Symposium On ‘Prakarana Granthas’

Nithin Sridhar is a Practising Hindu, Author, and Speaker He is the Director & Chief Curator of INDICA Center for Moksha Studies (Advaita Academy) dedicated to the dissemination of Advaita Vedanta. He has authored six books on various aspects of Hindu culture and practice. His first book “Musings On Hinduism '' provided an overview of various aspects of Hindu philosophy and society. His book ‘Samanya Dharma’ enunciates upon general tenets of ethics as available in Hindu texts. His latest book ‘Isopanishad: An English Commentary’ is an English translation and commentary on one of the prominent Hindu texts. However, his most widely read book is “Menstruation Across Cultures: A Historical Perspective'' which examines menstruation notions and practices prevalent in different cultures & religions from across the world. His upcoming book is a commentary on the opening verses of Manusmriti. He teaches courses on Hinduism for Indica Courses and regularly contributes articles and delivers lectures on religion, spirituality, and culture at various platforms. Earlier, he had also served as the Editor of IndiaFacts- a portal on Indian history and culture. He tweets at @nkgrock.

Mahamahopadhyaya Swamini Brahmaprakasananda Saraswati is a disciple of Pujyasri Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of Arsha Vidya Peetham (Rishikesh) and Arsha Vidya, group of institutions present all over the world . She came to be the disciple of Pujya Swami Dayanandaji from a very young age. In her poorvashrama she had many years of clinical practice after her M.D. in Obstetrics & Gynaecology. She also pursued the study of Paniniyam Vyakaranam and other texts for nearly 12 years from Shri. Bhandari, a Sanskrit scholar from Dahanu - Maharashtra. She joined Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Anaikatti - Coimbatore, for a long term course in 1990. She was also a Sanskrit teacher in this course. After that, she continued to teach Vedanta and Sanskrit and administrator the following courses at the Anaikatti Gurukulam, under the guidance of Pujya Swamiji and the Acharya Swami Siddhabodhanandaji. In 2001 when Pujya Swamiji started a Gurukulam at Vedapuri, Nagpur - Maharashtra, at the request of Dr. Shrikant Jichkar, she was sent as the main teacher and as administrator of the place. Since then, she is the Chief Acharya of Dr. Shrikant Jichkar Memorial Arsha Vijnana Gurukulam. She has conducted three long term courses in Vedanta and Sanskrit with three years of duration each, in the Nagpur Gurukulam. The fourth long term course in Vedanta and Sanskrit is going towards the end of the third year. She was also awarded the title of Mahamahopadhyaya by Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek.

Kathirasan K had his tutelage with Swami Satprakashananda Saraswati, who is a disciple of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati. He studied the subject of Advaita Vedanta meticulously under Swamiji’s guidance for several years, before beginning to teach this knowledge to serious seekers. He is also the author of ‘Forty Steps to Liberation: A Commentary on the Sadhana Pancakam’ and ‘The Advaita Vedanta of Shiva Samhita’, and several books on secular mindfulness. He holds a Ph.D in Yoga Philosophy and Meditation, and an MBA.

Born in a pious Tamil family, Vidwan K Giridhara Sarma is an electronic engineer by education and profession, with over 30 years of experience that field. In parallel, he was blessed by the great scholar Br.Sri. Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal who took Giridhara Sarma under his tutelage. He studied basics of Tarka has specialized in Mimamsa and Vedanta including Prasthana traya Bhashya and other important texts in both mimamsa shastras. From 2018, Giridhara Sarma has been continuing his learning of Mimamsa under Dr. K E Devanathacharya, Vedanta under Mahamahopadyaya Br.Sri. Dr. Mani Dravid Sastri, and Vyakaranam under Br Sri. Dattatreya Murti. He regularly takes part in vidwat sadas and workshops and also conducts private classes in Mimamsa and Vedanta for few students.

Gokulmuthu Narayanaswamy is a devotee and volunteer of Ramakrishna Math. He conducts classes on Bhagavad Gita, Swami Vivekananda, Spiritual Life, Leadership Development and Life Skills to students and professionals. He is a founder of Vivekananda Study Circle in IIT Madras. He is a mentor of Vivekananda Study Circle at IISc Bangalore and Vivekananda Yuvaka Sangha in Halasuru, Bangalore. He is a regular contributor of articles and book reviews to Vedanta Kesari and Prabuddha Bharata, monthly magazines of Ramakrishna Math. His blog at www.practicalphilosophy.in has several of his articles. He is working as Director of Product Development at Itron India, Bangalore. He holds B.Tech in Electrical and Electronics Engineering from IIT Madras, M.Sc (Engg) in Computer Science from IISc Bangalore and M.A in Philosophy, Religion and Culture from Annamalai University. He is currently pursuing Ph.D at IIT Kharagpur as external scholar.

Br. Ved Chaitanya comes from a family steeped in the Chinmaya Mission. An Electronics and Telecommunication engineer from Pune, he withdrew from work at TCS (Tata Consultancy Services) to follow his heart. He completed two-year residential Vedanta Course from Sandeepany Sadhanalaya, Mumbai and received Brahmacharya Diksha in 2013. He was then posted at Chinmaya Mission Navi Mumbai centre and is presently serving at Chinmaya International Foundation, Kochi. An impactful orator, cheerful, kind-hearted and a scholarly student of Sanskrit and Vedanta, his particular interest lies in the application of Vedanta in daily life. He has completed his post-graduation in MA Sanskrit from Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth and is presently pursuing Ph.D.

