Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat, who is on a four-day-visit to Gujarat, has described himself as “a man with social mission” and someone “without any knowledge of religion or spirituality”.
Addressing a gathering on an occasion to mark centenary death anniversary of Maharashtrian spiritual leader Vasudevanand Saraswati Maharaj in Garudeshwar, Bhagwat stressed on the need of spreading the “values of religion”.
He said, “I am not a man on a religious mission and I know nothing about religion and spirutality. I am on a social mission in the society. I preach about mind, body and character. I have no idea about souls. But I am trying to bring alive the tenets of this religion, which has just been described here, into the society. Without religion, there is nothing.”
Spiritual leader and Ayurvedic physician from Karla, Balaji Tambe, who attended the function along with Bhagwat, said the Modi-led government, backed by the RSS, was the hope for the preservation of the “Hindu dharma”. Tambe, who addressed the audience in Marathi, said, “We can now hope for a safeguard of our religion with the new government that has Modiji and Bhagwatji,” to which the RSS chief nodded in agreement. Later, in his 23-minute speech, he said, “I am only speaking about what I heard from others here. A Hindu is the one who does something passionately, without seeking anything for self. That becomes his puja.”
Bhagwat said that since India is a country that adheres to its religion, no one can touch it. He said, “Till religion is alive in India, no one can dare touch the country. But if unfortunately, the religion is lost from India, then no one will be able to save it. The foundation of existence is this religion on which the world survives. People are running helter-skelter and we have to awaken them back on the path of truth. That is the duty of India as the big brother of the world since we are the most ancient country with deep roots in religion. That is the message our saints have given us. That the religion is suffering and is getting stained, so it is essential to cleanse and preserve religion.”