New Delhi: The Vice President, M. Venkaiah Naidu released a postage stamp to commemorate the 750th birth anniversary of Sri Vedanta Desikan in New Delhi. He said that our text books must throw light on the lives of great saints and spiritual icons such as Sri Vedanta Desikan so that our children internalize and practice the lofty ideals of humanism, peace and compassion propagated by them.
‘Sri Vedanta Desikan is one of the most prominent preceptors in the Sri vaishnava tradition and one of the most effulgent luminaries to have graced this land’, the Vice President added. Initiatives like bringing out commemorative postage stamps were not only meant to pay tribute to the great contributions of visionaries like Sri Vedanta Desikan but also aimed at inspiring our younger generation to follow in their footsteps.
The Vice President termed Sri Vedanta Desikan’s scholarship as truly outstanding and said that he had authored brilliant poems, prose, drama, epics, commentaries, scientific texts and philosophical treatises in Sanskrit, Tamil, Prakrit and Manipravalam.
Shri Naidu emphasized that Vedanta Desikan was much more than a spiritual teacher and said that he was a multi-faceted personality– a scientist, a logician, a mathematician, a literary genius, a linguist, a military strategist and much more.
The Vice President condemned the several acts of terror that had shocked the collective consciousness of the world in the recent times and stated unequivocally that terrorism had no religion. Shri Naidu termed terrorism as the greatest enemy of humanity and welcomed the listing of Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council. He called for world peace and said that peace and humanity formed the basis of the spiritual teachings of great saints like Sri Vedanta Desikan.
The Vice President also stressed that massive public awareness and education campaigns must be undertaken to bring to the fore luminaries such as Sri Vedant Desikan who have shaped our Bharat into a “Jnana Bhoomi”.
Mohan Parasaran, Former Solicitor General of India, Vishvapavan Pati, Additional Director General, Department of Posts, R. Mukunthan, General Secretary, Delhi Tamil Sangam, R. Sriraman, Founder Trustee, Sri Vedanta Desikan Manipaduka Indraprastha Trust and others were present on the occasion.
