Kotha Satchidananda Murty (1924-2011) was an Indian

philosopher Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

and professor. Murty served as the Professor of Philosophy,

Andhra University Andhra University is a public university located in Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh, India. It was established in 1926. It is graded as an A++ institution by NAAC receiving a score of 3.74 on a scale of 4. History King Vikram Deo Verma, the Mah ...

Visakhapatnam Visakhapatnam (; List of renamed places in India, formerly known as Vizagapatam, and also referred to as Vizag, Visakha, and Waltair) is the largest and most populous metropolitan city in the States and union territories of India, Indian stat ...

and Vice-Chancellor of

Sri Venkateswara University Sri Venkateswara University (commonly referred as S. V. University or SVU) is a public state university located in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh, India. The university is named after Lord Venkateswara, whose shrine is located in the city. The un ...

Tirupati Tirupati () is a city in the Indian States and territories of India, state of Andhra Pradesh and serves as the administrative headquarters of Tirupati district. It is known for its significant religious and cultural heritage, being home to th ...

in the state of

Andhra Pradesh Andhra Pradesh (ISO 15919, ISO: , , AP) is a States and union territories of India, state on the East Coast of India, east coast of southern India. It is the List of states and union territories of India by area, seventh-largest state and th ...

South India South India, also known as Southern India or Peninsular India, is the southern part of the Deccan Peninsula in India encompassing the states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Telangana as well as the union territories of ...

. He specialized in Buddhist philosophy and contributed extensively to Mahayana Buddhism. His treatise on the teachings of Nagarjuna is well acclaimed.

Education

Murty was born in 1924 in a small village Sangam Jagarlamudi,

Guntur district Guntur district is one of the twenty six districts in the Coastal Andhra region of the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. The administrative seat of the district is located at Guntur, the List of urban agglom ...

to Kotha Veerabhadraiah and Ratnamamba. He completed the school study in the village and Intermediate education from Hindu College,

Guntur Guntur (), natively spelt as Gunturu, is a city in the States and union territories of India, Indian state of Andhra Pradesh and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district. The city is part of the Andhra Pradesh Capital Region and is lo ...

. He graduated from

and carried out Ph.D. research in philosophy from the same university.

Career

Murty served as

professor Professor (commonly abbreviated as Prof.) is an Academy, academic rank at university, universities and other tertiary education, post-secondary education and research institutions in most countries. Literally, ''professor'' derives from Latin ...

philosophy Philosophy ('love of wisdom' in Ancient Greek) is a systematic study of general and fundamental questions concerning topics like existence, reason, knowledge, Value (ethics and social sciences), value, mind, and language. It is a rational an ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private university, private Ivy League research university in Princeton, New Jersey, United States. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the List of Colonial ...

in 1959. In 1960, he joined

as a professor. 1963 saw Murty join the Peoples University, Beijing, China in the same capacity as before, additionally also serving as a professor at University of Hyderabad. He was then appointed special officer at the Centre for Post Graduate Studies,

in 1971. Murty has also served as vice-chancellor of

, Tirupati(1975) & Central Institute of Tibetan Studies, Sarnath(1989), whilst also being appointed as vice-chairman of The University Grants Commission, New Delhi, in 1986.

Works

* His lectures on Philosophy of Religion - "The Realm of Between" has gained wide acclaim. It was published by Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Simla in 1973. It was based on three of his lectures delivered in Oxford and in London in 1963. They are based on the various themes like "Suffering", "Salvation", "Religious Action", "Transcendental Philosophy" etc., Subsequently, a group of professors in Andhra University published his lectures in a volume entitled ''Collected Criticism of K. Satchidananda Murty'' in 1975. * Revelation and reason in Advaita Vedanta, Ph.D. thesis submitted to Andhra University and subsequently published by

Motilal Banarsidass Motilal Banarsidass Publishing House (MLBD) is an Indian academic publishing house, founded in Delhi, India in 1903. It publishes and distributes serials, monographs, and scholarly publications on Asian religions, Buddhology, Indology, East ...

, Delhi in 1974. * Life, thought, and culture in India, c. AD 300–1000, as a

Project of History of Indian Science, Philosophy, and Culture A project is a type of assignment, typically involving research or design, that is carefully planned to achieve a specific objective. An alternative view sees a project managerially as a sequence of events: a "set of interrelated tasks to be ...

and published by Centre for Studies in Civilizations, New Delhi. * Ethics, education, Indian unity, and culture : addresses in universities from Kashi to Kashmir, 1980–89, some excerpts, 1991. * Readings in Indian history, politics and philosophy, published by

Allen & Unwin George Allen & Unwin was a British publishing company formed in 1911 when Sir Stanley Unwin purchased a controlling interest in George Allen & Co. It became one of the leading publishers of the twentieth century and established an Australian ...

, London in 1967. * Current trends in Indian philosophy, published by Andhra University, Waltair in 1972. * Radhakrishnan : his life and ideas, published by State University of New York, 1990 * Philosophy in India : traditions, teaching, and research, 1985. * Studies in the problems of peace, published by Asia Publishing House, 1960. * The Indian spirit, published by Andhra University press, 1965. * Metaphysics, man and freedom, published by Asia Publishing House, 1963.

Works based on his philosophy

* The philosophy of K. Satchidananda Murty by Sibajiban Bhattacharyya and Ashok Vohra, Published by Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, 1995. * Philosophical perspectives of K. Satchidananda Murty by P. Boaz, 2013.

Awards and honours

* President — Indian Philosophical Congress * Honorary Doctorate — Russian Academy of Sciences - 1989 * Honorary Doctorate — Beijing University - 1988 *

Padma Bhushan The Padma Bhushan (IAST: ''Padma Bhūṣaṇa'', lit. 'Lotus Decoration') is the third-highest civilian award in the Republic of India, preceded by the Bharat Ratna and the Padma Vibhushan and followed by the Padma Shri. Instituted on 2 Januar ...

, Government of India - 1984 *

Padma Vibhushan The Padma Vibhushan ( , lit. "Lotus Grandeur") is the second-highest civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna. Instituted on 2 January 1954, the award is given for "exceptional and distinguished service". All persons w ...

, Government of India - 2001

Death

He died after a brief respiratory illness at

on Monday 25 January 2011.

References

External links

Unofficial blogspot about Kotta Satchidananda Murty.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murthy, Kotha Satchidananda Indian scholars of Buddhism 1924 births 20th-century Indian philosophers 2011 deaths Telugu people People from Guntur district Andhra University alumni Scholars from Andhra Pradesh Recipients of the Padma Vibhushan in literature & education Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in literature & education