About Sri. Ramakrishnan and his Mission

Professional Life


Sri S. Ramakrishnan took his Master’s Degree in Geology from the University of Madras and specialized in the field of Hydrogeology. His thirty three years of experience in Ground Water Technology include the services he rendered in Government of India, Rajasthan State Ground Water Board, Public Works Department of Tamilnadu and Chennai Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board. As Senior Hydrogeologist and head of the Groundwater wing of the organization for over nineteen years, he was concentrating mainly on conserving the ground water potentials in and around Chennai and in the adjoining districts, causing initiation and implementation of Ground Water Regulation Act and Rain Water Harvesting Techniques. He has presented a number of technical papers in the National and International workshops on many occasions and visited USA, Canada, Australia, The Netherlands, United Kingdom, Japan and Far East countries on different occasions. As an UNDP Project Fellow and as an UNDP WHO Project Fellow, he has visited many countries to acquire advanced knowledge on Hydrogeology, Hydrology, Geochemistry, Artificial Recharge Techniques etc. He has authored books on Groundwater and they have been prescribed by some of the universities in India for Master degree courses and also as reference books for IIT students. He is a life member of the Geological Society of India and Fellow of the Mineralogical Society of India.


Transition to propagation of Sanathana Dharma

It all began on an auspicious day at a temple, when during a Puja; Sri Ramakrishnan corrected a young priest, who was reciting ‘Ganapathy Ashtottharam’. The priest chanted one naama as ‘Dushtaaya’ instead of ‘Thushtaaya’. Sri Ramakrishnan explained to the priest that ‘Dushtaaya’ means ‘for the wicked one’, whereas ‘Thushtaaya’ means ‘for one who is contented’. In mispronouncing just one syllable, a world of difference in the meaning has been brought about! The irate priest at once retorted that, such knowledgeable person should translate the Hymns or Stotras for the convenience of ignorant people like himself. Sri Ramakrishnan felt that the comment had come as a veritable command from Lord Ganapathy himself, through the voice of the young priest. Immediately, Sri Ramakrishnan took upon the task of collection and translation of Sanskrit Hymns or Stotras, first in his mother tongue Tamil and later both in Tamil and English to cover a larger audience.


This, of course, called for a laborious peer over lexicons, grammar books, vivid commentaries by eminent scholars etc. Sri Ramakrishnan started equipping himself for this enormous task which continues till date. He also consults scholars whenever necessary. His job does not stop with mere translation and transliteration of the Hymns, but extends to incorporating word by word meaning for most of the Hymns, paraphrasing, comparison of similar words appearing elsewhere and providing meaning for them, philosophical explanations and references to Puranas or epics and also brief annotations to enable readers to get themselves more familiarized. He deliberately splits the compound words appearing in the Hymns, to enable the readers to read or chant the verses with minimum effort. In short, each book is an all comprehensive work of the Stotra on a particular deity.


Impressed by the uniqueness of this approach, with a non-profitable motive, well wishers and philanthropists have come forward to sponsor Stotras about their favourite deities and have distributed the booklets themselves to their friends, relatives during religious and auspicious functions like Varalakshmi Vratham, Janmaashtami, Ganesha Chathurthi, Navarathri, Hanumath Jayanthi, Ramanavami, Saraswathi Puja, Gruhapravesham, Wedding, Upanayanam, Seemantham, Nishchayathartham, Shashtiadbapoorthi, Satabhishekam etc.


Vision

Sri Ramakrishnan’s vision for imparting the knowledge of Sanathana Dharma to the children is to bring out a compilation of Stotras and Krithis in booklet form with meaning, as well as an accompanying CD/DVD which would help the student in learning to chant the Stotras and Krithis in the traditional method, wherein, students learn by repeating after the teacher.

Current state of the project

Sri Ramakrishnan has so far completed the material for more than 85 Stotras and more than 130 Krithis. The remaining work includes printing of books for these Stotras and Krithis, recording of Stotra chanting, recording of rendition of Krithis and final packaging.

He firmly believes that the project will see its completion in the near future with God’s grace and blessings from elders. He hopes that a large number of well wishers with generous hands will come forward to make this project a grand success.


Hari Om!

