After getting the title Śiromani (Sāhitya) in Sanskrit literature from The Madras Sanskrit College in 1989, Dr. Sathyanarayanan completed his M.A. and M.Phil from the University of Madras in 1991 and 1992, respectively. He received gold medals and First Rank in his Śiromani and also in M.A., for having stood first in the University Examinations.
He joined the Ecole Française d’Extrême-Orient (French school of Asian studies), Pondicherry in October 1991. He obtained his doctoral degree (on Ānandaraṅgacampū – A study and Translation) from Pondicherry University in 2003.
During his initial days at the centre, he was involved in the edition of “Pondicherry Inscriptions”, he prepared a detailed glossary and phrases used in the inscriptions. He started cataloguing the palm-leaf manuscripts of IFP collection in 1998.
In 2002, Dr. Sathyanarayanan shifted his field of research to Śaiva-siddhānta and Dharmaśāstra. He started reading many Śaiva-siddhānta and Dharmaśāstra manuals to better understand the system of South Indian Śaivism.
He published books include Śaiva Rites of Expiation (Prāyaścittasamuccaya), Dhyānaratnāvalī and Pañcāvaraṇastava, of which he is the co-editor of the latter two.
He is also engaged in preparing the critical edition of Ratnatrayaparīkṣā of Śrīkaṇṭhasūri along with the commentary Ulleknī of Aghoraśiva and an anonyms commentary with Dr. T. Ganesan (IFP), the critical edition of an unpublished text of Kāmikāgama Jñānapāda consists of 18 chapters with Mr. M. N. Kalyanasundaram (a Śaiva priest in London) and the critical edition and translation of Śrīraṅgamāhātmyaṃ claims as the part of the Brahmāṇḍa -purāṇa. It has eleven chapters consists of about 600 verses. The text narrates the story of establishing the abode of Lord Viṣṇu (Raṅgavimānam) on the banks of Kaveri, and the historical relationship with the Cola kings with Dr. Marzenna Czerniak-Drozdzowicz (Jagiellonian University).
In addition to his current project (Critical edition and translation of SIDDHĀNTADĪPIKĀ of Rāmanātha – An Eleventh Century Śaiva Manual), Dr. Sathyanarayanan is involved in several other projects of the centre.
He has been invited as a resource person to teach different types of manuscripts in many workshops at various universities, which includes a visit to Kyoto University for teaching Telugu and Grantha manuscripts. He submitted many articles in national and international conferences and also has many publications to his credit.
His implication in DHARMA project is making a study mainly on Sanskrit textual sources that are very much related to this project. Also he is interested in analysing Cambodian and other Sanskrit inscriptions.
Selected Publications
Books:
2006 (Collective work of Saiva Reading Group from EFEO/IFP) Pañcāvaraṇastava of Aghoraśiva: A Twelfth-century South Indian Prescription for the visualization of Sadāśiva and his Retinue. Pondicherry, Institut français de Pondichéry/ Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (Collection Indology – 102).
2013 (with S.A.S Sarma) Dhyānaratnāvalī of Trilocanaśivācārya, SSSRI Series 004, Published by the Srikantha Sivacharya Research Institute, Karaikkal.
2014 (with Dominic Goodall) Śaiva Rites of Expiation, A First Edition and Translation of Trilocanaśiva’s Twelfth-Century Prāyaścittasamuccaya (with a transcription of a manuscript transmitting Hṛdayaśiva’s Prāyaścittasamuccaya), Pondicherry, Institut français de Pondichéry/ Ecole française d’Extrême-Orient (Collection Indology – 127).
2019 Rudrākṣamāhātmyam of Paramaśivendrasarasvati Critical edition and summary in Tamil, Vedagama Academy (forthcoming).
Articles:
2003 Poetical Charm in the Kauthem Grant of Vikramaditya V, Published in the 28th volume of the Journal of the Epigraphical Society of India, Mysore, pp. 53-56.
2005 Kāvyatva in Sanskrit Inscriptions Published in SRĪ PUṢPĀÑJALI, Dr. C.R.Srinivasan Commemoration volume, Bharat Kala Prakashan Vol I, New Delhi, pp 213-217.
2007 Eight Forms of Śiva and Their Correlation with the Eight Names; The Evidence of Inscriptions Contrasted with that of Other Texts, Published in the Journal of The Ganganath Jha kendriya Sanskrita Vidyapeetha, Vol LXII, Allahabad, pp. 397-404.
2009 (with T. Ganesan IFP) Jñānadīpikā: A Śaiva initiatory and post-initiatory manual -A critical edition and translation, Published in the Journal of Sanskrit Academy, Volume XIX, Osmania University, Hyderabad, pp. 128-150.
2010 (with T. Ganesan IFP) Śuddhatattva-s in Śaivasiddhānta, Published in the Journal of Sanskrit Academy, Volume XX, Osmania University, Hyderabad, pp. 127-132, ISSN-0976 089X.
2011 Social and Cultural Activities of Ānandaraṅga Pillai as seen in the Ānandaraṅgavijaya Campū, Published in the Review Historique de Pondicherry, Vol XXIV, 300th Anniversary of Ananda Ranga Pillai – Special Issue, Pondicherry, pp. 15-26.
2012 Types of Nirmālya, Visvabharati II, Published in the Journal of the Pondicherry University, Pondicherry, pp. 247-269, ISSN-2277-2065.
2012 (with T. Ganesan IFP) Bhakti as a fundamental element in Śaivism, Published in the Bulletin d’Etudes Indiennes, Association Francaise pour les etudes indiennes, Paris, Vol 28-29, pp. 51-62.
2013 Changing Social Role of Prāyaścitta in Śaiva Sources, Published in the Saṃskṛtam saṃskṛtiḥ samājaśca, Sanskrit Academy Granthamala series – 99, Osmania University, Hyderabad, pp. 75-79, ISBN No 978-9380-171-340.
2014 Five great sins (mahāpātaka-s) with special reference to śaiva siddhānta, Cracow Indological studies Vol. XVI, pp. 315-338.
2018 Achieving Liberation (mokṣa) based on Śaivasiddhānta Doctrine and Practices, Enlightenment and Tantra Hindus and Christians in Dialogue, edited by Bryan Lobo Pontifical Biblical Institute Gregorian & Biblical Press, Rome, pp. 77-104.
2019 (with Giovanni Ciotti) A multilingual commentary of the first verse of the Nāmaliṅgānuśāsana as found in ms. IFP RE22704 (Studies in Late Tamil Maṇipravāḷam Literature 1), Proceedings of the NETamil International Conference on Commentaries and Idioms, Hamburg University and EFEO Pondicherry, Germany, (forthcoming).
2019 (with Giovanni Ciotti) Between Manipravalam and Tamil: The Case of the Viṣṇupurāṇavacaṉam (Studies in Late Tamil Manipravalam Literature 3), Proceedings of the NETamil International Conference on Aspects of Multilingualism in South India, Hamburg University and EFEO Pondicherry, Germany, (forthcoming).
2019 (with Dominic Goodall) Text and Paratext in South Indian Śaiva Manuscripts, Proceedings of the NETamil International Conference on Colophons, Prefaces, and Satellite Stanzas, Hamburg University, Germany, (forthcoming).
2019 Hells depicted in Mahābhārata as in the bas-relief of Angkor Wat temple: A study in contrast with Śaiva sources, Prof. C. S. Radhakrishnan felicitation volume, Viśvabhārati, Pondicherry University Journal, Pondicherry. ISBN: 2277-2065, pp. 211-229.
