SANSKRIT UNIVERSITY
 

1. The idea of a Sanskrit University has already been touched upon, while dealing with the Pathasala system in the Chapter on Sanskrit Education. This has been very much in the air, and while a large number of our eminent witnesses supported it and thought that it was quite feasible, some others, equally eminent, were opposed to it. Among those who pleaded for a Sanskrit University, some had only hazy notions about it; and different protagonists had somewhat different conceptions of it. We, therefore, desire to clarify here the con- ception of a Sanskrit University, and to show how far it is a feasible proposition, and what form it could, according to us, usefully take at the present stage of Sanskrit studies.

2. The idea of a Sanskrit University has some history. With a 2view to encouraging the neglected aspects of education, particularly Sanskrit and Arabic, the Lieutenant-Governor of the Punjab and the British Indian Association of the N.W. and U.P. proposed, in 1869, the starting of an Oriental University, side by side with the new Western type of Universities for literature and science. However, this proposal was given effect to by the British authorities only on a smaller scale, and, as a result, an Oriental College, and not a University, came into being in Lahore in 1882.

3. The Banaras Sanskrit College, which was founded in 1791 by Jonathan Duncan, has been functioning as an examining body for over a hundred years, and has today, apart from the entire Uttar Pradesh, twenty-three outside centres where candidates appear for its examinations. In 1957, a total of 16,567' students sat for its examinations. So far as Uttar Pradesh alone is concerned, there are 1014 Pathasalas and 367 institutions of the Acharya grade which are all of College status. Therefore, Dr. Sampurnanand and the Uttar Pradesh Government thought that a college of standing like the Banaras Sanskrit College, which was already functioning like a University for Sanskrit, which had the largest number of Sanskrit Departments and Teachers, which possessed one of the richest collections of Sanskrit manuscripts, and which conducted a series of Publications, etc., might well be raised to the status of a University. Pandit Govind Ballabh Pant, the then Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, had publicly announced this decision of his Government in 1952 at the Banaras Session of the Samskrta Visva Parisad. The Varanasi Sanskrit University Act was eventually passed in the U.P. Legislature, and the Statutes and Regulations are now being drafted. After the appointment of a Vice- Chancellor, the University will begin to function in right earnest. As most of the required conditions obtained in respect of this Varanasi Sanskrit University, it would be desirable if the Central Government gave liberal assistance to that University, so that it might develop on proper lines.

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4. One other Sanskrit University, which had been conceived on a big scale, was the Somanatha University. It was an idea of the late Vallabhabhai Patel. The Somanatha Trust Deed, executed by the Saurashtra Government on March 15, 1950, with the approval of the Government of India, had, as one of its objects, the setting up of a Sanskrit University, research in Sanskrit and Indology, the spreading of Sanskrit learning and the popularisation of Hindu Scriptures. The Saurashtra Government placed the Veraval Palace at the disposal of the Trust for this purpose. But owing to the demise of Sardar Vallabhabhai Patel, the Somanatha University could not take shape, but there came into being the Samskrta Visva Parisad, which has the President of India as its head. This Parisad has reiterated at all its Sessions that Sanskrit Universities should be started.

5. Like the U.P. Sanskrit examinations conducted by the Sanskrit College, Banaras, in West Bengal, the Government Sanskrit Examination system is vested in a body called the Vangiya Samskrita Siksha Parishad, which also acts as a coordinating body for the Tols of that State. The constitution of this Parishad is drawn more or less on the- lines of a modern affiliating and examining University.

6. The new Andhra Government has founded a University at the renowned All-India pilgrim centre. Tirupati, with the avowed purpose, set forth in the Preamble to the Bill, of fostering Sanskrit, religion and philosophy, and the arts. The Sri Venkatesvara University at Tirupati 'has started in right earnest as a modern University, but its specific objects and its unique character in respect of Sanskrit and allied studies are yet to be given effect to.

