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When the Christian missionaries descended on India in the 19th century they found Sanskrit still the medium of higher thought and culture. People of upper castes who mattered most used it widely. The missionaries of the time thought that if they were to make any impact on Indian society, they would have to learn the language of higher castes and render their writings in it to be accessible to them. Once the Brahmins or others who had the upper hand in society were drawn to Christianity, it would be easier for them, the missionaries, to spread the message of Christ among the common people who would feel attracted towards it, having found their superiors taking to it. With this idea in view they took to the study of Sanskrit, wrote its grammars, compiled its dictionaries, prepared its textbooks. With all this equipment they took to the translation of the Bible into Sanskrit, the Old and the New Testaments, the Sermon on the Mount, and so on. They also composed many an original work in Sanskrit, in verse and prose, on Lord Christ. The result: A whole class of Christian literature in Sanskrit grew over a period of time. It would be worth its while to have a close look at it. And this is what is precisely attempted in the pages to follow. The activity in the field of the translation of the Bible into Sanskrit began as early as 1808. The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ was translated into Sanskrit from the original Greek by the missionaries at Serampore under the superintendence of William Carey in three volumes, the third volume making its appearance in 1811, three years after the CC-0. Prof. Satya Vrat Shastri Collection, New Delhi. Digitized by 33 Foundation USA

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 45 publication of the first. This was followed by the Sanskrit translation of the Old and the New Testaments, again from Serampore in 1821. In 1845 the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta published the Book of the Prophet Isaiah in Sanskrit. In 1860 appeared the Bible for the Pandits with the first three chapters of Genesis 'diffusively and unreservedly' commented in Sanskrit and English by J.R. Ballantyne from London. The translations started in the nineteenth century continued in the twentieth century as well. The Bible Society of India brought out the latest reprint of the New Testament in Sanskrit: Prabhuna Yisukhristena Nirupitasya Niyamasya Granthasamgrahah as late as in 1962. Attempts were made alongside translating the Old and the New Testmaments, certain portions thereof. The Calcutta Baptist Missionaries brought out from Calcutta in 1843 the translation from Hebrew into Sanskrit of the Book of Genesis and the part of Exodus. Two collections of the Proverbs of Solomon in Sanskrit appeared from the School Book Society's Press, Calcutta and The Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta in 1842 and 1846 respectively. The Baptist Mission Press in Calcutta has been very active in bringing out Christian literature in Sanskrit translation. It brougth out the collection of the Gospels of four Christian saints in a single volume: Khrstacaritam: Arthato (?) Mathi-MarkaLuka-Yohanair Viracitam Susamvada-catustayam in 1878. It also brought out separate volumes on the Gospels of Mathi, Mark and Luk. The one on Mathi under the title Mathilikhitah Susamvadah appeared in 1877 and the ones on Mark under the title Markalikhitah Susamvadah and Satyadharmasastram: Markalikhitah Susamvadah: Arthato (?) Prabhor Yisukhrstiyacaritra-darpanam appeared in 1878 and 1884 respectively. The Gospel of Luk came out under the tittle Lukalikhitah Susamvadah in 1878. The Gospel of St. John came out in Sanskrit under the title: Yohana-likhitah Susamvadah not from the Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta but from the Basel Mission Press, Mangalore in 1876. Of the portions of the Bible it is the Sermon on the Mount that has attracted good notice of the Sanskritists. There are at least

