Vedic scholar pens Ambedkar's biography in Sanskrit

Jul 10, 2010 |

Battling a visual handicap, an 84-year-old Vedic scholar here has written a biography of the architect of the Indian Constitution Dr B.R. Ambedkar in Sanskrit verse, possibly the first in the language. Prabhakar Joshi lost his sight completely while working on the biography, work on which started in 2004. The book contains 1,577 Sanskrit 'Shlokas' covering the life span of Ambedkar.

A victim of glaucoma, Joshi, a recipient of Maharashtra government's 'Mahakavi Kalidas' award and a Sanskrit teacher, was immensely influenced by Ambedkar's mission to uplift the downtrodden.

When he started studying Ambedkar's life, he came across certain facts that inspired him to take up the unique project of his Sanskrit biography titled " Bhimayanam".

"Not many people know that it was an ardent desire of Ramji, father of Ambedkar, that his son should learn Sanskrit.

When Bhimrao opted for the subject after being enrolled in the Elphinstone High School in Mumbai he was in for rude shock as the teachers there refused to allow him to study Sanskrit because he was a Dalit.

Imparting knowledge of Sanskrit to 'lower caste' students those days was something to be frowned upon", Joshi said.

After pondering over this episode, Joshi thought of an "atonement of sorts" by way of versifying in Sanskrit, the life of Ambedkar whom he refers to as 'Mahamanav'.

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