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Regular-article-logo Friday, 04 July 2025

DIGITAL DHARMA MARCH TO DELETE PANDITJI 

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FROM SUJAY GUPTA Published 21.12.99, 12:00 AM
Varanasi, Dec. 21 :     One more bastion of Indian tradition is about to fall before the advance of the Internet. If a tradition-loving Hindu NRI from America has his way, pandits who used to be flown abroad to conduct religious ceremonies will be replaced by packaged shlokas and discourses on CD-ROM and websites. Amit Kumar Goel, an infotech professional based in Boston, has written to the Uttar Pradesh government for permission to talk to the authorities at Benaras Hindu University and Mahatma Gandhi Kashi Vidyapeeth here to access the Vedas, dharmashastras and other scriptures on which the pandits? renditions are based. Goel plans to set up an office here to put all these scriptures on a specially designed Internet portal, which will be available to men of learning abroad who can then take the place of the venerable panditji. Goel also wants to give an authentic touch to religious rites at NRI homes by developing digital dharma packages on compact disks. For this, he plans to record the chants and mantras of Sanskrit scholars in this city, the seat of classical learning. Last month, Goel wrote to the principal secretary, information technology, with details of his project. The secretary, in turn, contacted the district administration here and the authorities at BHU and the Vidyapeeth. A catalogue of available scriptures has been mailed to Goel. Acharya Sudhanshu Shekhar Shastri, dean of the faculty of Sanskrit learning and theory at BHU, told The Telegraph: ?Ours is a treasure house of scriptures. We have all the four Vedas, the dharmashastras, scriptures of ancient Indian laws, all available literature on Indian astrology, including scriptures used for karmkand (domestic religious acitivity, like wedding or funeral rites). We cannot part with them but we are aware of a unique request by an NRI and are considering it.? Shastri added: ?Nowhere in the world will such information be available except in Varanasi.? Asked what he thought of the Internet replacing pandits, the acharya replied: ?Replacing men of learning is impossible. But if Indians living abroad want to be in touch with their homeland and customs, we can only help.? The computerised pandit will obviously be a poor substitute for the real thing, but far more economic in terms of time and money. The Kashi Vidyapeeth, a state university, has planned a meeting in the second week of January to see what it can do to help Goel. Registrar Suresh Chandra said: ?We will be glad to help. We will see what is available in our libraries and what can be accessed. We fully support the project.? The government also plans to allot a plot to Goel near the Varanasi airport for setting up his office. If all goes well, Indians across the globe will conduct religious functions with a click of the mouse. But for the pandits, it would mean fewer trips abroad.    
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