Vakyartha Sabha

A Vākyārtha Sabha is the original bhāratiya way of learned scholars and students gathering, discussing and deliberating on complex shāstriya topics. This is the oldest continuing tradition in all of humanity where scholars sit to share and ponder upon their opinions on various topics under the sun.

​

Unfortunately, like many others treasures that we  inherited from our ancestors, this tradition too is dying.

To do our part in ensuring it continues in a way as desired by the scholars who are capable of holding it, we're organising vākyārtha sabhā-s every two months in the city of Pune, Maharashtra. Scholars from Pune and nearby cities who are learning or have already learnt various shāstra-s are invited to take part in the sabhā.

Samskāra Deekshā Shivira

The education system  as laid down by the ancient Rshi-s has almost vanished from the face of bhāratavarsha, the progeny of those who said विद्ययामृतमश्नुते don’t have the least  idea of what विद्या even is.

Samskāra deeksha shivira, is an attempt at introducing young children to the gurukula education system over a period of 8-10 days.

Every year, since 2015, in summer vacations, we organize residential camps in which we begin by doing upanayanam of the attending students and teaching them duties of a Brahmachāri, itihāsa, traditional sports and Samskrta-Sambhāshana. It is quite a shame that even the basic ritual of janeu-samskāra has practically lost all its importance from North India, even more from N-W India.

​

​We started with 20 odd students and we have expanded to 75 students in 2018. We also regularly keep in touch with our students to guide them, if they face difficulties in upholding Dharma while in modern times.

​

At the very least, these workshops plant the seed of dharma in these children. We hope a day may come when this seed transforms to a full grown tree.

Shankhāyana Veda Shākha Revival

Maharishi Patanjali in his vyākarana mahābhāshya says:
 

एकविंशतिधा बाहवृच्यम्  एकशतम् अध्वर्युशाखा: सहस्रवर्त्मा सामवेद: नवधाऽथर्वणोवेद:
 

which means, there are 21 shākhās of rgveda, 101 of yajurveda, 1000 of sāmaveda and 9 of the atharvaveda. Of these total 1131 shākhās- s, barely 10 have survived the last 1000 or so years of onslaught. Of the 21 shākhās-s of the rgveda, only 2 have survived, the shākala/ashvalayana and the shankhayana.

The shānkhayana shākhā is practiced amongst the nagara brāhmana community of South Rajasthan and Gujarat. The samhitā reciters of this shākhā are found only in Banswada, Rajasthan. There are only two Achārya-s there who, even though about 80 years of age, are physically fit to teach, Vedamurti Shri Indrashankara Jha and Vedamurti Shri Harashad Nagar. However, due to the advent of modern ideas and growing disinterest of the youth in traditional learning, these two Acharya-s did not find a single student who would study even the rgveda samhita, all through their lives.
 

Vaidika Bharata has ensured that this shākha lives on by assisting a vaidika scholar, Shri Abhijit Dinkar Savale from Tryambakeshvar, to study under the tutelage of these Acharya-s. Shri Abhijit has now completed his samhita and a full parayanam was held from 23rd -30th June in Banswada, Rajasthan, under the watchful eyes of the ācharya-s. Shri Abhijit has now moved on to study shrauta and grhya karma of the shānkhayana shākhā. We hope he may become the torch bearer of this most important vaidika tradition and ensures a full-fledged revival of the shākhā.
 

We have also digitized more than 43,000 pages of rare and important manuscripts in the possession of these Achārya-s which we hope  will provide the scriptural guidance towards the resurrection of the shānkhayana shākha. The most venerable, Brahmaswam Madham of Thrissur, Kerala, recognised our efforts in this direction in its monthly magazine, vedadhwani.
 

All this has been made possible because of the generous donations  from dharmika people all over bhārata and beyond. May parameshvara keep his benevolent eye on us all.

Digitization of Manuscripts

भग्नपृष्टि: कटिग्रीवो बन्धमुष्टिरधोमुखः

कष्टेन लिखितं ग्रन्थं यज्ञेन परिपालयेत्

My back is broken, my fingers don't work and I find it hard to look straight, yet I write this grantha, do the yajna-s and protect it, look after it.

​This is how the Achārya who wrote this grantha, appealed to the future generations.

