BATTLE FOR SANSKRIT Paperback

"Battle for Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred, Oppressive or Liberating, Dead or Alive?" by Rajiv Malhotra is a provocative and extensively researched book that challenges the dominant Western academic discourse on Sanskrit and Indian civilization, specifically critiquing the field of Indology as practiced by scholars like Sheldon Pollock. Malhotra argues that a significant school of thought based in the US interprets Sanskrit texts through a lens that politicizes, desacralizes, and often casts them as tools of social oppression, contrary to traditional Indian understandings. The book aims to alert traditional Sanskrit scholars and the broader Indian populace to these "Western interventions," urging them to engage in rigorous debate and develop indigenous counter-narratives to reclaim control over the discourse surrounding Sanskrit and its cultural, social, and spiritual significance.