"He Called Sanskrit World's Best Language": PM Modi On Sufi Poet Amir Khusrau

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday lauded the Sufi tradition as India's shared heritage and praised its saints for their pluralistic message, saying they recited the verses of Quran and also listened to the Vedas.

Speaking at the 25th edition of Jahan-e-Khusrau, which commemorates famous Sufi poet and scholar Amir Khusrau, PM Modi said the Sufi tradition has carved a unique identity for itself in India.

Following a performance by Sufi artistes, PM Modi said their music is a shared heritage of Indians. People have lived this tradition together, he added.

The prime minister named a number of Sufi saints and poets like Nizamuddin Auliya, Rumi and Raskhan, who was born a Muslim and wrote famous devotional poems dedicated to Lord Krishna, besides Khusrau, to praise their message of love and harmony.

He said the Sufi saints did not confine themselves to mosques and shrines. If they recited verses from the sacred Quran, then they also listened to the words from the Vedas, PM Modi noted.

Khusrau, who was born in the 13th century, praised India as greater than any other nation, its scholars better than others and Sanskrit as the world's best language, he said, noting that the country's philosophy and mathematical discoveries had reached across the world.

PM Modi said Khusrau did not only mention this in his book but was also proud of it. When the period of slavery wreaked so much damage, he played a big role in introducing people to their heritage, the prime minister added.

PM Modi said he fondly remembered Rumi when he visited Afghanistan's parliament in 2015 and recited a Hindi translation of the sayings of the mystic and poet.

Rumi had said he does not belong to any one place and belongs to every place, the prime minister noted, stressing that this philosophy is not different from the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam (the world is a family), an inscription from the Upanishads.

"These ideas give me strength when I represent India in different countries," he said and also recalled his visit to Iran during which he had quoted Mirza Ghalib's verse that pointed to the short distance between Kashi and Kaashan (an Iranian city) if one makes up his mind.

"When war is inflicting so much harm on humanity in today's world, this message can be of a lot of help," he said.

Expressing happiness at attending the event, curated by filmmaker and artist Muzaffar Ali, PM Modi said art and music are the expression of a country's tradition and culture.

"In the Nazr-e-Krishna presented here, we saw glimpses of our shared heritage. There is a different fragrance in this event of Jahan-e-Khusrau. This fragrance is of the soil of Hindustan," he said.

Wishing people for the coming Islamic holy month of Ramzan, the prime minister said Sufi traditions bridge not only the spiritual gap among people but also the worldly distance among them.

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