The
Mumbai University offers several courses at its Kalina Campus.
certificate courses, diplomas, degree courses and then there are the
appreciation courses.
while checking out the notice board at
the Sanskrit Bhavan, i realised that they were going to conduct a
Lecture Series on the Upanishads. the wisdom of 10 major Upanishads
would be revelaed to those interested. classes would be held for 3 days each week, in 2 hr or 4 hr slots , over a period of one month.
I enrolled myself for this 'Vyakhyaan Maala'. It was to be in Marathi. I
am familiar and comfortable with the language at a conversational
level. i can read the language with ease too. but ihere the subject was a
not an easy one. it was one with a lot of depth. would i be able to
grasp it, was a doubt that crept in the mind. the speakers were all
masters in the subject.
the Professors at the department were
encouraging. the lectures were meant to be an exposure to the
Upanishadic texts , and as such , they could be understood by a regular
person with any interest in the subject.
I enrolled for the workshop.
On day 1, i found an enthusiastic bunch of about 45 in the seminar room
at Sanskrit bhavan. the youngest were 3 FYBA students . then there were
a couple of men and women my age, and then there were those who could
classify as the senior citizens. the oldest must be a little above 75
yrs of age.
Several of the participants of the workshop were
those who were currently studying at the university.. doing their MA, or
Mphil or their Phd. atleast 3 of them were retired from service.. had
done the 3 yrs of basic courses getting acquainted with Sanskrit. they
had then done their MA in sanskrit and were now doing the MPhil .
yesterday was the Valedictory session. participants who wished to speak
on their experiences here were welcome to voice their thoughts.
there was one gentleman- everybody, right from the HOD to the
professors referred to him as Kaka. Chogle kaka. he had retired from RBI
a couple of yrs ago. and is now pursuing the MPhil.
He rose to
speak. he spoke mostly in sanskrit. Most of it i did not understand.
but he also interspersed his talk with marathi. am reproducing what he
said .
He said, he and most of the other participants here were
skeptical when they joined this workshop. not at all confident that one
was capable of undertanding the gnyaan from these great texts. he went
on to say -
आम्ही आमची ओंजळ घेउन आलो होतो . इथे आल्या नंतर हळू
हळू समजायला लागले…. काही तरी कळतंय खरं अस वाटायला लागलं . त्या ओंजळी
मध्ये किती आल , किती मावलं , किती गळून गेलं ही गोष्ट वेगळी . पण आमच्या
ओंजळीच्या आतल्या भागाला स्पर्श मात्र नक्कीच केला . उदाहरणार्थ , आपण जशी
पाण्याची ओंजळ घेतो… कधी कधी पाणी निसटून जातं . पण आपले हाथ ओलेच राहतात
आणि हे हाथ अशा भाद्रपद अश्विनाच्या उष्म्यात जेव्हा आपण आपल्या
चेहऱ्यावरून घेतले तर किती सुखद अनुभव येतो तोच अनुभव आम्हाला इकडे आल्या
मुळे मिळाला .
AAaaaaaaahhh.. ... such simple words.. but the sentiments were so well conveyed
