Chandigarh January 30, 2024
National seminar at PU concludes
Two-day national seminar on the contributions of Swami Dayanand Saraswati towards Indian knowledge traditions, concluded at the Panjab University today on 30.1.24. This seminar was organised by PU’s Sanskrit department, as a part of the celebrations of Swami Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birth anniversary. The inaugural session was presided over by Prof. Dinesh Chandra Shastri, Vice Chancellor of Uttarakhand Sanskrit University, Haridwar and Key note speaker was Prof. Surendra Kumar, MDU Rohatk. The last day was presided over by Shri Hansraj Gandhar, vice president, DAVCMC, New Delhi and the Sarasvat Guest was Prof. Ranvir Singh, former chairperson, Dayanand Chair, Haryana Central University, Mahendragarh.
Scholars from UP, Shimla, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Haryana presented their papers on Dayanand Saraswati and his contribution to Vedas and Indian tradition
The main speaker Prof. Singh told that Swami Dayanand made Vedas accessible to the masses. He also cited various references from Vedas and Vedic texts which support Swami Dayanand’s ideas and philosophy.
Shri Hansraj Gandhar presented an analysis of Sayana’s interpretation of Vedas and contrasted it with that of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. Shri Gandhar said that the approach of Swami ji was scientific.
Prof. V. K. Alankar said in his concluding address that one of the major challenges in transmitting Vedic knowledge is wrong translation. Prof. Alankar told the audience about Swami Dayanand’s contribution towards animal welfare. He told how PU’s VC Prof. Renu Vig showed a lot of interest in the celebration of Swami Dayanand’s 200th birth anniversary. Prof. Alankar thanked the DUI Prof. Rumina Sethi and others for their continuing support towards Sanskrit events.
