Pandit

Scholar or teacher of Hindu law, philosophy or music

For other uses, see Pandit (disambiguation).

A young pandit holding the lamp of fire

A pandit (Sanskrit: पण्डितः, romanized: paṇḍitaḥ; Hindi: पंडित, romanized: paṇḍit;[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.

## Pandit as a title in Hindustani classical music

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Pandit (abbreviated as Pt. and written as पंडीत/पंडित in Marathi/Hindi) is an honorific title for an expert person in Indian classical singing and instrumental playing, used for an Indian musician. It is used in Hindustani classical music to recognize master performers for classical singing and other performing arts, like classical dance.[13] It is used as a music title. The title is awarded to musicians by their teachers, prominent individuals, or members of their gharana in recognition of their expertise.[14] It is used in various languages including Kannada, Marathi, Hindi, Bengali, Punjabi and other languages which are there in India. An Indian woman, who is an expert in Indian classical music, is given the title of pandita or vidushi. Ustad is the equivalent title for a Muslim man.

### Usage

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Titles of pandit (and even ustad) are appended informally to the names of classical singers and players by their admirers, individuals or institutions, once they have reached eminence in their performing art, especially on public performances. As they are informal titles, mentioning names of eminent singers without those appendages is acceptable, unlike prefixes like Dr. awarded formally by educational institutions.[14]

The title pandit of a classical musician and the pandit which is used as a title given to a knowledgeable person, are different.

### Synonym

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As ustad is equivalent to pandit but used for a Muslim man, similarly a music title that is equivalent to pandit and used for an Indian man itself is given the title of vidwan. Generally this title is given to a male Carnatic classical singer or instrument player. One prominent example is Vidwan Thetakudi Harihara Vinayakram.

For a female Carnatic classical singer or musician, the title of Vidushi is given.

Equivalent titles for women are Vidushi[7][8] or Pandita (Sanskrit: पण्डिता, romanized: paṇḍitā; Hindi: पंडित).

## Kashmiri surname

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See also: Pandit (surname)

The Kashmiri Pandits are a Hindu clan from the Kashmir Valley in Jammu and Kashmir. Pandit as a last name is used by both Kashmiri Hindus and Kashmiri Muslim of Hindu lineage.[15]

## See also

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* Pundit
* Pujari
* Ustad
* Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru
* Purohit – a house priest[4]

## References

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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. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "Behind the titles". Archived from the original on 2021-06-24. Retrieved 2021-06-23.
8. ^ a b "Concert Announcement" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-11-18.
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.
13. ^ Jafa, Navina (April 2021). "Meet Pt. Birju Maharaj, the poet". The Hindu. Archived from the original on 2021-06-25. Retrieved 2021-06-25.
14. ^ a b "Pandit title usage". Archived from the original on 2024-01-26. Retrieved 2021-03-01.
15. ^ Brower, Barbara; Johnston, Barbara Rose (2016). Disappearing Peoples?: Indigenous Groups and Ethnic Minorities in South and Central Asia. Routledge. p. 130\. ISBN 9781315430393. Archived from the original on 2024-01-26. Retrieved 2023-05-22. ": "Sheikh: local converts, subdivided into numerous subgroups. Most largely retain their family names, or patronyms (kram), indicating their original profession, locality or community-such as Khar (carpenter), Pampori (a place), Butt and Pandit (Brahmin), Dar (kshatriya)-but with increasing Islamization, some have dropped these""

## External links

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* Media related to Pandit at Wikimedia Commons

Authority control databases: National |

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