India, the land of Saints and sages! The land of seers!
Vasudhaiva kutumbakam
Universal Brotherhood is the basic thought on which the divine Indian culture is based.
India inherits 28 states, 114 languages, different festivals and varied physical features like rivers, streams and mountains. India is blessed with the fertile lands, hurrying streams, cool winds in Punjab and Haryana in the North. Searing deserts of Rajasthan in the west, Cherapoonji with torrential rains in the east and incredibly clad Kerala with the riches of nature in the south. The Indian Ocean, the Arabian sea and the Bay Of Bengal embrace the feet of Mother India and the lofty Himalayas perfectly fit as a crown and add to her glory. Such immensely groomed is India with its Diversity.
But in spite of this diversity, there exists a bond that unites the entire nation. The essence of Indian culture lies in its being based upon a spiritual sense of values and a spiritual outlook on life. The strong foundation of spirituality is what moulds the entire nation into one. The assertion of the essential divinity of man is the heart of Indian culture. The civilization of India rests on inner refinement, on the nurture and unfoldment of the spiritual spark in man. India is a land of spirituality and the aspiration of every true Indian is for Atma-Svarajya (self-realisation). The Bhagavad-Gita is a universal scripture and it is the true articulate expression of the genuine cultural heritage of India. The Gita is a gospel of non-attachment, the immortality of the Soul and the ultimate freedom of the Self in the Absolute. The indispensability of non-attachment follows from the fact of the oneness of existence. Anaasakti marks the spirit of real renunciation and right activity that does not bind the doer to its fruits. Real culture tends to freedom and it is the glory of the seers of India that with their deep wisdom they realised the freedom of the immortal Self within and proclaimed this truth to the world.
Desirelessness and inward peace mark the distinctive features of culture in India. Knowledge which characterises real culture is not mere learning but wisdom with an ethical background. The extent to which one has succeeded in moral discipline determines the quality of his knowledge. Knowledge does not end with mere understanding but culminates in realising the deepest truth of life. Such a cultured life is not possible without freedom from prejudice and attachment in thought and action. "As the ignorant act with attachment to action, so should the wise act without attachment, with a view to promote the welfare of the world" (III. 25). The Viveki (wise) seeks emancipation from imprisonment in earthly life and does not pin his faith to things that perish. The fullness of God within reveals the pettiness of life outside, and the seeker of perfection clings not to fleeting appearances. Culture in India is synonymous with the blossoming of the faculty of religious and spiritual consciousness without which man is very little superior to creatures with mere instinct. The Gita enjoins renunciation of belief in and desire for outward forms and exhorts that no man who is mindful of eternal peace should think or act with a selfish motive or with any particular phenomenal end in view. Thus Geeta is the universal thought which endows upon the entire mankind, an epitome of eternal happiness, satisfaction and peace.