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    Imagination and Symbolization in Sanskrit Poetical Literature
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Balakailasanathasarma, M.
    The examination of the processes of imagination and ‘symbolization’ and the study of their relationship to human experience has contributed greatly to the understanding of the human mind. Especially Sanskrit poetical literature laid claim to an ample heritage of mythology and symbolism. Yet, a strict appraisal of the nature and functions of images and symbols in their literary connotation has not received adequate attention. This study focused on this gap using critical analytical method by analyzing the nature and functions of images and symbol in Sanskrit Poetics. Objective of this study is to identify Imagination and Symbolization in Sanskrit Poetical Literature. Imagination and symbolization in Sanskrit poetical literature is not merely a borrowing of the devices formulated by grammarians and linguists or the copying out in its entirety of a well-established symbolism of a religious culture. The poets were indeed compelled to draw from ancient religion, folklore and mythology the symbols they required, but in doing so they did not always follow traditional lines for the medium of poetry made it necessary to adapt them or sometimes transform them. To conclude this paper in Sanskrit poetics the ideas underlying the concepts of ‘image’ and ‘symbol’ appear to have been generally recognized but the undue emphasis laid on the aspects of imagery dealing with ‘figurative expression’(alankara), in the early period, prevented a clear formulation of the principles. An increasing awareness of the critical approach to literature that came in the wake of analytical studies of language, grammar and logic brought about critical attitudes in the conception of imagery and symbolism of poetry, in Sanskrit. From then on critics were not only interested in examining the functions of these literary devices but also attempted to relate them to aesthetic theories of Sanskrit poetry
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    Modern Trends in Sanskrit - Sanskrit theatre in Maharashtra
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Bhide, P.
    Drama as a form of literature is lively as compared to other forms of literature, because a play that is written has a possibility of its presentation on stage unlike other forms of literature. Three elements are required for the presentation of a play. First is a team of performers. Second element is an organizing body to provide with an avenue for the presentation and third element is spectators. This paper aims to identify these elements of modern Sanskrit theatre in Maharashtra, a state of India. The term modern here is understood as dramas modern in terms of theme, form, literary style and style of presentation as well. Sanskrit theatre is active in Maharashtra even today mainly because of various theatre competitions and movements. The most important contribution is by Government of Maharashtra. Government of Maharashtra is the only state in India and perhaps in world that organizes a competition especially for Sanskrit plays and therefore it becomes a notable activity. Year 2017 - 18 was the fifty seventh year of this event. Fergusson College, an autonomous university also organizes an intercollegiate drama competition since last twenty years. University of Mumbai organizes drama competition every year under Youth Festival - an event to showcase the talent in collegiate youngsters. Today, we find three streams flowing parallel to each other on Sanskrit stage. First stream is edited concise versions of classical Sanskrit plays. Another stream is plays translated from other languages or based on the literature in other languages. Third and most important stream is newly written plays in Sanskrit. The paper analyses the element of modernity in these plays. The performers of modern Sanskrit plays can also be divided into three categories. There are groups of people volunteering to popularize Sanskrit. Secondly, there are some professional troops. Moreover, there are some troops who find this activity as an experiment on stage and consider doing Sanskrit play challenging for various reasons. This paper throws light on these challenges from the perspective of the writer, director and performers. There are constraints on the number of connoisseurs of Sanskrit plays. The paper suggests ideas that could be implemented in dramatic circles and academic circles to increase the viewership. A plan of action with respect to these suggestions shall strengthen the new wave of Sanskrit theatre
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    Differences between Rāmāyana in Sanskrit and Kekawin Ramayana in Old Javanese:A comparative Study between Sanskrit and Old Javanese Literature
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Rev.Medhācitto, T.S.
