Full Script in English
Preface
- Namaskar! I, Raghavendra Prappanna, warmly welcome you all — and in fact, I greet you all — to the YouTube channel “Apni Paganadri Par.”
Friends! In the previous video, under the series “Ek Shaam Purohon Ke Naam” (An Evening in the Name of the Ancients), you would have heard the story of Hindustan’s great luminaries — Ashvaghosha and Kashyaka. In this episode of “Ek Shaam Purohon Ke Naam”, today we bring you the story of that extraordinary personality of Hindustan who, because of simply sitting in a gathering of scholars, was grabbed by the throat, shoved out with insulting words that scraped his soul, and pushed outside the assembly.
Later, this same individual — not in one, not in two, but in at least 10 different traditions of knowledge — not only acquired knowledge at the highest pinnacle, but also wrote texts in different traditions of knowledge such that the very names of his compositions became the identity of an entire era.
Do you know who this personality born on the soil of Hindustan is? The name of this great luminary is — Vaiyākaraṇic Āchārya Nagesh Bhatt.
You may know that the great grammarian Maharshi Panini composed the timeless reference text of the science of grammar — “Aṣṭādhyāyī” (The Eight Chapters). To bring this text down to the ground level of understanding, the great scholar Patanjali wrote the Mahābhāṣya (Great Commentary) on it. This Mahābhāṣya is in 84 volumes. - Let me ask you something.
If you were given a very good article — one that is very deep, reveals something profound, and is only 100 pages long — how much effort would you make to understand it? How many times would you read it in your attempt to understand?
Meaning: in the first reading, you understood something; in the second reading, a little more; in the third reading, even more. Doing this, how many readings would you go up to? Five times? Seven times?
But imagine — Patanjali’s commentary on the Aṣṭādhyāyī, which is in 84 volumes — Nagesh Bhatt studied this enormous text 21 times from his guru’s mouth. How many times he must have read it himself, how much self-study (swadhyaya) he must have done — no one knows.
“A Prosperous Tree Does Not Have Smooth Leaves Even When Young” - Among you, there may be people who are parents of boys/girls, siblings, grandfathers/grandmothers, maternal/paternal grandparents, uncles/aunts, or friends or teachers of boys/girls.
If yes, then many of you would be troubled, upset, or angry that today, in the culture of show-off, in the culture of “grade-chasing,” or in the trap of falsly imprisoning people in the web of their own false achievements, some schools create a separate group of students who only chase high marks and throw all their resources on just those children — so that the school can be shown as a “high-achievement” school.
In this process, students who comparatively score fewer marks become victims of neglect.
This mindset is not only the product of schools — its roots are far deeper in society.
In society, the following saying is prevalent: “Honahar birwan ke hoat chikne paat” (A prosperous tree does not have smooth leaves even when young), and also — “Sapoot ke paav palan mein hi dikh jaate hain” (A child’s footsteps are visible even in the cradle). - Have you ever thought — how do such formal and informal beliefs, assumptions, and establishments affect the mind of society?
How do they negatively impact childhood? How do they shrink and constrain the efforts made on children?
Actually, such stereotypes promote a kind of determinism.
What this means is: in this saying, the belief is hidden that some people are inherently brilliant from childhood. In this belief, those children are neglected who do not show any signs of extraordinariness in their childhood — they are considered non-potential.
The result is: children who are considered non-extraordinary, i.e., ordinary — neither is any attention given to them, nor is anyone willing to invest resources or effort toward them.
Beliefs like “Honahar birwan ke hoat chikne paat” create a kind of stereotype regarding talent, education, effort, and resource allocation — they cast the trap of a kind of determinism. And in the mill of this determinism, the other children — boys and girls — become victims of a kind of drought, because attention is not given to them, because the flow of resources and effort does not go toward them. - You might be thinking that the childhood of a scholar like Nagesh Bhatt, who was an expert in many knowledge traditions, must have been extraordinary.
In this context, knowing about Nagesh Bhatt’s childhood can help us step out of this storm of “extraordinariness-belief.”
So let’s hear about Nagesh Bhatt’s childhood — from which, later, emerged an outstanding scholar in 10 different knowledge traditions.
Nagesh Bhatt’s childhood does not indicate any kind of extraordinariness.
Until the age of 16, Nagesh Bhatt continued to herd cows, extract their milk, and practice pahalwani (traditional wrestling). In this form, his study and teaching had no special relationship — he was only engaged in wrestling.
