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development. All the religious leaders felt that this should be implemented on the basis of our glorious civilization and heritage and with a spiritual lifestyle as its focal point.
The rich civilization and culture which we have inherited takes us towards good conduct. I am reminded of a lovely poem on good conduct:
Where the heart has good conduct, there is beauty in character;
where character has beauty, there is cordiality in the home;
where the home has cordiality, there is a strong system in the country;
where the country has a strong system, there is peace in the world.
The question is: who will build character? Religion, guardian or teacher - all these three can sow the seeds of good conduct in the youth. Therefore, religious leaders have an important role in inculcating the habit of good conduct in the youth and other members of society. Religious teachers can play an important role in preparing citizens having a tendency towards culture and good conduct and in fully developing the country by the year 2020. We have to build a beautiful nation, where we adore good qualities.
I want to share with you one of my childhood experiences at the island
f Rameswaram. My father had two friends. Father Bodel and Shri Lakshmana Shastrigal. This was when I was at the age of 10, these three great human beings discussing together the Bible, the Quran and the Gita. Interesting part of these three - my father was a custodian and the head of the Mosque. Pakshi Lakshmana Shastrigal was the Vedic scholar of Rameswaram Temple and Father Bodel was the founder of the Christian Church of Rameswaram. I got the best learning from them. How in an island, where there was no school, these three enlightened souls could sit and discuss about the love and compassion of religions? For me they are the most important learned role models who taught me how a religion could be transformed into spirituality. These three great minds belonging to three religions working together in a small village had provided the foundation for promoting unity of minds for generations to come. Rameswaram is also famous for a Siva temple where Rama had prayed, renowned Abul Kabul Darga and the first famous Church in the island.
Incidentally, I would like to quote Shri Krishna in Mahabharat where he tried to persuade Arjun for the war. To justify his instance, Krishna described ‘A flower' in the Bhagwat Gita like this:
"See the flower, how generously it distributes fragrance and honey.
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