Starting this year, the Sanskrit department of the Mumbai University will offer a one-year online diploma course on Bhagavad Gita. University officials said the idea behind launching the course is to go beyond the spiritual context attached to Bhagavad Gita. Formed in the year 1963, the Sanskrit Department will turn 60 this year. To commemorate the occasion, the department has launched different innovative courses this year, including the diploma on Bhagavad Gita, under the Indian Knowledge System (IKS), in line with the National Education Policy (NEP) 2020. Elaborating that the course structure will include studying the essence of the ancient text, the Head of the Sanskrit Department, Dr Shakuntala Gawade, said that as an academic institution, the department will “try to explore the text through different approaches”. Anybody who is Class 12 pass is eligible to apply for the course, irrespective of the person’s age. Dr Gawade added, “When this (Gita) is taught by spiritual institutions, it is coloured by different ideologies. Thus, everybody’s interpretation of the text is different. But when we are looking at it as a language department, the reading evolves through different interpretations. With an academic lens, the same text is studied on different levels, starting from its language to other different interpretations based on different approaches such as psychology, philosophy, and ethics among all.” The online course will start this year with an intake capacity of 60 students. “This may change depending on the response,” said Dr Gawade. The department is also starting four new post graduate courses – MA in Classical Sanskrit Literature, M A in Yog, M A in Ethics and Puranas and MA in Arthashastra. “The last one can literally be translated into economics. But in the ancient Indian system, this was more than just economics. The texts to be studied under this involve knowledge on governance, foreign policy and strategic thinking among others,” explained Dr Gawade, adding that graduates from any discipline will be eligible for the PG courses.
