A session in simple Sanskrit by Dr. R. Ramachandranji (RRji) at Gita Shibhiram 2017 organised by Samskrita Bharathi, Tamilnadu. This was the first session on samasa, providing a general introduction. In the next lecture, RRji explained the tatpurusha samasa.
Some more sessions by RRji are accessible from https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/category/gyan-rrji/
A session in simple Sanskrit by Dr. R. Ramachandranji (RRji) at Gita Shibhiram 2017 organised by Samskrita Bharathi, Tamilnadu. This was the continuation of the earlier session providing an introduction to Samasa, in particular Shashti Tatpurusha.
Some more sessions by RRji are accessible from https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/category/gyan-rrji/
A session in simple Sanskrit by Dr. R. Ramachandranji (RRji) at Gita Shibhiram 2017 organised by Samskrita Bharathi, Tamilnadu. This session is a part of the series where the different sandhis have been covered. In this session, the visarga sandhi has been covered.
For some more sessions of RRji, see https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/category/gyan-rrji/
PS: Donations for Samskrita Bharati can be sent to N. Sundaresan @ 9841001558
An introduction to Krudantas, in particular Truch Pratyaya (words like Karthaa, shrotaa, drashtaa, etc.) A session in simple Sanskrit by Dr. R. Ramachandranji (RRji) at Gita Shibhiram 2017 organised by Samskrita Bharathi, Tamilnadu.
Refer https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/sri-jayadevas-gita-govindam/ for the notes.
Refer https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/sri-jayadevas-gita-govindam/ for the notes.
भोजचम्पूरामायणम् – सुन्दरकाण्डम् – श्रीमती. विद्या रमेशः – संस्कृतभारती, चेन्नै (King Bhoja’s Champu-Ramayanam – Sundarakandam– Weekly online classes being conducted by Smt. Vidhya Ramesh, Samskrita Bharati, Chennai). https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/sanskrit-kavyas/video-bhojas-champuramayanam-sundarakandam-vidhya-ramesh/ This page contains the detailed notes of the shlokas covered in the sessions.
Note: The English translation given here is meant for easier understanding of the Sanskrit terms rather than to precisely convey the purport in English.
This story is condensed from a story in the book “Sanskruta-Saamaanya-Gnana” meaning “Simple knowledge of Sanskrit”. In the situation of this story, there was a debate between a king and his minister. The minister is in a difficult situation. He goes one by one to his three friends who have taken help from him earlier. In this story, the theory “when you are in trouble, you will realize who your real friends are” is being proven. According to the saying, “a wise person is respected everywhere”, even in these days, this story helps to that understand the greatness of a good friend.
In the eastern direction, there was a city called Vaishali. There was a king named Senajit who was ruling. This king was brave and courageous. In his court, there was a well learned and truthful minister called Devavrata. He was an intelligent person, in a way that he would not do anything in a hurry. Senajit had excessive friendliness towards him. He gained a lot of fame in all his undertakings due to the intelligence of his minister. So, the king spent his time in comfort and happiness.
Who knows the ways of destiny? Once, in the king’s court, there was a debate on scriptures going on in a congregation of all the learned men, groups of poets, and experts in scriptures. An argument began amongst them. The minister said “there cannot be equality between the learned men’s (status) and the king’s (status). The wise man will be respected both in his country and abroad due to the power of his knowledge. It is not that way for the ruler of the land. The king is respected only in his country”. Disagreeing with the minister’s words, the king said “Without the kings, the poet is not equipped to enjoy the honor. Meanwhile, show the proof for your opinion.” Having said “Definitely!” the minister remained silent. But the king did not ponder on the practicality. Without any delay, he ordered the minister to go out of his kingdom. Following that, the minister left.
In this troubled times, seeking refuge, the Minister Devavrata went quickly to the abode of his well-wisher and affectionate friend, Vaachikamitra. Devavrata had the best relationship with this friend. Even if he says in that wealthy person’s place for his entire life, the king will not be able to come to know of it. But within a few days, understanding that good friend’s fear of supporting a rebellion (one who protests against the King), leaving his house, remembering the help extended by him, he came to the house of the second friend, Somadeva.
Along with Devavrata, Somadeva too experienced delight with the food, drinks, etc. Devavrata was well honoured by Somadeva who had (extended his hospitality and had) given him the seat and pleasing words. “Definitely, I will extend my support to you, even in the event of enmity with the king. Will I be not able to this much?” Devavrata, having considered the utmost consideration of his friend, agreed and said “Ok”. But sooner itself the minister was told this by Somadeva, “Oh, my friend. I will not forget your help. If the king comes to know of your stay in my house, definitely, he will pierce me with the trident. I know that it is blunder to give refuge to a person who has been banished from the country. So, immediately, leave my house and go elsewhere”.
Devavrata, who started out, leaving Somadeva’s house, on hearing his words, was unable to bear the sorrow and anger. “Oh! What a miserable state I am in! Those two friends were selfish. I do not see any other group of well-wishers”, thinking this, in the middle of the way, he met a childhood friend, Chandradhara. “This person (Chandradhara) has never been honored by me”. Just on seeing each other, both of them were extremely delighted. Devavrata, who was returning due to dejection, somehow (i.e., without any hope), entered the house of the friend, Chandradhara. He was duly respected and welcomed in the appropriate manner, by being offered the seat, water to wash his feet, water to drink, etc. The joy of Chandradhara on seeing his friend was inexpressible.
