The problem of Samskruta in Kannada

Samskruta is undoubtedly a language with great literature (note that I don't call Samskruta itself a great language; there is no language which needs to be specially called a great language; all languages are great in their own right).

But unfortunately, it is becoming more and more of a differentiator of the haves and havenots in Karnataka. We are witnessing an explosion in the number of Samskruta words being used in Kannada literature. Whenever a new word has to be coined or a headline or a sentence has to be made "more attractive", it has become common practice to turn to Samskruta.

Worth special mention is the fact that Kannada is not a language derived from Samskruta. This is a total misconception/lie which is going around within and outside Karnataka (See "Kannada Barahavannu Saripadisona" by D.N. Shankara Bhat). Thousands of years of work on Kannada Grammar has been proven mostly wrong by Shri. Bhat, who argues that earlier grammarians have tried to apply Samskruta Grammar to a language which has really not much to do with Samskruta.

The problem with Samskruta words being used in Kannada sentences is twofold:

• They don't fit in well into Kannada sentences because of Mahapranas, Samyuktavyanjanas and Samskruta's inherent differences with Kannada (See "Kannadakke Beku Kannadadde Vyakarana" by D.N. Shankara Bhat)
• They're alien to most Kannadigas (For e.g., "horabaanu" is understood by most whereas "baahyaakaasha" is not!)

People end up using Samskruta words while writing/talking in Kannada for 3 reasons:

• They don't know the Kannada equivalents or can't coin them
• They think Kannada equivalents clash with common-usage
• They want to show off

All the above reasons are invalid, and continuing usage of Samskruta words in Kannada is taking Kannadias away and away from their souls.

Note that there is nobody really forcing Kannadigas to use Samskruta - it doesn't have the kind of market appeal which English has. Here, it is only the lack of real understanding of Kannada which is killing Kannada and Kannadigas and therefore Karnataka.

So go ahead and add Samskruta to the list of Kannada's problems.

Nothing said above should be interpreted to mean that we should not use a single Samskruta words. As Shri Bhat argues, Samskruta words can and must be used after necessary modifications in Kannada when there's no other go; but this usage has to be conscious and not an offshoot of a feeling of eliteness.

I've not tried to document examples of Samskruta usage in Kannada in this blog. The percentage is too much. The best way is to read Dr. Bhat's books.

We've got more work to do than we thought. Over and above the fools who are arguing that English should be taught from day 1 in school, we also have to fight the fools who think it's impossible to coin acchakannaDa words without the help of Samskruta (I was one of them until today).