The Art of Adjusting

Hands on adjustments are a very useful aid to help the practitioner deepen their practice. They do this by lengthening the muscles further then they would normally go. This in turn gives the muscle another ‘memory’. This memory retains itself in the ‘brain’ of the muscle so each time you go into that posture it will know where to go, and what further progression can be possible. This aids the practitioner to avoid having to ‘force’ the posture. And also improves overall practice by helping to improve breathing patterns. Adjustments educate the muscle and help ‘settle’ body into the harder poses by giving the student time to ‘catch up’ on their ujjai breath while retaining the pose to maximum depth. It is useful if the adjuster breathes with them while on the adjustment. This relaxes the student which in turn relaxes the muscles you are adjusting.

There are various definitions of the word adjust. To adjust is to adapt or conform ones self to new or different conditions. It also means to align or arrange as to be parallel or straight, or bring into proper alignment. It also means to make a small change, a minor correction, modify, regulate, adapt and settle. Adjust is to altar or regulate and align so as to achieve accuracy, or conform to a standard. To be adjusted is to meet the demands of daily living, showing emotional stability and have achieved comfortable relations with your environment. To be adjusted is the behavioral process of balancing conflicting needs or needs against obstacles in the environment. So as in the practice of Yoga there are psychological as well as physical benefits to being ‘well adjusted’.

Adjustments are only useful if executed correctly. They should be used on specific postures recognized as ‘key points’ in the practice of an individual, namely the ones they have ‘difficulty’ with. There is no need to adjust all over the practitioners practice. Use adjustments wisely, timing is crucial. The idea is that you are adjusting as an aid - not as interference. So ‘’Seen and not heard ‘’ is an accurate analogy. In the case of Ashtanga Yoga self practice one can adjust in general but key postures that are commonly adjusted within particularly the Primary Series are: Down –dog in the Sun Salutations, Prasarita Padottanasana C (feet spread standing forward bend), Utthita Hasta Padangusthasana A,B,C (standing half splits), Paschimottanasana A,B,C (seated forward bend)and most other seated binding postures and seated forward bends, all Marichyasana series, A,B,C,D, Supta Kurmasana (tortoise),Baddha Konasana (butterfly),Urdhva Dhanurasana (various backbends).Always adjust for the whole time the student is in the pose i.e.…five whole breaths and always stay to adjust both sides with equal pressure on both hands. There are several types of adjustments - ‘passive’ (verbal), resistance (otherwise known as ATP or ‘resistance help’ from the student into the hand of the adjuster), active (hands on pressure), partner (two students), self adjustment (checking your own pose). So there are various ways to ‘adjust’ in a class.

Before diving in to adjust, the teacher must have good knowledge of a student’s capability and primarily how to actually execute the adjustment correctly. To learn correct adjusting techniques the teacher should learn form another qualified seasoned teacher, or have studied and more importantly watched another teacher adjust for many years before attempting it successfully themselves. You can most certainly injure students while adjusting. A hard, rough adjustment in Baddha Konasana for instance could be enough to blow someone’s knee cartilage. The art of adjusting is in knowing the students, knowing the adjustment, and applying progressive pressure on the hands on.

Now is the question of pressure. This is really the key in adjusting. Slow progressive pressure is better than a fierce thump. And you can adjust stranding or seated as the adjuster, so there really is a deep art to it much more than you think or than you can see. You can also have adjustment partner work in some classes….this allows the students to practice gently on each other and can be a fun class, but choose the adjustments and the experimental poses carefully, try the easier standing postures first. But, and this is a big but…you do not have to adjust to have a successful Yoga class! David Williams is well known for never adjusting. He feels it is not necessary as there is some truth in that everything has its own timing and comes when is appropriate. So I guess that’s up to the teacher. But I do find adjusting bonds you to your students and their practice and can really help the students practice and postures without any doubt. But it’s when and more importantly how you do it that really matters.

A good book on adjusting, covering the topics of ‘passive’ ‘resistance’ ‘active’ ‘partner’ and ‘self’ adjustment, is ‘’The Art of Adjusting’’ by Brian Cooper. He is also very experienced at Thai Yoga Massage which benefits your adjusting technique. He also runs courses and workshops on ’The Art of Adjusting’ around the UK.

Emma Hicks
www.ashtangayogauk.co.uk

Simple Distinctions between the Vedas, Vedanta, the Upanishads,
The Samhitas and Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras.

