A. M. G. K.

Ananda Marga Gurukula is an international educational initiative founded by Revered Shrii Shrii Anandamurtiji on September 7,1990 with its global headquarters at Anandanagar. He also composed the last song of Prabhat Samgiita on “Gurukula”, the night before his physical departure from this earth. The mo􀄴o of the Gurukula, the gurukul song and Baba’s directives on the role of “autonomous board of education” reflect the sublime ideal of Ananda Marga Gurukula viz., “to serve humanity with a neohumanist spirit and to acquire knowledge for that purpose”. It aims to build a human society where no one shall be left behind and where the goal is an “all round emancipation of all living beings”. Gurukula heralds the advent of a new age on the planet earth through its valueloaded revolutionary educational philosophy and a character-building program led by educated and devoted aca’ryas (spiritual mentors) and neohumanist educators called vidya-viveka’s. In the words of Revered Ba’ba’: “In olden times, an educational institution enrolling about a hundred students was called a ‘Pathshála’, that with 100-1000 students was called a ‘Catuspáthii’, and an institution of 1000-5000 students was called a ‘Mahácatuspáthii’, Vidyapeetha or ‘Seat of learning’. Pupils of ancient Semitic and Middle Asia whose branches are the O􀄴oman Turks, Arabs and Jews used to call it ‘Academy’. Institutions with 5000-500,000 students were called Gurukul. The learned scholar of Vikramaditya’s court, Shri Amar Singh opined that a Gurukul should not enroll more than 500,000 students because it adversely affects the administrative efficiency…. In later times, when in ancient Greece, the system of Academies progressed, they were upgraded and during the Roman Empire, they were reconstituted as ‘Universities’. The Universities represented a grand educational scheme. During the tenure of the British Empire, the institution of universities was also initiated in India – particularly in Calcu􀄴a, Madras, Bombay, Lahore, Allahabad and Nagpur. We have lost the tradition of over a thousand years. Is it proper to use the term ‘University’? It has been loosely translated in the vernacular as ‘Vishvavidalaya’. This is a misnomer. We already have a proper term for a university and it is ‘Gurukul’.” The headquarters of Gurukula is called Cakradhuri and is located at Gopal Anandanagar. A university campus is also envisioned at Mohan Anandanagar which will be connected with Degree College and Teachers Training College and other educational institutions at Central Anandanagar via Mahavidyalaya Sarani and through the new dam proposed to be built on the River Daks’ina in the very near future. Gurukula at Anandanagar with its satellite campuses on all continents is a grand educational scheme. It aims to unite the entire world under the banner of a universal neohumanist ideology, unravel the mysteries of creation, and resolve the riddles that baffle the human intellect of today. It brings a compassionate outlook, service spirit, application of a rational mindset to sha AMGK at Anandanagar reminds us of a renewed attempt to revive the tradition of ancient gurukuls of the past like Nalanda, Taxila, Vikramshila’ and the like, which were pride of Bharat’s ancient culture and heritage. They used to attract students from China and other nations. Today, Anandanagar Gurukula holds the same promise and is beginning to attract scholars and youth from all over the world in order to gain both spiritual (para’ jinana) and mundane knowledge (apara’ jinana). A rural medical college espousing integrated and composite medical approach is also envisioned for Anandanagar. NATAC (Naturopathy, Acupuncture, Chandsi; Homeopathy; Ayurveda; Electro-homeopathy along with allopathy therapeutic modalities are designed to co-exist and serve the patients according to the need. Facilities for Composite Medical Colleges and Multi-pathy Hospitals are also in the developing stages. The seeds planted by Revered Ba’ba’ are now beginning to sprout. Samskrta Vidyapiitha, Bamgla Vidyapiitha, Hindi Bha’rati, Textile Institute, Rarh Kala Kendra, Veterinary College, Fine Arts College, Music College, Nursing College, Institute of Technology, College of Pharmacy, College of Agriculture & Bio-technology and Teachers Training College are all awaiting to be further developed in course of time. While explaining further details about Gurukula, Revered Baba also said the following on September 29,1990: Everyone’s work is to establish it [Gurukula] with collective support. You people know that when clothes are woven white ants and mice try to eat them. So, the cloth has to be saved from the destructive activities of white ants and mice. So, whenever you make something, establish a protective fence to protect it from the evil forces. In days of old, when womenfolk used to prepare dried mango cakes, the young boys used to sit by the side to keep the crows away with a stick in the hand. Similarly, you should be careful and alert always. From this very auspicious moment, you should take a vow to progress individually and collectively and build a new society on the planet Earth. We have come to build a new society, to construct and to remain engaged in constructive works throughout our life. This would be the greatest mission of our life.

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