sanskrit is an ancient indo-european language. it is a sacred language of hinduism, sikhism, buddhism, and jainism and is the origin of most indo-aryan languages. today, about 14,000 people in india use it as their daily language mostly for religious purposes. it is one of the 22 official languages of india. most languages in pakistan, north india, nepal and bangladesh are derived from sanskrit. the dravidian languages of south india are separate from sanskrit and are not derived from sanskrit. the two primary languages of pakistan and india, hindi and urdu, are derived mainly from sanskrit.