Mohan Bhagwat in New York | Highlights: ‘Be loyal to karma bhumi’, RSS chief tells Indian diaspora in US

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat concluded his Madison Square Garden address in New York by calling on people to fulfil their responsibilities towards both their karma bhumi [work place] and janma bhumi [birth place], saying such an approach could offer support to a world struggling with multiple challenges.

Bhagwat said fulfilling these responsibilities would help realise what he described as Bharat's larger destiny.

"To that destiny and fulfill our duties in our karma bhumi as well as our janma bhumi," he said.

"If we do that, that will be a boon for the world struggling with all these problems and stumbling at every step."

'We have to give sustenance'

Bhagwat said the world needs support and a sustainable way of living, reiterating his call for people to contribute to the wellbeing of others.

"We have to give sustenance. We have to give some sort of support to this world," he said.

He linked this message to the significance of the Raksha Bandhan gathering in New York.

"We have to go this way, and that is why we have come here and we have remembered the Raksha Bandhan, we have tied the Rakhi," Bhagwat said. He then referred to the event's message of unity and diversity, prompting an interaction with the audience.

"United in oneness," he said, before asking, “And what? I cannot hear you.”

Bhagwat said he had come to the event without intending to deliver a lengthy philosophical exposition, but the enthusiasm of those present prompted him to share his thoughts.

"That is why I felt, seeing all of you here in great enthusiasm, I started thinking, and whatever thoughts came to my mind, I have put them before you for your thinking," he said.

He left it to the audience to decide whether and how to incorporate those ideas into their own lives.

"And if you find them appropriate for making it your own practice," Bhagwat said.

He ended the address by thanking the gathering.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Speaking at the Infosys Centre in Madison Square Garden of New York City, Mohan Bhagwat said individual success should not be measured only by accumulation of wealth. "How much we earn is not important. How much we distribute is important," he said.

He also challenged the idea that career should be defined solely by money or material prosperity.

"You think of career? Is career only money? Is career only material happiness?" Bhagwat asked. He clarified that material aspirations are not inherently wrong, pointing to the four Purusharthas in Hindu philosophy.

"It is not denied. In four Purusharthas, Artha and Kama are two important Purusharthas related to material life," he said.

According to Bhagwat, material success has a legitimate place in life, alongside spiritual goals. "Even our Upanishads tell us that don't go only after liberation. You have to achieve material success also," he said.

The four stages of life

Bhagwat then referred to the traditional four stages of life - Brahmacharya, Grihastha, Vanaprastha and Sannyasa.

"If world has to go on, there is no direct sanyas. After your birth, you have to be Brahmachari, then Grihastha, then you take Vanaprastha, then you go to Sanyas," he said.

He said individuals therefore have responsibilities at different stages of life - learning, sustaining a family and society, and eventually passing on their experience to the next generation.

"So you have to learn, you have to sustain life, and you have to give the advice, your experience to next generation," Bhagwat said.

He presented this progression as part of the broader philosophy he was outlining: human life involves both personal growth and responsibility towards others, with material prosperity, spiritual development and service to the wider world existing together.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Speaking at the Madison Square Garden venue, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat turned to the question of duty, particularly for members of the Indian diaspora living in the United States.

Addressing Indians living in the US, Bhagwat said their primary responsibility is towards the country in which they live and work - “karma bhumi”.

"So what is our duty? We are in America. We live in America. We earn in America. So we are Americans, and we should be true to America," he said.

He said the Bharatiya diaspora has a duty towards its karma bhumi - the land where one lives and carries out one's work.

"The diaspora, Indian diaspora, they have a duty to their karma bhumi. They must fulfill that. They should be loyal to their karma bhumi," Bhagwat said.

At the same time, he distinguished between this duty and the emotional connection people may have with their janma bhumi, or birthplace.

"Because Bharat is their janma bhumi, if they have urge to do something and they can do that, after fulfilling their duty to their karma bhumi, it is not prohibited," he said.

However, Bhagwat stressed that contributing to Bharat in this manner is not an obligation.

"But it is not obligatory," he said.

Instead, he said the Indian diaspora's connection with Bharat should be reflected primarily through the values they carry with them.

"Your janma bhumi expects you to live the values it has imparted on you," Bhagwat said.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat argued that progress should not come at the cost of suppressing either individuals or society.

"It is not that societal progress will happen only when individuals are suppressed. No," he said.

" It is not that society had to be suppressed to make individual successes. No."

Instead, he said, individual wellbeing, societal development and environmental wellbeing must advance together.

"Individual, society and environment, they have to proceed together, progress together," Bhagwat said.

He extended the same idea to the individual, saying different aspects of a person's life must also remain in balance.

"Your body, your mind, intellect, they have to proceed together," he said.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Mohan Bhagwat said the principle that sustains the world is what Bharat calls ‘Dharma’, while stressing that the concept should not be understood simply as religion or worship. "On that basis, the sustaining principle that we call Dharma. Dharma is not religion. It is not worship. It is beyond all this," he said.

