A Dutch professor who is leaving Kesra of Sanskrit

Like when someone goes to the market and buys things in Sanskrit, or as Wendy Doniger says, someone uses Sanskrit to ask for butter in the kitchen.' However, regarding the fact that the Sanskrit language is always at the center of politics, Peter says, 'behind that is the class of people, history, civilization and the entire Hindu religion-culture that is connected with this language. Also, the Sanskrit language was used by rulers and elites, so its legacy became so strong. However, if only this is said, it will do injustice to the vastness, beauty and magnificence of the Sanskrit language. It represents the entire Hindu culture and philosophy.'

Peter Bishop, a professor at Leiden University in the Netherlands, has been studying Sanskrit, the ancient civilizations of Asia, and the Puranas written in the Sanskrit language.

Interest in the Sanskrit language

is one of the oldest languages ​​in the world, so Sanskrit is studied and researched at Leiden University. Peter was also attracted to the study of Sanskrit because other European languages ​​like English or Dutch developed from the Indo-European language family. Sanskrit language attracted him after he started studying Eastern philosophy especially Indian philosophy in post-graduate level. Following this interest, Peter is teaching Sanskrit language and ancient cultures of South Asia at Leiden University's Institute for Area Studies after completing his undergraduate studies. They say - 'Sanskrit language is a window to open the vast horizon of vast civilization, Hindu religious system, ancient poetic tradition and culture.' Sanskrit books were scattered in his office. Among those books, there were many Nepali related books. After reading Sanskrit poems and Puranas, Professor Peter's interest in ancient culture became stronger. His specific line of research deals with the historical development and spread of early Hindu religious tradition, particularly Shaivism, based on the philological study of Sanskrit texts. Specially interested in the composition and transmission of mythological literature and the study of historical, religious and social contexts of mythological stories, Peter is also a member of the International Study Team preparing a critical edition of the Skandapurana. He also has a deep interest in other genres of Sanskrit literature including Kavyasastra and Tantrashastra. He has published about a dozen books related to this subject.

Sanskrit language and politics

After the Maoists started an armed conflict in Nepal, Professor Peter considers attacks targeting the Sanskrit language or rebellion against the Sanskrit language to be justified. He sees it as a linguistic revolt caused by the strong attachment of Sanskrit language to the ruling class, Brahmins and the elite, the state's excessive love for it and indifference to the development of other languages. Peter says, 'As the English language has built its empire today, the Sanskrit language built an empire in its time. Just as it is mandatory for a village-born person to be proficient in the English language to compete with the world, in the same way it was mandatory for the various kings of the Indian subcontinent, civilizations, Brahmins or high-level priests of temples to be proficient in the Sanskrit language to maintain their position or fame.'

Most importantly, not everyone had the facility to study Sanskrit and get a degree or mastery in it. Therefore, this language was a language that stood on the foundation of discrimination. Peter insists that Sanskrit has never been a working language, nor has it ever been the language of common people, but the fact that Sanskrit has always been at the center of political or linguistic debates in Nepal and India should be seen in connection with the background of the establishment of the Sanskrit language. He adds - "That's why, even though the world has seen many political upheavals or the outer cover of politics has changed, the Sanskrit language has succeeded in remaining at the center of the debate because of the strong influence of this philosophy on the basic principles of politics."

When talking about the politics of the Sanskrit language in Nepal, Peter says that one cannot forget the political development taking place in India and the former monarchy of Nepal. They say, 'Since there is no mother tongue of any community, special training or education was needed to speak Sanskrit, for which a person had to meet certain social qualifications.' Since Sanskrit is not a language spoken by the common people, the development of Sanskrit language was limited to one phase and it describes only one dimension of the society. Would Sanskrit have been so strong if it had not been mixed with religion? "It's a very complicated question," says Peter. Sanskrit as a language is very magnificent and highly developed language. In ancient times, Sanskrit was not only related to religion. It is not fair to narrow down a language with a history of almost five thousand years, but it is true that if such a poetic and beautiful language had not been associated with Hindu religion, culture and philosophy, there would not have been so much politics about the Sanskrit language.

Skandapurana Project

Professor Peter is also a member of the International Skandapurana Project, a team of research scholars in the Faculty of Humanities. The Skandapurana is an important text in the Sanskrit language, which reached India as a manuscript written on palm leaves from Nepal in the ninth century. The Skandapurana project will produce a significant edition of one of the most important and foundational works of Hindu mythology. Through this study project, they are investigating the dynamics of the textual tradition of that time to understand the rise and development of religious communities during an important period in the history of the Indian subcontinent.

Since the beginning of the 1990s, a considerable amount of work has been done on the Skandapurana project, which was started by Rob Adienson, Hans T. Becker, and Harunaga Isaacson. Several sections of the Skandapurana and many explanatory treatises on the Purana have been published. The project studies linguistics, textual criticism and manuscript sources using basic scholarly theory and identifying classical Indology. At the heart of the project are texts preserved in manuscript form from the 9th to the 19th century. Through critical editing, the project reconstructs the process of textual transmission and interprets the text in the historical context of the time. However, the Skandapurana is far more than a single text and is a very rich field for studying the tradition and history of Hinduism as it was conceived and practiced in early India. Under this project, the fusion of Shaivism and Vaishnava traditions is also being studied.

Then, by studying these texts written in Sanskrit language, can any conclusions be drawn about the social structure or socioeconomic conditions at that time? Can't. Peter had a straightforward answer. Because Sanskrit was never the primary language of the common man. Only the upper caste people, including some Brahmins who were in power and were in the serofero, spoke Sanskrit and even those people spoke the second language in their daily life. The Sanskrit language forever wrote only the glories of God, Dharma or ruling around him. Made social rules to be followed on the basis of caste or gender. He glorified the Brahminical culture, wrote the history of it, so no book written in Sanskrit language knows the real face of the society at that time. It speaks the language of God. Ancient scriptures or Puranas written in Sanskrit language look at society from only one point of view. The history of common people, their culture, struggle, suffering, friction between communities cannot be understood from these books. Another important thing is that in these texts, knowledge is evoked only in the form of stories of Gods or Goddesses. However, a student studying South Asian social or linguistic history cannot draw any conclusions by excluding this history. The present is also a milestone in history.

Nepal Signo

Professor Peter says, 'Nepal can be excluded to study only Sanskrit language because many books or texts have been written in Sanskrit language, but Nepal cannot be excluded because Nepal is the primary source for studying the history of Shiva religion and Shiva Purana. .'

Although he did not reach Nepal directly, he studied many manuscripts related to Nepal. It was an exciting topic for him to find centuries-old manuscripts in Nepal and to spread them from Nepal on palm leaves. He has since studied many such primary sources, including Nepali scholars. Peter, a scholar of Shiva Purana, wants to visit Pashupatinath temple, Kathmandu monastery, learn more about the legends of Gods and Goddesses and see them up close. He is expected to study social studies in health facilities in Nepal. Professor Peter, who is planning to go to Kathmandu for the World Sanskrit Language Conference to be held in Kathmandu this year 2024, has already made a mark of knowledge with Nepal.