HUNGER HURTS !

" If seventy crore people don't get two meals a day then what are we really doing either inside or outside the parliament ? Who reaps the benefits of the great GDP growth that we are so contented to show to the world as our index of development ? "

SANSKRIT LANGUAGE !

" the samskrit language as a language has a sanctity of it's own.as a teacher of that language one is expected to use the language in the best idiomatic felicity and make communication a happy bridge on to the students' minds.a teacher teaching the samskrit language without using it as a live speech is doing a great disservice,an irreparable loss to the language and rendering his impressionable young pupils dumb and deaf to the gods' language on earth.

every language has a culture,it grows with mouths and ears used to its sound and sense.the great grammarian philosopher bhartrihari clearly puts the blame of the decline of samskrit on the faltering speaker.

the u.g.c. and n.c.e.r.t. etc. bodies must come out with schemes to revitalize the use of samskrit language in teaching of the language,it's literature and shaastra-s in class room situations so that the language revered all over the world survives and flourishes in it's motherland. "

they're not less than gods !

" Whatever we may think and do in polity,society and religion etc. we must first of all ensure proper food,shelter,health and education to all in a sovereign country.Otherwise all the rhetoric we're used to is useless.

Those men,women and children are not 'lesser things' but veritable gods in waiting ! We can't feign to be religious in our temples without giving them their just due. "

CORRUPTION CORRUPTS

"Corruption is a negativity to which one subscribes under an unthinking spell of weakness of character.Wickedness is only a manifestation of weakness,of fear,of lust,of misplaced ego......the result is corruption - corrosion of values that build an individual and a society.

An atmosphere predominantly corrupted is infectious,almost the viruses of corruption are ubiquitous.One need to be highly alert and vigilant.

Moral and spiritual courage can face the corrupt with a transforming vision.One who is corrupt is like you and me.He knows the good and how to appreciate it.He needs to be helped and not looked down upon."

UNIVERSAL RELIGION !

" I view goodness as universal religion,goodness that one's heart admits and approves,goodness that feels,heals and soothes,goodness that doesn't tolerate hypocrisy and yet is not violent in retaliation,goodness that bridges gulfs of distrust,goodness that forgives and doesn't forget to continue collaboration,goodness that bears the stamp of soulful love and bliss,goodness that shares the blessings and secures the suffering silently and goodness that reminds the kind God at all odds and evens of life ... .If all religions that humanity has met with so far were taken away and replaced by goodness alone the world could be a virtual paradise that potentially it is.
Goodness is true religion. "

ALL FOR THE GOOD !

"The last thing that everything boils down to is finally goodness and this comes from true humility,self-effacement and renunciation.Only then could one be peaceable with oneself and the world around.

The goal of civilisations,cultures and spiritual penances, including thereby all thought, speech and deed is the good which we pine for day after day and life after life !

And the ultimate good is God and until one has become That one can neither be nor have nor do good in an integral manner.

All life is an aspiration, howsoever distorted it may appear to be on the surface,to find God and be Him.True religion is to have discovered that Godhood within and without."

BEING NOT A BURDEN , A JOY !

"To be and at the same time transcending the being,almost in a spirit of 'this yes but not this and beyond too' not betraying escape from the given,could be an ideal disposition where one would have freed oneself of the entailing baggage even though carrying the same in all humility and joy.Being,not being and beyond in the same cup of tea like tea leaves,milk and sugar !"
S M Mishra

THE THREE MODES OF BEING

" I call them as civilization,culture and spirituality.the first two everyone would agree to,the third for one not believing in spirit or self is obviously redundant.Let him or her call it the core of one's being which is nurtured or clothed with culture and civilization.

Civilization will always be the outer details of execution.mores and chores,titbits,gadgets, trophies and even nuclear warfare - all our advances to pose and post ourselves to show off,not bereft of meaning and purpose but limited and always confused.

Culture is above physicality,it pertains to the mind and intellect,deeper values like non-violence,truth,art,aesthetics that elevate one to distinct heights,it's nurture of nature within man to lead him on further expanses and possibilities,stabilising him in beatific experienceslike never before.The Vedic seers saw this aspect as 'samskriti'that they spread over the world for lasting good.

Spirituality or Realisation of the core essence or being is at the root and the stem and branches are culture and civilization.This is the bedrock of our holistic design of universal life.The Vedas assure : yasmin vijnaate sarvam vijnaatam bhavati.Know this as matter,shunya,vijnaana or brahman or God and carry the eternal force of visualised conviction following a definite tradition or independent of it in your just own light and set yourself free to be an incessant worker for the establishment of greater good on all the planes of existence.
See,the branches could be chopped off,the stem axed and brought down,but sooner or later the deep laid root will come to life again with new stem and branches.Her is what we call the Sanaatana Dharma !

