Lack of Vedic knowledge causing wars & destroying environment, says Mohan Bhagwat

There’s no conflict between science & Vedic knowledge, said RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at an event Friday.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat at the maha yajna organised by the VHP, at Delhi's Birla Mandir, Friday | Photo: Suraj Singh Bisht | ThePrint

New Delhi: Lack of Vedic knowledge is leading to conflicts and destruction across the world, and is also responsible for environmental degradation, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said Friday.

Participating in a ‘maha yajna’ aimed at encouraging Vedic knowledge and science, organised by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and the Ashok Singhal Foundation (founded in memory of the late VHP leader Ashok Singhal), Bhagwat said there is no conflict between science and the Vedas, as is often made out to be. 

“Our ancestors, through their hard work, achieved the knowledge of the Vedas and, through that, India was a world guru for at least 3,000 years,” he added. 

“To run the world today, one needs deep knowledge of the Vedas, the lack of which is leading to wars and environmental degradation,” Bhagwat said. “We need to once again make Vedic knowledge vibrant and relevant.” 

‘No conflict between science & Vedas’

The RSS sarsanghchalak stressed the fact that achieving this goal would not be the task of Hindus alone, and that the entire world will have to play a role.

“There is no conflict between science and Vedic knowledge. Both have a role and purpose,” he said. “Science believes in that which can be proved and is visible but Vedic knowledge goes beyond that. 

“You may not be able to prove the existence of aatma (soul) by experiments but can you prove its non-existence? You can’t,” he said. “What happens to a person after he dies? Can science give us answers? For this, we need to move away from sensorial knowledge,” Bhagwat added. 

The RSS chief said reading the Vedas doesn’t mean shunning science and vice-versa. “We need to learn both science and Vedic knowledge, both have relevance,” he added. 

The six-day maha yajna of the VHP started Wednesday and is being held at the Lakshmi-Narayan Temple, or Birla Mandir, in Delhi. Over the past three days, the event has involved the offering of aahuti (offerings to the deity), and chanting of mantras from the four Vedas, the Rigveda, the Yajurveda, the Saamaveda and the Atharvaveda.

The event was attended by a number of BJP MPs and ministers Friday. BJP president and Home Minister Amit Shah and Union Defence Minister Rajnath Singh are likely to attend it over the weekend.