Sunday, November 9, 2014

RUSSIAN AND SANSKRIT ARE CLOSE TO EACH OTHER

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INDIA/RUSSIA, November 3, 2014 (by Rakesh Krishnan Simha, In.Rbth): When was the last time you had a shot of vodka? Well, next time you have one, remember that this Russian word has its origins in the Vedic Sanskrit word for water - udaka. The striking similarities in Sanskrit and Russian indicate that during some period of history, the speakers of the two languages lived close together. While it is commonly known that both languages belong to the Indo-European family of languages, most people believe the relation between Russian and Sanskrit is as distant as that between Persian and Sanskrit or Latin and Sanskrit. Linguist and author W.R. Rishi writes in his book "India & Russia: Linguistic & Cultural Affinity" that Russian and Sanskrit share a deeper connection.

According to Rishi, the relation between these two languages is very close and correspondence between these two languages is so minute that it cannot be attributed to mere chance. "The facts...lead us to conclude that during some period of history the speakers of Sanskrit and Russian lived close together." The two languages have two broad similarities. One, Russian is the only European language that shares a strong common grammatical base with Sanskrit. Secondly, both Russian and Sanskrit are pleasing to the ear. The very name Sanskrit means carefully constructed, systematically formed, polished and refined. Colonial era linguist William Jones wrote: "Sanskrit language is of a wonderful structure; more perfect than the Greek, more copious than the Latin and more exquisitely refined than either."

Linguist S. Zharnikova writes in Science & Life: "There are many Russian names and words in Russian the origin of which can easily be traced with the help of the Sanskrit language. What explains the similarities? Vedic Sanskrit was spoken as late as 300 BCE but its antiquity may stretch back thousands of years from that date. Russian may either be the result of ancient Indians taking their language and culture from the banks of the Saraswati river to the banks of the Ob River (in Siberia). The discovery of Shiva statues in Central Asia and Russia points to the spread of Hindu culture far beyond the Indian heartland.

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