B. N. K. Sharma

Bhavani Narayanrao Krishnamurti Sharma (9 June 1909 – 2 July 2005), commonly known as B. N. K. Sharma or B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma, was an Indian writer, scholar, professor, and Indologist. Sharma was professor and Head of the Department of Sanskrit in Ruparel College, Bombay from (1953–1969). Sharma was one of the foremost exponents of Madhvacharya's school of Dvaita Vedanta. B. N. K. Sharma learned the art of debates under Satyadhyana Tirtha of Uttaradi Math. Sharma travelled along with Satyadhyana Tirtha from (1930 - 1944), learned all philosophical knowledge from him and also used to rectify his doubts from Satyadhyana Tirtha.[2]

B. N. K. Sharma
Born
Bhavani Narayanrao Krishnamurti

(1909-06-09)9 June 1909[1]
Salem, Tamil Nadu
Died2 July 2005(2005-07-02) (aged 96)
Mumbai, Maharashtra
NationalityIndian
OccupationScholar, professor
AwardsSahitya Academy Award (1963)
Academic background
Alma mater
Academic work
DisciplineReligious Studies
InstitutionsRuparel College, Bombay
Main interestsDvaita Vedanta, Hindu philosophy

Born in a Brahmin family of scholars and court pandits, Sharma authored more than 25 classical works and over 150 research papers on Vedanta in general and Dvaita Vedanta in particular. He attained international renown and recognition by his scholarly contribution to the Dvaita Vedanta literary treasure. His History of Dvaita School Of Vedanta And Its Literature is a monumental work which brought him the highest national literary distinction of the Sahitya Academy Award in 1963.[3] Sharma was awarded the honorary D.Litt. in Sanskrit by the Mumbai University in 1968. Sharma was also the recipient of the President of India's Award for Eminent Sanskrit Scholars in 1992 and the Government of Maharashtra's Award for Sanskrit in 1993.[4]

Sharma is one of the eminent scholars who wrote the critical appreciations of prominent Haridasa saints such as Purandara Dasa, Kanaka Dasa and others.[5]

B. N. K. Sharma's students included such scholars as K. T. Pandurangi, a winner of Rashtrapati Award; C. S. Venkateshan,ascholar and professor; D. N. Shanbhag, author and scholar; and S. K. Bhavani (his son).

Life and career

Early life

B.N.K. Sharma was born on 9 June 1909 in a Kannada family in Salem, Madras Presidency (present day Tamil Nadu in a family of Sanskrit Scholars of the former Cochin State of Kerala. He was brought up speaking Marathi and Kannada at home and Tamil outside. His mother Lakshmi Bai was a housewife and native of Salem, while his father B.S.Narayan Rao, a Sanskrit scholar was native of Coimbatore.[6] B. N. K. Sharma's actual name is Bhavani Narayanrao Krishnamurti and Sharma is not part of his name. Due to Brahmin origins people started calling him "Sharma" and later it became part of his name. His family migrated from present day North Karnataka to Kumbakonam of Thanjavur district and later to Cochin and Coimbatore.[4][7][1]

Academic career

B.N.K. Sharma had his primary education at the Government School in Kumbakonam. As a child he had "sharp intellect and accumen" with a great interest in literature and philosophy.[4] Sharma completed his Bachelor of Arts degree in Sanskrit from University of Madras in 1931 and Master of Arts degree in 1935 from Presidency College, Chennai.[4] Sharma received his Ph.D. from University of Madras in 1948 for his thesis on the origin and development of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and its literature.[1]

Sharma started his teaching career as a lecture in Annamalai University at the age of 22 in 1931 until 1938. In 1938 he became pricipal of Government Sanskrit College in Thiruvayur until 1948. In 1948 he worked as research scholar in Vishveshvaranand Vedic Research Institute in Punjab. In 1950, he started working as principal in Poornaprajna Sanskrit College in Udupi. In 1952 he became Principal Dr. A. V. Baliga College, Kumta for a short time of one year. In 1953 he finally landed in Maharashtra, where he was appointed as professor and Head of Department of Sanskrit in Ruparel College in Mumbai and retired in 1969.[1][8][9]

Works

Comics

B. N. K. Sharma also rendered script for a comic book by name "Madhvacharya: A Vaishnava Saint-Philosopher" of Amar Chitra Katha, a comic book series for which the editor was Anant Pai and the illustrator was H. S. Chavan. It was published in 1967. It was republished many times.[10]

Literary works

Sharma authored more than 25 classical works and over 150 research papers on Vedic history, and Vedanta. He was an expert in Dvaita Vedanta. Some of his notable works include:[11]

