Shai0778 at 06:15, 6 February 2026

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{{Short description|Indian educationist (born 1956)}}
{{BLP sources|date=December 2018}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2020}}
{{Use Indian English|date=January 2020}}
{{Infobox person
| pre-nominals = [[Padmashri]]
| name = Chamu Krishna Shastry
| post-nominals =
| image = C.M._Krishna_Shastry.jpg
| alt = 
| caption =
| native_name =
| native_name_lang = चमू कृष्ण शास्त्री
| pronunciation =
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1956|01|23}}
| birth_place = Kedila, [[Bantwal taluk]], [[Dakshina Kannada district]], [[Karnataka]].
| disappeared_date = 
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| citizenship = Indian
| education =
| alma_mater = [[Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha]], [[Tirupati]]
| occupation = Sanskrit language activist.
| years_active = 1981–present
| era =
| employer =
| organization =
| known_for = Revival of Sanskrit
| notable_works = 
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| title = {{Unbulleted list|Co-Founder & former General Secretary of [[Samskrita Bharati]]|[[Trustee]] secretary of Samskrit Promotion Foundation}}
| term =
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| party =
| movement = Speak Samskritam Movement (1981)
| opponents =
| boards = '''Chairman''', High Powered Committee for the Promotion of Indian Languages, [[Ministry of Education (India)]], [[Government of India]],<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.education.gov.in/sites/upload_files/mhrd/files/HPC.pdf | title=Constitution of High Powered Committee for the Promotion of Indian Languages | access-date=2024-02-24}}</ref><br /> '''Member''' of Constitution of Mission High Level committee (MHLC) of Indian Knowledge System (IKS).
| criminal_charge = 
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| spouse = Sarita Shastry<ref name="sastryhindu">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-features/tp-fridayreview/With-a-vision-for-Sanskrit/article17281133.ece |title=With a vision for Sanskrit |last=Subrahmanya |first=Sudhee |date=10 February 2017 |work=The Hindu |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref>
| partner = 
| children = Chamu Shiva Shastry<ref name="classiccase" />
| parents = 
| mother =
| father = Chamu Ishwara Shastry<ref name="revolutionary">{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/revolutionary-educationists-get-padma-shri/articleshow/56799612.cms |title=Revolutionary educationists get Padma Shri |date=27 January 2017 |work=The Hindu |access-date=23 December 2018}}</ref>
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| awards = [[Padmashri]] (2017)
| website = 
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}}

'''Chamu Krishna Shastry'''<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://vijayavani.net/%E0%B2%A8%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A1%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%A8-9-%E0%B2%B8%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A7%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%B0%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%86-%E0%B2%AA%E0%B2%A6%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%AE-%E0%B2%AA%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B0%E0%B2%B6/ |title=vijayavani, ನಾಡಿನ 9 ಸಾಧಕರಿಗೆ ಪದ್ಮ ಪ್ರಶಸ್ತಿ ಕಿರೀಟ, 26.01.2017 |access-date=27 January 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202065009/http://vijayavani.net/%E0%B2%A8%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A1%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%A8-9-%E0%B2%B8%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%A7%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%B0%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%97%E0%B3%86-%E0%B2%AA%E0%B2%A6%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%AE-%E0%B2%AA%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B0%E0%B2%B6/ |archive-date=2 February 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref> (born 23 January 1956) is an Indian [[Educationist]] who has been working for the revival of the [[Sanskrit language]]. He is the [[trustee]] and [[Secretary]] of [[:sa:संस्कृतसंवर्धनप्रतिष्ठानम्|Samskrit Promotion Foundation]]. He is also the co-founder of [[Samskrita Bharati]]. Now he is spearheading a movement to teach ''Sanskrit Through Sanskrit'' On 25 January 2017, [[Government of India]] announced "[[Padma Shri]]" award in the category ''Literature and education'' for his contribution towards the promotion of Sanskrit.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://padmaawards.gov.in/PDFS/PadmaAwards-2017_25012017.pdf|title=PadmaAwards-2017|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170129231739/http://www.padmaawards.gov.in/PDFS/PadmaAwards-2017_25012017.pdf|archive-date=2017-01-29}}</ref>

