THE STUDY OF SANSKRIT
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It seems to me particularly fitting that this Association should be formed at the present moment, for there* has just come to life the University of Mysore — a University which in its scheme of studies gives to Sanskrit an emphasis which it has not hitherto received in Southern India. Sanskrit is now recognized not only as a Second language alternative to Kannada, Telugu and Tamil but also as an Optional subject alongside of Science, History and Philosophy. This double place in the curriculum which the University has not vouchsafed to any other subject raises the expectation that the cause of Sanskrit education here is at last coming to its own and the formation of a Sanskrit Association by the students at such a time may be taken to indicate an earnest desire on their part to fully utilize the opportunities that will be offered to then^
Why is it, we may ask ourselves, that we value so highly associations like the present one? The answer to this question must rest chiefly on the fact that the business of such associ- ations lies outside the routine work of the class. Excluding for the moment the absolutely indolent, people may, I think, be divided into two classes — those that are satisfied with doing the minimum work required of them, and those that do not rest until they have exerted themselves to the utmost of their ability. It is the latter that realize the serious aspects of life and it is through their efforts that human society is enabled to move forward. When students take part in founding such associations or in furthering their interests, they give proof of their desire to belong to the second of the above classes rather than to the first. They show that they possess a spirit of self- reliance and a capacity for concerted action; they show that they can resist that ‘craving for repose' which is the blight of so much of early promise.
Yet it is not for such high significance only that these associations should be valued. They have immediate uses also to serve, for they extend and supplement the work of the class in a manner in which no other organization can do. Class-teaching has many advantages over individual teaching,
