Sanskrit in Pop Culture
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of the word Sanskrit? Ancient language, Vedas, Puranas, dev bhasa, and so on. The things that strike our minds are all related to ancient times’ literature. But is that all? Though we don’t speak the language anymore, we can not deny the fact that we still use or hear Sanskrit in our daily lives quite often, knowingly or unknowingly. I pray to God every day and the mantras I chant are in Sanskrit. This is how Sanskrit is still a part of my life. Now I will tell you how Sanskrit is a part of millions all around the world. Even if people around the globe don’t understand and know much about the language, they have heard it and they know its Sanskrit. No, I am not going to explain how Sanskrit is taught worldwide but going to show you how it’s used in the entertainment industry or to be more precise in the music industry around the world.

There is no denying that Sanskrit is the oldest language and it has influenced many regional and international languages. I will be telling you how time and again Sanskrit chants have been a part of songs from different cultures. Let us start with India first – “Hare Rāma Hare RāmaRāma Rāma Hare Hare Hare Kṛṣṇa Hare Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Kṛṣṇa Hare Hare” we all have heard this mantra a lot of times in the background scores of many scenes. But this mantra has inspired more than one song in our Bollywood industry and I’m sure we all have heard them at least once, be it the 90’s ‘hare Rama Hare Krishna’, or the remixed version of the song in a Bollywood movie released in 2011. Another song inspired by this mantra is the title song of the movie ‘Bhoolbhulaiya’. Another mantra is “ Mangalam Bhagwaan Vishnu” which was featured in a 2009 Bollywood movie, the title of the song is ‘Om Mangalam’ and was created by an artist named RDB. The most recent example is the use of the famous Shiva Panchakshara Stotram mantra in the title song of the 2016 movie ‘Shivaay’, the song was titled ‘bolo har har’.

Let’s move on to the west now, now who doesn’t know about ‘The Beatles’ or ‘Madonna’. Geroge Harrison, the lead guitarist of Beatles, the most iconic band ever wrote a song dedicated to Lord Krishna and included the Hare Krishna Mantra in the song. Madonna’s 7th studio album ‘Ray of light’ included a song called ‘Cyberraga’ which was composed using Sanskrit chants. This album won a Grammy award and following the success of this album, Madonna in her next album included another song titled ‘Shanti/Ashtangi’ which is composed using ashtanga vinyasa yoga chant. She did not just used the chants in her songs but actually practiced them as she was getting to know more about Hinduism and practicing Ashtanga Yoga.

Sa Dingding a Chinese folksinger and songwriter included more than one song in her second album ‘Alive’ which were in Sanskrit. She was regarded as the first pop singer from China who sings in Sanskrit and she also won BBC 3 Radio Award for World Music after the release of his album. This album that included more than two Sanskrit songs brought her into the limelight in the world of music and a lot of praise and appreciation.

There are a lot many examples where Sanskrit chants have been used in the Hollywwod movies as the background score for many scenes. Composer John Williams featured choirs singing in Sanskrit for ‘Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom’ and ‘Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace’. The theme song of ‘Battlestar Galactica’ 2004 is the Gayatri Mantra, taken from the Rigveda. The lyrics of ‘ The Child in Us’ by Enigma also contains Sanskrit verses.
Sanskrit has been influencing languages, movies, music around the world for many years and it will keep doing so in the following years too. If you go on to read about any of the songs by the international artist that used Sanskrit, you will learn how each of them was also influenced by our culture and not just the language. When you listen to the songs in Hindi or in any other language that has used Sanskrit chants in the lyrics you will be surprised by how it fits in different genres of the songs. Didn’t I tell you Sanskrit is everywhere? I rest my point here.
Source: Internet