New Delhi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday India is the most ancient living civilisation of the world due to the immortal ideas and philosophies of its saints and seers.

Speaking at the centenary celebrations of Jain spiritual figure Acharya Vidyanand Maharaj Ji's birth anniversary here, PM Modi paid rich tributes to his contribution in different fields and asserted that his ideas have inspired the government's welfare schemes.

Be it providing house, drinking water or health insurance, the government is ensuring saturation coverage of its welfare measures so that no one is left behind, he said.

PM Modi also referred to the preceding speech of a Jain seer, noting that he was apparently blessing Operation Sindoor.

The prime minister's mere mention of "Jo humein chhedega" brought massive cheers from the audience but he did not dwell any further on the issue.

PM Modi asserted that India is a country where service and humanity is central to its ethos.

"When for ages, efforts were being made to quell violence with violence, then India introduced to the world the power of 'ahimsa' (non-violence)," he said.

"We have kept the sentiment of serving humanity supreme. Our ethos for serving is unconditional and beyond selfishness, and inspired by 'parmarth' (the Supreme Being)," the PM said.

In his address, he added that his government is working by taking inspiration from those ideals.

Whether it is PM Awas Yojana, Jal Jivan Mission, Ayushman Bharat Yojana, and other such welfare schemes, they signify the "sense of service" towards the last person in the social hierarchy, he said.

All should walk together and grow together - this is the inspiration of Acharya Vidyanand Maharaj Ji, and "this is our resolve," PM Modi said.

The event was held at the Vigyan Bhawan and hosted by the Ministry of Culture in collaboration with the Bhagwan Mahaveer Ahimsa Bharti Trust, Delhi, to honour the 100th birth anniversary of one of India's most revered Jain spiritual leaders, scholars, and social reformers.

The revered saint was born on April 22, 1925 in Shedbal, Belagavi (now in Karnataka).

"He received his initiation at a young age and went on to become one of the most prolific Jain scholars of modern times, having memorised over 8,000 Jain Agamic verses," the ministry said.

He authored more than 50 works on Jain philosophy and ethics, including Jain Darshan, Anekantvad and Mokshmarg Darshan.

Modi extolled Acharya Vidyanand Maharaj Ji's legacy and his contribution to revival of the Prakrit language, restoration of many old temples and his contribution in the fields of literature and music.

His life was a unparalleled confluence of 'vidya' (knowledge) and 'anand' (bliss), the PM said.

"Our India is the oldest living civilisation in the world, we are immortal for thousands of years, because our thoughts are immortal, our thinking is immortal, our philosophy is immortal," he said.

And, the source of this philosophy is "our saints, seers, mahants and acharyas".

He asserted that voices of Indian Tirthankars, saints and seers, their teachings, are equally contextual in different eras.

Hailing the Jain seer being celebrated as a "Yug Purush" and "Yug Drashta", Modi underlined that through his literature and music, he had endeavoured to revive the ancient Prakrit language.

Prakrit is one of the oldest languages of the world. It is the language of sermons of Bhagwan Mahaveer. Ancient texts of Jainism are scripted in this language, he said.

Because of those who "neglected their own culture", this language was going out of vogue, the PM said.

"We made his efforts, the effort of the government, and last year in October, our government accorded it the status of a Classical Language," he added.

Prakrit, representing a spectrum of Middle Indo-Aryan languages, is integral to understanding India's rich linguistic and cultural heritage.

"In our mission to digitise ancient manuscripts, a large section of it includes religious texts related to Jainism and manuscripts associated with acharyas," Modi said.

"We want to go further on this subject," he said, adding that mother tongues are being promoted in higher education as well.

In his address, he again emphasised that his government has vowed to rid the country of "slavery mindset".

He also reiterated his nine pledges and urged people to follow them. The pledges are: saving water, planting a tree in mother's memory, cleanliness, going 'vocal for local', travelling to explore different places in the country, adopting natural farming, having a healthy lifestyle, sports and yoga adoption, and helping the poor.

Rashtrasant Paramparacharya Shri 108 Pragyasagar ji Muniraj and Union Culture Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat were also present on the dais at the event.

The Jain seer in his address recalled the renaming of Rajpath in New Delhi a few years ago, and demanded that India Gate be rechristened to 'Bharat Dwar', as well as a Prakrit research institute be set up in Delhi.

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The centenary year will be observed from June 28 to April 22, 2026, with a range of cultural, literary, educational and spiritual initiatives across the country, aimed at "celebrating the life and legacy of Acharya Shri 108 Vidyanand Ji Maharaj", the ministry said in a statement on Friday.