Two Special lectures held in Panjab University’s Sanskrit department

Chandigarh, February 12, 2024: Celebrations of Dayanand Saraswati’s 200th birthday took place in the Sanskrit department of the Panjab University today. As a part of the celebrations, two lectures were also held at the department. The first lecture was by Dr. Vijay Bharadwaj, guest faculty at the department, and the second lecture was by Prof. Lakhvir Singh, professor of Sanskrit at the PGGCG 42, and Additional State Project Director RUSA, Chandigarh. Teachers, research scholars and students of the department as well as PU’s Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies took part in the celebrations.
 
Dr. Vijay Bharadwaj spoke about original contributions of Swami Dayanand regarding Vedic interpretation. He told that as per Swami Dayanand, the stories which appear in Vedas and Vedic literature aren’t historical but communicate a deeper idea. Dr. Bharadwaj also told that Swami Dayanand  favours three kinds of Vedic interpretation instead of just one.
 
Prof. Lakhvir Singh enlightened the audience about Swami Dayanand’s perspectives regarding Yajna. Prof. Singh explained in detail Achaman, which is one of the sixteen steps of a Yajna. He also told that through Agnihotra and other yajnas, the Devas like Vayu and many others are worshipped.
 
Prof. V. K. Alankar gave a vote of thanks to the speakers as well as the audience. Prof. also told that Swami Dayanand never claimed to profess any new idea, he instead only claimed to communicate what ancient Sages and Vedas have already said.