The Vedas are the most ancient among the Indian scriptures and are the earliest scriptures of mankind. All of the texts, Vedanta, Upanishads, Sutras, and Samhitas come from the Vedas. These ancient scriptures are all inextricably linked. The main connection is being with the ‘divine’, God, Universe, Spirit, Brahman, Consciousness, Atman; whatever you wish to call righteousness in its purest form. The Vedas were ‘whispered’ from God himself and are tracked as back as 10,000 years BC. They have stories, advice, practices, ritual experiments, holy words of prayers set to the mystic music and those words are of wisdom and occult practices. The Vedas originally only flowed through an ‘oral’ tradition, whispered from person to person. Sages, Brahmins who listened to the voice of God poured them out of their hearts filled with inspiration; the surrounding pupils and others repeated all those divine spells to other preceptors. Those dictations of Brahman, God Himself were written only recently (2,300 years ago). They belonged to a ‘Vedic language’, not today’s Sanskrit language. Numerous sages and saints spread those words of God by words of mouth (an oral tradition) which is very strong even today in India. Such unspoken psychic words, after long time were finally written. They are as holy as God and as old ‘as the hills’. They are: Rig Veda (prayers, hymns or Mantras), Yajur Veda (the Book of ritual or sermons, i.e. practically ’doing’, Sama Veda (music, psalm, songs put to melody or chanting) and Atharva Veda (magical and occult owing to their technical contents). Each of these four Vedas has Samhitas (practical technical knowledge and practices).

Upanishads constitute Vedanta i.e. the final chapters of the Vedas as they come at the end of the Vedic literature as compiled and arranged by the sage Veda Vyasa. These texts are based on the fruit of the study and the rewards from application of the Vedas. They are, if you like, the fruits, and the Vedas are the forest, their origin.

Upanishads have their stories taken from the Vedas, the stories of a Spiritual experience and way of life. As the most well known among the scriptures. The Upanishads are all based on Spiritual Experience resulting from introspection of the sages doing penance in the woods. They are stories of spiritual struggles, and accomplishments in life and sadhana (spiritual endeavour). All these mystic elements encourage the reader to a spiritual way of existence. Patanjali Yoga Sutras are condensed into the ‘formulae’ of what’s needed to accomplish in the Vedas for a spiritual awakening. They are the aphorisms; in short form, containing a brief no. of syllables and their meaning is hidden, as in a coded expression, and are very logical and intuitive. Their juice is compact and the truth is squeezed out in a formula like H2O in the modern natural sciences. Once broken by you - you ‘become them’.

The author of the Yoga Sutras or the Ashtanga Yoga was Patanjali. He was a living Holy man, the Yogi, who brought the Vedas to the common man through his monumental work. He is known as ‘the father’ of Yoga. He describes the content of a Yogis spiritual existence which can be accomplished by any one through steady sadhana (spiritual practice). Ashtanga Yoga has the ‘eight limbs’. It tells you what to do to reach Brahman, Enlightenment, and Samadhi. The Sutras are, for every Yogi, the ‘Bible’.

Emma Hicks
www.ashtangayogauk.co.uk

Things about Yoga you’ve always wanted to know …

1. Why Ashtanga means ‘eight limbs’.
This refers to the eight limbs of Yoga from Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras No 29 Chapter2.
1. Yama – Abstinence. 2. Niyama –observance. 3. Asana – posture. 4. Pranayama – breathe control.5.Pratyahara - sense withdrawal.6. Dharana – concentration. 7. Dhyana – meditation. 8. Samadhi – contemplation, absorption- or super-conscious state. All these limbs are ‘nourished’ during the practice of Ashtanga Yoga.

2. Why Yogis do not practice on Full or New Moon days.
This is because the moon has a direct effect on our bodies by affecting the water within us, as it does on tides. And Moons effect our emotions. Full moons bring ‘things to the full’ (projects, relationships, agreements, emotions).New Moons are ‘empty’ so re-newing, re-thinking (ideas, projects, relationships and commitments).It is also recommended to avoid these Moon Days when having physical operations or any medical treatment ,as your body may not heal as well on those days. It is also a good time to fast.

3. Why Yogis do not practice on Saturdays.
Saturday is known as ‘Saturn’s’ day (Satan). Saturday being the day of the Planet Saturn. This planet is known to be disruptive and wild, so to stay in tune with nature you usually rest from Yoga Practice on that day.

