Gyan Deeksha ceremony at Dev Sanskriti

P.S. Chauhan

With the 17th Gyan Deeksha (Initiation) ceremony held in the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya, Haridwar, 448 students of various disciplines at graduate and post graduate level, started their academic session. At a time when the commencement of the academic session is marked by ragging and freshers party, the Dev Sanskriti Vishwavidyalaya has been pursuing the age old tradition of Gyan Deeksha of the Gurukuls. The highlights of the Gyan Deeksha ceremony were the rendition of the Vedic mantras and performance of other rituals. Invoking the freshers into their courses, the chancellor of the Vishwavidyalaya, Dr. Pranav Pandya said that acquisition of Vidya (wisdom) rather than mere Gyan (knowledge) was the ultimate goal of education.

Speaking on the occasion as the chief guest, the vice chancellor of the Lal Bahadur Sanskrit Vidyapeeth, New Delhi, Professor Vachaspati Shastri congratulated the state government for making Sanskrit as the second language in the state. "Students should enter the portals of an educational institution as 'takers' and pass out as 'givers' to the society", he exhorted. The vice chancellor of the Vishwavidyalaya, Prof. S.P. Mishra informed on the occasion that the Vishwavidyalaya was going to launch new courses in B.Ed., river and water resources management, astrology and P.G. diploma in animation and visual effects. The vice chancellor of the Kaviguru, Kalidas University, Nagpur, Professor Pankaj Chande and the director of the Morarji Desai National Yoga Institute, New Delhi, Dr. I.B. Basav Reddy were among those present on the occasion.