National Seminar on Indravijayah–Bharatavarsha Upadwipa-prasanga

Shri Shankar Shikshayatan organised an online national seminar on May 31,2024 based on the Upadvipa prasanga of Pandit Madhusudan Ojha’s monumental work, Indravijayah.

Prof. Santosh Kumar Shukla, Professor, Institute of Sanskrit and Oriental Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, presided over the seminar which was attended by Prof. Harish, Acharya, Sanskrit Department, Kirori Mal College, Delhi University; Dr. Satyaketu, Assistant Professor, Sanskrit Department, Lucknow University; Dr. Yogesh Sharma, Assistant Professor, Sanskrit Department, P.G. D. A. V. College (Evening), Delhi University; Dr. Dheeraj Kumar Pandey, Assistant Professor, Department of Philosophy, Kameshwar Singh Darbhanga Sanskrit University, Darbhanga.

Prof. Harish presented his lecture on Lankaprasang (chapter on Lanka) of Indravijayah. Pandit Madhusudan Ojha has proved the fact on the basis of 12 proofs that Sinhala Island is not Lanka. In the first proof it is said that in Bhagavata Purana, Sinhala Island is mentioned in the seventh place and Lanka has been placed at the eighth position. In the second proof it is said that Lanka is a place without latitude while Sinhala island has been given latitude. In the third proof it is said that just like there is a meridian in Ujjaini, similarly there is a meridian in Lanka as well. This proves that the island of Sinhala is different from the island of Lanka. The fourth proof states that the island of Sri Lanka touches the Equator but the island of Sinhala is situated very far from the Equator. In the fifth evidence it is said that the length of Sinhala island is 135 Kos and width is 122 Kos whereas the length of Lanka is 4 Kos and width is 20 Kos. In the sixth evidence also the difference between Sinhala island and Lanka island is told on the basis of their size. In the seventh evidence, there are many mountains in Sinhala island, due to this logic there is a difference between Lanka and Sinhala island. In the eighth evidence it is said that Ravan Vihar was on Trikuta mountain, due to this logic it will not be right to say that Sinhala island is Lanka. In the ninth evidence It is said that in the Greek text, Sinhala Island has been referred to by the word ‘Taprovan’. Similarly, considering the word ‘Tapu Ravan’, Sinhala Island is not Lanka. In the tenth proof it is said that the mountain range which is now visible in ruins from Sethuband-Rameshwar to Sinhaladvipa cannot be Lanka because Ram had built a bridge over the sea and that bridge got submerged in the sea. In the eleventh proof It is said that there was a king named Agnidhra who divided India into nine parts. The ninth island among them is Kumaridvipa. The other eight islands got submerged in the sea. In the twelfth proof, the separation of the two has been proved on the basis of six arguments.

Dr . Satyaketu presented his lecture on the Upadwipa Prasanga (chapter on peninsulas) which has been described in the Bhagwat Mahapurana through eight peninsulas–Swarnaprastha, Shukla, Avartan, Naaramanak, Mandaraharin, Panchajanya, Sinhala and Lanka. Here Sinhala is at seventh place and Lanka is at eighth place.

Dr. Yogesh Sharma while lecturing on Indian Languages ​​said that there were three languages ​​in India. The first language was Chhanda language, the second language was Sanskrit language and the third was Nagari language. This description is found in Indravijayah. During the time of Panini, in India, Chandobhasha was called divine language and Brahmi language was called Bharati. In this context, author Pt. Ojha ji has discussed many aspects related to language. While presenting a lecture on the chapter of script (lipi prasanga), Dr. Dheeraj Kumar Pandey said that in the Vedas, there was a clear quotation of the word lipi was found during the creation of mantras. The word ‘Chhandah Kshuro bhrajah’ has been found in the fifteenth chapter of Shukla Yajurveda. Here, the word Kshuro means pen and the word Bhraj means verse. In the presidential address, Prof. Santosh Kumar Shukla said that the main topic of this national seminar was the discussion of the ancient geographical position of India. In this, the topic of peninsular and Lankan geography is discussed. In this geography, topics like the basis of naming Jambudvipa.

The seminar was conducted by Dr. Laxmi Kant Vimal, Research Officer of Shri Shankar Shikshayatan. Professors, research scholars and experts from various universities and colleges from various states participated enthusiastically.

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