The Academy of Yoga and Oriental Studies (AYOS) organised a lecture on “Bhagavata Mahapurana: A Discourse” hereon Saturday. The speech was delivered by Prof Minati Ratha, Professor, Rastriya Sanskrit Sansthan, Sadasiva Parisara, Puri.
The meeting was presided over by Sanskrit scholar and former IPS officer Arun Kumar Upadhayay. AYOS director Dr Indulata Das welcomed the guests.
In her speech, Prof Ratha said, “Since the Vedas were not accessible to one and all, the Puranas were written for the common mass. Puranas, eighteen in number, are the storehouse of knowledge. The Bhagavata Purana, whose total Slokas are eighteen thousand in number, is one among them.
When Vyasa Deva could not find peace even after dividing Vedas and writing Brahma Sutra, he was instructed to author a text on the Devotion of lord. He wrote the Bhagavata and found peace. Therefore, Bhagavata is a text of supreme peace and happiness, she said.
There was a question-answer session after the lecture was over. Many scholars enriched the discussion by participating in it. Upadhyaya, in his presidential speech, added new information about the Bhagavata.