The Art of teaching Hindu Culture to Children

Sanatana Dharma or Hinduism has a wealth of knowledge in the form of Scriptures which can be classified into Shruthi, Smrithi and Puranas. Every Hindu has an innermost desire to gain a fair understanding of all these, given the fact that a detailed study of the scriptures is next to impossible, thanks to the self imposed hectic schedule we are into these days. In addition, we also want our children to appreciate and respect the rich tradition that Hinduism offers. In an era of nuclear families, gone are the days when grandmas narrate puranic stories to children when they are fed or are being put to sleep. How much have we wished that “someone” would take care of imbibing the wealth of knowledge in Hinduism to our children? “Someone” who would teach the children to recite some of the most auspicious Stotras and also teach the meaning of the Stotras, “someone” who would teach the children to sing some of the melodious devotional Krithis and at the same time teach its meaning as well? Well, it is precisely this gap, which Sri Ramakrishnan is trying to bridge.

Sri Ramakrishnan has undertaken the enormous task of bringing out a compilation of Stotras and Krithis for the sake of future generation, particularly the children who live outside India or those who do not have the opportunity to be exposed to Hinduism and Hindu culture. Stotras and Krithis are the simple and concrete expressions of the religious experience of Hinduism and a good understanding of these would provide a strong foundation to the children and at the same time, instill a sense of curiosity to know more.

How Stotras can be taught to children

Sri Ramakrishnan has come up with a list of more than 100 Stotras, which can be taught with the following aids:

• The booklet of the Stotras will contain the text of the Stotra in both Sanskrit and English. Word by word meaning will be provided and necessary explanations and references would be provided as necessary.

• Accompanying CD/DVD would help the student in learning to chant the Stotra in the traditional method – by means of repeating each line with the correct intonation.

The list of Stotras which will be part of this project is attached for your reference. Sample pages of the booklet for Ganesha Pancharatna Stotram is also attached for your perusal.

How Devotional Krithis can be taught to children

There are devotional Krithis associated with every deity, extolling the virtues and powers of that particular deity. A proper understanding of the Krithi in addition to the ability to sing in the traditional way, will reinforce the knowledge gained from Stotras learnt for that particular deity.

Following aids can be used for teaching the Krithis:

• The booklet of the Krithis will contain the text of the Krithi in both Sanskrit (even if the Krithi was composed in other languages such as Telugu, Tamil etc) and English. Word by word meaning will be provided and necessary explanations and references would be

provided as necessary.

• Accompanying CD/DVD would help the student in learning and understanding the theme and significance of one hundred devotional as well as classical compositions of great composers revered as the Trinity viz Thyagaraja, Muthuswamy Dikshithar and Shyama Shaastri, King Swaathi Thirunal, Purandaradasa etc. These Krithis (Pallavi, Anupallavi and Charanam) will be taught by learned teachers and the students will repeat them. After teaching and learning an entire song, initially the teacher, along with the students, will sing the whole Krithi and ultimately with proper accompaniments.

Current state of the project

Sri Ramakrishnan has so far completed the material for more than 85 Stotras and more than 130 Krithis. Work that is remaining includes printing the books for these Stotras and Krithis, recording of Stotra chanting, recording of rendition of Krithis and final packaging. This definitely calls for additional funds to complete the project and place it for the benefit of tomorrow’s children.

The difference which you can make

You can indeed support this ambitious and philanthropic project in any of the following ways:

• Offer financial support, either in full or partially, to bring out the complete set for the benefit of the children and adults

• Sponsor the launch of specific Stotras and Krithis for your favourite deities and distribute the booklets and CDs/DVDs to your friends & relatives during auspicious functions like Navarathri, Ganesha Chathurthi, Varalakshmi Vratham, Janmaashtami, Saraswathi Puja, Hanumath Jayanthi, Ramanavami, Wedding, Upanayanam, Seemantham, Gruhapravesam, Shastibdapoorthi, Shadabhishekam etc.

• Spread the message about this project to your friends and relatives who would be interested in supporting and sponsoring this project

Sri Ramakrishnan can be reached at +91 9986508902 or Stuthi.Krithi@yahoo.com.

Whichever way you intend to support, the real happiness that you would gain is when you see the complete package of Stotras and Krithis at your home as a ready reckoner for your children and humanity at large or when you gift this package to a child, who you want to take the rich tradition of Santana Dharma to his/her grandchildren.

Hari Om!