Translator: Katarina Ericson Reviewer: Denise RQ
Host: Good morning, Manu.
Manu Raval: Good morning.
Host: To start off, would you please share with us
what you mean by "The art and science of nonviolence"?
MR: Art is an everyday activity.
Whatever we do on account of our innate abilities,
that is art.
Everything that we speak, do, work;
everything is art.
Science is a little complicated. We all know that.
In Sanskrit, those two words
were defined about 7,000 years ago.
Art is "khala," which is "ghana" - knowledge.
Science is "vigyan,"
which means it deals with the material things of life.
Physics?
Physics, we know, is the natural thing,
the physical thing, the material things.
Host: I find it fascinating that you had the opportunity
to listen to and learn from Gandhi.
What are some insights from Gandhiji
that you would like to share with us about leadership or other insights?
MR: Gandhiji was a "sehat," Mahatma Gandhi was a "sehat."
What is your message?
Because he had done everything that can be imagined
to be done by a single individual in his long life.
He was assassinated at the age of 78,
on January, 30, 1948,
in New Delhi, after independence.
His answer to that question was,
"My life is my message."
Everything that he did during his time,
coming from a small town
in a small state of Gujarat
on the west coast of India.
He went to England at the age of 19, became a barrister
and turned into one of the greatest leaders of the world
of the modern age.
At the end of the millennium, the world was asked,
"Who, in your opinion, is the greatest man in the world?"
The answer was
Albert Einstein first; Mahatma Gandhi, second.
In my opinion, Gandhiji should have been placed first.
(Laughter)
Science is a beautiful thing,
because it is through science
that you are able to listen to me in such a large hall.
But what is more important is spirituality.
Do we have a heart? Do we have love?
Do we have compassion?
Do we want to look at the whole world with a friendly eye?
Sanskrit has been said to be more than 7,000 years old,
could be 12, 000;
because the latest findings about the Indian civilization say
that it is, at least, if not more than 12, 500 years old;
at least 10,000 years old.
Because in the latest findings,
they came across
this small docking place in the Arabian Sea
where country crafts were being docked,
and when they timed it
using carbon dating,
they found that that docking place was 9, 500 years old.
If there is a dock where you can bring the country crafts and dock them,
some 9,500 years ago,
it means that the civilization has to be
at least 2,000 or 3,000 years old.
Overnight, you don't make a country craft to sail the ocean,
have international trade, and have that kind of a civilization.
So it has now been proven that was not Assyria, or Babylonia,
or all those things we were taught by the Western scholars
who were the earliest civilizations;
It has now been proven beyond doubt
that India has the oldest civilization in the world.
Think about it:
if you have a language more than 7,000 to 8,000 years old,
and its grammar was written 4,000 years ago,
what could that country be?
(Sanskrit) "Mitrsy Ckshusha Smicshamahe,"
(English) we must all look at the universe with a friendly eye,
and that is what Gandhi thought.
Host: Thank you.
How do you envision nonviolence having a role today and in the future?
MR: In my opinion - I'm a very small man.
We have a great character in the Indian literature,
in the Indian philosophy, poetry, drama,
everything;
his name is "Vyas,"
V, Y, A, S - Vyas.
Vyas wrote one of the greatest epics in the world,
called "Mahābhārata."
Mahābhārata describes the war between Pāṇḍu and Kuru,
two cousins who fight for the Indian Empire.
Vyas once said,
in spite of having written so much,
- and poetry, and philosophy -
he once said,
"From the rooftops, raising my hands,
I tell people to listen to me,"
(Sanskirt) (Quoting Vyas)
(English) "I raise my arms and tell people 'Please listen to me,'
but no one listens to me."
That's the condition today.
There is so much violence going on all over the world,
and we don't wake up.
I don't want to quote numbers for you,
but it is known, most of you must know already
that our great country is the greatest crime capital in the world.
Look at the number of people who are in prison,
look at the number of people who are killed every day.
One of the statistics I must quote is
all over the world between 2000 and today,
300 and odd numbers have been killed,
and the largest number was in this country.