    Rāmāyaṇa is ancient great epic which narrates the story of Rama and Sīta. It was written in India by a Hindu sage named Valmīki. This great epic was written in Sanskrit, which most of scholars predicted in about 7th to 4thcenturies BC. In Hindu tradition, it is considered to be the first poem (adi-kāvya), which consists of nearly 24. 000 verses which divided into seven chapters. This great epic is very well-known and has been rewritten into many languages in various versions. In Indonesia, Ramayana is very well-known story survived from ancient period. There are some adaptations of Ramayana available in Indonesia, such as Kekaw in Ramāyaṇa in Old Javanese, Ramakavaca in Balinese, Hikayat Sri Rama in Melayu and Serat Rama Keling in Modern Javanese. Besides that, some scenes of Ramayana are carved on balustrades wall in Candi Prambanan (9th century) and Candi Panataran (14th century). Comparing to the Sanskrit or Indian version of Rāmāyana, Kekawin Ramayana which was written in Old Javanese language is shorter and has some different narrations. The first half of Kekaw in Ramayana is similar to the original Sanskrit version, while the latter half is very different from original version. The Kekaw in Ramayana which was written in about870 A.D., has been modified by the author identified as Poet Yogiswara. One of recognizable modification is the inclusion of indigenous Javanese guardian gods which called Punokawan, such as Semar, Gareng, Petruk and Bagong. Besides that, there are little changes of the characters and places. For examples, Walin become Subali, Sita became Sinta, Lanka became Alengka, Rawana became Rahwana, etc. In Sanskrit version, at the end of the story, Rama and Sita separated, but in the Javanese version, Rama and Sinta lived together happily in the Ayodyā. The separation between Rama and Sinta has been omitted, because the author wanted to show that Rama as ideal husband. This present research paper intends to display the differences between Rāmāyaṇa in Sanskrit and Kekaw in Ramayana in Old Javanese. This study is based on available texts both in Old Javanese version and Sanskrit version. Finally, from this research we come to know how the Kekaw in Ramayana differs from the original Sanskrit Rāmāyaṇa
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    Sri Lankan Sanskrit Literature which Revived after the Colonial Era
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Ven. Dhammaruchi, G.
    Polonnaruwa Era can obviously be concerned as the climax of Sri Lankan Sanskrit literature .Venerable Sariputta Sangharāja thero made a commendable contribution towards the upgrade of Sanskrit literature. Surprisingly, there were no Sinhalese scholars enough to produce literary works in Sanskrit. It clearly depicts that Sinhalese scholars who had a profound knowledge in Sanskrit were very rare to find then and there. In the context of Sri Lankan literature, it had its golden ages during the Kotte Era. To our dismay, this flourished literature started its downfall with the invasions of the Portuguese, the Dutch and the English respectively. The period which prevailed under the control of them is called the Colonial Era though ven. Saranankara Sangharāja thero set up Niyamakanda Academy where Sanskrit was not used at all. Similarly, during the colonial era several schools of thoughts emerged in the hope of renaissance of Sri Lankan literature. Among them, Dodanduwa School of thoughts played a vital role for the betterment of Sinhala, Pali and Sanskrit. Further, Dodanduwa School of thoughts deserves the credit for producinga Sanskrit taught scholar following Saripuththra Sangharāja thero, who lived in Polonnaruwa era. This Sanskrit learnt scholar was none other than ven. Aluthgama Seelakkhanda thero. The sole purpose of this research is to publicize this very notion. Surprisingly, Sīlakkhanda thero was the one and only Sri Lankan who provided “Tīkā” in Sanskrit. He promoted Sanskrit across Sri Lanka and India. The research methodology was to study literary sources. Moreover, library reference was done at Shailabibbaramaya where he stayed. The final conclusion was that the founder of modern Sri Lankan Sanskrit literature was Ven. Seelakkhanda thero who belonged to Dodanduwa School of thoughts
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    Saḍ Pāramitā in Sang HyangKamahayanan
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Ven. Tri Saputra Medhācitto
