Bharat will give to world the message of one God, different paths: RSS chief

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, March 17

The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday batted for communal harmony and said India would deliver to the world the message of "One God but different paths to attain Him."

Speaking after launching the Hindi and Urdu translations of "Samaveda" by film writer Iqbal Durrani at the Red Fort today, Bhagwat said “people should not fight with one another looking at the multiplicity of paths they have chosen in the search of truth because the truth is one."

"Our destination is one. Our paths are different. No one person's path is better than another's. Everyone's path leads to the same destination,” Bhagwat said, quoting fables from the Upanishads, which stresses the truth that God is one while the means to attain him vary.

Speaking at a time of polarising political narratives andbefore a massive gathering of inter faith leaders including Muslims today, Bhagwat said people must “change their thoughts about fellow travellers in the journey towards the realization of eternal truth”.

“We must change our thoughts and have respect for each other's approaches,” the RSS chief said in the presence of spiritual and religious leaders including Swami Gyananda, Kailashananda Giri, Kumar Swamy, Acharya Lokesh Muni, leading Muslim leader Maulana Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, Chief Imam of All India Imam Organization among other Muslim and Sikh leaders.

Ilyasi had received a death threat for meeting Bhagwat and calling him 'Rashtra Pita' (father of the nation) and 'Rashtra Rishi' (national saint). Also present today were actors Sunil Shetty, Mukesh Khanna, Jaya Prada and Gajendra Chauhan.

Bhagwat lauded Durrani for the translation of Samaveda into Hindi and Urdu, after Durrani made a strong case for communal harmony saying, “It was here at the Red Fort that Dara Shikoh's dream of translating the Vedas was buried forever by the sword of Aurangzeb. Today I have fulfilled that dream.”

The RSS chief was speaking publicly for the first time since RSS' highest decision making body, Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, pledged to build a cohesive society to ensure India "becomes a world leader." Earlier Bhagwat, Swami Gyananda and Durrani recited verses from the Samaveda in Sanskrit, Hindi and Urdu respectively, with Durrani calling the occasion: "A coming together of India."

RSS' Pratinidhi Sabha in its resolution had cautioned citizens against "conspiratorial forces out to divide the Indian society."

Bhagwat today spoke along the same lines, saying "People should harmoniously follow their respective paths on the road to faith, undeterred by malice and conspiracies, and remember that all fellow travellers will ultimately reach the same destination."

The RSS has been expanding its minority outreach for many months now.

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