BENGALURU: Rows and rows of children, thousands of them chanting shlokas in one voice — the Palace Grounds reverberated on Saturday with the rhythmic incantation of Bhagavan, kimupaadeyam, Guruvachanam... (What can be accepted without reservations? The words of the guru).Probably for the first time, two lakh children from various government and private schools assembled at one point to chant shlokas from Adi Shankaracharya’s Viveka Deepini, which has 37 verses focusing on moral values. Union Home Minister Amit Shah, who was present, stressed the need for spreading Shankaracharya’s message.
What was significant was that many Muslim children, who were part of the massive gathering, learnt the shlokas within a span of just one week. A teacher from a government school in Banaswadi said 114 children from the school, some 10 of them Muslims, took part in the event. “They did not find it difficult to learn. In fact, they learnt the shlokas in a very short time,” the teacher said.
A teacher from another government school said on the condition of anonymity that when Vivekadeepini shlokas were taught, neither Muslim children nor their parents objected to it. “It is the political leaders who make it a big issue and divide the society,” the teacher said.
A Muslim student said she liked the rythm of the shlokas. “I have seen people near my home chant shlokas in the temple. I did not understand their meaning, but loved to hear them. I am happy to have learnt these shlokas. My parents never objected,” said Shabareen studying in a government school.
Children had learnt shlokas in just a week
Bharathi, a teacher from Apollo School, said 800 students from her school participated in the event. She said since June last year, a volunteer from Vedanta Bharati would come every Wednesday to teach Vivekadeepini. “Last year when Soundarya Lahari, also written by Adi Shankaracharya, was chanted, there were around one lakh participants including children.
But this time it has set a record as close to 2 lakh were all children,’’ Anantha Padmanabha, one of the organisers, told The New Sunday Express.Prashanth Hegde from Vedanta Bharati, an institution of Studies and Research, which organiseed the event, said they had booked 1,600 buses. Union Home Minister Amit Shah was present at the event.