In this way, it can be said that in the childhood of a scholar in 10 different knowledge traditions, no extraordinariness is visible.
Transforming the Energy of Horrible Humiliation into Positivity - What happens to most of us in terrible humiliation?
We become agitated, we go into mental depression. In today’s times, there are also many examples where humiliation shakes us so much that we even erase our own lives. There have been many recent incidents in higher education institutions that are examples of this.
In history, we have also come across many such examples.
But today, I am going to tell you a story in which Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt transformed humiliation into a rocky inspiration and placed himself in the queue of the best.
The story is this:
Nagesh Bhatt, who until the age of 16 herded cows and practiced wrestling, had a desire charked upon him. The desire was that he wanted to go and sit in a gathering of scholars.
One day, such a gathering—such a goshti (scholars’ assembly)—was happening. Nagesh Bhatt saw this as an opportunity to fulfill his desire. He dressed in the clothes worn by scholars at that time, created a similar appearance, and went and sat in the scholars’ assembly.
The scholars recognized that this was not a scholar, but a man who had dressed up in a scholar’s guise — actually, he was a fool.
Then what happened? They gave him the same punishment that was given for such an incident at that time.
The punishment was: his throat was grabbed, he was lifted up in the middle of the assembly, and while pushing him out, they showered him with insulting, scraping words that cut through him, and shoved him outside the assembly.
This judicial punishment is called “Chandrādhar Nyāy Dand”. - This humiliation hurt him, wounded him, scraped him inside — but he did not scatter and break, did not get ruined, did not make any attempt to destroy himself.
Instead, he made a determination that turned his life 360 degrees — and that, creatively, positively.
The personality that emerged from humiliation transformed humiliation into positive energy — and the fruit of that is still being enjoyed by society today: the fruit of knowledge.
The result was: later, he did not create work in one, not in two, but in at least 10 different knowledge traditions — he created those supreme compositions that are still considered supreme and excellent works.
“Not Only Bhishma’s Vow, But Also a Vow for Knowledge” - You have heard about Bhishma’s vow.
Regarding Bhishma’s vow, you see that it was for Hastinapura. It was done out of love for his father.
Many of us, many times, make many kinds of vows. Most often, what kind of vow?
A vow that: “Until I install a red light in my car, I will not stop.”
Someone makes a vow that: “I will only take breath after annihilating my enemy.”
Someone makes a vow that: “I will only consider myself human after building the most grand mansion in the village, town, or city.”
If you observe, there is a certain temperament in such vows. If you pay attention, you will find that such vows are for material gain, for power, for creating dominance.
But you have probably hardly heard of a vow in which there is no material gain, but only dedication to knowledge. - Today, we hear about such a vow.
What happened was:
When the adolescent Nagesh Bhatt, from the humiliation called “Ardha Chandrādhar Nyāy Dand” in the scholars’ assembly — when he was grabbed by the throat, scraped with insulting words, and pushed outside the assembly — he made a vow.
Not a vow for any material achievement, not to obtain any thing, not to obtain any position — but for knowledge.
The vow was:
“शरीरं पातयामि वा पंडिताग्रत्वं साधयामि वा”
What this means: either now I will make myself capable of sitting in the very front row of scholars, or this body will go.
The simple meaning: it cannot be that I am still alive and also not capable of sitting in the very front row of scholars.
Tapasya (Austerity) for Knowledge - When Nagesh Bhatt was made to go out of the assembly under “Ardha Chandrādhar Nyāy” — i.e., grabbed by the throat and pushed out, humiliated — he was distressed by this humiliation.
To destroy his feeling of foolishness, he began to perform sadhana (spiritual practice) of Bhagavati Vageshwari Devi.
In this sadhana, he gave up gold, rest — he gave up everything.
From his sadhana, Bhagavati Vageshwari, pleased, gave him blessings and said:
“Go to a worthy guru and study the scriptures. In very little time, you will become proficient in all scriptures including Vyākaraṇa, and you will become capable of sitting in the very front row of scholars.”
The Composition Ground of Nagesh Bhatt - Do you know — where did Nagesh Bhatt sit to compose his works?
Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt, living in his own house near a huge building of a famous Mahajan (wealthy merchant), next to a famous Kashmiri vyayamshala (wrestling gym), under the Mahalaya named Siddeshwri within Kashi Nagar (Varanasi), did his study-teaching and gave birth to his compositions.