4. The truth about Nadis.
There are 72,000 Nadis (energy vessels) in the body. The main three that are usually taught and focused on in mainstream Yoga Practice are: The Susumna (spinal column) and Ida and Pingala (criss- cross up the spine). They all meet at the Ajna Chakra between the eyebrows. There are said to be three sizes of Nadi: Small vessel like veins/ lager capillaries /and also larger tube-like vessels.

5. Why Yogis do not eat meat.
This is not only because of the vow of Ahimsa (non violence), but because meat is dead, so there is no Pranic Value (life force) within it. As Yoga Practice is designed to increase your Prana (life force), meat does little to enhance it. If anything it will give bad vibrations through your system and can make you toxic. Some may even say meat makes you violent, depending on how the animal was killed.

6. The importance of Ujjayi Breath.
Ujjayi Breath is known as ‘psychic breath’. When done correctly comes from the back of your throat and does sound like ‘Dath Vader’! A good way to practice it is in Halasana (legs over head…’Plough’).

7. Why there are three Bandhas (energy/prana ‘locks) that you keep held during asana.
One at the throat (Jalandhara Bandha), the other below the belly button(Uddiyana Bandha),and one near the pelvic floor (Moola Bandha).And yes you do keep these held all throughout your yoga practice…not on and off!

8. The true workings of Karma.
To understand the workings of Karma, all our actions are grouped into three sections. Karmas that are performed leave their results; those results are stored in a big ‘bag’ called the karmasaya, literally the ‘bag of Karma’. Prarabda Karma is the allotment taken out of the bag to be experienced in this life. You have lived before in a number of different bodies and have performed a lot of actions. The results are now bundled up in the Karmasaya. Sanjita Karma is the sum total of all your past Karmas. Prarabda is the amount allotted to you to experience in this lifetime.It is according to Prarabda that you come into this world with different qualities of body and mind. Like male female, fit, weak, tall, small etc...Because we each have to undergo certain experiences for which that type of body is needed. While experiencing Prarabda we are doing new Karmas also. New Karmas are called Agami. How do we distinguish between Prarabda and Agami? Anything that happens without your explanation or unforeseen is Prarabda. But anything you consciously plan is Agami, your new Karma. If you go and purposely kick a stone and hurt your big toe it is Agami Karma. If you are walking around and suddenly a stone hits your toe it is Prarabda Karma. So these are the three Karmas: Sanjita, Prarabda, and Agami. (Shri Swami Satchidananda)

9. Who was Patanjali?
Patanjali is known as ‘the father of Yoga’ He established the practice of Ashtanga Yoga direct from the Vedas. These ancient scriptures are the core of all Yoga Practices and are very very important. They are the ‘holy grail’ of all Yoga philosophy and science. Through the practice of Yoga Patanjali made these ancient scriptures accessible for the ‘common man’. And through his development of Yoga he teaches us all to understand, and feel for ourselves, the working of the Vedas.

10. Meaning of: Patanjali Yoga Sutra No 2.
Yogas Citta Vritti Nirodhah: Cessation of the fluctuations of the mind is yoga. This one Sutra holds the key and the goal to all Yoga Practice. This one is enough as all the other sutras explain in detail this one. The entire science of Yoga is based on this one Sutra.’’ If you can control the fluctuations of the mind you will experience Yoga’’. Worth memorizing!!

11. The benefits of Sandalwood oil/essence.
Is said to awaken the ‘psychic centers’ of the mind. Rub on pulse pints and between the eyebrows.

12. The Roots of Marichyasana (as in asana Marichyasana A, B, C, D)
Marichi means ‘ray of light’ and these poses were dedicated to the great sage Marichi who, as the son of Brahma the creator was called to find balance in the world. Twists create a wringing action that cleanses the tissues, releasing deeply held tension and toxins. As your twist is released cells are infused with fresh Prana (life force, energy), and blood and circulation improves .Twists relieve back ache, improve digestion, and massages the liver and spleen for better organ function. The back, hips, trunk, neck and shoulders become more flexible.

13. The value of Savasana – ‘Corpse Pose’.
Sava means ‘corpse’. Savasana is the pose (asana) of death. It is the pose at the very end of Yoga Practice when you lie down to finally relax. It permits all that is old - ideas, beliefs old habits, old ways of being in the body - to die away and you are ‘re-born’. This invites total surrender and relaxation. Savasana removes fatigue, calms the mind, and creates an anabolic state in which your cells and tissues repair and rejuvenate. It is done at the very end of your practice as then is when your endocrine system has released hormones that communicate with the other systems of the body to allow deep healing.

