A Conversation with Vidya Vachaspati Pandit Shankar Abhyankar

Renowned Hindu scholar Vidya Vachaspati Dr. Shankar Abhyankar presented devotional Hindustani music concerts at several venues in Boston in November, 2016. At Sai Venkatesh Dwarkamai temple in Billerica, MA, he sang raga based compositions of Purandara Dasa, Meerabai, Bramhanand, Tulsidas accompanying himself on the harmonium. He was given excellent support on percussion by Shri Rajesh Pai on the tabla, his wife Smt. Aparna Abhankar on the manjeera and Shri. Ajay Kewale on assorted percussion instruments.

Dr. Shankar Abhyankar has authored several books including a biography of the legendary musician, Bharat Ratna Pandit Bhimsen Joshi in the Marathi language and an encyclopedia on the subject of devotion titled “Bhakti Kosha”. His Ph.d thesis was on Swami Vivekananda’s educational philosophy. After his doctorate, he worked as a teacher and professor in schools and colleges and started an educational and research institution based in Pune known as Aditya Pratishthan. He is now building a deemed university, Vaishwik Santa Vidyapeeth in Lonavala, Maharashtra. Having given hundreds of successful discourses, Dr. Abhyankar is on a mission to generate an awareness about Hinduism all around the world.

Shuchita Rao of Lokvani spoke to Dr. Shankar Abhyankar.

Q. Could you tell us about your childhood and education.

A. I was born in Miraj, in the Sangli district of Maharsahtra, India. There is an extraordinary cultural and musical legacy associated with Miraj. The doyens of Gwalior gharana (school) of music and Kirana Gharana spent a long time in Miraj. My father, Shri Vasudeo Abhyankar was a great scholar on the Vedas and my mother, Smt. Lakshmi was an unflinching devotee of Ganesha and Ambabai. My family members have been champions for six generations on the Vedas and are known as Ghana Pathis, meaning that we can recite the Vedas from our memory. My father and elder brother were also very good singers. I received music lessons from several eminent teachers including Mr. Pawar, who was my first Guru, Mr. Petkar, a disciple of Pandit Mallikarjun Mansoor and Pandit Vinayak Rao Patwardhan, the direct disciple of the legendary Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar. There was a wonderful confluence of knowledge (gyaan), bhakti (devotion) and sangeet (music) in my family.

Q. Who would you say has inspired you the most to pursue your life’s goals?

A. My parents were living embodiments of what I want to achieve in my life. My father, even after completing the age of 80 would challenge me and my siblings to tell him a verse from the vedas that he could not complete. We would just start reciting a verse and he would complete it for us. His memory span was simply amazing. My mother was a very devout and straightforward person. In the memory of my parents, every year, we honor an outstanding person who has made a substantial contribution to Indian culture. Vidushi Lata Mangeshkar, Pandit Bhimsen Joshi, Yogacharya Iyengar have been recipients of this award. This year (2016), we honored the great musician Pandit Jasraj with the  Vasudeo Lakshmi Kala Bhushan award.

Q. Tell us about the research you have done on the topic of devotion and medieval saints of India.

A. In the late 60s/early 70s, I moved to Pune, Maharashtra and established a charitable organization Aditya Pratishthan where we published research and literature on Indian saints. I first studied the saints of Maharashtra and then expanded the study to saints all over India. In my journey, I was shocked to find that there was no encyclopedia on the pathway to devotion done by anybody. I traveled wide in India and compiled maximum sources, wrote, edited and published a 5,500 page encyclopedia titled Bhakti Kosh in 5 volumes. It took us 15 years to do this. The 5 volumes are on

1. Indian Acharyas (published in Marathi, Hindi and English languages)

 2. Indian Saints (published in Hindi and Marathi)

3. Bharatiya Sampradaya

4. Bharatiya Upasana and

 5. Places of Piligrimage

10,000 copies were printed and they are all sold out now. We intend to publish the second volume on Indian Saints in the English language in 2017.

Q. Other than India, where else have you traveled to give spiritual discourses? Do you have a memorable experience that you would like to recall?

A. I have traveled to USA. Europe, Australia, UK and Singapore in my mission to spread awareness about the basic tenets of Hinduism. This is my sixth visit to the United States. In 2004, I participated in international symposium in Avilla, Spain and enjoyed interacting with other scholars. A devotee of Spanish nationality known as Swami Satyananda organized this symposium. My talk on “Mysticism of Indian Saints in Medieval India” was received very well and resulted in the first volume of Bhakti Kosh on Indian Acharyas to be translated and published in the English language.

Q. What according to you are the basic tenets of Hinduism?

A. I find that people know very little about the basic tenets of Hinduism. When I ask someone “Can you explain to me the meaning of being a Hindu” I find them struggling to answer the question. First and foremost, Hinduism is not a semetic religion. Islam and Christianity are semetic religions that worship one prophet and one holy book. Hinduism includes all material and spiritual horizons. “Yathobhyudaya nihshreyasa siddhih” (Sage Kanada) says that it is dharma which holds individuals, families, nations at large together. Material prosperity based on moral conduct gives you spiritual attainment.

According to Hinduism , there are four goals of human life: Dharma (righteousness, moral values), Artha (prosperity or economic values), Kama(pleasure or psychological values) and Moksha(liberation, spiritual values). If one enjoys artha and kama by following dharma, one is bound to achieve moksha or salvation where the cycle of birth and re-birth are broken.

According to Hinduism, a human life is divided into four ashramas:  Brahmacharya (where you get education) Grihastha (where you get married and handover cultural traditions and sacraments to the next generation) vanaprastha (where you retire from family life and give back knowledge to the society) and sanyasi (where you renounce the pleasures of life and pursue ways to become one with God).

According to Hinduism, there are four varnas or professions: Brahman (Teacher), Ksahtriya (Warrior), Vaishya (Trader) and Sudra (those who serve the society).

The backbone of Hinduism is the family tradition. The Bhagvad Gita is the heart of Indian Philosophy. If we study our Hindu epics, The Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Upanishads we our bound to attain moksha (salvation).

Q. Are you currently working on any special project?

A. Yes. My institution, Aditya Pratishthan has taken upon another onerous task of establishing a deemed university "Akhil Bharatiya Sant Vidyapeeth" (University of all Indian Saints) in beautiful Lonavla, Maharashtra on 33 acres of land. This Sant Vidyapeeth would dedicate itself to the study of our ancient Indian Culture, Indian Sampradayas and the literature created by the great Indian Saints. It also provide a platform for comparative study with other religions. The vidyapeeth would be well equipped with audio-visual laboratory, computer facilities, a library, modern communication facilities, lecture Halls and auditorium, meditation rooms, exhibition hall and a monumental temple. This project will contribute at large to re-establish fundamental human values in Indian society, bring about silent revolution by creating social awareness, appeal to the consciousness of an individual, and make one and all respect the glorious Indian culture. A movie about Aditya Pratishthan is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fj1FUAIn_E

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