• Article starts with Swami Vivekanand’s thoughts on India, strengths and weakness in the spiritual and cultural space. Six reasons why the world respected India then!

Lot of messaging about India being a Vishnu Guru (VG) in the last ten odd years. This article seeks to put matters into perspective without getting into the politics of it. The Iran-USA/Israel War of March 2026 has shown how dependent India is on the Middle East for Crude Oil and fertilisers, LPG etc so forget the VG bit.

Titles comes from karmas for e.g. I earlier wrote that it was during the battle of Bardoli, in April 1928, that someone referred to Patel as the peasant’s Sardar. The appellation caught on. Vallabhbhai Patel did not call himself Sardar, people did.

So also why is India called Bharat. I earlier wrote that the word Bharata i.e. Bha means light and knowledge and rata means devoted. Bharata means devoted to light as against darkness. In a spiritual sense, it means knowledge of inner-self. Thousands of years later India is still known for spirituality. The word Bharat is referred to in the Holy Gita i.e. Arjuna as the best, foremost among the Bharata dynasty. Refer chapter number/verse 3.41, 7.11, 7.16, 8.23, 14.12, 18.36. Sandhya Jain wrote Bharat is the land of Bharatas

India was respected because of spirituality, selfless export of culture and GDP. 

V Srinivas, author of Awakening the Nation-Rediscovering the spirit of India with Swami Vivekananda quoted Swami Vivekananda, “The gift of India is the gift of religion and philosophy and wisdom and spirituality. They do not want to be carried on the floods of blood but come on the wings of peace and love, and that has always been so.” Lectures Colombo to Almora 199.1 Pgs. 110-4 of book 9

Steve Jobs, founder APPLE came to Neem Karoli Baba Ashram, Kumaon to connect with his inner self.

V Srinivas wrote, “The one characteristic of Indian thought is its silence, its calmness.” 9 Swami Vivekananda spoke, “Those great masterminds producing momentous results in the hearts of mankind were content to write their books without even putting their names. Who knows the writers of our philosophy or the Puranas. They all pass under the generic name of Vyasa, and Kapila and so on. They have been true followers of the Gita, ‘To work you have the right, but not to the fruits thereof.’” Lectures Colombo to Almora 200.201 9

Swami Vivekananda spoke, “We must go out, conquer the world through our spirituality and philosophy.” CtoA 204.1 “One-fourth of the effect that has been produced in this country by my going to England and America would not have been brought about, had I confined my ideas only to India.” CtoA203.1 9 India must become outward looking.

Swamiji spoke, “It cannot but think that we have to learn many things from other nations.” CtoA197.2 “That we did not go out to compare things with other nations, did not mark their workings, has been one of the greatest cause of the degradation of the Indian mind.” CtoA188.1 India must learn from others and benchmark with the best in the world. 9 Make in India & for the World

Swamiji never referred to India as VG although he spoke about spirituality.

Key thoughts-Learn from others, be outward looking & detached and export Spirituality. 

India needs political stability, economic prosperity and upholding Dharma.

Reasons why the World Respected India    (VG word seems post 1950 origin)

1. Progress during 150 years of Gupta rule (320-750 A.D.)

Vikramaditya image, Ujjain University. 2006. 

The cultural upswing was based on Dharma. It predicated an unalterable faith in human behavior, self-restraint and self-discipline. Emphasis was on individual experience rather than belief.

Running through a diversity of religious beliefs and social outlook, it laid emphasis on non-violence, truth, non-stealing, continence and non-possession as essential steps in progress.

Dharma-sastras provided the basis of Aryan society, mode of social adjustment, laws of inheritance and of civil and criminal justice. However, Dharma-Sastras were not thrust upon. The stress was always on making people appreciate the essence of Dharma and then live.  All classes happily adopted them. Sanskrit, a living language, elastic in structure, rich in expression was the living embodiment of Dharma and a powerful integrating force.

The age saw the perfect lyric and drama of Kalidasa, the astronomical discoveries of Varahamihira, Iron Pillar of Delhi, the beauty of early Ajanta frescoes, the completion of the Mahabharat and the composition of Vayu, Matsya Puranas. The six systems of Indian philosophy took final shape during this period. There was Aryabhatta, Varahamihira and Brahmagupta whose works in mathematics etc are India’s contribution to the world.