14. Yoga when menstruating?
There is various advice. The best thing to do is do what you feel is comfortable for you personally. Many people practice during a period and do inversions (‘upside down’ postures like - headstands /shoulder stands etc) and are not troubled. But it is up to the individual. The best advice is to leave yoga asana out on the first two or three days of your period, many people do not .Be aware the apana ( energy/blood flow) goes down during inversions and asana increases general apana , this can increase blood flow and may not be appropriate during menstruation. Also there is a lot of external and internal heat produced during asana; this will not help to increase heat when menstruating as the body already is increasing in heat at that time of month.

15. Why adjust?
Adjustments are when a teacher helps you into a position (posture/asana) and holds you there while you breathe. Adjustments are there for muscle memory. Muscles retain memory good and bad. Yoga asana ‘squeezes’ bad memory/emotions out of muscle fibers and adjustments give the muscles better and correct memories i.e. helps the muscle to know where it should be and remember that position, stay in the present, and remember the pose. If a student needs a little help in memorizing an asana or getting into an asana adjustments are there to give the muscle a ‘correct’ memory of that pose.

16. How many Chakras are there?
There are 8!! From the base of the spine up to the crown they are…Mooladhara, Swadhisthana, Manipura, Anahata, Vishuddhi, Ajna, Bindu, and Sashara. When these are purified through Yoga practice the Yogi is able to retain Prana (life force).

Emma Hicks.
www.ashtangayogauk.co.uk

Specialities of Sanskrit language and literature I.

A few misconceptions about Sanskrit
In spite of an active, fact-finding and researching schedule all through the millennia, we find some prevailing superstitious elements about Sanskrit and Sanskrit pundits in India. To sum up these, those who are yet to know Sanskrit do not examine before believing what the antagonists want to hold:

a. That Sanskrit is a dead language; that it is out-dated; that it is not and can never be and was never a spoken language.

b. That it is a language of scriptures / religion; that only the people of certain professions like pundits or the priests study it to understand and help do rituals; that it has no use in the daily walks of life or for the common man.

c. That since it is used in the scriptures (the language of gods), it is sacred and consequent to this, committing mistakes in Sanskrit is sinful and cannot be excused.

d. That only the scholars can use it because, before using it, one needs to master the whole grammar which is the most complicated and that its vocabulary which is again endless.

e. That there is a lot to memorise / learn by heart / mug up to learn Sanskrit; that even its learning is very difficult, labouring as well as boring and even dreadful.

f. That on the racial discriminations, Sanskrit was once an ancient language owned by the Aryans; that it was a member of the Indo-Aryan family of languages; for the overdoing of this theory which is only a speculation or a hypothesis, that the non-Aryan races can think they should have no interest or discourage any efforts favouring Sanskrit. This is a over reacting to the idea of the Aryans’ race who are blamed as the oppressors of the indigenous cultures of certain countries.

Falling prey to these widespread misnomers and some intimidating aspects which are often deliberately commissioned that, unfortunately, people shy away from studying Sanskrit. They either give up after some trial or never try to own this treasure of human wisdom stored in Sanskrit literature.

On the contrary, see how many virtues and advantages Sanskrit language and literature has to offer to all.

II. Advantages while studying Sanskrit
1. It is a natural language. There is a direct link between the sound and signs; it is phonetic. We write Sanskrit and other Indian languages exactly as we say which means that the writing of Sanskrit language is based on the sound of the spoken form. In other words, Sanskrit has no spelling; there are no silent letters either. In contrast to Sanskrit, you can't read many English words properly unless you know English to certain extant. This means that a student is assumed to have known already the English language before one starts learning it! Sanskrit coalescence (SANDHI) is yet another example of the natural flow in Sanskrit.

2. There is only one set of alphabet in Sanskrit. This avoids many complexities of writing capital / small and italic letters as they are in the Roman alphabet / European scripts.

3. There aren't many punctuation marks found in Sanskrit (Devanagari) script.

4. For writing Sanskrit language, any comprehensive alphabet can be used and vice versa.

5. Thanks to its phonetic scripts, there is an easy-flowing, natural and logical way to proceed while learning this wonderful language or to write any language after that. To give a contrast example to this, see how difficult it is to learn the spelling-oriented European languages whose silent letters add to the complications. By a careful examination of the Roman alphabet we can see that some sounds are repeated in it while many sounds are left out. Capital letters are a whole set of repetition.

