PRF T N GANJOO : SCHOLAR, INDOLOGIST AND ASTROLOGER

 TRILOKI NATH GANJOO (1928-2023): THE UNSUNG SCHOLAR, INDOLOGIST AND ASTROLOGER

(Prof T N Ganjoo…Photo Courtesy  ...Family of Prof Ganjoo )

 

“You are what your deepest desire is. As your desire is, so is your intention. As your intention is, so is your will. As your will is, so is your deed. As your deed is, so is your destiny.” ….. (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad)

 

I hold a firm belief that the contribution of Prof T N Ganjoo towards linking Kashmir to the Sanskrit Civilization of India shall find a prominent place once scholars and people with subject-specific interests discern his colossal work. Let the present-day scholars and copy-paste writers ignore him but for sure generations to come shall discover and look at him the way we look at Kshemendra and Bilhana presently. He was an erudite Sanskrit scholar, Indologist, Shaiva Darshan scholar, historian (Ancient Kashmir), linguist, manuscriptologist, translator, grammarian (Sanskrit) astrologer and an authority on Sharada script.

EARLY LIFE

Born in Srinagar city, on 7th February 1928, Prof Ganjoo devoted his entire life to research and study. Due to the untimely death of his father, he was brought up under the supervision of his uncle Pandit Radha Krishen Ganjoo who was an authority on Hindu rituals, scriptures, and Karama-Kaanda .To support family income, young Triloki Nath had to take up a teacher’s job and continue his studies as a private student. He completed his Honours in Sanskrit, Honours in Hindi, Diploma in Teaching, and Bachelor of Education. Postgraduation in Hindi and obtained a doctorate (Ph. D) for his extensive research in ‘Diachronic Linguistic Study of Kashmiri Language’.This qualification made him join the University of Kashmir as a Lecturer PG Department of Hindi. He rose to the post of Professor of Hindi at the University where two generations of students benefitted from his erudite scholarship and knowledge. He was also appointed Professor of Sharada Script (The Paleography of Ancient Kashmir), NMM, Indira Gandhi National Center for Arts, New Delhi.

 COMPANY OF SAINTS AND SAGES

 From his childhood, Triloki Nath Ganjoo was drawn towards the saints and sages of Kashmir. While being posted at Nunar, he was a regular visitor to Mann Kak, a saint of high learning who lived in Grihastha. Mann Kak chose him to recite the Bhagwad Gita before performing Pran-Tyaga. Another saint whom he regularly visited was Bhagwan Gopi Nath Ji. He remained a regular visitor to Swami Ramji’s Ashram at Fateh Kadal from his childhood. This brought him closer to Swami Govind Kaul Jalali a disciple of Swami Ramji. He also interacted with Swami Govind Kaul on many aspects of Kashmir’s Trika Shaivism. The learned saint opened a window of Kashmir Trika Shaivism for young Triloki Nath Ganjoo who became a disciple of the learned saint. After Swami Govind Kaul’s Nirvana, Triloki Nath Ganjoo took charge of Ram Shaiva (Trika) Ashram at Fateh Kadal and guided many devotees of Swami Ramji about various aspects of Kashmir’s Shaiva Darshana that he had learnt from Swami Govind Kaul and also that he had studied himself. He remained steadfast in this task and didn’t move out from the Kashmir valley inspite of various threats and risks till his death. Even his Muslim neighbours repeatedly suggested that he move out of Kashmir to some safer place given the targeted killings of Hindus in the valley by the terrorists.

 It is relatable to mention that Swami Ramji (1854-1915) established Shri Ram Shaiva (Trika) Ashram in May 1884 at Fateh Kadal, Srinagar. It became a foremost Shaivite teaching centre of Kashmir in the modern-day. Swami Ramji's spirited efforts towards propagation of the Shaivite philosophy, Shaivite scriptures, Agamas and Tantric texts to his disciples and devotees remain a glorious part of Kashmiri Pandit heritage. It is due to Swami Ramji’s revival efforts that Kashmir Shaivism today enjoys global recognition and acknowledgement. Swami Lakshman Joo happens to be one of some illustrious disciples of Swami Ramji. It is reported that Swami Ramji became ecstatic on the birth of Swami Lakshman Joo who was fondly named Lala Saeb by his parents. To his disciples, Swami Ramji said, ‘‘I am Rama and the child Lakshmana”. The subsequent events proved Swami Ramji’s words prophetic as Swami Lakshman Joo was to Swami Ramji what Swami Vivekananda was to Sri Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Swami Ramji had a detached outlook on life and did not marry after the death of his wife. Swami Ramji’s wife died when he was just 17 years old. During his visit to Kashmir, Swami Vivekananda visited Swami Ramji and sat with him for about three hours.

