Nilkanth Gurtoo was a Kashmiri

Kashmiri people

The Kashmiri people are a Dardic linguistic group living in Kashmir Valley in Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and parts of the Pakistani territory of Azad Kashmir who speak the Kashmiri language...

 Sanskrit

Sanskrit

Sanskrit , is a historical Indo-Aryan language and the primary liturgical language of Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism.Buddhism: besides Pali, see Buddhist Hybrid Sanskrit Today, it is listed as one of the 22 scheduled languages of India and is an official language of the state of Uttarakhand...

 & Shaiva scholar and professor who translated many philosophical texts into Hindi

Hindi

Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...

 or English.

Professor Nilkanth Gurtoo

Nilkanth Gurtoo was born in Srinager, Kashmir, India on January 2, 1925. He learned advanced texts of Sanskrit grammar and linguistics from Pandit Lalkak Langoo, Pandit Harbhatta Shastri and Pandit Sarvadananda Handoo, Pandit Maheshwar Nath Nehru and Pandit Jankinath Dhar. He also qualified for the traditional degrees of Prajna

Prajña

Prajñā or paññā is wisdom, understanding, discernment or cognitive acuity. Such wisdom is understood to exist in the universal flux of being and can be intuitively experienced through meditation...

, Visharada and Shastri

Shastri

-People with the surname Shastri:* Heera Lal Shastri , Indian politician and the first chief minister of Rajasthan state* Keshavram Kashiram Shastri , founding leader of Vishwa Hindu Parishad...

 in Sanskrit from Government Sanskrit College. Srinagar (affiliated with the University of Punjab in Lahore

Lahore

Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...

). After qualifying for the Prabhakar

Prabhakar

Prabhakar is an Indian name.* Janardhan Sharma is known as Prabhakar in Nepal* Manoj Prabhakar, is a former Indian cricketer* Ponnam Prabhakar, an Indian politician and a member of 15th Lok Sabha...

 degree he earned a B.A. degree in Sanskrit. He learned the nuances of Kashmir Shaivism from Professor Balajinnath Pandit and Swami Lakshman Joo

Swami Lakshman Joo

Swami Lakshman Joo Raina was a famed mystic and scholar of Kashmir Shaivism. He was known as Lal Sahib by followers and considered by them to be a fully realized saint.- Family :...

.

Gurtu initially worked as a Sanskrit teacher in the Government Sanskrit School in Tral

Tral

Tral is a town and a notified area committee in Pulwama district, of Jammu and Kashmir, India. It is a small town prettily situated on the sloping plateau of the foot hills of the mountains near the east side of the Wullar Purgana in Pulwama district of Jammu and Kashmir. Tral is situated at the...

, Kashmir, and simultaneously he also earned a degree of M.A. in Sanskrit. He later on went on to earn a M.A. degree in Hindi as well. He was associated with the Jammu

Jammu

Jammu , also known as Duggar, is one of the three administrative divisions within Jammu and Kashmir, the northernmost state in India.Jammu city is the largest city in Jammu and the winter capital of Jammu and Kashmir...

 & Kashmir Research and Publication Department of the Government of Jammu & Kashmir, Government Souer College & Amar Singh College, Srinagar (under the University of Kashmir

University of Kashmir

-Faculties/Departments:* Arts** Department of Arabic** Department of Urdu** Department of English** Department of Kashmiri** Department of Foreign Languages** Department of Library and Information Science** Department of Linguistics...

).

Professor Gurtu passed away on 18 December 2008, from Alzeimers disease..

Partial List of Published Works

• Paratrisikavivarana with Hindi translation and commentary, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi
  New Delhi
  New Delhi is the capital city of India. It serves as the centre of the Government of India and the Government of the National Capital Territory of Delhi. New Delhi is situated within the metropolis of Delhi. It is one of the nine districts of Delhi Union Territory. The total area of the city is...
  
  . (1985).
• Spandakarika with Kallata's vrtti
  Vritti
  Vritti, in the context of Hinduism and yoga, is the name given to different tendencies, or psycho-physical propensities, which give scope for the mind to express a variety of feelings and emotions. Hindu texts describe vritties to be a result of past actions and experiences that have left an...
  
   translated into Hindi with commentary, Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi. (1981).
• Harsesvaramahatmayam translated into English with detailed annotations, Penman Publishers, Delhi. (2000).
• Parmarthasara with Hindi translation of Yogaraja's commentary with an elaborate introduction, Penman Publishers, Delhi. (2004).
• Sambapancasika with Ksemaraja's commentary translated into Hindi, Penman Publishers, Delhi. (2002)
• Sivastotravali of Utpaladeva
  Utpaladeva
  Utpaladeva was one of the great teachers of the philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism.Utpaladeva, an influential philosopher-theologian of the Pratyabhijna school of Shaiva thought composed the Ishvara-pratyabhijna-karika, or 'Verses on the Recognition of the Lord' and the 'Shivastotravali'.-External...
  
   with Ksemaraja's commentary and Hindi translation by Swami Lakshman Joo. Edited by Nilkanth Gurtoo, Ishwar Ashram Trust, Srinagar (Kashmir).
• Parapravesika of Ksemaraja explained into Kashmiri and edited by Makhanlal Kukiloo, Ishwar Ashram Trust, Srinagar, Kashmir. (1996).
• Kashmira-saiva-darsana-brhat-kosa (in two volumes) (edited jointly with Prof Yashpal Khajuriya and Prof Balajinnath Pandit). Rashtriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Jammu (J&K). (2001-2005).