Constitution and Freedom fighter || Acharya Prashant, at SRCC (2023)

Acharya Prashant

Full Video: Indian Constitution and Vedanta || Acharya Prashant, at SRCC (2023) Link:   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cEYgCVSnEg8&t=2s  Video Information: 13.04.2023, IIT-Delhi, Delhi  Context: What is nationalism? Is nationalism good or bad? What was the rise of nationalism? What is nationalism in India easy? What is the origin of Indian nationalism? What is called nationalism? Nationalism and Vedanta Nationalism can be a force for good  Music Credits: Milind Date ~~~~~

Transcript

00:00 Where is the Indian constitution really coming from?

00:05 Please think of it.

00:06 Most of those who were in the constituent assembly were also freedom fighters, were

00:15 they not?

00:16 Think of them, were they not freedom fighters?

00:22 So it is coming from the spirit of freedom.

00:27 Not even the spirit of independence but the spirit of freedom.

00:32 And the spirit of freedom is over and above the spirit of independence.

00:37 It was not just an Indian independence movement, it was Indian freedom movement.

00:42 What is freedom?

00:44 All those, all the names that you know of, if you read their works, if you get into their

00:49 minds, you will find that they had defined freedom in very holistic, very deep, very

00:59 comprehensive ways.

01:01 Freedom was not just about replacing the union jack with the tricolour.

01:07 That was independence, that was political independence.

01:10 Freedom meant much more and the project of gaining freedom was to continue even after

01:17 1947.

01:19 If you would ask Bhagat Singh, he would say that the revolution must be on even in 2023.

01:28 It is not supposed to come to a standstill or a conclusion at 1947 or 1950.

01:39 No.

01:40 Are you getting it?

01:42 So if you, I asked for the preamble so that you could understand that the Indian constitution

01:50 already embodies the highest spiritual principles because it is coming from people who are dedicated

02:01 to something very very deep.

02:05 A lot of them went to the gallows carrying the Gita in hand.

02:10 You think they will need to turn to exclusively the west for inspiration?

02:17 If you count the number of freedom fighters who took the Gita as their inspiration, you

02:26 would run short of count.

02:32 There are just so many.

02:36 Think of Aurobindo, think of Tilak.

02:45 Even if you talk of Bhagat Singh, he was an avid reader and was he not placing the Gita

02:54 in high esteem?

02:55 He was.

02:56 Even as he declared himself an atheist, what he meant to denounce was the gods that the

03:02 commons worship.

03:06 He had an unflinching faith in the truth and Gita is not about god worship.

03:13 Gita is about submitting yourself to the truth, fighting for the truth alone, even if it means

03:22 fighting against everybody you have been related to in your life.

03:31 So we, the people of India having solemnly resolved to constitute India into a sovereign

03:38 socialist secular democratic republic.

03:40 Where do you think these words are coming from?

03:43 Come on.

03:44 Where do you think these ideals are coming from?

03:49 It's very easy to say they are coming from France or UK or America and I agree to this.

03:57 I agree to this in a very contextual way, in the contemporary sense, they did come from

04:09 Europe and the spirit of the renaissance.

04:15 But when you, when you, sovereign, you know what does the word sovereign mean?

04:23 What does sovereign mean?

04:24 Not ruled by somebody outside of yourself.

04:29 Now come on.

04:31 That's a spiritual thing, to be not to be ruled by somebody outside of yourself.

04:37 Sovereign does not mean that you will, it does mean that, but it does not mean only

04:44 that.

04:45 It does mean that you will not allow China to lord over you, that there would be no hegemon

04:51 that you would tolerate.

04:52 Obviously it does mean that, but it means something far beyond that as well.

04:56 Thank you.

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