There is a need to bring down walls that create differences among people now more than ever and follow the Indian tradition of Sarva Dharma Sama Bhavana which is part of Indian civilisation, Vice-President M. Venkaiah Naidu said on Sunday.
The Vice-President was speaking at the centenary celebrations of Sri Ramakrishna Vijayam, a Tamil monthly magazine brought out by Ramakrishna Mission here.
Mr. Venkaiah Naidu said: “We follow sarva dharma sama bhavana. People now talk about secularism, Constitution…Constitution came later. But religion, blood, respect for all religions — secularism does not mean irreligious, discrimination on the basis of religion, appeasement, insulting Hindus or this or that and all… it means sarva dharma sama bhavana and is part of Indian culture.”
“There are some people in this country who are allergic to the word Hindu. They have every right, but they are not right.” The youth should become ambassadors of the country’s heritage and culture. “India was known as Vishwaguru once upon a time and was in the forefront of knowledge creation and sharing it with people from all over the world. We believe in sharing our knowledge for the well-being of humanity as we treat the entire universe as one family - Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam. Share and care is at the core of Indian philosophy,” he said.
Mr. Naidu said Swami Vivekananda was a great saint, teacher and social reformer. “He played a major role in introducing Hinduism to the West”, he said.
Tribute to Vivekananda
Observing that everyone was born equal and there was no discrimination based on caste, he said Swami Vivekananda was a social reformer and opposed religious dogmas.
Swami Vivekananda believed in the uplift of humanity, irrespective of caste or creed and emphasised the importance of spiritualism for the survival and progress of mankind, Mr. Naidu said. Encouraging everyone to be physically fit, he said yoga was one of the ways to stay healthy. “But because Modiji has given yoga, some people say sir Modiji this that…Yoga is for body not because of Narendra Modi. Modiji has taken yoga to United Nations. Now the entire world is respecting yoga and are practising. Yoga is an ancient art, not done by Modiji alone,” he added.
