Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya

Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya (IAST: Sampūrnānand Samskrit Vișvavidyālaya, Vāraṇāsī), formerly Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya and Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi is an Indian university and institution of higher learning located in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India, specializing in the study of Sanskrit and related fields.

Sampurnanand Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya
Former names
  • Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya
  • Government Sanskrit College, Varanasi
MottoȘrutam me gopāya
Motto in English
Let my learning be safe
TypeState University (Government)
Established1791 (1791)
ChancellorAnandiben Patel
Vice-ChancellorProf. Rajaram Shukla
Location
Varanasi
,
Uttar Pradesh
,
India
CampusUrban
AffiliationsUGC
Websitewww.ssvv.ac.in

History

In 1791, during the rule by the East India Company, a resident of the company, Jonathan Duncan, proposed the establishment of a Sanskrit college for the development and preservation of Sanskrit Vangmaya (eloquence) to demonstrate British support for Indian education. The initiative was sanctioned by governor general Lord Cornwallis. The first teacher of the institution was Pandit Kashinath and the governor general sanctioned a budget of ₹20,000 per annum. The first principal of Government Sanskrit College was John Muir, followed by James R. Ballantyne, Ralph T. H. Griffith, George Thibaut, Arthur Venis, Sir Ganganath Jha and Gopinath Kaviraj.[1]

In 1857, the college began postgraduate teaching. An examination system was adopted in 1880. In 1894, the famous Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya building was built, where thousands of manuscripts remain preserved today. These manuscripts have been edited by the principal of the college and published in book form. More than 400 books have been published in a series known as Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala.

In 1958, the efforts of Sampurnanand changed the status of the institution from that of a college to a Sanskrit university. In 1974, the name of the institution was formally changed to Sampurnanand Sanskrit University.[2]

Faculty
A contemporary Ardhanarishvara statue at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University

Veda-Vedanga

In this faculty, there are four departments:

Sahitya Sanskriti

In this faculty, there are three departments:

  • Department of Sahitya
  • Department of Puranetihas
  • Department of Prachin Rajshastra-Arthashastra

Darshana (Philosophy)
  • Department of Vedanta
  • Department of Sankhyayogtantram
  • Department of Comparative Religion and Philosophy
  • Department of Nyaya
  • Department of Mimansa

Shraman Vidya

Adhunik Jyan Vigyan

Ayurveda

In this faculty, there are many departments, such as:

  • Kayachikitsa Tantra (Internal Medicine)
  • Shalya Tantra (Surgery)
  • Shalakya Tantra (ENT)
  • Kaumarabhritya Tantra (Pediatrics)
  • Agada Tantra (Toxicology)
  • Bajikarana Tantra (Purification of the Genital organs)
  • Rasayana Tantra (Health and Longevity)

The establishment of a Bhuta Vidya (Spiritual Healing) department is currently being proposed.

Research Institute

When the status of this institution was Sanskrit college, all research activities were carried out by the principal. This includes the work done for manuscripts which were kept in the Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya.

When the institution became a university, the whole research work was supervised by the director of the Research Institute. The director is the chief editor of the famous book series Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala and is also the chief editor of the journal Sarasvati Susama. The director has to supervise all the research activities in the university. The director is the academic head of the University. Famous grammarian Vagish Shastri made valuable contribution towards the Sanskrit journal Sarasvati Susama and edited numerous books of the Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala series.[3]

Affiliation

More than 1,200 Sanskrit-medium schools and colleges are affiliated with this university. This is the only university in India which enjoys such widespread affiliation throughout the country. The statistics of affiliated colleges are as follows:

S. No. State No. of affiliated colleges
1 Uttar Pradesh 963
2 Rajasthan 7
3 Maharashtra 7
4 Gujarat 21
5 Delhi 13
6 Kashmir 2
7 Himachal Pradesh 3
8 Sikkim 4

Controversy

According to University Grants Commission (India), in Delhi's Jagatpuri a fake university is running by this university's old name i.e. Varanaseya Sanskrit Vishwavidyalaya, Varanasi.[4]

See also

References
  1. History of Sampurnanand Sanskrit University Archived 29 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  2. University Circular, Vol. 3 No. 1, Sampurnanand Sanskrit University
  3. Acharya Baldev Upadhyaya, Kashi ki Panditya Parampara, Vishwavidyalaya Prakashan, Varanasi, 1983.
  4. https://www.ugc.ac.in/page/Fake-Universities.aspx

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