The Academy of Yoga and Oriental Studies 9 AYOS) organised a two-day national conference on “Puranic literature” at the Fakir Mohan Bhavan here on April 9 and 10.
Many scholars from different parts of the State and the country participated in the conference organised on the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the AYOS. Prof Gopal Krishna Dash, former HOD of Department of Sanskrit, Utkal University, and Prof Gangadhara Panda, Vice-Chancellor, Sri Jagannath Sanskrit University, were the guests at the inaugural function.
AYOS member Mihir Kumar Mishra welcomed the guests and director Dr Indulata Das delivered an introductory speech.
Prof Gopal Krishna Dash highlighted the time and history of the Puranas (mythologies). Prof Gangadhara Panda talked about the derivation, subject divisions and relevance of Puranas in the modern era.
President Sudarsan Nayak said, “Puranic literature is the invaluable treasury of Indian wisdom. It should be widely propagated.”
During the two days, various topics on the Puranic literature were discussed. “Source of knowledge in Puranas”, “Contribution of Odisha to the Puranic literature”, “Poetic beauty of the Puranas”, “Itihasa and Purana: A study”, “Ecological discussions in the Puranas”, “Son of Satyavati: The composer of eighteen Puranas”, “life after Death: A discussion in the light of Markandeya Purana”, “Brahman in Brahma Vaivarta Purana”, etc., were some of the topics on which elaborate discussions were held. Scholars from Bhubaneswar, Puri, Cuttack, Nayagarh, West Bengal, Andhra Pradesh, etc., presented papers and discussed on them.
The valedictory meeting was presided over by Sudarsan Nayak. Senior journalist Sugyan Choudhury was the guest of the occasion. Dr Indulata Das welcomed the guests. Choudhury said, “Puranas are the repositories of Indian traditional knowledge.” Drawing a comparison between Indian literature and non-Indian literature, he said, “Indian literature is full of morality and human values. This knowledge should be preserved and propagated for the wellbeing of the world.”
Sudarsan Nayak said Indian knowledge is not limited to spiritual knowledge only. It is also a storehouse of empirical knowledge. For example, the Vedic Mathematics is a very high-standard mathematics.