Malhotra Rajiv. The Battle for Sanskrit. Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred, Oppressive or Liberating, Dead or Alive

HarperCollins Publishers India, 2016.Dedicated to our purva-paksha and uttara-paksha debating tradition. With gratitude to the purva-pakshins (opponents) I have learned from. May we engage in this intellectual yajna with mutual respect.Introduction: The Story Behind the Book
Meeting with the US-based Sringeri leader and one of the major
donors
Meeting with Sheldon Pollock
Trip to Sringeri Sharada Peetham
Who will control our traditions?
What is at stake?
Assault on Sanskrit goes mainstreamThe Hijacking of Sanskrit and Sanskriti
Why this book matters?
Highlighting the disputes between the two intellectual camps
Where is the home team?
Offering my humble attemptsFrom European Orientalism to American Orientalism
Origins of Orientalism
The rise of European Orientalism
Sir William Jones, the European Orientalist
The American frontier
The rise of American Orientalism
Comparing European Orientalism and American Orientalism
Impact of American Orientalism on the study of Sanskrit
Introducing Sheldon Pollock: Pandit from America
Comparing two pioneering Orientalists: Sir William Jones and Sheldon PollockThe Obsession with Secularizing Sanskrit
Integral unity of Hindu metaphysics
Discarding the transcendent/sacred aspects of Sanskrit
Sidelining the oral tradition
Accusing yajnas of being linked to social hierarchy
Rejecting the shastras as Vedic dogma
Using Buddhism as a wedge for secularizing Sanskrit
Disconnecting kavya from Vedas and shastrasSanskrit Considered a Source of Oppression
The crisis of Indology and a novel solution
Exposing Sanskrit’s ‘poisons’
Response: Debating varna
Blaming Sanskrit for European atrocities
Pollock’s call to action to politicize Sanskrit studiesRamayana Framed as Socially Irresponsible
Pollock’s view of Ramayana as a project for propagating Vedic social oppression
The divinization construct
The demonization construct
Sociological criticism of the Ramayana
Claiming Ramayana was popularized to demonize Muslims since the eleventh century
Ramayana considered secular
Claiming Valmiki Ramayana came after Buddhist influence
Summary: Ramayana interpreted as atrocity literature
Ramayana-based political action plan of intervening in Indian politicsPoliticizing Indian Literature
A dramatic break from earlier Orientalism
Sacredness removed from rasa and kavya
The theory of the aestheticization of power
Kavya characterized as primarily politicalPoliticizing the History of Sanskrit and the Vernaculars
Overview of Pollock’s account of history of how power shaped languages
Introducing the ‘Sanskrit Cosmopolis’ and sidelining sanskriti
Grammar as a form of political power
The role of itihasas in spreading the Sanskrit cosmopolis
Summary of issues with the grammar-itihasa- power theory
The rise of the vernaculars
What led so many kings to vernacularize?
Claiming parallels between European and Indian vernacularizationThe Sanskriti Web as an Alternative Hypothesis
Diglossia versus hyperglossia models
Approaches suggested by T.S. Satyanath
Integral unity, open architecture and sanskriti webDeclaring Sanskrit Dead and Sanskriti Non-existent
Agenda in declaring the death of Sanskrit
Claiming Sanskrit has been dead for many centuries
Claiming Hindu kings killed Sanskrit, and Muslim rulers tried to save it
Accusing other Indian languages of killing Sanskrit
Sparing British colonialism and Nehruvianism
Silence on the extraction and digestion of Sanskrit shastras into the West
Chamu Krishna Shastry responds on behalf of the tradition
Western academic critiques of Pollock
The history of attempts to ‘kill’ Sanskrit
Rejecting Indian civilization and Indian nationIs Sheldon Pollock Too Big to Be Criticized?
Two goals
The academic ecosystem
The hegemonic discourse goes mainstream
Third-party echoes: Pollock’s ideas go viral
The re-colonization of Indian minds
The Murty Classical Library of India
The rise of the American-English cosmopolis
Reversing the gaze: Interpreting Pollock using his own conceptsConclusion: The Way Forward
The Sanskrit ecosystem must be revived in a holistic way
Non-translatable Sanskrit terms must enter the mainstream
Shastras must be seen as a platform for innovation
New itihasas and smritis must be written
‘Sacred philology’ must compete against political/liberation philology
The purva-paksha tradition must be revived
Well-qualified home team and institutions must be developed
Defining the hard work that is neededAppendix A: Pollock’s Theory of Buddhist Undermining of the Vedas
Appendix B: Ramayana Evidence Prior to the Turkish Invasion
Appendix C: Pollock’s Political Activism
Appendix D: Acknowledgements
Appendix E: Editorial Policies Adopted
NotesAbout the BookAbout the Author
Praise for The Battle for Sanskrit
Copyright