“The people who are dragged by the series of different needs, deceive by different ways, the other people who are blinded by friendship. The people of the world act only according to their convenience. They don’t desire for the other people’s wellbeing. Indeed, in this world, it is a worth-less lineage”, thinking this, Devavrata, expressed his helplessness. He told about the king’s thoughts and his friends’ thoughts. On hearing this, without any consideration for the king’s wrath, Chandradhara tried to pacify him in all possible ways. He said, “Oh friend! For the protection of my learned friend, even if my life is lost, I will not be a person who deviates from the path of one’s duty. By sacrificing the life for a friend, my dependents will consider it to be their good fortune. Actually, only the friend is the most important person in the entire world.” Devavrata became extremely happy because of the affection of his friend, Chandradhara. In the course of time, Devavrata became the point of respect of the subjects of the kingdom. The king also became happy on knowing about Chandradhara’s mindset to even give up his own life. Without Devavrata, the king, Senajit, was unable to perform the royal duties. So, he himself went to Chandradhara’s house, begged for Devavrata’s forgiveness and thinking “Oh! My intelligence is like this!” he comforted Devavrata with great respect.
Again and again recollecting Chandradhara’s help, after inviting him to his house, Devavrata along with the king, went to the king’s palace.
References:
Science in Ancient India – PUC First Year – Lesson 13 – विज्ञानपथः
The English translation given here is meant for easier understanding of the Sanskrit terms rather than to precisely convey the purport in English.
Right from the time of the Vedas, we can see the cultural development in our country Bharata. In parallel, Science had also developed. In multiple branches of science, our ancestors were great researchers and scholars. There were also many books that were written. Let’s look at the achievements in some of the branches like Astronomy, Mathematics, Biology and Environmental Science.
In the fields of astronomy and mathematics, we can see the heights of their thinking and understanding. In the Vedas itself, we can see the reference to the ten planets in the solar system. It is astonishing that there were aware of the Great Red Spot in Jupiter which we are able to see these days in the modern photographs taken using the telescope. Information like Mars’ disconnection from the earth, the two planets and the moon; and the revolution of the planets around the sun have all been mentioned in the Rig Veda. But the present day scientists consider them to be recent discoveries. The ancient sages knew very well that the planets were revolve like a spinning top. They knew that the planets were revolving in their own axis. They had declared that the Sun was the primary support for Earth. There are references to various measures of time like day, night, month, seasons, the six months’ duration, a year. They were aware that about the increasing and decreasing phases of the moon and that the sun was the cause of its light.
It is a matter of great pride that the numerals and the decimal system, which are widely used across the world, is India’s contribution. Another specialty is the expression of the numbers using different words. (In this way of representation called Bhootasankhyaa, the culturally familiar words were used to indicate numbers. For example, the word netram – eyes could represent the number two). Each Yagna or the fire sacrifice had a prescribed type of Yagnakunda or the sacrificial alters. For the construction of these sacrificial alters, the sages had to know about the various geometrical figures, their area, their transformation, etc. Geometry developed during the Vedic period itself. Indians were ahead in Algebra, in solving Equations, in solving Simultaneous Equations, and Simultaneous Equations with many variables. Usage of Geometry to solve Algebra and vice versa clearly demonstrates their heights of expertise in this field. This field grew due to the contributions of intellectuals like Aryabhatta, Brahmagupta, Sridhara and Bhaskaracharya. Among these people, Bhaskaracharya II is special. His specialty was that he used to solve problems while narrating the beauty of nature. This field kept growing until the time of the famous mathematician of our times, Srinivasa Ramanujam. Because of the contributions of these people, the growth in this field has been vast and deep.
The achievement of the ancient sages in the field of Biology is also extraordinary. They categorized the plants and animals based on their qualities. They had written individual works on minding the horses and minding the elephants. Dhalvana was an expert in the study of Snakes. It has been mentioned that he had the knowledge regarding thirteen types of snakes.
The sages used to consider the protection of the environment as their fundamental duty. They considered everything to be god – the Sun, Trees, water, air, earth, etc. They considered polluting them to be a sin or a destructive activity. They were carrying out their activities with a good understanding of all aspects like the protection of plants, the protection of animals and their appropriate uses. That is why they say that a person who plants at least five trees will not go to hell. The sages gave a lot of importance for building ponds and lakes. Their consideration was towards its preservation also and not just construction. There was punishment and penalty for those who polluted these places. Even rules were established for these. The groundwater level was maintained by these measures.
There were many works composed during the ancient days, which prove that the Indians were skilled and wise in the numerous branches of Science. Some of them are Aaryabhateeyam written by Aaryabhat; Varaahamihira’s “Panchasiddhaantikaa” and “Bruhatsamhitaa”; Naagaarjuna’s “Kakshaaputatantram” related to Alchemy; the Ayurvedic books “Charaka Samhita” and “Shushruta Samhita” by Charaka and Shushruta respectively; Bhaskarachaarya’s “Siddhaantashiromanih”. All of us attach great value to the study of these scriptures.
भोजचम्पूरामायणम् – सुन्दरकाण्डम् – श्रीमती. विद्या रमेशः – संस्कृतभारती, चेन्नै (King Bhoja’s Champu-Ramayanam – Sundarakandam– Weekly online classes being conducted by Smt. Vidhya Ramesh, Samskrita Bharati, Chennai). https://nivedita2015.wordpress.com/sanskrit-kavyas/video-bhojas-champuramayanam-sundarakandam-vidhya-ramesh/ This page contains the detailed notes of the shlokas covered in the sessions.
