The following post originally appeared on the Facebook page of senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi. It was posted on the eve of the crucial BJP National Executive Meet 2018.
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It is indeed interesting to note that 107th chapter Shanti Parva in Mahabharat describes the dialogue between Yudhishtir and Bhishma Pitamah regarding gana-rajya (republic) and specifically how they continue to remain united, prosperous and peaceful. Says Bhishma, the members of the republic are intelligent, well versed in different branches of knowledge they serve the people with mutual trust and faith. This is why they progress.
Mahabharat in describing gana-rajya, the constitution of republics, speaks of the causes of their decline also. Bhishma, where trust is absent, nothing can survive. ‘The republics have been destroyed mostly because of dissension between one people and another.’ And further: ‘In the republics, in the families, and between one state and another, the two factors that ignite the fire of enmity are greed and arrogance.’ A republic is normally a happy place. ‘Those with wisdom praise the citizens of a republic. Bound with a sense of unity, they do not cheat each other. Rather, serving each other, they create a happy society.’ For that reason, he further says, in order that the state may protect the people, it has to protect them first from their fear of each other, which must arise when there is distrust among them. For that, the state has to be sensitive to what causes the feeling of distrust and fear. If not, ‘the internal fears uproot the roots of a republic’. Bhishma concludes by saying:
Out of anger, or confusion, or because of greed, when the various peoples of a republic can no longer communicate with each other, then it is a sure sign of their defeat already.
Thus, according to Mahabharat, for the health and life of a republic the socio-economic policies should be conducted with a view to create mutual trust, absence of fear, free communication and total absence of violence, anger and confusion in the society. Such a cohesive and united republic will be invincible.
United Indian Republic will always win but the divided one is sure to fall.
Jai Bharat, Jai Hind.