According to Bhagwat, Dharma refers to the underlying principle through which the universe is sustained. "It is the rule through which universe is sustained. It is the rule through which human beings can manage dualities of life," he said.

He described Dharma as a principle of balance that allows different individuals and elements of society to progress simultaneously.

"It is the balance which sustains everything at once, simultaneously, and simultaneously everyone can progress," Bhagwat said.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at ‘Universal Oneness Celebrations’ gathering in New York's Madison Square Garden, said material possessions and pleasures cannot provide lasting satisfaction, arguing that the search for true happiness ultimately leads to the realisation of one's inner self or Atman.

"So the material happiness is transient, cannot satisfy," Bhagwat said.

He said that even an abundance of material comforts could fail to bring fulfilment. "And if abundance of material happiness is there, it may fail also. And therefore there is no satisfaction," he said.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, is speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of the ‘Universal Oneness Celebrations’ event, contrasted human behaviour with that of animals, saying animals are guided primarily by natural instincts and requirements.

"They don't know why they are born. They don't know why they will die. They only know that once I am born, I have to live till my death," he said.

He used the example of cows grazing to explain the distinction.

"You can find a cow grazing. It will eat grass till its tummy is full. After that, it will not care for that grass," Bhagwat said.

He added that an animal would not think of storing food for the next day in the way humans do.

"Only human beings, they can think. And they think that, okay, I am full today, but tomorrow again I will be hungry. So let me take this, pack this well, store it in my house and eat it tomorrow," he said.

"Human beings can think, and that is a quality, that is a blessing, that is a boon… In what way you think, that is important'

Bhagwat, however, said the ability to think comes with a responsibility, arguing that the direction of one's thoughts determines one's conduct.

"But there is another rider. You can think, but in what way you think, that is important," he said.

"If you think in the right way, you go nearer to God. If you think in the wrong way, you go nearer to the animal kingdom."

Mohan Bhagwat New York City LIVE: Speaking at Madison Square Garden in New York City, Mohan Bhagwat gave the audience an example to illustrate what he described as the human capacity to empathise.

"A simple experiment you can do, or I can challenge you to do. When you are taking your lunch or dinner, let a hungry man stand before you, and let him stare at your full platter with hungry eyes," he said.

Bhagwat asked whether a person could continue eating without responding to the hungry man.

"And without avoiding his gaze, or without driving him out, take your meal without giving him a single particle of food. You cannot do it," he said.

"You can try; you will not do. Because we are human beings."

He said that this feeling of empathy exists even among animals, but humans have a greater ability to act on their thoughts and choices.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, speaking at ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’ in New York City, elaborated on the idea of "oneness", saying that while human beings may differ in their ways of living and material needs, there is an "innate oneness" that connects them.

"So many styles of living. We appear different. We are different," Bhagwat said, before explaining how people remain distinct in their everyday material existence.

"Each of us has to take his meal separately. If I am not hungry, it doesn't mean you are not hungry. If I have satisfied my hunger, if I had my lunch, that doesn't mean you had your lunch. You have to lunch separately. You have to earn separately. You have to spend separately," he said.

Calling these differences a "material fact of the world", Bhagwat said they exist alongside an innate sense of connection between people.

"But there is innate oneness. That is why we feel for each other," he said.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, addressing the ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’ event at a Madison Square Garden venue in New York, spoke about the ideas of pluralism, unity in diversity and the larger responsibility of nations.

Beginning his address, Bhagwat extended his wishes for Raksha Bandhan and said the gathering was meant to celebrate "oneness".

"We are here to celebrate the oneness. It is very apt that we have gathered here in New York to do that," he said.

Bhagwat, who travelled to New York from Nagpur, drew a comparison between the United States and Bharat, saying both nations are associated with the idea of diversity.

"When we say America, United States of America, one word is often discussed frequently. That is pluralism," Bhagwat said.

"And when we say Bharat, another word, another phrase is discussed: unity in diversity."

He said that for Bharat, both unity and diversity are part of its "DNA".

"For Bharat, this unity and diversity, both are in their DNA," he said.

Bhagwat further said nations should not be viewed merely as geographical entities, arguing that they have a larger role to play.

"These nations are not merely geographical entities. In the design of this universe, nations have to carry out a duty," he said.

Quoting Swami Vivekananda, Bhagwat said every nation has a distinct role and purpose.

"Every nation has a message to give. Every nation has a mission to accomplish. Every nation has a destiny to fulfil," he quoted Vivekananda as saying.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Led by RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, 180 religious leaders from 30 countries announced five-point action plan to take responsibility for future at the Universal Oneness Celebration' event in Madison Square Garden of New York City.

“Global religious leaders reject use of religion to justify hatred, humiliation, dehumanization, or violence. 'One world One Humanity' 'call for action' resolution commit to stand for dignity of any community threatened with humiliation or violence,” RSS said on X.

Ahead of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat's address, a member of the Indian diaspora says, "This event gives out a message of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam... The theme of this event, Universal Oneness speaks to me and I am looking forward to the address of Mohan Bhagwat..."

