G. Gangadharan Nair (born October 2, 1945) is a Sanskrit scholar and a pioneer in the field of spoken Sanskrit. He has a PhD in Sanskrit grammar and Master of Arts degrees in Russian and Sanskrit. He has taught in Sanskrit colleges and universities. He was the research guide of Fathima Beevi, "the first Muslim lady to get her PhD in Vedanta (the supreme branch of Hindu philosophy)".

Early life and education

Nair was born on October 2, 1946, at Vazhoor,

Kerala Kerala ( ; ) is a state on the Malabar Coast of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, following the passage of the States Reorganisation Act, by combining Malayalam-speaking regions of the erstwhile regions of Cochin, Malabar, South ...

as son of V. K. Gopala Pillai, a freedom fighter and a scholar of Sanskrit and indigenous medicine. He had his traditional education of Sanskrit Grammar from Swami Vidyananda Tirthapada, grand disciple of

Chattampi Swamikal Chattampi Swamikal (25 August 1853 – 5 May 1924) was a Hindu sage and social reformer. His thoughts and work influenced the launching of many social, religious, literary and political organisations and movements in Kerala and for the first ti ...

. He had Oriental and Western type of Sanskrit education, especially of Sanskrit Grammar and linguistics in the Government Sanskrit College,

Thiruvananthapuram Thiruvananthapuram (; ), also known by its former name Trivandrum (), is the capital of the Indian state of Kerala. It is the most populous city in Kerala with a population of 957,730 as of 2011. The encompassing urban agglomeration populati ...

and the University of Kerala. At the same time, he received Master of Arts degree in Russian language and literature from the Department of Russian, University of Kerala. He studied under M. H. Shastri(whom he later succeeded in the Government Sanskrit College, Trivandrum). He obtained his PhD degree for his thesis on the

Unadi Sutras The Unadi-Sutras (Sanskrit ) are a group of texts in Indian grammatical tradition (Vyākaraṇa). They form an accessory to the ''Aṣṭādhyāyī'' ("Eight Chapters", the grammar of Pāṇini). They deal with Sanskrit affixes. They propose to val ...

, Ancient Indian etymological treatise under the guidance of V. Venkatasubramania Iyer and R. Karunakaran.

Career

He was professor and head of Department of Sanskrit Grammar and director of planning and development in the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. He was member of the senate of the Cochin University of Science and Technology, member of the senate of Rashtriya Sanskrit University,

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. It is the administrative headquarters of the Tirupati district. The city is home to the important Hindu shrine of Tirumala Venkateswara Temple and other historic temples and is refe ...

. He was expert member in the faculty of Oriental studies, A.P. Singh University, Rewa, Madhya Pradesh. He is a UGC nominee on the advisory committee of DRS programme of the Department of Sanskrit, Rabindra Bharati University, Kolkota. He is currently the Dean of Faculty of Sanskrit Grammar of the Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Kalady. He is also the chairman of the academic council of Sukrtindra Oriental Research Institute, Cochin and member of the editorial board of the journal of the same institute. He has done extensive research on Indian theories of hermeneutics and has made valuable contribution to the studies on ancient hermeneutics. His paper on Non-Paninian Influence on Narayanabhatta is considered an extensive study on the alternative pargmatice approaches to Paninian Grammar in Sanskrit.

References

{{morecat, date=February 2024 Living people 1946 births Indian scholars Linguists of Sanskrit Sanskrit grammarians University of Kerala alumni