Vidwan Sri Janardana Hegde is a rare living example of Maharshi Patanjali’s description of “Shishtah”. The dictionary meaning of word Shishtah is eminent person, distinguished person or wise man. But when a question is raised in the context of different words being used in different places or by different people for the same meaning and which word should be considered as appropriate, the great Acharya of three Shastras i.e. Yoga, Vyakarana and Ayurveda, Patanjali in his Vyakarana Mahabhashya says that words used by Shishtas should be considered as right words. Further he explains who the Shishtas are – कुम्भीधान्याः, अलोलुपाः, कारणम् अन्तरा शास्त्रपारगाः शिष्टाः. Here he says three qualities of a Shishta. 1) Kumbhidhaanya – If you go inside his house you will find only one pot full of food grain’s stock which would be sufficient to live for a few days or for a few weeks. It means that he is not interested in unnecessary accumulation of wealth. 2) Alolupaah – Not greedy. Happy with whatever God gives. 3) Kaaranam antaraa shaastra-paaragaah – One who studies many Shaastraas without looking into what material benefit he will get by studying that Shaastra, but studying it for the sake of knowledge only. One who possesses all the above three qualities is called a Shishta.

Janardana Hegde after his Vidwan and Shiksha Shastri courses became Sevavrati of Samskrit Vibhag of Hindu Seva Pratishthana in 1981. (That Samskrita Vibhag of HSP later transformed into Samskrita Bharati) We together conducted the first 10 Days Samskrita Sambhashana Shibir in two batches simultaneously. Since then he has been tirelessly working for the popularization of Samskrit language, doing research in Samskrit language usage, writing books for students, translating books from other languages to Samskrit, doing creative writing in Samskrit, editing books and articles of other authors and mentoring junior Karyakartas. He has been Editor of Sambhashana Sandesha, the most popular Samskrit monthly, from its inception, though with a break in between. His commitment and dedication to the cause of Samskrit is total and unparalleled. He did not see or seek anything else in life, except Samskrit. I still remember the beginning days of our ‘Speak Samskrit Movement’ when we used to discuss our dreams, aspirations and the future programs together. I was always in a hurry and ambitious, he was ideal and practical. I was a dreamer, he was an executor. I was a speaker, he was a writer. I spent most of the time outside the office he spent it inside the office giving every type of logistic support to the movement. I still remember those initial days when we were living hand to mouth, Janardana Mahodaya with his witty one liner used to raise our spirits. He remained simple to the core all his life, in every aspect of life and excelled rest of us in knowledge and ideals, in work and contribution. His wife Smt Nagaratna Hegde, a Samskrit scholar and volunteer, too lived and breathed Samskrit, made her home ‘Samskrit Home’ and Sri Udayana Hegde became the first Samskrit mother tongue child of our times.

See the volume of literature he has produced. He has penned 15 books on Vyakarana, 15 books of Creative writing, 10 books translated from other languages into Samskrit, 17 Co-authored books, 9 books edited by him. Moreover, it is the quality of literature he has produced rather than the quantity, which is par excellence. His books are the guiding spirit of Samskrit language use in Samskrit Bharati. Many of the inspiring songs sung in Samskrita Bharati, which have been motivating lakhs of Karyakartas everyday all over the world, are penned by Janardana Mahodaya. Those songs did not come out from his intellect but blossomed out from his heart.
It is unusual for us to publicly extol our co-worker. But this is a special occasion. Sri Janardana Mahodaya has been selected for the coveted ‘President’s Certificate of Honor’ award of 2019. Till now he has been awarded with 12 prestigious awards. Kalidasa says in Kumarasambhavam (5-45) – “न रत्नमन्विष्यति मृग्यते हि तत्” The gem does not search, it gets searched. This quote is the apt description of Janardana Mahodaya. As far as the Samskrit language usage is concerned he is the authority in the world today. He is a Shishta as per Patanjali, but for us he is Vishishta!