A Sanskrit scholar and academician, through his online classes, is exploring the possibilities of a living language, otherwise relegated to theological discourse
Hemant Rajopadhye with Ajay and Atul
A serious-minded bespectacled patriarch, who occasionally administers the neighbour’s satyanarayan pooja and quotes moral science from sixth century AD treatise, Niti Shataka: This kind of stereotyped Indian Sanskrit scholar is not acceptable to Hemant Rajopadhye. He is opposed to treating a living language like an exotic herb—a lesson he underlines for students, even those currently enrolled in his online modules on Indian religiosity in the context of classical Sanskrit texts.
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Rajopadhye’s Dharma Charcha classes urge the modern-day student to scrutinise the political power and social authority wielded by the Vedas, the Puranas, the epic creations of Ramayana and Mahabharata, in order to better understand the Indian subcontinent. “If we see Sanskrit as a bridge to get to the core of the Indic religious identity, we will enjoy its full potential. Otherwise, it will be restricted to token unintelligible fundamentalist rituals and pedantry,” says the Erasmus Mundus doctoral fellow, who has studied Indology at the University of Gottingen, Germany. His thesis focuses on public memory about the Dattatray Sampradaya in the Marathi-speaking region.
The scholar believes that academic excellence in a language is only the first step towards a more fulfilling journey—that of connecting the dots. His lecture series on Sanskrit appreciation in unexplored realms is therefore, an effort to attract new students to the language. It is one of his favourite projects to sensitise students to multiple disciplines, which Sanskrit leads to. He will be addressing Mumbai’s Ruia College students in the coming week.
Hemant Rajopadhye’s journey with Sanskrit began in his schooling years in Khopoli. Later when he joined Pune’s Fergusson College in 2003, he composed poetry on political hot topics. He translated several quatrains from Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s Madhushala
In popular culture, Sanskrit is associated with Hindu religious rituals. But, what about the Buddhist and Jain treatises in Sanskrit? Sanskrit is not just a gateway to theology, but it can provide insights into varied human endeavours, as different as culinary traditions (Paaka Darpanam), eroticism (Kamasutra), physiology, (Sarirak Upanishad) and archery (Dhanurveda).
Without advocating any particular course or programme, Rajopadhye introduces the new scholar to unexplored disciplines, where Sanskrit literary traditions can show the way. He feels that if Indian students study Indology or Sanskrit abroad, it opens new doors for the student, as well as the subject. The student gets drawn into anthropology, archaeology, linguistics, history and also current geo-strategy. Secondly, he feels that the language programmes in European and other universities are rooted in a rigour that is missing in our academia. Indian students gain from the intensive research methodologies, just as he did at Gottingen. As part of the fieldwork for his PhD on the Dattatray religious cult, Rajopadhye attended three Vedic ceremonies, visited Vedic schools and stayed at monasteries in Maharashtra, Varanasi, Allahabad (now, Prayagraj) and Ujjain to procure data and manuscripts.
Apart from academic research, Rajopadhye applies his Sanskrit expertise to the ongoing social-political discourse. He believes that a language lives only if it becomes part of a national conversation. His hashtag #MySanskritVerse and his coinage of thagvatgita (modern-day trickster’s version of Bhagavad Gita), have gained currency in the online space, particularly his witticisms in chaste Sanskrit on sundry developments—be it actress Kangana Ranaut’s Twitter ban or the Gates’ divorce. Midnight court intrigue in the Maharashtra governor’s chamber doesn’t escape his lens either. His Sanskrit hymns for celebratory occasions like Christmas add a secular dimension to his poetry. In one of his hymns, he pays homage to Santa Claus, describing him as “the enlightened one, who exhibits the motherly compassion of the Christ”.
Rajopadhye has earned quite a reputation as the sheeghrakavi in literary circles, which explains the colourful assignments coming his way. Right from the time he joined Pune’s Fergusson College in 2003, he composed poetry on political hot topics. He translated several quatrains from Harivansh Rai Bachchan’s celebrated Madhushala. In 2006, he wrote original Sanskrit lyrics for a dance ballad created by acclaimed classical dancer and actor Meenakshi Seshadri. Soon, his instant poetry won him awards from the Rashtriya Sanskrit Academy, Delhi. He went on to compose lyrics for the MahaGanesha project, which were sung by Sonu Nigam. In 2010, legendary musician duo Ajay Atul approached him to compose Mukharavosya Mrugendra Sugharjana (His roar reminds one of the roar of mighty lions), the Sanskrit title theme track in the film, Singham.
After his return from Germany, he has kept the Bollywood connect alive with songs for Super 30 and Panipat, both of which released in 2019.
Instant compositions apart, Rajopadhye wants to contribute robustly to academia and research, much like the papers he has worked on during his stint at the Observer Research Foundation in Mumbai.
His family, residing in Khopoli since the last 35 years, takes immense pride in an unbroken tradition of leaving all pursuits for teaching. His great grandfather Vedamurty Ganesh Ramakrishna Rajopadhye was a Sanskrit scholar and Rajguru at the Akkalkot princely state, who later became an education officer. Rajopadhye’s two Masters degrees (Sanskrit and Indology) and his proficiency in eight languages, speak for themselves.
His peripatetic life has enabled him to engage with students across the globe. He has spoken at various universities, including Ca’Foscari (Venice), MIT (Pune) and is currently part of the visiting faculty at the University of Mumbai.
At a time when the world and certainly many countries in Asia are witnessing a rising religious consciousness, scholars play an educational role. They create awareness about the religious literacy required at this juncture of our political life, especially since faith-based memories and identities are now integral to electoral campaigns. Can we be passionate about a religion whose complexity we don’t grasp? The likes of Rajopadhye reference the classical texts—Sanskrit and others—when we lose sight of the context.
Sumedha Raikar-Mhatre is a culture columnist in search of the sub-text. You can reach her at sumedha.raikar@mid-day.com
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