three independent translations of it into Sanskrit. One by Lachmi Dhar Shastri published by him from Delhi in 1928, two, from the Bible Society of India, Bangalore, three, by K.P. Urumese from Trichur, the last two published in 1974. The Sermon also appears in a succint form in every creative work on Christ in Sanskrit. A very interesting work in the field of translation is the Khristayajnavidhi. The work is a translation in Sanskrit of the Ordo Missae in Latin by Ambrose Sureschandra Roy and was published from Calcutta in 1926. Apart from translations there has been a lot of original composition on Christianity in Sanskrit both in the nineteenth and the twentieth centuries. About half a dozen smaller works like the Isvaroktasastradhara (The course of Divine Revelation) by John Muir, the Paramastava, a hymn in verse on God, Paulacarita, a short life of apostle Paul in verse, the Khrstasangita, the history of Jesus Christ in verse, the Khrstadharmakaumudi by J.R. Balantyne, which is a comparison of Christianity with Hindu Philosophy in prose and a critical review of Khrstadharmakaumudisamalocana in prose again by Brajalal Mukhopadhyaya. The twentieth century too has seen many an original publication on Christ and Christianity, the latest and the biggest of which is the Kristubhagavata, a Mahakavya in Sanskrit in thirty-three cantos with a thousand and six hundred stanzas on the life of Lord Christ by P.C. Devassia which won him in 1980 the coveted Sahitya Akademi award in Sanskrit. The thirty-three cantos of the Kavya correspond to the number of the years of the Lord's life. Although in narratting the story of the Lord the author relies on the versions of the Gospels and some reputed biographies of Christ and is faithful to incidents as recorded there, yet he shows his freedom and imagination as a poet to introduce poetic elements which, however, do not dilute the authenticity of the narrative. The poem is simple and straighforwad, composed in the much-valued Vaidarbhi style. The Mahakavya, the greatest so far, on Lord Christ in Sanskrit has, as the author himself points out in the Preface, many allusions to and illustrations from the Hindu Puranas and Epics. This the

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 47 author ascribes to his growth in an atmosphere of Sanskrit literature which could not but appear even in a work on Christ. Another great influence on the author in this was His Eminence Joseph Cardinal Parecattil, the Archbishop of Ernakulam who, he says, believes that the Church in India must have its roots in the culture and the tradition of the land. A Sanskrit scholar, he has played an important role in the Indianization of the Church. The stanzas in the Mahakavya have a flow of their own which cannot but charm a reader. A stanza or two from canto XVII dealing with the Sermon on the Mount could well be reproduced here by way of specimen: bhiksa tvaya daksinahastadatta na jnayatam vamakarena te sal danasya caivam nibhrtam krtasya pita phalam dasyati guptadarsini "When you give alms, do not let the left hand know what your right hand has done. For the almsgiving thus done in secret, your Father who sees in secret shall reward you.' " yuyam ma sancinuta nidhim atmartham urvyam hi yasmat katadyas tam ksayam upanayanty atra musnanti caurahi svarge tan sancinuta vibhavan ye hi tair na hriyante vittam yasmin bhavati bhuvane tatra cittam ca vah syatir² "Do not lay up for yourself treasures on earth, where moths and other insects consume them, and where thieves break in and steal them; but lay up those treasures in heaven where they are not consumed by them, for, where your treasure is, in that world will your heart also be." Of the smaller Kavyas on Lord Christ could be mentioned Sree Yesusourabham by Soma Varma Raja which has 67, 70, 78, and 86 stanzas in its first, second, third and fourth cantos respectively. The Kavya closes with five hymns of which the first is a prayer, a string of seven stanzas called the Bhajanasaptakam, the second, a hymn to the Sacred Heart, the third, the praise of Christ, the fourth, the hymn to Christ and the fifth, the Bhaktajijivisa, an expression of the desire of the devotee to see the Master and to live according to his tenets. In its 301 stanzas

in mellifluous Sanskrit the author sums up the whole story of the Bible. Though following the Biblical narrative faithfully, he takes reasonable licence in versification. The reactions of the multitude gathered at the foot of the Cross, Christ's enemies, his devotees, the sorrowful women and the good men and their addresses to the crucified are all presented in the present work with deftness. Both the genius and the originality of the author are reflected in this part and the words of the spectators on Calvary sink deep into the heart: krusa paramavisalo 'py ugrarupam tvadiyam manasi kalayato bhih papinah kasya na syati tvam asi kathinapidabhogaparyayavaci nikhilajananisevyo divyasangena jatahii³ "O wide cross! who will not be frightened to see or think about you. You have become another word for grave pain. But now you are a thing of worship, for you have carried our Lord on you.' " In the lamentation of Mary, the Mother of Lord Christ, a note of intense sorrow is struck. The words therein betray in full the motherly pangs. It looks while writing about this the poet had at the back of his mind the description of the lamentation of Rati in the Kumarasambhava and that of Aja in the Raghuvamsa of Kalidasa. Not only is the whole setting the same even the metre is so, gatasamjnam aveksya vihvala mariya svankagatam nijatmajami vilalapa sabaspalocana samaduhkhan akhilams ca kurvati 114 "Mary saw the lifeless body of her son on her lap. She was overcome with grief. She cried shedding tears, making all present there equally sorry." The expression vilalapa sabaspalocana cannot but remind one of the Raghuvamsa's vilalapa sabaspagadgadam³ and samaduhkhan akhilams ca kurvati of the Kumarasambhava's vilalapa vikirnamurdhaja samaduhkham iva kurvati sthalim. So do the lines krpano mama dairghyam ayusah. kathinah khalv iha dattavan vidhih of Kumarasambhava's na vidirye kathinah khalu striyah.7

