About the Author It is well known that the Indian tradition considered the Veda-s as the most precious treasure. And it is equally well known that the ritualistic chanting or the sound-part was treated as the soul of the Veda-s. Kerala has been a stronghold of vedic tradition. The Murajapa-s held periodically in the palaces and temples, and the celebrated oral examination held in the Kadavallur temple are notable in this connection.

Sri. K.N.M. Divakaran Namputiri (1905-1922) was a typical representative of this staunch and erudite vedic scholarship of Kerala. He was also an excellent maestro of Sanskrit grammar.

Foreword I am happy to introduce the work Vedangadipti (Collected works of Sastraratnam K.N.M. Divakaran Namputiri), edited by Prof. P. Narayanan Namboodiri, as the 50 number of Calicut University Sanskrit Series. This volume contains three works viz. 1. Saunakasiksa with Sanskrit commentary and Malayalam exposition 2. Varnoccaraṇadipika with Sanskrit commentary and 3. Sri Sankaracaryacaritam, a Sanskrit work on the life of Sri Sankara authored by Sri Govindanatha. It is well known that the Indian tradition considered the Veda-s as the most precious treasure and it is equally well known that the ritualistic chanting or the sound part was treated as the soul of the Veda-s. Kerala has been a stronghold of vedic tradition. The Murajapa-s held periodically in the palaces and temples, and the celebrated oral examination held in the Kadavallur temple are notable in this connection.

Sri. K.N.M. Divakaran Namputiri (1905-1922) was a typical representative of this staunch and erudite vedic scholarship of Kerala. He was also an excellent maestro of Sanskrit grammar. He was a student of great grammarian Cennamangalam Ayya Sastrikal.

Phonetics (Siksa) has been treated by the Vedic tradition as the most important auxiliary of the Veda-s. The Pratisakhya-s and the Siksa texts deal with the phonetic rules which are rigorously adhered to in the Vedic chanting. These texts discuss the related grammatical aspects also.

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