Sanskrit scientific language, NASA has written papers on it: Delhi CM Rekha Gupta

Delhi CM Rekha Gupta claims Sanskrit is a scientific language, citing NASA, aims to promote Sanskrit in education.

Delhi Chief Minister Rekha Gupta on Sunday (May 4, 2025) claimed that Sanskrit is a “scientific” language and even NASA has acknowledged it as such — a claim that has often been made with little evidence in support.

Ms. Gupta made the remark addressing the closing ceremony of a 10-day Sanskrit learning initiative in the capital.

“Even NASA scientists have written papers on Sanskrit and have confirmed that it is a scientific language. Coding can be done in Sanskrit. Sanskrit is the most computer-friendly language,” she said.

Her assertion was most likely based on a 1985 paper — and subsequent glorification of it with little follow-up — published in AI magazine.

The paper, titled Knowledge Representation in Sanskrit and Artificial Intelligence, was authored by Rick Briggs, a researcher associated with NASA Ames Research Centre, who sought to prove that a “natural language can serve as an artificial language also.”

Mr. Briggs, about whom little else is known, cited in the paper ancient Sanskrit grammarians who “accomplished” a method for “paraphrasing Sanskrit in a manner that is identical not only in essence but in form with current work in Artificial Intelligence.”

Meanwhile, Ms. Gupta said that it is societal bias that views fluency in foreign languages as a sign of intelligence, while often dismissing Sanskrit.