SatSanghis

Satsangh means good company or good association. In Baja Govindam Adi Sankara avers that Satsang leads to Jeevan Mukthi or Salvation.
My good friend, mentor and popular trainer Keshav who runs Mantra, has started a new group called Satsanghi , which meets every month at the Chinmaya Heritage Centre, 2, 13th Avenue, Harrington Road.
At every meeting a learned speaker is invited who ddresses the group on a topic generally relating to Indian Heritage, Spirituality or Philosophy. The membership is Rs. 600/- for six months. The Speaker is called Shreyasi (Meaning Pure one).
The Satsanghi meeting was preceded by a brief video of a 1975 Satsangh with Pujya Swami Chinmayananda. It was quite energising. Swamiji spet Atonement as At-One_Ment with OM!

The December Shreyasi was Dr. M B Athreya. I missed it. But, I could make it today to listen to Mr. N R Kumar a Chartered Accountant and Management Consultant. Mr. Kumar speaks Sanskrit fluently and during the discourse told us an entire story in simple easily understandable Sanskrit.
His Talk was on Scientific Heritage of India. He took us through various Scientific dscoveries and showed us that they have recorded origins in India.
For example, he spoke of how soldiers whose noses were cut off by Tipu Sultan were treated by a Mahratta Vaidya using Plastic Surgery. This was reported in the Madras Gazette and read by Dr. J C Carpue who took it to England. Dr. Graefe of Germany read about this in a detailed report in the Gentleman Magazine in Oct 1794. Thus was born Rhinoplasty, which was used by Actress Sridevi to reshape her nose, bringing the Circle back to India but this time as the receiver of a knowledge rather than the proud propogator thereof.
Kumar deplored the fact that we have lost this treasurehouse of knowledge. He gave numerous examples of profound truths that were stated casually in our ancient heritage.
One point he made about Memory and Knowledge was a bit vague. But I think he was actually referring to Data versus Knowledge. He felt that unless you bring passion and experience to any information, you don't own it, you merely hold it.
He also made the point that the chanters of Vedic hymns are mere couriers who deliver the Mantras bereft of their true meaning.
But, his refernce to himself as a Sanskrit Speaking Aryan could have bben avoided as the Dravidian/Aryan delineation is too thin to be stressed. Morover the Sanskrit that is used today is arguably not the same sanskrit used by the Vedic Aryans. There is a lot of Pali and even Dravidian influence in Post Vedic Sanskrit.
His point that Vyasa, Sushrutha and Aryabhatta were not individuals but rather the common name for a series of compilers and correspondents is quite interesting. Sushrutha means one who listens well. Charaka is one who keeps moving (from place to place) to collect information and Vakbhatta was an eloquent man. These people possibly broke away from the existing oral tradition and documented medical practices then prevalent from their first hand observation or from interviewing practitioners.
His talk triggered me into remembering a verse from Kamban's Ramayanam in the Hiranya Vadhai Padalam (Verse 253)where Kamban makes Prahalad say, "Yes Hari is everywhere, in this Pillar, even in that Kone which is the hundreth part of an Atom...!" This would mean that Ancient Tamils knew about the Atom and that it was divisible far earlier than western science accepted Atomic Fission! In Verse 296 he speaks of Nanosecond. (1/1000th of a second)
But, what is the point in talking about past greatness. Actually for all his laudable research, and argument, N R Kumar did not really offer any viable long term suggestions for documenting and studying these things. But his Passion is palpable and infectious. Most of us walked out with the conviction that we should do something about researching and documenting our Ancient Indian Heritage. Or as Keshav succinctly put it at the end, It is time t o stop crying and start Trying!