Magic of Vedic Mantras of Panchtantra

IIS (Deemed to be University), Jaipur

Name of the Department: Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems,IIS (deemed to be University)

Name of the Event/Activity/Workshop/Seminar: Magic of Vedic Mantras of Panchtantra

Date: December 8,2023

Venue:  AV Hall

No. of Participants: 80

Objective of the workshop/seminar/activity: To introduce Vedic mantras by incorporating Panchtantra stories in routine classroom teaching.

The Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems ,IIS (deemed to be University ), Jaipur organized a session on the topic “ Magic of Vedic Mantras of Panchtantra”. Prof. Uma Joshi, Former Director ,AIBAS ,Dean ,Humanities , Social Sciences &Liberal Arts , Amity University , Rajasthan      was the Resource Person of the session.

The session commenced with a warm greetings from Dr. Archana Kumari, member, Centre for Indian Knowledge Systems, IIS (deemed to University), Jaipur who acquainted the audience with Prof. Joshi’s contributions in the field of academics. Prof. K.S. Sharma , Advisor of the University then welcomed Prof. Joshi with a flower pot as a token of appreciation.

Thereafter, Prof. Joshi began her talk by defining Panchtantra which is a collection of fables.  According to her Panchtantra has assimilated pearl of wisdom from many ancient scriptures of India.It has been chiefly being prepared to teach practical principles of wise conduct in a Guru Shishya Parampara. The Resource person also stressed that Panchtantra is neither prescriptive nor descriptive rather it is conversational and yet suggestive of wisdom with evidence based outcomes. It’s approach is Neeti Kathayen in a form of Prateek Kathayen using projection as a technique. Next, Prof Joshi stated the objective of the session that was to teach the art of living through the magic of mantras of Panchtantra , mainly to  the students to be able to  live happy and a healthy life.

Further, Prof. Joshi acquainted the audience with the significance of Panchtanra stories in our lives. She elaborated on the aspects of learning life skills in Panchtantra stories while broadly covering the elements of self-awareness, empathy, critical thinking, creative thinking, decision making, problem solving, interpersonal relations, communication, stress management, handling emotions, etc. She explained the respective life skills by quoting apt examples from the story of Raja Amar Shakti. Prof. Joshi explained these skills by creating a bridge between ancient vedic knowledge and modern teaching - learning methods. She spoke at length on the need to balance strength, knowledge and practical intelligence in a human life.

 Furthermore, the Resource Person touched upon the other crucial areas of life such as the selection of friends and also that of a life partner. Moreover, the session intricately covered the major areas of life that may help the society ,specifically students at large  to be able to improve and live their lives contentedly by imbibing the teaching of Panchtantra. With such an engaging thoughts , Prof. Joshi concluded her talk , which was followed by an interactive question- answer round. The audience brought up the topic of the significance of Panchtantra in teaching-learning process. They were highly content with the extremely engaging and informative session. The session concluded with Dr. Archan Kumari’s vote of thanks to Prof. Joshi. Later, the audience were invited to see Prof. Joshi’s collection of paintings from Panchtanra .