This Dharma cares for our needs both sacred and profane as they call it for being and becoming.This is more than global in natuire,it's universal.You can't conceive of global weal with neglecting the universe outside !"

The Aim We Cherish

" The aim of civilization is to create a moral man,of culture holding onto deeper benign roots,of religion to be tuned to God manifest or unmanifest, and of spirituality to realize identity with or proximity to God and do good eternally. "

Human Rights and Indian Psychology

Recently I joined a Panel Discussion in a reputed college set to launch two Certificate Courses in Human Rights and Applied Indian Psychology sanctioned by the UGC in the Department of Sanskrit there.
The Charter of Human Rights I felt,is already implied by a few statements in Sanskrit literature on polity,ethics and the like,beyond the limited purview of that our Vedic culture has enormous materials to offer to humanity for ages to come.But we have to have a just and a universally acceptable framework corresponding to the individual,national and global aspirations of contemporary times.
The practical parameters set by pioneers of psychology like the propounders of the six orthodox systems of philosophy and the heterodox systems including the ideal Indian materialist,make great sense even now in analysing and uplifting our psyche to achieve the best here if not also the hereafter.But then it requires application in life situations at present to develop statistical methods of observation and experiment.
The vast ocean of Indian wisdom awaits in Sanskrit to be tapped by the earnest seeker and researcher to verify the truth with current modes of research.Holism has been our hallmark and universality of vision our touchstone.

Evolution of the Shaastras

The dharmashaastras seem to have stopped evolving further into our times,after probably Paraasharasmriti, guiding us along the temporal needs and exigencies of life as obtaining at present.
Thus we at times feel bewildered by the prescriptions of the old shaastras notwithstanding the perennial gems of wisdom they contain.
Those who are moved by the lofty ideals of lokasangraha ought to take the lead in composing a dharmashaastra befitting our times for sacred and profane conduct.

"DALIT" WORD IS PAINFUL !

The first page flash in Times of India,22 May '10 "Dalit teacher kills himself after caste remark"is unnerving and highly offending to our sense of culture and civilisation.The intelligentsia and,the truly religious and the statesmen must go for a self searching as to why are we failing in social values.
While 'social' caste has a remedy in social thinking,'politicised' caste has to have a cure in ideal political thought.
We replaced 'shudra' with 'harijan' and the same with 'dalit'.Now the vogue is 'anusuchit jati' or 'scheduled caste' ! A game of names,but have we succeeded ?When shall we practically accept all human beings as one ?
We must rise above pettinesses of all kinds to have an India free and fair in all respects.
Back to the Vedas see caste as mere profession and caste as glory or stigma as a blatant lie !

HAVE A COMPLETE SAMSKRIT CHANNEL !

the seers and sages,scholars and statesmen,philosophers and scientists always extolled the great qualities of samskrit as a language that represented life in its vibrant entirety.
now the psycholinguists have again scientifically proved the unequalled potentials of samskrit for human peace,bliss and prosperity.
here our electronic mass media can do miracles by launching
A COMPLETE SAMSKRIT CHANNEL
to spread the benign sound around along with beaming the culture inspiring us to imbibe the best of our past to guide our present and a better tomorrow in achieving further destinations of dharma(righteous conduct),artha(material resources),kaama(blissful life) and moksha(spiritual realisation).

ACADEME IN 21ST CENTURY

"It is to be hoped that our universities will be governed,as in the past,by intellectuals --
faculty and administrators alike -- so that the creative minds could thrive and revive the art of fiction and poetry writing to its old glory.Then only a university will become a place of innovation and critical thinking."
Dr Satya S Pachori
Professor of English & Head,University of North Florida,USA(in his preface to Paul S. Vij's Dust Storm and Other Short Stories

CASTE COUNT !

While caste count will act as a reality check the efficacy of which ought not to be denied,counting on caste will take us further from an equal and just society.

Caste is a truth undeniably there,but what is more undeniable is that never in this subcontinent was such a falsehood established as a fact to distort,divide and debilitate society.

True education can do this,that education which India has banked upon for milleniums - the Vedic education which calls our notion of caste as a myth as true caste (varNa) comes from within and not without.

Minimum of Ethics !

Throughout history everyone spoke of ethics : here's the mother of all the good that happens to the human world !

Have minimum of ethics and the world's sufferings will come down !

But one needs the guts to behave ethically !

The Sparsh Ganga Campaign

H.H.Dalai Lama's " Worship Ganga : Protect Ganga " slogan is most welcome.
But the nation should be told as to what exactly is done to tame the villainous industrial effluent flowing into the Ganga unchecked in spite of slogans of all kinds
by sacred and profane interests !
Left alone the Ganga can take care of herself.Our excesses are her undue burden !

