mother of all the languages in India. Its name
implies that it must be a perfect and excellently formed language;
for _Krda_ signifies a perfect, complete work; and the particle
_Sam_, with each other, together, contains an allusion to the
connection of its parts into one harmonious and regular whole. It
is called the language of the gods and of philosophers; the sacred
language. According to the doctrine of the Brahmans, it arose from
the conversation which the _Ishvara_ (the Lord) had with the goddess
_Shakti_ or _Bhavàni_ (Nature), when in conjunction they created the
world.
The original word _Samskrda_, which exists in no other language, is
written in many different ways, not only by foreigners, but also by
the Indians themselves, viz. _Samskrit_, _Samskretan_, _Samscrudam_,
and _Samscret_. All these variations arise from the alphabets of
the different provincial dialects which have been derived from this
original language, and introduced into India. The case is the same
here as with the Latin word _homo_, of which the Italians have
made _uomo_, the French _homme_, and the Portuguese _homem_. The
_Samskrda_ consists of fifty-two radical characters; and among this
number there are many not to be found in any other language. It is,
therefore, extremely difficult to pronounce properly the original
Samscred words, and almost impossible to express them in other
languages, and particularly the European.
The Greeks, Persians, Romans, Chinese, Peguans, and Europeans have so
corrupted and mutilated a great many Samscred words, that they can
scarcely be known. Thus, for example, the river _Yamuna_ is in Pliny
called _Jomanes_, and in Ptolemy _Djemna_ and _Diamuna_. M. De l’Isle
calls it the _Gemené_, and Father Marcus à Tumba the _Giamuna_.
Of these fifty-two radical Samscred characters a great number of
others are formed; and this multiplication is carried so far, that
I can shew a Samscred alphabet which contains no less than 8004
component parts. The multiplication of these characters, so numerous
of themselves, arises from the formation of the syllables; as what
forms a syllable, among us Europeans, is expressed in the Samscred
by one letter, or one single character. Thus, if we wished to write
in Samscred the syllables _kra_, _kre_, _kri_, _kro_, _kru_, _krai_,
_krau_, we should place, instead of them, seven single characters,
each of which is equivalent to a whole syllable[178].
The manner in which the syllables are formed and connected with
each other, and the number of characters hitherto employed in all
the Indian provincial dialects derived from the Samscred, are the
same; except this difference, that each of these dialects, as the
Negaric, Talengic, Canarian, Tamulic, Malabaric and Guzaratic have
each their own alphabet, which, in regard to its shape and form, is
different from all the rest. The most remarkable circumstance here
is, that all the component parts in the alphabet of the Barmans in
Pegu and Ava are contained, but with some variation, in the Ethiopic
alphabet of _Gheez_ and _Ambhar_; have the same value, and are joined
together in the like manner. It appears to me historically certain,
that the Peguan _Barmans_ obtained from India the writings extant in
the Samscred, as well as the alphabet belonging to that language, and
instructions how to learn it[179]. Many, nay most of the words of the
_Pali_ language are either entirely Samscredamic, or at least derived
and compounded from it. A dispute having once arisen among the
Talapoins of Pegu respecting the explanation of certain expressions
contained in the _Pali_ books, the present king of Pegu sent a
deputation to the king of Candia, in the island of Ceylon, with
orders to procure information, from the Brahmans and Budhists there,
respecting the real meaning of the expressions in dispute. This
circumstance, and the close affinity observed between the languages
of these two kingdoms, afford, in my opinion, a sufficient proof that
the _Pali_ language in Pegu is a dialect of the Samscred.
With regard to the Ethiopic alphabet, which has a certain
resemblance to the Samscredamic, there is reason to suppose that
it was brought to Ethiopia by those Indian gymnosophists who, in
the time of Apollonius, resided on a certain mountain not far from
the Nile[180]. Who knows but the Ethiopians, Persians, Thibetians
and Peguans might have carried the Samscred language with them
from India to their present countries, in the same manner as the
_Parreas_, who, according to the testimony of Mr. Grellman[181],
fled from India during the tyrannical government of Timur, dispersed
themselves through Tartary, Scythia, and Hungary, and still speak a
language which has a striking resemblance to the Samscred used in
the kingdom of _Guzarat_, and particularly in the city of _Tatta_.
This conjecture will appear the more probable, when we reflect that
these tribes, in ancient times, had the same intercourse with the
Indians, as the Arabs have at present with the inhabitants of the
coast of Malabar; that, according to their own acknowledgment, they
obtained their religion and their sacred books from India, and that
consequently the Samscred language might easily have been conveyed
from _Tatta_, _Cabul_; and _Candahar_ to Persia, as well as from
_Nepal_ through Thibet to Tartary, and also to Asem in Pegu, and to
Ava.
