As one enters the premises of an old but elegant building in Mylapore in Chennai, one is greeted with the hymns, slokas and chanting of songs worshipping Gods, Goddesses and wisdom. Hundreds of students undergo a gurukul style education spread across many classrooms. Their common identity is the customary tuft, veshti, angavastram and the cotton shirt.
Modernity, as practiced in the high profile colleges, is yet to make its presence in this institution which has an aura and halo of a place of worship. A group of ancient Hindu temples surround the college providing it a divine outlook.
The visitor is likely to feel that he is in Sage Vasishta’s Gurukula, the alma mater of Lord Ram. A steaming pot of filter coffee, the chanting from the dozens of temples nearby and the ambience of Madras Sanskrit College is what gives life to Mylapore.
It is Madras Sanskrit College, established in 1906 by philanthropists and puritans of Indian tradition whose only passion was to preserve the age old Indian culture in its true form without getting polluted by alien forces. It is a wonder that the institution built from the scratch by V Krishnaswami Iyer, leading lawyer of Madras Bar Association, who went up to become the Member of the Governor’s Executive Council, stood the challenges of time and survives till this day as the Sun of Knowledge despite efforts by the all powerful Dravidian forces to destroy and demolish the college.
What started as a Gurukula Patasala, today stands majestically and imparts courses in Mimamsa, Advaita Vedanta, Vyakarana, Sahitya, Jyothisha and Nyaya as well as in all the special branches of study selected by the students.
The teaching is in the age old style and resembles intellectual bouts between students and teachers.
The gurus do not impose the study materials on the students but guild them what to learn and how to learn. “It is for the disciples to select their style of learning,” said K Jayanarayanan, Mimamsa Siromani, who besides holding MA, BEd, and is an authority on Yajurveda taitiriya kramapati, and Tantra shastram. Jayanarayanan was honoured with the award Mimamsavisarada.
Though the modern day liberals and the comrades hold a scorn at Sanskrit language and describe it as anti- modernism, the fact is that only those who specialise in Sanskrit language and the related topics like Advaita Vedanta, Vyakarana, Jyothi Sasthra and Jyothisha could grasp the modern science and philosophy with ease.
“The modern and ancient systems of education are capable of rising the understanding power of the disciples. Mimamsa Sasthram is known as the Uthama Sasthram by scholars throughout the world. There is no instance of a Sanskrit scholar committing any bloomers or blunders,” said Jayanarayanan.
What remains unknown to the outside world is that the course syllabus offered at Madras Sanskrit College is sure to put the so called global universities in India and abroad behind a shadow.
Sanskrit-Prak Siromani (for beginners), Sanskrit Shiromani-Madhyama (equivalent to B A) and Sanskrit Shoromani (equivalent to MA) are the flagship courses of MSC.
Students from the States of Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana clad in traditional veshti, angavastram and shirts are the hallmarks of the college.
At no point of time, students of this college have felt inferior to their counterparts in other colleges, “An integration of modern science, philosophy, Ayurveda and allopathy is what we imbibe through the courses,” said students and teaching faculty unanimously.
Jayanarayanan disclosed that many youth who were earning five to six lakh rupees per month in IT companies have given up those jobs to escape from the stress and have joined MSC as students and they are all doing quite well. All these happen at a time when a concerted effort is on to destroy the age old Sanskrit education from within and outside. The first question that the faculties ask new girls joining Sri Sankara Sanskrit University in Kerala’s Kaladi is whether they continue to be virgins! That’s the Marxist style.