Bhārata had a great treasure of living knowledge, which over the last thousand years began to fade, as the traditional teaching systems died out when Bhārata lost its sovereignty. This knowledge, under adverse political climate and persecution, got confined to texts written on paper, palm leafs and various other materials.
 

Today, a large number of ancient manuscripts lie without care, in complete disarray, being treated like garbage by people who do not understand their value. It is quite obvious that in order to understand what our ancestors have left us, we must begin studying these manuscripts. However, despite all the destruction, there are millions of manuscripts and our resources remain limited. It must also be understood, that before one is able to study, we must ensure that the knowledge is preserved for posterity. All of this can be done by digitizing these manuscripts.

Vaidika Bhārata began digitizing rare manuscripts related to shānkhayana shākhā of the rgveda (read more here). However, when we realized the importance of this work, we expanded our project to all over bharata.

We have worked in the following libraries and collections:

1. Manuscripts with traditional scholars of Banswada, Rajasthan

2. Raghunath Temple Library, Jammu (in association with the e-gangotri trust)

3. Punjab University, Chandigarh (in association with the e-gangotri trust)

4. Shri Krishna Museum, Kurukshetra (in association with the e-gangotri trust)

We’re currently digitising all manuscripts with the academy of sanskrit research, Melukote, Karnataka.

Veda Parayanam

The madhya-desha of bhārata, or the land bound by the sarasvati-ganga-yamuna, has always been praised by Rshi-s and Acharya-s for being the upholder of the highest virtues of dharma. It is nothing but a heart breaking tragedy that the same land is now almost completely devoid of vaidika traditions and practitioners of the vaidika knowledge.
 

In our endeavour to re-establish the veda dharma in this land dear to the deva-s, we have been holding veda-parāyanam-s so that an awareness can be created in the general public about vaidika culture and studies.

After a really long time, Vaidika Bhārata has taken the initiative of organizing:

• rgveda shānkhāyana parāyanam in June 2018,

• samaveda parāyanam in November 2018 and February 2017,

• shukla yajurveda parayanam in 2015
  
  ... and are going to hold madhyāndina ghana parāyanam very soon.

SYV Shrauta Karma Revival

छन्दः पादौ तु वेदस्य हस्तौ कल्पोऽथ पठ्यते

ज्योतिषामयनं चक्षुर्निरुक्तं श्रोत्रमुच्यते।

शिक्षा घ्राणं तु वेदस्य मुखं व्याकरणं स्मृतम्

तस्मात्सांगमधीत्यैव ब्रह्मलोके महीयते॥
 

The 6 vedānga-s are indispensable in the study of veda-s, so much so, that they are imagined as being limbs of the vedapurusha.
 

The above shloka says, chhanda is the feet, kalpa is the hands, jyotisha is the eyes, nirukta is the ears, shiksha is the nose and vyākarana is the face of the vedapurusha.
 

Kalpa covers shrauta, grhya and dharma sutra-s, which define how every moment of a vaidika’s life must be spent. Hence, a revival of this vedānga essentially means revival of the vaidika way of life, itself. The shrauta sutra-s lay out how the yajna-s as mentioned in the shruti, the veda-s, must be performed. The grhya sutra-s explain how to perform the rites relating to one’s family and the dharma sutra-s detail about the varnāshrama dharma.
 

Kalpa is the ultimate culmination and utilisation of studying all other vedānga-s. You need to know shikshā to chant mantra-s, nirukta to know applicability of the mantra-s, vyākarana to do Uha as per the ritual in progress, jyotisha to know when and where to do the particular ritual and chhanda to know the correct meter, among other purposes.
 

While dakshina bhārata still retains the tradition and actual practitioners of the shrauta yajna-s to a good extent, uttara bhārata, the land which is purified by the waters of sarasvati-ganga-yamuna, has lost the great culture it was once known for. Our effort is to aim for resurrection of this basic and yet most important part of our dharma, without which, no true reclamation of our past can ever be possible, nor can the dharma continue into future.
 

For this, we have been supporting some promising shukla yajurveda shrauta students/practitioners and rgvediya shānkhayana shrauta students. We hold ishti-s/yaga-s in uttara bhārata from time to time to encourage the remaining handful practitioners.