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Sanskrit lessons for Jaipur MP Ramcharan Bohra and his family during lockdown
The Member of Parliament from Jaipur began learning Sanskrit when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus disease on March 24.
It’s purnima (day of full moon) of Jyeshtha Hindu month on Friday and Ramcharan Bohra has completed 65 days of Sanskrit classes at his Jaipur house.
The Member of Parliament from Jaipur began learning Sanskrit when Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced nationwide lockdown to prevent spread of coronavirus disease on March 24.
Since then, Bohra and his family – wife Lalita, sons Rahul and Akshay, daughters-in-law Rati and Sneha, and grandchildren Aparark and Saanvi – have been sitting around Shastri Kosalendradas for two hours every evening to get basic knowledge about Vedic literature and learning the basics of Sanskrit.
WATCH | Lockdown lessons: BJP MP Ramcharan Bohra & family learn Sanskrit
“I got attracted to Sanskrit after getting in contact with Kosalendradas ji. The language brings sanskaras (rites) in a family so I decided to utilize the lockdown period to initiate my family to this ancient language,” said Bohra, who took oath in Sanskrit in both tenures as Lok Sabha MP.
Bohra said he called family friend Kosalendradas on March 24 to request him to spare sometime every day to teach his family Sanskrit and introduce them to Vedic culture. “I have given them basic knowledge about Sanskrit, epics Ramayana and Mahabharat, and Panini’s Ashtadhyayi (the treatise on Sanskrit grammar),” said Kosalendradas, assistant professor at Jagadguru Ramanandacharya Rajasthan Sanskrit University (JRRSU) in Jaipur.
In two months, even the youngest member of the Bohra family – 5-year-old Aparark – has started reciting shlokas from Bhagwat and Vishnu Puranas. “The common perception is that Sanskrit is very difficult but we now know that it’s just a perception. In two months only, we have learnt so much,” said Bohra, 64.
His two sons, Rahul and Akshay, are MBAs; the elder daughter-in-law Rati is a dentist and the other one, Sneha, is lecturer of mathematics. All of them can recite mantras and sholakas. “We have all gone to English-medium schools and never thought Sanskrit could be so easy to learn,” said Akshay, the younger son of the Jaipur MP.
Kosalendradas says the family is learning Abhijnanashakuntalam, written by great Sanskrit poet Kalidas, these days. He said the classes will continue at least until end of June.
The classes are not held on pratipada, the first day of every fortnight in Hindu months, and amavasya, night of no moon.
