India - the Mother

November 12, 1963

(For its Republic Day issue of 1964, The Illustrate Weekly of India sent Mother a questionnaire, which was published under the title: "The State of the Nation—The Mother answers.")

1) If you were asked to sum up, just in one sentence, your vision of India, what would be your answer?

India’s true destiny is to be the Guru of the world.

2) Similarly, if you were asked to comment on the reality as you see it, how would you do so in one sentence?

The present reality is a big falsehood―hiding an eternal truth.

3) What, according to you, are the three main barriers that stand between the vision and the reality?

(a) Ignorance; (b) fear; (c) falsehood.

4) Are you satisfied with the over-all progress India has made since Independence?

No.

5) What is our most outstanding achievement in recent times? Why do you consider it so important?

Waking up of the yearning for Truth. Because without Truth there is no reality.

6) Likewise, can you name our saddest failure? On what grounds do you regard it as so tragic?

Insincerity. Because insincerity leads to ruin.

Words of the Mother - I: India