________________ VAISALI AND THE IDEAL OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD* K. M. MUNSHI LL. B., D. LITT. I ap: very glad to have been able to visit Vaigali on this occasion, for, Vaisali has historic and sacred associations, not only for India or Asia, but for the whole world. I congratulate those who organised this festival. Such festivals are the symbol and manifestation of the historic greatness of our land; they foster legitimate national pride in the heroism, learning and picty of our ancestors. Without it national greatness is unthinkable. In order to be great, a nation bas to think and feel in terms of its historic achievements. We, as a race, have been a grateful race; it is now for us, as a free dation, to keep alive memories which like the waters of life, replenish the youth of a people from generation to generation. In very recent times, Somnath has risen again. The memories of Chitore, I am sure, will be revived and so will those of Pratapgarh, where Shivaji raised the standard of resurgent India. You have, however, been early in the field. You have revived in men's mind what Vaigali was, and what we owe to it. Vaisali was famed for power, learning and beauty from the earliest times. Ramayana calls it the best of towns'; Visnu Purana refers to it with admiration. Possibly, it fell within the kingdom of Janaka Videha and echoed to the sweet laughter of Sita in her younger days. Twenty-five hundred years ago, it was "the city of gods", happy, proud and prosperous; with abundant food and crowded with people, * Presidential address at the eighth Vatikali Festival (April 6, 1952).
