TN Guv Ravi talks again on Sanatan Dharma

'Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam' which means the world is a family is a basic feature of the Sanatan Dharma, Tamil Nadu Governor R N Ravi said here on Sunday, days after the ruling DMK slammed him for a comment on a similar matter.

Inaugurating the centenary celebrations of 'Palace for the Poor' and Residential School at Ramakrishna Mission Students Home here, Ravi lauded the founders and all those who supported the growth of the institution that serves people on the economic and social margins.

Untold damage done to the country's spirituality by the colonial powers had deeply anguished Mahatma Gandhi who had insisted on spiritual resurgence of the nation in post-British India, he said. ''Unfortunately, the country drifted away from the core of this country that is Sanatan spirituality,'' a Raj Bhavan release quoted him as saying. He expressed confidence that the institution would continue to serve humanity by following Swami Vivekandanda's vision to make the nation a world leader, 'Vishwaguru' by making it materially prosperous, intellectually superior and 'spiritually imbued with the basic tenets of Sanatan Dharma-Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.' Dharma is a far more comprehensive concept transcending religion, which is all inclusive and it is essentially about spiritual awareness of the presence of divine in all the elements of creation. There is no word in English language or any other European language equivalent to the word 'Dharma'.

Secularism as defined in the Constitution is about the state's non-allegiance to any one particular faith (Panth) and it is not anti-Dharma. He recalled that Swami Vivekananda called Dharma the 'spine of Bharat.' Under a visionary leadership, the nation is 'waking up to her destiny to be the world leader' by 2047. ''Bharat's resurgence necessarily entail spiritual resurgence along with economic and technological resurgence.'' He underscored the role of institutions like Ramakrishna Mission in the spiritual resurgence of the nation and urged those associated with it to be conscious of their role in building a 'new Bharat'. 'Eternal' is the English equivalent of Sanskrit word 'Sanatan.' Recently, Ravi had commented on Sanatan Dharma and Mahmud Ghaznavi destroying the Somnath temple. The ruling DMK had condemned the remarks and said Ravi, who is in a gubernatorial position, must not make such comments and only the Constitution guided the nation and not Sanatan Dharma.

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