7. Quite recently the Panjab Government has founded the Kurukshetra University, in which provision is to be made for the special pursuit of Sanskrit Studies and Indology. The speeches made on the occasion of its inauguration led to the wide-spread-impression that it would be a Sanskrit University. Dr. Rajendra Prasad, who presided at the inaugural, ceremony, mentioned the idea of the Sanskrit University and supported it. It remains to be seen how the University is going to implement this part of its objective, namely, promoting Sanskrit Studies and Indology.

8. In Puri, another great All-India pilgrim centre, the Sankaracharya, Shri Bharati Tirtha, along with several public workers including some top-ranking Congressmen, worked out a scheme for an Oriental University there; and the Government of Orissa set up a Committee in 1955 to examine that scheme. Shri Radhanath Rath, Minister, Orissa, gave to the Commission a copy of the recommendations of this Committee.

9. We may also briefly notice other efforts by private persons and bodies to found Sanskrit Universities. The late Maharaja of Alwar had announced the gift of a magnificent palace and estate of his, in a rather inaccessible part 'of his State, for founding a Sanskrit University; and, on the basis of this, the Bharatiya Vidya Prachar

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Samiti of Agra, with Dr. N. P. Asthana, a former Vice-Chancellor of Agra University, as Chairman, had prepared and issued a memorandum and an appeal for an All-India Sanskrit University (194546). At Dwarka, a well-known all-India pilgrim-centre, the Sankaracharya of Dwarka wanted to organise the Sri Dwarkadheesh University, and the scheme for this was published in 1947. In the South, in 1946, Dr. C. Kunhan Raja issued a booklet entitled "Sanskrit University: A Vision and a Mission", and recently (1956-57), availing themselves of the event of the golden jubilee of the accession to the gadi of Shri Sankaracharya of Kanchi, a number of leading citizens and Sanskritists of Madras announced their intention of foundina South 'Indian Sanskrit University. In Calcutta, the Ramakrishna Mission Sarada Pitha, Belur, proposes to found a Sanskrit Mahavidyalaya with the potentiality of a University, and has issued a scheme and an appeal in that connection. Certain other Institutions also are being thought of as Universities for the promotion and specialised study of certain schools of philosophy. Thus at Brindaban, there is what is being called a Vaishnava Theological University with the present Speaker of the Loka- Sabha as its Chancellor. At the birth-place of India's great philosopher Sankara, namely, Kaladi in Kerala, Swami Agamananda of the Ramakrishna Mission and his associates want to found a Sankara University for Vedantic and allied philosophical and cultural studies. It would be seen that many of these Sanskrit Universities are at present only in the "scheme and appeal" stage.

10. On February 28, 1956, a deputation of the Samskrta Visva Parisad consisting of the late N. Chandrasekhara Iyer, Ex-Judge, Supreme Court, Shri M. Ananatasayanam Aiyanger, Speaker of the Loka- Sabha, Sardar K. M. Panikkar and Shri M. Patanjali Sastri ExChief Justice of India, submitted a Memorandum to the Government of India asking for the establishment of an All-India Sanskrit University, where Sastraic learning would be pursued on intensive traditional lines, together with some modern science.

11. As already pointed out, among our witnesses who favoured the establishment of Sanskrit Universities, there was no agreement as to the precise nature of a Sanskrit University and the number of such, Institutions to be established in the country. Some spoke of a single Central Sanskrit University for the whole of India; others wanted two, one for the North and one for the South; still others suggested that a minimum of four in the four regions, North, South, East and West, might be started. Shri K. M. Munshi, who has been continuously stressing the idea of a Sanskrit University, suggested the establishment of six Universities, namely, at Varanasi, Kurukshetra, Calcutta, Bombay, Madras and Tirupati. He wanted these Universities to be National Universities with unlimited territorial jurisdiction. Some witnesses suggested that as each State stood by itself and had its own Pathasalas requiring co-ordination, a Sanskrit University might be ,set up in each State to take care of traditional Sanskrit learning there.

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12. As to the nature, scope and objective of a Sanskrit University, a variety of views was expressed. But the Commission wants to stress here one point on which there was unanimity among them: everyone wanted that the Sanskrit University should not interfere in any manner with the existing Universities and University Sanskrit Education. All of them wanted the Sanskrit University mainly for two specific purposes: (i) to promote Sanskrit studies in a special way and to a larger extent, and (ii) to co-ordinate and upgrade the traditional Pathasalas and their system of Sanskrit Education.