== Early life ==
Shastry was born on 23 January 1956 in Kedila village near [[Mangalore]] ([[Bantwal taluk]]).<ref name="revolutionary" /> He learnt Sanskrit from the [[Rashtriya Sanskrit Vidyapeetha]] at [[Tirupati]].<ref name="classiccase" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OBoSDAAAQBAJ&q=%22Chamu+Krishna+Shastry%22&pg=PA226|title=Handbook of Language and Ethnic Identity:The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts (Volume 2): The Success-Failure Continuum in Language and Ethnic Identity Efforts ({{!}})|last1=Fishman|first1=Joshua|last2=Garcia|first2=Ofelia|date=2010-01-01|publisher=Oxford University Press, USA|isbn=9780195392456|language=en}}</ref> As a teenaged Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh worker Shastry was imprisoned during the Emergency. Alone in his cell, he took to reading biographies. In the writings of [[Vinayak Damodar Savarkar]] and [[Swami Vivekananda]] he learnt how Sanskrit could unlock scientific, mathematical and medical knowledge buried in ancient Sanskrit texts.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Mahurkar|first1=Uday|title=The Right Word|url=http://www.india-today.com/itoday/19991206/offtrack.html|publisher=India Today|access-date=21 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100811071623/http://india-today.com/itoday/19991206/offtrack.html|archive-date=11 August 2010|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Career==

===Speak Samskrit movement ===
Krishna Shastry, along with some of his friends, went on to start the ‘''Speak Samskrit''’ Movement in 1981 from [[Bangalore]].<ref name="classiccase" /> His method of teaching Sanskrit is to let the student learn it in the same language rather than through another language by translation.<ref name="Shastry- DNA June 2013">{{cite news|title=A man's bid to revive deva vani, Sanskrit|url=http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report-a-mans-bid-to-revive-deva-vani-sanskrit-1843587|access-date=2 February 2015|work=[[Daily News and Analysis]]|date=4 June 2013}}</ref> Learning Sanskrit can be a forbidding exercise because it is being taught through translation. To make it easier for the students, Shastry's method is not to learn the language through grammar, but to teach Sanskrit as it is spoken.<ref name="csm">{{Cite news|url=https://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0705/p14s02-lihc.html|title=Sanskrit echoes around the world|last=Venkatraman|first=Vijaysree|date=2007-07-05|newspaper=Christian Science Monitor|issn=0882-7729|access-date=2016-12-21}}</ref> Students thus do not have to wrestle with the nuances of an arcane syntactics. It's then easier to master the language, so much so that even semi-literate people can opt for the course.

=== Samskrita Bharati ===
{{main|Samskrita Bharati}}
The movement eventually evolved into the not-for-profit organisation Samskrita Bharati, a voluntary body committed to the cause of Sanskrit.<ref name="classiccase">{{cite news|last1=Unni|first1=Aparna|title=A classic case of Chamu Sastry|url=http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article582540.ece|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150202162836/http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/article582540.ece|url-status=dead|archive-date=2 February 2015|access-date=2 February 2015|publisher=[[The New Indian Express]]|date=4 August 2012}}</ref> Shastry's efforts led to the development of the very popular "''Ten-day Sanskrit Speaking Course''" of Samskrita Bharati. He has inspired a dedicated work force for Sanskrit across the country which is leading the propagation work at various states. Samskrita Bharati and Shastry have been implementing the ''10 day course'' through a network of 250 full-time workers and 5,000<ref name="csm" /> [[Samskrita Bharati|Sanskrit Bharati]] volunteers. It also helps that the course is offered for free.<ref name="Mahurkar - The Right Word" /> Samskrita Bharati claims to have enabled nearly ten million people to learn and converse in Sanskrit the language, one hundred thousand of whom have decided to use Sanskrit at home in true ancient style.<ref name="Mahurkar - The Right Word">{{cite news|last1=Mahurkar|first1=Uday|title=The Right Word|url=http://www.india-today.com/itoday/19991206/offtrack.html|access-date=2 February 2015|publisher=[[India Today]]|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924034416/http://www.india-today.com/itoday/19991206/offtrack.html|archive-date=24 September 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Shastry's efforts have also led many universities and colleges to adopt the communicative teaching method for Sanskrit. In the US, SAFL (Samskrit as a Foreign Language) is a popular course among the children of Indian origin. Samskrita Bharati is active all over India and in 13 countries including USA, Canada, UK and the UAE.<ref name="classiccase" /> The organisation is also credited with the revival of Sanskrit in [[Gujarat]]<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vEEWAQAAMAAJ&q=%22Chamu+Krishna+Shastry%22|title=India Today International|date=1999-01-01|publisher=Living Media India Limited|language=en}}</ref>

A few unique experiments like "''Samskrit Homes''" and "''Samskrit mother tongue Children''" are popular. "''Saraswati Seva''" is a project through which hundreds of books from other Indian and foreign Languages are translated into Sanskrit. To promote young authors and modern books in Sanskrit he has organised events such as "''Samskrit Book Fair''", and "''Sahityotsava''".{{citation needed|date=December 2018}}

