The
Vice President of India, Shri M. Venkaiah Naidu has said that education is a
key instrument in developing social Infrastructure – for it breaks the vicious
cycle of poverty and underdevelopment. He was addressing the East West Cultural
Festival in commemoration of the 121st birth anniversary of Srila Bhaktivedanta
Swami Prabhupada, Founder and Acharya of ISKCON, here today.
The
Vice President said that for millenniums, India has served as the seat of
knowledge, combined with its deep and rich culture, it has taught countless
people the righteous path of life. He further said that India has also been the
land of Maha-purushas who dedicated their lives to serve humanity.
The
Vice President said that due to globalization and technology, the world has
become interconnected and multi-culturalism is common. He further said that much
before all of these began, Swami Prabhupada had already built a bridge between
the East and the West and that bridge was a cultural bridge. It allowed the
west to experience the rich heritage of India, he added.
The
Vice President said that we meet at a very peculiar time where on one hand the
world is making rapid advancement in various fields; yet on the other hand many
challenges in the form of terrorism, environmental degradation, drug addiction,
hatred, hunger & poverty continue to stare at us. He further said that culture,
on the other hand, is the life-sustaining force of social infrastructure. It
enlivens ethical and moral values that seem to be eroding in our modern lives,
he added.
Following
is the text of Vice President’s address:
“In
many ways it is astonishing that a person who is seventy years old did all of
this, sleeping just three-four hours a day and produced so many books which
have been translated into 82 world languages.
But, we meet at a very peculiar time where on one
hand the world is making rapid advancement in various fields; yet on the other
hand many challenges in the form of terrorism, environmental degradation, drug
addiction, hatred, hunger & poverty continue to stare at us.
It is in challenging times like these that I find
the message of Swami Prabhupada very relevant. The beauty of his teachings lay
in the fact that he united everyone under the banner of devotion and service
without making any distinctions of race, gender, caste, religion or social
status. He and his movement are equally accessible to anyone and everyone.
This is the teaching of this land that we see
everyone as one family without any bias or distinction – Vasudhaiva
Kutumbakam.
It is natural that when we see the world as one
family, our care and concern extends to everyone. This was witnessed in the
life of Swami Prabhupada. He not only provided spiritual teachings but equally
cared for the wellbeing of others.
Community welfare too is at the very heart of the
social infrastructure that dominated our Indian civilization for millennia. It
is our great civilization that gave the world the famous slogan:
lokah
samasta sukhino bhavantu
sarve
janah sukhino bhavantu
sarva
jiva jantu sukhino bhavantu
“May the whole world be happy and Peaceful. May all
the people in the world be happy and peaceful. May all forms of life be happy
and peaceful.”
I’m happy to learn that the project he started as
the Hare Krishna food For Life is today the World’s Largest food relief program.
Under the Annamrita program, ISKCON members daily feed 12 lakh government
school students free meals. Under the tribal care initiative the organization
is providing education, health care in remote parts of Assam, Tripura,
Jharkhand, Odisha and West Bengal. All these initiatives are highly
commendable.
Education is a key instrument in developing social
infrastructure – for it breaks the vicious cycle of poverty and
underdevelopment.
Culture, on the other hand, is the life-sustaining
force of social infrastructure. It enlivens ethical and moral values that seem
to be eroding in our modern lives.
But to me – Swamy Prabhupada’s greatest achievement
was that he was an exemplary ambassador of India’s ancient civilization. He
carried the same traditional values that you, his followers, are now promoting
from inside and outside the shores of India.
And he was so remarkably successful in doing this,
that today we see hundreds of thousands of westerners who are exceptionally
Indian in their outlook and remarkably Vedic in their lifestyles.
This fits in well with one of the seven purposes of
ISKCON “…. to educate all people in the techniques of spiritual life in order
to check the imbalance of values in life and to achieve real unity and peace in
the world.”
Movements like ISKCON, which celebrated its 50th
anniversary last year, are helping the youth of India who are our future to
lead a compassionate, service oriented life free of vices.
The 15th century saint Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu enjoins all Indians to do paropakara or welfare activity for
humankind. This is what our scriptures have also said – “Paropakaararthamidam
Shariram” (This body of ours becomes useful if it serves others). This is a direct
order that Swami Prabhupada, who comes in the lineage of Sri Chaitanya
Mahaprabhu, took to heart when he travelled Worldwide and promoted the true
glory of India.
He spread Krishna consciousness around the globe. It
is a consciousness which promotes love, harmony and enables each human being to
realize the divine forces lying latent within us.
Once again, I thank you for inviting me to be here
amidst all of you for this nice festival. I wish you all success in your future
endeavors to serve the society.
Thank you very much.
Jai
Hind!”
***
KSD/BK
