Vision and Road Map for Development of Samskrit – Ten Year Perspective Plan had made about sixty recommendations for Higher Education where in twenty three recommendations were exclusively for Samskrit Universities. For the effective implementation of those twenty three recommendations, two of them need policy changes at the Govt. level, five need approvals and sanctioned teaching posts from the concerned authorities and four may need additional grants. Rest of the twelve recommendations (50%) need not wait for any external help in order to begin the preparatory work at least. They are purely a matter of intense desire for change and collective will power of Samskrit Professors community. I am not saying nothing has been done. Many Universities have implemented many of them, some have implemented some of them and a few have made no attempts. Yet there is enough scope for stock taking of how much initiative the Samskrit Universities have taken till now.

One of the recommendations, and a popular demand of all the educationists who are rooted to Bharatiya ethos, is to integrate both traditional and modern subjects in education. Modern subjects in traditional stream and traditional subjects in modern stream need to be introduced where ever they are relevant. But we have not yet been able to do much in this regard. May be the nation is looking towards Samskrit Universities to do research in Indian Knowledge Systems, to design new courses and to take the lead. The views expressed by Prof B Mahadevan of IIM-B may help us to formulate our response to the current challenges. They are as following.

Q: In ancient India the motto of education was “सा विद्या या विमुक्तये”. But today it has become “सा विद्या या नियुक्तये”. One is for निःश्रेयस् and the other for अभ्युदय. Can there be a road map to integrate अभ्युदय and निःश्रेयस् in education?

A: Education plays an important role in the lives of every individual, especially in a fiercely competitive, globalised economic setting as we witness today. A good education, as everybody believes, is a sure passport for a comfortable living as it guarantees a good job, perhaps an overseas assignment or possibilities for higher studies in reputed universities in the US. Therefore, we cannot runway from the “Niyukti” angle in education in the first place. However, it appears to be short sighted in nature and inadequate in developing individuals with inner strength to deal multiple situation in life.

Well-developed individuals not only get good jobs but also stay a happy person pursuing his/her personal interests and passion even while productively contributing in the workplace. This is the future citizen that we need, and the type of education provided must be able to develop such all-round individuals. The new educational programs must factor these into consideration. It must have good inputs in some of the modern disciplines that may enable the student fetch jobs. However, in equal measure it must develop individual interests and provide opportunities for testing them while graduating. There must be opportunities to develop an open mind and critical thinking.

A good understanding of our ancestral knowledge will greatly inspire the youth and help them stay connected with their roots. This will be an added advantage in creating young minds that believe in themselves and develop self-confidence and pride in an informed fashion. Such an approach to education will take us away from pure “job seeking” dimension to “life fulfilling” aspects of education. After all good jobs can provide material comforts but cannot make happy and satisfied individuals.

We need new type of academic programs that enable students to choose from Ancient Indian knowledge systems, Sanskrit, comparative philosophy, appreciation of alternative forms of art etc. even when they are pursuing “job seeking” education such as engineering and management. In fact, many of the foundational principles behind formation of Chinmaya Vishwavidyapeeth of which I was a part, was based on this understanding and the need to develop new generation of programmes.