Vithal Sakharam Parasnis (17xx–18xx) was a

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; attributively , ; nominally , , ) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in South Asia after its predecessor languages had diffused there from the northwest in the late ...

Vedic upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

and

Persian Persian may refer to: * People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language ** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples ** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...

scholar of the early 19th century Maharashtra. Commonly known as "Aba", he is usually referred to as Aba Parasnis by sources. He was a native of the Satara district of Maharashtra.

Consultant to James Grand Duff

Aba was one of the three scholars who were consultants to the British historian

James Grant Duff James Grant Duff (8 July 1789 – 23 September 1858) was a British soldier and historian from Scotland, who was active in British India. Early life Born James Grant, Duff was the eldest son of John Grant of Kincardine O'Neil and Margaret Miln D ...

, specifically in

sources of the history of Maharashtra — the other two scholars being Balajipant Natu and Balvantrao Chitnis. Duff consistently asked then for more information, and would consult them on interpretations of terms and policies and explanations for events in the materials that he had in his possession. His questions were directed to the origin and justification of specific policies and concepts: taxes such as ''

chauth Chauth (from Sanskrit, meaning ''one fourth'') was a regular tax or tribute imposed from the early 18th century by the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It was an annual tax nominally levied at 25% on revenue or produce, hence the name, ...

'' and ''

sardeshmukhi Chauth (from Sanskrit, meaning ''one fourth'') was a regular tax or tribute imposed from the early 18th century by the Maratha Empire in the Indian subcontinent. It was an annual tax nominally levied at 25% on revenue or produce, hence the name, on ...

''. Duff could be frustrated by what he deemed "inconsistent answers", while the scholars, on their part, resented "insistent cross examination" by Duff.

Debate on Vedic scriptures and Hindu Shastras

Parasnis is most notable for a unique "Brahmin varna vs Kshatriya varna" debate that took place at Satara. It involved discussions and disputes related to the intricacies of the Hindu

Shastras ''Shastra'' (, IAST: , ) is a Sanskrit word that means "precept, rules, manual, compendium, book or treatise" in a general sense.Monier Williams, Monier Williams' Sanskrit-English Dictionary, Oxford University Press, Article on 'zAstra'' The wo ...

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute th ...

and Puranas. The Kshatriya varna was represented by Parasnis and the Brahman varna was represented by Raghvacharya Gajendragadkar. This historic debate took place in the early 19th century Maharashtra. It was attended by hundreds of prominent Brahmins all over Maharashtra. Historians have credited Parasnis for debating effectively and "holding his own".

Literature

Two Sanskrit books "Karmakalapdruma" and "Siddhantavijaya" were authored by Parasnis and published by Pratapsimha. The "Siddhantavijaya" is considered important because it gives details of the

Maratha clan system The Maratha clan system (also referred to as Shahannava Kuli Marathas, 96 Kuli Marathas or 96K), refers to the network of 96 clans of families and essentially their surnames, within the Maratha caste of India. The Marathas primarily reside in th ...

. It is written in Sanskrit with some content in marathi. The other Sanskrit scripture authored by him is "Karmakalpadruma". It is a manual for Hindu rituals and hence called the samskara manual. A translation of Siddhanatavijaya and some commentary was written by Mahadev Ganesh Dongre in the early 20th century.

Sanskrit School

Pratapsimha realized the importance of the knowledge of

and decided to open a "pathshala" to teach Sanskrit to boys from the

Maratha The Marathi people ( Marathi: मराठी लोक) or Marathis are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group who are indigenous to Maharashtra in western India. They natively speak Marathi, an Indo-Aryan language. Maharashtra was formed as ...

caste. Parasnis was the first head of this school.

References

{{Reflist Marathi people Indian Hindus Vedic scholars Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown