वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (vasudhaiva kuTumbakam) | Meaning of vasudhaiva kutumbakam

 वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (vasudhaiva kuTumbakam)

 Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

 (Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम. from “vasudha”, the earth; “iva”, is ; and “kutumbakam”, family) is a Sanskrit phrase that means that the whole world is one single family.

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam can be described as the entire world is truly just one family. The world is like a small, tightly knit, nuclear family.

2. The words वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् (vasudhaiva kutumbakam) come from the mantra VI-72 in Maha Upanishad which belongs to Samveda tradition. 

The mantra reads:

अयं बन्धुरयंनेति गणना लघुचेतसाम्

उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् ॥

Meaning: This is mine, this is his; Such thinking is of narrow minded people;  For those of noble conduct (i.e. who know the Supreme Truth) the whole world is one family.

(The meaning of words like ‘family’ etc. should be understood in the context of what the Upanishad is talking about. It is describing the quality of a man who understood the Truth, transcending the multiplicity of the world).

People always use this verse for their own benefits but In Bhagavad Gita Lord Krishna says:

यः शास्त्रविधिमुत्सृज्य वर्तते कामकारतः ।
न स सिद्धिमवाप्नोति न सुखं न परां गतिम्‌ ॥ (२३)

भावार्थ : जो मनुष्य कामनाओं के वश में होकर शास्त्रों की विधियों को त्याग कर अपने ही मन से उत्पन्न की गयीं विधियों से कर्म करता रहता है, वह मनुष्य न तो सिद्धि को प्राप्त कर पाता है, न सुख को प्राप्त कर पाता है और न परम-गति को ही प्राप्त हो पाता है। (२३)

Meaning :One who acts under the influence of desires, disobeying scriptural injunctions, neither attains perfection nor happiness, nor the Supreme Abode. (16.23)

The Upanishad mantra is not a geo-politico-socio-cultural statement. It is a matter of fact.

3. Hitopadesha, 1.3.71:

‘ayam nijah paroveti ganana laghuchetasam

udaracharitanam tu vasudhaiva kutumbhakam’ |

’This is my own and that belongs to other (stranger)’ – is the calculation of the narrow-minded for the charitable-hearts however, the entire earth is but a family’

Taittiriyopanishad gives two more of its features in the mantra (II-i-1) — 

सत्यं ज्ञानमनन्तं ब्रह्म 

(Beingness, Knowingness, and Infiniteness).It’s something deep sleep-like and space-like. That’s about all we can say. Brahman is the word used as a pointer to It.

Read Here  :Who is Brahman

And of all the philosophical thoughts ever expressed anywhere in the world, only Advaita Vedanta boldly declares, That Brahman Alone is, there is NO second thing. If anyone feels that s/he sees more than one thing, it is all a delusion.

वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम् !!

The statement is not just about peace and harmony among the societies in the world, but also about a truth that the whole world has to live like a family. Just by contemplating this idea and by at least trying to live by it and practice it in our lives, we could make this world a better place.

OM TAT SAT