  • Philosophy of Śrī Madhvācārya. Motilal Banarsidass (2014 Reprint). 1962. ISBN 978-8120800687.
  • History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature: From the Earliest Beginnings to Our Own Times, 3rd Edition. Motilal Banarsidass (2008 Reprint). 1960. ISBN 978-8120815759.
  • The Brahmasutras and Their Principal Commentaries A Critical Exposition Vol I, Vol II, Vol III. Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers (2008 Reprint). 1971. ISBN 978-8121500357.
  • Madhva's Aupanisadam Darsanam. Dvaita Vedanta Studies and Research Foundation. 1983.
  • The Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad Expounded from Śrī Madhvācārya's Perspective. Dvaita Vedanta Studies and Research Foundation. 1988.
  • Dvaita Philosophy as Expounded by Śrī Madhvācārya. University of Madras. 1961.
  • Śrī Madhva's Teachings in His Own Words. Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan. 1970.
  • Bhagavad Gita Bhashya of Śrī Madhvācārya. Anandatirtha Prathistama, Poornaprajna Vidyapeetha. 1989.
  • Lectures on Vedānta. Karnatak University. 1973.
  • Nyayasudha of Jayatirtha (3 Vols.). Vishwa Madhwa Maha Parishat. 2001.
  • Festivals of India. Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, Government of India. 1977. ISBN 978-0836402834.
  • Advaitasiddhi Vs Nyāyāmṛta: An Up To Date Critical Re-Appraisal. Akhila Bhārata Mādhva Mahamandal. 1994.
History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature
"Sharma is known for several definitive works on Dvaita : this one maintains his high standards of scholarship and style.[12]"

— Indologist Karl Potter

Dr. B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma is the author of "History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature: From the Earliest Beginnings to Our Own Times", (Motilal Banarsidass, 1962). For this research work Dr. B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma was awarded Sahitya Akademi Award, the highest national literary award by the Government of India in 1963.[13][14]

"Dr. B.N.K. Sharma gives in this work a comprehensive account of the Dvaita School of Vedanta and Its Literature, from the earliest beginning to our own times. His work fills gap in the literature on Vedanta available in English. While we have many accounts of Samkara's Advaita comprehensive treatment of the Dvaita philosophy of Madhva has not been written. So, Dr. Sharma with his equipment in Sanskrit and competence in philosophy, has given us this work".

— Bharat Ratna and former Vice President of India Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan[15]
Advaitasiddhi Vs Nyāyāmṛta - An Up To Date Critical Re-Appraisal

Dr. B N. K. Sharma is the author of "Advaitasiddhi Vs Nyāyāmṛta: An Up To Date Critical Re-Appraisal". (Anandatirtha Prathisthana, 1994)

"All of us who are interested in Indian philosophy and in Vedanta in particular are greatly indebted to Dr. B.N.K. Sharma. He has in this volume added to this magisterial History of Dvaita School (2nd Edition 1981) and other writing with an exposition and unfolding of Vyasatirtha's Nyayamruta. Although the Neo-Vedantin philosophy of Swami Vivekananda was an important riposte to the critiques of Indian religion and philosophy launched by many missionaries and colonial administrator, and so became a potent weapon in the defense of Indian nationalism its great influence has indeed tended to obscure the real total shape of Vedanta taken in its various forms. Dr. Sharma's restoration of Madhva's rightful place in the whole scheme of Hindu thought has been most welcome. This latest undertaking of his shows how later important figures in Dvaitin tradition still produced important criticisms of the Non-Dualist epistemology and metaphysics. The pointed to certain instabilities in the Advaita philosophy. Dr. Sharma incesively points to the contradiction in supporting that God is after all a deceptive magician. Both western and tradition Indian scholars are in his debt for making the Nyayamruta available to a modern public".

— Professor Ninian Smart[16][17]
The Brahmasutras and Their Principal Commentaries A Critical Exposition

Dr. B N. K. Sharma is the author of The Brahmasutras and Their Principal Commentaries A Critical Exposition of 3 volumes, (Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan, 1974)

"For various reasons Advaita has had a dominant position in the consciousness of Indian tradition aroused by writers in the nationalist period-for instance by Vivekananda and Radhakrishnan. Perhaps now there has been some shift on the emphasis, and Dr. Sharma is one of those principally responsible. All this is brought out well in his Brahmasutras and their principal commentaries, the first volume of which has already attracted favorable notice. It is a great pleasure for me to commend the second volume. It is a systematic work and will be of considerable use for both teachers and students of these seminal texts. It adds to the use of the work that though essentially the commentary is in English it includes a full notation in Sanskrit to assist the scholar. Dr. Sharma interest in Dvaita is reflected in a fully balanced way in which he shows the positions of Samkara, Ramanuja and Madhva (thought he also of course draws on other positions-Indian both ancient and modern and Western)".

