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“Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo is no more” :
An Apparent Warning to Kashmiri Pandits
Mrinal Kaul
December 22, 2008
Yet another towering Kashmirian Sanskritist
passes away and the Kashmiris are orphaned of
their Sanskrit heritage perhaps for the last
time. The death of every Kashmirian Sanskrit
scholar is perhaps a warning in itself to the
Kashmiri Pandits of losing their heritage of
which they are unhesitatingly boastful, but are
unimaginably ignorant of, and yet they call
themselves ‘Saivites’. This scrutinizes the
irony of history of civilizations that people
belonging to a particular civilization display
their unperturbed desire to learn about it when
it is already dead, but when a civilization is
surviving, no one ever would be bothered to
record it authentically. This, in particular,
has been a major problem with Indian
historiography. I can only hope to record its
present survival by studying it analytically.
In past couple of decades Kashmir has lost the
remaining towering Sanskrit pandits, who were
also the ambassadors of Sanskrit learning in
Kashmir, like Pandit Raghunath Kukiloo, Prof
Balajinnath Pandit, Pandit Dinanath Yaksh only
to name a few and their obituaries were evident
warnings for ‘Kashmiris’ that should have made
them take their “glorious past” rather
seriously. Professor Gurtoo is no more and a few
second generation Sanskrit pandits (I cannot
count more than three of them) who at least know
something about Saivism and Sanskrit treatises
are in the waiting list. I am attempting this
life sketch of Prof Nilkanth Gurtoo not only to
inform the world about this unsung hero, but
also to produce it as a warning for all those
Kashmiris who would not think that these
traditional pedagogical systems should be saved
in India, but rather should be lived for.
Kashmir, as it used to be a hub of Persian and
Sanskrit studies in India half a century back,
is today notorious worldwide for its terrorist
activities. Today, the Kashmiris know neither
Persian nor Sanskrit and are ashamed of talking
to their children in Kashmiri. Needless to say
that unfortunately this is what is happening
with most of the Indian languages.
I have noticed a strong desire among some
Kashmiris to learn about their past, but I
always developed differences with them owing to
my distinct academic approach and their
irrationally stern preconceived bias for
research oriented academic study of Saivism.
Contrary to that I have also come across some so
called 'overnight experts' in “Kashmir Saivism”
who are misusing this system for gaining
popularity among common masses. All I can say is
'Good luck to them'. Nobody ever showed a
faithful wish to learn, but everyone was
pretending to “know” and I could always sense
the unwanted ego working in the background. Here
I must also mention that one has to treat
academic study separately from spirituality that
is always misunderstood by common masses in case
of Sanskrit studies or Saivism in particular.
Prof Gurtoo was one such great academician with
a flair for research orientation in both these
fields. Kashmiris in general are happy being in
their orthodox well and never want to come out
of it. To them, my historical approach to
Kashmirian studies makes me an ‘unwelcome
intruder’ in the subject. At least that is what
they have made me feel all these years since
when I began studying Saivism. They would call
me a “child” when their orthodox theories are
criticized by my rational approach. Well, this
irony will continue to survive as far as I am
lungful of air, but my sole purpose of
introducing the life of Professor Nilkanth
Gurtoo is just this that they should come out of
their well and develop the sensitivity and
patience to learn Saivism rather academically. I
think this is what was the pursuit of Prof
Gurtoo’s life and this is what we should learn
from his death. I am writing this because I
think he was the last ‘Kashmiri’ who knew
Saivism to such a depth.
Early Life and Academic Career
I do not know how many Kashmiris would know
Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo whom I regarded the
last traditional Sanskrit pandit of Kashmir. He
passed away on 18 December 2008 in New Delhi.
With him the Kashmirian tradition of Sanskrit
scholarship comes to an end. He was born on 2
January, 1925 in Srinagar (Kashmir) and was a
son of Pandit Tarachand Gurtoo. He was initiated
into Sanskrit studies by Pandit Maheshwar Nath
Nehru. Pandit Jankinath Dhar (Vanaprastha) of
Arya Samaj taught him the Astadhyayi of Panini.
