Current Events

 

 

Current Events

B. N. K. Sharma.   Internationally acclaimed research scholar in Vedanta philosophy, B. N. K. Sharma, passed away in Mumbai recently after a brief illness. Born on June 9, 1909, B. N. Krishnamurthy Sharma hailed from a family of Sanskrit scholars. He was proficient in Sanskrit (Devanagari as well as Nandi Nagari) and Ardha Maagadhi. His grandfather, Kochhi Rangappachaarya, was the court Sanskrit pandit at the Cochin Durbar. Even as a student at the University of Madras, under Sri Kuppuswami Shastri, Sharma was trained by Swami Sathyadhyana Tirtha of of the Uttaraadi Math, in the art and technique of winning debates. Sharma, who began his career at the Annamalai University (Chidambaram) as a Sanskrit lecturer, rose to become the Principal of Raja's College, Tiruvaiyaru, and later served in various capacities for the cause of Sanskrit education and philosophical research at Hoshiarpur, Udipi, Kumta and Dharwar. He was Head of the Department of Sanskrit, D. G. Ruparel College, Mumbai, (1953-74) where he retired from service. Sharma has authored more than 25 classical works apart from over 150 research papers on Vedanta philosophy in general and Dwaita in particular. His works are acclaimed as trendsetters in the neo-Vedanta Research. His greatest contribution is his three-volume publication of the commentaries on the Brahma Sutras by the three acharyas — Sankara, Ramanuja and Madhwa. Sharma was the recipient of many awards and honours from the Government of India and also from abroad including the Central Sahitya Akademi award.   MODERN SCHOLARS OF DVAITA VEDANTA Dr. B.N.K. Sharma  By Madhva Vedantabhusana Dr. D.N. Shanbhag, Dharwad  If a jury is asked to decide the Dvaita Scholars of 20th Century, there will emerge the unanimous verdict that he is Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. If a panel of experts is appointed to discover the Research Scholars who worked with a zeal of ‘one life. One mission’ to vindicate the great Madhvacarya and his doctrines, there will come out only one name and that is, Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. If contemporary writers on Indian Philosophy were asked to highlight a writer of convincing, authentic and well documented works in English on Dvaita Vedanta, again the light will concentrate on only Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. Whom would a truthseeker in this world, approach to know even the subtlest details of Dvaita Vedanta? The reply will be Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. He embodies in himself the Encyclopaedia of Dvaita Vedanta. The moot question arises : “Who is this Dr. B.N.K. Sharma?” Let those worthies who have known him personally and through his voluminous works speak out their estimate of the person.   H.H. Sri Vishvesha Tirtha Swamiji of Sri Pejawar Matha, Udupi has blessed Dr. Sharma addressing him directly: “Till now no one has done so much service to Dvaita Vedanta through the English language, as you have done. During the last half a century. Your name will live for ever in the history of Dvaita Siddhanta. May Sri Hari and Vayu enable you to render still greater service and work in the field.’   Sri R.R. Diwakar, former Governor of Bihar and Chairman, Gandhi Peace Foundation, New Delhi congratulated Dr. Sharma: “I congratulate you on the comparative and comprehensive study of the Dvaita Vedanta. You have paid back, with compound interest, the debt you owed to the great Jagadguru Srimad Anandatirtha Bhagavatpadacharya and at the same time freed yourself from the debt of the Risis by your monumental works. Very few have the good fortune to achieve so much in their lives.’   Foreign scholars : Prof. Jose Pereira, Dept. of Philosophy, Fortham University, Bronx, NY (USA) and Prof. L. Stafford Betty, Dept.of Religion and Philosophy, California State College, Backerfield have admitted that they realized the truth of Madhva’s thought and that they received encouragement from Dr. Sharma to propagate it.   