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Pandit

For other uses, see Pandit (disambiguation).
A young pandit holding the lamp of fire

A pandit (Sanskrit: पण्डितः, romanized: paṇḍita; Hindi: पंडित;[1] also spelled pundit, pronounced /ˈpʌndɪt, ˈpændɪt/;[2] abbreviated Pt. or Pdt.) is an individual with specialised knowledge or a teacher of any field of knowledge in Hinduism,[1] particularly the Vedic scriptures, dharma, or Hindu philosophy; in colonial-era literature, the term generally refers to lawyers specialized in Hindu law.[3] Whereas, today the title is used for experts in other subjects, such as music.[4][5] Pandit entered English as the loanword pundit, referring to a person who offers opinion in an authoritative manner on a particular subject area (typically politics, the social sciences, technology or sport), usually through the mass media.[6] Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man in the musical sense.[5] The equivalent titles for a Hindu woman are Vidushi,[7][8] Pandita, or Panditain;[9] however, these titles are not currently in widespread use.[10]

In Sanskrit, pandit generally refers to any "wise, educated or learned man" with specialized knowledge.[11] The term is derived from paṇḍ (पण्ड्) which means "to collect, heap, pile up", and this root is used in the sense of knowledge.[12] The term is found in Vedic and post-Vedic texts, but without any sociological context.

  1. ^ a b Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Pundit" . Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 649.
  2. ^ "pandit" Archived 2014-10-21 at the Wayback Machine. Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary.
  3. ^ Timothy Lubin; Donald R. Davis Jr; Jayanth K. Krishnan (2010). Hinduism and Law: An Introduction. Cambridge University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-1-139-49358-1.
  4. ^ Axel Michaels; Barbara Harshav (2004). Hinduism: Past and Present. Princeton University Press. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-691-08952-2. Archived from the original on 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  5. ^ a b Daniel Neuman (1980). The Life of Music in North India. Wayne State University Press. p. 44.
  6. ^ "Definition of Pundit". Merriam-Webster. 22 February 2024. Retrieved 25 February 2024.
  7. ^ "Behind the titles". Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
  8. ^ https://www3.nd.edu/~adutt/Links/documents/NagandGhosh2016.pdf Archived 2021-11-18 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL PDF]
  9. ^ "Overlooked No More: Pandita Ramabai, Indian Scholar, Feminist and Educator". The New York Times. 14 November 2018. Archived from the original on 11 March 2022. Retrieved 23 June 2021.
  10. ^ "The sitar from different angles (Pt. 2): Modern players, global experiments". Archived from the original on 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
  11. ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. p. 527. Archived from the original on 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  12. ^ Monier Monier-Williams (1872). A Sanskrit-English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. pp. 526–527. Archived from the original on 2023-11-17. Retrieved 2016-10-23.

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