Introduction
India owes its hoary spiritual heritage to the Vedas. They are the storehouse of Indian wisdom and a great source of inspiration to mankind for several millions of years. The concepts of Viswaneedam (global family) and Vasudhaivakutumbakam (the whole world as one family) are emanations of this Vedic heritage.
It is true that the Vedas have their main thrust on spiritual knowledge. But at the same time they have extensively dealt with several aspects of materialism also in a balanced way, resulting in blossoming of arts and sciences, capable of crafting a “perfect man”.
Sage Veda Vyasa grouped the mantras into four Vedas as Rik, Yajus, Sama and Atharva and propagated through his disciples Paila, Vaisampayana, Jaimini and Sumantu, respectively. The four Vedas were said to have 1131 branches earlier. But now only 13 branches are traceable (viz., 1% only).Out of these 13 branches also, only 7 are being chanted at different parts of the country. The remaining are traceable in script form only. Even these branches may disappear if immediate steps are not taken to preserve them
Shri Veda Bharathi has taken up the task of preservation of Vedic Sabda and also propagation of Vedic wisdom.
It was decided to explore the use of computers in preservation and propagation of Vedic knowledge because of their speed and sophistication in storage and retrieval of information. Efforts were made since 1976 for developing necessary expertise and computer technology for preservation. Subsequently SHRI VEDA BHARATHI was established in 1994 as a historical necessity for preserving the remaining Vedic literature on multimedia/ audio CDs / DVD’s
Professor RVSS Avadhanlu
Dr.RVSS Avadhanulu did his M.Sc.(Nuclear Physics) from Andhra University(1969,First class), M.A. (Sanskrit) from Osmania University (1999, Distinction), M.A(Jyotisha). from PS Telugu University (2002, First class), Ph.D. in Sanskrit from Osmania University (2005), and Ph.D. in Jyotisha from PS Telugu University(2009). He got his training in Computers in 1969, studied Krishna Yajurveda, Vidyaranya Bhashya (part), Mimamsa Sastra,Vedanta Sastra and classical Sanskrit, in a traditional way from eminent Vedic scholars.
Dr. RVSS Avadhanulu started his career as Lecturer in Physics at Govt. Degree College, Razole, during 1970-71. Subsequently he served as Senior Technical Officer at Electronics Corporation of India Ltd, as a Faculty member in the cadre of Professor at Administrative Staff College of India and Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University, and as Senior Consultant to several organizations of Central and State Governments. Dr.Avadhanulu retired as Deputy Director (Computers) at Nizam’s Institute of Medical Sciences, Hyderabad. Presently he is serving as Chief Executive of Shri Veda Bharathi, a Public Charitable Trust.
The design of Vedic Database by Dr. Avadhanulu attracted the attention of several scientists and scholars including the then President of India, Dr.Shankar Dayal Sharma in 1995,who recorded his appreciation as ‘Excellent Work’ and ‘first of its kind in the world’. Dr. Avadhanulu further received appreciation from the then Prime Minister, Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, ‘ A dream has come to be true’ for contribution towards preservation and propagation of Indian sciences recorded in Sanskrit. Dr.Avadhanulu was honoured by Government of India in 2003 with the coveted award of “Samskrit Mitra”.
Dr.Avadhanulu was instrumental in introducing Indian languages to computers for the first time, with Telugu and Devanagari script, in particular, way back in 1976. It was appreciated by the Official language Committee of Parliament of India. Among several other works, his contributions in the fields of Numerical Techniques, Ground water flow simulation studies, Predictability of Earth quakes, installation of Tele Medicine system and SunDial systems etc., got world wide acclaim.
He has to his credit the books published on “Vedas and Computers”, and “Science and Technology in Vedas and Sastras”. Under the banner of Shri Veda Bharathi, (www.shrivedabharathi.org) a Public Charitable Trust of Hyderabad, established by him, he has recorded about 600 hours of Vedic chanting, and is organizing one year Diploma course with the subjects of Sanskrit, Vedic mathematics, Jyotisha and Vedic Sciences.
Dr. RVSS Avadhanulu is awarded the Patent/ Intellectual property rights on “DESIGN OF COMPUTERISED MULTILINGUAL MULTIMEDIA VEDIC DATABASE”, with effect from March, 2000.
His lectures on “Veda Ganitham” (130 episodes) telecast in Bhakti Channel and “Veda Vijnanam” (75 episodes) telecast in SVB Channel are appreciated as highly educative. It is heartening to note that his Veda Ganitham programme got “Golden Nandi” Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2008.
Activities
Multilingual Multimedia Vedic Database
Presently the work related to Yajurveda and Rigveda is in progress with respect to creation of Audio and Multimedia CDROMs.
