Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday said social service by Hindu spiritual gurus in the southern states was several times more than that provided by missionaries, but added that this is not a matter of competition.
He was speaking at the inaugural ceremony of a three-day conclave of the Rashtriya Sewa Sangam organised by a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh affiliate at Keshav Vidhyapeeth in Jamdoli near Jaipur.
Bhagwat said intellectuals in the country generally mention (Christian) missionaries when talking about service to society.
"Missionary organisations run various institutions, schools and hospitals all over the world -- everyone knows this. But what is the Hindu seer community doing?" With this thought in mind, a Hindu service fair was held in Chennai, he said.
It was noticed there that the service done by the acharyas, munis and sanyasis in Kannada-speaking, Telugu-speaking, Malayalam-speaking and Tamil-speaking provinces “is many times more than the service done by the missionaries,” he said.
“But I am not talking about any competition -- about more than them, less than them,” the RSS chief added quickly.
“This cannot be the measure of service. Service is service, service is not a matter of competition. Service is the natural expression of man's humanity,” he said.
Bhagwat said animals too are sensitive but it is a human quality to act on sensitivity, which is called compassion.
Emphasising on the need to eradicate backwardness from society, Bhagwat said everyone is equal.
"We all are part of the society; we all are the society together. If we are not united, we will be incomplete," he said.
He said there is a disparity in society, which is not needed.
“Unfortunately this situation has come. We do not want this situation, this disparity,” he said.
Citing the example of the human body, he said when there is pain in the leg, all other parts start functioning together (as a support system) to focus on the pain. Similarly, service should be done in such a way that no section of society is left out.
He said service makes a healthy society, but before that, it makes an individual healthy.
Referring to the nomadic community, Bhagwat said they contributed to the freedom struggle, refused to bow down and roamed from place to place but have no domicile. RSS is doing service for them also, he said.
Speaking earlier, Balyogi Umesh Das Nath, the mahant of Valmiki Dham in Ujjain, said saints, seers and great men had stopped separatism in the country and maintained the strength of Sanatan Dharma.
But because of some infiltrators within the country, the sound of conch shells and bells has stopped and people have to hear "azan" blared through loudspeakers five times a day, he said.
He also said that because of economic disparity, cases of "love jihad" are rising as young boys and girls are ready to marry on their own (love marriage). Nath asked "conservative people" to show willingness to marry their children in families from the lower economic strata to allow society to achieve social harmony.
Love Jihad is a term used by right-wing organisations to allege conversions are taking place through marriages.
Later, Bhagwat in his speech referred to the address by Nath and said whatever he said was "very clear and true". However, Bhagwat did not clarify which part of Nath's speech he appeared to be endorsing.
“We will have to think about it and go according to it, if not today then tomorrow. We are trying to make it happen today because that is the goal of a healthy society,” he said.
Ajay Piramal, the chairman of Piramal Group, Mumbai, was also present at the conclave.
The three-day event is being organised by Rashtriya Sewa Bharti which is held after five years.
Nearly 4,000 representatives of voluntary service organisations are attending the conclave based on the theme of "self-reliant and prosperous India".
