Sringeri Peetham Quotes

“I found Sheldon Pollock to be remarkably well informed about Sanskrit and sanskriti, as well as on modern Indian politics in which he takes strong positions. I also found him to be a worthy opponent with whom to engage, and doing so has expanded and sharpened my own thoughts. What I take exception to is his allowing himself to be positioned as a spokesperson for Sringeri Peetham, a central institution of Hinduism, his lack of self-awareness about the ways in which his own assumptions and world view prejudice his analyses of Sanskrit and sanskriti, and his failure to fully disclose the ideology and agenda that underlie his scholarship when soliciting support from the faith community.


Surprisingly, Pollock acknowledged knowing about some of the contents of the letters I had sent confidentially to the Shankaracharya of Sringeri. Earlier I had found out that the NRIs involved in setting up the chair also mentioned receiving copies of the letters I had sent to Sringeri. Clearly someone in a senior position at Sringeri was intercepting faxes and e-mails and forwarding them to these men in the US. I felt disturbed that there was a potential security leak in Sringeri Peetham itself. The loyalties of such persons ought to be completely to the peetham, and not to a third party like Columbia University.”
― Rajiv Malhotra, The Battle for Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred, Oppressive or Liberating, Dead or Alive?