President Dr. Ashwani Lochan Aggarwal plants 21 gooseberries in the fields of AUS offered by Bhiku Pannasara Ji.
Namsai, 2020: Bhiku Pannasara Ji visited Arunachal University of Studies on third of December 2020. President Dr. Ashwani Lochan Aggarwal presented him with a Thai Lahi Sack. In return, of the offerings, Bhiku Pannasara Ji gave 21 gooseberries as a holy offering to the President and the campus.
On 04/12/2020, Bhiku Pannasara Ji planted the offerings along with other members of Arunachal University of Studies. On this occasion, Dr Ashwani Lochan narrated the audience present during the ceremony the importance of gooseberry donation in Buddhism.
He narrated – “The third queen of Emperor Ashoka, Tishirakshita, had gotten the eyes of his crown prince Kunal torn. Due to this, the great emperor Ashoka was filled with rage and sentenced her to death. Subsequently, he also decided to donate 100 crores of currency (which was more than the economy of the nation) to the Buddhist Sangha. Out of this, he donated 96 crore currency to the Sangh and made his grandson Pratistha the crown prince. The minsters of the court stopped the donation of the remaining four crores as the nation’s economy had collapsed. When the emperor heard the news, he was savouring gooseberries and had only half the fruit left. Therefore, he decided to donate half of the gooseberry to the Buddhist Sangha. Looking at the gesture, the Sangha considered the half gooseberry an equal offering to the 100 crores.”
The 21 gooseberries were planted on the fields of Arunachal University of Studies in the presence of Vice Chancellor, O.P. Sharma and other eminent members of the AUS family.