Jain Journal 1998 10

Author(s): Jain Bhawan Publication
Publisher: Jain Bhawan Publication

Page 39

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5. The Discovery of Sanskrit by Europe : Modern age
With the advent of the Europeans in the modern age, the Sanskrit studies turned to a new direction. From the 16th to the late 18th centuries, it was the period of discovery of Sanskrit by the Europeans. Europeans, mostly missionaries, were busy in learning Sanskrit. Padre Pedro, St. Francis Xavier, Filippo Sassetti (1583-88), Roberto de Nobili (1577-1656), Père Vico, Abraham Roger, Heinrich Roth, John Marshall, Johann Hanxleden, Père Pons, Coeurdoux and many others were the pioneers in the formative stage of the European studies. But the real study of Sanskrit by the Europeans began after the epoch-making pronouncement of Sri William Jones in 1786 regarding 'the antiquity' and 'the wonderful structure' of Sanskrit.
JAIN JOURNAL: Vol-XXXIII, No. 2 October 1998
Apart from the fact that the Western study of the Sanskrit literature had started with the Dutch translation of some of the Proverbs of Bhartṛhari found in the book, Open-Deure tot het verborgen Heydendom ("Open Door to the Hidden Heathendom") written by the Dutchman Abraham Roger in 1651 (a German translation in Nürnberg in 1663), the actual starting point of Sanskrit studies was from the fourth quarter of the 18th century. Under the inspiration of Warren Hastings Vivādārṇavasetu ("Bridge over the Ocean of Disputes") was compiled by a number of Pundits, and the book was first translated into Persian from which again it was translated into English by Nathaniel Brassey Halhed and was printed by the East India Company in 1776 under the title "A Code of Gentoo Law." Then followed the English translations of the Bhagavadgītā (1785) and the Hitopadesa (1787) by Charles Wilkins. In the meantime Sir William Jones' English translation of Śakuntalā (1789), and Charles Wilkin's Sakuntala episode from the Mahabharata (1795) appeared. Jones also translated the Ṛtusamhāra in 1792 and the law book of Manu under the title "Institutes of Hindu Law" in 1794 (a German translation appeared in 1797 in Weimer). With this background, the 18th century ended.
In the first quarter of the 19th century, the progress of Sanskrit studies was very meagre. We can know this from a study of August Wilhem von Schlegel's essay, Ueber den gegenwärtigen Zustand der Indischen Philologie ("On the present condition of Indian Philology") published in 1819, where the author could not mention more than a dozen Sanskrit books which were made known to Europe through editions or translations. By 1830 a good progress was made. Friedrich Adelung wrote his Versuch einer Literatur der Sanskrit Sprache ("A study on the literature of the Sanskrit language") in 1830 and published from St. Petersburg. In that book the author has mentioned over 350 Sanskrit books. By 1852 the number rose to 500 which we could know