Who is Jonas Masetti, Brazilian Vedic teacher walked barefoot to receive Padma Shri
A Brazilian acharya, Jonas Masetti, who founded the Vishva Vidya Gurukulam in the country, was conferred the Padma Shri award by President Droupadi Murmu. The Vedic guru accepted the honour, wearing a white dhoti, tilak, and barefoot.
"I was not expecting this. It's a great honour... Many people in Brazil are studying Vedanta, and this is an honour not just for me but also for our family, who are striving for this tradition," he told the news agency ANI.
The guru, also known as Acharya Vishvanath, met the Prime Minister in Brazil last year after he attended the G20 Summit and witnessed his group present glimpses of the Ramayan in Sanskrit.
Born in Rio de Janeiro, Masetti said that he worked as a mechanical engineer with top companies in Brazil but left"empty" and sought to understand the 'meaning of life', he told ANI.
His search led him to learn about Vedic culture, and he travelled to Swami Dayananda's ashram in Tamil Nadu. After spending time there, he said he decided to return home and spread the message of the Vedas in Brazil.
"There are so many teachers in India that a Westerner doesn't need to come here and teach their own culture. I see a lot of youngsters losing the opportunity to value their culture and being so enchanted by the Western way of thinking", he said.
Now, he runs an institute called 'Vishwavidya' in Brazil where he uses technology to propagate his message through regular online programmes.
PM Modi had earlier revealed that, through his 'Free Open Course,' Masetti taught Vedic values to more than 1.5 lakh students in seven years.
President Droupadi Murmu conferred Padma Awards at Rashtrapati Bhawan, with PM Modi and other dignitaries in attendance. Justice (Retd.) J.S. Khehar received the Padma Vibhushan for Public Affairs. Posthumous Padma Vibhushan awards went to folk singer Sharda Sinha and dancer Kumudini Lakhia.
Padma Bhushan recipients included Dr. Shobana Chandrakumar (folk dance), Sadhvi Ritambhara (social work), and economist Bibek Debroy (Literature & Education), whose family members accepted on their behalf.
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