6. There is logic in its sound system, and a natural continuity in its word-making as well as sentence-making. Compare this with pronouncing and spelling of the languages of other countries than India. For example, unless one has visited England, one cannot guess the correct reading of the names / places like Reading, Gloucester, Leicester, Peugeot, Plymouth. ‘Chaos’ in English, follows if not pre-learnt.

7. Sanskrit sentence structure is flexible. The declensions and the conjugations have a wide range. Hence every student has more freedom in composing sentences in Sanskrit. In contrast to this, every English sentence has to follow syntax (the law of particular order of words).

8. In Sanskrit, the order of words in a sentence does not matter. Thanks to this flexibility, a Sanskrit sentence may well follow any language the student is familiar with.

III. About its uniqueness
That Sanskrit is unique is the popular quotation we find in every manual of its teaching. Look at the few following realities:

1. Sanskrit is the oldest and living language on our planet. Hence in its study and research we see a wonderful history passing through many millennia.

2. It is the language of the most ancient Indian scriptures belonging to various faiths. Sanskrit is a spiritual language. Owing to these reasons, the description is very popular, like “as old as the hills”, that Sanskrit is the language of Divinity, language of gods.

3. It is a language of classical literature – rich and abundant.

4. As its name itself explains, it is systematised and perfected. Its alphabets are impeccably arranged. They are easy to remember and help in memorising textual stanzas which explains why the oral tradition of Indian wisdom is so popular and long-standing in the entire world. Virtually everything, including those subjects which are technical - like science, engineering, medicine, grammar, philosophy, law – are in poetry, easy to memorise and to quote them melodiously. Not even a Sanskrit dictionary (Amara-kosha) is spared from this impeccably convenient structure/formation.

5. Sanskrit literature is unique in its overwhelmingly poetic character.

6. Rationality is in everything including the arrangement of its alphabets. It is perfected. The Devanagari script used to write Sanskrit is also complete. Being phonetic, it can easily be adopted to write any language.

7. It is a global language. It has no territory, has no bias; hence has no limitations.

8. Sanskrit is a 'world language' in the real sense of the term. It hasn't got local variations or vernaculars nor dialects nor usages of slang words. Its uniformity owes to this aspect as well.

9. It has written rules of grammar, phonetics, etymology and epistemology which are all followed wherever Sanskrit is used. The wonder that this bedrock of Sanskrit grammar, which is, allows its purity to continue no matter however it grows. Consequent to this, the uniformity found only in Sanskrit has not changed even after many millennia of its expansion as well as migration to so many lands outside India.

10. There is infinity in its word-formation possibilities and they are all well-structured, computerized long before the computers came in use.

11. There is a vibration or resonance in the sounds well-expressed in Sanskrit speaking.

12. Absolute freedom is in using this language because of "No syntax". This means that even a beginner can proceed with words as one’s thoughts progress.

12. Flexibility or adaptability - Same sentence can be said in a variety of ways. Brevity and elaboration – both are possible, thanks to the 'classical' nature of Sanskrit. If one sentence in Banabhatta's novel - "Kadambari" virtually runs beyond 20 printed pages and a single word extends to 13 printed lines, imagine the range of expansion and contraction achieved by this celestial language namely, Sanskrit! Here, a mention has to be made about the Dwi-sandhana Kavyas and other specimen of Chitra kavyas in Sanskrit which exhibit a funtastic world. On those lines you will be able to say a whole story – even of whole Ramayana if you like, in one set of formation, say, in one set of letters, or in one set of words – only nouns and those nouns only in the Nominative case, singular no. etc…..

E.g. “Ayodhya-emperor, three-wived-Dasharatha, child-less, performer-of-Putrakameshti-sacrifice, becoming-the-father-of-four-sons, - Rama- Lakshmana-Bharata-Shatrughna-as-well, consequently-the-sender-of-two-of-his-sons-namely-Rama-and Lakshmana-along-with-viswamitra-sage-who-came-with-request-for-the-king’s-help-to-rescue-his-sacrifice . . . . . ”.
Such a never-ending phrase = ANANTYA-PADAM or ANANTYA-VAKYAM = one single sentence for the whole story i.e. going to any length can contain in it, not just an episode, but the whole epic of Ramayana itself. Such a feat is possible in a Sanskrit narration. There are many reasons for this amazing power of Sanskrit which all explain the richness and inexhaustibility of this classical language. Depending upon how pedantic the narrator could be, even in one long word – running for many pages - one can fill in the whole story. Owing to its enormous flexibility, only Sanskrit can imitate any language in the sentence structure.

