As seen on WhatsApp – forwarded by two persons there to myself. Years ago I visited – twice – Pandit Devadatt Patil, while he was residing at Pune. He has since returned to his native village at Goa, as described in the following essay. I may not fully agree with the ideas expressed by the author at the conclusion of the article.
“ASHRAM 2020”
There is a village in remote interiors of Goa, on the banks of River Kushavati, called Rivona. As per history, its original name was Rishi Vana, a forest where Rishis reside. It’s well known for its Buddhist caves.
Recently, Rivona became the talk of the town all over Goa, when one day, all of a sudden, the Prime Minister of India Modi made a phone call to the village to congratulate a 16-year old boy Priavrat Patil!
What made the Prime Minister of India call Priyavrat Patil, was that this young handsome teenager had cracked one of the most difficult exams in Sanskrit! This makes him one of the topmost scholars of Sanskrit in the country!
A few days back, i was in Margao with a friend for some work. The person I was to meet was at Quepem. So we went there. After concluding our work, my friend said why not go to Rivona to meet Patil Guruji?
When we reached Rivona it was quite dark, and Cyclone Nisarga was approaching. There we met Smt. Patil. Their house itself was the first revelation of it’s scholarly atmosphere! It was not just a house, it was a Rishi Ashram! You could feel you are seating there and all of a sudden Shri Ram would enter with his huge bow or Shri Krishna with his flute, anytime!
The young man and his Father were not at the home. So Smt. Patil called her Son on his mobile. The very first thing i noticed was, that this lady who was talking to us in fluent Konkani and Marathi, was talking with the same fluency to her Son in Sanskrit!
Pryavrat’s Father Mahamahopadhyaya Devdutt Patil and his Mother together run a Sanskrit Gurukul in this village. It’s a small institution with 30-odd resident students. Not many in Goa may know about it, but the President of India and the Prime Minister of India know who they are, and what work they do! This small unaided school is one of the topmost Sanskrit Research Centres in the world!
Gurukul is an entirely different kind of study system. Unlike our regular schools, here boys and girls are dedicated to study their given topics. They reside in the House of their Guru, do Community Work, learn life skills, and at the same time specialise in their subject!
Learning Sanskrit in the traditional way is no joke! There are no classrooms or books! You learn to memorise a book fully, like a song. When asked you sing the entire book page by page, paragraph by paragraph, word by word without making a single spelling or pronunciation error, knowing each and every meaning of the word in the same tone and at the same pitch! Every word is a mantra!
The Gurukul admits boys after 7th standard and girls after 10th! There is no other criteria! Students come from all over the country! Education is free! No fees! The School is run by a Public Charitable Trust on public donations!
The course is of 6 years, and in this 6 years you learn 3 topics. Sanskrit Vyakran, Mimansa and Nyaya. That is grammar, interpretation and art of debating! That’s it. If you are a passout of this small unaided Institute not affliated to any Board or University, all the Universities in the country will come rushing to you, requesting you to head their Sanskrit Department!
Remember this is not a Ved Pathshala. They dont teach Vedas or Shastras or Upanishads. They teach you PhD level Sanskrit. If you learn it, all the knowledge of the Gods is open to you! Who doesn’t want the keys to the Heaven’s Paradise Gates in this life itself?
In life, if you are a Hindu, you may not go to any Temple ever. But do something for preservation of the Vedas. Dharma is not about hating other religions. It is about finding your way to God through the struggles in life!
Regards,
Shriniwas Khalap, Goa
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