National Workshop on Pathyasvasti
Brief Report Shri Shankar Shikshayatan organised a week-long online National Workshop on Pathyasvasti from January 20 to 25, 2025. Pathyasvasti (https://shankarshikshayatan.org/pathyaasvasti/)is authored by Pandit Madhusudan Ojha. The book is about vedic phonetics. It contains five chapters. Each of these chapters formed part of the discussions during the workshop. On the first day, Prof. Ramakant Pandey, Acharya, Department of Grammar, Faculty of Sanskrit Vidya Dharmavijnana, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi gave a detailed lecture in the light of the first chapter named Varnmatrika Parishkar. He said that Siddhasammanaya has been described in the first chapter. It is first relevant to understand the meaning of the word `siddha`. The word `siddha` means eternal. Pandit Madhusudan Ojha, in order to determine varna sammanya, has mentioned the place of pronunciation. Alphabets अ, इ, ऋ, लृ, उ are similar but their place of pronunciation is different. Likewise, अ, ऽ, अ, ग, क have similar positions but different pronunciations. The subject expert for the second day, Prof. Gopal Prasad Sharma, Acharya, Veda Department, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi based his lecture on the second text named Yamparishkar. On the third day, Prof. Rajdhar Mishra, Acharya, Grammar Department, Shri Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University, Jaipur,adopted the third chapter of the book titled Gunaparishkar as his reference.Pandit Madhusudan Ojha has written that this universe is divided into five parts. There exists a vak called Bekura in the Svayambhoomandal. There is a vak called Subrahmanya in Parmeshthimandal. In the solar system exists a vak known as Gaurivita. In the earth’s sphere there exists a vak called Ambhrani. There is a detailed explanation of this vak in the third chapter of the book. On the fourth day, subject expert Prof. Sundar Narayan Jha, Acharya, Veda Department, Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri National Sanskrit University, New Delhi, gave his lecture highlighting the fourth chapter named Akshara Nirdesha.A detailed description of akshara element is given in this chapter. The universe is located in three forms of Brahma– Param Tattva, Akshara Tattva and Kshara Tattva. On the fifth day, Dr. Kuldeep Kumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Sanskrit, Himachal Pradesh Central University, Dharamshala delivered his lecture on the fifth chapter named Sandhiparishkara. In vedic science, Avyaya, Akshara and Kshara are the three main elements. Akshara tattva is formed by joining with other Akshara tattvas.Kshara is called consonant letter. On the sixth day, Dr. Yaduvir Swaroop Shastri, Assistant Acharya, Department of Grammar, Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga gave his lecture on the subject of phonetics. The word which indicates the object is sound. In Vakyapadiya, the word dhwanirupa has been indicated by the word `sphota`. In Pathyasvasti, a vivid description of phonetics is also found through pronunciation of alphabets. From the first day to the last day of the national workshop, Professor Santosh Kumar Shukla, Professor, School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi, presided over the discussions and introduced the subject experts as well as the subject. He said that all the experts have given important lectures on their respective subjects. The word Pathyasvasti means speech. Speech is a sentence. There is a position of the words in the sentence, there is a position of the letter in the word. Thus, the book presents comprehensive view of Sanskrit phonetics. Dr. Praveen Koirala, Dharmodaya-Ved-Vijnana-Gurukul, Manipur recited the Vedic invocation. The programme was conducted by Dr. Lakshmi Kant Vimal, Research Officer of Shri Shankar Shikshayatan Vedic Research Institute. The programme was attended by professors and research students from universities and colleges from several states of the country. The institute’s Youtube channel has recordings of all the days of the workshop. https://www.youtube.com/@shrishankarshikshayatan2753