India: Universal Brotherhood Concept

Since its inception, India has been adhering to the concept of Universal Brotherhood i.e.‘Vasudaiva Kutumbakam’ as her core principal of living in harmony with all beings created by the almighty. Atithi Devo Bhava is just an extension of that philosophy of universal brotherhood where every Indian treats guests as their God. The thought of extending hospitality with warmth is deep rooted in the villages of India where even the poorest of the poor will offer half of his bread if you visit his house along with a glass of water with a generous smile. In Indian mythology, there is also a deliberate mention of treating guest as God along with wishing welfare of the world when despite in her state of penury, Draupadi offered a grain of cooked rice to Lord Krishna and requested him to satiate his hunger as well as the rest of the world.

However, an important question to be asked today is whether the maxim is just a garb of three words and has lost the value it stands for?

With nuclear families being order of the day in urban areas and rural areas running sprints to catch up to urban folks, the sphere of our interests is diminishing proportionately. Everyone around us is busy in running from pillar to post starting from dawn to dusk. Jobs, wives, children, girlfriends occupy so much of our time that we are hardly left with time for anyone else. It requires an effort to squeeze out time for our school time best friends. Under these circumstances, with blood pressures constantly running high, treating guests as god is difficult. The welcoming of guest with fragrance, lamp, eatable, rice and flower is a stint only seen on Ekta Kapoor tv serials or five star hotels. However, I would surely support the thought that there is a minimum decency ...

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... which guests feel towards us because of our hospitality, rather in terms of how better an individual they are making us in the process.

There is a pressing need that we should maintain our monuments. Most of the foreign tourist both on business trips and as visitors loves to visit our rich Heritage. In The Bagh caves in Dhar district of Madhya Pradesh people had scratched off portions of paintings on the ceiling and the walls which resulted in the severe damage of the precious wall paintings of the caves. Though ASI has undertaken conservation work for restoring the caves, severely damaged paintings are a tough thing to restore,” said K S Rana, Director of ASI (Science). People need to understand that these monuments are a part of their cultural legacy and they should also come forward to conserve them.

Hence, motto of ‘Athithi Devo Bhava’ can be fulfilled.