Arjun Ram Meghwal
Buddha means enlightenment and a sense of awakening to build a peaceful, harmonized, and just society. As we are celebrating the Buddh Purnima, the day which marks the birth, enlightenment, and Mahaparinirwan of Gautam Buddha, whose teachings have caught the imagination of people across the world over the past 2,500 years. His life and deeds contain so powerful message with universal resonance, rising above cultures, religions, and geographies that mankind has designated him as “Lord Buddha”. His messages are becoming more and more relevant in the present context and guiding light for chalking out the sustainable futuristic approach.
The ongoing COVID pandemic is testimony to the fact that the complexities of the modern-day world bringing ever-increasing uncertainties and humanity is facing a very serious crisis today. The threats of Bioterrorism, Climate Change, Global Warming, Radicalism, Extremism is shaking the conscience of humanity. Since the time immemorial, mankind has built the capability to control the natural resources, his greed and impatient attitude towards utilizing these resources has certainly created a natural imbalance. Reacting to this, nature is more vigorously awaking humanity. The Buddha’s way of introspecting and awakening teaches the method to crack the web of complexities and uncertainties. For the troubled humanity, he has shown the path to restore sanity.
The rich Indian culture and values have an overflowing jackpot of teachings for the inclusive welfare of every creature of the universe. This repository of wisdom has made us advantageous and given us more responsibility to act for the betterment of society and the universe at large. The Buddha teachings of “Atma Dipo Bhava” – Every man can be a light unto himself, a savior of himself through personal efforts is remarkable for changing the individualist approach towards the outer world. The people had turned their path to Buddha’s teaching for overcoming social differences and brought visible social reforms in society. The influence of Buddhist ideas and symbols on our democracy is both profound and visible. In Lok Sabha, above the chair of the Speaker are inscribed the words, “Dharma Chakra Pravartanay”, which means ‘setting in motion the wheel of Dhamma or righteousness’. The preamble of the constitution of India enshrines the principals of Liberty Equality and Fraternity have interconnected roots from the Buddhist teachings. The chief Architects of Constitution Dr. BR Ambedkar in his essay on “The Ancient Regime-The State of the Aryan Society” emphasized on the broadness of Buddhist thoughts, He writes:-
“Buddhism was a revolution. It was as great a Revolution as the French Revolution. Though it began as a religious revolution, it became more than a Religious revolution. It became a Social and Political Revolution.”
In a broadcast on the All India Radio on 3 October 1954, he said: “Positively, my social philosophy may be said to be enshrined in three words: Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. Let no one, however, say that I have borrowed my philosophy from the French Revolution. I have not. My philosophy has roots in religion and not in political science. I have derived them from the teaching of my Master, the Buddha.”
On several occasions, Dr. Ambedkar busted the myths regarding the roots of the principals of the Liberty, equality & fraternity and emphasized for its origination from the Ancient Indian teachings of Buddha. In his Essay on Buddha or Karl Marx, He writes “Society has been aiming to lay a new foundation as summarised by the French Revolution in three words, Fraternity, Liberty, and Equality. The French Revolution was welcomed because of this slogan. It failed to produce equality. We welcome the Russian Revolution because it aims to produce equality. But it cannot be too much emphasized that in producing equality, society cannot afford to sacrifice fraternity or liberty. Equality will be of no value without fraternity or liberty. It seems that the three can coexist only if one follows the way of the Buddha. Communism can give one but not all.”
In his historic speech of 25 November 1949, Dr. Bhimrao Ambedkar highlighted the debt our parliamentary democracy owes to ancient Buddhist Sanghas. He said:- “It is not that India did not know Parliaments or Parliamentary Procedure. A study of the Buddhist Bhikshu Sanghas discloses that not only there were Parliaments-for the Sanghas were nothing but Parliaments-but the Sanghas knew and observed all the rules of Parliamentary Procedure known to modern times.”
Buddhist approach of righteous behavior, wisdom, compassion, and camaraderie and reduction of Trishna (greed) offers a set of building blocks for the architecture of a new world order where violence and conflict are minimized and development takes place without degrading the natural resources. The adoption of the ‘middle path’ by avoidance of the extreme positions as taught by Buddha leads to realizing the truth which further leads to avoiding conflict, reconciliation of different viewpoints, and achieving consensus with the sense of peaceful co-existence. His eight-fold-path i.e. Astangika-marg has not only transformed the spiritual landscape worldwide but also encouraged ethical and sustainable social, political, and commercial practices.
All the iconic sights associated with Buddha i.e. Bodhgaya, Sarnath, Nalanda, Rajgir, Kushinagar, Kapil Vastu, Shravasti, Vaishali, and Kaushambi are rich in tradition and places of spiritual significance. Originating here, the Buddha’s appeal has gone far beyond the 500 million followers worldwide. To connect the increasingly large number of people with the ideals of Buddha, the Modi Government has expedited the development of the Buddhist circuit under the Swadesh Darshan scheme which was conceptualized in the year 1985. These historical places are promoting our shared cultural heritage, tourism, and also the building block for reinforcing India’s soft-power for further encouraging global co-operation for the greater causes.
It is the Buddhist values of compassion and the promotion of peaceful co-existence that the world is looking towards India with Hope. His teachings find reflections in the globally accepted Gandhian ethos. On various International Platforms, India has shown that need, not greed is the guiding principle for the judicious use of limited natural resources. India has called for a global people’s movement to bring about behavioral change for reducing the carbon footprint and achieving sustainable development goals with shared responsibility. A sustainable society is possible only through sustainable consumption and production. While addressing the United Nations General Assembly on 27th September 2019 Prime Minister Narendra Modi said:- “We belong to a country, that has given the world, not Yuddh, but Buddh”, calling to take united action to end the menace of terrorism. In the ongoing global fight against the corona pandemic, India is leading from the front by taking every local to international stakeholders altogether. India has emerged as the Pharmacy of the World by helping out the 123 needy countries by supplying hydroxychloroquine and other medical help. Another instance, during the water crisis in the Maldives in December 2014, India was the first nation to assist through Operation NEER. India immediately rushed bottled drinking water to Malé utilizing Air Force aircraft and Navy ships.
As peace and sustainable development are interlinked, the Buddha’s prism can show the guiding lights to every single stakeholder from local to global institutions and leaders to work together for promoting dialogue, harmony, and justice based on compassion and wisdom for making a better world so that Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity can be exercised in letter and spirit. The Buddh Poornima has brought the apt moment for us to reinforce our commitment to take determined action for relieving ourselves from conflicts, violence, and strengthen the contemporary relevance of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.
(The author is Union Minister of State for Parliamentary Affairs, Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India & representing Bikaner in Loksabha.)
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