Department of Sanskrit

The Brāhmaṇa texts of Vedic literature are very important source books of Indian culture. Apart from being the earliest records of exegetical tradition of India , these are the rich sources of historical, mythological, religious, linguistic and literary information of an important transmission period of Indian culture. This importance is further amplified by the fact that Indian culture is unique in its multifarious and polychromatic nature.
Moreover these texts contain traces of etymological tradition of India. But the tenor and approach of these are such that it is very difficult to make out any thing solid and concrete. Primarily aimed to be the manuals of sacrificial rituals, these are neither the mere practical manuals nor the mere literary interpretations of mantra-s used for sacrificial rites. Wild imagination, giving random etymologies for words and intertwining these with myths, and symbolising and de-symbolising things, images and ideas are the very nature of the Brāhmaṇa texts.
Here in this paper, an attempt is made to classify and analyse some curious statements in the Taittirīya Brāhmaṇa, which, mostly occur as concluding remarks of passages dealing with some particular act in some sacrificial ritual. But one can treat them as separate statements, as these could be taken as justifying rationales behind the particular sacrificial act (It is interesting to note that the events or natural phenomena or the things observed, are presented, sometimes as the results of the particular sacrificial act).

This paper is a focused textual study on the 27th chapter of  Nāṭyaśāstra.
As is well known the Nāṭyaśāstra of Bharata is a comprehensive treatise on dramaturgy. Such a systematic work on dramaturgy could not have been conceived without the pre-existence of a vibrant stage tradition. Abhinavagupta the celebrated commentator had a clear vision of a stage which fact is reflected in all his interpretations of the text (Nāṭyaśāstra) as well as in his observations on dramaturgy.
    The text of Nāṭyaśāstra itself will provide valuable information in this regard.  This paper is a humble attempt to read the Siddhivyanjakādhyāya (27th chapter) of the text with a view to see whether we could make out anything regarding the behaviour of audience as well as the actors/directors or drama troupes.

Mantrapraśna is a unique Vedic text.  It is a collection of mantra-s to be recited in accompaniment of domestic rituals prescribed in the  आपस्तम्बगृह्यसूत्र . Āpastamba , the author of this Gṛhyasūtra,  has included this collection as two chapters in his Kalpasūtra.  All other Gṛhya authors cite such mantra-s  using pratīka-s or reproduce them verbatim.
                      This collection of mantra-s is not reckoned as a Vedic text or as a part of any branch of Veda by tradition. But the practitioners of Āpastamba School study it and learn it by heart.
                        In fact there is a similar text (where also all the mantra-s to be uttered are collected together to form a text). The Mantrabrāhmaṇa - a Vedic text belonging to Sāmaveda .
                  However this is not as well knit as is Mantrapraśna. Moreover the latter text (that is, Mantrapraśna) is reckoned as a part of any Veda, by  tradition.
                  An attempt is made in this paper to highlight the unique nature of this text Mantrapraśna. Even  minute technical details in the Gṛhyaprayoga are not left out in the analysis.
              Some observations of Prof. Knauer , M. Winternitz, and Prof. Oldenberg are subjected to discussion.

The Śatapathabrāhmaṇa has recorded some of the old practices in the early stages of formation of the upanayana ritual. It seems that the upanayana ritual drew much from the sacrificial investiture ceremony of dīkṣā in its earliest stages. During course of time, it got transformed and modified even before the formalisation of Gṛhyasūtra  texts. Some of old practices and customs were misinterpreted (as in the case of ‘ko nāmāsi’), some were dropped or symbolically retained (as in the case of delaying the sāvitryupadeśa), some were modified, and some others were elaborated in due course.

Special attention and a focused analytical study on the samidāharaṇa, samidādhāna, bhaikṣācaraṇa and Pālāśakarman from the sociological and cultural angle, is certain to throw new light on the cultural history of ancient India.

Keḷallūr Nīlakanṭha Somayājin (b. 1444 CE) is a prominent member of the mathematical tradition that flourished in Central Kerala during 13th to 18th centuries CE. This tradition is said to have originated thoughts on Calculus. Nīlakanṭha is well known as the author of Tantrasaṅgraha and Āryabhaṭīyabhāṣya.  But his works (all written in Sanskrit) are yet to be analysed from the angles of  the philosophy of Mathematics and conceptual history. The facts that his language resembles any of the classical works on Philosophy and that his works on Mathematics contain many quotations from Mīmāṃsā texts asserting that śāstra should essentially be rational are less noticed.
THIS PAPER, WITH FULL DOCUMENTATION SHOWS THAT HE HAD BEEN HOLDING A CRITICAL AND RATIONAL APPROACH TOWARDS THE DISCIPLINE OF ASTRONOMY.

