As a part of the decennial celebration lecture series at BAPS Swaminarayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalay, on 18 August 2023, the second lecture of this lecture series commenced with the auspicious vedic manglacharan and deep pragatya. Sadhu Shreejikirtandas Swami, an educator at the Sant Prashikshan Kendra, Sarangpur was the chief guest for this event. In his introductory speech, he extolled ‘The Knowledge tradition of Indian Culture’.

Dr Shree Pankaj Kumar Raval, who is a renowned scholar of Sanskrit & purans, as well as the Dean of Puran-Dharma Shastra at Somnath Sanskrit University, then delivered the main lecture. His topic was ‘Relation between Bhakta and Bhagwan based on Maharshi Valmiki’s Ramayan.’ Dr. Raval eloquently explained the relationship between a devotee (bhakta) and the divine (Bhagwan) using incidents from Maharshi Valmiki’s Ramayan. He also drew references from other scriptures. The audience consisted of students from BAPS Swaminarayan Sanskrit Mahavidyalay as well as a large number of online students. The attendees understood the sacrifice, faith and many more qualities of a bhakta through the lives of Sita, Hanuman and several other characters narrated in the Ramayan. This monthly lecture series proved to help students acquire wisdom and inspiration.