The Samscred contains a great many words, which both in sound and in
meaning have a similarity to Latin. For example: _dendha_, dens, a
tooth; _yuga_, jugum, a yoke; _juncta_, junctus, juncta, junctum,
joined; _nau_, navis, a ship; _nàviga_, navita, navicularius, a
ship-master; _nava_, novem, nine; _sapta_, septem, seven; _tri_,
tres, three; _dui_, duo, two; _adja_, hodie, to-day; _vidhava_,
vidua, a widow; _nò_, non, no; _sua_, suus, his, &c. These and other
words of the like kind are a sufficient proof that the Samscred
language did not exist before the Flood, as Father Pons once
asserted. It is more probable that it took its origin in Chaldea,
at the time of the general confusion of tongues, from which we must
deduce the analogy of many other words used by so many different
nations, and consequently by the ancestors of the Brahmans and the
Latins. The Samscred is far more abundant in synonyms than the
Latin. There are thirty different expressions for the sun; more
than twenty for the moon; twenty for a house; from six to seven for
a stone; ten for a tree; five for a leaf; ten for an ape; and nine
for a raven. The case is the same with other things both visible and
invisible[182].
The common Indian dialects, the origin of which is to be sought for
in the Samscred language, are the following:
I. The sacred language employed by the Priests and Budhists in the
island of Ceylon. Ptolemy, in his Geography, where he speaks of this
island under the name of _Salica_, has preserved several Samscred
appellations; such as, _Sindocanda_, which properly ought to be
written _Sindhucanda_. He also mentions the mountain _Malà_ under the
name of _Malea_; and the large district of _Màhàgramam_, belonging to
the Brahmans, is by him called _Maagramum_[183]. See on this subject
the map in D’Anville’s _Antiquité Geographique de l’Inde_, published
at Paris in 1775. This language is still spoken in the kingdom of
Candia; but not on the sea-coast, where the people in general speak
the Cingalese--a wretched dialect, which consists of a confused
mixture of the Tamulic and Malabaric.
II. The Tamulic language, which is spoken in Tanjaur, Madura,
Maïssur, Concao, in some places on the coast of Malabar as far as the
neighbourhood of Collam, and also in the Gauts. It is harmonious,
uncommonly well adapted for poetry, and can be easily learned,
because its elements are very simple. When there occur in it Samscred
words, which cannot be expressed by its alphabet, it borrows some
characters either from the Granthamic or Samscredamic. The characters
which it borrows from the former are: _ksha_, _sza_, _shda_, _sa_,
_spa_, _sma_, _stra_, _skra_. As it wants the characters _V_ and _H_,
it supplies their place by _B_ and _G_; and writes, for example,
instead of _Aham_, which in the Samscred signifies _I_, _Agam_ or
_Akam_; and instead of _Vàva_, the new moon, _Baba_. It consists only
of thirty characters, which are far from sufficient to express all
the Samscred words.
III. The Malabar language. It extends from Cape Comari to the
mountain Illy, which separates the provinces of Malabar and Canara.
This language employs two alphabets, viz. the _Maleyam Tamul_, and
the _Grantha_. The former consists of twenty-three, and the latter
of fifty-two characters, which are fully sufficient for writing the
Samscred. The latter characters have been employed by the authors of
all the sacred books which are seen in Maïssur, Madura, Carnada, and
on the coast of Malabar.
IV. The Canarian language, which is spoken in the district of mount
Illy belonging to the kingdom of Canara, and from thence as far as
Goa.
V. The Marashda language. It is prevalent throughout the whole
country of the _Maràshdi_, who are very improperly called _Marattas_.
VI. The Talenga, an harmonious, nervous, masculine, copious, and
learned language, which, like the Samscred, has fifty-two characters;
and these are sufficient to write the latter. It is spoken on the
coast of Orixa, in Golconda, on the river Krishna, and as far as the
mountains of Balangate. All these languages have their own alphabets;
so that in every province you must make yourself acquainted with a
distinct kind of characters, if you wish to express your thoughts in
the dialect common in each.
VII. The common Bengal language: a wretched dialect, corrupted in
the utmost degree. It has no _V_, and instead of it employs the _B_;
so that instead of _Ved_ you must write _Beda_. It is spoken at
Calcutta, and in Bengal on the banks of the Ganges.
VIII. The Devangaric or Hindostan language; called by some _Nagru_,
_Nagari_, and also _Dèvanagari_. It is spoken at Benares or Venares,
and consists of fifty-two characters, with which you can write
the Samscred. Its mode of writing has been introduced into all the
northern part of India. A specimen of it may be seen in the first
volume of the Asiatic Researches.
IX. The Guzaratic, which has been introduced not only into the
kingdom of Guzarat, but also at Baroche, Surat, Tatta, and the
neighbourhood of the Balangate mountains. Its characters are little
different from those of the Devanagaric.