List of Research articles -
Mantrapraśna in the Āpastamba School,
Some curious statements in the Taittirīya Brāhmaņa,
The Upanayana  ritual in the Śatapatha Brāhmaņa,
Altruism in Vālmiki's concept of Dharma,
Siddhivyañjakādhyāya of Nāțyaśātra,
References to astronomy in Kalidasa's works,
Abhinayadarpaņa - A new Malayalam manuscript on Dramaturgy,
Research Methodology in Sanskrit,
The concept of Bhakti in the Nārada Bhaktisūtra and Śāņdilya Bhaktisūtra.

The work reviewed, ശാബ്ദബോധസിദ്ധാന്തങ്ങള്‍ സംസ്കൃതത്തിൽ , is written in Malayalam. Authored by Prof. N. V. P. Unithiri, it deals with Indian theories of verbal cognition. It is published by Kerala State Language Institute, Thiruvanathapuram.

Lilavati, as is well known,  is the most popular and  celebrated work on Indian mathematics.  The mathematics - the arithmetic and algebra - discussed therein  is outdated. But the philosophy of science  reflected in the work is very much relevant today.  The way in which concepts are looked upon, how they are conceived and develped; and the thought process involved are worth to be probed into.  In fact works like Lilavati assume significance from this angle  of view alone.

This paper is a critical appreciation of the Vedastuti, a chapter in the NĀRĀYAŅĪAYA. NĀRĀYAŅĪAYA IS A STOTRA WORK. A celebrated work written in praise of GURUVAYURAPPAN  (the presiding deity in the temple of GURUVAYUR).
This chapter (Daśaka) comprises the literary reproduction of some selected mantras from the Rigveda.

‘Subbaramiyam (the collected Sanskrit writings of Sri P. S. Subbarama pattar’ is the 46th number of the Calicut University Sanskrit Series.
Sri P. S. Subbarama pattar, (1889-1977) whose Sanskrit writings are compiled in this work, is a great Sanskrit scholar from Kerala, who worked untiringly for the propagation of Sanskrit studies. He was a master of Sanskrit grammar and poetics. He was honoured by the President of India for his erudition in Sanskrit in the year 1970. He has written profusely in chaste Sanskrit on a wide range of topics. Simplicity and clarity of expression are his credo.

Many of his articles were published in reputed Sanskrit journals and popular magazines of the times. Apart from research articles, he has composed literary pieces in Sanskrit choosing various genres like devotional lyric, story, poetry, play and biography. Through these compositions he seems to suggestively express his firm conviction that any subject under the Sun can effectively be discussed in simple Sanskrit without compromising clarity. He wrote with equal ease and clarity in Sanskrit whether the subject at hand is the theory of Spho¶a, or the phonetic law of Grim, or economics and agriculture.
Dr. K. Murali and Dr. K. V. Vasudevan , students of  Vaidyabhushanam Raghavan Thirumulpad, have taken great pains to compile and edit the compositions of Sri Subbarama Pattar. They deserve the appreciation of the scholarly world for this academic pursuit, which they humbly call as a tribute to their ‘Acharyaparampara’.

It is an edited work, originally published in the year 1938. It is a study on Dhvanyaloka. The author of the work is Sri P. S. Subbarama Pattar (1889-1977), a traditional Sanskrit scholar from Kerala. Sri Pattar was an erudite scholar who was honoured by the President of India for his erudition in Sanskrit in the year 1970.
The work is perhaps the first serious and systematic study in English on Dhvanyaloka.
It is divided into two parts. In the first part, the author gives a brief but profound critique on the epoch making text Dhvanyaloka. By way of analyzing all the seminal aspects of the text, he establishes that ‘a critical study of Dhvanyaloka of Ananda in comparison with the works of his predecessors, will comprehend a survey of the whole field of Sanskrit literary criticism in all its aspects’.

In the second part, he tries to establish that the sole purpose of Anandavardhana in writing Dhvanyaloka is to enunciate a new theory - the theory that ‘the supreme source of aesthetic delectation as well as the ultimate end of poetry is realization of Rasa-s’

Felicitation volume in honour of Prof. C. Rajendran , a Sanskrit scholar of international repute.Prof. Rajendran retired from Calicut University on 31st March 2013 as Professor of Sanskrit, having served the institution (in various capacities) in a highly commendable manner for a long period of 35 years.
Chettiyarthodi Rajendran was born in 1952 in the Perumudiyur village, near Pattambi, Palakkad . His own family was reputed for Sanskrit scholarship and literary proficiency. Vidwan C.S.Nair (1894-1942), a renowned writer, freedom fighter and a progressive critic, was his (maternal) grand uncle.
The present volume contains 33 articles contributed by Prof. Rajendran’s close associates, friends, colleagues, and students. They cover a wide range of topics like Poetics, Philosophy, Vedic studies, Grammar and Linguistics, Technical literature and Social science.

Written in beautiful Sanskrit., this article,  is a critique on the two works - करुणविलास and शान्तिविलास  of Panditaraja Jagannatha.
These two works belong to the  pentad-group  विलासपञ्चक .
These  anthologies contain  verses composed as illustrative examples for  explaining, elucidating and justifying poetic concepts that are dealt with  in Rasgangadhara..