Mahaganapati Vakyartha Vidwat Sabha
A section of the Shastra Scholars attending the Vidwat Sabha
The annual Mahaganapati Vakyartha Vidwat Sabha conducted in the august presence of the Jagadguru began on the afternoon of Vinayaka Chaturthi. Conducted in Sri Sacchidananda Vilas in Narasimha Vanam, the Sabha proceedings consisted of deliberations in Shastras such as Vedanta, Mimamsa, Nyaya and Vyakarana. About 50 eminent scholars from across the country participated in the Sabha and deliberated in Sanskrit for 14 days with the Jagadguru Himself presiding over the proceedings. The Sabha concluded on Sep 16th with a Valedictory function.
Sri Pratap Singh Rane, the Speaker of Goa was the chief-guest in the function. Speaking on the occasion, he expressed his happiness to be a witness to the Sabha conducted in the presence of the Jagadguru. He opined that the treasure-house of spiritual knowledge contained in our ancient scriptures serves to guide the society even in the present-day and commended the scholars for their dedicated service in upholding the knowledge contained in our Shastras. Dr. Yegnasubramanian, Chairman, Sri Sringeri Vidya Bharati Foundation, USA, was also present on the occasion and honoured the scholars.
Jagadguru with scholars who were awarded gold rings
Gold rings were awarded to Vidwan Krishna Shastri Joshi of Satara, Maharashtra in Nyaya Shastra, Vidwan Sri Gurunatha Ghanapathi of Chennai in Mimamsa Shastra and Vidwan Sri Shingappa in Vyakarana Shastra.
The scholars were felicitated by the Peetham’s Shastra Poshaka Sabha and Vedanta Vedanta Gurukula Mahavidyalaya based in Madipadu, Andhra Pradesh.
Two students who successfully cleared examinations in Vyakarana and Mimamsa conducted by the Peetham’s Shastra Poshaka Sabha were honoured.
The Jagadguru delivered His Anugraha Bhashanam in Sanskrit and released 3 books on the occasion. The first book, titled Vaktavya Kaashika, is a hitherto unpublished commentary on Sri Padmapadacharya’s Panchapadika (a commentary on the first four Sutras of the Brahma Sutra Bhashya of Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankaracharya). The author of Vaktavya Kaashika is Sri Uttamajna Yati, a disciple of the 5th Jagadguru of the Sringeri Sharada Peetham, Jagadguru Sri Jnanottamacharya. The manuscript of this work, that dates to the 10th century AD had been preserved in the Peetham for centuries. The second book released contains the Proceedings of the 2007 Vidwat Sabha that was held in Mumbai as the Jagadguru observed the Chaturmasya Vrata there. Both these books were published by Sri Shankara Advaita Research Centre, established in 2001 by the Peetham with the primary objective of bringing out such publications.
The Anugraha Bhashanam DVD
released by the Jagadguru
The Jagadguru also released another book, containing a new commentary, Sushama penned by late Asthana Vidwan, Vedanta Kesari Sri Narayana Bhat, on the first section of the Nyaya Rakshamani gloss penned by Sri Appayya Dikshitar on the Brahma Sutras.
The Jagadguru also released a DVD, Anugraha Bhashanam Video Series Volume 3 containing two Anugraha Bhashanams, one in Hindi, titled “Performing Tapas in your daily life” and another in Tamil titled “Importance of Temples”. Both the Bhashanams come with English subtitles. The DVD also contains brief footages of the Kumbhabhishekam Celebrations at the Sringeri Shankara Math in Salem conducted in May 2007 in the Jagadguru’s presence, as well as the Jagadguru’s performance of the Vinayaka Chaturthi Puja at the Mumbai Shankara Math and the famous Siddhi Vinayak Temple in Mumbai.
The first two Volumes of the Video Series contain Anugraha Bhashanams in Telugu and Kannada respectively and were released in 2006 and 2007.