The #CoronaAwarenessQuiz in Sanskrit received tremendous support from various quarters including Pema Khandu, Hardeep Singh Puri, Sonal Mansingh, Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev, Bibek Debroy and Dr A. Surya Prakash who tweeted in support of the unique quiz.
A unique initiative by ‘Swastivachanam’ organisation during Lockdown has won hearts from across the country. Sanskrit aficionados were treated to a unique quiz competition in Sanskrit on public awareness about Corona. The idea of the online quiz was the brainchild of Sanskrit Sahitya Akademi Awardee Yuvraj Bhattarai and his friend Jeevan Joshi. Yuvraj Bhattarai is a well-known young Sanskrit poet of the country and both his Sanskrit poetry collections’ Vagvilasini’, and ‘Manoranuranjini’ have gained much popularity. Yuvraj Bhattarai says that the entire country has been adhering to Lockdown for the last 68 days on the request of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the state governments. This is why both had the desire to do some constructive work for the spread of Sanskrit language from home.
Yuvraj Bhattarai is also the vice-president of the institution called ‘Swastivachanam’, which is engaged in the promotion and preservation of Sanskrit journalism, yoga, Ayurveda, Vastu Shastra and other Bharatiya disciplines. He further explained that “Given the way the outbreak of Corona doesn’t seem to cease, every person should resort to Ayurveda and Yoga and make them a part of our routine. The importance of Ayurveda and Yoga can be understood only with the right knowledge of the Sanskrit language.”
Speaking about the competition, Jeevan Joshi, co-secretary of ‘Swastivachanam’ informed that “This type of Sanskrit quiz on COVID-19 has not been organised by any institution in the world.” He explained that this Sanskrit quiz was held online from May 28 to May 31 for four days, in which 1288 participants from all over the country participated. A unique fact about this competition was that the number of questions was also fixed to match the number of days of quarantine that is mandated. All the questions and their alternate answers were also in Sanskrit, and people across the country participated with interest.”
Jeevan Joshi said that information regarding #CoronaAwarenessQuiz was also shared and retweeted on Twitter by Chief Minister of Arunachal Pradesh Pema Khandu, Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation (Independent Charge) Hardeep Singh Puri, Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises and Minister of State in the Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairy, Pratap Chandra Sarangi, renowned dancer and Rajya Sabha MP Sonal Mansingh and Yoga Guru Baba Ramdev too. Jeevan Joshi further said that this was the first initiative to create public awareness through Sanskrit in its own right, the information of which was also shared by Bibek Debroy, President of the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council (EAC-PM) and Dr A. K., Vice President of Nehru Memorial Museum and Library. Chief of Prasar Bharati Shri. A Surya Prakash too retweeted the quiz.
Regarding the statistics on participation in the quiz, out of 1288 people from across the country who participated in the Corona Awareness Sanskrit Quiz, 12.5% were faculty members, 20.6% were research scholars, 25.3% were postgraduates, 13.4% were Undergraduates, 12.8% were school students and 15.4% were general participants. 81.2% of the participants rated the world’s first online Sanskrit Quiz as the best, interesting and informative. Jeevan Joshi further said that when the participants were asked for the next topic for a similar online quiz and Sanskrit Journalism, Yogasastra, Indian Philosophy, Indian Geology, Ramayana and Mahabharata were suggested, 36.9% of the people chose quiz on Sanskrit journalism which has been selected.
Prof. Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi’ Vagish Shastri’, mentor of Swastivachanam and President of Vagyog Chetna Peetham said that ‘Bharat will be successful in the battle being fought against Corona under the leadership of India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The mantra that the Prime Minister has given to 130 crore countrymen to show collective strength of service, to remain self-reliant, to be enthusiastic, is the essence of all Vedas and Upanishads. Because the Prime Minister experiences the divinity and grandeur inherent in Sanskrit, is the reason why he has taken Yoga and Ayurveda written in Sanskrit at the international level and given it a strong identity. ‘Vagish Shastri further said that ‘At this time everyone needs to follow Lockdown 5.0 norms more carefully. Everyone should make use of this opportunity to learn Sanskrit online at home with family members during this period.
‘Swastivachanam’ has informed that the next quiz competition during lockdown 5.0 will be held on ‘Sanskrit Journalism’.
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