 

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(Swami Ramji’s Photo at his Ashram …Photo clicked by the Author)

 HE PROVED GRIERSON’S FINDINGS INCORRECT

 The origin of language is a complex and intriguing topic that has puzzled linguists, anthropologists, and cognitive scientists for centuries. The question "What is the origin of language?" gets to the heart of how humans came to possess a unique and fundamental ability to create and use language. For many years, language origin has been one of the disputable topics of scholarly discussions. Like any other language, there had been many misgivings about the origin of the Kashmiri language as well.

 George Grierson is the first European Scholar who has attributed the Kashmiri language to the Dardic group. In 1911, he wrote this in a manual titled, "An Interesting and Little Known Tongue “.According to him, Kashmiri was developed in Dardistan, the hilly region between the North West of Punjab and the Pamir. He wrote, “Leaving aside Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit words from the language, remaining words are Dardic or Paschachi. Kafiri (spoken in the west of Chitral), Shina (spoken in Gilgit), Kashmiri, Kishtwari and Kohistani belong to this group.” However, many scholars believe that while deliberating upon the origin of the Kashmiri language, Grierson has ignored two features of Sanskrit which are responsible for making the necessary foundation of this language. These aspects are Tatsam and Tadbhava words. Prakrit and Apbhramsha have also been ignored by him. Eminent linguist and Sanskrit scholar, Dr S S Toshakhani writes:-

 “There exists very strong evidence to show that Kashmiri has descended from the Vedic speech or, as Buhler has pointed out, from "one of the dialects of which the classical Sanskrit was formed." The presence in Kashmiri vocabulary of a large number of lexical and phonetic items that can be directly traced to the Vedic period corroborates this fact. For instance, the Kashmiri word ‘yodvay’, meaning ‘if’ is the same as Vedic ‘yaduvay’, the corresponding word for it in Sanskrit (and Hindi) being ‘yadi’. Similarly, we have the word ‘ada’ in Kashmiri, meaning ‘so, then, thereupon, yes’, which can be hardly distinguished from the Vedic ‘addha’ of which the Prakrit form too is ‘addha’, Again, the Vedic ‘sanna’ appears as ‘son’ in Kashmiri having an identical meaning ‘deep’. Or take the Kashmiri word ‘basta’ which comes straight from Vedic ‘bastajin’ meaning ‘goatskin’, ‘bellows’. It is from the Vedic root ‘taksh’ that the Kashmiri word ‘tachh’ (to scratch, ‘to peel’, ‘to plane’, ‘to scrape’) is derived, Sanskrit ‘ksh’ changing to ‘chh’ in Kashmiri as in Laksha>lachh, vaksha>vachh, draksha>dachh, akshi>achhi etc. And from this very root comes the Kashmiri word ‘chhan’, ‘a carpenter’. Generally, Kashmiri words have evolved from Vedic or old Indo-Aryan through intermediary Pali or Prakrit forms. It is based on such linguistic evidence that eminent linguists like Morgenstierne, Emenean, Bloch and Turner have arrived at their conclusions about the Vedic origin of Kashmiri.”

                                                          

( Prof T N Ganjoo speaking in International Kashmiri Pandit Conference …Photo provided by the family  .)

