There are many different types of tattoo designs, so why single out Sanskrit tattoo designs for special praise? What makes them better than dream catcher tattoo designs, for example? Because of these five reasons:
Sanskrit Has Ancient History
Did you know that Sanskrit is one of the oldest languages on Earth, dating to before 1500 BC? Prominent language scholars like Heinrich Roth, Johann Ernst Hanxleden and Sir William Jones say that Sanskrit can be considered the Mother of all languages. Modern languages from the Indian subcontinent were derived from it, while many Asian and even modern European languages show its influence.
Not only does Sanskrit have a deep history, it even shares some advanced concepts in computer science. The Backus-Naur Form used to design modern computer languages has many parallels with the Sanskrit grammar defined by the ancient scholar, Panini. This grammar is the reason which keeps this language pure even after 3500 years.
Rich Mythologies Inspire Many Beautiful Designs
Much like Ancient Greek, Latin, and Norse, Sanskrit has a rich mythology. There are many stories of gods and great heroes, deeds of derring-do, and legendary acts recorded in this language. For example, the Mahabharata has over 24,000 verses, making it one of the most massive epic poems in the world. The Ramayana is two times bigger than both the Iliad and Odyssey combined. With such a wealth of mythology, it easily inspires many beautiful tattoo images.
If you love large, rich, intricate tattoo designs like tigers, dragons and phoenix, why not think about creating a tattoo inspired by a scene from the Mahabharata or Ramayana?
Highly Spiritual/Mystic
Sanskrit was a language created for religion. Among the earliest religious texts in the world are the Sanskrit Vedas. The Vedas were later expanded into the Sutras (different from the Buddhist Sutras), then the Tantras, Shastra, Siddhanta and Jataka.
Even modern Indian companies, educational institutions and governments have created their mottoes by taking inspiring sayings from Sanskrit religious texts. For example:
- Life Insurance Corporation of India – Yogakshemam Vaha-mayhem – “I shall take care of welfare” (taken from the Bhagavad Gita)
- Netaji Subhas Institute of Technology – Aa No Bhadra Kratavo Yanthu Vishvataha – “Let noble thoughts flow into your mind from all sides” (taken from the Rig Veda)
Take a page from these organizations and tattoo an inspirational saying from one of these ancient texts. If you are the spiritual or mystic sort, why not create a tattoo to call down the blessings of the gods on yourself?
Easy To Tattoo
Basic Sanskrit tattoo designs can be easy to create. The most popular images – the Trishula (Trident), Om, Padme (Lotus) – only need broad lines to shape them. The Sanskrit word tattoos are highly structured. You need to etch the horizontal line on top, then the rest of the curved script beneath it.
Very Flexible
Sanskrit tattoo designs are very flexible. You can make armband tattoos, lower back tattoos, in memory tattoos, and much more.
For example, women might make lower back tattoos using the Lotus flower superimposed with the Om symbol while men may make a Trident tattoo on their biceps. If you do not like these images, why not use the Sanskrit written script to create your tattoo designs? Armbands can be made as thin or thick as you want using various written Sanskrit alphabets.