New Delhi: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday released a special commemorative coin on the occasion of the 125th Birth Anniversary of Srila Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Ji today via video conference.
Union Minister For Culture, Tourism and Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER), Shri G Kishan Reddy, among others, was present on the occasion.
Addressing the gathering, Prime Minister mentioned the happy coincidence of Janmashtami the day before and the 125th birth anniversary of Srila Prabhupada Ji. ‘It is like achieving happiness and contentment of sadhana together. He also noted that the occasion is taking place amidst the celebration of Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. This is how millions of followers of Srila Prabhupada Swami and millions of Krishna devotees all over the world are experiencing today, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister noted the supernatural devotion of Prabhupada Swami for Lord Krishna and said that he was also a great devotee of Bharat. He fought during the freedom struggle of the country. He had refused to take his diploma from Scottish College in support of the non-cooperation movement, the Prime Minister said.
The Prime Minister also said our knowledge of yoga spread all over the world and the sustainable lifestyle of India, science like Ayurveda are spread all over the world. It is our resolve that the whole world should benefit from it, Shri Modi said.
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The Prime Minister said whenever we go to any other country, and when people meet there saying 'Hare Krishna', we feel a sense of belonging and pride. The Prime Minister said that the same feeling will be there when Make in India products get the same affinity. We can learn a lot from ISKCON in this regard
He also said that in the times of slavery, Bhakti kept the spirit of India alive and today scholars assess that if there was no social revolution of the Bhakti period, it would have been difficult to imagine the status and form of India. Bhakti connected the creature with God by removing the discrimination of faith, social hierarchies and privileges. Even in those difficult times, saints like Chaitanya Mahaprabhu, who tied the society with the spirit of devotion and gave the mantra of 'Faith to Confidence'.
He also said at one time, if a sage-like Swami Vivekananda came who took Vedanta to the west, then Srila Prabhupada and ISKCON took up this great task when the time of taking Bhakti Yoga to the world came. He also connected Bhakti Vedanta with the consciousness of the world.
Today there are hundreds of ISKCON temples in different countries of the world and many Gurukuls are keeping Indian culture alive. ISKCON has disseminated to the world that for India, faith means zeal, enthusiasm, and gaiety and faith in humanity, he added. He also highlighted the service work of ISKCON during earthquakes in Kutch, Uttarakhand tragedy, cyclones in Odisha and Bengal and praised its efforts during the pandemic.
