International Lecture Series by Prof. ADN Bajpai on “Spirituality and Purushartha”
School of Management Sciences Varanasi organized an International Lecture on “Spirituality and Purushartha” on 21 September, 2018 which was an initiative of SMS-IQAC conducted by Center for Spirituality and Human Enrichment (C-SHE). Professor A.D.N. Bajpai, Former Vice-Chancellor, Himachal Pradesh University was the main speaker of the session. The lecture was a tremendous success as participants from different parts of the country converged to attend it. It had participants who were research scholars from different universities, delegates from all over India and abroad who benefitted from this unique and special deliberation. Mr. Rishi Raman Singh, Associate Professor, SMS, Varanasi welcomed the distinguished speaker with a bouquet of flowers. The dais was shared by Dr. Praveen Dighra, Professor S.K. Mishra of Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and Mr. Ashiwini Dubey who were all disciples of Prof. A.D.N Bajpai. This lecture series was started in 2009 in the city of Jabalpur, in the vicinity of river Narmada. It also happened to be the birthday of Prof. Bajpai which all his research scholars and disciples wanted to celebrate through this noble way of spreading knowledge about spirituality and other dimensions which are interwoven with it in the society.
Prof. Sandeep Singh, Head of Department (Commerce and Management), SMS, Varanasi welcomed the guest with a bouquet of flowers and showered him with wishes on his birthday. He also acknowledged the fact that he was not only a respected teacher, researcher, academic administrator but also a great and accomplished poet in true sense. He also expressed his gratitude and welcomed all his followers and other delegates for this insightful session. Sir, opined that “Spirituality”, is of extreme importance in management and condemned the “occult practices” that are being carried out in today`s materialistic world. Talking about the theme he said that it’s extremely dynamic and versatile in nature and has a deep implication on the best practices that are being used in management today. He let everyone know that since 2003 in SMS, Varanasi through C-SHE he has done his own humble part in propagating Spirituality in Management. Lastly, he hoped that all the listeners would certainly have some takeaways from the session.
The second speaker briefed everyone about how the lecture started in Jabalpur in the year 2009 which emphasized on the clearing of Narmada. He laid stress on the fact that Rs. 18,000 crore has been sanctioned for the cleaning of Ganga river and already 8,000 crore has been utilized with no fruitful results. He stressed that if people could only put things in the river that they could eat themselves the rivers would automatically get cleaned over a period of time. According to him Arsenic is the main pollutant that impacts the water quality in this area. He also emphasized that various pollutants which are being used in the soil to increase the produce in-turn effect our body and mind in a detrimental way. He expressed his desire that people should be more careful while feeding cows as they feed them things in polethene which these animals consume along with food, which in turn affect the food ecosystem in totality.
Then the distinguished speaker Prof. S.K Mishra from Banaras Hindu University who took part in the lecture series for the first time expressed his fondness for Prof. Bajpai and said that his association with him dated back to 1985. Prof. Bajpai is extremely simple and down to earth in his style of communication. He opined that for the development of a person he has to be either, “scared” or “greedy”. These two factors serve as the primary motivation for his aspiration for growth of an individual today. He said only that person who has got a clear concise for the society and life can be satisfied and have a continuous growth path rather that those who worked out of sheer greed and are scared. Mr. K. K Bajpai, Associate Professor, SMS Varanasi graced the dais by highlighting the mystiqueness and charm that the city of Varanasi had in it. It made it a very special place to live and the enigma that it has for being the oldest religious city always made it a very special place for everyone in the world.
Prof. A D N Bajpai started his deliberation by reciting a shloka in Sanskrit which completely changed the ambience of the place. Leaving everyone in awe of his ablilty to influence without power he emphazised that just like a seed this lecture series that started in Jabalpur is now 10 years old in the holy and pious city of Varanasi. He opined that “Purushartha”, meant the true meaning of being a man – to satisfy all instincts and be happy throughout. He said that Purushartha is a perfect synonym Moksharth. He focused on Dharma, Karma and Moksha. He discussed how nature in itself works for itself in a periodic way. According to him nature imbibed all the features of Purushartha. The only way in which nature and humans are different was that nature was not as active as humans. He futher shared that Aahar, Nidra, Maithun and Bhay are present both in humans and animals. But wish for moksha and presence of Decision Making Skills is present in humans not in prakriti. Moksha can only be availed by Purushartha, nature cannot avail Moksha. He also educated others by saying that while you are alive you can attain Moksha. He said, “Liberation from all aspects of Purushartha and Moksharth are similar words”. This keep and make humans more superior and differentiate them from all. Futhermore he said that Atma, is everliving and that a person has to try to reach the moksha stage. He said that Atma cannot be discovered or searched but can only be felt.