Sanskrit School in Channarayapatna

Every year, the full-moon day in the month of shraavana, is celebrated as World Sanskrit Day, according to Samskrita Bharati. This year, it was on Saturday, the 16th of August. I had a good news on Sanskrit front to share, and I feel this is the occasion to do so.

A new secondary school, with focus on Sanskrit language, has come up in Channarayapatna town of Hassan district, Karnataka. The age old building of "Samskrutha Pathashala" in the old fort area of the town has been renovated to bring this school up. All the credit must go to the "Samskrutha Vidyabhivardhini Sangha", and its dedicated members, who set about the ambition of providing good quality education, with focus on the language of Sanskrit.

The main person behind this ambitious project, Mr. A. Chidambar, senior English lecturer at Navodaya PU College of the town, has poured his heart and soul to this dream. He was ably supported by Mr. G.K. Vishwanath, English lecturer, Navodaya High School, Mr. C.S. Sheshachala, Mr. B.N. Krishnan, Shree Lakshmeesha Shastry and many more. Also to be remembered here are the generous whole hearted contributions of many people, without which this would have remained a dream.

I remember a few Sanskrit subhashitas at this stage, which blend well with the subject here:

अमन्त्रमक्षरं नास्ति नास्ति मूलमनौषधम् ।
अयॊग्यः पुरुषॊ नास्ति यॊजकस्तत्र दुर्लभः ॥

This simply means that there is no letter in the Sanskrit alphabet that is not a mantra. There is no root that does not have any medicinal values. No man is incapable, but it is the organizer, or the entrepreneur, who is difficult to find. In this case, Mr. Chidambar has acted as an entrepreneur and has made this dream become a reality. Kudos to him. There is another Subhashita which goes like this:

कर्ता कारयिता चैव प्रेरकश्च अनुमोदकः।
सुकृते दुष्कृते चापि चत्वारः समभागिनः॥

This says that in any deed, good or bad, many people share the responsibility. The one who does it, those who help him or her in doing it, the one who inspires, and the one who approves the deed. So, even in this great deed, all those whose names I have mentioned above must be appreciated. Now to quote the great Kalidasa towards the end,

पुराणमित्यॆव न साधु सर्वं न चापि काव्यं नवमित्यवद्यम् ।
सन्तः परीक्ष्यान्यतरद्भजन्ते मूढः परप्रत्ययनेयबुद्धिः ॥

That is, everything old, with a proven track record need not be good, and everything new need not be bad. One should give the new ones a chance to prove themselves too. Wise people would examine anything in detail and only then, would pass a judgment, whereas fools would depend on others' opinion.

With that, I hope the people of Channarayapatna would give a fair chance to the management of this new school to prove their mettle, and wish a lot of success to the school itself and its wards.

Comments

Unknown said…
Dear Prasanna avare,
My name is Vidyashankar and I am originally from Channarayapatna. I live now in USA, San Diego, CA. Chidambara was a great acquaintance of mine - he was one year senior to me in Navodaya High School, where my late father Sri C.V.Rangaswamy was a teacher. Those were the good old days!!
Please convey my heartfelt Congratulations and Best Wishes to Chidambara and others, some of whom I recognize. Next time I come to India I will visit CRP. I try to use my little Sanskrit Knowledge here whenever we hold Kannada programs here or to translate some of the songs that my sons are leaning from the Classical Music teacher here. Both Chidambara and I learnt Sanskrit from our great Sanskrit teacher, Sri Sitarama Shastry in High School.
Thank you for publishing this on line, I am grateful to you..
With Best Regards,
Vidyashankar - raswamy@yahoo.com
NAGADRI said…
It is very nice to see a sanskrit school in a town like chennarayapatna....i am very thankful to people who has worked for its existence....
vidyasridhara said…
we wish to bring out students to your campus for a visit