Mahesh Deokar's life is the quinesstial of what it takes to follow the teachings of Buddha

Living life as per Buddha's teachings – Neti- Neti, meaning not this- not this, that guide one to transcend beyond materialistic possessions and worldly sorrows to find permanent happiness, professor Mahesh Deokar's story is a true example of what it takes to follow the teachings word by word.

"Pain exists and one has to accept it to find the solution. Buddha says that pain lies in hurting someone and dependency is painful. Calling this as the only thing that Buddha said, will be an injustice to Buddha's philosophy that goes ahead to explain how one can concur the sorrows," says Deokar who got introduced to Buddha's philosophy, through his love for the language- Sanskrit. It was this philosophy that later inspired him to take up Pali, also known as Magadhi, the language that Buddhist philosophy is documented in.

"In the year 1992 after finishing my graduation from Mumbai University, I wanted to pursue my career in Sanskrit. Pune being the cultural center of Maharashtra, I shifted to Pune. Pali was the subordinate subject that I chose during my MA in Sanskrit. While Sanskrit has been the language of scriptures, Pali is much more comprehendible," says Deokar, who during the student days, came in contact with the book- Milinda Panno that unveils Buddha's philosophy in a question- answer format. "It was due to the Buddhist philosophy that I decided to do a second MA with Pali as the main subject and Ardhamagadhi as the subordinate subject," smiles Deokar, who also decided to start his career as a professor of Pali language in University of Pune.

... contd.