Dharma & rashtra not separate, says Mohan Bhagwat
In Short
RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat emphasized at the All India Vihar Seva conference that India's spiritual heritage and inseparable bond between dharma and nation hold solutions to global challenges.
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RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat
Mumbai: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said dharma and rashtra are inseparable in India and asserted that the country's vast knowledge tradition has a role to play in addressing the challenges confronting the world.
Addressing the 14th conference of the All India Vihar Seva group, a Jain youth service organisation, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief said the world was grappling with contradictions between development and environmental protection, individual freedom and family life, and religious faith and conflict.
Bhagwat also said the conflicts and dilemmas in the world could not be resolved by choosing one side at the cost of another.
"As development increases, the environment gets damaged. And where the environment has to be protected, development cannot take place. As individual freedom increases, families are breaking apart. There is a breakdown in society," he said. Bhagwat said India had a historical tradition of sharing its knowledge without conquering other countries or converting people.
"The world knows that the path will come from India," he said. He said India possessed a vast knowledge tradition comprising the Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, Mahabharata, Gita, Jain Agamas, Tripitaka, Guru Granth Sahib and the teachings of saints. "Our country has a very great treasure of knowledge, which the world needs today," he said.
According to Bhagwat, preserving the lives and traditions of those who carry this knowledge was not merely a religious responsibility but a service to humanity. He said the Indian concept of the rashtra (nation) could not be separated from dharma. "Our rashtra (nation) and dharma are not separate. The purpose of the nation is dharma, and dharma helps sustain the nation. The two are interdependent. If one exists, the other also exists; if one does not exist, the other also does not," Bhagwat said here.
If the nation becomes weak, dharma comes under threat, he said. "If the practice of dharma becomes weak, then both have to be carried forward properly together. That becomes our responsibility," Bhagwat said. He said the Indian approach was not limited to the welfare of a particular section. "Our ancestors thought about the welfare of the entire world. We say 'may everyone be happy'. We do not believe that some should prosper and some should not. n.
