Government not spending money for promotion of Vedas: Baba Ramdev

Yoga guru Ramdev asked Narendra Modi government on Sunday to "loosen its purse strings" for promoting the Vedas as has been done for minority institutions and proposed setting up a centre for Vedic learning.

"The government has given money to madrassas. It is a good thing. We are not criticising anybody. We do not disrespect any other faith and it is not our intention to belittle anyone. The Modi government talks of 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas' (equal growth for all), but don't our Vedas come under that," he said.

He was speaking at an international conference on Vedas in New Delhi and also sought to promote Vedic teaching around the world by proposing to establish a "Vedic vidyapeeth" (university).

"The organisers of this conference have invested several hundred crores of rupees on this event. But, our government does not have money to spend on Vedas. They can't loosen their purse strings for that," Ramdev alleged.

"I think, given the importance of this ancient wisdom of our country, they (Centre) should have poured in several thousands of crores of rupees on it...Now, they are spending on Sanskrit also. But, for Vedas, there is no money," he said.

In his address, on the last day of the conference, Ramdev also pitched for establishing a Vedic temple-cum-university that would serve not just a mere worship place but also as a knowledge centre for propagation of Vedic teachings. He said even UNESCO has acknowledged the importance of Vedas and called Vedic chants as a cultural heritage, and it was time "our own government gave it its due too".

"But, it is also my hope that like for Yoga, the Modi government would also do the needful to promote Vedas," he said. The yoga guru further said that there was a "gap in understanding" between the Vedic scholars and scientists and "our aim and mission is to create a confluence of ancient science and modern science".

"People who know Vedic science, are not aware of quantum physics, space science, chemistry and other contemporary areas and many of the modern scientists do not have idea about the Vedic science. We want both of them to interact with each other and we will plan a meet of top scientists and renowned Vedic scholars soon for that," he said.

He said "communal discordance, war-mongering and consumerism" were the aberrations in today's world and the way out of the problematic situation is through Vedas.

"We should endeavour to build a Vedic India and ultimately a Vedic world for benefit of all mankind. We want modernity with spirituality," he said.
Ramdev also referred to spiritual guru Maharishi Mahesh Yogi's move to introduce a currency 'Raam' named after the Hindu deity and said it has been accepted by several countries though "India has still not recognised it". He also lashed out at people and institutions who are running yoga centres around the country for commercial benefits.

"Yoga is a spiritual essence and it should not be marketed as a brand by anyone," he said at the event where VHP patron Ashok Singhal and Shankaracharya of Jyotir Math Swami Vasudevananda Saraswati were also present.