19th-century British scholars with an imperialist bias developed two theories that denigrated India's historical importance. They claimed that Sanskrit was not the basis for the Indo-European languages but that it and all the others were derived from a now-disappeared language they called Proto-Indo-European. They also claimed that the Aryan people and their culture did not originate in India but invaded from the northwest and conquered India. "One primary basis for this theory about the Aryan invasion is that languages with Sanskrit affinities exist over a vast region, from Bali to the Baltic. Therefore it is assumed that there must have been a pre-Sanskrit language that came close to Sanskrit, yet was something different. Whatever this Indo-European language was, it is argued that Lithuanian was the closest to it. Hence, those who spoke the original Indo-European language must have migrated into the region of India, and thence begot the Aryan culture and the Sanskrit language. Nevertheless, there has yet to be any language that is identified as the Indo-European language. And the idea for an Indo-European language existing before Sanskrit has been based merely on linguistic speculations. " If European languages show a Sanskritic base, and if Sanskrit flourishes in its pristine glory only in India, the conclusion is obvious: It was enterprising Indians who migrated to all other continents. Later on, when links with India snapped over the course of centuries, the European languages retained only traces of Sanskrit while real Sanskrit still flourishes at its source, India." [37] The theories of the Proto-Indo-European language and the Aryan invasion have been shown to be blunders in historical research, but they still linger in popular imagination and have been of great use to imperialists.
One reason Sanskrit was so influential is that its sound has a unique vibrational quality. "Sanskrit is able to invoke the spiritual energy of which it speaks, and the vibration for propelling the consciousness to the higher realms it depicts." [38] "It is certainly the most spiritual of languages, considered traditionally to be part of the spiritual sound vibration that pervades both the material creation and exists eternally in the spiritual dimension. Therefore, it has the potential to invoke both the Supreme Being, the internal knowledge of the soul, and raise the consciousness to perceive the divine realms." [39] This is why Sanskrit is the language of the Veda, which is "the blueprint for the creation of the material worlds." [40]
Sanskrit is s hruti , sound that is uncreated by humans and existing beyond time. Linguists can find no evidence of it having evolved over time as a language. It was simply there in its completeness as the patterns of sound of the Vedas cognized by the first rishis , seers, within their consciousness. Indian grammarians only described and classified it. [41]
The tragic decline
Unfortunately the global Vedic civilization was unable to maintain its exalted achievements. Gradually a decline set in, and Vedic knowledge slowly became diluted, less effective. This manifested in several ways but had one root cause, which Maharishi explained is "the difference in the level of consciousness between the teacher and the taught. The teacher speaks from his level of enlightenment, a level of clear perception and of faultless and precise vision of the reality of life. He speaks to those who seek but have not yet attained that level of consciousness. The Master's completeness of expression is therefore naturally received by his pupils in incompleteness. This is what dilutes knowledge increasingly as generations pass. This is the tragic history of knowledge. This is how time, and nothing else, is held responsible for eroding the essentials of the true teaching." [42]
In this case the essential teaching that got lost was the technique of effortless transcending. Mental effort, concentration, and control are necessary in activity. In meditation, however, they hold the mind on the surface and hinder our access to the deepest level of consciousness, the transcendental unified field at the basis of our being and of all creation. Our minds can reach this field, but not through effort, because it is a non-active state.
But since effort is necessary in activity, it has a tendency to creep into our meditation, and this effort weakens our contact with the transcendent. Maharishi has developed a system of checking procedures to prevent that, but back then the correct practice slipped away.
Gradually, over centuries, the Indians' meditations became less effective, which meant their actions became less effective. Their performances of the Vedic rituals were no longer precise. Disputes that had previously been settled peacefully now sometimes became cause for war. The organization of society became rigidly stratified. These changes came in incremental steps, and Vedic culture remained at a much higher level than any other on earth, but over time the loss accumulated, and the golden age became tarnished.
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