Comparing Sanatan to a banyan tree, RSS's second-in-command Dattatreya Hosabale on Tuesday hit out at DMK leader Udhayanidhi Stalin, saying just because he wants it eradicated doesn't mean it will disappear.
"Because I feel there should not be light or I feel there should not be shadows, that doesn't mean they will go away," Hosabale said in an interview with PTI Videos.
"Sanatan is the spirit and soul of this nation. It is not a religious practice, but a value and a worldview," he said.
Hosabale was asked about Udhayanidhi's maiden speech as the Leader of Opposition in the Tamil Nadu Assembly earlier on Tuesday, in which he called for the eradication of Sanatan, a view he has expressed in the past also.
"It is his opinion and people have answered it in the elections. But, Sanatan will not go because somebody says so," the RSS leader said.
"Sanatan is that which is eternally there. Eternity is Sanatan. It is like a tree, a banyan tree. Even after 100 years or 200 years, the banyan tree stands there," he said.
Hosabale said it may be old, because its trunk is old, but every season it gets new leaves and flowers.
"So that tree is fresh, ever fresh. So Sanatana is that. That is 'nitya nutana and chir puratana'. That is, it is ever fresh and always ancient. So it is a fantastic combination. That is what our civilisation is," he said.
"We have memories of our civilisation that are thousands of years old, millennia old. Civilization memories. But because of that we are not saying that we don't accept or welcome modernity such as AI and other technological advancements.
"We welcome, we cherish, we enjoy, we celebrate new technology," he said.
"In a way, this gentleman is also practising Sanatan, but perhaps he thinks Sanatan is upper caste," he said about Udhayanidhi.
