SPIRIT OF INDIA

Evening Post, Volume CVI, Issue 56, 4 September 1923, Page 8

SPIRIT OF INDIA

KNOWLEDGE OF THINGS ETERNAL

dr. datta;s address to

EOTARIANS.

In addressing Rotarians at their weekly luncheon to-day, Dr. S. K. Datta, of the Indian V.M.C.A., said that during his visit to New Zealand he had spoken on many subjects. He would on the present occasion let himself go, as it were, and tell them'something of the spirit of the Indian people. Dr. Dattasaid that down the history of India had become the supreme passion to know .the things that were eternal. The early ancestors of India came m as barbarians. They rejoiced in the elements, and all the time, they wera wondering what those powers meant. One great authority had stated that he could govern India on the things of the spirit. _ The tribal warfares were reflected in the minds of every boy and girl in-India. The early inhabitants.of India, had been endeavouring to find the answer to the great riddle of life. Buddhism had left a big mark on the country. It provided its hospitals for animals and men, and it touched the tents o£ kings. There was an inscription of an ancient Buddhist king to the effect that he'had gone to war, had been victorious, but had been ashamed of his victory. Innocent women and children had perished, and no more would he go to war. In these days of warfare and strife the Indian people looked back with pride to that inscription, of a king, who was supposed to be a barbarian. Why had Gandhi obtained such a hold over the.lndian people? The reason was that he brought before them the old spirit iof renunciation. He preached that the things of thin world did not matter. The old spirit was still alive, and the people of India were willing to listen. ,The world was going to ruin if some order was not established whereby all men would be brothers. As Lord Bryce had said, what was needed was the realisation of the supremacy of the spirituals. Perhaps India's part in the new order would be to bring that realisatwn before., the rest of the world. Dr. Datta was loudly applauded at the conclusion of his eloquent address, and was accorded a hearty vote of thanks.