Governor Punjab and Administrator UT Chandigarh, Sh. V.P.Singh Badnore today launched ‘Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism’s Greatest Thinker’, a book authored by former diplomat and Rajya Sabha MP, Mr. Pavan K. Varma at Punjab Raj Bhavan.Speaking at the book launch, the Governor said that the book ‘Adi Shankaracharya: Hinduism's Greatest Thinker’ is a well-researched account of the life and times of the child-saint Adi Shankaracharya, who travelled across India to set up of monasteries or mathas, even while giving a form and structure to Hinduism. It also includes a select anthology of Shankaracharya’s seminal writing; and most importantly, examines the startling endorsement that contemporary science is giving to his ideas today. Talking about the book, the writer-diplomat, Mr. Varma said that Jagad Guru Adi Shankaracharya (788–820 CE) was born in Kerala and died in Kedarnath, traversing the length of India in his search for the ultimate truth. In a short life of thirty-two years, Shankaracharya not only revived Hinduism, but also created the organisational structure for its perpetuation through the mathas he established in Sringeri, Dwaraka, Puri and Joshimatha. The journey of a seer who gave Hinduism a definite form, and also propounded the Advaita philosophy, said Mr. Varma. Most importantly, Adi Shankara’s sheer audacity and thought in establishing significant scientific principles, which even modern science endorsed centuries later, is magnificently documented by the author, he added.
Prominent amongst others who attended the book launch function included Speaker Punjab Vidhan Sabha, Rana K.P.Singh, a leading educationist and philanthropist Lord Diljit Rana, Vice Chancellor Rajiv Gandhi Law University, Mr. P.S. Jaiswal, Secretary to the Governor, Mr. J.M. Balamurugan and other dignitaries from the tricity. About the Author Pavan K Varma: Pavan K. Varma is a writer-diplomat and now in politics, where he was till recently an MP in the Rajya Sabha, and earlier Advisor to the Chief Minister of Bihar. Author of over a dozen bestselling books including, Ghalib: The Man, The Times; The Great Indian Middle Class; The Book of Krishna; Being Indian; Becoming Indian; and Chanakya’s New Manifesto, he has been Ambassador in several countries, Director of The Nehru Centre in London, Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs, and Press Secretary to the President of India.Pavan K. Varma was conferred an Honorary Doctoral Degree for his contribution to the fields of diplomacy, literature, culture and aesthetics by the University of Indianapolis in 2005. He lives in Delhi.