India is a multilingual and multi cultural country where followers of various religions live amicably in concord and harmony since this land was gifted with the grand treasure of ancient wisdom the Upanisads. These Upanisads embraced a vivid and systematic description of the development of Philosophy, Religion and Culture. The history of India reflects the ideals of reconciliation, mutual love and co-operation right from antiquity till the present ages. Our land is a secular one in which all major religions like Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Jainism; Sikhism etc possess its own place and existence. The theoretical foundation of this type of universal brotherhood and religious tolerance is surely due to the influence of Upanisadic teachings. The services rendered by our spiritual masters and social reformers who tried to cultivate religious tolerance have a major role in keeping up the present religious harmony intact. Narayana Guru, a nineteenth century philosopher and a great social reformer who tried hard to restore the feeling of self respect and dignity among the oppressed masses, installed temples for worship and educational institutions for eradicating inequality. Guru spread the fragrance of humanism, human values and the feeling of equality among the masses through his celebrated devotional poem Daivadasaka. Through this popular hymn Guru provided a harmonious blending of Advaita metaphysics and its practical application through devotion. A gradual development of the devotee from the dualistic notion of one who seeks salvation and one who grants salvation to the Advaita concept of absolute realisation of oneness of the knower, known and the knowledge enhances the beauty and grandeur of this short devotional poem.
Dr.S.Sheeba Dr.S.Sheeba (Thu,) studied this question.