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 49 Kalidasa's influence on the author is also noticeable in the stanza in the beginning of his work: kva me nirvisaya buddhih kva sriyesumahakatha i mohad bhavamy aruruksur amayavi mahagirimir "Where is the intellect devoid of the knowledge of the subject matter and where is the great magnificent story of Jesus. It is an attempt, like that of a sick man trying to climb a high moutain." This clearly is inspired by the well-known Raghuvamsa verse: kva suryaprabhavo vamsah kva calpavisaya matihi titirsur dustaram mohad udupenasmi sagarami "Where is the race sprung from the sun and where is my intellect of limited scope. It is under a delusion that I am desirous of crossing, by means of a raft, the ocean so difficult to cross. 33 A spirit of the divine and a sense of devotion pervade the whole of the Sree Yesusourabham which is indeed a happy blend of simplicity and profundity. It reflects the glorious and the heavenly personality of Lord Christ in a most impressive manner and amply reveals the poet in the author whose Khandakavyait is to this category that his work belongs according to rhetoricians makes a very pleasant reading. There are similes, metaphors and fancies here which do tickle the Sahrdaya, the connoisseur and add further charm to the work. The author is in the habit of twisting some of the foreign words to give them a different look, not necessarily Sanskritic, to make them fit into Sanskrit diction. Abraham he puts as Abraha, David as Davida, Gabriel as Gabriyet, Elizabeth as Yelisva, Mary as both Meri and Mariya, Augustus Caeser as Agastasisara, Christ as Iso and Yesu, Herod as Heroda, Yudea as Yudaya, Messiah as both Mihisa and Misiha, Nazareth as Nasratama, Jerusalem as Jasrela, Magdelene as Magdalana and so on. Only those writers can compose works in Sanskrit who have thorough knowledge of its literature. The writers of the works on Christ and Christianity, even though devout Christians, inheriting or adopting the Sanskrit tradition as they did, could not keep

themselves away from it even while dealing with themes not part and parcel of it. By sheer habit sometimes they would use old words to denote new ideas. The use of the world vaidika in the poem under reference in the sense of a Christian priest is a case in point. An extension of this word is Vaidikasrama in the sense of a Christian Seminary: vatavaturadesiyavaidikasramacoditahi karomi nutanakhyanam yesusaurabhasamjnitam 110 "Impelled by the friends in the Vatavathur Seminary I compose this Kavya, the Sree Yesusourabham." It was again the force of the Sanskrit tradition that weighed with the present author to start his Kavya on the life of Lord Christ with an invocation to goddess Sarasvati: ya tu sangitasahityakalacaitanyarupini satam adharabhutam tam vande vidyadhidevetam"! "I salute the goddess of learning who wields the authority over music, literature and art. She is the support of all good-natured people and poets.' " It is the influence of Sanskrit tradition again that makes the author refer to the celestial Ganges in the context of Holy Mary carrying lord Christ: talpam gavadanibhadram citpumso garbhadharini sa 'dhyuvasanjasa meri hamsivabhranaditatami/2 "Mary who was carrying the son of god in her womb was lying in the manger as the swan lies in the celestial Ganges." The description in the work of the regions becoming bright and gentle breeze blowing at the birth of Christ is a piece with similar descriptions which have become a type now in Sanskrit literature: praseduh ksanam evasa marutas ca sukha vavuhi babhuvur nirmalas capah kupesv api sarahsv apin¹³ Like the other poems on Christ's life, this poem too has the Sermon on the Mount in brief. Another smaller original work in Sanskrit prose on the life of Lord Christ is the Yesucarita by J. Marcel who styles himself

