Sacred Linguistics
Praying vocally, but to do so with mantras or hymns has been a way to go further than just communicate with the divine by propitiating (satisfying) it with special words designed only to offer piety (reverence.) The Arya dharmas practice this more than other religions. This tradition goes back thousands of years to before the Vedas were compiled, when they were orally transmitted.
Divine Language[edit]
Religions in general usually had special languages that had a higher status for oral and literary messages/prayers. Sometimes these languages themselves were viewed as divine. In Judaism, it has been Hebrew and in Islam Arabic. While officially, Sanatan Dharm is defined only by its 4 pillars (meaning no language was official), normally Sanskrit had the status of a divine language ('apaurusheya' or not made by humans.) Sanskrit being the language of the most educated politicians (i.e., royal advisers) and writers, was utilized in Bauddh, Bonpo, and Jain dharms too. Bauddhs sometimes regarded Pali (A.K.A. Shuddha Magadhi) as the 'divine language'. The words 'mulabhasha' (root language) and 'arshabhasha' (ancient language) were used by rishis of Sanatan, Bauddh, and Jain dharms to highlight the importance of the respective languages they were glorifying.
Verses exemplifying the exaltation of languages in Arya dharmas:
Sanskrit | Pali (Shuddha Magadhi) | Koshali (Ardh Magadhi) | Hindi | Tamil | |
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In Bharatiya Natya Shastra 17.48, Ardhamagadhi is mentioned next to Magadhi, Avanti, Pracya, Shuraseni, Bahlika, and Dakshinatya, as 1 of the 7 bhasas.