World of Philosophy

SR No.: 007005
Original Sutra Author: N/A
Author: Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan
Publication Year: 2011
Total Pages: 1002
Language: English
Classification: Book_English
File Size: 30 MB

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It is here that I would like to link India and the Gandhi Heritage. Gandhi always maintained that he had nothing original to offer to the world; he had only imbibed, internalised and practiced what he had learnt as the Indian heritage for sustainable human survival and development. What has India to offer to the world? This article has begun with a small prayer. It is a Vedic prayer and hence dates back to thousands of years. In the prayer the wish is for welfare of one and all and the prayer ends with an intonation for peace at the level of the universe, immediate surrounding and within self. In fact, these are the three levels at which the problems arise.
Human being has a problem with self
Human being has problem with fellow human beings
Human beings have problems with nature
It is interesting to note that this formulation was done by Bertrand Russell also and he was most probably not aware of the connection of his formulation with Vedic recitation of the peace or the Shanti Mantra that calls for peace at universal level, immediate surrounding and at an inner level.
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Way back on 21st December 1954, the then Vice President of India Dr. S. Radhakrishnan while delivering a speech on the occasion of the Presi dent Tito's Address to the Members of Parliament in India had said, "Our age is characterised by three things, if I may say so: craving for political freedom, socialist reconstruction of society and international peace." The agenda has hardly changed today substantially. Political freedom manifests in terms of distinct ethnic or other identities even within a state that is politically free, socialist reconstruction has given way to economic growth with open economies and international peace is still on the agenda. The world has moved forward but humanity is also facing new challenges.
Praying for peace at all levels even before any 'this worldly work is embarked upon is India's heritage. That is what is reflected in the Vedic peace prayer in the beginning. Prayer is most important to invoke peace. Gandhi, who always maintained that he had nothing original to offer, he was merely reiterating what was traditionally rooted in the Indian society. Gandhi was an ardent believer in prayer. He prayed without fail at least twice every day. Gandhi's heritage is thus in a way India's heritage to the world.
Socialist reconstruction of the society a theme that had become popular with most the states especially after the Second World War, suffered a severe set back by the beginning of the last decade of the twentieth century. The twenty first century saw the re-emergence of market economies and globalisation. The first twenty or thirty years of the globalised economic development of the countries in the world has had a chequered record. In
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