Do you know how many people are killed every day?
Apart from that, do you know,
since Columbine High School massacre in Denver,
how many massacres have been carried out?
Whether they're in colleges, schools, churches, anywhere in the world,
anywhere in any country?
But you can see
it has practically become a daily occurrence.
Last time it happened in Oregon.
Most of you must have seen the president.
He's the single most powerful man in the world today,
and the way he speaks his words - if you like, I will quote them -
his words--
there are no tears in his eyes;
that's the only thing he does not do,
because he is the most powerful man on the face of the earth.
But you can hear him crying in his heart.
Nine people are killed,
and the tenth kills himself or the police does; whatever.
Why should it happen?
At Sandy Cook, in San Diego, 20 kids are killed.
What is the reason? What are we doing?
With so much knowledge, technology, and wealth,
why don't we wake up?
It's possible for us to change
this national culture into nonviolence.
Social change is difficult; it takes time.
Social change needs a lot of education.
Look at those more than 50 years
of Gandhi's continuous work in India,
and the 22 years in South Africa;
he was killed by a Hindu upper caste
just because he sided with Muslims.
So social change is very difficult,
but it can be done.
We have seen that;
in the 50s, with Martin Luther King,
who started a nonviolent activity,
a movement for civil rights.
Ladies and gentlemen, brothers and sisters,
50 years later, we can see
that a Black man can be our president.
Change can be brought in.
In one of the Vedas of the four Hindu scriptures,
it has been said that if you want your grandson to eat mangoes,
sow the seed today
because it will take 25 years for that tree to have mangoes.
But it is worthwhile,
because if you have eaten that Alphonso mango from India,
if there is a fruit that has come directly from heaven, it is the mango.
(Laughter)
Host: Thank you so much.
Now we have a few questions
that have been submitted from the audience here today.
The first question:
having witnessed multiple generations growing up and coming into their own,
what simple advice would you give to the next generation?
MR: Do you mind if I get up and speak?
Host: I think you can get up.
MR: OK.
Host: I think you're entitled to do anything you'd like to do.
(Laughter)
MR: But I won't be impolite.
(Laughter)
OK. The answer is very simple.
For thousands of years, in India we had untouchability.
Forgive me if I say that I belong to the highest caste of India,
being a Brahman.
And it is me, my great-great-grandfather, and my ancestors,
who must have started that system of untouchability.
Those who keep us clean, keep them unclean.
That was the way that India was behaving.
Gandhi came, he returned from South Africa,
in January, 9, 1915.
And in the course of time,
he started a movement on how all humans are equal.
That is what our Constitution also says; that we are all created equal.
That is what our Bible says; that we are all cast in the image of God.
So that is what we have to teach our children,
so that over a period of time, maybe 10, 25, 50 years from now,
we can have a nation with a nonviolent culture.
And we have to do it.
Lord Buddha said
that if you want to walk 1,000 miles, take the first step.
If you don't take the first step,
you'll never be able to cover 1,000 miles.
(Laughter)
That is what we have to start today.
I've lived in this country for 42 years; I love it.
I love the people.
Look at them, look at their faces, how wonderful they are.
But why don't they understand that violence is the greatest enemy?
What we want in life,
what every human being on the face of the earth wants,
all 7.2 billion want, is happiness.
Where does happiness come from?
From peace, from harmony.
Where do they come from?
From love.
So that is what we have to understand:
the whole basis of this universe
- and there may be even mightier things than universes -
is love from God.
One day, God himself thought, (Sanskrit) "Eko 'ham,"
- (English) "I'm alone" -
(Sanskirt) "Bahu syam"
- (English) "Let me be many." -
so that is what God thought when he was feeling lonely.
"Eko 'ham," - this is Sanskrit.
"Eko 'ham," - I'm alone. "Bahu syam," - Let me be many.
And he created all of us.
Love is the basis of the universe,
and "amor vincit omnia."
In Latin it has been said that love rules the universe.
Host: Thank you so much, Manuji.
MR: Thank you.
(Applause)