Today, the world is plagued by the corona pandemic; people are resorting to virtual medium to meet each other, to share their thoughts, personal experiences of their lives. At the moment, people around the world are turning this disaster into an opportunity, where ideas and experiences of each other inspire inspiration to progress in society.
Something similar was seen recently when people from many countries of the world were seen remembering India and Sanskrit at special moments of their lives. India means a country giving spiritual and intellectual strength to the world, even in adverse conditions. Foreign people never forget to learn the Sanskrit language to know India closely, keeping many traditions and diverse cultures forever alive.
Sahitya Akademi Awardee, Sanskrit poet Yuvraj Bhattarai said that ‘for the last ten years ‘Swastivachanam’ the universal association has been continuously providing a dialogue for people living abroad and who love Sanskrit. This association works for the promotion, preservation and importance of Sanskrit journalism, Yoga, Ayurveda, Vastu Shastra and Indology worldwide. The association ‘Swastivachanam’ celebrated the ten years of its establishment especially on Tuesday. Yuvraj Bhattarai, co-founder and vice-president of the ‘Swastivachanam’, said that ‘an international virtual program was organised on Tuesday with invited foreign speakers sharing their personal experiences associated with India’s high philosophy, literature and traditions’. Yuvraj Bhattarai said that ‘this association is a gateway for all those located abroad who want to know seriously the rivers, mountains, trees, medicines, fasts, festivals, customs, meditation, mantras etc. of India. Which is possible only with deep knowledge of Vedic Sanskrit literature’.
On this particular occasion, Union Education Minister, Government of India Dr Ramesh Pokhriyal ‘Nishank’ in his congratulatory message stated that ‘It is the result of renowned Sanskrit figure of Uttarakhand late Shri Dinesh Chandra Joshi’s foresight that the universal association ‘Swastivachanam’ today is providing a seamless dialogue to Sanskrit young researchers and Sanskrit lovers at the international level. I am happy that last year I inaugurated a website of Sanskrit journalism www.sanskritvartah.com of this association. Which today is succeeding in the objective of promoting the interest of youth in Sanskrit journalism.’
Pratap Chandra Sarangi, while explaining the importance of the Sanskrit language said that ‘Sanskrit is not just a language but a superpower, a great movement, a great consciousness and a scientific language. Sanskrit pronunciation purifies the atmosphere, makes the mind calm, destroys the diseases, purifies the mind. If Sanskrit texts had not given zero numbers to the world, then perhaps mathematics would always be impure’. Minister of State in the Ministry of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises & Ministry of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying, Government of India Pratap Chandra Sarangi was the Chief Guest in the virtual event.
In his long address for about half an hour, Pratap Chandra Sarangi further said that ‘my humble proposal by the association of ‘Swastivachanam’ is that universities must start Sanskrit journalism course’. As his second proposal, he said that ‘the use of Vastushastra is a gift to the whole world. Therefore, Vastu Shastra courses should also be started in universities. With the wonderful interconnection of astrology and Vastushastra, huge buildings, forts and temples are being built, which remain stable for thousands of years’. Explaining the importance of Ayurveda, he further said that ‘Ayurveda is the science of age and wealth of India, then yoga is a matter of our pride’.
Seven eminent foreign speakers with a special attachment to India and Sanskrit language also participated in this virtual event. In this virtual program that lasted for three hours, Dr Margaret Lobo of Britain, Sadhvi Bhagwati Saraswati from Standford University, Dr Skarbimir Ruci?ski from Poland, Basu Das Ghosh of America, Sanskrit research scholar Zhang Yingxin from China and senior journalist from France Côme Carpentier de Gourdon expressed the changed in their lives through the Sanskrit language. Born in Switzerland, obtained Indian citizenship, the transcendental meditation trainer Ashutosh Urs Strobel also spoke about the importance of Sanskrit and India.
Ambassador Akhilesh Mishra (IFS), Additional Secretary, Development Partnership Administration (DPA), Ministry of External Affairs, Government of India joined the event as the Guest of Honour. Prof. Ramesh Kumar Pandey, Vice-Chancellor of Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri Central Sanskrit University, presided over this virtual program.
On the occasion of completion of ten years of the association, Jiwan Joshi, joint secretary of the ‘Swastivachanam’, who is pursuing his research work PhD on Vastushastra, stated that ‘India’s architecture, fine arts, crafts and sculptures have been astonishing people all over the world for thousands of years. For this reason, seeing the aesthetic architecture of India, foreigners are always eager to read books of Vaastu Shastra in Sanskrit, to do research and also to know this art. Thus, it is always the effort of our association that we can connect the rich history of ancient India with Vastushastra and keep it in front of the world.
Padma Shri Prof. Bhagirath Prasad Tripathi ‘Vagish Shastri’ president of ‘Swastivachanam’ said that ‘the main objective of this association is to bring the diverse classical dimensions of Sanskrit and culture into the field of research in pure form. This ‘Swastivachanam’ organisation, which is a dialogue bridge between Sanskrit lovers of India and abroad, has been making a successful effort to take India’s reputation to the youth of the world for the last ten years.’
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