Rambhadracharya selected for 'Vachaspati Puraskar'

New Delhi, Feb 19 (UNI) Famed Sanskrit poet Swami Rambhadracharya has been selected for the 16th 'Vachaspati Puraskar for the year 2007 for his work 'Sribhargavaraghaviyam' (Mahakavyam), K K Birla Foundaion announced today.

The award, which carries Rs one lakh, is given to honour a writer for his work in Sanskrit published during the last ten years.

Besides literay works, other works in Sanskrit and the translation of important works into Sanskrit are considered for this award.

Swami Rambhadracharya, who lost his eyesight at the age of two, has authored nearly 50 books in Hindi and Sanskrit. Uttar Pradesh government has appointed him lifetime Vice-chancellor of the University of the Disabled.

'Sribhargavaraghaviyam', an outstanding work on the lines of great Sanskrit epics, is divided in 21 chapters and each chapter comprises 101 shlokas (hymns) in praise of Lord Ram.

The Foundation also announced the 2007 'Bihari Puraskar', which wil be bestowed upon Yashwant Vyas for his novel Comrade Godse. The award also carries an amount of Rs one lakh.

The Bihari Puraskar, exclusively for Rajasthani writers, is given every year to an outstanding work in Hindi or Rajasthani published during the last ten years.

Apart from the Bihari and Vachaspati Puraskar, the Foundation had instituted in 1992 'Shankar Puraskar' to honour an outstanding work published in Hindi during the last 10 years on Indian philosophy, culture and art.

The Rs 1.5 lakh Shankar Puraskar for 2007 will be conferred on Prof. R S Tripathi for his work 'Baudh Darshan Prasthan'.

UNI SKS PJ VC1524