Scholarship

A flowing white beard need not necessarily mean deep scholarship in one who sports it. Prof. S.K. Ramachandra Rao, who was clean shaven, was a scholar of repute; though born in a Madhwa family, he was a great admirer of Sri Narasimha Bharathi Swamiji of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetam, the predecessor of the present pontiff. Rao wrote extensively on advaitha philosophy and his articles used to appear in Sudha magazine. He had various other publications on art and literature too to his credit. I was reminded of him while listening to a discourse on Adi Shankaracharya in Tamil on Youtube yesterday. The speaker was a comparatively young man, who looked just past thirty years or so. His erudition showed on his face. His chest covered only in a white cotton angavastram, with a few strands of small rudrakshams on his neck, he was speaking at a symposium on Shankara and his philosophy. One could not but be impressed by the depth of his knowledge of the subject on which he was expounding, illustrated by Sanskrit verses which flowed with the fluency of one who knew them well. This was in Tamil Nadu where scholarship in Vedas and Shastras still has its adherents and is not brushed aside as something too old fashioned to be pursued as a lucrative calling. Discourses and pravachanams by Smt. Visakha Hari attract packed audiences in a state where anti-Aryan feelings constitute political platforms.