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The Unity of India

Dr. Rajendra Prasad

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The diversity which I find in the local cultures and various traditions of India fascinates me. Perhaps it is not the diversity alone which is fascinating but the unifying thread of certain basic concepts and beliefs which binds them all together.…In her long history, India has never known regimentation of thought. Even at the time when her thought touched Elysian heights and the various systems of Indian philosophy were in the making, the most interesting feature of Indian thought was its diverse pattern based on the fullest freedom of thinking and philosophising. What greater proof can there be of this freedom than that not fewer than half of the six schools of Indian philosophy may be said to be atheistic in nature and that, in each of the remaining three which believe in God, the underlying idea of the Supreme Being is quite different?Nevertheless, this amazing diversity characterising the intellectual and emotional levels of the people never seriously underminded their cultural unity and their beliefs in things and matters important in everyday life.