So often we hear the cry - "If you want to solve the problems that confront our present society, take away from man his possessions and make them the property of the nation." I do not agree with this slogan because it is born out of anger and frustration and tantamount to political robbery. Emotional approaches can never solve man's problems. If you want a permanent and lasting solution, the approach has to be intellectual, rational and spiritual. That is why I say "Make man himself the property of the nation and there will be an end to all problems." This has always been the core and essence of the teaching of Vethathiri Maharishi. In this book he explains how this philosophy of life can be applied to economics, politics and sociology.

"Prosperity of India" is the title that I have given to this book simply because I am an Indian by birth. Actually the principles that I have laid down in this book are applicable to any country or nation that wants its people not merely a few individuals, but the entire nation to be prosperous.

I believe in economic equality because the sun and the moon, the air and the soil, the mountains and the rivers are Nature's gifts to humanity and no individual or groups of individuals can claim sole ownership to these gifts. I believe in freedom and justice because man who is an amalgam of perishable flesh and immoral sprit has come into this world with a purpose to achieve and a destiny to fulfil which could be accomplished only in an atmosphere of freedom and justice. I believe in democracy and One World Government because the demarcations of caste, race, community and creed with which humanity has divided itself are artificial and an anachronism in the present scientific age. The economic, social and political principles that I have enunciated in this book are firmly rooted in these beliefs.

In Chapter 1 of this book I have reviewed the condition of India today. Chapter 2 deals with fundamental rights and the nature of the constitution of our country and the need for revising it suitably so that it will become an efficient instrument for bringing about a radical change in the economic condition of our country. Chapter 3 contains an economic survey of present day India and the reasons for its various ills. Chapter 4 deals with the economic reforms that have to be introduced for transforming the present capitalistic economic pattern into a socialistic pattern. Chapter 5 deals with the important social reforms that should be given effect simultaneously with the economic reforms. In Chapter 6 I have given the broad outlines of the political reforms that are absolutely necessary for carrying out the economic and social reforms mentioned earlier.

In Chapter 7 I have given an Interim plan for World Peace. World Peace has been and still is my life' s mission. It has always been my firm conviction that no progress can be made either in the national field or spiritual field with the threat of a nuclear war hovering in the background. Peace and prosperity always go together and no nation can embark upon any constructive programme in an atmosphere that is vitiated by strife, suspicion and hatred. Hence world peace is absolutely necessary if we want to carry out a constructive programme, be it economic, political or social, that will bring prosperity to our country. It is unfortunate that in the world of today the scientifically advanced countries are systematically impoverising themselves by pouring their national wealth and their people's skill and labour in the suicidal rat race for stockpiling nuclear armaments. India cannot afford to join this exercise in futility. As a nonaligned nation that has not committed itself to any partisan ideology, as a nation that has stood for the things of the spirit from time immemorial, India should continue to champion the cause of World Peace before the international forums. Hence it is my earnest wish that the Interim Plan for World Peace contained in this book should be sponsored in the U.N.O. by our country.

In the concluding chapter, I have pointed out the inevitability of the economic revolution and the need for accepting the inevitable with grace and bringing it about without hatred and violence.

I fully realise that all aspects of the economic, political and social reforms envisaged by me cannot be covered in full in such a small book. However, I am always prepared to discus in detail any aspect of these reforms with any individual or any organisation seriously interested in the prosperity of our country.