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The Institute 'SAKSIVC'
was started in 1997 with the aim of disseminating the wisdom in
the ancient Veda
Samhitā and related books such as Upanishads, so
that the knowledge becomes easily accessible to all interested
persons who are not necessarily knowledgeable in Sanskrit or even
the Devanāgari
script. Most of the existing English translations of the Veda Samhitā view the books as anthropological and
ritualistic curiosities rather than as books of wisdom. Even
though Hinduism contains many important religious books of later
times, the wisdom of the Vedic age is relevant even today. The
sages of the Vedas had an integrated and pragmatic attitude
towards the pursuit of the supreme goals of the spiritual life and
the demands of everyday life. Unlike some of the later books, the
Vedic books do not exhort everyone to take up sanyās or cessation
from common daily professional activities for seriously pursuing a
spiritual life.
Our institute draws its inspiration
from the great spiritual savants and scholars, Śri Aurobindo
(1872-1950), The Mother (1878-1973), Śri
Kapāli Śāstry (1886-1953)
and Śri Madhav
Paņdit
(1918-1993). Their well-mown books emphasize
the need for harmonizing both the spiritual and 'worldly' aspects
of our life. We have to take seriously the notion 'All is
Brāhmaņ'. We should become conscious of every act or thought in us
so that we can indeed lead a beautiful and harmonious life.
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A poet, philosopher and
mystic,
Śri Aurobindo has
through his theory and practice, pioneered the understanding
the message of the Vedic heritage and the meaning of the modem
renaissance. He is one of the outstanding "builders" of Indian
philosophy in recent times. He formulated his philosophy of
integralism on the basis of his
own authentic experience. Experience is manifold; it may
relate to any field of life - art, poetry, religion,
philosophy, occultism, and so on. When it is organized as a
verifiable field of knowledge, it is philosophy.
Śri
Aurobindo's philosophy is
described as integral for two reasons. It takes into account
the
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Śri Aurobindo |
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whole of reality as it reveals itself to the uplooking /
inlooking human mind.
It is also integrative as it leaves no grade of experience
behind once another experience comes by. The lower is taken up
and integrated into the higher, the smaller into the larger.
Sri Aurobindo did not arrive at his
philosophy by a sudden revelation. His was a steady growth of
consciousness with dimension adding itself to dimension. Though
he started as an agnostic, he turned out to be a passionate
minstrel of God, a prophet of the message of life divine
for humans, a revolutionary who initiated radical departures
from the established traditions not only in the sphere of
politics and social structure, but also in the practice of
spiritual life and philosophical thought.
Śri
Aurobindo's philosophy continues to
shape the lives and minds of human beings in various ways, at
different levels. |
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T. V. Kapāli Śāstry was a Vedic scholar who had his early
training under the renowned Kavyakantha Gaņapati Muni. His
scholarship and spiritual sadhanā endeared him to Ramana Maharshi.
From 1916 onwards he was drawn to Śri Aurobindo's yoga and settled
down in the Śri Aurobindo Ashram. Interpreting the philosophy of Ramana Maharshi and
Śri
Aurobindo both in English and Sanskrit became a lifelong vocation
for him. Teacher, translator, |
Sri T. V. Kapāli Śāstry |
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commentator, essayist and poet, Kapāli
Śāstry was attuned
to Tantra. In his Sanskrit commentary on the first Ashtaka of the
Rigveda inspired by the intuitive interpretation of the Vedic
hymns by Śri Aurobindo and in his luminous analysis of the
Upanishads, we watch how his great body of work is a natural
continuation of the Vedic corpus; in the same manner, his
study of Tantra shows how the Tāntrik deities are descendants
of Vedic divinities; his Sanskrit commentaries on Gaņapati
Muni's 'Umāsahasram' and other contemporary Tāntrik-philosophical
classics are of vital importance to an understanding of the
foundations of Indian culture and its unimpeded flow down the
centuries. |
Our first publication was new
edition of the entire text of Rigveda
Samhitā in a beautiful
format, published in 1998. We are apparently the first to publish
an English translation of Rigveda Samhitā giving the
meaning of every Sanskrit word. Volumes 1 to 3 of Rigveda
Samhitā
containing the first 1300 verses in this format were published in
2000-2001.
We are also the
first to bring out the Krishna Yajur
Veda Samhitā or
Taittitīya
Samhitā in book form including the complete text
both in Devanāgari and roman scripts, English translations of
individual padās or phrases emphasizing the psychological meaning
in them and the subtle yajňa occurring in our subtle bodies which
enhances our integrated well being...
We have published also books giving the highlights of Rigveda
relevant for the modern age. The book "Why read
Rigveda"
and its Kannada translation have been well received.
A large number of booklets in both
Kannada and English entitled "Creative Life Series" is in
production. These books give highlights of the Vedas, Upanishads
and Gitā needed by everyone for leading a creative and happy life.
One more ambitious activity of the Institute is 'Creative Life
Project'. The project aims at unfolding the creativity latent in
every one. To fulfill the aims of this project we conduct various
programs periodically.
The membership for 'Creative Life Project' is open for all
enthusiasts.
The Institute is part of the Sri
Aurobindo Kapali Sastry Institute of Vedic Culture Trust, a
non-profit organization. Contribution can be sent to:
Sri Aurobindo Kapali Sastry Institute of Vedic Culture Trust,
by DD/ Cheque. A part of the contribution to the trust is free of
income tax under the Income Tax Act. Section.h 80G.
Managing Trustee
Prof. G.V.
Anantha
Iyer |
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Trustees
Prof. R.L. Kashyap
Sri T. Sreenivasan |
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