Today, on the auspicious day of Magha Bahula Ekadashi, nation remembers Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar (February
19, 1906 – June 5, 1973), popularly known as Pujyaniya Guruji, on his
106th birth day. He was the second “Sarsanghchalak” (supreme chief) of
the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.Guruji known for his deep insights on cultural nationalism. Here is a text which reepresents Sri Guruji’s thought on Country and its Culture.
-Editor
MS Golwalkar -Sri Guruji
GURUJI on The Country and Its Culture
(With friends and pressmen on Several Occasions)
‘HINDU’, ‘BHARAT’ ETC.
Q : What does the word “Hindu’ indicate, according to you?
A : The word ‘Hindu’ denotes a society. That is the current meaning also.
Q : Is the word ‘Hindu’ to be found in our Shastras?
A : Why not? The word is formed with the letter Hi from the Himalayas
and Indu from the Indu Sarovar (the Southern Ocean), conveying the
entire stretch of our motherland.
The Brihaspati Aagama says :
Himalayam samaarabhya yaavad-indu-sarovaram
Tam devanirmitam desham hindusthaanam prackakshate.
Q : Why not the word ‘ Arya’ instead of ‘Hindu’?
A : ‘Arya’ is an old and proud name, no doubt. But it has gone out of
use especially for the last thousand years. Moreover the mischievous
propaganda carried on by the British during their rule here has poisoned
our people’s mind with the cooked-up Aryan-Dravidian controversy. Thus
the word ‘Arya’ would not bring up before our eyes the entire picture of
our country and our people.
Q : Why not the word ‘Bharatiya’ instead of ‘Hindu’?
A : No doubt, Bharatiya too is our own name, associated with us since
hoary times. But today there is a misconception regarding that word. It
is commonly used as a translation of the word ‘India’ which includes all
the various communities like the Muslim, Christian etc., residing in
this land. So, the word ‘Bharatiya’ is likely to mislead us when we want
to denote our particular society. The word ‘Hindu’ alone connotes
correctly and completely the meaning that we want to convey.
Q : Is the name Bharat in vogue since ancient times?
A : Yes. In our Sankalpa we say, Jambu Dweepe Bharata khande…..
Q : Then how is it that in you prayer you refer to the Hindu Bhoomi?
A : You forget that at the end of the prayer we chant Bharat Mata Ki Jai.
Q : You have always equated the ‘Indian Nation’ with ‘Hindu Rashtra’. How far is it correct?
A : Let me try to clear, at the very outset, one misconception about
‘Hindu Rashtra’. The word Hindu is not merely ‘religious’. It denotes a
‘people’ and their highest values of life. We, therefore, in our concept
of nation, emphasize a few basic things : unqualified devotion to the
motherland and our cultural ideals, pride in our history which is very
ancient, respect for our great forefathers, and lastly, a determination
in every one of us to build up a common life of prosperity and security.
All this comes under the one caption : ‘Hindu Rashtra’. We are not
concerned with an individual’s mode of worship.
Q : Do you opt for a Hindu State?
A : The word Hindu State is unnecessarily misinterpreted as a theocratic
one which would wipe out all other sects. Our present state is in a way
a Hindu State. When the vast majority of people are Hindus, the State
is democratically Hindu. It is also a secular state and all those who
are now non-Hindus have also equal rights to live here. The State does
not exclude any one who lives here from occupying any position of honor
in the State. It is unnecessary to call ours a Hindu state or a secular
state.
MS Golwalkar Sri Guruji
Our Cultural Characteristics
Q : With all the multitude of faiths, sects, castes,
languages, customs and habits, how can you call this a single society at
all? Where is the single way of life you call ‘Hindu’?
A : Well, this questions stems from a superficial view of our Hindu
life. A tree, for example, appears to be full of heterogeneous parts
like the branches, leaves, flowers and fruits. The trunk differs from
the branches, the branches from the leaves all as if entirely different
from one another. But we know that all these apparent diversities are
only the varied manifestations of the same tree. The same sap runs
through and nourishes all those parts. So is the case with the
diversities of our social life which have been evolved down these
millennia. They are not more a source of dissension and disruption than a
leaf or a flower is in the case of tree. This kind of natural evolution
has been a unique feature of our social life.
Q : How do you define ‘Hindu culture’?
A : Well, we feel it, though we cannot define it!
Q : What is the use of a thing which we cannot define?
A : For example, the entire course of medical science is evolved in
order to protect life. But even the most modern scientists have not been
able to define what ‘life’ is. But that has not come in the way of the
utility of medical science. The outward manifestation of ‘life’ and its
impact on man is sufficient to convince us of its actuality. So our
culture does have a reality, a vital role in our life; but we cannot
express or define it.
Q : Hindu culture is often dubbed as being anti-progressive,
against equality, and a shield for all money bags and express of define
it.
