Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence...

[Gauracandra 1]

I've noticed that a few of the posters to these forums are software engineers. So I was curious if any of you can enlighten me on this topic. I have read on various places on the internet that Sanskrit is considered the ideal language for higher level computer programming and that a lot of research has been done in this regard. I have taken a few classes in Sanskrit in the past, and the one thing that struck me was that it was a very non-linear language. Adjectives, nouns, verbs etc... could be placed in many different orders, as opposed to the strict Subject-Verb-Object construction in English. So if any of you have information on this please share.

 

Gauracandra

[animesh 0]

I very glad Gauracandra ji that you have posted this question. I am a software engineer, I know Sanskrit well and also I am very much interested in the topic you have raised. I have some work now. But, I will post whatever I know on this topic shortly.

[Gauracandra 1]

I wanted to follow up on my previous post and address the non-linear aspect of Sanskrit. Here is a very simple English sentence with the Subject-Verb-Object construction:

 

Rama kills Ravana

 

This is a sentence at its most basic. There is no other way to use these same words with out changing the meaning of the sentence or rendering the sentence incomprehensible. Now I am not a Sanskrit expert, but I did study Sanskrit for a little while with a south indian Brahmin, who explained that this simple sentence could be rearranged in every possible way and still mean the same thing. Thus in Sanskrit we could have:

 

Rama kills Ravana

Ravana kills Rama

Rama Ravana kills

Ravana Rama kills

Kills Rama Ravana

Kills Ravana Rama

 

The reason for this is because in Sanskrit each word contains within it both its number (1 Rama, several Ramas etc...) and its place (Subject, Object). The actual Sanskrit would be:

 

Ramaha vadhati Ravanam. The name is Rama but you know it is the subject because it is RamaHA, and the name is Ravana but you know it is the object because it is RavanaM. If Rama was the object it would be RamaM and if Ravana was the subject it would be RavanaHA.

 

Because the words contain their position within the sentence they can be placed in any order. The only difference would be the Sandhi (I think thats what it is called). Essentially this is a sort of reaction that occurs when two words meet each other in a sentence. Either the end of one word changes, or the beginning of the other word changes, or both change, or the words merge together etc.... The purpose of this is very interesting. The goal is to make the Sanskrit sentence as easy to pronounce as possible and as aurally pleasant as well. The only thing I can think of in English that is similar would be words like can't, won't, didn't etc.... I could say "I will not go to the store" but it is easier to say "I won't go to the store" and it sounds better as well. But Sanskrit accounts for this balance of pronounciation and sound across all word combinations.

 

Whats great about this non-linear approach is that it makes the poetic form relatively easy to construct. It is said that in the spiritual world all speach is song and all walking is dancing. Well now I can see why. If you can't find a word to fit the metered structure, just rearrange the words till it does fit the appropriate poetic form. No wonder it is called the language of the gods.

 

Gauracandra

[animesh 0]

Sanskrit grammar is so perfect with its syntax structure that it leaves no room for error or any ambiguity. There are ambiguitites in other languages. As an example, consider English. You will agree that there are many English sentences which are in fashion now-a-days (esp. in spoken English), but which can mean many things. Very often, we have to see the context to find the actual meaning.

Also, as you have mentioned, in sanskrit, syllables and roots are combined.

[Dasha 0]

How is it so that there are so many interpretations of the vedic litterature?

Just compare different translation of Bhagavat Gita, you will find as much interpretations as translator.

[Gauracandra 1]

Well, on one level it is the same with all religions. The Catholics have a different view than Southern Baptists, who have a different understanding than the Quakers, who think differently than do the Mormons, who have a varied understanding from the Lutherans etc.... Another reason is that Sanskrit words often have several meanings. One example is the word for twice-born (dvija??? not sure). It can mean being twice born as in Brahminical initiation, it can also mean a tooth (first teeth and then the second teeth come in), it can also mean a bird (first the egg, then hatching from the egg). These varied meanings are often sources of debate among the acharyas. On this site there is a story of Ramanujacharya giving a translation of a word describing Visnu. The Sankarites said it meant something like "Lord Visnu's eyes are as red as the buttocks of a monkey", whereas Ramanuja took the same word and declared it to mean "Lord Visnu's eyes are like Lotus petals reddened by the sun" (something like that, I don't have the story in front of me).

 

Gauracandra

[animesh 0]

I want to share an interesting incident related to Albert Einstein. Well, I understand that it is not related to AI but it is related to Sanskrit and is really interesting: -

 

Prof. Einstein once hailed the Indian Scientist Dr.B.N. Gupta in Sanskrit. Dr. Gupta pleaded his inability to reply in Sanskrit. Prof. Einstein said 'Come along, see my library which treasures classics from

Sanskrit namely the Gita and other treatises on Hindu Philosophy. I have made the Gita as the main source of my inspiration and the

guidance for the purpose, scientific investigations and formation of my theories'.

[Gauracandra 1]

I think language can tell us alot about a people. The same can be said for Sanskrit. To me it isn't surprising that such a fluid, non-linear language as Sanskrit would shape such forward thinking philosophies as have emanated from India. Think about it. The very idea of time from a vedantic perspective is entirely nonlinear. Never was there a time when we did not exist. There is no beginning and there is no end. It overlaps itself, revolving in cycles. The idea of infinite universes, the creation and destruction and creation of universes all flow from the philosophy of Sanskrit. If a single sentence can be said in numerous ways, then why can not God be perceived from multiple angles of vision. "Though He is one, the wise describe him in many ways". Thats the one thing that has always fascinated me about Vaisnava philosophy. Many other religions (and I do not say this as criticism) tend to be "ground" based where as Vaisnava and Vedantic philosophy tends to look at the universe and is "cosmically" based, if you know what I mean. Its big and vast, with the layers of the universe one after another, outside of this universe even more universes, further and further, all of which are tiny little dots to MahaVishnu. And beyond all this are the Vaikuntha planets. The whole philosophy has a very big sweep, and telescopes man, on this tiny planet, orbiting the sun, outwards beyond the heavens, beyond the universe. I think this all derives from the brilliance of the Sanskrit language.

 

Gauracandra

[viji_53 0]

Twice born means, You are considered born again after the performance of Upanayanam the thread cermony. Brahmins are called as twice born.

[Guest guest]

Please include me in your e-mailings as regards this subject. himsemaje@hotmail.com

[Guest guest]

If anyone has found a university site where this research is being carried out, please let me know. I would like to pursue this research and am searching for leads.

[trupti 0]

please include me too. i have not studied Sanskrit before, but just last week my dad emailed me something that said that Sanskrit is a good language for programming. i have read the verses of the gita when i read it , but it is so hard for me to properly pronounce the words.

 

anyways, please if you have more information on this topic, let me know

[Guest guest]

Can anyone please give me details of any software programmed using sanskrit language.. asheeshdube@rediffmail.com