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| Pandurang Shastri Athavale’s worldwide mission of service | | |
Vinod Chandrashekhar Dixit
Today, while I was arranging my bookshelf, I had a look on my published write-up on Revered Pandurang Shastri Athavle in 1990’s . My mother is a Swadhyayee for the last 50 years and she used to share me the stories and talks about Dada which inspired me a lot to spread Dada’s message through my articles. God exist, but he exists within us,’ says Pandurang Shastri Athavale, or Dadaji as he is affectionately known, echoing the central philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. From the idea of divine relationship and greatefulness to God, he has brought man closer to closer.
I feel myself luck that I got an opportunity to meet Dada on so many occasions in 1990 in Veraval (Gujarat), and his words still echo my ears: “It is my experience that awareness of nearness of God and reverence for that power creates reverence for self, reverence for the other, reverence for nature and reverence for the entire creation. And devotion as an expression of gratitude to God can turn into a social force to bring about transformative changes in all aspects of human life and at all levels in the society.” He has transformed life of millions of people literate, illiterate, Indians, NRIs, by way of true concept of devotion from Vedic literature and his thinking and actions are based on life of Lord Krishna and philosophy of Bhagwad Gita and other Vedic literature. India has been the land of culture and many leaders have been produced by the country who has done good to the country. One among them was renowned Activist and social reformer, Revered Pandurang Shastri Athavale (Dadaji). He was an activist philosopher who formed the family (pariwar) of millions of Swadhayees World-wide. He was recipient of 100s of awards including Magsaysay award, Templeton Award, Gandhi award, Tilak award etc. He was a leader of a spiritual self-knowledge movement in India that has today liberated millions from the shackles of poverty and moral dissipation. In 1991 Shyam Benegal created and directed the film Antarnaad (The Inner Voice), based on Rev. Athavale’s Swadhyaya movements or Prayogs, starring Shabana Azmi and Kulbhushan Kharbanda, among others.[13] In 2004 Abir Bazaz also directed the documentary Swadhyaya, based on the life and works of Rev. Athavale.
Pandurang Shastri Athavale started giving discourses at the Shrimad Bhagavad Gita Pathshala, a school that was set up by his father. In the year 1954, he attended the Second World Religions Conference, which was held in Japan. At the conference, he delivered a speech on the concepts of Vedic ideals as well as the teachings of the Bhagavad Gita. His philosophy asks people to recognize the inner presence of God which, , leads to a sense of self-esteem as well as an awareness of the divine presence within all persons.
Athavale’s lessons and learnings from Bhagavad Gita have been spread to millions of people. His vision of eradicating the world’s problems by creating a global family united under the principle of a universal blood maker. He felt that the universality of the Bhagavad Gita allows for it to a guide to all of humanity. He has always taught us to see God in ourselves and fellow human beings, and the divinity in each one of us. He has guided mankind ways to align spirituality to work not only through his words, but also through his works. His million of followers also have shown a high level of dedication to his work through self-realization. He has been instrumental in introducing a realistic social change in India’s rural communities and believes that selfless service, without expecting returns, is the mantra that can bring humanity together. He always wanted to spread the message of equality, unity, and spirituality in the society. His vision was to have a United Global family by eradication of all the worldly problems based on the single principle of Universal blood maker, which was possible with the foundation of Swadhyaya Parivar. Dada has given us an opportunity to be detached from our house and our work, and instead, to do selfless service.
The goal of Swadhyaya is to help people and do work of unity in the Nation for the right knowledge, they have been working in it for years. Today Dada’s faith in the vital ability of Swadhyayees to create a different kind of world continues to enthuse and guide his followers. Today Dada is not with us but his followers are continuing spreading and leading his vision to others “Universal Brotherhood under the divine Fatherhood of God.” |
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