Long ago the rishis (Hindu ascetics) of ancient India proclaimed “Vasudaiva Kutumbakam” i.e ‘the world is one family’. Another verse which was in the form of a prayer reflected the same globalism enshrined in the Vedic thought thousands of years ago, “Loka samastha sukhinau bavanthu” – May the world live in peace. The people did not just pray for the happiness of humans alone. They prayed for every living creature in the world. “Sarve sukina santhu, sarve santhu niramayaha” – May every living being be free from ills and miseries and attain peace. Such was the vision held by the people of the Vedic culture.
Today the world is talking of ‘global village’ and ‘globalization’. Globalization by definition is ‘the process of transformation of local phenomena into global ones, a process by which the people of the world are unified into a single society and function together’. While globalization started as an economic phenomenon driven by business interests, it is today perceived as a unification of economic, technological, social, cultural and political forces. However, although globalisation aims at diluting and dissolving the political boundaries of nations, nationalities, cultures and diversities, the world today is witnessing strife, wars, conflicts at all fronts and on all accounts i.e economic, political, social and cultural !
The Vedic people who proclaimed 4,000 years ago that ‘world is one family’ were not seen to be in such conflict. Although the underlying objective of the two concepts appears to be the same, there obviously is a difference between the process of ‘globalization’ being attempted today and the principle of 'Vasudaiva Kutumbakam' that was ingrained in the culture and way of life of the people on the Indian subcontinent.
Globalization was motivated by economic interests and not out of a concern for ‘universal welfare’ – economic interests of those searching for new markets and better resource mobilization. Its advocacy for free trade was adopted by different countries as it did lead to cash flows in otherwise deficient economies. However, the whole process being motivated primarily by economic interests of a few powerful nations and corporations, the emphasis was on pursuit of financial gains. It did lead to satisfaction of economic needs of many people in less developed countries, though not all, thus nations’ policies and actions have started to get structured around greatest financial gains to benefit their societies. Progress and success has started to be measured in material terms, and other concerns such as environmental issues, or human perspectives of emotional richness or social well being, are not necessarily cared for. Moreover, the survival in the new global business markets is dependent on improved productivity and increased competition and in such highly competitive environments, human actions are getting centered on self interest and greed.
In this pursuit of material progress - production, distribution and consumption of an increasing number of goods and conveniences is the creed and each competes with the other to produce more with less. More skills, better technology, better access to cheaper resources even if through the exploitation of natural resources of the earth or through better, bigger bombs to maim and destroy opponents, all in pursuit of more financial gains! Although many of the wars being waged in the world appear to have religious and ethnic basis, the underlying motives are now being perceived to be economic – competition for dwindling resources of the world. Troops and weapons are being deployed where local people threaten corporate investments and returns!
On the contrary, ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ was ingrained in the way of life of Vedic people as an integral part of their culture. Their vision encompassed the whole humanity as one’s own part. There was no place for exploitation of natural resources, in fact animals and plants and even rivers and mountains were venerated. Their actions were seeped in a concern for ‘universal welfare’. Their interactions with alternate beliefs, faiths and even civilizations reflected tolerance and pluralism. When sects like Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism emerged as reformist movements, even though as rebellion to what their propagandists considered wrong in the society, the Hindus did not suppress these reformers but gave them the freedom and space to grow. After the spread of Budhism in India, Sri Adi Shankaracharya brought many back to the Hindu fold not through force, coercion, incentives or threat but by preaching in the form of debates.
Where did this vision of and concern for ‘universal welfare’ come from?
The Vedic people had the knowledge of the eternal truth, the truth of the wholeness of universe. They knew it was a oneness and a perceived separateness from this oneness as an individual identity was a matter of awareness. Thus any action at any point in this oneness would affect the whole. The whole is aware what happens at any point in the universe and a response is triggered to every action. Scientific researches of modern day confirm this Vedic knowledge of oneness of universe. Here is what I read about it some time back. The starkest revelation is through the theory of non-locality in Quantum mechanics.
‘Non locality is if you take two quantum particles that were twins and separate them billions of miles apart, and then do something to one particle here, the other particle billions of light years away will “immediately” come to know about what you did to that one particle here!! This quantum property has been confirmed by experiments. In fact, “all” particles in this universe are twins, in the sense they all can be traced back to a common ancestral origin. In other words, what happens to every particle should become known to every other particle in this universe! So the whole universe is “interconnected”?!’
It was this knowledge thousands of years ago that made the Vedic people proclaim ‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ – ‘the world is one family’. Present day drivers of globalization can take cue from this knowledge.
Later day philosophers and thinkers in India have been propounding this concept again and again. Lately, Sri Sri Ravishankar, a spiritual master has made it a mission to make it a reality in the present day chaos. The Silver Jubilee celebrations of the Art of Living in 2006 witnessed a congregation of 2.5 million people from over 150 countries belonging to different cultures, nationalities and religions. All came to celebrate this truth, this reality of Vasudaiva Kutumbakam – the world is one family !
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This is an enlightening writeup, Swan ji. While our rishies had known about the truth of universal oneness thousands of years ago, the scientific reseraches in this regard are too little and too late. Not much is known to common man about quantum mechanics' findings regarding interconnectivity of living beings beyond time and space. Western poets like Wordsworth were more near the truth when the talked about a common current flowing through all living beings. While in the outside world, there are disparities of all sorts, a universal spirit resides in each one of us, connected through a common life force. If we are to realize Vasudeva Kutumbakam, it won't be through economic globalisation, but through spirtual advancement. Our politicians have failed to end the strife (or they are the cause?). We need the guidance of spirtual masters like Swami Vevekanand,Sri Aurovindo and, as aptly pointed about you, of Sri Sri Ravi Shankarji.
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