Prof. Karl H. Potter, Chief Editor, Encyclopedia of Indian Philosophies, Washington, is quite candid: “Dr. Sharma has provided what only a master teacher can provide. We philosophers are much in Dr. Sharma’s debt, for he has managed almost alone to explain the intricate analysis of Madhva and his successors so that we can appreciate their profundity.” The Academic Career of Dr. B.N.K. Sharma Now we can consider, in brief, Dr. B.N.K. Sharma’s biography. He was born on 9th June 1909 and began his literary career at the early age of 22; he began to write research articles on topics related to Madhva’s Dvaita Vedanta in 1931 itself. He hails from a scholarly family of traditional stalwarts who were honoured as Royal Pundits at the court of former Cochin State. The foundations of Dr. Sharma’s traditional scholarship in Sanskrit Literature and Sastras were firmly laid by his maternal grandfather Kocci Madhvarayacarya and later by renowned Pandit of Kumbhakonam (Tamil Nadu) like Sri M. Rama Rao. At Kumbhakonam itself, he completed his High School and College studies upto Intermediate Examination in Arts securing a I Class. Later he joined Presidency College Madras (now Chennai) for his Honours course in Sanskrit (1928-31), which he passed in High II class with NyayaVaisesika and Comparative Philology (IndoEuropean) as special subjects. Then started his teaching and research career. He served at the Annamalai University as Lecturer in Sanskrit from 1931-42. Then for six years he was the Principal of the prestigious Sanskrit College of Tiruvaiyaru. From 1948 to 1953. Dr Sharma served in various capacities as Research scholar at Visvvesvaranand Vedic research Institute in Punjab; Principal, Sanskrit College Udupi; Principal, Kanara College (now A.V. Baliga College of Arts and Science) Kumta; Honorary Prof. of Sanskrit, J.E. Board’s College (now J.S.S. College) Dharwad. Finally in 1953, he migrated to Mumbai to join as Professor and Head of the Dept. of Sanskrit and Ardhamagadhi at the Ruparel College, where he served upto his retirement in 1969. (During this long career he secured the Ph.D. degree (Sanskrit) of the Madras University (1948) and the D.Litt. degree (Philosophy) of the Bombay University (1968). The onwards Dr. Sharma had ample time to devote all his energy towards contributing substantial works on Dvaita Vedanta. One such work is “The Brahmasutras and Their Principal Commentaries (A Critical Exposition).” It was the outcome of the UGC Research Project undertaken by him. This monumental work brought universal acclaim to Dr. Sharma. The high worth of this work, published in three volumes, can be known from a portion of ‘Editorial Preface’ of Dr. H.H. Dave, Hon. Director, Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan, Bombay, who are its publishers Dr. Dave contends: “We are happy to bring out the third volume of Dr. B.N.K. Sharma’s vigorous and animated study of the Brahma sutras and their Principal Commentaries of the three famous schools of Vedanta with the full complement of their respective commentarial literature, in depth. It places before the world of scholars here and abroad, the most detailed and penetrating study of the subject has been carried out since George Thibaut’s first analysis and comparison of topics and their interpretation in the Bhasyas of Sankara and Ramanuja in 1890, followed three decades by the Indian Scholar Dr. V.S. Ghate, widening the area of inquiry to include the outlines of the Bhasyas of Nimbalkar, Madhva and Vallabha. “After a gap of more than half a century, Dr. B.N.K. Sharma, who is an eminent Professor of Sanskrit brought up in the best traditions of ancient and modern scholarship is the most renowned contemporary scholar and writer of the Madhva Sampradaya, has entered the field and has enlivened the study of the Sutras and their commentaries with this magnum opus.  “There is no doubt that Dr. Sharma’s work ushers in a new genre of creative and critical literatures in lively English on the fascinating yet the most difficult subject of the Brahma sutras and their famous commentaries by the renowned Acaryas and their eminent followers. His works has gone beyond all the earlier ones on the subject in any modern Indian or foreign language including English, in its scope, range and depth and attention to significant details. It is bound to remain a standard work of study and reference and an indispensable guide and aid to higher studies in Vedanta for several years to come. I congratulate Dr. Sharma on his brilliant achievement. Really, the estimate of Dr. Sharma’s all works has been here laid bare by Dr. Dave. The world of scholars and truth-seekers has noted that the research-based literary activity of Dr. Sharma, spread through a long period of more than sixty years, is concentrated on vindicating tenets of Madhva’s Dvaita Vedanta. Why is it so? What prompted him to devote all his time and energies towards this one goal? The motivation sprouted in 1928 itself when he was a student at the Presidency College Madras. As a sincere and keen student, he was a student at the Presidency College Madras. As a sincere