India moving forward on development path by proving everyone's predictions wrong: Bhagwat

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said India is moving forward on the path of development by proving everyone's predictions wrong as it is driven by faith in the traditional philosophy of knowledge, action, and devotion.

His comments came at a time when the Indian economy recorded a better-than-expected growth rate of 7.80 per cent in the April-June quarter of the current fiscal, the highest in the last five quarters before the imposition of tariffs by the US.

Addressing a gathering after releasing Madhya Pradesh minister Prahlad Singh Patel's book 'Parikrama Kripa Saar' in Indore, Bhagwat said there was no global strife when India was the world leader for 3,000 years.

At that time, the environment was never deteriorated, technological progress was at a high level and human life was happy and cultured, he said.

''In that era, we led the world, but did not conquer any country (by attacking) and did not suppress any country's trade. We did not convert anyone's religion. Wherever we went, we spread our civilisation and improved the lives of people by imparting knowledge and scriptures. Then all the countries had their own identity, but there was a good dialogue between them. This (dialogue) is not there today,'' he said.

He further stated that personal interests were responsible for conflicts in the world, which created all the problems.

Bhagwat said the forefathers of the Indian people had shown several paths through different sects and traditions, teaching how to maintain the balanced stream of knowledge, action, and devotion in life.

''Due to its belief in the traditional philosophy of the balanced trinity of knowledge, action, and devotion, Bharat is continuously moving ahead on the path of development by proving everyone's predictions wrong,'' he said.

Referring to former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, Bhagwat suggested that India proved him wrong by remaining united after British rule ended.

''Winston Churchill once said that after independence (from British rule), you (India) will not be able to survive and will be divided, but this did not happen.

''Now England itself is coming to the stage of division, but we will not be divided. We will move forward. We were once divided, but we will unite that again,'' he added.

While the world runs on faith and belief, Bharat is the land of faith with men of action and logic, he said.

''Today, man has acquired so much knowledge that he has started doing many things directly, whereas earlier we could not do such things directly. With knowledge and science, destruction has also increased. ''So-called development has taken place, but the environment has also deteriorated, and families have started breaking up. People even abandon their parents on the road (in a neglected state),'' the RSS chief rued. He stated that due to the lack of ''sanskars'' (values), such a 'distortion' has come in the new generation that there is a demand that if a person born as a boy considers himself a girl, then his assertion should be accepted immediately, and his voice should not be suppressed.

Stressing that India worships nature through reverence for cows, rivers, and trees, Bhagwat said this relationship with nature is based on living and conscious experience.

''The present world is craving for such a relationship with nature. For the past 300-350 years, countries have been told that everyone is separate and only the strong will survive. They have been told that it does not matter if they trample on someone's stomach or slit someone's throat to become powerful,'' he said. The RSS chief stressed that both paths, knowledge and action, are necessary for a human being, but 'passive knowledgeable people' are of no use.

''Everything goes wrong because of the inactivity of knowledgeable people, and if a person doing an action does not have knowledge, then this action becomes the action of mad people,'' he added. The RSS chief further stated that the faith that exists in Bharat is based on direct knowledge and evidence. ''This feeling of devotion is not for those who firmly believe that the water of Narmada is mere hydrogen oxide (the chemical name of water). ''Due to the lack of devotion, foreigners do not call rivers like the Amazon and Mississippi as 'Amazon Maiya' and 'Mississippi Maiya'. The tradition of calling rivers the mother is only in India,'' he added.

The Sangh chief stressed that truth and true happiness are not found in the outside world, but within the human mind.

Giving an example, Bhagwat said, ''How many rasgullas can a person eat? There are some people who can compete and eat up to 100 rasgullas, but a moment comes when even these people vomit after seeing a rasgulla... happiness becomes sorrow when it becomes excessive.'' Citing Indian philosophy regarding lifestyle, he said that life is like a drama, and before the curtain falls, everyone has been given a role to play.

''Our ancestors already knew that we are all just a medium in this drama, and the feeling of 'I and mine' (personal interest) lasts only till a level, and after that, this feeling has no existence. They had known that one has to play one's role well in life, but one should not get entangled in it (personal interest),'' Bhagwat said.

The RSS chief further stated that the Indian culture spreads the message of unity by rising above the distinction of ''mine and yours''. ''We are all actors in the drama of life and have to play our parts, and our true self emerges when the drama ends,'' Bhagwat added.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)