Pushpa Dixit ji's Gurukulam: A great way to support propagation of Samskritam

[Swarup]

Sarvebhyo NamaH

So many of us have contributed to Pushpa Dixit ji's Gurukulam in the last few years with a heartfelt donation. It gives me great pleasure to report that several thousand dollars per year have been contributed by those in our classes. And furthermore, that the Gurukulam has been running on the donations provided by our group. Great work!

Further information about Pushpa Dixit ji's Gurukulam is provided below in Addendum 1. After that in Addendum 2 is a brief history of her career work in Samskritam and how she came to be doing the work she is doing today. In the email immediately following this, you will find details about how to make a donation this year.

Mataji has a non-profit foundation which accepts donations to fund her work. The money goes to pay for food for all those residing and studying with her, as well as for related costs such as for books, pens, paper, and for medical and other costs for supporting the children at the Gurukulam. In addition, she is currently constructing a brand new hostel for the students, all paid for by our contributions! By our support, Mataji's technique of learning Paniniiya Vyakaranam is spreading, and many are benefiting.

Anyone who would like to send a contribution to support Mataji's work is welcome and encouraged to do so. We have all benefited so much from her teachings; this is an opportunity to give back and support what she is doing there in Bilaspur. She will in turn provide a receipt acknowledging the donation. Mataji is a beautiful person on a special mission to spread the teachings of Panini. I encourage all to consider contributing what you can to support her work. Whatever the size of the donation, it brings Mataji tremendous joy to see that there are people in the US, all around India, and indeed all around the world who love her work and take interest in supporting it.

Hari Om,
Swarup


Addendum 1: About Pushpa Dixit ji's Gurukulam

All participating in our Paniniiya Vyakarana vargas are well familiar with the brilliant technique taught by Mataji for learning Paniniiya Vyakaranam. For a number of years now Mataji has been running her home as a gurukulam for teaching people of all ages this beautiful approach. All her teaching is free of charge, and she dedicates especially for the full time teaching of children of diverse ages from all over India, who come to live in her home with her and learn vyakaranam. In her 70's, Mataji continues to cook for everyone every day, and to teach them morning, afternoon, and night. Sometimes there are 10 children living with her, and sometimes there are 60-80 children living with her. Gurukulams located in other parts of India sometimes send Mataji their entire student body for 2-3 months at a time so they can learn her method. These gurukulums send up to 80 kids at a time aged 10-18 to live with her and learn from her. There is also a core group of 5-8 children who live and study with Mataji permanently, for years together. Other groups as well as individuals also come, and every time I have come there, it has been a very active atmosphere with 10-15 students minimum living there. Many of the students are from poorer families who are unable to contribute financially to the running costs of the gurukulam. Plus not only is learning at Mataji's gurukulum free, living there is as well. There are no charges for any aspect of coming to live and learn there. By this Mataji captures the true spirit of gurukulam education: it is for all.


Addendum 2: History of Mataji's work with Paniniiya Vyakaranam

Some of those in our google groups who are not in our Paniniiya Vyakarana varga may not know who Mataji is. I will introduce her briefly here. Smt Puspa Dixit is a grammarian (vaiyAkaraNa) who lives in Bilaspur in the state of Chhattisgarh. She taught traditional vyakaranam for many years at the university level. Over the course of those years, Smt Puspa Dixit noticed certain trends and patterns in Panini's Asthadhyayi which gradually led her over the course of years, to the conclusion that the traditional techniques of teaching Paniniiya Vyakarana as established by Bhattoji Dixit (the writer of Vaiyakarana Siddhantakaumudii, the main commentary on Asthadhyayi) were not the best approach for passing on this ancient knowledge. Rather, she noted that the approach taken by Panini was itself quite different from that adopted by Bhattoji Dixit. And that if the approach taken by Panini could be adopted at the didactic level, it would be far more effective than the complex path taken by Bhattoji Dixit.

So when Smt Puspa Dixit retired from university teaching, she began delving deep into this idea, which had been in her heart and mind for years. And after coming to a number of profound conclusions, developed a theory for an entirely new approach to teaching Asthadhyayi -- based on the method of organization of Asthadhyayi itself. Although the style is Panini's own and from that perspective not at all new, it has in the entire history of thousands of years of teaching Asthadhyayi, never been applied at the didactic level. That is, Panini's own approach had never been brought to bear in the technique for teaching his ideas to students. Smt Puspa Dixit, otherwise known to her students as Mataji, is the first and only person to have done this. Having developed a clear vision as to what the proper approach should be, Mataji began writing books about it and leading workshops all over India, at universities and gurukulams. She subsequently started her own gurukulam to propagate the same. All those who study under Mataji or who study her techniques come away with a profound realization as to how straightforward and indeed easy to learn, Paniniiya Vyakaranam is. Whereas those laboring under the traditional methods still today in universities throughout India and indeed the world over, struggle to understand a complex array of pathways with comparatively little fruit to show for their efforts.

Our Paniniiya Vyakarana varga is based wholly on the techniques given by Mataji. And all those who have studied in our varga have direct experience of the simplicity and beauty of the techniques Mataji has distilled and presented. This is indeed a revolution in Samskrita Vyakaranam. By studying this approach you become an important medium for its spread in the world. And also, by supporting Mataji's gurukulam you support the biijam from which all of this knowledge is emanating.

[Swarup]

[Swarup]