Amdavadi scholar devotes 18 years to translating 18,000 Sanskrit verses into Gujarati

Sanskrit scholar Vaidehi Adhyaru has translated 18,000 verses from Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran, a work about the life of Lord Krishna, into Gujarati.

Written in the 15th century, Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran – Shridhari Tika is an ancient Hindu religious scripture that narrates stories from the life of Lord Shree Krishna. Sanskrit scholar Vaidehi Parthivkumar Adhyaru pored over this significant work for over 18 years, with its more than 18,000 Sanskrit shlokas (verses) written across 12 different Skandhas (chapters), and released its Gujarati translation on October 17.

Adhyaru, who is the granddaughter of the famous 20th-century entrepreneur Chimanlal Girdharlal, did an academic study of the Tika for 12 years with Sanskrit pundit Narmadashankar Shastri before initiating this massive task. After a total of 30 years of persistent hard work, she has released this five-volume set! Each volume is approximately 1000 pages in length, and all the 5000 pages have been proofread and edited by Sanskrit academician Dr Laxmesh Joshi. The translation will help students and scholars understand the essence of the original Shrimad Bhagwat Mahapuran.

Vaidehi Adhyaru, who hails from a religious family, studied mathematics and economics during her formal education years. She said, “With time, I realised my love for religious literature and decided to take up the project of translation with the grace of Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati.” Swami Viditatmananda Saraswati is a spiritual leader who has a great insights on Hindu scriptures and Vedanta and explains it to people in simple language. Adhyaru considers him as her guru.

Printed by Gorakhpur-based Gita Press, the largest publishing house of Hindu religious texts, the translation will cost approximately Rs 1750/-. The edition comes with a commentary by Sanskrit scholar Shridhar Maharaj. HK Adhyaru Charitable Trust has decided to distribute 25 copies of the translated Shridhar Tika to various libraries across Gujarat.