Sanskrit, the vehicle of Hinduism
Sanskrit is the original language of Hinduism and language of the Gods. Historical evidence reveals that Sanskrit was used on stone inscriptions and palm-leaf books in Southeast Asian courts. Moreoever, many names of present Southeast Asian countries and ancient empires come from Sanskrit, just to name a few:
· “Singapura” is a Malay word derived from Sanskrit, meaning the city of the lion.
· “Sumatra” comes from the Sanskrit word "Samudra", meaning ocean.
· “Java” comes from the Sanskrit word "Yava", meaning barley.
· “Siam” (until 1939; before its name was changed to "Thailand") comes from the Sanskrit word "Shyama", meaning brown.
The fact that the names of ancient Southeast Asian countries were derived from Sanskrit shows how Indianisation had a significant impact on the people’s daily lives in terms of speech and form of writing back then. The impact lasts till today, evident in languages like Tagalog language of the Philippines. It is heavily inspired by Sanskrit, thus showing how Sanskrit has shaped the modern culture of Philippines, as language is a form of speech and method of communication that reflects culture.
Sanskrit is the original language of Hinduism and language of the Gods. Historical evidence reveals that Sanskrit was used on stone inscriptions and palm-leaf books in Southeast Asian courts. Moreoever, many names of present Southeast Asian countries and ancient empires come from Sanskrit, just to name a few:
· “Singapura” is a Malay word derived from Sanskrit, meaning the city of the lion.
· “Sumatra” comes from the Sanskrit word "Samudra", meaning ocean.
· “Java” comes from the Sanskrit word "Yava", meaning barley.
· “Siam” (until 1939; before its name was changed to "Thailand") comes from the Sanskrit word "Shyama", meaning brown.
The fact that the names of ancient Southeast Asian countries were derived from Sanskrit shows how Indianisation had a significant impact on the people’s daily lives in terms of speech and form of writing back then. The impact lasts till today, evident in languages like Tagalog language of the Philippines. It is heavily inspired by Sanskrit, thus showing how Sanskrit has shaped the modern culture of Philippines, as language is a form of speech and method of communication that reflects culture.