— Professor Ninian Smart[18]

Awards and honours

B. N. K. Sharma won numerous awards during the course of his literary career.[4] His first major award was in 1963, the Sahitya Akademi Award for History of the Dvaita School of Vedānta and Its Literature. In 1968, he was awarded the honorary Doctor of Letters (D.Litt.) in Sanskrit by the Mumbai University.[8] In 1992, he was honoured with President of India's Award for Eminent Sanskrit Scholars Award. In 1993, he was honoured with Government of Maharashtra's Award for Eminent Sanskrit Schloar. On 13 November 1999, he was honoured with the title of "Mahamahopadhyaya" by the Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha. On 16 September 2003, he was honoured with Motilal Banarsidass Centenary Award. On 2 May 2004, he was awarded the Maharashtra State Kannadigas' Literary Conference Award in Mumbai.[1]

Legacy

Sharma's greatest achievement was making Dvaita philosophy accessible to the outside world through his English works and literature. He is regarded as one of the leading Sanskrit and English language writers, along with K. T. Pandurangi, R.S. Panchamukhi, Surendranath Dasgupta, and K. Narain who exposed and showed the importance of the Dvaita Vedanta in Indian philosophy to the Western world by their English works. Professor L. Stafford Betty says, "Dasgupta, K. Narain and B.N.K.Sharma - the three twentieth-century scholars who are perhaps most responsible for exposing the West to Vedantic Dualism (Dvaita)".[19] Noted historian George Mark Moraes says, B. N. K. Sharma along with R. D. Ranade, R. S. Panchamukhi and K. T. Pandurangi as few of the eminent scholars who brought out the works of Purandaradasa, Kanakadasa and other saints with critical appreciations.[5] He gave his readers something to look forward to with his Dvaita works and is considered to be one of the best scholars India has ever produced.[20][5]

"It is gratifying that so much research and writing exists about Indian philosophy. For those who write in English it is perhaps disappointing that Indian philosophy is not more stupid and taught in the West. However, a number of prominent writers have laid the foundations for the deeper appreciation of the patterns of Indian thought. One of these distinguished writers is undoubtedly Dr. B.N.K.Sharma, whose massive pioneering History of Dvaita school in two volumes is one of the most important contributions to the history of Indian philosophy. He is also of course known for his more popular writings. But perhaps what is essence is his most vital contribution is his ability to look at Vedanta in perspective".

— Professor Ninian Smart[18]

Personal life

Family

B.N.K. Sharma married Hemalatha, who hails from Myleripalem Jagirdar family belonging to same Madhwa Brahmin community. The couple has one son and one daughter named Sudhindra Krishnamurti Bhavani (popularly known as Dr. S.K. Bhavani), who is also a scholar and author of many works and Vibha. His son S.K.Bhavani married to Lakshmi and had a son named Purandar who is also a scholar. Sharma's daughter Vibha was married to Srinivasan.[21] Sharma's grandson Purandar Bhavani married Asha.[21]

B. N. K. Sharma's son S. K. Bhavani worked as a professor at the Deparment of Sanskrit in Somaiyya College, Bombay and later as the principal of the college. S.K. Bhavani wrote a commentary on Bhagavad Gita by bringing together a critical and comparative study of Gita as interpreted by Adi Shankara, Ramanuja and Madhva schools as well as by modern exponents like Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo.[22][23]

Views

B.N.K. Sharma was a follower Dvaita Vedanta of Hinduism, and a strong believer of spirituality. B. N. K. Sharma's famly belongs to Vyasaraja Math, hence he is an ardent devotee of Vidyaprasanna Tirtha of Vyasaraja Math. Their family deity is Lord Venkateshwara of Tirupati and used to visit temple quite often.[24]

References
  1. Sinha & Choudhury 1996, p. 21.
  2. Sinha & Choudhury 1996, p. 22.
  3. Akademi 1990, p. 407.
  4. Sharma 2000, p. 3.
  5. Moraes 1972, p. 261.
  6. "Hidden histories: A saint in Coimbatore". The Hindu. 4 September 2015.
  7. Sharma 2000, p. 655.
  8. Lal 1969, p. 946.
  9. Myers 2013, p. 11.
  10. Madhavacharya:A Vaishnava Saint-Philosopher. Amar Chitra Katha Pvt. Ltd. 1971. ISBN 978-8184820515.
  11. Potter 1995, p. 1173-1174.
  12. Potter 1988, p. 106.
  13. Sharma 2000, p. xvii.
  14. Datta 1987, p. 306.
  15. Sharma 2000, p. vii.
  16. Smart 2009, p. 375.
  17. Sharma 1994, p. x.
  18. Sharma 1974, p. vii.
  19. Betty 1978, p. 11.
  20. Balasubramanian 2003, p. 448.
  21. Sharma 2001, p. 6.
  22. Sharma 2000, p. 97.
  23. Sharma 1978, p. xxvi.
  24. Sharma 2000, p. 549.

Bibliography
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