I’m not sure where to put this. The English reference given to me is not so “scholarly”. However, my friend says that legit sources and videos are made in Hindi on this subject. The author does not realize that the use of "exclamation points ! " discredits his writings.
In any case, you might find this interesting.
EBT might actually be LBT
I always think that Pāli and Sanskrit coexist during ancient India.
Apparently, Prince Siddhattha learned Sanskrit and well versed in Vedas too as he studied them under Kondanna Brahmin (later became Añña kondanna). But after becoming the Buddha, he forbids the usage of Sanskrit for preaching Dhamma.
Now for me, most nontheravadin Buddhism schools using Sanskrit, automatically they are not valid to be regarded as authentic Buddhist teachings.
Pali is the language of Buddhism and Jainism. Why didn’t the Jains adapt Sanskrit? The reason why the Buddhists did not adapt Sanskrit is Sanskrit was not the language of the common people but the Brahmins and upper-class people. Sanskrit is contemporary to the Buddha. These two religious founders came from the most prominent Vedic families who did not seem to speak any Sanskrit.
As much as I know—the conversations among these upper-class people were not in Sanskrit. The monarchs of the then kingdoms did not speak Sanskrit. Perhaps, Sanskrit was the prominent language of the Brahmins/Brahmans. This is found in Buddhist texts. According to the Buddha, Sanskrit was " a language that can be understood by only a few scholars."
Buddhist Texts:
Path of Compassion: Stories from the Buddha’s Life - Thich Nhat Hanh - Google Books
Same here (24) Vasudeva Jijnasu’s answer to Did the Buddha forbid the translation of his teachings into Sanskrit? If so, did he mention why? - Quora
The next afternoon Venerables Yamelu and Tekula visited the Buddha at his hut. These two bhikkhus were brothers from the brahmana caste. They were well-known for their expertise in linguistics and ancient literature. When they recited the scriptures, their voices were clear as bells and as resonant as drums. They bowed to the Buddha, and he invited them to be seated.
Venerable Yamelu spoke, “Lord, we would like to speak to you concerning the question of language as it relates to the dissemination of the teaching. Lord, you usually deliver your talks in Magadhi, but Magadhi is not the native tongue of many bhikkhus, and the people in some of the regions where the bhikkus teach do not understand Magadhi. Thus, they translate the teaching into local dialects. Before we were ordained, we had the good fortune to study many dialects and languages. It is our observation that the sublime and subtle nuances of your teaching have been hampered by being translated into local dialects and idioms. We would like your permission to render all your teachings into the classical meter of the Vedic language. If all the bhikkhus studied and taught the teaching in one language, distortion and error could be avoided.”
The Buddha was silent for a moment. Then he said, “It would not be beneficial to follow your suggestion. The Dharma is a living reality. The words used to transmit it should be the words used daily by the people. I do not want the teaching to be transmitted in a language that can be understood by only a few scholars. Yamelu and Tekula, I want all my disciples, both ordained and lay, to study and practice the Dharma in their native tongues. That way the Dharma will remain vital and accessible. The Dharma must be applicable to present life, and compatible with local culture.”
Understanding the Buddha’s intent, Venerables Yamelu and Tekula bowed to him and took their leave.
Two brahmins, probably named Yamelu and Tekula, who proposed to the Buddha that the Dhamma should be put into Sanskrit (chandasi). The Buddha refused their request. Vin.ii.139.
Chapter 26 – Buddhist Sacred Literature
many of them grew up after his death, although they are all attributed in the Vinaya Pitaka to the direct order of the Blessed One himself.
Arid lastly, the Abhidhamma Pitaka contains disquisitions on various subjects, such as the conditions of life in different worlds, personal qualities, the elements, and the causes of existence.
Gautama, disregarding the precedent set by all classical writers and thinkers in India, preached his doctrine and morality to the people of India, not in Sanskrit, but in their own vernacular, and the Chullavagga accordingly says: “There were two brothers, Bhikkhus, by name Yamelu and Tekula, Brahmans by birth, excelling in speech, excelling in pronunciation.” And they went up to Gautama and said, “At the present time, Lord, Bhikkhus differing in name, differing in lineage, differing in birth, differing in family, have gone forth. These corrupt the word of the Buddhas by their own dialect. Let us, Lord, put the word of the Buddhas into Sanskrit verse.”
But Gautama would have none of this; he worked for the humble and the lowly, his message was for the people, and he wished it to be conveyed to them in their own tongue. “You are not, O Bhikkhus, to put the word of the Buddhas into (Sanskrit) verse. I allow you, O Bhikkhus, to learn the word of the Buddhas each in his own tongue.”
The same author stated this:
Non-Existsnce of Sanskrit Before 500 BC The prime fact which has been suppressed by the Anglo-Brahmin elite is that Sanskrit did not exist prior to the 6th century BC. This circumstance is evident from the following points
Based on the Buddha’s words, " a language that can be understood by only a few scholars," Sanskrit was not widespread before 500BC but only a language of the brahmans.
Search 1
Max+Muller+Buddhism Max Muller Buddhism - Google Zoeken
First link Comments on Max Müller's Interpretation of the Buddhist Nirvāṇa on JSTOR. might be interesting.
Search 2
Max Muller "origin of Sanskrit" Pali - Google Zoeken
Some scholars are not quite sure about the languages. Conspiracy seems all over This paper.
Sanskrit: An ancient language of India; the Hindu scriptures and classical Indian epic poems are written in Sanskrit; spoken in India roughly 1200 – 400 BC and continues in use. Compare, ‘ Pali developed in northern India in the 5th – 2nd centuries BC. Origin of Sanskrit common with Latin and Greek is not relevant to the present study.
