Description
Course Description:
In this Course students will learn select shlokas from Adi Shankara’s Kanakadhaaraastotram. The entire course will be taught in the Samskrtam language. Using special handouts, select verses of the Kanakadhaaraastotram will be expounded to unravel both its meaning and the philosophical foundations of the Bhakti tradition in Hinduism. Students will learn to think about the Kanakadhaaraastotram from within the Sanskrit language, along with the cosmology and worldview that it represents.
Course Content:
One translation of the title “Kanakadhaaraastotram” into English could be “Hymn on the stream of gold”. The Sanskrit text has 22 stanzas dedicated to the benevolence of goddess Lakshmi. It is an outpouring of devotion by Adi Shankara, upon his seeing the incredible selflessness of an abjectly poor woman.
This course is part of a series of horizontal multi-course offerings, which constitute the Satsang in Sanskrit collection offered by Hindu University of America. Being taught in Samskrtam as the medium of instruction, it is accessible to students who already possess a measure of Sanskrit Proficiency, especially in spoken (i.e. sambhaaShaNa) Samskrtam. In the process of teaching the Kanakadhaaraastotram text, this course enables students to expand their competency in the Sanskrit language itself.
Course Learning Objectives:
At the end of this course, students will be able to:
1. Explain select concepts from original stanzas of Kanakadhaaraastotram
2. Illustrate the various Sanskrit paradigms found in Kanakadhaaraastotram
3. Recognize any Sanskrit poetic structures (figures of speech) in the text
4. Communicate understanding of Kanakadhaaraastotram in Samskrt if needed
5. Summarize nominal & internal meaning of Kanakadhaaraastotram at basic level
6. Interpret the essence of Kanakadhaaraastotram by synthesizing its key verses
Area of Study: Sanskrit Studies
Core/ Elective: Required
Prerequisites: Admission to Program of Study, Familiarity in at least one Indic Language, willingness to understand simple Samskrtam
Instructor: Shri. Srinath Chakravarty
Day: Every Monday
Time:
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Quarter Offered:
