5 r. a b a S i a (Tbilisi) bgeraTSesatyvisobis erTi rigisaTvis qarTvelur ...

language and had lost its popular base. Pali and Prakrit, which were associated
with the new religions of Buddhism and Jainism, became the lingua franca and
Sanskrit was confined to nobility and priests. This eroded its mass-base.
In the whole history of Georgia, only Tsarist Russia managed to
introduce Russian as the language of the educational system. An attempt was
made to deprive Georgian of the official status in 1978. However, the efforts of
the leadership of the Georgian Republic and the nation-wide movement resulted
in the restoration of the official status of Georgian language. Even under the
totalitarian regime, Georgian scientists were greatly supported by the leadership
of the republic in protecting and developing the Georgian language. Sanskrit
never enjoyed this gallantry of wide support.
The social function of Georgian language has always been unification. In
times of political and military aggression, Georgia used its strongest weapons –
the language and Christianity – against the enemy. Sanskrit played a rather
divisive role in Indian Society as Brahmins imposed themselves to be the sole
custodian of divine knowledge and divine language. Lower castes and women
were debarred from using Sanskrit and this created a linguistic divide along
caste lines. Under such pedantic sanctions, the growth of Sanskrit strangled to a
point of no-recovery. Sanskrit’s apathy can best be analysed in relation to
Georgian as the latter’s evolution highlights some sociolinguistic issues of
language maintenance over a period of millenniums and not merely years.
k.A a l o k i (deli)
msoflios ori yvelaze Zveli enis _ qarTulisa
da sanskritis kontrastuli evolucia
NdRes msoflios bevr enas ver eqneba pretenzia iseT
siZveleze, rogoric aqvT sanskritsa da qarTuls. maTi
ganviTarebis istoria da dRevandeli mdgomareoba ar aris
erTnairi. qarTuli ganagrZobs warmatebasa da ayvavebas, ma-
Sin roca sanskriti didi xania `mkvdari~ enaa. orives aqvs
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