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Prof. Kashi Nath Dhar


Prof. Kashi Nath Dhar
Prof. Kashi Nath Dhar (1923-1984)

Prof. Kashi Nath Dhar was born on 24th November, 1923 in the Rahbaba-Sahib locality in Srinagar, to Pt. Sarvanand Dhar and Shrimati Kamlavati Dhar. He did his initial schooling and B.A. from Srinagar, after which he went to Lahore (Pakistan) to pursue higher education. He completed his M.A. (Sanskrit) from D.A.V. College, Lahore alongwith the famous Hindi writer Shri Mohan Rakesh.

After returning from Lahore in 1946, he joined as a Lecturer in the Sanskrit Department at the the Govt. College, Poonch. However Pooch was under siege by the Pakistani forces in 1947 Indo-Pak war, and this was a period of great difficulty for him. After the war ended he resumed his teaching and research as a lecturer at S.P. College, Srinagar. Here he also completed his M.A. (Hindi) privately from Punjab University. After working at the Govt. College, Sopore for a while, he was transferred to Amar Singh College, Srinagar, where he served till his retirement.

Prof. Dhar was actively involved in numerous literary and social organizations from his early years as a student. Late Shri T. N. Kaul, sub-editor of The Times of India and his close friend since childhood revealed that Prof. Dhar wrote short stories in Urdu and published a handwritten magazine called "Torchlight" during his early days. He edited a number of magazines during his college period and was the Chief Editor of "Kashyap”, a magazine published by the Kashmir Hindi Sahitya Sammelan, for which he wrote sharp and insightful editorials during his stint there. He was also in the editorial team of another magazine called "Neelja”, published by the J&K National Language Promotion Organisation. He acted as a director of the Shardapeeth Parmanand Research Centre in Srinagar, and published various research works upon the important historical literary works. His contributions regularly featured on Radio and Doordarshan also.

He had an equal command on Hindi and Sanskrit as on Kashmiri, Urdu and English. His collective literary works in the alluded languages bear testimony to the fact. He had an interest in poetry also and liked to participate in debates. He also served in the editorial board of the Kashmiri-Hindi-English dictionary commissioned by the Central Govt. of India. 

His contribution in the research in the cultural heritage of Kashmir alongwith various translations and commentaries on Kashmiri and Sanskrit ancient texts and historical works is exemplary and a constant source of inspiration for all. He left his mortal remains on 11 April, 1984 at the age of 61.

Literary Works

  • Shrivar's Jain Rajtarangini (English)

  • Nilmat Puran (Hindi Translation)

  • NundRishi-A Rosary of Hundred Beads(English)

  • Nund Rishi Influence On Kashmiri Mysticism(English)

  • Vasugupt ShivSUtras(English)

  • Abhinavgupt's Parmarth Sar (English Translation)

  • Panchstavi (A commentary in English)

  • Kashmir- Sanskriti aur Sahitya Ke parivesh Mein (Hindi)

  • Sanskrit Chronicals and Sultans Of Kashmir (English)

  • Saint Of All Times- Bhagwaan Gopinaath Ji (English)

Publications

  • Hinduism In Kashmir

  • Mysticism In Kashmiri Poetry

  • Rishi Cult Of Kashmir

J&K Academy of Art, Culture  and Languages published many of his works in Kashinath Dhar Rachnavali under the aegis of Prof. Chaman Lal Sapru.

