संस्कृत वाङ्मय में श्रीराम- Sri Rama as Depicted in Sanskrit Literature

This book is a an anthology of scholarly presentations of various Sanskrit scholars, on the theme of Sri Rama as depicted in Sanskrit literature. A national conference on this theme was organised in Jawaharlal Nehru University, during the month of March, 2018. The theme, which was selected for this conference bears the relevance to the contemporary Sanskrit studies, because we can't imagine Sanskrit studies without the name of Sri Rama. 'Ramo vigrahavan dharmah', Rama is the embodiment of Dharma. The first poem of Sanskrit literature was composed by Maharsi Valmiki on the story of Rama, which is known as Ramayana.

Later, with the inspiration of Ramayana, several other poems and dramas were composed by many celebrated Sanskrit poets in Sanskrit language. One of such prominent Sanskrit poet was Kavikulaguru 'Kalidasa'. He composed his famous poem Raghuvamsa, and described the prominent qualities of Sri' Rama. The story of Ramayana furnishes the subject of many other Sanskrit poems as well as Sanskrit plays. The famous Sanskrit dramatist Bhavabhuti composed a drama entitled 'Uttara-Ramacarita' based on the Ramayana story. Bhasa's Pratimanatakam and many other Sanskrit poems like Janakiharanam of Kumaradasa are well known and have a great significance in Sanskrit literature.

This momentous academic work is a result of continuous efforts of Prof. C. Upender Rao, JNU and Dr. Yogendra Pratap Singh from Ayodhya Research Institute. We hope this anthology of papers will acquire the appreciation of scholars.

Prof. Dr. C. Upender Rao is a prominent scholar in the field of Indic Studies. He is the senior most Professor in the School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies, at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. He was the Chairperson of Special Centre for Sanskrit Studies at J N U. and worked as a Visiting professor on ICCR Chair of Govt. of India in 2016 and taught Sanskrit in Vietnam in 2018. At present he is working on Ramayana-based Sanskrit inscriptions of south East Asia, mainly, Cambodia as a member of Global encyclopedia of Ramayana of Ayodhya Research Institute. He has extensively written and published research papers and books in Sanskrit, Pali, Hindi, Telugu and English languages. He received awards and certificates of honors from various institutions in India and abroad. He was a visiting professor in the Latvia university, Riga, Latvia, Europe, National University of Keiv Mohyla Academy, at Keiv in Ukraine, L. N. Gumilyov Eurasian National University, Astana, Kazakhstan, Preah Sihanouk Raja Buddhist University, Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Hochiminh city, Vietnam.

He delivered lectures and Presented several papers in International conferences, in Foreign Countries. He edited and authored about 22 books. The present anthology of papers on Sri Rama in Sanskrit Literature is the result of his continued efforts in this direction.

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