This is indeed very sad news. With the passing of Prof. Ashok Aklujkar, the world of Indological studies has lost a great scholar and thinker. I fondly remember meeting him at the WSC in Vancouver in 2018, and even some years before that when he was in Leipzig for a conference. I pray for his immortal soul to rest in peace. In the words of Bhavabhūti, “na khalu sa uparato yasya vallabho janaḥ smarati” — he is not dead whom a beloved person remembers. Prof. Ashok Aklujkar, will remain alive forever in the memory of his beloved students, colleagues, scholars, and friends. Let me conclude with the words of Bhartṛhari:

jayanti te sukṛtino rasasiddhāḥ kavīśvarāḥ,
nāsti yeṣāṃ yaśaḥkāye jarāmaraṇajaṃ bhayam.

Om śāntiḥ śāntiḥ śāntiḥ.

Sadananda Das

***************************************
Dr. Sadananda Das
Institute of Indology and Central Asian Studies
Leipzig University
Schiller Straße 6,
04109 Leipzig, Germany
Tel. 0341-97 37 126  (Off.)
Fax. 0341-97 37 148 (Off.)
sdas@uni-leipzig.de
http://www.uni-leipzig.de/~indzaw/doc/staff/das


On Wed, Oct 28, 2026 at 3:29 AM Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY <indology@list.indology.info> wrote:
I just now read a message from Shrikant Bahulkar that Ashok Aklujkar passed away today. I knew from Vidyut Aklujkar that Ashok had a hip replacement surgery and he was in hospital taking somewhat longer time to recover. But I did not expect to hear this sad news. I also received a message from Vidyut just a minute ago. I knew Ashok from my highschool days in Pune. He was four-five years ahead of me. Later we became very close friends for a lifetime. A very big loss to the field of Sanskrit studies. May he rest in peace.

Madhav M. Deshpande
Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore, India

[Residence: Campbell, California, USA]

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