In the backdrop of a nationwide uproar over religious conversions in Agra, Kanchi Shankaracharya Pujya Sri Jayendra Saraswathi Swamigal offered a much simpler outlook on the seemingly controversial subject.
Speaking to dna before attending the Adi Sankara awards in Matunga on Thursday, the pontiff said the Kanchi Mutt has been converting people, who were Hindus earlier but changed their faith, to become Hindu again. "It is completely voluntary as people forced to convert will not stay in the religion for long," said the religious leader with the help of a translator, adding that they don't convert people born in a certain religion and do prior checks before carrying out the process.
Two leading women educationists and Sanskrit scholars were given the Adi Sankara Puraskar for the first time since it was instituted in 2000. The award recognises individuals for outstanding contributions in Vedic studies and Advaita Vedanta of Sri Adi Sankara.
Dr Uma Chandrasekhar Vaidya, vice-chancellor of Kavikulaguru Kalidas Sanskrit University in Nagpur and Dr Gauri Mahulikar, head of the department of Sanskrit Ramakrishna Bajaj Sanskrit Bhavan of Mumbai University, were honoured with a cash prize of Rs1 lakh each and a citation.
Vaidya feels that the attitude of society towards Sanskrit is changing. "The salient feature of the language is value orientation which is important for the society today. It is also the most accurate phonetic language for computers. This award is an encouragement for further work."
A specialist in Vedanta and Vedic studies, Mahulikar said it's a stereotype that Sanskrit is just for spirituality and philosophy. "Sanskrit takes you to the root of our culture and civilisation. It includes many empirical sciences like physics, chemistry and social sciences" Mahulikar has over 50 thesis papers to her credit.
Stressing the need for free primary education for everyone, Shankaracharya said they have constructed many educational institutes, but need space to create more. "We request people to either give us the space and we will construct institutes or get it constructed in their own names and we will look after the education." The Kanchi mutt claims to have nearly 500 educational institutes under its umbrella.
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