Sanskrit
Sanskrit ( / ˈ s æ n s k r ɪ t / ; attributively संस्कृत- , saṃskṛta- ; [15] [16] nominally संस्कृतम् , saṃskṛtam , IPA: [ˈsɐ̃skr̩tɐm] [17] [d] ) is a classical language of South Asia that belongs to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages . [19] [20] [21] It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late Bronze Age . [22] [23] Sanskrit is the sacred language of Hinduism , the language of classical Hindu philosophy , and of historical texts of Buddhism and Jainism . It was a link language in ancient and medieval South Asia, and upon transmission of Hindu and Buddhist culture to Southeast Asia , East Asia and Central Asia in the early medieval era, it became a language of religion ...