Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam

Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam 

(Sanskrit: वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम. from “vasudha”, the earth; “iva”, is ; and “Kutumbakam”, family) is a Sanskrit phrase that means that the whole world is one single family. 

The concept originates in the Vedic scripture Maha Upanishad (Chapter 6, Verse 72):

अयं बन्धुरयं नेति गणना लघुचेतसां उदारचरितानां तु वसुधैव कुटुम्बकं

AYAM BANDHURAYAM NETI GANANA LAGHUCHETASAM UDARACHARITANAM TU VASUDHAIVA KUTUMBAKAM

Only small men discriminate saying: One is a relative; the other is a stranger. For those who live magnanimously the entire world constitutes but a family.This concept is also mentioned in another Vedic text, Hitopadesha: “Udāracharitānām tu Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam”, meaning, “‘This is my own relative and that is a stranger’ – is the reasoning  of the narrow-minded; for the noble hearts, however, the entire earth is but one family”, and is considered an integral part of the Hindu Philosophy.The statement is not just about peace and harmony among the societies in the world, but also about a truth that somehow the whole world has to live by some rules like a family, set by an unknowable source. Just by contemplating this idea and by at least trying to live by it and practice it in our lives, we could make this world a better place.