Thane, Feb. 9 (UNI) the seminal works of Indian civilization panini’s ‘ashtadhyyayi’, ’bharata’s ‘natyashastra’, ‘kautilya’s’ ‘arthashastra’ and ‘vatsyayana’s ‘ ‘kamasutra’ are still relevant today as they practically cover all facets of life ranging from language and arts to social issues and state administration, scholars have observed.

These works were discussed at a recent seminar organized by the thane-based institute of oriental study.

The works of these classical masters practically cover most of the creative abilities of human kind such as speech and language, arts whether fine, performing or liberal, administration of state and human desire. Institute president dr. Vijay Bedekar told UNI summing up the proceedings of the seminar on panini, bharata, kautilya, vatsyayana and indian civilization.

Dr. Bedekar pointed out that these seminal works cover a period of about 700 years ranging from 500 BC to 200 ad.

None of these works are religious but their philosophy as deeply rooted in the traditional, religious and spiritual beliefs and philosophy of India. He said adding these works inform us of rich cultural and social life of Indian on the past.

There are may new scientific disciplines available now from neurology to archaeology, which would help throw light on evolution of language and grammar said Dr A.P. Jamkhedekar former director of state archaeology here.

Many of these tools were not available to the linguist till the last quarter of 20th century. A fresh study of panini’s “ashtadhayayi” in this backdrop will be rewarding, he said.

Dr. Ms. Krishna Chakraborty of the national library, Kolkata said panini has given geographical information about places and rivers which can be traced to present say sites in Afghanistan.

Dr. M.D. Paradkar of the Asiatic society, Mumbai, pointed out that through the name of Kautilya’s work is “arthashastra”. It has very little to do with economics. The text mainly deals with state administration. This also seems to be the last authoritative composition on the subject and not the first.

Barhaspatya, barhaspatya, ausanasa, manava, parasara, ambhiya, kaunapadanta, barhaspatya, visalaksha, vatavyadhi, bharadvaja and pisuna are some predecessors of kautilya mentioned by him in his “arthashastra”. But their works are not avalable today, he lamented.

Kautilya has handled the subject with grate skill, logic and rationalism. Looking to the present political scenario all over the world kautilya’s advice on subject becomes more relevent today than in the past. A fresh study of the subject will be of grate help. Dr. Bedekar noted.

Dr. Bedekar said bharata’s “natyashastra” is at least 2000 years old. The text mainly deals with dance and drama in totally including the constructing of the theatre. This is also the last authoritative text on the subject. Bharata also has mentioned many predecessors whose works are not available today. The study of the text will easily reveal the rich cultural heights Indian civilization has reached at least 2000 years ago.

Dr. Bedekar noted that vatsyayana 's “kamsutra” which is about 1700 years old, is also the last authoritative work on the subject. This is a scientific treatise on sex and love. This is the first work on erotic in the world. Vatsyayana has treated sex as an art apart from natural human instinct. The last “adhikarana” of kamsutra is “ aupanisadika” which mainly deals with special appliances as aids and methods of use of aphrodisiacs. Temple architecture of those days made a statement about life style in general and not necessarily about sex activity in particular, he said,

Information in “kamsutra” is based on medical science and should be included in the traditional medicine’s database for patents, he contended.