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| The Hindu Phenomenon |
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A UNIQUE PHENOMENON |
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| What
we loosely call Sanskrit, as the vehicle of Hindu culture, can, with
greater accuracy, be described as Spoken Aryan, as it evolved
roughly between 500 B.C. and A.D. 500. It included not only
classical Sanskrit as it evolved from Vedic Sanskrit under the
impact of Dravidian and Kol (tribal) speeches but also contemporary
Prakrit or vernacular Aryan dialects (Jain Prakrit, Pali, etc.) and
the mixed Sanskrit and Prakrit of Buddhists (Buddhist hybrid
Sanskrit) and all other speeches within the Aryan orbit as used from
500 B.C. onwards). And in the vital matters of syntax and
vocabulary, both classical Sanskrit and various Prakrits were deeply
influenced by Dravidian and Austric (tribal) languages. "In
the evolution of the Aryan speech, the Dravidians and the Austrics
had almost an equal hand as the original speakers of old Indo-
Aryan."16
Further, "Sanskrit looms large behind all Indian languages, Aryan and non-Aryan. It is inseparable from Indian history and culture. Sanskrit is India. The progressive Unification of the Indian Peoples into a single Nation can correctly be described as the Sanskritisation of India."17
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