Its strength lay in its integral outlook and was based on as much as military strength as on internal order and economic plenty, the sap of its vitality was drawn from ancient tradition and race memory. The people, having discovered in their traditional way of life something noble and splendid, saw that it reflected the greatness of their rulers. Source The History and Culture of Indian People by the Bhartiya Vidya Bhavan

This progress was shared without the power of the sword.

2. What was the Impact of Hindu Science on Ancient and Modern Worlds?

Alok Kumar wrote in Prabuddha Bharata, monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Mission (excerpts) -

“Based on Swami Vivekananda speech at Brooklyn Ethical Association Alok wrote, ‘Bharat’s main contribution is in the invention of the numeral system, the Hindu numerals, where there are ten symbols (from one to zero, the last numeral invented was zero) and the location of these numbers define their magnitudes.’”

“Only two discoveries chosen from the non-Western world were considered by the American Association for the Advancement of Science in its Science Journal published in 2000: (1) invention of zero and (2) the astronomical observations of the Hindu and Mayan sky-watchers for agricultural and religious purposes. Both involved the works of the ancient Hindus.”  

Why Hindu contributions to astronomy were important?

“In astronomy, the spherical shape of the earth was recognized by the ancient Hindus. Aryabhata (476 - 550 CE) used an analogy of a kadamba flower to demonstrate the distribution of various life forms on the Earth.”

Aryabhata assigned diurnal motion to the Earth and kept the sun stationary in his astronomical scheme.”  To read full article  

Read  Indian Foundations of Modern Science by Subhash Kak and Ancient India’s Mathematical Prowess by B L Razdan

I am not even referring to Ayurveda and work of Charaka/Sushruta or the metallurgical skills that went into making the  Iron Pillar of Delhi .

Yoga is India’s gift to the world and for free. Pic by Benoy K Behl.   

Read  Ayurveda and Modern Concepts and Yoga’s Gifts to Contemporary Western World and SUPER BRAIN YOGA is Thoppukaranam

3. Export of its Culture to Southeast Asia and Far East?

Hindu deities worshipped in Japan. By Benoy K Behl. 

Countries impacted were Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, China, South Korea, Japan, Mongolia. For sake of brevity giving article links – 

1. Historical Ties India and Thailand by Wanna Sudhit.

2. Ganesha Temples in Indonesia by Hidayat Atjeh.

3. Album Hindu symbols in Thailand

4. Ramayana in Cambodia by Dr Ujwala Anand.

5. Buddhist Heritage in China by Benoy K Behl

6. Indian origin of Tibetan Medicine by Dr Arun Chandan.

7. Influence of Ayurveda on Chinese medicine by Dr Arun Chandan.

8. Six Days of Indic Heritage in Cambodia by Divyaroop Bhatnagar. 

9.  Yatra to Mount Bromo, named after Lord Brahma by Shobhna Vora.

10. About My Son, Vietnam by Shobhna Vora.

11. SCHOLAR Pilgrims from India to China-Sanskrit on the Silk Route by Prof Dr Shashibala.

12. How Indian Masters Controlled Epidemics in China earlier by Prof Dr Shashibala.

13. Samskriti, Sanskrit and Indonesia by late Guru Anand Krishna ji.

14. India and Mongolia – Shared Heritage by Prof Lokesh Chandra.

15. Sanskrit manuscripts and Indian scripts in Japan by Prof Dr Shashibala.

16. Exploring Temples of Java by Rajiv Malik.

17. Ramayana Performances in Southeast Asia by Benoy K Behl.

White Tara, 17th century, Zanabazaar Museum, Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Pic by Benoy K Behl.

Other countries

1. Lithunia – A Vedic Nation by Major S N Mathur

2. Photographic Exhibition Buddhist Heritage of the World by Benoy K Behl

3. India and Bulgaria – cultural connect by Prof Dr Shashibala. Click on PDF

This is by no means an exhaustive list of contributions.

When was in sharing mode, there were no minorities, depressed classes and vanvasis. These man made divisions need change.

