Can Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (VK) be compared with Global
Village?
Marshall McLuhan compared Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam as Gobal
Village in his theory.
Can we consider this comparison as correct to the eastern or
even Hindu essence of the term?
Understanding Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam
(From "vasudhā", the earth; "ēva" = indeed is; and "kutumbakam", family;) is a Sanskrit
phrase which means "the world is one family". Probably, Gandhiji must have been inspired by this concept that lead him to
practice lokasamgraha. It is Universal
welfare for him. But Tilak differs a bit as it is Public Good for him. We are
not dealing into Gandhi and Tilak right now. But if necessary as we go deeper into
the concept, it is probably enlightening to look at them. It will gives lights
on what was the thinking in the twentieth century and how relevant is it now?
Do we need to reinterpret the concept for the youth of 21st century?[1]
The original verse is contained in the Mahopanishad
VI.71-73. Subsequent ślokas go on to
say that those who have no attachments go on to find the Brahman (the one
supreme, universal Spirit that is the origin and support of the phenomenal
universe).
udāraḥ
pēśalācāraḥ sarvācārānuvṛttimān |
antaḥ-saṅga-parityāgī
bahiḥ-saṁbhāravāniva
|
antarvairāgyamādāya
bahirāśōnmukhēhitaḥ ||70||
ayaṁ
bandhurayaṁ nēti gaṇanā laghucētasām |
udāracaritānāṁ
tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ||71||
bhāvābhāva-vinirmuktaṁ
jarāmaraṇavarjitaṁ |
praśānta-kalanārabhyaṁ
nīrāgaṁ
padamāśraya ||72||
eṣā
brāmhī sthitiḥ svacchā niṣkāmā vigatāmayā
|
ādāya viharannēvaṁ
saṁkaṭēṣu
na muhyati ||73||
(Mahōpaniṣad-
VI.70-73)
The above text is describing the 'lakṣana'
(characteristics) and behavior of great men who are elevated to the coveted
brAmhI sthiti (one who has attained Brahman while still alive). The above says:
ayaṁ
bandhurayaṁ nēti gaṇanā laghucētasām | udāracaritānām
tu vasudhaiva kuṭumbakam ||
Discrimination saying "this one is a relative; this
other one is a stranger" is for the mean-minded. For those who're known as
magnanimous, the entire world constitutes but a family.
The above verse is also found V.3.37 of Panchatantra (3rd century BCE), in the in 1.3.71 of Hitopadesha - (12th century CE).
The statement is not just about peace and harmony among the
societies in the world, but also about a truth that somehow the whole world has
to live together like a family. This is the reason why Hindus think that any
power in the world, big or small cannot have its own way, disregarding others.[2]
Global Village is a term closely associated with Marshall
McLuhan,[1] popularized in his books The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of
Typographic Man (1962) and Understanding Media (1964). McLuhan described how
the globe has been contracted into a village by electric technology and the
instantaneous movement of information from every quarter to every point at the
same time. In bringing all social and political functions together in a sudden
implosion, electric speed heightened human awareness of responsibility to an
intense degree.
Marshall McLuhan predicted the Internet as an
"extension of consciousness" in The Gutenberg Galaxy: The Making of
Typographic Man thirty years before its commercialization.
The next medium, whatever it is - it may be the extension of
consciousness - will include television as its content, not as its environment,
and will transform television into an art form. A computer as a research and
communication instrument could enhance retrieval, obsolesce mass library
organization, retrieve the individual's encyclopedic function and flip into a
private line to speedily tailored data of a saleable kind.(3)
