Under the category "extinct languages" comes the name of the classical language of ancient India. What is it?

The classical language of ancient India is renowned for its use in some of the world's oldest and most profound texts. For over three millennia, it served as the primary vehicle for Hindu, Buddhist, and Jainist religious scriptures, as well as for masterpieces of Indian literature, philosophy, and science. The Vedas, the foundational scriptures of Hinduism, were composed in an early form of this language, cementing its status as a sacred and scholarly tongue across the subcontinent.

While categorized as an extinct language, its status is complex. It is no longer a mother tongue learned from birth for everyday communication, which is the technical definition of its extinction. However, it remains very much alive as a liturgical language, chanted daily in Hindu temples and ceremonies around the world. Much like Latin in Europe, it is also studied extensively by scholars, and a small number of people have even revived it as a spoken language.

Its influence is still felt profoundly today. It is the direct ancestor or a major influencer of most modern languages spoken across North India, including Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi, and Marathi. Furthermore, as one of the oldest documented members of the Indo-European language family, it shares a common, ancient root with languages as diverse as English, Greek, Persian, and Spanish. Words like "mother" (mātṛ), "father" (pitṛ), and "name" (nāman) reveal this deep, shared heritage across continents.