The Vice President of India, M. Venkaiah Naidu has 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 that “share and care” was the core of Indian philosophy, the Vice President stressed the need to create a society that actually demonstrates Indian philosophy.Addressing the gathering after releasing the books – Vivekadeepini, a concise book of aphorisms that contains glimpses of India’s wisdom in English and nine Indian languages, the Vice President said that Indians have been fortunate that spiritual leaders like Adi Shankaracharya and Swami Vivekananda have shaped our country’s ethical foundations.Shri Naidu said 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.Shri Naidu wanted schools and colleges across the country to take the lead along with non-governmental organisations like Vedanta Bharati to spread the universal message of tolerance, inclusion, harmony, peace, well-being, righteous conduct, excellence and empathy that recurs in the Indian spiritual tradition with resounding clarity.
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.Shri Naidu 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.The Vice President also complimented Vedanta Bharati for spreading the wisdom of Sri Adi Sankaracharya in English, Kannada, Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Telugu, Malayalam, Marathi, Odia and Gujarati languages. Stating that the message should reach people in its true sense, he expressed the hope that Vivekadeepini would be brought out in all the Indian languages.Stressing the need to promote the use of mother tongues, he pointed out that language and culture go together.Calling for ending gender and other forms of discrimination, he said casteism was the biggest bane of the society and must be removed at the earliest.The Peethadhipathi of Yadathore Sri Yoganadeshwara Saraswathi Math, Sri Sri Shankara Bharathi Swamiji, the Director of Vedanta Bharati, Dr. Sridhar Bhat Ainakai, the Trustees of Vedanta Bharati, Shri A. Ramaswamy, Shri S.S. Naganand & Shri C.S. Gopalakrishna and other dignitaries were present at the event.