Editorial of Acharya Balkrishna

The word “Swa” has a special place in Indian culture. This word of one and half letters contains everything in itself. For example- Self, own nation, own religion, self duty, own people, own rule, self study, self dependent, and indigenous are the words of which meaning is enormous.

The word Swadesi is not confined to the stuffs manufactured in our country but this word is the very mantra for the development of oneself, development of the society and the country. Rigveda, which is the oldest scripture of the world, Maryadapurushottam Sriram, Yogiraj Srikrishna, Mahayogi Shiv, Hanuman and in the modern era, Maharshi Dayanand Saraswati, all gave a call for Swaraj. Great freedom fighters like Mahatma Gandhi, Ramprasad Bismil, and others too gave importance to indigenous in their life. When lord Ram was departing Ayodhya, he took with him a mass of the soil of his motherland. When he saw the Lanka, made of gold, he automatically said- Janani Janmabhumishcha Swargadapi Gariyasi which means mother and motherland are greater than the paradise. In this statement there is a profound scientifi c meaning hidden. Lord Shiva’s musical instrument is Damaru, Srikrishna’s is flute, Mother Saraswati’s instrument is Veena,Lord Ram’s weapon is arch, Lord Hanuman’s weapon is mace or Gada, and it is interesting to note that these instruments have an intense philosophy of Swadeshi or indigenous. Aft er independence, Mahatma Gandhi himself burnt foreign stuff s publicly, worked on spinning wheel to promote the philosophy of indigenous unfortunately he could not carry it forward because no successive government was interested in its promotion and the remaining respect for it was destroyed in 1991 when the Government enforced new economic policy under the pressure of the World Bank, International Monitory fund, the USA, Japan and the European Multi National Companies.

In the last 25 years, these companies have made many people in rural areas and eight crore labourers jobless. They occupied their skills, resources and their system of production and weaken the whole economic system. Rest of economy has come under the control corporate houses. Retail market was also targeted. In such adverse circumstances, Swami Ramdev ji is not only a proponent of Swadeshi, but he has made the philosophy of indigenous a reality which earlier seemed to be impossible. Almost a decade back, when Swami ji would talk of indigenous, people would ask him why should one not drink Coke-Pepsi. What do you have as their alternative? Similarly, in case of other products, people had to use foreign products due to lack of any alternative. Taking their problem seriously, Patanjali, without any assistance from the government or any corporate house, the funds collected from the middle class in the form of alms was started to be used for the service to the people. Some devotees at the Ashram worked hard with which this journey was started and it acquired such a huge momentum as a plane catches speed aft er rising above the ground. It has been said in the scriptures that “Kriyasiddhi Satve bhavati Mahatam nopakarne” which means the success of a sacred person’s works depends upon purity, selfl essness and hard work and not on availability or resources. Today, Patanjali products have become the biggest priority of all sections of the society. Following are the four main reasons behind it-

1. Patanjali products are cheaper than the same of other brands.

2. They are produced by using hundred percent pure ingredients.

3. In deciding the use of ingredients of the products, extensive research is conducted. The most         important point is that the income generated from sale of these products is fully used in the service to the nation which is not possible to be thought by any foreign company. On the contrary, their main motive is to take away wealth of India as much as they can.

Today, across the country, there are around 1500 Chikitsalaya (dispensaries), 3500 Health care centers and 15000 indigenous centers, through which Patanjali is engaged in the service to the people and the country. Till date, Patanjali products have acquired a significant hold in open market.

Today, Patanjali products are trusted by people with blind eyes. They have become a synonym of trust. Business Today magazine’s Sarika Malhotra visited Haridwar to know about Patanjali products and described about her experience in detain in December 2015 issue of the magazine. Similarly other magazines and publications have shown great interest in Patanjali products and are writing

extensively on them. It seems there is a storm of Patanjali’s Swadeshi Movement across the

country. People feel proud in offering Patanjali products are gift . Throgh the agents of other companies also try to raise questions on the quality of Patanjali products by talking groundless

things, but they failed to prove their claims. Now the Chief Ministers of many states are requesting

Swami ji to set up food parks in their respective states because the whole philosophy of Patanjali is based on justice, indigenous, non-violence, and the principle of prosperity for all. Patanjali too has accepted their offers because only Haridwar unit of food park is not able to fulfill the need of the whole country.

We are grateful and proud that in today’s time from common  to affluent persons in the country are giving top priority to Patanjali products. It is an important step in ensuring prosperity of the country. Using Swadeshi products is a matter of pride for the whole nation.