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 51 as Marsalacarya. The work he divides in five Adhyayas, in beautiful, chaste Sanskrit which has a classical ring about it. The entire life of the Lord is put here succintly in an easy and fluent sytle. Two small paragraphs from this will be sufficient to form an idea of its Sanskrit: sa yada svasmai dattam Yisayasya pustakam udaghatayat tada tatredam likhitam avartata: isvaro mayy avasthitah visadavidirnantarangan sukhaytium baddhanam muktim andhanam darsanam ca pradatum.........mam prajighaya sah.14 www "When he opened the book of Yisaya given to him he found it written there. The Lord is in me. He has sent me to provide happiness to the sad and to give release to the bound and sight to the blind." parantu bho srotarah yusman idam vaktum abhyutsahe ye yusmabhyam druhyanti tesam api hitam eva tanuta. yusman sapanti ye tebhyo'py asisam eva datta. ye yusman apavadanti tesam api hitam prarthayadhvam. yas tava ekasmin kapole praharati tasmai kapolam anyam api pradarsaya.............yo va ko va bhavatu tavako yacakah, dehi tasmail ma abhivancha tatpratyadanami kin ca yusman prati yadrsam acaram abhilasatha, tadrso bhavatu yusmakam api itaresv acarah.......... "But O you the listeners, I feel like telling-Even those who are hostile to you, you do good to them too. Those who curse you, them too you bless. Those who denounce you, you pray for their welfare too. To the one who slaps you on one cheek, you show him the other one. Whosoever may ask you for something, give that to him. Don't care for any return for it. Moreover, the kind of treatment you want for yourself meet the same to others." The next work which is not an original composition in Sanksrit but very much looks like so is the Mahatyagi of M.O.Avara. The work was originally composed in Malayalam but was translated from it into Sanskrit by K.P. Narayana Pisharoty. The work in verse meaning literally the Man of Sacrifice is a

poetic reflection on the seven last words uttered by Jesus Christ from the Cross. The Malayalam original had attained great popularity and had for some three decades been the text book for examinations in the Universities of Madras, Travancore and Kerala. It was its success that had prompted the author to arrange for its Sanskrit translation. "He wanted to see the story of Christ portrayed in the great classical language of India." The Mahatyagi is a fine work of poetry in 163 stanzas. The thought in it is so serene, the language so imaginative and the versification so meticulously correct. The environments of the crucifixion of Christ have been so poetically treated here that those who read the work cannot but have their eyes moistened. The lines which portray the effect of the words "Forgive them, O Father, because they know not what they do" are the best in this work of which the following four lines bear reproduction: karunyadramate ksamasva bho pitar esam aparadham krtam idrsami yad ime na viduh svakarma va na ca va tvatkarunam api prabhoi The work being a Kavya, a poem, it affords the author ample scope for the flight of his imagination. The arms of Christ stretched on the Cross the poet takes as indicative of the readiness on the part of Christ to embrace or as wings to soar aloft to carry all misery of mankind on his shoulders: it: nijaparsvayuge bhujadvayam subhadayi pravisarayan bhavani krusadaruni kim nu vartate jagadaslesanabaddhakautukahi athava naralokagam vyatham akhilam skandhatale tvam udvahani pravitatya patatrayor dvayam dharanito dayitum kim udyatah?17 The Sanskrit expression in the poem has a classical ring about mihirah kiranair nijaih subhair jagadandhatvam apakaroty asaul dyutim asya mahatmanah katham punar ikseta divandhakausikah 1118

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 53 "While the sun with its powerful rays takes away the blindness of the earth, how can owl which cannot see during daytime see the greatness of the Great Light?" Like the poet of Sree Yesusourabham the poet of the Mahatyagi too Sanskritizes many foreign words by just twisting them. The classic example of this is the word krusa which can be formed from the Sanskrit root krus, to cry, for the English cross. The same he does with the words paradise which he puts in Sanskrit as parudisa and pelican which he puts in Sanskrit as palikka. The idea of the Lord he expresses by the words isa, isita, isvara and so on. The influence of classical Sanskrit Kavyas is so penetrating on him that he adopts a non-Sanskrit word ingala for charcoal used in one of them, the Naisadhiyacarita of Sri Harsa. Since the approach of the Christian scholoars in India, as pointed out at the very start of the present discusson, was to confront the non-Christian local people, particularly the educated ones among them, through their own medium, the medium for which they had special adoration, to enter into them, to bring them round to their view, they took to composing such works as approximated to the old Hindu Sanskrit works in nomenclature and style. Such works are the Kristayana, the Girigita and the Kristunamasahasram modelled as they are, as can be seen from their names on the Ramayana, the Bhagavadgita and the Visnusahasranama respectively. There is reported to be a Kristopanisad also composed in the typical Upanisadic style. From what has been said above, it should be clear that there has grown in Sanskrit a considerable corpus of Chrisitian literature both in original and in translation. The literature, though composed primarily to reach the Sanskrit-knowing intelligentsia to motivate it to Christianity, has a lot to commend itself even as work of art and consequently deserves wide notice not only in India but also beyond its shores. Bibliography The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ; translated into Sanskrit from original Greek by the Missionaries at Seampore, 3 Volumes, Seampore, 1808-1811.