Courtesy: Sh. Vishakh Bhan

Featured Collections

Acharya Abhinavagupta
Abhinavagupta was a great scholar and Shaiva teacher, who possessed knowledge in all matters relating to Kashmir Shaivism. The versatility of this genius was recognised in his own time. He was one of the best authorities on Shaiva philosophy and various branches of Sanskrit literature.
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Lal Ded
In Kashmir, some people consider her a poet, some consider her a holywoman and some consider her a sufi, a yogi, or a devotee of Shiva. Sume even consider her an avtar. But every Kashmiri considers her a wise woman. Every Kashmiri has some sayings of Lalla on the tip of his tongue. The Kashmiri language is full of her sayings.
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Bilhana - The Minstrel
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Later Hindu Period of Kashmir History (1148 A.D. to 1339 A.D.)
The Doyen of Sanskrit chroniclers, Kashmirian Kalhana was destined to write about the Hindu period of Kashmir History only upto A.D. 1148. Therafter, being inspired by overwhelming talent of his illustrious predecessor, Jona Raja pieced together the reign of subsequent Hindu Kings up to 1339 A. C. when the Sultans appeared on the Kashmir-scene. >>>

Kalhana - The Chronicler
Chronicle-writing is not foreign to the imagination of the Kashmiri Brahmins. A host of histories Charitas and Mahatmyas amply testify to this assertion. However, the history as it is taken in the modern parlance, is absent in Sanskrit literature. History is not an account of rise and fall of kings but should embrace in its ambit the political, social and religious attainments and aspirations of the people at large. >>>

Ksemendra - The Peoples' Poet
Sankskrit poets and literary luminaries have been often accused of oriental hyperbole. It may be conceded that by and large such devotees of Muse did indulge in some kind of exaggeration which became naseating at times; such kind of poetic fancy becomes pronounced when they had to extol their patrons, heroes or even their beloveds. >>>  

 

Habba Khatoon
Habba at the very outset of her poetic career rebelled against the prevalent standards of poetry-writing. Textbook idealism is not found in the dictionary of her pulsating emotions. She did not also try to bridge the distance between the ideal and the real. Her substantial contribution in this domain is to interpret her life as it was and not what it should be.
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Concept of "Maya"
At the very outset, it may be said without any fear of contradiction, that in philosophy unalloyed originality is a misnomer. It is actually the sum total of the thinking on a particular subject, collated, coordinated and brought up-to-date by the stalwarts in this field. It would, therefore, be in the fitness of things to give a bird's eye-view of the philosophic content supposed to emanate from the word 'Maya', as discussed in the various schools of philosophy in India, which has rightly been taken as the raw material on which the Vedantins and Kashmiri shaivites built their lofty edifices later on.  >>>

Panchastavi - A Brief Study
The compound word 'Panchastavi' in ordinary parlance connotes a collection of devotional hymns divided into five cantos. The very first verse of the first canto remakes it abundantly clear that these panegyrics are essentially meant for the 'Rainbow-hued' Divine Energy comprising the 'speech' and 'resplendence of symbols'. Moreover the whole gamut of Alphabet from AA to Ksa is presided over by this Transcendental Energy; and to speak squarely, it is the progenitor of the sound and sense. At times it has been equated with super-knowledge, bliss and even this whole cosmic world.
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Sanskrit Chronicles and Sultans of Kashmir
The history of Muslim period in Kashmir is as intriguing as it is revealing. Though a sizeable number of chronicles, both indigenous and foreign, contemporary as well as remote, is available for this phase of Kashmir history, yet the conclusions arrived at and the facts enumerated are in no way immaculately objective. These historians, barring a few, have granted their personal dimensions into these. >>>

The Serpentine Vitasta
From times immemorial rivers in India have been treated as sacred. After the Aryan occupation of the North when towns and cities began to be built on the banks of rivers, their utility could not be over looked. Hence by way of gratitude the rivers were deified and varied mythological background was woven around these to justify their deification. >>>

Master Zinda Kaul
Mysticism is a continuous exercise in self- realization. It is an incessant mental drill in which the self and the super-self are fully identified. In Kashmir from the hoary times to the present day, this urge of the soul for becoming one with the super-soul has been always emphasized. Monistic Shaivism, as propounded in the 'Shiva Sutras' of Acharya Vasu Gupta, and later interpreted profusely by Abhinava Gupta, is the first milestone of the human spirit on its pilgrimage to self-consciousness in Kashmir.
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