The MOST Important Thing That Makes You Indian || Acharya Prashant (2021)

Acharya Prashant

🧔🏻‍♂️ Want to meet Acharya Prashant? Be a part of the Live Sessions: https://acharyaprashant.org/hi/enquiry-gita-course?cmId=m00021  📚 Want to read Acharya Prashant's Books? Get Free Delivery: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/books?cmId=m00021  📝 Read 3 handpicked wisdom articles, just for you: https://acharyaprashant.org/en/articles?cmId=m00021  ~~~~~~~~~~~~~  Video Information: Shastra Kaumudi Greater Noida 20.1.2021  Context: ~ What lies at the foundation of the Indian nation? ~ How to develop a love for India among Youth? ~ Is nationalism good for India? ~ How is India different from other nations? ~ What is the most Important Thing That Makes You Indian?  Music Credits: Milind Date ~~~~~~~~~~~~~ .

Transcript

00:00So, what does the Indian nation stand for?

00:13You cannot love someone or something you know very little of.

00:20The nation at its root represents a community of people united through certain values.

00:32For someone to really love the nation, it is important that firstly he knows what those

00:40values are.

00:42Those values must be worth loving and even more fundamentally, certain values must exist.

00:51And those values cannot be just theoretical ideals on paper.

00:56So, what does the Indian nation stand for?

01:03See, a nation does not become admirable or respectable or lovable just by the dint of

01:12being a nation.

01:14You may very well have, theoretically, a nation that's founded on hatred towards a group of

01:23people or something, right?

01:27And there do exist so many nations that have come into existence this very way.

01:34They exist because of a certain dislike towards something.

01:38And we have had nations in history that existed just to obliterate other nations.

01:43And we have had nations where the connecting thread is as fragile as, you know, a shared

01:55language, shared ethnicity, shared food habits.

01:59So, a nation is not necessarily lovable on its own.

02:05If you say you are an Indian, I say I am an Indian, what connects and unites the two of

02:10us?

02:11Most people do not want to go into this.

02:13Most people are far more eager to talk of diversity than to talk of the underlying oneness.

02:24Because talking of diversity is easy, no?

02:28Each one of us is different.

02:30But isn't it commonsensical to ask that if each one of us is different, then what is

02:37it that enables each one of us to be called an Indian?

02:45When you say you love India, you are asked what exactly do you love?

02:51You have no answer to give.

02:53For most people, India is just a bit of land, a boundary on the global map, a political

03:01entity.

03:02No, these aren't exactly things you can fall in love with.

03:06If you are to fall in love with something, then the thing has to have a sacredness in

03:12it, no?

03:14If you are to really love India, then India has to be more than a political entity.

03:20Then you have to know the values that constitute India.

03:23For that, first of all, there have to be values.

03:26And there have to be people who worship those values.

03:31India has been a nation because of its Vedantic foundation.

03:37I understand it will be quite risky for most people to acknowledge this.

03:43But that's what lies at the base of the Indian nation.

03:52Values that come from Vedanta.

03:58And now you know why youngsters have only a shallow relationship with the nation today.

04:07Because they are not familiar with the underlying values, the underlying Vedanta.

04:13It is quite horrifying.

04:16But you have very little beyond the masala dosa.

04:19Or maybe you have a few other things.

04:22Come on, like Bollywood, the Bhangra, the cow, the cow sitting in the middle of the

04:29highway that is.

04:31The monkey riding the elephant, peeing by the roadside.

04:35You would say Mahatma Gandhi, or you'd probably talk of the colours of Holi, or you'd probably

04:41talk of the Diwali lights.

04:44These are all good, nice, vibrant images of the Indian landscape.

04:49How can you fall in love with these?

04:52That's the entire thing.

04:53We do not know what India stands for.

04:58To love you need something, I said sublime, something sacred, something worth worshipping.

05:05And it's a sad thing that that which is worth worshipping does exist in India, but is often

05:14not deliberately introduced to us.

05:19The present generation has been deliberately starved of the essence of India.

05:28No wonder they have no real feeling towards the nation.

05:32They are Indians only by name, only by passport.

05:35And they don't want to remain Indians even in name.

05:39We think of this as some kind of a passing fad.

05:44It's not a passing fad.

05:45It points towards something deeper.

05:48The fellow is ashamed of his identity.

05:51He wants to wear a totally different persona, which is bound to happen, because he does

05:58not know his identity.

06:01The identity of India, the root of the Indian nation is essentially spiritual.

06:08You devoid Indians of spirituality, and they will remain Indians only in name.

06:16The Indian nation is founded on a very expansive ground, very expansive, very uplifting, very

06:25enriching, and therefore nationalism must flourish in India, but not the nationalism

06:33of the shallow kind, not the kind of nationalism that led to the world wars.

06:41Nationalism founded on truly Indian values.

06:45What do I mean by Indian values?

06:47I'm being very specific here.

06:49By Indian values, I mean the values enshrined in Vedanta.

06:57As long as the youth remain in touch with the essence of the nation, the nation will

07:06stay safe.

07:07When the youth start losing touch with Vedanta, the nation starts losing its inner security.

07:16Externally, you can try to keep the political entity safe using the army and technology

07:22and whatnot, but inwardly, the nation will decay.

07:27Let that not happen.

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