Vagish Shastri

Vagish Shastri
Born
Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi

(1935-07-15)15 July 1935
Khurai, Central Provinces and Berar, British India
Died11 May 2022(2022-05-11) (aged 86)
Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India
Occupation(s)Sanskrit grammarian, linguist, yogi.
SpouseRekha Tripathi

Vagish Shastri (born Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi; 15 July 1935 – 11 May 2022) was an Indian scholar who specialized in Sanskrit grammar, linguistics, and tantra, as well as working in yoga. Vagish Shastri was one of the world’s foremost authorities on the Sanskrit language. He named the method he had earned the Vagyoga.[1] In 2018, the Government of India awarded him the Padma Shri for his contributions to literature and education.[2][3]

Biography

Vagish Shastri was born in Khurai, a town in the Madhya Pradesh region of India, in 1934. He received early education in Khurai, Vrindavan, and Benaras (now Varanasi). In 1959, he earned a master's degree in Vyākaraṇa Āchārya (Master of Sanskrit Grammar) and began his career as a Sanskrit educator at Tikmani Sanskrit Grammar College in Varanasi. In 1964, he earned his PhD (Vidyāvāridhi) in Grammar and Historical Linguistics.[4] He received a German diploma in 1966 and a D.Litt. (Vāchaspati) in 1969 from Sampurnanand Sanskrit University. In 1970, he became Director and Professor of the Research Institute at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi[5] and held that position for three decades.[4]

Contributions

Shastri began writing essays at the age of 19.[4] His research and essays on Sanskrit grammar, linguistics, and tantric philosophy have been featured in national and international journals.[4] He served as secretary-president at the fifth World Sanskrit conference and was chief editor of the Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala. He also edited over 300 manuscripts, which were later published as books.[4] Additionally, he was the chief editor of the Sanskrit journal Sarasvati Susama. His writings covered grammatical and philological research, drama, history, poetry, satire, historical research, and metaphysics.[6]

Honors and awards

  • Padma Shri (2018)–awarded by Ram Nath Kovind
  • Senior Research Fellowship (1964–67) – University Grants Commission
  • Kālidasa Award (1966–67) – Highest literary Award, Uttar Pradesh
  • Honored 6 times by Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Academy (1968, 1971, 1981, 1985, 1995 and 1996)
  • Mahāmahopādhyāya, Śri Kashi Pandit Parishad (1982)
  • Bāņa Bhaţţ Award, Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Academy (1990)
  • Veda-Vedānga Award, Rajasthan Sanskrit Academy (1994)
  • Anusansdhan Puraskāra (Research Award) – Utkal Pāti trust (1995)
  • Swami Vishnu Tirth Sammāna (Spiritual writing Award) – Indore (2002)
  • Special Award – Govt. of Uttar Pradesh Sanskrit Sansthan (2005)
  • Certificate of Honour for Sanskrit (2013) – awarded by the President of India[7]
  • Sauhard Samman – Uttar Pradesh Hindi Sansthan, Lucknow (2014)
  • Yash Bharati Samman – Highest Honour of U. P. Govt, Government of Uttar Pradesh (2015)
  • Vishva Bharati Samman (2013) – Highest Honour in Sanskrit Work, by U. P. Sanskrit Samsthan, Lucknow
  • Mahakavi Kalidas Sanskrit Vrati Samman (2016) – Highest Honour in Sanskrit Work, by Kavikulguru Kalidas Sanskrit University, Nagpur
  • Rashtriya Chatrasal Samman (2017) – by Bundeli Sahitya Parishad, Bhopal
  • Sanskrit Sadhana Samman – "Maharshi Ved Vyas Samman 2017" (2017) – by Delhi Sanskrit Academy, New Delhi
  • Honorary D.Litt., Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi (2018)

References

  1. ^ www.wisdomlib.org (1 July 2020). "Vagyoga, Vāgyoga, Vag-yoga: 3 definitions". www.wisdomlib.org. Retrieved 5 July 2025.
  2. ^ "Padma Awardees 2018" (PDF). Padmaawards.gov.in.
  3. ^ "Government announces recipients of 2018 Padma awards | India News – Times of India". The Times of India.
  4. ^ a b c d e ""In Tantra there are no castes, no gender" – Interview with Vagish Shastry | Wild Yogi – Independent online magazine". wildyogi.info. Retrieved 9 May 2025.
  5. ^ Danielle Tramard, A Le royaume de la connaissance, Beneras ville sainte retour aux sources dela tradition sanscrite, Le Monde, 28 October 1995, Paris
  6. ^ Sharma, B. D. (2003). Holistic Health Healing and Astrosciences. B. Jain Publishers. ISBN 978-81-8056-304-1.
  7. ^ "Mukherjee presents Certificate of Honor, Maharshi Badrayan Vyas Samman to scholars on I-Day". Business Standard. 15 August 2013. Retrieved 19 August 2013.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.