Bhale bab wrote, " Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam was the ideology of Bharatiya origin."
etc.
Reply:
Perhaps not all know the word "Vasudhaiva kutumbakam".
Vasudha + iva kutumbakam = Vasudhaiva kutumbakam.
Vasudha means The Earth (world), iva means Only. which implies, '
THE WHOLE EARTH (WORLD) IS MY FAMILY.
The depth & height of "Bharatiya" thought is breathtaking :-
Why is the earth called Vasudha? Why is Vishnu (Krishna) Vasudeva?
Vasu means Divine delight. Dha (or Dhara) is 'that which receives/contains'.
In other words, a receptacle ( of grace)
So,THAT WHICH RECEIVES or CONTAINS THE DIVINE DELIGHT IS VASUDHA.
Bhale bab also said "Bharatiya". What is Bharat?
In Sanskrit Bha means light ( of cognition, of knowledge, of consciousness)
'Ratah' means to play/live/engage,involve and the like.
The word Bharat means WHOSOEVER THAT IS CONSCIOUS IS BHARATIYA.
Wow! What deep meaning!!
Simple Sanskrit subhashitahs uplift the soul to such an extent that the being
forgets earthly toil
and begins to rejoice again. That magic perhaps, is nowhere else.
Alas! We have lost most of this simple living and high thinking. The convent
education, and other
Western brands of education, coupled with our near pathological need to ape the
west has
impoverished us all. But not all is lost. When I read Dr. Nandakumar Kamat
talking about
mushroom growing in his backyard, I see hope.
The fundamental thrust of Western mentality is towards an acute pragmatism.
That makes
the whole culture narrowly utilitarian. Of course, all lofty thought must be
put to use, but
that should not make us utilitarian only. There must be ample space to dream
lofty dreams without
assuming that Man is the end of things. What prof. Hawking on Goanet can say
for certain that Man is the
final stage in evolution?
"Man is a transitional being" says Sri Aurobindo. That gives me hope, and
restores my faith in the
principle of the possible.
In 'Bharatiya' thought there is no room for discrimination between West and
East, for
"the whole world is my family".
But like Bhale, we are proud of these things we read in books of India's
glorious past.
That UNDESERVING PRIDE must be justified by beginning to live our high ideas.
Charudatta Prabhudesai
Auroville .
South India.
