Description
Course Description:
In this Course students will learn the full set of 6 shlokas from Adi Shankara’s nirvaaNaShaTkam text. The entire course will be taught in the Samskrtam language. Using special handouts, each verse of the NirvaaNaShaTkam will be expounded to unravel both its meaning and the philosophical foundations of the Vedanta tradition in Hinduism. Students will learn to think about the nirvaaNaShaTkam from within the Sanskrit language, along with the cosmology and worldview that it represents.
Course Content:
One translation of the title “NirvaaNaShaTkam” into English could be “Six verses on tranquility” along with its alternative name “aatmaShaTkam” i.e. “Six verses on self-realization”. The Sanskrit text consists of 6 stanzas which include the basis of Vedantic thought. It is also a dialogue i.e. response by the young Adi Shankara, when first asked to describe himself by his future guru Sri. Govinda Bhagavatpaada.
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 NirvaaNaShaTkam 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 the original 6 stanzas of nirvaaNaShaTkam
2. Illustrate the various Sanskrit paradigms found in nirvaaNaShaTkam
3. Recognize any Sanskrit poetic structures (figures of speech) in the text
4. Communicate understanding of nirvaaNaShaTkam in Samskrt if needed
5. Summarize nominal & internal meaning of nirvaaNaShaTkam at basic level
6. Interpret the essence of nirvaaNaShaTkam by synthesizing all its stanzas
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
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