Pundit (India)
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A pandit or pundit (Devanagari: पण्डित, pronunciation: / pəɳɖɪt /) is a scholar, a teacher, particularly one skilled in Sanskrit and Hindu law, religion and philosophy. In the original usage of the word, a pundit is a Hindu, almost always a Brahmin, who has memorized a substantial portion of the Vedas, along with the corresponding rhythms and melodies for chanting or singing them.
Pundits or pujaris are hired to chant Vedic verses at yagyas and other events, both public and private. The chanting is meant to be listened to with a quiet mind for the purpose of spiritual development for the listener as well as enlivening of the atmosphere at an event. Most pundits are vegetarians for spiritual reasons. They are supposed to maintain purity of body and mind.
Pandits, or natives learned in the dharmasastra, were also employed as court advisors during the 18th and 19th Centuries. Initially, British judges had very little knowledge of Hindu customs and oral traditions, and they could seek information from them on particular questions. The Supreme Court of India had a law officer styled the Pundit of the Supreme Court, who advised the English judges on points of Hindu law. The practice was abandoned by 1864, as judges had acquired some experience in dealing with Hindu law, and applied the increasing volume of case law that had developed. Further, the institution of the High Courts, two years earlier, in 1962 further diminished their official use.
[edit] Other uses
In India today, pandit is a term of great respect given to an expert of any subject or field, like Indian classical musicians (usually Hindu) acknowledged to be masters, such as Pandit Jasraj, Pandit Pran Nath, or Pundit Ravi Shankar.
Within the Hindu religion, those who conduct religious services at mandirs or temples, and generally give lectures from the many holy books of Hinduism are called pandits. They are generally Brahmins who live a life as prescribed in the Vedas.
In the 19th century the word was used to denote native surveyors who explored regions to the north of India for the British Empire.
Jawaharlal Nehru was known as Pundit Nehru, though it was more of an affectionate term used to compliment India's first prime minister, rather than stating that he mastered the Vedas.
The modern English word 'pundit' is derived from this term. It is sometimes used humorously, to learned persons, to those who claim by long official or other experience to lay down the law or dictate principles of conduct.
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This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.
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