In an age where technology is often thought to oversimplify the complexities of art and culture — as recently witnessed in the sudden spurt of Hayao Miyazaki’s Ghibli-style art exploding across the internet, bringing joy to thousands of ChatGPT users while simultaneously infringing upon an art style perfected over hundreds of hours — Sanskrit literature still seems to be struggling to find its footing in the digital realm.

To combat this dissonance, a Silicon Valley engineer has created a comprehensive, user-friendly compendium of Sanskrit texts (SanskritSahitya.org) that transcends the limitations of existing digital repositories. With a career spanning over a decade in software engineering and a profound interest in languages and linguistics, Antariksh Bothale hopes that a digital renaissance of Sanskrit is just around the corner.

The IITB graduate has studied and is familiar with French, Japanese, Mandarin, and most Indian writing systems, and was introduced to Pāṇinian Grammar during his time at IIT. As is well recognised, the linguistic logic of Pāṇinian Sanskrit, developed around the 5th century BCE, is highly amenable to computational algorithmic logic. Through SanskritSahitya.org, Antariksh applies his expertise in computational linguistics to create an aesthetically appealing learning and reference platform.

Referred to as the language of the Gods, Sanskrit carries with it an immense literary and philosophical heritage. Despite its significance and present-day connection to scores of languages and dialects spoken across Bharat, the digital landscape for Sanskrit remains relatively non-existent. Digitising this ancient language largely relies on........

© News18