Constituent Assembly remembering Adi Shankaracharya

During making of the Constititon of India ,Constituent Assembly  was motivated by  Adi Shankaracharya while discussing name of our country India, that is Bharat and deciding age qualifications for a person who wants to be a candidate at an election for Parliamnet.

CONSTITUENT ASSEMBLY OF INDIA DEBATES (PROCEEDINGS) -VOLUME IX

---

Sunday, the 18th September 1949

Shri Kamalapati Tripathi (United Provinces : General) : *[Mr. President, Sir, I am grateful to you for having given me an opportunity to express my sentiments on an amendment which I consider to be very sacred. Today an amendment regarding the name of the country is before us. I would have been glad if the Drafting Committee had presented this amendment in a different form. If an expression other than "India, that is, Bharat" had been used, I think, Sir, that would have been more in accord with the prestige and the traditions of this country and indeed that would have done greater honour to this Constituent Assembly also. If the words, "that is" were necessary, it would have been more proper to use the words "Bharat, that is, India" in the resolution that has been presented to us. My Friend, Mr. Kamath, has moved the amendment that the words. "Bharat as it is known in the English language India" should be used. It the Drafting Committee had accepted it, if it accepts it, even now, it would be given appreciable consideration to our sentiments and the prestige of our country. We would have been very glad to accept it. Still, Sir, we are pleased at the resolution that has been put before us and we congratulate the Drafting Committee on it.

     When a country is in bondage, it loses its soul. During its slavery for one thousand years, our country too lost its everything. We lost our culture, we lost our history, we lost our prestige, we lost our humanity, we lost our self respect, we lost our soul and indeed we lost our form and name. Today after remaining in bondage for a thousand years, this free country will regain its name and we do hope that after regaining its lost name it will regain its inner consciousness and external form and will begin to act under the inspiration of its soul which had been so far in a sort of sleep. it will indeed regain its prestige in the world. The revolutionary movement that took place in the country by following the footsteps of Bapu, the Father of the Nation, made us recognise our form and our lost soul. Today it is due to him alone and due to his penance that we are regaining our name too.

     Sir, I am enamoured of the historic name of "Bharat". Even the mere uttering of this word, conjures before us by a stroke of magic the picture of cultured life of the centuries that have ,One by. In my opinion there is no other country in the world which has such a history, such a culture, and such a name, whose age is counted in milleniums as our country has. There is no country in the world which has been able to preserve its name and its genius even after undergoing the amount of repression, the insults and prolonged slavery which our country had to pass through. Even after thousands of years our country is still known as 'Bharat'. Since Vedic times, this name has been appearing in our literature. Our Puranas have all through eulogised the name of Bharat. The gods have been remembering the name of this country in the heavens.

"gayanti devah kil geetkani."

     The gods have a keen desire to be born in the sacred land of Bharat and to achieve their supreme goal after passing their lives here. 

     For us, this name is full of sacred remembrances. The moment we pronounce this name, the pictures of our ancient history and ancient glory and our ancient culture come to our minds. We are reminded that this is the country where in past ages great men and great Maharishis gave birth to a great culture. That culture not only spread over all the different areas of this land, but crossing its borders, reached every corner of the Far East too. We are reminded that on the one hand, this culture reached the Mediterranean and on the other it touched the shores of the Pacific. We are reminded that thousands of years ago, the leaders and thinkers of this country moulded a great nation and extended their culture to all the four comers of the world and achieved for themselves a position of prestige. When we pronounce, this word, we are reminded of the Mantras of the Rig Veda uttered by our Maharishis in which they have described the vision of truth and soul-experience. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of those brave words of the Upanishads which urged humanity to awake, to arise, and to achieve its goal. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of those words of Lord Krishna through which he taught a practical philosophy to the people of this country-the philosophy which can enable humanity even to lay to achieve its goal of peace and bless. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of Lord Buddha, who had boldly told men all over the world that.-

     (greatest good of the greatest number, greatest happiness of the largest number and the welfare of humanity) 

should be the watch-words of their lives and that they should awake and arise to promote the welfare of mortals and gods and to show to the world the path of knowledge. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of Shankaracharya, who gave a new vision to the world. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of the mighty arms of Bhagwan Rama which by twanging the chord of the bow sent echoes through the Himalayas, the seas around this land and the heavens. When we pronounce this word, we are reminded of the wheel of Lord Krishna which destroyed the terrible, Imperialism of Kshatriyas from India and relieved this land of its burden.]

Constituent Assembly Debates On 18 May, 1949 

Wednesday, the 18th May 1949
 
Prof. Shibban Lal Saksena: Sir, I frankly confess that I am not happy over the 
amendment of Dr. Ambedkar. I do not think it improves the constitution. As has 
been pointed out there have been cases in the world where younger men than 25 
years of age have occupied the highest position. The case of the younger Pitt 
was just cited: Shankaracharya became a world teacher when he was 22 and died 
when he was only 32. Alexander had become a world conqueror when less than 25 
years of age and died when he was 32. Our country of 300 millions may produce 
precocious young men fit to occupy the highest positions at an age younger 
than 25 and they should not be deprived of the opportunity.

Part (2) of this amendment unnecessarily restricts young voters from becoming 
candidates. This clause will disqualify persons for election who state their 
age as being less than 35. This question of age should have no connection with 
the qualification of a man to become a candidate for election.