and keen student, he was attracted towards the works of reputed Western scholars like Keith, Macdonell and Schrader, and of Indian stalwarts like Radhakrishnan. He admired their profound scholarship and captivating style. But he was dismayed to see that works on Indian Philosophy by both Western and Indian scholars had done scant justice to Madhva’s Dvaita School of Vedanta while dealing with different schools of Vedanta, a prominent branch of Indian Philosophy. These several authors were not a particular in projecting a true picture of the Dvaita Vedanta. They were not ready to accept Madhva as a standard Philosopher. They just dismissed his doctrines as sectarian belonging to the religious history of India than to the philosophical one. This attitude of those writers was sufficient to instigate and motivate Dr. Sharma to devote all his studies to highlight Madhva’s real philosophical worth. It became his life-mission. To-day at this very age of 95, he enjoys the satisfaction of having completed his life-mission in all aspects, in spite of various odds and obstacles. Indeed, very few lucky to enjoy such contentment in their old age! Academic Laurels Dr. Sharma has been honoured not only by the revered Heads of several Maths, but also by the Central Sahitya Academy Award (1963), the award of the President of India for Eminent Sanskrit Scholars in 1992, the Govt of Maharashtra Award in 1993, and the Vidyamanya Prasasti of One Lakh Rupees of the Ananda Tirtha Pratisthana by Sri Visvesatirtha Swamiji of Pejawar Math, Udupi, in 1996. On 13.11.1999 he was honoured with the title of “Mahamahopadhyaya” by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapitha, Tirupati. Besides, Dr. Sharma was awarded the Vyasa Pitha Prasasti (Kurnool) in 2000, the Vyasa Madhva Seva Pasasti (Bangalore) on 16.06.2002, Paryaya Krsna Matha Prasastri (Udupi) on 14.09.2003. M/s Motilal Banarasidass Centenary Award (Chennal) on 16.09.2003, the Maharashtra State Kannadigas’ Literary Conference Award (Mumbai) on 02.05.2004, and the latest is, the Sri Raghavendra Anugraha Prasasti of Rs. One Lakh at Mantralaya on 31.08.2004. In the course of his long academic career, he encouraged a large number of students who later occupied distinguished academic positions and made distinct contribution to the advancement of knowledge. Among these Prof. C.S. Venkateswaran joined the Annamalai University as a lecturer and rose to the position of Prof. Head of the Department. It was a time when the Sanskrit Studies were put on the back seat at the university and did not receive any encouragement. However it was his patience and perseverance that sustained the Sanskrit Department. It was closed after his retirement. Prof. K.T. Pandurangi was his student at Annamalai University between 1940 to 1942. At that time he was studying Purva-Mimamsa. Dr. Sharma inspired him to study and undertake research in Dvaita Vedanta. It is well known that Prof. Pandurangi devoted the whole life for Research and Publication in Dvaita Vedanta and Purvamimamsa.  He received encouragement and guidance from Dr. Sharma all along his academic career. He paid Guru Dakshina by way of securing “Rashtrapati Prashasti” for him when he was the member of the Expert Committee to recommend distinguished scholars. He also paid Guru Dakshina to him by way of recommending his valuable work “Philosophy of Madhvacarya” for the degree of D.Litt. He paid this guru-dakshina with great humility. The present writer Dr. D.N. Shanbhag who was a student of Prof. K.T. Pandurangi and Dr. B.N.K. Sharma at M.A and Ph.D respectively was inspired by Dr. Sharma to undertake research in Dvaita Vedanta. The entire credit of research and publication made by him goes to Dr. Sharma only. Important Scholarly and Well documented Works on Dvaita Vedanta Contributed by Dr. B.N.K. Sharma.  1.History of Dvaita School of Vedanta & its Literature  2.Philosophy of Sri Madhvacarya  3.Brahma sutras & their Principal Commentaries (A Critical Exposition) (3 volumes)  4.Madhva’s Aupinisdam Darsanam  5.Brhadaranyaka Upanisad-as expounded by Madhva.  6.Madhva’s Bhagavad Gita Bhasya  7.Madhva’s Teachings in his own words  8.Lectures on Vedanta.  9.Lectures on Dvaita Philosophy  10.Advaitasiddhi Vs Nyayamrta  11.Mahatatparya of Mahavakyas  12.Nyayasudha of Jayatirtha (3 Vols.)  13.My Four Latest Research Papers (2001)  14.My Further Ten Research Papers (2002)  15.My Final Five Research Papers (2003)  16.My Concluding Research Papers (2004) Madhva-Vedantabhusana -Dr. D.N. Shanbhag, Dharwad. Copyrights 2010 www.shreevaartha.org