Sudhanshu Shekhar is from Bihar and has done his B.Tech in Mechanical Engineering from IIT Kanpur. Subsequently he cleared Civil Services Examination and was selected for Indian Revenue Service. He currently works as an Additional Commissioner of Income Tax in Pune. He has also completed LLB from Mumbai University. He is a student and seeker of Advaita Vedanta who tries to live the teachings in accordance with Vivarana prasthana.

Suryanarayana Jammalamadaka studied Nyaya/Tarka Shastra, Advaita Vedanta, and Vyakarana under eminent Gurus in Gurukula Paddhati. He has completed the Tenali exams in Tarka Shastra and appeared for the Tenali exams in Advaita Vedanta. He has completed MPhil & PhD in Nyaya shastra. He has worked as Assistant Professor at the School of Vedic Sciences MIT ADT University, Pune. He is the co-founder of Sri Kameswari Foundation and is currently working as senior Project Manager, Siddhanta Knowledge Foundation, Adjunct Faculty, MIT IIKS, Pune. He has been conferred awards such as - Tarka-Ratnam & Vidwan Mani by Sri Kanchi Shankaracharya, Shastrakalanidhi by Madhya Pradesh State Governor.

Jaishankar Narayanan is a sishya of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati ji and has undergone a three-year residential Vedanta course with Pujya Swamiji at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam (AVG), Anaikatti, Coimbatore, India from 1995-1998. An alumnus of IIT-BHU Varanasi, Jaishankar graduated as an Engineer and was working in India and later USA as a Software Engineer. He met his Guru Pujya Swami Dayananda ji first at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Saylorsburg, PA at USA and then decided to study Vedanta with Pujya Swamiji. After completing the three-year residential course at AVG, Anaikatti, Jaishankar married Srividya who was also a student of the same course, as per Pujya Swamiji’s wishes. Pujya Swamiji asked Jaishankar and his Gurubhai Kalyankumar to buy some land in a rural area and build a Gurukulam around 2010. As a tribute to his Guru, Jaishankar along with Kalyankumar and Srividya, is now building Aarsha Vidya Varshini Gurukulam at Kallidaikurichi, Tirunelveli District, India. . Jaishankar plans to teach Vedanta and Sanskrit primarily for adults but also plans to have yoga camps, children’s camps and youth camps in future. As of now he is conducting online classes on Vedanta, Samskritam and chanting.

Srinivas Jammalamadaka studied Nyaya/Tarka Shastra, Advaita Vedanta, and Vyakarana under eminent Gurus in Gurukula Paddhati. He has completed the Tenali exams in Tarka Shastra and appeared for the Tenali exams in Advaita Vedanta. He has completed MPhil & PhD in Nyaya shastra. He has worked as Assistant Professor and served as Director of the School of Shastric Learning, Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Ramtek. He is the co-founder of Sri Kameswari Foundation and is currently working as Scholar - IKS Courses in Siddhanta Knowledge Foundation. He has been conferred awards such as - Tarka-Ratnam & Vidwan Mani by Sri Kanchi Shankaracharya, Shastrakalanidhi by Madhya Pradesh State Governor.

Vidwan PV Rajaraman is a highly qualified individual with extensive academic and spiritual accomplishments. He holds a Diploma, B.E., and M.E. in Computer Science and has completed research in the field of Natural Language Processing from Anna University, Chennai. Currently, he serves as the Chief Technology Officer, at Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology in Kalady. In addition to his academic achievements, Rajaraman has also pursued spiritual studies. He has studied Nyaya and Vedanta Sastras under the guidance of BrahmaSri Goda Venkateswara Sastrigal from 2009 to 2013. He has been doing Upanysams since he was 18 years old. His spiritual pursuits have also earned him the prestigious Bhagavatha Bhaswan Brahmasri Anjam Krishnan Naboodiri Memorial Award in 2018 from Sree Ayyappa Bhaktha Sabha in Mahalingapuram, Chennai.

Vidwan Manikandan Iyer, a Banker by profession, and a Sanatani by practice, with Sharada's blessings has had the rare fortune of studying the shastras from a tender age. He also studied and continues to study Vyakarana from Vidwan.Sri.Tilak Rao. He traditionally started his Vedanta study under his Guru Brahmasri Sri Sridhara sharma. He has also had the rare fortune of learning Vedanta from the most senior and respected vidwan in the vedanta circle Mahamahopadhyaya Shastra Ratnakara Vidwan Sri Mullaivasal Krishnamurthy shastri while continuing to learn under Brahmasri Sri Sridhara Sharma.He also has the rare fortune of studying tarka shastra from Vidwan Sri.Naveen Holla of sringeri (senior most disciple of the 36th pontiff of Sringeri Saradapeetham Mahasannidhanam Sri Sri Bharatitirtha Mahaswamiji)

Jayakumar S. Ammangudi is Founder and Managing Trustee of Arsha Seva Kendram, an Institute of Vedanta, Sanskrit and History, which every year conducts 15-20 courses. He studied Vedanta and Sanskrit under Swami Dayananda Saraswati and his senior Swamijis for 20 years. A Chemical engineer from IIT and Purdue, he studied and worked in the US for 30 years. He returned to India and studied in the long term Vedanta and Sanskrit course at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Coimbatore. He is loved in Schools and Universities, for his motivational insights on the civilisational moorings of Bharath.