Education is the bedrock of civilisation, says Jagadguru Ramanandacharya

Bhubaneswar: Education is the bedrock of civilisation and no progress can be thought of without acquiring wisdom, Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Swami Ramabhadracharya of Chitrakoot said here on Sunday.

Jagadguru Ramabhadracharya, who was delivering the annual lecture at Siksha ‘O’ Anusandhan (SOA) here, said students should be ‘karmayogis’ which would lead to enlightenment of the world. He also explained the meaning behind the name ‘siksha’ and ‘anusandhan’, given to the Deemed to be University, to the audience.

“Our country has two names, India and Bharat, but the second one should be adopted for use as hardly any nation in the world has two names. The necessary change should be made at the appropriate level,” he said.

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The Swami, who had lost his eyesight while he was hardly two-month old, was a university topper earning nine gold medals and acquiring Ph.D and D.Litt degrees. He can speak in 22 languages and has set up a university for those with disability.

Arguing in favour of use of hindi for education, he suggested that SOA should include hindi as one of its medium of instruction.

SOA vice-president Saswati Das was present in the function which was attended by senior functionaries of the university. Dr. Basanta Kumar Pati of the Institute of Medical Education and SUM Hospital welcomed the Swami while Prof. Jyoti Ranjan Das, Dean (Students’ Welfare) conducted the proceedings. The meeting was also addressed by Dr. KS Rao, Secretary of Sahitya Akademi and Prof. Bijay Kumar Sahu, Dean, Institute of Agricultural Sciences.

Prof. BB Pradhan, Pro-Vice Chancellor and Registrar of SOA, Dr. Mahendra Prasad, Director, SOA, Prof. Sanghamitra Mishra, Dean, IMS and SUM Hospital, Dr. Gayatribala Panda, Head, SOA Centre for Preservation, Propagation and Restoration of Ancient Culture and Heritage of India (PPRACHIN) and SOA’s HR Officer Siddhyabrata Dash were among those present.