PU holds lecture on Swami Dayanand’s message of practical spirituality

Chandigarh November 24, 2023: Panjab University’s Sanskrit department held a lecture titled ‘Dayanandasarasvatikrita Ishopanishadbhashya mein adarsh dharmik jeevan’. The speaker at the lecture was Dr. Satyan Sharma, who is also a faculty member at the department. The lecture was held under the celebrations of the 200th birth anniversary of Swami Dayanand Saraswati. The lecture was attended by teachers, research scholars and students of the department and Dayanand Chair for Vedic Studies.

Dr. Satyan began by presenting the scriptural definition of Sanatan Dharm and said, “Dharm is that which bestows happiness in this world and also leads us to mukti or liberation.” He said that it is in this sense that in Sanatan Dharm, equal importance is given to both material as well as spiritual uplift. “Swami Dayanand, in his commentary on the Ishopanishad, has stated that it is only when one correctly uses the material world and performs worship of the all-pervading God, that one attains the highest goal of human life”, he added. Dr. Sharma said that within the material uplift are included science and technology, and that they should be used in an informed manner. He further said, “it is only when we start to worship technology and its tools, as we can see many of us doing it knowingly or unknowingly, that problems ensue.” He said that Swami Dayanand Saraswati didn’t see both the material and spiritual acts as opposing each other, but as complementary.

Academic incharge of the department Prof. V. K. Alankar congratulated Dr. Sharma on his lecture and said that Swami Dayanand professed a practical life instead of a merely spiritual one. Prof. Alankar said, “Sanatan Dharm is Sanatan or eternal because it responds well to change, which is also eternal.”

Faculty member of the department, Dr. Vijay Bharadwaj gave a vote of thanks and urged the audience to read Swami Dayanand’s book Satyarth Prakash.