India should grow strong culturally and spiritually too along with economic growth, Kanchi seer

Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swami emphasizes economic growth must be balanced with cultural and spiritual strength in India.

Shankara Vijayendra Saraswathi Swami of Kanchi Kamakoti Peetam has said that at a time when India is growing economically strong, it should grow strong culturally and spiritually too. The peetam, he said, was striving hard in this direction along with like-minded organisations and individuals.

Economic strength would obviously bring in enhanced contentment. However this contentment should safely be enjoyed being guided by Indian ethos and culture, the seer said. While the governments continue to work for the overall prosperity of people, civil society organisations like his would strengthen and guide societal values.

Talking to The Hindu during his Vijaya Yatra at the temple town of Dharmasthala in Dakshina Kannada district on Friday, November 15, the seer said instead of building new temples and shrines in South India, the focus should be on establishing Dharma Prachara Parishats in every temple. If not every day, these parishats should at least on weekends organise programmes propagating Indian science, including ayurveda, culture including traditional forms of dance and music, and various forms of Indian literature.

The Sanatana Dharma that taught to hate none was rich with treasure and has many positive aspects, the seer said. What needs to be done was an attractive packaging and spreading the values of the Sanatana Dharma across the world. India is known for its Sathivka (pious) nature that believes in cooperative model and not the corporate model, the seer said.

Dignity of labour was important, Sri Vijayendra Saraswathi Swami said stressing giving equal importance to a cook or an agriculturist as given to a person doing a white-collar job. The peetam has opened an art school teaching a five-year course in sculpture, besides running a school to train priests. Every village should have a priest, he said.

The Kanchi Peetam has been doing many things in these directions right from the time of his Paramacharya (Guru), late Sri Jayendra Saraswati Swami. Be it establishing an English-medium school in Meghalaya or celebrating the Shankara Jayanti for a decade in Kashmir, the peetam was doing its bit towards preserving and nurturing Indian values. It has plans to bring out unpublished Kashmiri literature of the late Pratap Singh period. While the peetam has established Gomantak Balaji Temple in Goa, it proposes to build a temple for the sun and moon (Surya-Chandra) in Arunachal Pradesh while opening a cultural centre at the Andamans, he said.

The seer will be touring Edneer in Kasaragod district, Sullia, Udupi, Shakatapuram (Bhandigadi), Tirthahalli, Hassan, Bengaluru, and Tirupati before winding up the yatra in Chennai on December 1.