National Youth Day: JU holds Lecture to mark Swami Vivekananda's Birth Anniversary

To commemorate Swami Vivekananda Ji’s Birth Anniversary as National Youth Day, the Department of Students Welfare, University of Jammu organized an online Lecture on the topic “Spiritualizing Life & Living” by Prof. Arvind Jasrotia, Dean, Faculty of Law & Registrar, University of Jammu. Prof. Manoj K. Dhar, esteemed Vice Chancellor, University of Jammu was the Chief Guest at the occasion. The commemoration marked the celebrations of Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsava.

The virtual event was attended by students, scholars, teachers, staff of the University and members of civil society.

Prof. Manoj K. Dhar congratulated Dean Students Welfare, Prof. Prakash C. Antahal and his team for successfully organising such a programme of high relevance. Citing the statistics that India is the Country of youth, he asserted this programme as highly relevant and meaningful. Moreover, Swami Vivekanda’s vision has got all the essence which is required to make the youth of the country empowered, positive, courageous and thoughtful. He also emphasised that some of the innovative ventures/projects of Govt. of India would go a long way in realizing the vision of Swami Vivekananda in several senses. He gladly shared that, realizing the vision of Hon’ble Prime Minister Sh. Narendra Modi, and under the guidance of the Chancellor of University of Jammu, and Hon’ble Lieutenant Governor of J&K Sh. Manoj Sinha, University of Jammu has taken innovative initiatives to provide entrepreneurship skills to the youth of the region. He termed today’s session as an in-depth, spiritually stimulating session. He praised Prof. Jasrotia for the examples and anecdotes he quoted for their suitability in shaping our minds. Speaking about National Youth Day, he expressed that the philosophy and ideals of Swami Ji serve a great purpose in inculcating inner strength in the youth of the country. As Swami Ji told about Physical, Social, Intellectual and spiritual quest and believed that ‘Successful life is nothing if it is not meaningful’, he invoked the youth of the region to come forward with constructive thoughts to face the exciting and challenging times as Swami ji dwelt on the capabilities of the youth in detail.

Citing the examples of the golden thoughts of Swami Vivekananda, Prof. Arvind Jasrotia, with reverence stated Swami Ji as a modern seer with ancient spiritual background who believed that to believe in god is to believe in one's own-self and considered that ‘Each soul is potentially divine and the goal is to manifest the divinity within’ and ‘There is unity of existence’. He termed his teachings as ‘It is a journey from ignorance to knowledge’. Prof. Jasrotia fortified his speech with appropriate and relevant Slokas from Upnishadhas. Exemplifying that ‘Vedanta’ is the highest knowledge of human existence he also cited anecdotes from Bhagvad Geeta. He very lucidly explained the concept of ‘Equanimity of mind is called Yog. He also conducted a meditation session, which was very effective. He precisely answered the questions of the participants and ended his session with a noteworthy thought that ‘We are spiritual beings having human experience’.

Earlier, in his welcome address, Prof. Prakash Antahal informed that Department of Students Welfare fondly organises events which inculcate positivity and intellect amongst students. He also deliberated on the importance of celebration of such days which infuse determination and confidence in the youth. He shared his personal experience of the intellectual and spiritual inclination of Prof. Jasrotia.