13. There was one school of thought which emphatically opposed the idea of a Sanskrit University, and we should first consider their view. According to these witnesses, among whom were distinguished educationists, Sanskrit. had already suffered a great deal owing to segregation, and that, however much upgraded, any set-up which further segregated it, instead of bringing it into more intimate relation with the current general educational set-up, would prove highly injurious to it. This is a vital and inherent drawback of which this Commission would like all enthusiasts to beware. A remedy for this has been suggested by those witnesses who proposed that the Sanskrit University should not neglect any modem faculty, including Science and Technology, and for this purpose should have Sanskrit as its sole medium of instruction and should also produce the necessary literature in Sanskrit. It was really heartening for the Commission to find that Shri C. D. Deshmukh himself was of this view; for otherwise, he said, Sanskrit could not be developed or made alive in a contemporary scene; this would also make all old science come in line with modem advancements. Shri Deshmukh also suggested that preparation of text- books in Sanskrit with new technical words would help all other Indian languages and bring about a uniformity of technical terminology. There is nothing inherently illogical in the idea of such a Sanskrit University. But it is, as everyone will agree, a project of stupendous magnitude, requiring both men ready to work it and free flow of funds to help those men.

14. According to some, a more practical idea would be that the Sanskrit University should provide for all branches of the Humanities, mainly Sanskritic, comprehending also the corresponding developments in modern thought.

15. A third idea, which was put forth by most of the witnesses who favoured a Sanskrit University, was to set it up as the apex of the Pathasala system-the Sanskrit High Schools leading up to the Sans- krit Colleges and the latter leading up to the Sanskrit University. This University would co-ordinate the Pathasalas and Sanskrit Colleges, regulate their courses of studies, inspect their working and conduct their examinations. At the same time, it would also look after the Research work which this Commission envisages for the products of the traditional type. For this, this University would have Professors in all the Sastras, a well-equipped library, a, manuscript collection, and a series of Sanskrit Texts and Studies. Shri K. M. Munshi strongly favoured

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this kind of Sanskrit University; and it was the opinion of Dr. A. Lakshmanaswami Mudaliar that such a University for Sanskrit was feasible.

16. The Commission, therefore, recommends the establishment of Sanskrit Universities along the lines indicated in the preceding paragraph and in the Chapter on Sanskrit Education. It must be understood that this proposal presupposes the reorganisation of the Pathasalas and the Sanskrit Colleges (see Chapter V). We would further like to emphasise that it would be a travesty of the idea of a University if, merely out of enthusiasm, some existing Sanskrit College, itself not very well run, was given some trappings and christened afresh as a University. We would also suggest that, before organising a new Sanskrit University, it would be desirable to see how the Varanasi Sanskrit University in Uttar Pradesh worked, and profit thereby. It must be clearly borne in mind that a University has no status unless it comes into being under an Act of Legislature or a Special Charter. Elsewhere in this Report, we have discussed the related question of a Central Board of Sanskrit Studies. When such a Board comes into being, the Sanskrit University or Universities should have the backing and recognition of that Board. Till then, it is desirable that a Sanskrit University has the prior sanction of the University Grants Commission. The Centre should make it a point to encourage all proper proposals for Sanskrit Universities coming from the States.

17. The Commission thinks that it would be desirable if the Central Government itself gave a lead in the matter by founding a Sanskrit University, which could work along with the proposed Central Board of Sanskrit Studies. This Sanskrit University can function on the lines of other centrally administered Universities. As one Sanskrit University has already been founded at Varanasi in the North, this centrally administered Sanskrit University may be located somewhere in the South.

18. The founding of a Sanskrit University will tone up the traditional system of Sanskrit Education considerably. It will not only bestow on its representatives some prestige but also afford them ample opportunities for higher work. It will, in the higher reaches where it works, help that consummation devoutly wished for by all, namely, an integration of the traditional depth and the new critical spirit, leading up to the dawn of a New Age of Creative Scholarship in Sanskrit.

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