鈥� 54 Modern Sanskrit Literature The Holey Bible containing the Old and the New Testaments, translated into Sansdrit from original by the Missionaries at Sarampore, Serampore, 1821. The Book of the Prophet Isaiah in Sanskrit, The Baptist Mission press, Calcutta, 1845. The Bible for the Pandits, the first three Chapters of Genesis commented in Sansdrit and English by J. R. Ballantyne, London, 1860. Prabhuna Yisukhristena nirupitasya Nutanadharmaniyamasya Granthasamgrahah (The New Testament in Sanskrit), The Bible Society of India, Bangalore, 1962. The Book of Genesis and part of Exodus in Sanskrit, translated from Hebrew by the Calcutta Baptist Missionaries, Calcutta, 1843. The Proverbs of Solomon in Sanskrit, School Bollok Society's Prees, Calcutta 1842. The Proverbs of Solmon in Sanskrit (translated from Hebrew), Baptist Mission, press Calcutta, 1846. Khrstacaritam: Arthato (?) Mathimarkalukayohanair viracitam Susamvadacatustayam, Baptist Mission Press, Chalcutta, 1878. Mathilikhitah Susamvadah, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1877. Markalikhitah Susamvadah, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1878. Satyadharmasastram: Markalikhitah Susamvadah, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1884. Lukalikhitah Susambadah, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1878. The Gospel of St. John in Sanskrit; Yohanalikhitah Susamvadah, Basel Mission Press, Mangalore, 1876. Bhagavato Jisasah Parvati Siksa (Translation in Sanskrit of the Sermon on the Mount), by Lachmi Dhar Shastri, Pulished by the translator, Delhi, 1982. Giriprabhasanam (Translation in Sanskrit of the Sermon on the Mount), The Bible Society of India, Banglore, 1974. Girigita (Translation of the Sermon on the Mount in Sanskrit), by K.P. Urumese, Published by the translator, Trivandrum, 1974. Khrstayajnavidhih: The Ordo Missae Translated into Sanskrit from Latin by Ambrose Sureschandra Roy, Calcutta, 1926. Isvarokta Sastradhara (The Course of Divine Revelation), by John Muir, Baptist Mission Press, Calcutta, 1846. Paramatmastava (A Christian hymn in Sanskrit verse), Mission Press, Allahabad, 1853. Paulacaritam, Calcutta, 1850.

Modern Christian Literature in Sanskrit 55 Khrstasangita or "the Sacred History of Our Lord Jesus Christ in Sanskrit verses", Calcutta, 1842. Khrstadharmakaumudi by J. R. Ballantyne, London, 1859. Khrstadharmakaumudisamalocana by Brajalal Mukhopadhyaya, Calcutta, 1894. Kristubhagavatam, by P.C. Devassia, Jayabharatam, Trivandrum, 1977. Sree Yesusourabham by Soma Varma Raja, Geetha Prakashan, Cochin, 1974. Yisucaritam by J.Marcel, Second Edition, L.F.I Press, Ernakulam, 1969. Mahatyagi by M.O. Avara (Translated into Sanskrit from original Malayalam) by Narayana Pisharoty, Published by the author (M.O. Avara), N. Perur 1976. Kristayana by Guru Gyan Prakash (Fr. Proksh S.V.D.) (Though in Hindi it has a last verse of every Chapter in Sanskrit), Kristunamasahasram by I.C. Chacko. Still in manuscript. Kristopanisad. Details not available. REFERENCES 1. XVII 40. 2. XVII.52. 3. IV. 48. 4. IV. 52 5. VIII.46 6. IV. 47 7. IV. 5 8. 1.2. 9. 1.2. 10. Perliminary verses, verse 12. 11. ibid., verse 1. 12. II. 38. 13. II. 44. 14. p. 9. 15. p.13. 16. verse 71 17. verses 54-55. 18. verse 94