In Reverent Memory of Prof. Vineet Chaitanya: A Solemn Tribute

[Mangal Dev Tripathi]

Pranaam;

It is with a heavy heart and profound sorrow that we share the news of the passing of our revered mentor and scholar, Prof. Vineet Chaitanya.

"यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रेऽस्तं गच्छन्ति नामरूपे विहाय ।

तथा विद्वान्नामरूपाद्विमुक्तः परात्परं पुरुषमुपैति दिव्यम्॥"

"धरा धाम को तजि चला, किया स्वर्ग विश्राम।

तुलसी ऐसे जीव को बारम्बार प्रणाम॥"

A true Vairagi and an embodiment of profound wisdom, GuruJi lived a life defined by relentless academic penance and spiritual grace. He was a rare visionary who served as a bridge between our ancient traditions and modern intellectual frontiers, illuminating the paths of all who had the privilege to learn from him.

As we stand in solemn tribute, we offer our deepest prayers for his noble soul. May the Almighty grant him eternal refuge at His divine feet in the supreme abode of Kaivalya-Dham.

May he find everlasting peace in the light of the Divine.

In deepest grief and respect,

Dr Mangal Dev & Shisyagana

[K S Kannan]

Dr. Vineet Chaitanya was an extraordinary person.

Bharat has lost a gem in his passing away.

In his pioneering work on NLP, he demonstrated how Paninian grammar was unparalleled.

He was ever eager to learn, very hard working, and could very well inspire others to work for our heritage.

The rigour of his analysis, and his sensitivity to the drawbacks in many Western attempts in NLP, are rare to be found.

While he introduced me to the merits of the Conceptual Structures propounded by John F Sowa,

I introduced him to the diagrammatic representation of Navya-Nyaya available in the books of Prof VNJha,

who owed it in turn to his own Japanese student. And in less than 3 years of that, Prof Amba Kulkarni,

his extraordinary student with a sound mathematical background, had produced her thesis on the same theme.

I had the fortune to be with him at IIT-Kanpur for nearly two years, which was also when 

Prof. Ramakrishnamacharyulu was also there collaborating with him,

and the penetrating questions he would put would open up new horizons for anyone interacting with him.

Many śāstraic assertions would occur to him almost instinctively, what with his keenness of

observing and analysing linguistic data and phenomena. 

At a time when Chomsky reigned supreme,  it was he who established how the Kāraka-theory, so central to Pāṇini's thesis,

was more powerful than the modern linguistic theories. It was he who put linguistics here in India

on track - on the right track, the indigenous track, at a time when every top linguist in India

was keen to prove that he had some grasp of Transformational Grammar. But for him,

our Linguistics departments would have been worse than what they are. 

(I am sorry to say so; yet I am not disparaging: few among the leading scholars 

in the Linguistic Depts in India today have had a good exposure to Sanskrit, 

much less its grammatical treasures).

He chose never to come into the public gaze. A silent tapasvin he was, with a very clear sense of what direction

he was to pursue in his life. Numerous students have been guided by him.

He was strict in his meditation, allowing none to disturb him.

He ate minimally, spoke minimally, and led an utterly simple life. 

There was almost no moment when he was not working.

He richly deserves a great recognition - a Padmavibhushan or its equivalent.

KSKannan

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Dr. K.S.Kannan  D.Litt.

Hon. Prof., Chanakya University, Bangalore.,

Emeritus Prof. and Director, Vishnugupta VishwaVidyapeetham, Gokarna.,

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj Chair Professor (Retd.), IIT-Madras.

Member, Advisory Board, "Prof. A K Singh AURO Chair of Indic Studies", AURO University, Surat.
Member, Expert Committee for Review of Criticism of Indian Knowledge Traditions, Central Sanskrit University (under MoE, GoI), Ganganath Jha Campus, Prayagraj.
Adjunct Faculty, Dept of Heritage Science and Technology, IIT Hyderabad.

Nominated Member, Academic Committee, Kavi Kula Guru Kalidasa University, Ramtek.
Member, Academic Council, Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthana.
Academic Director, Swadeshi Indology.
Nominated Member, IIAS, Shimla.

Former Professor, CAHC, Jain University, Bangalore.

Former Director, Karnataka Samskrit University, Bangalore.

Former Head, Dept. of Sanskrit, The National Colleges, Bangalore.

https://sites.google.com/view/kskannan

[K S Kannan]

Can Tripathiji, or somebody, kindly recount his last days and last moments?