  Equipped with all the work done by scholars on the subject, Prof T N Ganjoo set out for the most challenging assignment of his life to dig out the origin of the Kashmiri language. He visited Gurez and many places where Shina is spoken to collect material for his research. He also visited Kishtwar and other places where Kashmiri is spoken in its various dialects. He took up this research topic for his Ph.D. While most doctorates are finished in 2-5 years, this topic took him 10 years to finish. He studied phonetics, phonology and Panini’s Sanskrit grammar. He conducted etymological studies of word origins, tracing their meanings, structures, and journeys through time. He also studied Vedas, and scholars like Max Muller, poet Bilhana, poet Kshemendra and any and every Sharada manuscript available in Kashmir upon which he could lay his hands. Finally, he established that the entire Kashmiri language is a sister to Sanskrit, with not only words but the entire grammatical structure following Sanskrit. Thus, proving Sir George Grierson’s theory wrong about the origin of the Kashmiri language.

A GREAT TEACHER SHARADA SCRIPT

 Those who visited Prof Triloki Nath Ganjoo to learn and understand scriptures or Sharada script include artist Ghulam Rasool Santosh, poet Agnishekhar, poet Kshama Kaul, poet Mohan Nirash, Dr M K Teng, Brahmchari Moti Lal, and many more. About him,  noted artist G R Santosh has said this:-

“I have been visiting him often to seek clarification on scriptures and I have no hesitation to admit that he imparted the knowledge of Sharada script to me. He was humble, unassuming, affectionate, welcoming and a saint living in Grihistha. “

 Along with Sharada, he also acquired working knowledge of Tibetan and Gurmukhi scripts which have been derived from Sharada. He conducted more than 60 workshops across the country on Sharada script creating a group of trained persons who could read and write Sharada. He created a primer for the study of the Sharada script. About teaching Sharda script to youngsters, Prof Ganjoo said this:-

“Right from Banihaal up to Sharda Temple ( now falling in Pok ), this entire area was known as Sharda Desh wherein Sharda script flourished. Sharada script evidences are seen in Peshawar, Kabul and many parts of ancient Gandhara. There is a Bible in Sharada script written in 1821. From the early 14th century, with the arrival of Islam in the Kashmir valley, this script faced neglect and was made to die. It is almost extinct now except as seen in some available manuscripts of the Kashmiri Pandits that escaped the cruel hands of religious bigots and persecutors of Hindus in Kashmir. Let me give you some positive news as well. At the community level, we have made great efforts for its revival. We have trained some young men who could impart training in reading and writing Sharada to more people. This is all voluntary work and to my knowledge, more than 25 persons are well trained to impart training to other aspirants from the community. I am thankful to IGNCA, New Delhi also for their support. Sharada is our culture, our language and our history. We must learn it to preserve it and also use it to know our past in correct perspective.”

BOOKS, PUBLISHED PAPERS AND AWARDS

 Prof Ganjoo published several books and wrote innumerable research papers. Some prominent books written by Prof Ganjoo could be listed as under:-

 1.Rahasyodesh - Research biography of Hermitess Mata Roopa Bhawani, Alakeshvari.

2.Linguistic Survey of Kashmiri Language.

3.Shirya Bhat - Research biography of Shriya Bhat.

4.The Cultural Heritage of Ancient Kashmir (Unpublished).

5.Lal Vakh - Original Lal Vakh based on 17th Century manuscript with   Kashmiri Commentary (Unpublished).

6.“The metre-prosody in Ancient Kashmiri Poetry “

7.“Kashur Hindi Reader

8.“Monograph” on comparative study of Kashmiri Language

 

                                                                  

     (Kashmiri Hindi Reader bu Prof T N Ganjoo  ...Photo by the Author)

 

Some scholarly research papers compiled by Prof T N Ganjoo published in various research journals in India are as under:-

 

(1)    Linguistic Sociology of Ancient Kashmir.

 (2) The Linguistic Sociology of Kashmir and its Origin.

 (3) The Kin-Names and Archaic spoken form of its Origin Language.

 (4) Social Ethos of Kashmiri Society and Applied Linguistic Connotation.

 (5) Naga, The early mountain settlers of Kashmir and traces of their social culture among the Kashmir Bhattas the vanishing ethnic community of Kashmir.

 (6) The religious Anthropological treatment of Kashmir.

 (7) Kashmiri numeral and its Linguistic Origin.

