Renowned Sanskrit scholar Robert P. Goldman has been honored with the World Sanskrit Award for 2017 by the Indian Council on Cultural Relations (ICCR) for his work on Sanskrit language and literature and for the completion — under his direction — of the seven-volume, 5,000-page translation and annotation of the monumental Sanskrit epic poem the Rāmāyaṇa of Vālmīki.
The award was initiated in 2015, when it was announced by India’s external affairs minister during her inaugural address at the 16th World Sanskrit Conference. It carries a prize of $20,000.
The ICCR plans an award ceremony in November in New Delhi.
Goldman, the William and Catherine Distinguished Professor of Sanskrit in the Department of South and Southeast Asian Studies at UC Berkeley, learned of the prize today from Indian Consul General/Ambassador Ashok Venkatesan in San Francisco.
A previous Berkeley News story chronicled Goldman’s rich career and work on the Ramayana.