=== Vision ===
Shastry sees Sanskrit as being India's [[lingua franca]].<ref name=":1" /> He says, ''"Till now Samskrit has only been seen from a spiritual or religious perspective; it is high time Samskrit is approached from a scientific point of view as well."''<ref name="classiccase" /> He opines that Sanskrit would be a unifying factor in India.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X29DAAAAYAAJ&q=%22Chamu+Krishna+Shastry%22|title=India Today|date=2000-01-01|publisher=Thomson Living Media India Limited|language=en}}</ref>

Shastry believes in taking Sanskrit to the under-privileged. He echoes [[B. R. Ambedkar|Dr. Ambedkar's]] support<ref>{{Cite news |url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Ambedkar-wanted-Sanskrit-as-national-language-Murli-Manohar-Joshi/articleshow/51971974.cms |title=Ambedkar wanted Sanskrit as national language: Murli Manohar |last=Manohar Joshi |first=Murli |date=25 April 2016 |work=The Times of India |access-date=24 December 2018}}</ref> for Sanskrit as a platform for enabling social upliftment and equality.<ref name="sastryhindu" />

===Samskrit Promotion Foundation===

Krishna shastry has helped to start the ''[[Samskrit Promotion Foundation]]'', which is an institution in developing Sanskrit Tutorials for students and in producing various new course materials for "Sanskrit for Special Purposes"<ref name="samskrit for special purpose">{{cite web| url=https://www.learnsamskrit.online | title=Learn Samskrit Online}}</ref> a not for profit trust, that aims to "popularise Samskrit" in India again and among other objectives leverage Samskrit as an "effective tool" to socially and economically "empower the weaker sections" of the society. The trustees include eminent citizens like former [[Chief Justice of India]] [[R. C. Lahoti]], for [[Chief Election Commissioner of India|Chief Election Commissioner]] [[N. Gopalaswami]], Justice [[Rama Jois]], [[S. Gurumurthy]], among others. Shastry is a key trustee and secretary<ref name="sastryhindu" /> of this trust.<ref name="padmaawardhindu">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/karnataka/Padma-award-winners-from-Karnataka-are-an-eclectic-mix/article17094103.ece |title=Padma award winners from Karnataka are an eclectic mix |date= 25 January 2017 |work=The Hindu |access-date=21 December 2018}}</ref>

=== Influencing policy ===

Shastry spends most of his time on teacher training, workshops, making of learning material and discussing Sanskrit education with policy makers. He believes that not just Sanskrit as language, but modern subjects like chemistry, maths, history etc. should also be taught through Sanskrit.<ref name="classiccase" />

He was also a member of the Central Government constituted Sanskrit Committee that developed the "''Road Map for the Development of Sanskrit – Ten Year Perspective Plan''" document in 2016.<ref name="libtards">{{Cite news |url=https://www.thehindubusinessline.com/news/national/sanskrit-will-flourish-despite-prejudices-of-left-libtards-chamu-krishna-shastry/article9503302.ece |title=Sanskrit will flourish despite Prejudices of Left, Libtards: Chamu Krishna Shastry |date=26 January 2017 |work=THe Hindu Business Line |access-date=22 December 2018}}</ref>

===Others===

His extensive experience in education and teaching methods has led to his being on the Board of [[Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan]]<ref name="sastryhindu" /> and many other universities.

Shastry is a much renowned speaker and he is highly regarded for his fluent and fiery oratory in Sanskrit.<ref name="libtards" /> He believes in the dictum of the [[Bhagavad Gita]] to work towards a goal without expectations and has taken a personal vow of not accepting honors and awards.{{citation needed|date=December 2018}} He is a prolific writer and has written a dozen books and numerous articles in Sanskrit.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}

==Books==

He has authored 13 books in the [[Sanskrit language]].

* ''Savdhana Syaam'' {{ISBN|978-8187276487}}
* ''Utthistatha Ma Svapthaha'' (''Get up! Don't Sleep!!'') {{ISBN|8188220469}}
* ''Parishkaaraha'' (''Essays in Sanskrit'') {{ISBN|8188220493}}

== Awards ==

* ''Saraswata Sudhakara'' in 1984 from Kashi Pandit Parishat
* ''Rashtriya Yuva Puraskar'' in 1985 from ABVP
* ''Padma Shri Award'' in 2017<ref name="padmaawardhindu" />

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Padma Shri Award Recipients in Literature & Education}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shastry, Chamu Krishna}}
[[Category:1956 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:People from Dakshina Kannada district]]
[[Category:20th-century Indian linguists]]
[[Category:Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh members]]
[[Category:Sanskrit revival]]
[[Category:Language activists]]
[[Category:People from Karnataka]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education]]

Chamu Krishna Shastry - Revision history

Shai0778 at 06:15, 6 February 2026