New Delhi, July 8: Stressing at the need to create a society that actually demonstrates Indian philosophy, Vice President M Venkhaiah Naidu said that India needs a cultural renaissance, a large scale awareness and knowledge-sharing movement to bring the best in the Indian thought to the common man.
Asserting share and care to be one of the core of Indian philosophy, he released the book Vivekadeepini, a concise book of aphorisms that contains glimpses of India’s wisdom in English and nine Indian languages. “Indians have been fortunate that spiritual leaders like Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda have shaped our country’s ethical foundations”, he said.
He further added that the pieces of wisdom initially written by Adi Shankaracharya in Prashnottara Ratnamalika have universal relevance irrespective of religion or community and they represent the ethical and moral perspectives underpinning the Indian world view.
“You will agree that these pieces of wisdom are truly universal. It is the intellectual legacy every Indian should not only be proud of but live those values in everyday life”, he added.
Observing that one must rediscover India’s ancient knowledge, a treasure whose positive impact has been felt around the globe, Shri Naidu said that it was an essential link to the past. “It is a treasure that constantly inspires us to be at the global level the voice of peace, of ethical conduct and sustainable development”, he added.
He also appreciated the efforts of the publishers for translating it into nine Indian languages and said that there was an urgent need to undertake more such efforts to spread the knowledge of ancient India.
Stressing the need to promote the use of mother tongues, he pointed out that language and culture go together. Further calling for ending gender and other forms of discrimination, he said that casteism was the biggest bane of the society and must be removed at the earliest.