 (8) The Linguistic Derivative of Kashmiri Ordinals.

 (9) The Physical body and Linguistic Nomenclature of its parts and the source of its Applied Language.

 (10) “Bilhan”, the author of Vikramankdeva Charit and 10th century Kashmir.

 (11) “Herat”, the festival of 15 days and its socio-religious traces, which are deeply linked with the five thousand years old Harappa Religious Culture.

 (12) The Kashmiri Shaivism and basic concept of Domesticity.

 

While he was awarded many times by different institutions, Some notable ones are listed  below -

1.       Sanskrit Shiromani - Allahabad University.

2.       Karmakand Shiromani - Banaras Hindu University.

3.       Jyotish Ratna - Banaras Hindu University.

4.       Gold medal for PhD on Linguistic Survey of Kashmiri Language - Kashmir University.

5.       Shardaa Saman - Panun Kashmir.

6.       Shardaa Script Wizard - Tirupati University.

7.       Shardaa Alankar - Himachal University.

Some close friends of  T N Ganjoo  were Jagan Nath Braroo,Dr Ramkrishen Bhatt (professor of history , University of Kashmir ),Dr M K Taing ( professor of political science , University of Kashmir ), S K Puttu ( Chief Manager SBI) and Dr Muzamil Parsa ( family physician ).

 

Unmesh Ghosh, grandson of T N Ganjoo said this:-

“ He was an avid tea drinker, who could have tea 24x7, even after dinner. He relished fish with a sprinkling of lemon on top. Yoghurt was another favourite, having it in both meals, in fact used to have it with fish as well (unlike most Kashmiris). Early days when he was working, he used to wake up at 4:30 am, do his morning chores and then listen to BBC news at 5 am while also working on the draft writings of his projects until 7am. Then would get ready for University and leave returning back again by 5 pm, have tea and restart his studies until late in the night. Even at the age of 87 he used to study around 17-18 Hours which is breathtaking with his cup of tea always beside him.”

Varda Ganjoo,  granddaughter of T N Ganjoo said this:-

” I remember how he'd spend hours meticulously working on Swami Ram ji's biography, his pen moving steadily across pages filled with careful research and thoughtful insights. Even when he wasn't well, during his last days,his mind remained as sharp and busy as ever. We'd all gather around him – asking endless questions about Kashmiri culture and Swami Ji's teachings. He never seemed to tire of our curiosity. What amazed me most was his incredible knowledge of astrology and his way of face reading. People would come from far away to hear his precise astrological observations. The best part? He could switch from being this wise grandfather to becoming carefree with me, matching my energy and. He loved quoting this - "उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरात्तिबोधत" from Vivekananda that basicallymeant "Arise! Awake! And stop not until the goal is reached." That was so him – always encouraging, always pushing us to do better. What I learned from Bade Papa was the importance of passion in everything you do. He believed work is worship and that staying idle is never an option. Constant learning, unconditional love, and respect for all, regardless of their background, were his core values. His wisdom taught me to embrace life fully and treat everyone with kindness.”

 I end this write-up on T N Ganjoo with a quote from Shaivacharya Abhinavgupta of Kashmir.

 “Nothing perceived is independent of perception and perception differs not from the perceiver, therefore the universe is nothing but the perceiver.”

 

(Avtar Mota)

PS

This essay and many similar essays are included in my new book ,"The  Bright Stars of the Foggy Nights "

 See details here....

https://autarmota.blogspot.com/2025/02/bright-stars-of-foggy-nights-my-new-book.html?m=1

 

FOOTNOTES

 

Sources consulted for this write-up.

(1)    Meeting with Prof Ganjoo in Srinagar and a telephone conversation.

(2)    Shehjar online magazine

(3)    Interview of Dr Agnishekhar

(4)   The family of Prof Ganjoo ( Gargi Ji ,Varda Ganjoo and  Unmesh Ghosh )

(5)     Recorded conversation of artist G R Santosh

 (6)    A write-up in Kashmir Sentinel by Dr S S Toshakhani

 (7)    Visit to Sri Ram Shiva (Trika) Ashram , Kashmir in 2009

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