Pali developed in northern India in the 5th – 2nd centuries BC – That’s simply not true.
Book: An Introduction To Classical Sanskrit : Shastri Gaurinath Bhattacharyya : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
Page 53 (67 of 280)
Scholars are divided in their opinions as to the exact year when Buddha died. Professors Max Muller and Cunningham make it 477 B.C., vdiile Mr. Clopala Aiyer likes to fix it at 483 ]i.c. But more probable is Dr. Smith’s theory according to which Buddha died in 487 B.c. It is said that Asoka was coronated in 269 B.C.
Boston Public Library blog: The Origins and Practices of Holidays: Buddha’s Birthday | Boston Public Library
The Buddha was born into the royal family around 563/480 BCE in Nepal. After six years of ascetic practice, Siddhartha attained full enlightenment at the age of thirty five. As a result he became known as Buddha, or the awakened one. He died at the age of eighty in India. The exact date of Buddha’s birthday is based on the Asian lunisolar calendars.
Dates in the Buddha’s biography are stated in Tipitaka, in reference with other calendars. Some scholars who studied Buddhism seem to want to dismiss them. Did they study Buddhism to debunk it? And put it under Hinduism?
Are they truly interested in the actual origin of Sanskrit?
By Stephen Knapp: Sanskrit: Its Importance to Language
So, as we can see, most of these ideas are but speculations that remain ever-changing, or, to put it plainly, inconclusive…
The problem with PIE is that they feel it was never a written language but only the seed for those languages that later did become written languages. So there is no and never will be any direct evidence for it. But they try to find words that can be identified as remnants of the Proto-Indo-European language. This is where all of the speculations begin…
Aryan Invasion Theory (AIT)… has perpetuated a false history of India and its Vedic traditions for many years, ever since Max Muller came up with this theory, and this is what must be corrected…
THE ORIGINAL DEVELOPMENTS OF WRITING AND LANGUAGE IN INDIA
There has always been questions about where the original script came from, and how did it originate…
The name Sanskrit actually refers to a language brought to formal perfection, aside from the common languages at the time, like Prakrit. The form of Sanskrit that has been used for the last 2500 years or more is commonly known as Classical Sanskrit, which had been established by the ancient grammarians. Most scholars accept that it was finalized by Panini in the 5th century BCE. That is what became the standard for correct Sanskrit with such comprehensive authority that little has changed it down to the present day. However, even Panini mentions at least ten grammarians who preceded him. So he can not be the earliest of grammarians as some propose, which indicates that Sanskrit had been in use many years before him…
Nonetheless, the archeologist Balawalkarji studied the scripts of the ancient coins and proved that it was mainly the Maheshwari script which was the Vedic script. According to him, it was only later that the Brahmi and the Nagari script developed from this. This is important as some people propose that Sanskrit came out of the preceding Brahmi script, which is not the case.
Furthermore, Sanskrit or remnants of it can be found in so many other languages around the world, that a person can begin to say that it may have been the original language that the world first new. In almost all languages, like Greek, French, English, Arabic, Urdu, Persian, Indian, Mayan, Slavic, Russian, and the Sanskrit derivatives like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, or Malayalam, Sanskrit words are found everywhere. Either Sanskrit-speaking people carried them all over the world, or Sanskrit was the one world or main language, traces of which linger in all languages around the planet.
Balinese Babad Bali - The Balinese Alphabet
Balinese script is also used for writing Kawi , or Old Javanese, which had a heavy influence to Balinese language in the 11th century. Some Balinese words are also borrowed from Sanskrit, thus Balinese script is also used to write words from Sanskrit.
Sanskrit in Thai and Javanese The Meanings of Sanskrit Loanwords in Thai and Javanese Languages | Supriyadi | Humaniora
Thai and Javanese people interacted with … Indian merchants who also brought their literature and religions. In their contacts, Thai and Javanese speakers adopted Sanskrit words for enriching their own vocabularies.
Evidently, ancient South Asians were travelling in the Indian Ocean, even earlier than Europeans, just as Knapp stated above, “Either Sanskrit-speaking people carried them all over the world.”
That might be true however.
See God and Grammar in Sanskrit – Sanskrit Reading Room
Pāṇini … rules were categorised as chandasi (accounting for fact of language in the Veda) and bh āṣā y ā m (relating to the contemporary, probably elite, spoken language)… Significantly his distinction was textual rather than temporal. Vedic texts were viewed, or at least presented as contemporary to his time rather historical.
These ten are significant for considering the origin of Sanskrit as a language development. Did Sanskrit originate from these grammarians?
Nor was Pāṇini the first or only grammarian to do so. Pāṇini himself mentions other grammars and grammarians like Āpiśali, Gārgya, Gālava and Kaśyapa. However, their works are lost to us, and we only know them from quotations in surviving works.
Devanāgarī Panini (scholar) - Academic Kids
Template:Unicode (Devanāgarī पाणिनि; IPA ) was an ancient Hindu Indian grammarian (approximately 5th century BC, but estimates range from the 7th to the 3rd centuries) who is most famous for formulating the 3,959 rules of Sanskrit morphology known as the [Ashtadhyayi|[]].
According to Indian tradition, he was born in Shalatula, near the Indus river in present-day Pakistan, and lived ca. 520–460 BC, a time probably falling within the late Vedic period: he notes a few special rules, marked chandasi (“in the hymns”) to account for forms in the Vedic scriptures that had fallen out of use in the spoken language of his time, indicating that Vedic Sanskrit was already archaic, but still a comprehensible dialect.