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PUNE, INDIA, July 26, 2003: For three generations, they have compiled and argued, agonized and transcribed — toiling in monastic tedium to turn an intricate language into six volumes, so far. They have delved into the grammatical roots of “antahpravesakama” and debated the pun hidden in “anangada.” They’ve done a brain-numbingly complete dissection of “anekakrta.” Now, 55 years after a group of scholars began composing the authoritative dictionary of Sanskrit, the language of India’s ancient glory, they are almost done — with the first letter. “Sanskrit,” sighed Vinayaka Bhatta, chief editor of Deccan College’s dictionary project, “is not easy to translate.” The project has consumed the skills of more than two dozen scholars (so far), cataloged 9 million citations of Sanskrit terms and given the most thorough of definitions to thousands of words. All this in a language replete with puns, metaphors and multiple meanings. The low estimate to completing the project? At least another 50 years.

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