This University Was Founded On 22 March, 1958 By The Then Chief Minister Dr. Sampurnanand And
Education Minister Pt. Kamlapati Tripathi At Varanasi, The Oldest Cultural City Of India, With The Name Of "Varanaseya Snskrit Vishwavidyalaya", D. A.N.Jha Being The First Vice Chancellor. It Was Renamed A Sampurnanand Sanskrit University under the U.P. State University Act, 1973, W.e.f. 16th Dec. 1974. The university has since been proceeding along the set path of the programme while trying to achieve its goal. If its former shape “Govt. Sanskrit College” is included it has an excellent
history of about 205 years. The
history Sampurnanand Sanskrit University includes
history of the Sanskrit
Education itself. The guideline set by the glorious past of the Govt. Sanskrit College, Benares has been most appropriate for the University. Under a proposal af Sri Jonathan Duncan, the then resident of East India Company and the approval of Governor General Lord Carnwalis, this Govt. Sanskrit College was established in 1791. Pt. Kashinath was its first teacher and Acharya. There was an arrangement for the teaching of subjects such as Veda, Vedanta, Purana, Ayurveda, Sahitya, Astrology, Theology, Mimamsa, Nyaya etc. The college was conducted with the surplus revenue of Benares State which was first deposited in a special account and later remitted to the general head of education.
Faculty includes Veda-Vedanga, In this faculty, there are four departments: Department of Veda, Department of Vyakarna, Department of Jyotish, Department of Dharmashastra. Sahitya Sanskriti consists of Department of Sahitya, Department of Puranetihas, Department of Prachin Rajshastra-Arthashastra. Darshana (Philosophy) consists of Department of Vedanta, Department of Sankhyayogtantram, Department of Comparative Religion and Philosophy, Department of Nyaya, Department of Mimansa. Shraman Vidya consists of Department of Pali and Theravada. Adhunik Jyan Vigyan consists of Department of Modern Language and Linguistics. Ayurveda consists of Kayachikitsa Tantra (Internal Medicine), Shalya Tantra (Surgery), Shalakya Tantra (ENT), Kaumarabhritya Tantra (Pediatrics), Agada Tantra (Toxicology), Bajikarana Tantra (Purification of the Genital organs), Rasayana Tantra (Health and Longevity), The establishment of a Bhuta Vidya (Spiritual Healing) department is currently being proposed.
More than 1,200 Sanskrit-medium schools and colleges are affiliated with this university. This is the only university in India which enjoys such widespread affiliation throughout the country. The statistics of affiliated colleges are as follows: In Uttar Pradesh there are 963 affiliated colleges, In Rajasthan there are 7 affiliated colleges, in Maharashtra there are 7 affiliated colleges, in Gujarat there are 21 affiliated colleges, in Delhi there are 13 affiliated colleges, in Kashmir there are 2 affiliated colleges and in Sikkim there are 4 affiliated colleges. In Himachal Pradesh there are 3 affiliated colleges.
When the status of this institution was Sanskrit college, all research activities were carried out by the principal. This includes the work done for manuscripts which were kept in the Saraswati Bhavan Granthalaya. When the institution became a university, the whole research work was supervised by the director of the Research Institute. The director is the chief editor of the famous book series Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala and is also the chief editor of the journal Sarasvati Susama. The director has to supervise all the research activities in the university. The director is the academic head of the University. Famous grammarian Vagish Shastri made valuable contribution towards the Sanskrit journal Sarasvati Susama and edited numerous books of the Sarasvati Bhavana Granthamala series.
Last Updated on: Nov 25, 2024