The 17th World Sanskrit Conference, which was inaugurated on July 9 in Vancouver, Canada, recognised Bhagwan Swaminarayan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as the first new independent school of Vedanta since the 16th century.
More than 600 eminent Sanskrit scholars and educators from over 40 countries attended the historic event that was held at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.
The event also saw the launch of recently authored ground-breaking Sanskrit works on the Akshar-Purushottam Darshan -- the Swaminarayan Bhashyam and the Swaminarayan Siddhanta-Sudha by Sadhu Bhadreshdas.
World Sanskrit Conference organising committee member and senior Sanskrit scholar from the University of British Columbia, Professor Ashok Aklujkar said: “Bhadreshdas Swami is one of the most amazing personalities of the religious traditions of India that I have ever met. His scholarly genius is jaw-dropping, and his commentaries on the Prasthantrayi are a truly great achievement. I think all of us at the World Sanskrit Conference are fortunate to have a bhashyakar in our midst. Just as the Kashi Vishva Parishad acknowledged Swaminarayan Bhagwan’s Akshar-Purushottam Darshan as a distinct darshan in the Vedanta tradition, we are honored to do the same from the platform of the World Sanskrit Conference.”
Bhadreshdas Swami is an eminent Sanskrit scholar and ordained swami of the BAPS Swaminarayan Sanstha. He completed the Swaminarayan Bhashyam, a five-volume comprehensive Sanskrit commentary on Hinduism’s three Vedic canonical texts – the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutras –in 2007. These texts form the foundation for the philosophical beliefs of Hindu vedanta.
Highlighting the significance of Bhadreshdas Swami's achievements, professor Deven Patel of the University of Pennsylvania, said: "The World Sanskrit Conference is proud to honor this new and truly historic achievement in the world of Sanskrit philosophical culture. It is the first Sanskrit commentary on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the BhagavadGita in nearly 200 years and the first commentary on the complete set by a single acharya in over 1200 years."