    This paper examines the concept of Saḍ Pāramitā in Mahāyāna Buddhism which is expounded in Old Javanese Text of Sang Hyang Kamahayanan. Saḍ Pāramitā or Six Perfections are the important teachings since Mahāyāna Buddhist School promotes Buddhahood as the complete liberation. Since Buddhahood is the only way to reach total liberation, therefore Saḍ Pāramitā are requirements being bodhisattva in order to attain complete liberation. Java and Sumatera of Indonesia were the main places where Buddhism flourished in 7th century AD. Buddhism influenced very much to the culture, architecture and literatures. Sanskrit language influenced the Old Javanese Language, and it resulted many Sanskrit words were adopted into Old Javanese Language. Buddhist literatures had been composed in Old Javanese Language. Two important books on Buddhism written in Old Javanese Language are Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan and Kamahayanan Mantrayana. However, this study focuses on the concept of Saḍ Pāramitā expounded in the Sang Hyang Kamahayanikan. This topic is selected for we come across interesting explanations given in this book, which is probably not available in the original Sanskrit texts. Therefore, we can assume that this book is like a commentary on the original Sanskrit texts which was written in old Javanese Language
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    A critical quest on the psychological aspect of characters in Sanskrit plays Based on Abhijïänaçäkuntala, Måcchakaöika and Ratnävalé
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Premakumara, S.G.
    Sanskrit plays which were flourished by means of theorems, accumulated in Nāyaśāstra compiled by great sage Bharata have been upheld the utmost position not only in Sanskrit but also other great literatures. Out of great pieces of works, three plays such as abhijïänaçäkuntala, måcchakaöika and ratnävalé have been selected in order to examine the psychological aspects. Different types of characters of those plays represent the real mental nature of humanism in addition to the exposure of the true social modification. The attempt is taken to analyze the definitive psychological aspects based on the characters in three main plays. M, R & S have been utilized as primary sources and texts on psychological criticism are examined in this research as secondary sources. The vital evidences can be accumulated with reference to the involutes and important factors such as sadism, masochism, voyeurism, inferiority complex, concept of anima and paranoia among the procedure of characters in Sanskrit plays. The method of literary data analysis is practiced in this research
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    Computational History and Forecasting about Sanskrit Family: An approach through Object Oriented Paradigm
    (International Conference on Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, 2018 Department of Sanskrit and Eastern Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka, 2018) Ram, K.; Nandi, S.
    Language as a mode of communication is nothing but a pattern of syllables. Due to different influencing factors this pattern changes. The history of Sanskrit language has also shown a definite pattern of variation over time. This work wants to evaluate the inherent pattern within the time line of history of Sanskrit. Here a computational technique will be developed to discern this pattern. The same computational method will be used to forecast the future variations in the languages currently within the family of languages appeared from Sanskrit. The root of Sanskrit language can be traced back to Indo-Hitait family. Before the appearance of Indo-Aryan Sanskrit language this root traversed through old Indo-European language family, Satam-Guccha family and Indo-European family. The modern Indian languages like Bengali, Hindi etc appeared from the Indo-Aryan Sanskrit family. If we go through etymology of any modern Indian language a definite pattern of influence by external factors will be observed. If this definite pattern is considered then it will be easy to forecast the future variations of modern Indian languages which appeared as variations of Sanskrit. The above stated pattern can be explained through Object Oriented Paradigm. The variation of the mother language by the external factors in different phases can be explained through multiple inheritances. In this process of abstract relationship the newly born language can be treated as child class whereas the mother language as well as influencing factors can be treated as base classes. Each phase of variation is treated here as a single loop of iteration. So the process of newer iterations will continue as long as variation in the language is continued. Thus this work is unique in the sense that a computer programme is used to structure the variation of Sanskrit language and to forecast the future of Sanskrit family
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    The methods of soil testing as revealed in Sanskrit Vāstuvidyā Texts.
    (International Conference on Sanskrit Studies, 2017 Department of Sanskrit, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Madhusani, A.M.G.R.
