Dr. Shankar Rajaraman is a psychiatrist by training and a Sanskrit poet by passion, interested in Sanskrit literature, Indian aesthetics and Indian psychology. A Postdoctoral Fellow with the Consciousness Studies Programme at the National Institute of Advanced Studies and highly qualified on the academic front, he has many degrees to his credit:
- MBBS (2000) – Bangalore University
- PG Diploma in Psychiatry, Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences (2004)
- MA Sanskrit with a gold medal, Karnataka State Open University (2006)
- MSc Psychology, Karnataka State Open University (2012)
- PhD in Psychology, University of Mysore; Thesis titled ‘A Qualitative Approach to the Psychology of Three Self-conscious Emotions from Sanskrit Poetics’ (2019)
Awards & Recognitions:
- Badarayan Vyas Samman from the President of India (2019)
- Professor M. Hiriyanna Sanskrit Works Award for the Best Sanskrit Poet of the Year (2013)
- Bannanje Award for his contribution to Sanskrit (2017)
- Vagdevi Puraskara by the Akhila Bharatiya Sahitya Parishad (2021)
He has several publications to his credit including the English translation of two Ayurvedic texts (Kṣemakutūhala, Bhojanakutūhala) on dietetics, a Sanskrit Messenger poem (Kokila Sandeśa), and a Sanskrit epic (Madhurā Vijaya), a Kannada translation of two chapters (Annabhoga, Pādābhyaṅgabhoga) from the encyclopaedic work Mānasollāsa, and a Sanskrit translation of the Kannada vachanas composed by Basaveshwara. Several of his original poetic writings in Sanskrit – Devīdānavīyam, Citranaiṣadham, Bhārāvatārastavaḥ, and Nipuṇaprāghuṇakam – have also been published. He has edited two books, English translations of Darpadalana, a Sanskrit satire by the 11th-= century poet Kshemendra, and Śyāmalā Daṇḍaka. Presently, he is translating Śrīkaṇṭhacarita, a 12th century Sanskrit epic by the Kashmirian poet Mankha, into English.