Samskritotsava of Vidya Peetham at Sringeri
On 18th August, the annual Samskritotsava of Rajiv Gandhi Campus of the Kendriya Samskrita Vidya Peetham of Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan at Sringeri was inaugurated in the holy presence of the Jagadguru at Guru Nivas, Narasimha Vanam. The Jagadguru expressed happiness at the conduct of the Utsava and delivered an Anugraha Bhashanam in chaste Sanskrit to the assembled students and faculty of the Vidyapeetham
Sanskrit is unique in that it is possible to convey a very specific and sophisticated meaning by using a single word. For instance, if someone asks a friend “sukham shayanam jaatam va?” – “Have you had a good rest?”, then the asker of the question is termed in Sanskrit as “Saukha-shaayanikaH” (yaH sukha-shayanam pRcChati). Similarly “yaujana-shatikaH” is the one who is reached after travelling 100 Yojanas (an ancient unit of distance).
The Jagadguru citing a few illustrations, talked of the contributions and the vocabulary of four stalwarts of Sanskrit literature of the recent past namely Sri Lakshmana Suri in Tamil Nadu, Sri Ganapati Shastri in Thiruvananthapuram (the editor of the famous Trivandrum Sanskrit Series), Appa Shastri Rashiwadekar in Maharashtra (the editor of a quality-rich magazine called Samskrita Chandrika), Sri Narakantheerava Shastri of Andhra Pradesh (author of a short biography on Sri Shankara Bhagavatpada called Yati saarvabhaumopahaaraH) – all of whom lived a century ago.
The Jagadguru with all these illustrations pointed out that the student of Sanskrit would do well to study the literary works of our ancestors, understand the nuances to appreciate the beauty of Sanskrit and apply them in one’s own usage.