Musings of Jayaraman

I ntroduction  We see a whatsapp message doing rounds presenting various 'definitions of teachers' in Sanskrit - authored by one Suresh Jindal.  I was asked by one my friends whether these are correct and can be circulated. I replied in detail to my friend. i present that reply in this post. The six terms that were mentioned in that whatsapp forward were - Upadhyaya and Adhyapka,Acharya, Pandita - Dhrishta <?> and Guru     Part 1  Let us take up the first two words that are connected with each other - Upadhyaya and Adhyapka . The views in the message being circulated can be seen as image below. Now, What does Sanskrit sources say - अध्यापकः - Adhyapaka - is considered a synonym of उपाध्याय - Upadhyaya in Amarakosha उपाध्यायोऽध्यापकोऽथ - 2.7.7.12. Regarding the meaning of उपाध्याय - Upadhyaya - manusmriti states that - Upadhyaya is the one who uses teaching for a livelihood उपाध्याय - योऽध्यापयति वृत्त्यर्थमुपाध्यायः स उच्यते -

The above is the video of a Traditional Shastric discussion on the definition of Yoga - Citta-vritti-nirodha by Vidvan Dr.Maheshvaran, Faculty, Samskrita College - Chennai. This program happened in Kashi 12-14 July. The soundness of the definition of Citta-vritti-nirodha has been evaluated by Sri Maheshvaran using tools of Epistemology, with intellectual rigor in this Video. The other scholars around him were are involved in this churning in a very objective and critical manner. My observations after keenly listening to the video are recorded below. Yoga is a global subject. Yoga is being subjected to Empirical research models to measure its efficacy. How to examine Yoga in the traditional Shastric intellectual frame work? This video is a classical example. This has not been done for a long time. This has to become main stream in the field of Yoga. Why? What kind of Yoga is being subjected to empirical evaluation? The Yogic wisdom from textual sour

A panoramic view of Sri Adinathar Temple - the presiding deity of Azhvar-thirunagari   It was an unplanned visit to Azhvar thirunagari in Toothukudi district Tamilnadu yesterday 16th June. I was in the district for my Kuladevata darshanam. After that, we were heading to Thiruchendur, that has a very famous sea shore temple of Lord Subrahmnaya venerated by Sri Sannkaracharya, in a Taxi. My father casually said, Azhvar Thirunagari is in the route. I was elated and excited because of the Yogic Connect that this place has. On reaching sacred Azhvar Thirunagari, I was extremely happy to know that It was Vaigasi visagam -Tirunakshatram- the day of incarnation- of Nammalvar , a Sage who practiced Tapas under a Tamarind tree for 16 years and attained enlightenment. It was also the place where Sage Nathamuni meditated and received Divyaprabandhams from Sage Nammalvar in nineth century, that were mostly lost. I had Darshna of the 5000yr old tree -date accor

Today an article has appeared in the New Indian Express about the status of Samskrita in chennai - http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/2019/jun/08/sanskrit-fights-to-find-its-feet-1987411.html - titled - "Sanskrit fights to find its feet" by By Dia Rekhi. Following is my response to the article as a Samskritist in the city of Chennai. Though the article seems to have a good intention of supporting Samskrita- it unfortunately paints only a lop sided gloomy picture. Lack of research is evident as also immaturity. There is a mismatch in topic and the content. The problem presented in the article is - there is lack of quality Sanskrit teachers in schools. One Vaibhav - a student quoted in the article and one school that does not have a teacher do not portray the reality. Specific school related problem has been blown out of proportion as a crisis for the language in the city. Samskritam does not survive in schools and colleges