K Ramasubramanian

Ramasubramanian
Presently, Prof. Ramasubramanian is Institute Chair Professor at IIT Bombay in the Cell for Indian Science and Technology in Sanskrit, Department of Humanitites and Social Sciences. He holds a doctorate in Theoretical Physics, a Bachelors in Engineering, and a Masters in Sanskrit. For completing a rigorous course in Advaita Vedanta (a 14-semester program), he was honored with the coveted title “Vidvat Pravara” by the Shankaracharya of Sri Sringeri Sharada Peetham in the year 2003. He is one of the authors who prepared detailed Explanatory Notes of the celebrated works Ganita-yuktibhasha (Rationales in Mathematical Astronomy), Tantrasangraha, and Karanapaddhati which bring out the seminal contributions of the Kerala School of astronomers and mathematicians in the field of Mathematics and Astronomy.
 
Prof. Ramasubramanian has edited other works in Indian Astronomy and Mathematics, as well as authored several research papers, both individually and jointly with others. In 2008, he was conferred the prestigious award of Maharshi Badarayan Vyas Samman by the President of India. He was an elected Council member of the International Union of History and Philosophy of Science and Technology for two consecutive terms (8 yrs). He was a Member of the Second Sanskrit Commission formed by the MHRD, Government of India, in 2014. He is a Member of the Apex bodies in various institutions such as ICPR and NCERT. He is a Fellow (FNA) of the Indian National Science Academy and has received the prestigious invitation of being a sectional invited speaker at the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM2022).

Abstracts of the Lectures

Does it make sense to read Sanskrit kāvyas?

In this age, when the exploration of science and technology has advanced at an enormous and breathtaking pace — influencing our lifestyles in unforeseen ways — “of what use is the study of Sanskrit language or the literature in it”? is the question that may be lingering in the young mind, which is perfectly legitimate and understandable. Anticipating such a question as it were, Sri Aurobindo said – “so long as this (Sanskrit language and its literature) endures and influences the life of our people, so long will the basic genius of India continue”. During the talk, we shall try to elucidate what made philosophers such as Sri Aurobindo and even other scientists such as CV Raman plead for the study of the Sanskrit language. Though the literature in Sanskrit is quite extensive starting from Vedas, epics, purāṇas, philosophy, etc, we shall focus on the relevance of studying Sanskrit kāvyas – such as the ones authored by Kālidasa, Bhavabhūti, and so on.

The kāvya aspect of the Siddhānta-jyotiṣa

It is a commonplace to notice works pertaining to encomium, history, literature, mythology, etc. composed in metrical form. However, scientific literature, due to its use of technical vocabulary, as well as demands of brevity, clarity, and precision, is usually written in prose. In contrast to this general trend, a surprisingly large corpus of scientific literature in India is composed in the form of beautiful verses in Sanskrit, including works in mathematics, astronomy, medicine, linguistics, and so on. During the talk by citing a few examples from the mathematical and astronomical literature, we shall try to demonstrate how the authors have been able to add beauty and charm to their work by composing them employing a variety of metrical patterns – without compromising on lucidity.