Sanskrit Offered at Pakistani University: For the First Time Since Partition, the Ancient Language Will Be Taught at College Level; Mahabharata and Gita on the Curriculum Horizon.

Sanskrit Course Introduced in Pakistan

In a historic move, the Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) in Pakistan has introduced a course on the ancient language of Sanskrit. This initiative marks the first time since the partition that such a program has been implemented in a Pakistani university, with plans to cover Hindu epics like the Mahabharata and the Gita.

The Importance of Learning Sanskrit

Associate professor Shahid Rasheed, a key figure behind this initiative, shared insights on the relevance of Sanskrit: “People ask me why I’m learning Sanskrit. I tell them, why should we not learn it? It is the binding language of the entire region. Sanskrit grammarian Panini’s village was in this region. Much writing was done here during the Indus Valley Civilization. Sanskrit is like a mountain—a cultural monument. We need to own it. It is ours too; it’s not tied to any one particular religion.”

Reviving Historical Manuscripts

Ali Usman Qasmi, the director of the Gurmani Centre, emphasized the significance of local academic engagement: “A significant collection of Sanskrit palm-leaf manuscripts were catalogued in the 1930s by scholar JCR Woolner, but no Pakistani academic has engaged with this collection since 1947. Only foreign researchers use it. Training scholars locally will change that.” He anticipates that in 10-15 years, there could be Pakistani scholars specializing in the Gita and the Mahabharata.

From Workshop to Academic Course

The Sanskrit course initially started as a three-month weekend workshop, but due to overwhelming interest, it has evolved into a four-credit university course. The course director remarked, “After we saw the response, we decided to introduce it as a proper university course. While the number of students is still small, we hope it will grow over the next few years. Ideally, by spring 2027, we should be able to teach the language as a year-long course.”