The teaching of Sanskrit, in so far as it exists in Indian educational institutions of higher learning, has become a part of western pedagogy. But in the universities in the West that have a history of teaching and research in Sanskrit, there is emerging a different and remarkable trend. After training in a western academy - be it Oxford or Harvard or somewhere equally distinguished - Sanskritists are coming to India to complete their training by sitting at the feet of a guru in India. Learning Sanskrit in the traditional way with a pundit seems to be making a comeback. The career of Diwakar Nath Acharya, who has just been appointed the Spalding Professor of Eastern Religion and Ethics at the University of Oxford, is a case in point. He studied Sanskrit in the modern and the traditional way. One of his predecessors, Bimal Krishna Matilal, also spent time learning nyaya with the traditional pundits in Nabadwip. One factor that is inducing this return to traditional modes of learning Sanskrit is the unfortunate fact that in the western-style institutions in India, Sanskrit is a dying subject. Few study it, and even fewer pursue it at the level of research. This is one reason why it is difficult to find a top-class Sanskritist in India outside the world of traditional pundits. Both Mr Acharya and Mr Matilal spent substantial parts of their working life teaching and working in universities abroad.

This plight of Sanskrit studies in Indian universities is in need of urgent attention. The human resource development ministry spends time and money in organizing conferences on the correct date of the Vedas and on how 'Sanskrit' should be spelt in English. But scant attention is paid to the improvement of the teaching of Sanskrit and research on it in the Indian universities. From the point of view of the Bharatiya Janata Party, the bolstering up of Sanskrit could be a very "nationalist" activity. The aim should be to nurture a pool of talented Sanskrit scholars without first ideologically brainwashing them. To be a good Sanskritist, it is not necessary to be a Hindu. What is needed is a rigour, a discipline and a good blend of the modern and the traditional modes of imparting instruction. Beginning this process would be the first step in getting scholars like the Spalding Professor-elect to come back to teach and work in India.