Later, he learned advanced texts of Sanskrit
grammar and linguistics with Pandit Lalkak
Langoo and Pandit Sarvadananda Handoo of
Dharmarth Council taught him several texts of
Sanskrit literature. He also qualified the
traditional degrees of Prajna, Visharada and
Shastri in Sanskrit from Government Sanskrit
College in Srinagar that was affiliated to the
undivided University of Punjab in Lahore. After
qualifying for Prabhakar degree he went ahead
and earned a B.A. in Sanskrit. This allowed him
to have a solid foundation and develope deep
groundings in Sanskrit language and literature.
Professor Gurtoo initially worked in Government
Sanskrit School of Tral village in Kashmir as a
Sanskrit teacher. While teaching there he also
earned a M.A. in Sanskrit. Thereafter, in 1955
he was appointed as Head-pandit in the Jammu &
Kashmir Research and Publication Department of
Government of Jammu & Kashmir. Later, while
teaching in the Government Souer College in his
capacity as a lecturer of Sanskrit, he also
obtained a degree of M.A. in Hindi. Since 1958
till the time of his retirement he taught in
Amar Singh College under the University of
Kashmir in Srinagar (Kashmir).
The Extra Mile Covered
Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo was not only confined
to teaching in academic institutions, but he
covered that extra mile and went ahead to learn
about the Kashmirian Saiva schools from his
teachers like Professor Balajinnath Pandit and
Swami Lakshman Joo. It was the former who
introduced him to Saiva exegesis and taught him
the
Isvarapratyabhija-vimarsini
of Abhinavagupta along with Bhaskara's
commentary and the
Paratrisika-vivarana.
When I read these texts with him, I was simply
amazed to note his in-depth understanding of
such tedious texts and I appreciated his
sincerity with which he explained it to me.
Pandit Balajinnath was not only his teacher but
also a very close associate with whom he worked
on several projects. The remarkable work both of
them did together was the compilation of the
Kashmira-saiva-darsana-brhat-kosa that was
published in two volumes from the Rashtriya
Sanskrit Sansthan in Jammu. I must also mention
that both of them had worked closely together
with a team of leading Sanskritists for almost
thirty years to make this 'Encyclopedia of
Kashmir Saivism'. This book will survive as a
monumental reference work on the Saiva schools
of Kashmir.
Prof Gurtoo also learnt some texts of Kashmirian
Trika and Spanda schools with the well known
savant Swami Lakshman Joo during the sixties,
seventies and eighties of the last century. In
his famous Sunday classes Lakshman Joo several
times used to offer Prof Gurtoo to teach his
students the various Sanskrit texts. Besides
learning many other texts with him, Professor
Gurtoo also studied the
Paratrisikavivarana
with him from 1981-82 that he later translated
into Hindi while Jaidev Singh translated it into
English.
Professor Gurtoo was not only an original Saiva
thinker, but also a pioneering critic and a
prolific writer with a deep insight into the
subject of his choice. His writings are a
testimony to this fact. He also had a deep
understanding of several other important schools
of Indian philosophy. In his works, he clearly
reflects his knowledge of major Kashmirian
schools of Buddhism and Saiva dualists. His mind
was pregnant with remarkable understanding of
Vedanta, Samkhya and Yoga schools. He had very
passionately studied the theories of Indian
aestheticians and rhetoricians. Even though he
mainly dealt with Abhinavagupta throughout his
life, but with his matchless knowledge of
diverse schools of Indian thought he was always
trying to look for his fitting place in the
broader domain of Indian philosophy. I think
what makes him distinct is his right
understanding of the Tantric systems of Kashmir
and their place in the socio-political milieu of
early medieval Kashmir. He indeed was a man of
distinct academic calibre and authentic
achievements.