    The soil testing is the first and foremost requirement for the construction of any type of building. Various types of soil testing techniques have been introduced by Vāstu scholars. Those techniques are to be utilized to ascertain the durability, solidity and fertility of the land. Construction is not approved without testing the quality of soil by ancient sages whereas today the soil testing for building a house is not accepted as an essential subject. Different types of soil testing methods are being utilized only in construction highways and flats. But, in antiquity soil testing was compulsive for every construction. The ancient architect recommended the fitness of the site after close inspection of the earth's qualities. There are some special and peculiar ways to test the quality of the soil in Vāstu test. It is to be noted to that techniques mentioned in Sanskrit Vāstu sources are not only scientific but also practical. In this paper attempt is to be taken to examine those practical and scientific approach of soil testing with reference to the primary sources.
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    Concept of Dharma in Classical Hindu Law.
    (International Conference on Sanskrit Studies, 2017 Department of Sanskrit, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Amarasinghe, P.; Attapattu, D.N.
    The word Dharma has derived from the Sanskrit root “dhr”, which stands for the sustainability and preservation. Dharma plays a vital role in the center of Hinduism. The Aryan invasion the applicability of the term Dharma was visible in the earliest Vedic text “ Rig Veda”. In this very text of Vedic literature has left an apparent analysis on how Dharma becomes a cardinal principle in whole Hindu doctrine. A passage in “Puruña sūkta” refers to this commentary. In the beginning there was Dharma. Here it stood for the Natural or Cosmic Law. In fact, this paper mainly focuses on how this universal norm called “Dharma” was placed as cardinal virtue in Classical Hindu Law. In studying the vast literature relating to Hindu legal philosophy from Manusmruthi to the entire Dharmashastra literature, it becomes an obvious fact to understand that concept was Dharma had given a central position in Hindu jurisprudence. Many of the classical Hindu jurists had relied on their judicial interpreation mainly based on the concept of “Dharma”. Furthermore this paper will trace the discovery of "Manusmruthi" and how it influenced the the Western notion of understanding natural law in accordance with Dharma.
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    Theories mentioned in Sanskrit crafts literature regarding the manufacture of spittoons.
    (International Conference on Sanskrit Studies, 2017 Department of Sanskrit, University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka., 2017) Devagoda Piyaratana Thero
    Ancient spittoons and chunam boxes are exceptional metal creations. Their exceptionality is due to their being manufactured with special skills. Such knowledge was transmitted to the workers concerned through Sanskrit literature on crafts. One theory about spittoons is that its mouth’s diameter should be one third the height of the entire object. Two-thirds of that height should form the space area of the spittoon bottom. The remaining one-third should form the base of the spittoon. This indicates that the width of the base is half that of the mouth of the spittoon. Another theory is the following. Should the diameter of the spittoon mouth be divided into five parts, the total height of the spittoon would consist of three such parts. Two of the three such parts would contain the body of the spittoon. One of these parts would form its base. The width of the base mouth is the equivalent of one part of the mouth width of the spittoon. The shape of the spittoon mouth is that the lotus flower. There are two types of spittoons. The first is relatively long. The other is relatively short. The discovery of the manner in which above mentioned theories have influenced the manufacture of spittoons forms the subject of this research. Another purpose of this research is the making known of these theories to modern manufacturers of such artefacts. In the course of this research the national museums of Colombo, Kandy, the Martin Wickremasinghe peoples’ museum, as well as spittoons still in the possession of ancient families were subjected to examination. The theories under consideration are only relevant as regards the short version of the spittoon. Although the lotus form is the predominant shape of classical spittoons, there are however other variants as well. It must be mentioned that the present day flower vases came into being through the popularization of spittoons. Spitoons manufactured by modern skilled workers lack the qualities of the ancient ones. Making the modern manufacturers aware of these ancient artifacts would influence them to a greater imitation of the classical types.