At the outset
on behalf of the Indian delegation, I would like to congratulate the President
of Kazakhstan H E Mr N A Nazarbayev for having taken the initiative in organising
this great event, the World and Traditional National Religious Congress.
Hinduism
is one of the oldest surviving religions of the world. It has survived over
many millennia manifesting its robust capacity to assimilate, adopt and absorb
new ideas and noble thoughts. Its strength lies in flexibility and acceptance
with adaptation.
Hinduism
always welcomed new breeze, new light and beneficial thoughts from every corner
of the world. The seer of the Rigveda prays, “Let noble thoughts come to
us from every corner of the world.”
Hinduism
emphasizes the spirit of tolerance. Different religions and sects arose and
prospered in India one after another. They sometimes appeared to shake the
very foundations of Hinduism. But just as the waves of the ocean recede after
a high tide, these religions and various sects were sucked in, absorbed and
assimilated enriching Hinduism in the process. It considers all the religions
equally true and holds that all religions are so many paths to reach the same
Ultimate Truth. This has been beautifully
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On
the value of Vedic literature, the source of Hinduism I would like to quote
the great German Indologist Max Muller with special reference to the currents
of thought which had their beginning in the Rigveda.
“If
I were asked under what sky the human mind has most fully developed some of
its choicest gifts, has most deeply pondered on the greatest problems of life,
and has found solutions of some of them which well deserve the attention even
of those who have studied Plato and Kant I should point to India. And if I
were to ask myself from what literature we, here in Europe, may draw that
corrective which is most wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect,
more comprehensive, more universal, in fact, more truly human, a life, not
for this life only, but a transfigured and eternal life
again
I should point to India.” (Fredrich Max
Muller, ‘India, What Can It Teach Us?’(London, 1883), p.6)
No
nation has produced a succession of more subtle or logical thinkers than India.
The thinking and imagination of Vedic seers are unique and unparalleled. Vyasa,
Panini, and Patanjali represent the zenith of achievement of the human intellect.
There has been a galaxy of modern thinkers such as Shankaracharya, Ramanujacharya,
Shri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, Ramana Maharshi, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma
Gandhi.
Indian
thinking has influenced the world. More and more people are assimilating the
Vedanta world view and Yoga practices. India has a rich, profound and varied
heritage of philosophical thinking. The ultimate aim is to attain peace, happiness
and liberation by realizing that the individual soul is manifestation of the
Supreme Divinity. Vivekananda says, “Each soul is potentially divine. The
goal is to manifest this divinity within, by controlling nature, external
and internal. Do this either by work or worship or psychic control or philosophy
– by one or more or all of these- and be free.” (Complete Works of Swami
Vivekananda, Vol. I, p. 124)
The
noble ideal of tolerance and universal brotherhood so strongly and repeatedly
emphasized in Hinduism is rooted in its basic philosophy that speaks of the
omnipresence of the same Supreme Deity in the entire creation including human
beings and also all other sentient beings, plants, rivers, hills, rocks and
everywhere. The whole world is therefore considered as one family.
JemegOewJe kegÀìgcyekeÀced ~
Nature
is respected and treated with care and consideration. The
Vedic
belief that planting and watering plants and trees propitiate
gods,
ensured ecological balance. Likewise worship of trees and rivers developed
a positive attitude towards the environment.
Hinduism
is unique in its nature due to the authority of multiple scriptures and spirit
of unity in diversity. The fundamental scriptures of Hinduism are the Vedas
which are the oldest literature of the mankind, still extant. They are revelations,
they are eternal truths revealed to the great Rishis (Seers) of yore to serve
as channels for the transmission to humanity. These seers experienced the
truths. Thus the Vedic truths are discovered, not produced; revealed, not
manufactured. The Vedas constitute a rich spiritual heritage, profound with
its illuminating wisdom, life-sustaining moral values and splendid aesthetic
expressions. The values cherished in the Vedas are eternal and of universal
applicability. The idea of universal brotherhood and fellowship is preached
in the Vedas time and again. These scriptures offer a number of prayers to
seek union with the Divinity, the Ultimate Reality.
The
Vedas proclaim the harmony of religions and declare that all religions are
only different paths to the same God, the Ultimate Reality. Rigveda presents
this doctrine in a striking manner. “Truth, which to the seers means the
Ultimate Reality is one, the wise call it by various names.”
SkebÀ meod efJeÒee: yengOee Jeoefvle ~
The
truth is one. Likewise the Bhagavadgita, an important book of the Hindus,
declares that in whatsoever form or manner a devotee desires to worship God,
God strengthens the faith of the devotee in that worship and provides fulfilment.
³ees ³ees ³eeb ³eeb levegb YekeÌle: Þe׳eeçeef®e&legefce®íefle ~
lem³e lem³ee®eueeb Þe×eb leecesJe efJeoOeec³enced ~~
Mahatma
Gandhi, one of the most respected personalities and the father of modern India,
was fond of the prayer which synthesized the Hindu prayer to Ishwar (God)
and the Islamic prayer to Allah in the following manner :
F&éej Deuuee lesjs veece ~ meyekeÀes mevceefle os YeieJeeved ~~
“Ishwar and Allah
are names of the same God. Oh God, grant wisdom to all of us”. When
followers of Zoroastrian religion sought refuge on the West Coast of India
around the 7th Century A D; the local ruler welcomed them and allowed them
to settle in India and practice their religion and culture without any restrictions.
Against this long background of harmony among different faiths in India, a
few isolated instances of extremism represent an aberration caused by externally
induced terrorism. It is hoped that both the terrorism and extremism would
soon end. I would, therefore, like this distinguished gathering to appreciate
the basic Indian spirit of tolerance.
I
now proceed to highlight some major aspects of Hinduism. The ancient Indian
Vedic and moral code is based on a philosophical system. Its essential elements
are :
1.
The Soul (Atman) is eternal-even when the
body dies, the soul does not die.
2.
Universal Supreme Reality – There is one Ultimate
Reality, the Brahman which manifests itself as the Soul. Brahman
is transcendent, immanent and all pervading. Brahman not only created
the world but also entered into it. It lives in the hearts of all creatures
as their ‘antaryamin’, the inner controller of their personality.
3.
The law of cause and effect (Karma) - All actions
and thoughts produce some effects sooner or later.
4.
Transmigration of the Soul – When any being dies,
the soul takes the form of another living being. This could be of a lower
or higher order.
5.
There are five orders of living beings in an ascending
scale of consciousness viz.,
(a)
Material objects
(b)
Living plants
(c)
Conscious animals
(d)
Men
(e)
God in bliss
Man
possesses intellect or reason, which animals do not possess. The more he has
spiritual qualities such as love, goodness and mercy, the nearer he is to
God and the more he has brutal qualities such as greed, lust and cruelty,
the nearer he is to animals.
The
ancient Indian sages have stated that a noble person should possess the following
five virtues :
(a)
Ahimsa Non - violence
(b)
Satya Truthfulness
(c)
Asteya Non - convetousness
(d)
Brahmacharya Abstinence from
sensual pleasures
(e)
Aparigraha Non acquisitiveness.
Mahatma
Gandhi won the independence for India through the unique weapons of truth
and non - violence. He followed the principle of ‘hate the sin, not the
sinner ’. He says, “Non-cooperation is not directed against the English
or the West. Our non-cooperation is directed against material civilization
and its attendant greed and exploitation of the weak”. He further adds
that it combats the errors of the West and would therefore be beneficial to
the West also.
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