The CDs contain the Vedic Mantras, Swaras and Translations and can be played on computers with multimedia facilities.
Release of CD’s and DVD’s
The first batch of 23 CD ROMs, (Viz., 22 of RIGVEDA – 1st Adhyaya + 1 of KRISHNA YAJURVEDA , viz., SHRI RUDRAM) were already brought out and were inaugurated by the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee on 14th April, 2000, at New Delhi
The Second batch of 16 CD ROMs, (Viz., 11 CD ROMs of the Second Adhyaya of Rigveda + 5 CD ROMs of the first Prapatha of Krishna Yajurveda) were released by H.H.Sri Tejomayanandji, Head, Chinmaya Mission, Worldwide, on 14th September, 2000 at Hyderabad.
The Rig Veda samhita DVD , Consisting of all the 64 chapters (With more than 10,000 mantras) was released by Param Pujaniya Shri Mohan Rao ji Bhagawat , Sarsangh Chalak of R.S.S on 24 th July 2011 , at Hyderabad.
Research on Vedic Knowledge and its Applications
The Vedas cover almost all branches of knowledge. Accordingly SVB conducted research studies with respect to Mathematics, Physics, Chemistry,Computer Science, Medicine , spectroscopy, space science, cognition etc. The findings are brought out in the form of books titled “Science and Technology in Vedas and Sastras”, Vedas and Computers (Computer Science in Vedas) . For details, refer to Prducts( “Books and CDs”).
Some of the interesting topics being researched by SVB are Predictability of Earthquakes, utility of Sanskrit as the ultimate Computing Language, concepts embedded in Sri Vishnu Sahasra nama stotra, etc.
Teaching Programmes
SVB recognized the need for creating awareness of India’s spiritual and scientific inheritance among the educated youth and students to inculcate the values and to nullify the tendency of looking down upon our own past.
Jyotisha
Accordingly SVB is conducting courses and workshops on ‘Jyotisha Vijnana Parichaya’ and Vedic sciences.His lectures on “Veda Ganitham” (130 episodes) telecast in Bhakti Channel and “Veda Vijnanam” (75 episodes) telecast in SVB Channel are appreciated as highly educative. It is heartening to note that his Veda Ganitham programme got “Golden Nandi” Award from the Government of Andhra Pradesh for the year 2008.Further the subject of Vedic Mathematics is introduced to several thousands of teachers and students through a series of lectures in schools and colleges, series of articles in popular journals like Ruhipeetham, publication of booklets at low cost, and distribution of related literature among school children in rural areas.
Teaching the Sanskrit Language through Internet
The foundation language for all the Vedic Literature is Sanskrit. Unless the usage of Sanskrit is embraced and more and more people use the language, the hidden treasures of the Vedas cannot be unlocked. Towards this, Shri Veda Bharathi has begun offering courses in Sanskrit through the Internet Medium for the benefit of enthusiasts and vast majority of our students to learn the language in an accelerated way. The site address is:
www.shrivedabarathi.co.in.
Honouring the Vedic And Sanskrit Scholars
Every year SVB has been honouring outstanding Vedic Pandits and Sanskrit scholars in collaboration with Rashtra kavi Vogeti Achyutarama Sastry Charitable Trust. The list includes
- Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Dongare Veereswara Krishna Sastry,
- Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Remella SuryaPrakasa Sastry,
- Mahamahopadhyaya Sri Sannidhanam Lakshminarayana Murthy Sastry,
- Mahamahopadhyaya Prof. Pullela SriRamachandrudu,
- Prof.Rajendra Mishra, Vice Chancellor, Sanskrit University, Varanasi
- Dr. Rajanna Sastry, Osmania University (Retd)
- Dr. Kharwandikar, Ahmadnagar(Maharashtra)
- Dr.Radhamohan Upadhyaya,Calcutta(West Bengal), and
- Dr.Siddharth Y Wakankar,Vadodara(Gujarat)
Work Plan
Although considerable ground was covered, a lot more is required to be accomplished. It is estimated that, subject to availability of funds, the whole Project of creating database for the Four Vedas/Upanishadas may take 5 years. But once that is done we would be sure of preserving the Vedic treasure for future generations on a permanent basis. The significant advantage is that we would be preserving them with Swaras as originally taught by Rishis.
Contact
SHRI VEDA BHARATHI
H. No. : H Block – 34,
Madhura Nagar,
Hyderabad – PIN 500038,
India.
TeleFax. : 0091 – 40 -23812577
Mobile no. : +919849459316
Email : [email protected] (INDIA)
www.shrivedabharathi.co.in