In a survey, a consistent pattern was noticed among several Sanskrit students. Many students in India study Sanskrit during their school days, but they do not get an opportunity to speak or use the language after graduation. As a result, they forget the language very soon.

These students should be given opportunities to converse in Sanskrit on a regular basis, and they should be fun too. So today, we’re launching Sanskrit-Expressions - An online community tool that will enable interaction among Sanskrit learners. It has two components to it: Word-Game and Two-Liners.

The Word-game helps the users build their Sanskrit vocabulary steadily, while the Two-liners will encourage them to frame short-sentences and converse in Sanskrit. Further, the users will have complete control over their data (create/update/delete) at all times. One can also keep track and follow other writers via RSS feeds. These tools are proven to be effective tools in the past, and are used in several domains. Now, they are available to the Sanskrit community for the first time.

I conceive this as a proof-of-concept to fix a commonly observed problem which hinders the spread of Sanskrit. If user response for ‘Sanskrit-Expressions’ is on a high note, new features such as Online-Chat-Rooms shall be soon be launched.

Thanks to the sincere efforts of several NGOs such as Samskrita Bharati which enabled many to embrace Sanskrit in their daily lives. Regular Sanskrit workshops are conducted by Samskrita Bharati in India and abroad. With increasing number of Sanskrit teaching institutes, it is now important to retain the interest of the people and help them stay in touch with the language. Engaging in Satsang and community-meet is a good way to appreciate the language. For the Computer Savvy, online tools like ‘Sanskrit-Satsang‘ can help build an e-Community for Sanskrit speakers.

“Sanskrit Voice Digest” is started as an honest effort to compile Sanskrit related blogs and articles under one roof. Currently, it has partnered with nearly 10 blog-authors and a few organizations. With its magazine-like layout, the Digest makes it easy for readers to keep tabs on all Sanskrit related articles in one place.

India is a nation of several Vedic scholars, Sanskrit pandits, and Religious gurus. The need of the hour is to educate the people (esp. the youth) about the wisdom conveyed in the ancient texts, and revive Sanskrit for the modern age. This is also the mission of “Sanskrit Voice”. In the latest effort to bring all Sanskrit readers and bloggers together, we launched the “Digest” today on June 18, 2008.

In the first week, the Digest has articles in nearly 10 categories that revolve around Sanskrit. It includes “Sanskrit Quotes” written by Kiran Paranjape, who was awarded Indic Blogger Award for best blog in Sanskrit. The wonderful ’subhashitanis’ that includes verses from Panchatantra, Bhartrihari’s Nitishatakam, and Bhagavadgita are written by Karthik Raman.

In the past two years, blogging in Sanskrit has been well practiced by the pandits and students of Sanskrit. Blogger Himanshu Pota focuses on teaching Sanskrit via his blog “Learn Sanskrit”. He told us that his blog shares his Sanskrit learning experience with other Sanskrit learners. He hopes this will encourage the learners to realise that one doesn’t have to be a Panini to start reading, writing, and talking in Sanskrit.

The Digest also compiles the articles on Sanskrit literature written by Kannan Srininvas (the author of Book “Vedic Management”) and Venetia Ansell (an English girl from Oxford University). Adding Sanatana Dharma to the context, we hope to pass the ancient wisdom, along with Sanskrit language.

The advances in web technology facilitates the creation of a virtual community just for Sanskrit enthusiasts. The RSS feeds, Widgets and Campaign buttons provide easy ways for readers to follow the updates, or learn Sanskrit glossary every day. You will find all these features packed in the parent site “Sanskrit Voice” hosted on http://sanskritvoice.com .

“Undoubtedly, it is the greatest language ever, and I feel that more initiatives to spread the language, in a written or spoken form, through blogs etc are always welcome”, says Karthik Raman - a PhD student at the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore.

He is “Jagavandana”, the most worshipful in this world. Symbolically, he stands for Knowledge, and is the son of faith and trust. Ganesha is “Siddhisadana”, the abode of all siddhis.

Ganesha is called “Vinayaka” (Visista nayaka) - The incomparable leader. So, one who posseses faith and knowledge becomes the very abode of all success (siddhisadana) and a very good leader. One of the leadership qualities is compassion, and Lord Ganesha has it in abundance. He is called “Krpasindhu” - the ocean of compassion.

Ganesha is described as “Gajavadana” - with elephant’s face. The elephant’s trunk has enormous strength and is also capable of identifying fine distinctions. Ganesha’s beauty is that he is capable of doing everything - “Saba layaka”. He is also “Modaka priya”, which means lover of Joy. He is a symbol of joy, auspiciousness and goodness.

If we can try to emulate him, we can gain joy, peace and success.

Approaching the Lord - Gamanam
The first step is approaching (gamanam) the Lord. Here, the we talk to the Lord and continue to communicate with him. It can be about anything like asking boons, wishing for welfare, or having any normal conversation. This regular communication develops into a personal relationship with the Lord in course of time. As a result, we get hope that we will be heard, and acquire faith in him.

Offering unto Him - Arpanam
The second step is offering. Each one of us definitely have something to offer the Lord. Some offer fruits, some donate money, and some do voluntary service. In this stage, we evolve from mere talking with the Lord, to offering him whatever we could. When the devotee offers to please the Lord, there is a desire in the Lord also to fulfil the needs of the devotee.

Praying to Him - Yacanam
We pray the Lord to bless us. The Lord may respond to our desires in different ways. Sometimes, he may grant the wish immediately. At other times, he may save the best for later. His methods are never understood by us because we are filled with our own desires. So, it is ideal to pray the Lord for his blessing, and request him to do whatever is best for us. The Lord is never a passive listener. He understands the devotee and shall uproot all his sorrows.

He Accepts - Svikaram
The final step is the acceptance of the Lord. The Lord bonds with the devotee’s heart in love and empathy (sahanubhuti).

Did you observe the slow transition from a layman’s communication with the Lord to witnessing the grace of the Lord. This is the knowledge and path proven by several devotees and well documented in the sacred texts.

What WE do:
1. In the Digest, we publish only a few starting lines (excerpt) of your blog posts.
2. The readers of the Digest will be redirected to your original blog for reading the full article.
3. If interested, you can directly publish full articles for the Digest.

What YOU get:
1. New readers to your blog site
2. Better reachability of your blog content
3. Networking with fellow Sanskrit writers and readers

What YOU should do:
Nothing extra! Keep blogging in your own blog, just as you’ve been doing so long. We’ll do the heavy works.

Meaning: People behave in an extreme manner during the time of their destruction.

In times of destruction, our intellect fails and the fall is unstoppable. This reminds me of the famous truth:
God may give a lot to bad people, but will leave them halfway.
God may not give much to good people, but will hold their hand forever.

Remember Kurukshetra (the war between Good and Bad)… The Kauravas had an incredibly huge army. But, they lost to Pandavas. Here is a possible fictional conversation~
Kauravas: Hey… Our army is freaking huge & mighty. We have 100,000…0 knights, warriors and soldiers with us. What do you have? Huh!
Pandavas: We have the God himself with us!

The path to victory is never easy. Being on the path of righteousness alone is not enough. A display of courage, discipline, perseverance and hard work is needed to be a winner in Life. Most importantly, we need the god’s grace. Some may call it “luck”, some others call it “timing”.