“World Peace and Harmony : Insights from SrimadBhagavadagita”
Last few years have been a witness to widespread rearrangement of the geo-political setup wherein the friends of yesteryears are showing aggression and the armies are regrouping in different parts of the world. Each day brings news of war, conflict, violence and human suffering. World is sitting on the threat of a potential nuclear war. Belligerence seems to be the order of the day with nations, social groups and even individuals resorting to the actions that cause hurt, harm and suffering to others. Besides the geo-politics, the unsustainable human development developed on the basis of consumption, demand and supply, etc. is resulting in exploitation of the natural resources, environmental pollution and climate change. The scenario for the future generations looks challenging and the technologies, including artificial intelligence, developed to serve the humanity are being used to develop the products that promote violence, more than they contribute to human development.Present situation is analogous to the times when the war of Mahabharta and in order to rebuild a world of peace and harmony amongst the nations, societies and individuals, the message of SrimadBhagavadagita is relevant.
The potential reasons of conflicts and threats to peace and harmony find their origin somewhere in the thought process of the human minds. A person needs to be at peace and be in harmony with him/herself in order to perform actions that give peace to others. No battle will ever take place if rage turns into compassion. No side will lose precious lives if warmongers stop taking humanity for granted. And no family will ever lose their loved ones if people resort to peace over war. Over 18 chapters, SrimadBhagavadgita presents an immense analysis of life, emotions, truth and adherence to duty. It practically teaches us to maintain calm at the times of emotional rollercoaster because life is all about managing emotions and developing rational thinking. Revising the teachings of SrimadBhagavadagita can provide solutions to allay the human sufferings caused due to conflict, uncontrolled consumption and unsustainable development.
Gita Jayanti festival being celebrated every year helps in bringing the message of SrimadBhavadagita and the International Seminar of 2022 is being organized on the theme World peace and harmony: Insights from SrimadBhagavadagita, wherein thinkers and researchers from across the world confluence to deliberate upon this important issue affecting the very existence of the mankind. Seminar is a multi-disciplinary platform with different departments and institutes from the disciplines of Philosophy, Sanskrit, Indic studies, languages, sciences and business management of Kurukshetra University will hold sessions for scholarly deliberations on the theme of the Seminar.