“आ नो भद्राः क्रतवो यन्तु विश्वतः”
(ā no bhadrāḥ kratavo yantu viśvataḥ)
The literal meaning of above mantra is “May noble thoughts come to us from the every directions.”
This amazing mantra is from Rigveda. It is the first mantra of 89th Sukta (Hymn) of Rigveda’s 1st Mandala (Book). Rigveda is the first and the oldest Veda out of the four vedas (Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samveda, Atharveda).
When I first heard this mantra, I got astonished by the core idea of welcoming noble thoughts from all directions without any prejudice. During my travel across different countries and within my own country itself, sometimes I sense that people become very much uncomfortable in discussing something which is not relevant to their core beliefs. On other hand, this thousands of year old mantra is teaching us to be open minded and welcome all noble thoughts. Although we take pride in calling ourselves modern.
While in this chaotic world, individuals, groups and even nations are trying to impose their beliefs strongly on others, our Rishis taught us to welcome noble thoughts from every directions of universe! Imagine how beautiful our world would be, if people are willing to accept one another’s noble thoughts without wearing glasses of their nationality, race or religion.
As per my limited knowledge, all major religions of the world have said similar things!
Like, the holy Bible proverb 4:7 says, “Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting, get understanding.”
In Judaism, Pirkei Avot (Ethics of the Fathers) 4:1 (Mishnah) says, “Who is wise? He who learns from everyone.”
In Zoroastrianism (Avesta) Yasna 30.2 says, “Listen with your ears to the best things. Reflect with a clear mind, and choose your path.”
In ancient times, many seekers including Siddhartha Gautama (The Buddha) (India, 5th–4th Century BCE) travelled across India to seek enlightenment, Apollonius of Tyana (Greece, 1st Century CE) travelled across the Mediterranean, Egypt, India, and Mesopotamia to study and share spiritual wisdom, Ibn Battuta (Morocco, 1304–1369) travelled to Africa, the Middle East, Asia, China to seek knowledge and explore diverse culture.
In current digital era, we are a global citizen! Everyone of us holds a magic wand in our hand to receive and send information across the globe within seconds. In ideal scenario, such a beautiful situation should have created more harmony among the people of the world! However the paradox is, we are becoming increasingly narrow minded – and getting divided in different identities! Perhaps, this is because as a human we are focusing more on spreading our belief (which we assume, that is the only truth) instead of remaining a life long seeker!
In my opinion, if we have to create a world with harmony and love, then we do not need to impose our beliefs on our children. We need to cultivate a habit in them to seek knowledge globally – evaluate it with their own wisdom, core values and build their own path.
Let’s create a world where knowledge is authentic, accessible and free. Encourage kids to question, debate and reflect on their learnings. Let’s create a world full of love, harmony and connectedness.