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SAMBODHI
in the Introduction to the edition of the Kuncitabghristava. A few scattered Tamil verses glorifying Umāpati Sivam have also been added. The biographies are followed by a brief critique on 'Umāpati Sivam'. His Life and Works in Tamil by Pandit Sri R. Subramaniyan, wherein he lists the writings of Umāpati Sivam and also brings to notice the problem of the authorship of Umāpati Sivam in some of these works like the Pauskarabhāsya in Sanskrit, and the Sivasthalanamakkalivenba and Jñanapūjāi in Tamil. Thus, this publication contains a good amount of information on the major Sanskrit and Tamil works of Umāpati Sivam, his life, and his contribution to Saivism in theory and practice, and opens new vistas in this field of study. N.M.K SAMSRTA-VYĀHĀRA : SPOKEN SANSKRIT edited by S. S. Janaki, Golden Jubilee Year Publication, The Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Madras, 1995 (2nd Edn.), pp. xxiv + 199, Rs. 120/-.
Sanskrit was the lingua franca of this country and had its origin in India. Sanskrit in its Vedic form has certainly been the mother of the medieval Prakrits and modern Indian languages and mother tongues. Though there are thousands of Pandits who speak Sanskrit more fluently than their own mother tongue, yet it is far away from the approach of the common man, chiefly because it is not in common use. Even these scholars sometimes find it hard to freely exchange their views through simple Sanskrit. Use of Sanskrit needs practice in student - life, and an environment of its general usage in day-to-day life.
This book is specially prepared by the staff of the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute in a very systematic way, and it carries twenty-one leesons with their English translation and appropriate notes on unfamiliar words. The style in the work is very smooth and readable. Lovers of Sanskrit, both scholars and students will, no doubt, find this work very helpful and stimulating. N.M.K THE JOURNAL OF ORIENTAL RESEARCH, MADRAS, VOL. LXIII, 1992-93, The Kuppuswami Sastri Research institute Golden Jubilee Publication, Madras, 1996, pp. vii + 200, Rs. 150/-. This Vol. LVIII (for 1992-93) of the Journal of Oriental Research, carries nine scholarly papers, two of them in Sanskrit. A few of these were delivered as special endowment lectures at the Kuppuswami Sastri Research Institute, Madras. About fifty-six book-reviews add to the prestige of the Journal among the savants doing work in the field of Sanskrit and Indology. As is usual the highlights of the activities of the institute during 1989-94 have been added. The Institute has
