Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat – Pujya Bhaishri’s Sandesh

The Prime Minister, Hon. Shri Narendra Modi recently launched the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan (Clean India Campaign). In response, the Hon. Chief Minister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, nominated Pujya Bhaishri as one of the nine leaders to help drive this campaign and make a difference in our country! Read this letter by the Chief Minister in Gujarati.

Pujya Bhaishri explains why and how we should all contribute to keep our country clean

Our sages have given us the direction that we should worship fire, sun, air, water and earth because our body is maintained through these.

We call the earth our mother because she looks after us by providing food and water. How should we worship mother earth? By offering tilak and a garland of flowers?

The true worship of the earth is not to litter and keep our houses and compounds clean. People throw rubbish all over. People spit all over as they are walking and stains are seen on buildings. Cleanliness must not stop just within our homes. It must extend to our compound, suburb, city and our country.

Someone from overseas once asked me a very good question: “You refer to the earth as your mother and bow to her, yet people spit on her as they are walking?”

We must STOP this. We are insulting mother earth. When will be rid of this ignorance of ours!

Our sages have talked about hygiene when advising to worship the earth and water. Do not pollute the water you drink without which your life is impossible. Making it dirty is harming only you.

It is a sin to urinate in rivers and also wash our clothes in our holy rivers like Ganga, Yamuna and Saraswati.

Join Pujya Bhaishri in this ten minute video to make the resolution, “I will not throw rubbish all over. If anyone has littered, I will pick it up and throw it in the rubbish bin”.

This is in line with the recent speech given recently by Honourable Shri Narendra Modi to the Indian community in Sydney, Australia. The Prime Minister said that it is a great pity and embarrassment that many villages in India do not have adequate toilet facilities. In the Western Society, people speak with the same level of respect to a doctor and a taxi driver. You will see that a scientist during the day will also be driving a taxi at night. However, in India, it is considered below our dignity to clean our own filth. When the garbage cleaner comes to our house in India we call them kachravala (rubbish men). In reality they are safaivala (cleaning men). Cleanliness and hygiene are a basic necessity for a healthy life and we should not be embarrassed to clean our local areas.

As good citizens of our country, it is our duty to work and contribute for our country. Do not tolerate dirtiness! Let us join and support Pujya Bhaishri and our Prime Minister in this challenge and also inspire and challenge nine other people to do so. Why not start by challenging your community and friends?

Swachh Bharat, Swasth Bharat (Clean India, Healthy India)