Culture

Day 3 started on a bright note with Dr. Ganesh speaking about the beautiful qualities of the two great epics as well as Kalidasa's creation, followed by Shashi Kiran's wonderful presentation of the seven sections of the Ramayana. The post-lunch session had a riveting presentation on Kalidasa's Kumarasambhavam by Arjun Bharadwaj and a wonderful audio-visual presentation by Nirupama Rajendra about the dance ballets produced by Abhinava Dance Company. The day ended with a fabulous Carnatic classical concert by Dr.

The second day of the Summer School jointly organized by Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth and Chinmaya International Foundation took the participants into a wonderful journey into the past. Starting off with an overview of the poets, it took everyone on the path of Rāma, helped them make friends with Kālidāsa and Guṇāḍhya, gave an artistic and insightful glimpse into the Pañcatantra, and finally concluded with a wonderful Hindustani classical music performance by Swapnil Chaphekar and Pramodini Rao.

Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth and Chinmaya International Foundation have jointly organized a ten-day Summer School from 17 to 26 June, 2017 to realize the spirit of Indian culture through the creations of Vyāsa, Vālmīki, Kālidāsa (and Guṇāḍhya) at the Adi Sankara Nilayam, Veliyanad. The Summer School is support by Indian Council of Philosophical Research. Prekshaa is delighted to present a daily summary of the discussions over the course of the next ten days.

This is a translation of the article by Dr S. L. Bhyrappa that appeared in a Kannada daily on September 24, 2006.

Translator’s Note: This is the second and concluding part of the iconic D.V. Gundappa’s series profiling the life and lifestyles of numerous traditional Vedic scholars. The first part translated and published on Prekshaa Journal is available at this link.

The epics and mythology of a culture deeply influence art and literature. This is pronounced in the case of India, as our heritage still has the unbroken, living tradition of the sublime epics and their fascinating stories. For close to three millennia, our culture has drawn inspiring themes from these perennial sources, thus perpetuating their metaphorically powerful and aesthetically elevating expressions. All art forms of India—irrespective of distinctions like classical and non-classical, traditional and modern—are indebted to our extraordinary epic heritage.

In sanatana dharma, birthdays of great people are celebrated as jayantis and death anniversaries are remembered as aradhanas. Sri Rama Navami is the birthday of Rama, the unparalleled hero known as the embodiment of dharma, dignity, honor, compassion, and capability. It is often believed that Rama was the avatara of the great deity Vishnu.

Yugadi, also called Ugadi, is a well-known festival in India. Though it is often considered as a South Indian festival, textual evidences and local practices clearly indicate that it has a pan-Indian perspective. ‘युग’ in Sanskrit means ‘an era’. It also has many more meanings like ‘a couple’, ‘unit of time’, ‘yoke’, ‘age’, ‘generation’ and ‘lifespan’. ‘उग’ means ‘star’ or a glowing celestial body. Yugadi or Ugadi means the beginning of these. i.e, start of a year or in general a unit of time.

The Sanskrit word for wedding is विवाह (vivaaha). Vivaaha also means ‘marriage.’  Basically it refers to “supporting dharma.” Dharma is a Sanskrit word that means ‘harmony,’ ‘sustainability,’ ‘righteousness,’ ‘welfare at large’ – in essence, ‘that which is most beneficial to the world.’ The wife is referred to as sahadharmini, an equal partner in upholding dharma and treading the right path. The wedding is typically performed with mantras from the Vedas.