President Pranab Mukherjee Performing religious rites at Maa Bhadarkali Temple at Kurukshetra on Tuesday.
New Delhi, April 9, 2013: President Pranab Mukherjee today exhorted to propagate to the world, the values and lessons contained in rich traditions of the country and stressed that the importance of imparting moral lessons to children should be rightly understood.
Mukherjee was addressing a National Seminar on Challenges of the Modern World: Solutions through Indology organised at Kurukshetra University, Kurukshetra today.
He said that in a world focused on materialism and where many see the end justifying the means, the study of rich Indian culture can give an alternate model. The wealth of our works stand bequeathed to the benefit of this modern world. Citing example of the holy book Bhagavad Gita, he said that the underlying moral teachings in Bhagavad Gita can emphasise the need to adhere to righteous path even in the face of adversity.
He said that institutes of learning should offer courses on life management to orient the students with the diverse perspectives of life to give them a different world view of modernity.
He said that the maxim “Vasudeva kutumbakam” instructs us to treat the whole world like a family. Our traditional understanding calls for the essential fraternity and friendship amongst societies and countries.
He said that in the battle, ‘survival of the fittest’ everyone is overcome by anxiety and disquiet. The ancient scriptures and literatures contain valuable wisdom that denotes the true meaning of notions such as life, happiness, peace, prosperity, duty and obligation.
He said that languages and literature are our shared heritage and classical Indian languages like Sanskrit and Tamil, with rich original literary and grammatical traditions are amongst the longest surviving languages in the world. These languages were equal in importance with the other great literatures of the world such as Greek, Latin, Chinese and Persian.
He said that the wealth of information and advice contained in the works in several Indian languages and Indian philosophy could provide answers to both individuals and nations. Answers to the myriad problems that confront the mortal life can be unlocked from India’s ancient literary treasures.
Mukherjee reminded that the great men and thinkers of the 19th century have contributed towards reformation of society and upliftment of human life. He said that socio-religious movements like Arya Samaj, Brahma Samaj, Prarthana Samaj and Theosophical society had lent a direction that was new for that age but old in respect of our ancient philosophical understanding.
The President congratulated Kurukshetra University for organising Seminar on this topic as it holds great importance to the modern times and could offer guidance to the resolution of several of its problems. Indology is the study of Indian culture in its entire gamut, from its Indian languages to its art, customs, beliefs, religion and other related aspects, he added.
He applauded the efforts of Kurukshetra University in imparting quality education conforming to global standard. He said that the University emphasises on all round development of students through promotion of sports and co-curricular programmes. The university has produced nine Arjuna Awardees, two Dronacharya Awardees and one Major Dhyan Chand Awardee.
Speaking on this occasion, Haryana Governor, Jagannath Pahadia stressed the need to impart moral education to the children alongwith academics so that they could face all challenges of the world. He said every child had a right to get education. He said that a biggest challenge before the humanity is tempering with natural resources and this has put the humanity at the threshold of devastation.
Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda was of the view that construct of Indology should not be restricted to the study of our past heritage alone. He emphasized that India is impacting the world affairs even today in so many ways and the fact should find a legitimate place in any discussion on Indology. “We must talk about the rich contribution of India’s scientists, researchers and professionals to the pursuits of knowledge in all its forms. We must discuss India’s IT professionals’ contribution in numerous break-through in the modern times”, he added.
Hooda said that we are living in the knowledge century and only societies would move forward which are able to promote higher learning and knowledge pool. He suggested that our scholars and intellectuals should harness their faculties in the service of mankind which is equal to worshiping the God.
Vice Chancellor of Kurukshetra University, Lt. Gen. (Retd) Dr. D.D.S. Sandhu, Former Vice Chancellor K.D. Sanskriti University, Darbhanga, Prof. B.S. Kumar, Director, Institute of Sanskrit and Indological Studies, KUK also spoke on this occasion.
Those who were present on this occasion included Education Minister Geeta Bhukkal, Members of Parliament Dr. Ram Parkash, Naveen Jindal, Ishwar Singh, Chief Parliamentary Secretary Sultan Singh and other eminent scholars and distinguished dignitaries.