13. Its universality. It can do all functions, - scriptural (holiness), technical (precision and derivative power) and romantic (resourceful and flowery style) but can never be slang.

14. Has a very rational derivative power. In Sanskrit, etymology (Niruktam) is a special science (Sastra) of finding the derivations. The derivative potential of Sanskrit words is breath-taking. Unbelievable it may look though, there are no proper nouns in Sanskrit! Every single Sanskrit word has a meaning built into the word itself; the root hidden in the word contains the meaning of that word. Hence a Sanskrit scholar seldom runs for a dictionary to find out the meaning of any new or a strange word one may come across. He uses the key of etymology which breaks the egg, and the contents come out!

15. Its economy. Sanskrit letters can be used to write other languages as well. Any lengthy expression could be put in brief in Sanskrit - as small as a word; or sometimes it is smaller than a word, say a syllable! E.g. A Bijakshara like OM. Passive voice sentences are more in Sanskrit also owing to this reason which are surprisingly shorter expressions!

16. Sanskrit words possess a special vibration of sound waves whose resonance is very effective. People use Sanskrit Mantras for healing. They owe this mystic character and holiness to the essential spiritual character of Sanskrit.

17. Spirituality has moulded into Sanskrit! Hence its name , - perfection to be reached by any word.
Different voices – 3 of them – in Sanskrit make way for different aspects related to the same – i.e. Reality.
By knowing Sanskrit, you are now in touch with a language which is very natural (sound-oriented), rationally developed or systematised in its structure and versatile in its usage even while retaining its purity and uniformity. Its ancient, abundant, full of variety and everlasting literature passing through the longest period of time has plentiful wonders to offer to those interested in any of them.

IV. Benefits of the Sanskrit knowledge
See the previous paragraph as well. If you know Sanskrit,

1. Since Sanskrit is the oldest language of our planet, your ability to speak it amounts to a unique experience (and perhaps your special status!).

2. Clear in speech, perfect in pronunciation, articulate in conversation, sharp in memory, rapid in thinking, logical in analysis, rational in understanding, accurate in expression and communication, familiarity with a wide variety of concepts, liberal in views and polite in behaviour as well as a quick grasping of other languages and scripts also - are some opf the benefits attached to and traditionally proverbial attributed to a Sanskrit scholar.

3. Sanskrit is really the world-language. Its knowledge helps in studying:

a. European things of the past as a lot of technical terms are similar between Sanskrit, Latin, Greek, Hittite etc. in many technical fields like medicine, law, physics, chemistry, mathematics, astronomy, philosophy and many more.
b. The languages, religion and cultures of the Middle east like Persian, Iranian and Arabic which owe a lot of similarity.
c. Indian things whether religions, philosophy, arts, science (like Ayurveda, Vedic mathematics, Vastu, Tantra, Kriyayoga and other specialisations) which are all the popular subjects in today’s world.

4. A glimpse of ancient world religions, languages, customs, traditions, culture can be easy to get through the glass of Vedic and Sanskrit literature.

5. In this modern age of computers, Sanskrit has one more thing to offer, - adoption of the already computerised contents or the Sutras in many of its technical subjects like Panini's Ashtadhyayi - the text book of grammar. Since both Sanskrit and the computer are having less irregularities, if not perfect, their combination should work marvellously for the benefit of mankind.

6. By knowing Sanskrit, you have an access to the most ancient, profound, rich and extensive literature of Sanskrit which strengthens your contacts / association/ understanding of a life style associated with that language. In short, Sanskrit is the container of all that which is Indian. Like the saying, “England, without Shakespeare is a zero”, they quote “India without Sanskrit would be zero”. In other words, understanding and appreciation of numerous Indian things whether music, dance, arts, rituals, tradition, religions, values, languages, science etc. will be easy for one who knows Sanskrit. By analogy of England, Netherland, Sovietland etc, India is, in fact, Sanskritland! The integrity of the Indian elements owe essentially to the Sanskrit language and literature which has the universal impact upon them.

7. You have now access to the most systematised orientl language.

8. You are now in touch with a language which is very natural (euphonic / built on sound factor), rationally developed, systematic in its structure and versatile in its usage even while retaining its purity and uniformity (without any regional vernaculars).

9. Sanskrit being the mother of all Indian languages and a sister of all the European languages, with its knowledge you are capable of learning most of the current world languages easily.

10. Owing to the spiritual contents predominant in its literature, the knowledge of Sanskrit adds many important dimension to our personality.

Dr Shasty 2009