4. India’s share of World GDP

Alok Kumar wrote in Prabuddha Bharata, monthly magazine of the Ramakrishna Mission –

“Dr Angus Maddison (1926–2010), a distinguished British economist who taught at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands, wrote a book, Contours of the World Economy: 1–2030, in which he compiled the Gross Domestic Products (GDP) of various nations during the past two millennia. Following were his results for the GDP of Bharat:

Table 1 - India GDP from 1000 A.D. 

The above table tells us that the Bharat’s economy was close to one-third of the world’s economy at the beginning of the Christian era. The only other nation which was comparable to Bharat was China.” To read full article

5. We are unlike any Christian or Muslim country in the world.

Writing in 2018 about former President Mukherjee speech senior journalist Sandhya Jain wrote, “We believe in ‘Diversity in Unity’, because everything emerges from Oneness. Indian pluralism, or ‘sarv dharma sambhav’ (all faiths are harmonious) and ‘ekam sat, vipra bahuda vadanti’ (truth is one, the wise call it by many names) is rooted in this awareness.” Read  Our Cultural Legacy

When we accept the TRUTH is one, the source of conflict ceases to exist. It is also a reason why Indics do not convert.

6. India was and is respected for its Democracy

So obsessed are we with western style democracy that we forgot the Concept of Elections and Democracy in the Vedas and Dharma Sastras. Maharshi Aurobindo said in 1926, “The idea of the King as the absolute monarch was never an Indian idea. It was brought from Central Asia by the Mahomedans.” 13

A current day India that resists change, is obsessed with reservations, has a colonial education system, seeks to prevent Sanatana Dharma from flowering, is happy importing from China rather than innovate etc. cannot dream of scaling the heights and contribution to global welfare that were achieved earlier.

Unless India decolonises Vishwa Guru is a dream. Supreme Court can lead

Things are changing but India has a long way to go. Talk less Work More was a slogan during the 1975 Emergency. Indians need to follow that now.

We should recall Maharshi Aurobindo’s words (India’s Rebirth)

May 1909: “When it is said that India shall be great, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall be great. When it is said that India shall expand and extend herself, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall expand and extend itself over the world. It is for the Dharma and by the Dharma that India exists….” 13

India should aim to be VISHWA MITRA (world’s friend) not VISHWA GURU. What that means and how is the subject matter of another article.

Also read and References

1. The myth of Civilization - : “India was once the teacher of the world; what made it unique was its spiritual wisdom. The world learned from it.”

2. History of Vishwa Guru Bharat

3. What is Vishwa Guru

4. What is a Vishwa Guru – “The idea of the vishwaguru as an outward-facing social and political project of the state has obvious pedagogic but also transformative dimensions. Ian Hall, in his study of Modi's approach to foreign policy, usefully defines ‘world guru India’ as ‘the notion that India has a unique mission in the world and unique wisdom to convey.”

5. Vishwa Guru India – the how and the why – “India's unique worldview emanating from our civilisational culture; secondly, our remarkable achievements during the last 75 years; thirdly, our intrinsic strength to offer something that the global community so very critically requires.”

6. Why has India reimagined its role from Vishwaguru to Vishwamitra – “Under Modi, this projection found renewed vigour. Internationally, it allowed India to project soft power through instruments including yoga diplomacy, the celebration of Ayurveda, and narratives of India’s ancient scientific and philosophical achievements.”

7. Vishwa Guru – A Glorious Legacy – “Ancient Indian mathematicians pioneered concepts like zero, the decimal system, and algebraic equations. Astronomers such as Aryabhata advanced celestial understanding, while Ayurveda, the traditional medical system, dates back millennia. The Iron Pillar of Delhi stands as a testament to ancient metallurgical skills.”

8. Time has come for India to reclaim its status as Vishwa Guru – “For those surprised at the reassuring dominance India once had, it’s worth noting that there was a time when India’s share in world trade was about 24.5% – at par with the share of the entire European continent.”

9.Awakening the Nation-Rediscovering the spirit of India with Swami Vivekananda

10. Ayurveda and Modern Concepts 

11. Why India is called Punya Bhumi

12. Indian Foundations of Modern Science

13. India’s Rebirth – Writings of Sri Aurobindo