New Delhi

Vice President Jagdeep Dhankhar on Friday said that India has a glorious heritage of not only 'tolerance' for others' views, but a unique culture of 'engagement' with all views - a culture of pluralism and syncretism.

He further said that this spirit of mutual respect was exemplified by Indian kings from the time of Ashoka the Great to the Mughal crown prince Dara Shikoh.

Addressing a gathering after releasing the Arabic Version of "Majma Ul-Bahrain" of Dara Shikoh in New Delhi, the Vice President said Majma-ul-Bahrain (which means 'Confluence of Two Oceans') throws invaluable light on the similarities between religions and helped bring stronger unity among the people of India.

"It remains ever relevant to not only India but to the entire humanity," he added.

Calling Dara Shikoh a genius, a skilled poet, and a Sanskrit scholar, the Vice President said that he was a torchbearer of social harmony and religious unity.

In this book 'Majma-ul-Bahrain', Dara Shikoh listed one by one, all the commonalities between Hinduism (Vedanta) and Islam (Sufism) and came to the conclusion that the difference between Islam and Hinduism is only verbal.

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Mentioning that Dara Shikoh strove for improving dialogue between different religions, Vice President Dhankhar called for reviving his legacy and applying his spiritual thought to strengthen social cohesion in the present times.