Use/Abuse a Language !

Use Samskrit by all means and it will grow like flowers in spring.Leave using it and you think it will die ?

No,you will die for it and the outcome will be your ignorance of what it possesses - the brightest gems of human knowledge and wisdom of millenia !

We Commented to Innovate/Re-invent !

//shriih//

Dear Friends,

Recently I participated in a national seminar(organised as a colloquium) on "Sanskrit Commentaries : Their Literary and Philosophical Evaluation" at DAV College,Naneola near Ambala in Haryana.

While delivering my address I came upon the question as to why first hand study of the commentaries is no more a practice in our colleges and universities and even in traditional seats of learning.I found that this is largely due to the fact that in the study and teaching of Sanskrit as a language or of the shaastras, Samskrit has taken a back seat and the learners aren'nt conversant with the idiom that was once the proud lingua franca of the whole subcontinent.

A student while reading Kalidasa doesn't care to go through Mallinatha and students of Upanishads don't look to the great commentaries.In Grammar the Mahabhashya has gone to the winds and who should take note of Pradiipa and Uddyota commentaries on it ?Baalamanoramaa and Tattvabodhinii are not browsed for Siddhaanta-kaumudii or the marvelous commentaries on the orthodox and heterodox darshana-suutras are out of taste of the new generation learners and teachers both.

The reason being that there are commentaries in other regional languages including Hindi which promise a easy to do facility beyond the scope of the Samskrit commentaries!Akke cen madhu bindeta kimartham parvatam vrajet ?The normal aim is to fetch good marks and get through exams and not shaastra-maniishaa!

If the shaastras are to be assured kshema-yoga,then we ought to be serious in replacing the practice of being prudent in regional languages during shaastra-carcaa with sincerity in making deft use of Samskrit so that students get to the habit of going back to the heart of the shaastras through our illustrious commentaries.

Some institutions are coming up with the ideal atmosphere for Samskrit and shaastras.
Samskrit is the natural habitat for the shaastras!

The key is in the hands of the teachers.But shall they contemplate and bring back Samskrit to the curriculum and classroom ?

Shall we take necessary steps to stop divorcing Samskrit from shaastras and prevent further erosion ?

With warm regards,
Surendramohan Mishra
Kurukshetram

//shriih// ittham me pratibhaati sanmatir iyam !---Is Paanini a Non-dualist/Monist ?

Esteemed Scholars,

Namaskaarah.

You will excuse me for this wild guess not unsupported by facts that Paanini,initially an unsuspecting dualist, has been pictured in the tradition of the following grammarians as a hardcore non-dualist thanks to the influences of Tantra,Advaita Shaivaagama of Kashmir and Advaita Vedaanta in due course.Paanini ought to be a Shaiva dualist sharing a number of common fundamentals with Vaisheshikas and Naiyaayikas in respect of ontology,metaphysics and epistemology.

The Paninian formations are more close to a multiple universe consisting of multiple reals with mutual interaction.It's basic layout and tenets are closer to atomism and ancient particle physics as one could denote it and not certainly a non-dual eternal verbum with an overdose of spiritual psychology as Bhartrihari and Naagesha etc have laid it to be largely believed.For such views the supportive germination is in the Mahaabhaashya of Patanjali which is considered as the mainstay of Samskrit grammatical edifice.The Vaartikas of Kaatyaayana were either assimilated or replied to therein.

Without contesting the brilliance of the Cuurni in matters of grammatical expedition of the wold of words,well a simple query could be entertained for consideration : Is Phanin unimpeachably faithful to the spirit(s) of Paanini in his basic treatise(s) ?What is it that Patanjali has of his innovated and added ? Has this extended vision and version not placed things in an order other than what initially darbha-pavitra-
paani Paanini could have in his illustrious mind?

Or is this an atiprashna ? To me let's find out causes to believe and not to believe in the possible digressions that have taken place resulting in ascribing attitudes to Paanini which on closer scrutiny would appear to be not his cup of tea !

I humbly submit this to the vidvats to elicit their considered response :

prashnah sa me baala-mataav udeti naa 'tiprashasto yadi vaa sadahsu,
santas tu satpaksha-nipaata-dakshaas tarka-pramaanair na tu ruudha-tantraah.

saprashraya-bahumaanam,

Surendramohan Mishra
Kurukshetram

//shriih//naa 'nartham vidyate 'ksharam /na varno vidyate 'narthah !

