Universal brotherhood

At the core of Indian culture, which draws from a multitude of religious influences, is the need for tolerance and compassion
Universal brotherhood

Indian thought philosophy and culture have been promoting the feeling of universal brotherhood for centuries.

The message of the Rig Veda is clear - “Let noble thoughts come to us from all directions.” Vedas and vedanta further clarify the philosophy that truth is one, though the wise ones call it by various names. Our rishis, saints and sufis dedicated themselves to the above philosophy inspite of great upheavals faced by our society. They inspired our society towards a global feeling. These thoughts developed into a magnificent philosophy where world is one family and one home. This philosophy has been nurtured by tolerance, compassion and dignity of human life without discrimination of big or small.

The pluralistic character of Indian society, its unique unity in diversity possesses the noble principles of Vedas and Vedanta, Islam, Christianity, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism, Zoroastrianism, Sufism and many more faiths whichever lived on Indian soil.

Indians have accepted the principle that one should do one’s duty or act according to one’s faith or religious order. Message of Upanishads is clear that, ‘Let all walk together, eat together and work together so that all shine and prosper.’ Indian philosophy never sees the world with a divided or fragmented vision. It has bestowed love and wisdom on the entire humanity and its pursuit to find out the truth continues.

Bhagvad Gita lays emphasis on ethical and moral principles in life. You shall not do to others what you do not want to be done to yourself. It enjoins all to do actions, to meet obligations and duties of life keeping in view the larger interest of humanity.

In recent times, Gautam Buddha, Bhagwan Mahavir, Guru Nanak Devji, Saint Kabir, Swami Dayanand Saraswati, Mahatma Gandhi, Aurobindo, Rama Krishna, Swami Vivekanand enriched Indian thought in modern terms to promote equality of human-beings, dignity of life (both external and internal), universal brotherhood, harmony and unity amongst relations. Our quest continues to take Indian philosophy to every corner of our country and abroad.

The concept of one ‘world’ in economic terms has come true with globalisation. We should develop our economy step-by-step and make it competitive with the rest of the world. It is equally necessary for us to maintain and consolidate our rich and ancient culture and heritage.

The above is an authorised extract from the book Soul Of India, authored by Karnataka Governor H R Bhardwaj

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