X. The Nepalic, which is spoken in the kingdom of Nepal, and has a
great similarity to the _Dèvanagaric_.
Of all these languages a more particular account may be found in
my Samscred grammar, in which I have clearly proved that they all
proceed from the Samscred, though Mr. Wilkins and Sir William Jones
maintain that the _Nagru_, or _Devanagari_, makes properly the
original and true character of the Samscred language, and that it is
by no means of Indian extraction, but was transplanted to India from
Persia.
The most important book of all those written in the Samscred language
is the _Vèda_. This word, which has been changed by the English very
improperly into _Bed_, or _Beadh_, does not signify exclusively
a sacred book; but implies in general as much as a _sacred law_,
whether observed by the Indians or other nations. Thus, for
example, the law or religious system of the so-called Nazarenes, or
Christians or St. Thomas, is named _Nasrànni Vèda_, and the Jewish
law _Judhavèda_. That this word is used, in other respects, in a very
extensive sense, seems to appear from various circumstances, and, in
particular, from the following fable: “The god Brahma, at the time of
the general deluge, having fallen asleep, the wicked dæmon, called
_Hayagriva_, stole from him the _Veda_, and threw it into the sea.
It would then have been infallibly lost, had not the god _Vishnu_
instantaneously transformed himself into a fish, and gone in search
of it. As soon as he found it, he gave it to the man who had saved
himself, with king _Menu_, in the _Yanapatra_ or floating vessel.”
It is very evident that this fable cannot allude to the present
_Vèda_; but if we admit that the word, as is actually the case,
signifies the _law of nature_, this ingenious allegory may be easily
explained. The Brahmans wished to signify by it, that the natural
order and connexion of the elements, which at the time of the flood
were totally destroyed, had been again restored by _Vishnu_[184].
The other Indian books held in high estimation are:
_Manushastra_ and _Mahabhàrada_, which, according to tradition, are
as old as the age of _Menu_, of Noah.
The nine _Purana_, or _Canda_, in which the nine appearances of
_Vishnu_ are described.
The book _Ràmayana_, which contains the fabulous history of the god
_Ràma_ and _Sida_.
The _Baghavada_, a highly valued book, which treats of the
incarnation of _Vishnu_, when he shewed himself in the form of
_Krishna_, that is, the black god.
Of the childhood of the latter a particular account is given in the
_Balagapurana_.
The _Lingapuràna_ contains the oldest history of the _Lingam_ or
_Phallus_.
The _Shivapuràna_ contains the history of the god _Shiva_ or
_Mahadèva_.
The _Gangabhakya_, that is, _Gangis Felicitas_, treats of the
happiness in which those participate who purify themselves in that
river.
The _Raghu-vamsha_ contains the genealogical tree of _Raghu-nàtha_,
that is, of _Vishnu_, who is descended from the family of _Raghu_.
_Aadiparba_ is a poem, the subject of which is the origin of all
things.
The _Sandhya-carma_ contains precepts how to behave during those
lustrations which are performed in the evening.
The _Yudhisthiravigea_ is a very beautiful Samscred poem, which
celebrates the victory of king _Yudhisthira_, who was one of the five
sons of _Pando_.
To these may be added the book _Bhagavatguita_, of which a
translation has been given by Mr. Wilkins.
The books which must be studied by those who wish to learn the
Samscred language according to grammatical rules, and not merely by
practice, like most of the Europeans, are:
_Sidharùba_, or _Sarasvada_, the Samscred grammar.
_Vyàgarna_, the syntax.
Various _Sloga_, or versified sentences, by which one can learn the
true meaning and proper use of the Samscred words.
But in particular the _Amarasinha_, already often mentioned, an
excellent dictionary of the Samscred language compiled about sixty
years before the birth of Christ. It is written in verse, like
all the Indian books; and is not divided into chapters, but into
certain heads; so that the words which belong to a certain genus
are collected together without regard to choice or order. Thus
one division is intitled _Svarggavargga_, that is, the genus of
the appellations which belong to the heavens. Another is called
_Manushavargga_, that is, the family of the words applied to man, &c.
This arrangement is a sufficient proof of the high antiquity of the
work; for the practice and method of dividing books, according to
the quantity of their contents, into particular chapters, and of
employing for that purpose a certain regular plan, is an invention of
later times. _Amarasinha_, the author of this dictionary, named after
him, according to a tradition, received as true among the inhabitants
of the northern part of India, was minister to king _Vikràmaditya_,
who died fifty-seven years before the birth of Christ[185]. This
opinion is adopted by Sir William Jones, Davis, Hastings, Anquetil
du Perron, and other learned men who have made researches into the
history of India; and the Brahmans are so fully convinced of the
great antiquity of this book, that they employ it as a standard by
which they examine the purity of the Samscred words that occur in
other writings.