Dear Colleagues,
An input by N R Joshi in USA and some comments by scholars thereto in the site of Bharatiiya Vidvat Parishad has made me think on this fundamental issue.Sri Aurobindo i know provides the brightest clue so far after the Tantras in this regard.
This is a moot question regarding the smallest components in a sentence,viz.letters as to whether at this level some semantic content could be made out.Or that these are the merely the scaffolding and the sentence is entirely independent as perhaps implied by Bhartrihari in his celebrated Vaakyapadiiya at "pade varnaa na vidyante" etc.in the first kaanda.I think Bhartrihari is only partially justified if he tells this in a relative vein.But in absolute sense this is not true that like words having no independent meaning in a sentence,letters also do have no significative value.I have contested this in my blog in Sanskrit "surendrashastram.blogspot.com .

I shall be obliged for more enlightening explanation.

Vidushah pranipatya,

Surendramohan Mishra

//shrih// vaco-vinyaasa-vaicitryam

Dear Friends !

Is there any semblance between sentence and sentience ? Our sentences are obviously homosapient and so also our sentience is.Our peculiar sentience engenders and definitively shapes our peculiar sentences for communication either with the external world in overtly verbal form or in covertly verbal form while dealing with oneself,that is when we think,we of course think in language.This is a very peculiar phenomenon which calls for a philosophical explanation.

Is sentence a form of sentience or even sentience itself ! Philosophers vary in their positions and related arguments.Kumaarila distinguishes between a vikalpa and a shabda and both to be generating each other.Both are essentially the same as averred by another realist Naiyaayika.The advaitin would put it all back to cit or sentience better put as consciousness.Bhartrihari does the same thing.But then this knower-known paradigm one couldn't in the ultimate count reject and that is just what is the position of the Advaita Shaivaagama of Kashmir and tacitly as though this is admitted by the Naiyaayikas although with their admitted unimpeachable realistic dualistic position.

And can we differentiate sentience from consciousness per se,taking the former in the sense of
a particular individualised homosapient or otherwise consciouness and the later as the universal base of it,which may help us in philosophising more accurately ?

Surendra

vaag eva vishvaa bhuvanaani jajne

Dear Colleagues and Friends !

There is a saying in the Vedas that it is out of the potent Word that the universe has manifested in it's multifaceted reality.A true word is born of a true mind and it prompts a true action.Thus language plays an important role in shaping our mind and action.The cliche 'mind your own language' has a deeper sense.An individual as well as a society and a country ought to have a language which brings into being better minds and nobler actions which always make our world better.Language is the repository of our past,is a guide to our present and is a promissory note for our future,for it is our resolve couched in language that opens up doors on the brighter or gloomier tomorrows.That's just why grammarians,linguists and philosophers or yogins all over the world nurse and nurture the best in language which helps us catch up with the truth here or hereafter.

Many languages we have in the world, a few centuries of them in India alone,but Samskrit is unique,now the psycholinguists and computer scientists are further lending proof to this.She is the breathing apparatus of India's longest living vibrant and incessantly self-rejuvenating culture.Now the world of languages and linguists must celebrate the fact that recently the state of Uttarakhand has declared Samskrit as it's second official language.The serene Himalayan state has set an example worth emulating by other states and even the centre by placing Samskrit by the side of Hindi which is the official language as spelt in the constitution.This will be doing a long due justice to saints and statesmen like Swami Vivekananda,Swami Dayananda,Sri Aurobindo,the Mother of Pondicherry,Mahatma Gandhi,B.R.Ambedkar,K.M.Munshi and many others who put a premium on Samskrit education which was ruthlessly repressed and distorted during the British rule.

Let Samskrit regenerate herself to prove her historic legacy and living vitality in serving her divine vision and mission of a great India leading a great world !

Yours in truth,

Surendra

vishvatascakshur uta vishvataspaat

Dear and Honoured Friend,

The Vedas state that all eyes are verily His and all feet are verily His too.Thus all seeing-knowing and movement in multiple directions are verily His !If this is a fact and if we can assure ourselves of the idealistic and pragmatic use of this in a globalised world plagued with innumerable divisions and none seems prepared to see and on the undivided whole.This holism the Vedas declare in unequivocal spirit.Why can't we have a universal morality and distributive justice.The self of globalization ought to be visited by the champions of international justice and human rights and and develop that much required global ethical quotient without which globalisation in the earnest would be a misnomer.

Kindly concentrate on a better tomorrow !

Love and regards,

Surendra

sarasvati shrutimahati mahiyataam

Dear Esteemed Colleagues,

Namaste !

I am creating this blog to come close to you,to interact and collaborate in bringing out the best in ideas and idioms latent in our roots and branches of culture and civilization which promise an ideal,peaceful and purposeful human life on earth and elsewhere if so possible which is at once sustainable and in harmony with the universe as such.

We shall contemplate in retrospect and prospect knowing our individual follies and foibles and ensure a better world to live in,by making matter and spirit in their best to meet,cohere and cooperate in shaping our tomorrows breathing in divine materialism and material divinity.

See you soon later.

Yours truly,

Surendra