Ram Karan Sharma

20th century poet (1927-2018)

Ram Karan Sharma was a Sanskrit poet and scholar. He was born in 1927, in Shivapur in the Saran district of Bihar.

Life

He was awarded an MA in Sanskrit and Hindi from Patna University as well as Sahityacharya, Vyakarana Shastri and Vedanta Shastri degrees.^{[citation needed]} He earned a PhD in Linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley, under the guidance of Murray B. Emeneau.^{[citation needed]} Sharma wrote in both Sanskrit and English. Apart from his literary works he has also translated and edited books on Indian medicine, epics, and Puranas. He also contributed research papers in various seminars, journals and books in the field of Indology.^{[citation needed]}

Death

He died on 18 December 2018 in India.^[1]

Awards and honours

He received awards including the Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit in 1989, the Bharatiya Bhasha Parishad Award in 1989, the Delhi Sanskrit Academy Award, and the prestigious Presidential Award. He received the 2005 Krishna Kanta Handique Memorial Award,^[2] given in recognition of his contributions to promote the cause of Sanskrit language and literature. In 2004, he was given Vachaspati Puraskar by the K. K. Birla Foundation to honour writers for their work in Sanskrit during the previous ten years for his poetic work Gaganvani.^[3]

He was a fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society and Member of the American Oriental Society.^{[citation needed]}

He was vice chancellor of Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga, from 1974–1980 and also held the same position at Sampurnanand Sanskrit University, Varanasi, from 1984-1985.^[4] He has held visiting professorships at the University of California, Berkeley, the University of Chicago, Columbia University, and the University of Pennsylvania.^[4]

Select bibliography

Sanskrit Poetry

Sandhya
Patheyasatakam
Vina
Kavita
"sarvamsaha"

Sanskrit novels

Rayisah
Sima

Works in English

Elements of Poetry in the Mahabharata
Anthology of Medieval Sanskrit Literature (included in volume one of Paniker's Anthology of Medieval Indian Literature)
Researches in Indian and Buddhist Philosophy: Essays in Honour of Professor Alex Wayman

Other major works

Śivasahasranāmāṣṭakam
Sivasukiyam
Gaganavani
Caraka Samhita
Rejuvenative Healthcare in Ayurveda
Sarvamangala
Sumanomala
Dipika
Bhagavad Gita

Edited works

Gaṇeśa Purāṇa

Works about him

Rangnath, S. (1997). Poetry of Dr. Ram Karan Sharma. Pratibha Prakashan. ISBN 978-81-85268-68-2.

References

^ "Prof. Ram Karan Sharma | Ananda Ashram". www.anandaashram.org. Retrieved 21 October 2020.
^ "Manmohan announces Rs. 6,000 cr. for Assam". The Hindu. 17 January 2006.
^ "Vachaspati Puraskar". The Hindu. 19 February 2005.
^ ^a ^b Gayatree Sharma (29 December 2008). "Sanskrit has never been dead". The Times of India. Archived from the original on 23 March 2012. Retrieved 2 March 2009.

External links

The Library of Congress Profile

Sahitya Akademi Award for Sanskrit

1950–1970

History of Dharmaśāstra by P. V. Kane (1956)
Vaidik Vijnan aur Bhartiya Sanskriti by Giridhar Sharma Chaturvedi (1961)
A History of Dvait School of Vedanta and its Literature by B. N. Krishnamurti Sharma (1963)
Tantrik Vangmaya Men Shaktadrishti by Gopinath Kaviraj (1964)
Bhoja's Sringara Prakasa by V. Raghavan (1966)
Chitrakavya Kautukam by Ramaroop Pathak (1967)
Srigurugovindasimhacharitam by Satya Vrat Shastri (1968)
Shabdatarangini by V. Subramanya Sastri (1970)

1971–1980

Sritilakayasornavah by Madhav Shrihari Aney (1973)
Shrishivarajyodayam by S.B. Warnekar (1974)
Buddhavijayakavyam by Shanti Bhikshu Shastri (1977)
Keralodayah by K. N. Ezhuthachan (1979)
Kristubhagavatam by P. C. Devassia (1980)

1981–1990

Kapishayani by Jagannath Pathak (1981)
Visvabhanu by P. K. Narayana Pillai (1982)
Shri Shambulingeswar Vijaya Campu by Pandharinathacharya Galagali (1983)
Sindhu-Kanya by Shrinath S. Hasurkar (1984)
Vindhyavasini Vijaya Mahakavyam by Vasant Trimbak Shevde (1985)
Sri Radhacarita Mahakavyam by Kalika Prasad Shukla (1986)
Avinasi by Biswanarayan Shastri (1987)
Ikshugandha by Abhiraj Rajendra Mishra (1988)
Sandhya by Ram Karan Sharma (1989)
Srimat-Pratap Ranayanam Mahakavyam by Ogeti Parikshit Sharma (1990)

1991–2000

Svatantrya Sambhavam by Rewa Prasad Dwivedi (1991)
Bhishma Chiritam by Hari Narayan Dikshit (1992)
Jayantika by Jaggu Alwar Iyengar (1993)
Sandhanam by Radhavallabh Tripathi (1994)
Sri Radha Panchashati by Rasik Vihari Joshi (1995)
Isha by Keshab Chandra Dash (1996)
Triveni by Shyam Dev Parashar (1997)
Pratanini by Bachchoolal Awasthi (1998)
Tadeva Gaganam Saivadhara by Srinivas Rath (1999)
Jagadguru Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswati Vijayam by S. Srinivasa Sarma (2000)