(Via ANI)

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: At the 'Universal Oneness Celebration' event in Madison Square Garden of New York City, religious and community leaders were called upon to move from dialogue to concrete action for peace, with the RSS’s centenary being presented as an opportunity to mobilise its vast volunteer network.

In a key message, religious leaders acknowledged that they cannot solve every conflict, but they have influence over communities.

“Religious leaders alone cannot end wars, eliminate hatred, or reverse every injustice. But neither are we powerless. Every religious leader influences a community. Every community touches another. Every act of courage makes another act of courage possible,” the moderator of the event stated.

“One world, one humanity. Not because we are all the same. Not because we agree on everything, but because our dignity is shared, our futures are connected, and the world we leave behind will be shaped by what we choose to follow. Beginning with ourselves, standing for one another, serving together, taking responsibility for the future. This is our call to action,” he said.

“And we present this to Mohan Bhagwat ji as a call to action because the largest network of RSS volunteers all over, on the centenary, can make specific actions to fulfill this call to action,” he added.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat shared the stage at 'Universal Oneness Celebration' event in Madison Square Garden with interfaith leaders.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: The ‘Universal Oneness Celebration’ event at Madison Square Garden, where RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat will speak later today, opened with performances by Indian artistes, celebrating cultures from across the world, spanning North America, China and India.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday that diversity must be accepted, respected and preserved, noting that along with own identity, that of others also needs to be protected.

"As the RSS we believe that all humanity is one. It is our duty to go out into the world and share the message that despite our apparent diversities, we are one. Diversity is a decoration of our inner unity, it must be accepted, respected, and preserved. Just as I protect my identity, I have to protect that of others. Diversity is the rule of nature, but unity is the truth underpinning it. Since our inception in 1925, over the past century, the Sangh has established a position of trust and prestige within our society," Bhagwat said, speaking at the 'One World, One Humanity' faith leaders' conference in New York.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Addressing the 'One World, One Humanity' faith leaders' conference ahead of the Madison Square Garden event, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat described how human beings “stray into traps of me and mine”, adding that petty likes, dislikes as well as selfish desires make individuals go astray from the right path.

"It is not so easy to purify the mind. Everyone knows that God exists and that what he wills will happen. Yet human beings still stray into the traps of 'me' and 'mine'. People understand what is right and recognise that righteous individuals set the proper example. However, for their own petty likes, dislikes, and selfish desires, they go astray. Therefore, this is not a matter of intellectual education alone, we must instil daily practice. And that is where the true value of rituals comes in. The rituals across all religions teach us the actual discipline and practice of living," Bhagwat said.

(Via PTI)

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: The main event in New York City, featuring Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat - “Universal Oneness Celebration” - has started at the Infosys Theater, located in Madison Square Garden, with cultural performances.

Mohan Bhagwat is scheduled to address about 5,000 members of Indian American groups.

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: Addressing the 'One World, One Humanity' faith leaders' conference in US city of New York on Saturday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat recalled a question he was once asked by a Muslim - whether RSS will drive Muslims out.

"In 2018 during my lecture series in Delhi, several Muslim brothers present there asked me, 'You are a Hindu organisation. You speak of Hindu Rashtra. What about us Muslims? Will you drive us out?' I told them, 'No, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he ceases to be a Hindu."

Mohan Bhagwat New York LIVE: At the "One World One Humanity" event, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said the traditional thought of Bharat is - unity of humanity, adding that all of India's leaders, at any point in time, have emphasised that too.

He added that politics has now become a “game of self-interest” with the ideals of the above in the Constitution after Independence not being emphasised enough at present.

"After independence, we got the constitution, which emphasizes this, but that is not happening. Because these things do not happen through politics. I'm sorry to say, but the fact is, politics has now become a game of self-interest. And you have rightly said, where there is me and I, there is no solution. We and ours are the solution. So our experience in Bharat is that we have to start with the society...," Bhagwat said.

People have been queuing up outside Madison Square Garden as Mohan Bhagwat's address nears.

"If you want to call yourself Hindu, you must believe that all paths are leading to the same. And every human has a dignity. There is no difference between human beings. I had a lecture there. And Muslim brothers were also there. And they asked me a question: You are a Hindu organization, you say Hindu Rashtra, what about us Muslims? Would you drive us out? I said no, that is not Hindutva. If any Hindu thinks that there should be no Muslim in Bharat, he will not remain Hindu," Says Mohan Bhagwat.

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat says, "I am not a religious scholar, nor a religious authority like you, but I am working in a society which traditionally says that religions might be different, but humanity is one. Truth is one, and humanity is a product of that truth. So humanity is one. That truth is one truth, but it is described in many ways according to the describer. Because as human beings, we are prisoners of the software that has been created in our heads..."

"There are many religions, and in today's world, religions are largely defined by rituals. And to fit in a religious discipline, and to treat that path to divinity, this discipline of rituals is also necessary," Mohan Bhagwat said.