The concept of ‘ Vaagdevatha ,’ which is worshipped by Indians in its different incarnations such as ‘Durga,’ ‘Kali,’ Mother, Nature and Power, is only the concept of ‘The word’ which is sacred and sanctified in different faiths across the world, C.P. Rajasekharan, writer has said.
He was delivering a talk on ‘Secularism and the Indian concept of goddess of words,’ jointly organised by the Creative Council of Indian Writers and the Chavara Cultural Centre in connection with the Vijayadashami celebrations at the Chavara Hall in the city on Monday.
Stating that the Indian concept in that sense is a universal concept, Dr. Rajasekharan said that ‘Saraswathy’ was the goddess of words and hence was not pertaining to any particular religion. “Worshipping the word means to be deeply aware of our common beginning, and it is a spiritual journey that takes one closer to truth,” he said.
Dr. Rajasekharan said that any sensitive and thinking person should worship words. He said that the root cause of all the problems faced by the present world is man’s negligence and irreverence towards words. He said that it was with one’s words that a person attracted or repelled the world. “Worshipping the word will only take one closer to truth, which is otherwise called God,” he said.
Historian M.G.S. Narayanan, who presided over the function, said that people who practised different faiths were not aware of the commonalities owing to their parochial attitude. While materialism and spirituality were conflicting concepts in Western philosophy they were not so in the Indian Philosophy, said Dr. Narayanan.
He said the concept of secularism was defined constructively in the Indian context. “It doesn’t negate God or religion; instead it allows the peaceful coexistence of diverse thoughts and search for truth,” he said. An all-religion prayer song was presented at the venue. Chavara Cultural Centre Director Fr. Jose Idappadi welcomed the gathering. A public discussion was also part of the programme.