His Editions and Translations
Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo prepared several
editions and translations of many difficult
texts belonging to Kashmirian Trika domain of
Saivism. Many of his works remained unpublished
because of want of resources. He also received
criticism for some of his publications because
of the conspiracy initiated by some of his
colleagues and the so called religious
organizations because of which his motivation to
write further was crippled. This was very usual
among Kashmiris at that point of time and
perhaps still continues to be. Instead of
offering him some support he was always troubled
with uninvited impediments from various
nefarious people (or bodies) who do not need a
mention here. Nonetheless, maintaining his calm
nature and ardent desire he still worked harder
and produced some remarkable books while he was
old and keeping unhealthy. Here is a list of his
publications;
1.
Paratrisikavivarana
with Hindi translation and commentary, Motilal
Banarsidass, New Delhi. (1985).
2.
Spandakarika
with Kallata's vrtti translated into Hindi with
commentary, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi.
(1981).
3.
Harsesvaramahatmayam
translated into English with detailed
annotations, Penma Publishers, Delhi. (2000).
4.
Parmarthasara
with Hindi translation of Yogaraja's commentary
with an elaborate introduction, Penman
Publishers, Delhi. (2004).
5.
Sambapancasika
with Ksemaraja's commentary translated into
Hindi, Penman Publishers, Delhi. (2002)
6.
Sivastotravali
of Utpaladeva with Ksemaraja's commentary and
Hindi translation by Swami Lakshman Joo. Edited
by Nilkanth Gurtoo, Ishwar Ashram Trust,
Srinagar (Kashmir).
7.
Parapravesika
of Ksemaraja explaned into Kashmiri and edited
by Makhanlal Kukiloo, Ishwar Ashram Trust,
Srinagar, Kashmir. (1996).
8.
Amareshwaramahatmayam
translated into Hindi with Pandit Dinanath
Yaksha, Srinagar, Kashmir. (?).
9.
Rajatarangini
of Jonaraja translated into Hindi (only a part
of it). (Unpublished).
10.
Pratyabhijnahrdayam
of Ksemaraja translated into Hindi with
elaborated notes and annotations with the help
of Professor Balajinnath Pandit and Swami
Lakshman Joo. (Unpublished).
11.
Kashmira-saiva-darsana-brhat-kosa
(in two volumes) edited jointly with Prof
Yashpal Khajuriya and Prof Balajinnath Pandit.
Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Jammu (J&K).
(2001-2005).
12. Vatuanathasutras with an exposition in
English by Lakshman Joo. Edited by Prof. N.K.
Gurtoo and Prof M.L. Kukiloo, Ishwar Ashram
Trust, Srinagar. (1996).
Conclusion
It was strange enough to find out, while I was
writing this piece, that Professor Gurtoo never
received any honour, neither from the State of
Jammu & Kashmir nor from the Government of India
for his noteworthy service to Indology in
general and Saiva studies in particular. Today,
his publications are a part of every leading
library in the world and scholars engaged in
research in Saivism are making full use of them,
but the author remained uncared for and never
received any encouragement from any side.
Besides publishing many books and papers, he was
always busy teaching the Saiva texts to a
numberless students. He was available to one and
all including academic students and religious
devotees. I think this it is my moral
responsibility not to let his academic pursuit
go waste. In his passing away Kashmiri pandits
should learn that there is a dying need of time
that we try and make sincere efforts to learn
about Saivism but rather academically and try to
know about facts rather than displaying our
ignorance cultivated from untrusted sources to
the specialists in the subject. For this pursuit
a full time study of Sanskrit language and
allied disciplines is the basic requirement. My
life is one such tribute to my reverend teacher
and I salute him in fervent gratitude.
(Mrinal
Kaul is a Sanskrit scholar from the University
of Oxford, UK)
email: mrinal.kaul@stx.oxon.org. |
