Dr. Tilaka M. Rao

Senior Fellow, Sanskrit Studies

Dr. Tilaka M. Rao holds a PhD in Sanskrit from Pondicherry University. He introduced to the Samskrit at a very early age and underwent 12 years of rigorous training in Vedic literature, covering 10 major Upanishads, and is trained to chant the entire Kṛiṣṇa-Yajurveda (Taittirīya recession). In addition, he has studied classical Sanskrit including Kāvya, Panini’s Aṣṭādhyāyī, Vedānta, Nyāya, Sāṃkhya, and Yoga. He has more than seven years of teaching and research experience. He has worked as an assistant professor at MIT School of Vedic Sciences, Pune, as deputy director at Veda Vijnana Shodha Samsthanam, Bengaluru. Later, he was a Fellow at the India Studies Unit, Centre for Educational and Social Studies (CESS), Bengaluru and then served as Assistant Professor at the Centre for Study of Cultures, Chanakya University, Bengaluru. He specializes in Samskrit Vyākaraṇa. He has authored a primer on Sanskrit grammar named Aṣṭādhyāyī-praveśa. He has contributed as Co-Principal Investigator in an IKS Project on obstacles (Upadhis) in reading Indian texts for the IKS division, Govt of India. He was also a Co-Principal Investigator to a Translation Project from Bharatiya Bhasha Samiti, Ministry of Education, Govt. of India. His research delves into understanding the nature of the problem in understanding Samskrit texts.
Dr. Tilaka is also an Assistant Professor in The University of Trans-Disciplinary Health Sciences and Technology (TDU), Bengaluru.