Governor of Kerala Arif Mohammad Khan has said that Sanskrit was the binding force behind the survival of the Indian culture and civilisation for centuries.
National Sanskrit Convention
He addressed the inaugural session of the three-day ‘Samskrita Samunmesha’, the National Sanskrit Convention organised jointly by the Union Ministry of Culture, Sahitya Akademi and Mysuru-based Samskriti Foundation, at the National Sanskrit University (NSU) campus here on Wednesday.
Mr. Khan quoted Puranas to explain how the Indian knowledge system believed in the equality of all living beings. “Without Sanskrit, India will not be India,” he asserted.
Mr. Khan called the establishment of four monasteries by Adi Shankaracharya across the Indian sub-continent a well-thought-of move to bind the nation culturally and spiritually.
“Shankaracharya founded four Mutts in the four corners of the sub-continent to ensure similarity in thought process. This awareness created by him perhaps made the task easy for Sardar Patel to unify the fragmented India that was a collection of 600 plus princely States,” he said.
‘Sanskrit is in danger’
NSU Chancellor and former Chief Election Commissioner N. Gopalaswami expressed concern over the Language Policy adopted by the CBSE at the senior secondary level. They found a lurking threat to the propagation of Sanskrit.
“Sanskrit is in danger. The policy will further impact the growth of all regional languages. Ten years from now, there will be none walking into the Sanskrit university campuses if corrective steps are not taken today”, he cautioned.
Additional Secretary Ranjana Chopra and Joint Secretary Uma Nanduri from the Ministry of Culture said that Sanskrit had been reduced to hymns in prayers and called for steps to be taken to understand the language in its totality.
TTD Executive Officer A.V. Dharma Reddy recalled how the ‘Mantras’ known for strengthening one’s lungs and immunity were chanted, and it was telecasted live on TTD’s official channel during the COVID-19 pandemic.
NSU Vice-Chancellor G.S.R. Krishnamurthi, Sahitya Akademi Vice-President Kumud Sharma and Secretary K. Srinivasa Rao highlighted the efforts being taken to promote publications in the Sanskrit language.
Technical sessions highlighting the various facets of Sanskrit will be conducted during the seminar said the organisers.