Love for Study and Effort - Usually, today it is seen that reading of original writings, books, research papers is slowly decreasing.
People want to see more and more simplified and streamlined forms. Instead of going to an original work, people generally want to get AI simplify and summarize original works.
This is a kind of convenience-ism — escaping from the seriousness and complexities of thoughts.
In such a time, when it is being said that this is an era of illiteracy and counter-literacy, remembering someone like Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt, a dedicated lover of study of original texts, is watering that tendency — the tendency from which the common person is inspired and motivated to go to original sources, to study-teach them, so that false authority is not created on knowledge, but there is true grip on it. - It is a popular story about Nagesh Bhatt that he listened to Patanjali’s 84-volume Mahābhāṣya 21 times from his guru’s mouth.
No one knows how much self-study (swadhyaya) Nagesh Bhatt did to enter into the seriousness of meaning.
The Victory of Knowledge Over Poverty - There is a famous story related to Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt:
Once, a donor came to Nagesh Bhatt and, seeing Nagesh Bhatt’s economic condition, offered some financial help.
On this, Nagesh Bhatt became serious and began to think for a few moments. After some time of contemplation, he picked up a broken manuscript lying beside him, pointed to one line of it, and said to the donor:
“I am not able to ascertain the meaning of this one line. Can you explain its meaning to me?”
Do you know who that donor was?
He was King Shri Ram Singh of Shringverpur.
Hearing this response of the great pandit, the king said: “I cannot solve this problem. The solution to this can only come from someone like Vageshwari’s son. If there is any problem of money, then the king can solve it.”
On this, Nagesh Bhatt said: “Questions like these, we ask our wives.”
On this, his wife said: “There is one pot of grain in our house, which will last for one month. So there is no need for money or grain.”
Hearing this kind of talk, King Ram Singh of Shringverpur formally took Guru Diksha from Acharya Nagesh and provided a monthly pension of ₹100. At the same time, he also arranged for the printing of all compositions written by him.
“What the Boatman Said, the Scholar Implemented” - Imagine:
You are in some confusion, in some doubt, or struggling with a career crisis — then generally, whose words will you listen to?
Those whom you consider superior to yourself — whether superior in knowledge, in intelligence, or in experience — because in our mind there is a kind of high-low hierarchy.
But this story from the life of great Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt says something else.
He changed an important decision of his career from just a boatman’s remark.
What is needed to do such a thing?
For such a thing, you do not need scholarship or age — you need a receptive mind, which Nagesh Bhatt had. - The story is:
Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt, living in Kashi — the city of scholars — was composing scriptures. In this process, Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt was also not able to earn money enough to run his home.
Due to lack of money, they thought: let’s go outside Kashi and earn some money.
So Nagesh Bhatt, with the intention of earning money, one day got ready and called the boatman who was going to cross the Ganga, and said:
“Boatman! I am a poor person, so I cannot give you fare. Please cross me over the Ganga.”
Hearing Acharya Nagesh’s words, the boatman said:
“Hey! You are the great scholar Nagesh Bhatt. Where are you going, leaving Kashi? Stay in Kashi and continue your study. You do not need to go anywhere else.”
Hearing the boatman’s words, Nagesh Bhatt felt ashamed and returned again to Kashi.
After this, he composed scriptures in many traditions.
A Sannyasi (Renunciate) in the World of Knowledge - Let’s imagine one situation:
If you come to know that a very big gathering is happening at the national level or state level — a gathering such that people of all kinds are participating, all the important people of the country are gathering there — named literary writers, artists — i.e., whoever is the best in any field, all of them are present in that gathering — and that the organization of that gathering does not happen in 6 months, a year, two years, five years, but such an organization is done only occasionally by people who have the capacity to organize it, and such people who have that capacity are born only occasionally in this world.
And such that going to that gathering, participating in it, will raise your social status, rank, influence, and economic level — very, very high.
Then in such a situation, what will you do?
When you have also received an invitation to participate in that gathering with respect?
Will you go or not go to this gathering?
Generally, you will say: Yes! I will participate.
But Nagesh Bhatt’s story says something else. - The year is 1742.
Maharaja Shri Jaysingh of Jaipur organized an Ashwamedh Yajna (horse sacrifice). In that yajna, Acharya Nagesh Bhatt was invited with respect.
