KOCHI: Union Minister Sushma Swaraj’s push to confer ‘national book’ status on Bhgawad Gita seems to have found some takers in Kerala.
Spiritual organisation Sambodh Foundation’s head Swami Bodhananda Saraswati, who was in the city on Monday, advocated for Sushma’s demand that recently sparked quite a few controversies across the country.
“Gita should be made the national book. It is more than a Hindu religious text. It is the quintessence of the pre-Islamic spiritual tradition of India,” he said.
When asked about the unfairness of terming Gita as ‘Indian’, while the fact remains that it talks about humanity in general, the Swami said that Gita was indeed Indian ‘as it arose from our roots, in the Indian consciousness’.
But don’t we already have a national book, the Constitution of India? The Swami differs, “the Constitution is only a temporary document. Unlike Gita, it is subject to change.”
Bodhananda further stated that he was in support of the controversial ‘ghar vapsi’ campaign, minus the conversion part. “We have forgotten our pre-Islamic tradition. To my mind, ghar vapsi is about returning to that culture. However, I am against conversion, which is a stupid and violent idea,” he said.
The Sambodh Foundation has announced that it had launched a new project at Vytilla, namely the Bodhananda International Foundation For Inter-Religious Dialogue (BIFIRD).
“It will serve as a platform for dialogue and interaction between people of different faiths and values,” said the Foundation officials.
“The BIFIRD will act like a think tank, hosting monthly seminars and a wide range of several other activities to promote constructive conservation and informed debates,” the Foundation officials added.