Pfrof. G C Asnani's booklet on the Indian slogan "Sarva Dharma Samabhava". It is not a Vedic mantra, but a political slogan coined by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930. He has unwittinglly done great harm to Hindu Society.
Pfrof. G C Asnani's booklet on the Indian slogan "Sarva Dharma Samabhava". It is not a Vedic mantra, but a political slogan coined by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930. He has unwittinglly done great harm to Hindu Society.
Pfrof. G C Asnani's booklet on the Indian slogan "Sarva Dharma Samabhava". It is not a Vedic mantra, but a political slogan coined by Mahatma Gandhi in 1930. He has unwittinglly done great harm to Hindu Society.
Political Slogan WBBKBEEEELEOWW
“Sarva Dharma
Sama Bhava”
[SSN Coined by Mahatma Gandhi in September 1930
Prof. G.C.ASNANISarva Dharma Sama Bhava /1
“Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava” was a political slogan
coined by Mafiatma Gandhi in Yervada Jail in September
1930; fie has unwittingly done great harm to Hindu Society.
This Slogan fias been mistakert as Vedic Mantra-
Part 1
INTRODUCTION
1. While in Pune Yervada Jail in 1930, Mahatma Gandhi used
to write weekly letters to the inmates of his Sabarmati Ashram,
Ahmedabad. The letters were written in Gujarati. In this series,
Mahatma Gandhi wrote two letters titled “Sarva Dharma Sama
Bhava”, Part 1, on 23” September 1930 and Part II on 30%
September 1930.
A general belief has been floating around in Hindu society that
“ Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava” is a Vedic Mantra. THIS BELIEF
IS TOTALLY WRONG.
This slogan “Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava” was coined by
Mahatma Gandhi in pursuit of his dream of Hindu-Muslim unity.
Seeing the rising demand for Independence from British Rule in
India under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, the Britishers
played a game, incited the Muslim leaders to demand separation
from Hindus and also demanded Hindu-Muslim Unity from
Mahatma Gandhi as a pre-condition for considering Independence
of India from British Rule,
With apparently good intentions and always inclined towards
Peace, Mahatma Gandhi was searching for ways to fulfill the
condition of Hindu-Muslim Unity imposed by the clever British
Rulers.
Mahatma Gandhi’s Khilafat Movement in 1921-22 failed
miserably, caused untold misery to Hindus in Kerala Region;
Hindu-Muslim relationship had become worse than before. Hindus
had become very angry with Mahatma Gandhi, who now searched
for a way to cool down the annoyance of Hindus against him. In
his craving for love and non-violence, he coined this slogan “Sarva
Dharma Sama Bhava” during his Jail-term in Yervada in September
1930. The slogan looked like a spiritual Vedic Mantra of a religious
ature and as such, would appeal to Hindus. When Mahatma
Gandhi consulted Kaka Sahib Kaletkar, who was his companion‘Sarva Dharma Sama Bhava /2
in the Yervada Jail, on this slogan, Kaka Sahib immediately
cautioned Mahatma Gandhi against the new coinage, since he
saw lack of truth in this new coinage and also great danger of
misguiding the Hindus. Mahatma Gandhi was adamant, stuck to
his new coinage, and repeated his newly coined slogan “Sarva
Dharma Sama Bhava” in two continuous weekly letters to
Sabarmati Ashram inmates, first letter on 23 September 1930
and the second letter on 30 September 1930. The slogan soon
became very popular with Mahatma Gandhi's followers in the
Congress Party. The slogan appealed to many Hindus outside
Congress Party also, considering it to be a Vedic Mantra, Gullible
Hindus became victims of a wrong slogan, coined with political
intentions. Now-a-days, this wrong slogan goes around as a Vedic
Mantra, which it is not. It is highly misleading,
2. Every Religion has three aspects
‘qj Relationship between man and God.
) Relationship between man and persons of the same religion.
| Relationship between man and persons of other religions.
In respect of aspects (a) and (b) above, all Religions teach about
the same thing. But aspect (c) is the cause of all inter-eligious
wars, including Hindu-Muslim problem. As Hindus, we are
particularly interested in aspect (c) of other religions. Islam is
absolutely clear that as per Allah’s Command, there shall be no
other religion allowed to exist on the surface of the Earth, except
Islam; Hinduism is totally against this destructive dictum of
Islam, So also is Christianity opposed to the existence of
Hinduism on this Earth. How can we then say that all religions
ihe same thing? How can we ignore aspect (c) of other
religions towards Hindus?
3. AS a result of the wrong advice and slogan “Sarva Dharma
Sama Bhava” coined by Mahatma Gandhi and frequently quoted
by many Hindus as a sign of tolerance, it has been going around
with an equivalent addition: “All religions teach the same thing”.
Having had great respect for Mahatma Gandhi, Hindus have got
totally confused in their minds. Quite often, Hindus forget that
the statement that “All religions teach the same thing” is true only
in respect of aspects (a) and (b) stated above; itis absolutely untrue
in respect of aspect (c) of other religions towards Hinduism. Hindus
have been and are being misguided and confused on this subject.
Even in official translation from Gujarati into English, the
objection of Kaka Sahib Kalelkar including his name has been