But because of being immersed in Shastra Sadhana (scriptural practice), Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt had taken Kshetra Sannyasa — Kshetra Sannyasa means taking a vow not to go outside a chosen place.
Because of this reason, he did not go to the Ashwamedh Yajna happening in Jaipur.
You know how much importance the Ashwamedh Yajna held in society and politics at that time. You must have definitely heard of its mention in the Mahabharata.
Today, when scholars are found ready to flip not only their Shastra Sadhana but even their knowledge concerns for very small material gains, Nagesh Bhatt’s story seems like a story from some other world.
Becoming Maharshi Dadhichi in Knowledge - You must have heard the story of Maharshi Dadhichi!
When there was war between Rakshasas (demons) and Devas (gods), and the Devas were not able to succeed in controlling the Rakshasas in any way.
In such a situation, to control the Rakshasas, an effective weapon was needed.
In this, the Devas requested Maharshi Dadhichi that if they make weapons from the bones of his body, they will be able to defeat the Rakshasas.
Hearing the Deva’s intention, Maharshi Dadhichi gave up his body so that the Devas could make weapons from their bones.
After Dadhichi gave up his body, the weapon made from their bones was called Vajra (thunderbolt).
Vajra is considered the principal victorious weapon of Indra, the king of the Devas. - But Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt gave up his body for knowledge.
In this way, we can say that Nagesh Bhatt performed a different kind of body donation for knowledge.
It may have come to your notice that Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt’s childhood until 16 years of age was spent herding cows and practicing malla-yuddha — i.e., wrestling.
It is said that from this, his body became very strong and well-proportioned. But due to continuous Sadhana of scriptures, the body was gradually neglected, and the result was that his body became weak and a big hump came out on his back.
But, without caring for that hump, suffering pain, Nagesh Bhatt remained engaged in composing scriptures.
Due to the hump coming out, he had difficulty in sitting. But for composition, he had to sit for a long time, and because of the hump, he could not even take support.
In this, he found a trick.
Where he sat, he made a hole in the wall in the shape of the hump.
Nagesh Bhatt fit his hump into this hole, sat with the support of the wall, and composed. - This is the story of Nagesh Bhatt.
Today, it seems like a story from some other world. Where are such people found today — who, without any purpose, without any material gain, without any lust for prestige, without any desire for position — for knowledge, for scripture composition, give up their body?
But the history of our ancestors tells us that there were such enthusiasts of knowledge among us who, inspired by ideals, remained engaged in the composition of knowledge.
On such imagination, on such a plane, to live life — how impossible does it seem today?
It seems that the human plane of life from which we had the capacity to live, lifting from the plane of material life, to a different level, to a different plane — that is now on the verge of becoming extinct.
Nagesh Bhatt’s story reminds us of this disappearing, vanishing plane of human life.
A Practitioner in Multiple Traditions of Knowledge - You must be seeing, understanding, and also experiencing that in today’s time, becoming proficient in even one scripture, mastering it, is becoming how rare.
In this, imagine — a person who not only mastered many traditions of knowledge, but also wrote many excellent texts in many traditions of knowledge.
And do you know what the name of that person is?
The name of that personality is — Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt.
Vyākaraṇa Shastra (Grammar)
Sahitya Shastra (Literature)
Dharma Shastra (Religious Law)
Tark Shastra (Logic)
Veda Vyakhyan (Vedic Exegesis)
Vedanta-related texts
Samkhya Shastra
Yoga Shastra
Tantra Shastra
Purana-related texts — these are examples.
It is not that Vaiyākaraṇic Nagesh Bhatt composed only one text in each of these traditions of knowledge — he composed many texts in each of these different traditions of knowledge.
Number of Texts Composed in Each Tradition:
Total: 60+ original texts
Some Major Compositions:
Laghushabdenduśekhara
Vrihshabdenduśekhara
Sphota Vada (Theory of Sphota)
Vaiyākaraṇasiddhāntamañjūṣā
This is considered the summit text of Vyākaraṇa-philosophy.
Final Line:
Vaiyākaraṇic Āchārya Nagesh Bhatt — the scholar who transformed humiliation into the throne of knowledge, the cowherd who became the grammarian of India, the vow-maker who chose knowledge over life itself.
His story is not just history — it is a mirror to what we have lost, and what we can become again. - https://youtube.com/shorts/mRdIxhTywb0?feature=share