A : Our Upanishads have declared in declared in that famous sloka
Ishaavaasyamidam sarvam. …that ”God permeates all Creation. Whatever is
left over by Him, after offering Him, enjoy only that much. Do not rob
what belongs to others.” It means that out of whatever wealth we
acquire, only the minimum should be used for one’s sake and the rest
offered to society. Manu has said that to claim or to make a personal
use of more than that, is verify an act of theft against society.
With such unambiguous commands of our culture before us, will such charges stand even for a single moment?
Q : In the cultural sense in which you use the term ‘Hindu’,
does it mean that Muslims, Christians etc., can be Hindus without giving
up their respective religions?
A : The question itself implies the distinctness of these people. When
someone calls himself a Hindu the declaration must necessarily have
connection with his behavior as a Hindu.
Q : If behavior is to be the test, it will be observed that
many Hindus are just like Muslims or Christians in the method of eating,
drinking and living. If you could assimilate such Hindus, why not the
Muslims?
A : After traveling all over the country I have experienced that there
is an intrinsic unity in the Hindu society. All perceptible differences
are superficial. That unity has created in us a certain point of view of
looking towards things. Even after the slavery of a thousand years it
is still existent in one form or another.
Q : Don’t you think that culture changes according to time?
A : The fundamentals do not change. The outward expressions do change.
Q : Can you mention any one of the aspects of Hindu culture you want to emphasis?
A : That all Hindus are one and equal.
Q : Don’t you think that bread is more important than culture?
A : Christ has said that man does not live by bread alone.
Q : May not the development of Hindu culture hinder the evolution of a composite culture?
A : It need not. Firstly, a composite culture, if any, cannot grow on
weak and deficient constituents. Secondly, the basic culture of the
country, while absorbing elements of other cultures, retains its
identity and name.
Q : Does the revival of Hindu culture involve of ‘Varna Vyavastha’ also?
A : No. We are neither for nor against caste. All we know is that it
served a great purpose in critical times and that if the society does
not need it any more, it will pass away and nobody will be sorry for
that.
Q : Is it (Varna Vyavastha) not a must for Hindu Society?
A : It is not an avasthaa or a condition of society. It is only a
Vyavastha, a system. You may keep it or reject it according as it serves
the purpose or not.
Q : Does Hindu Dharma advocate war as the remedy for conflicts between countries?
A : No. Our Dharma looks upon war as the last resort, not to be undertaken lightly at the very first provocation.
Q : Is there any place for violence in the life of a society?
A : Yes, but it should be used as a surgeon’s knife. Even as a surgeon
uses his knife to perform an operation to get rid of an infected portion
to save the patient, so also violence in certain extraordinary
circumstances can be used to cure the society of any malady that needs
such a surgical intervention. Further, certain other conditions should
be fulfilled. One who applies violence should have perfect control over
it, should know when, where, to what extent and how far to apply it,
when to end it and how to repair the damage caused, if any.
Q : Is belief in rebirth well founded?
A : Definitely. Recently a Western scholar had been touring our country
collecting evidences in that regard. Merely because we do not remember
our previous birth, it is no proof of its non-existence. Why, can we
remember what we ate on such and such a day? There are some who remember
their past lives.
There is an instance of my own experience. Some years back, I went to
a village for a Sangh programme. That was the first time I was going to
that village. I was taken to the house where I was to stay. It was an
old house – more than hundred years old. As soon as I reached the house,
I went directly to the room where arrangements had been made for my
stay. The host was amazed. I told him that I had a feeling that I had
once stayed in that very house and in that very room.
Q : Are the followers of RSS strict vegetarians?
A : No. Our Shastras have not made any rule. Only the higher thing is recommended, that is all. Manu says :
Na maamsa-bhakshane dosho na madye na cha maithune
Pravrittireshaa bhutaanaam nivrittistu gareeyase.
(It is no vice if one takes to non-vegetarian food, wine and sex. They
are all natural for a human being. But he should aspire to rise above
them.) Our Shastras have taken the comprehensive nature of the world
into consideration and made rules for different living beings to suit
their different tastes, aptitudes etc.
Q : At least is it (vegetarianism) recommended in the Shastras?
A : Yes, it is – but not made a flat rule.
Q : Then, why banning of cow slaughter by legislation?
A : Because the cow is a special case. It cannot be classed with other
animals. Even in the Vedas only cow is called aghnya, not others.
Q : So you don’t plead for the stopping of slaughter of other animals?
A : No. Let us understand the spirit of our Shastras. They are not like
other religions. They do not command us to go in a single narrow lane.
They have taken into consideration all the human weaknesses.
For
example, it is told that one should try to dissociate himself from
Kaama, Krodha, accumulation of wealth etc., and contemplate on Brahman.
It is recommended. But everyone is told to marry and enjoy a happy and
prosperous life. It is not possible for everybody to identify himself
with Brahman. That higher thing is only recommended. That is the
speciality of our Dharma. It is all-comprehensive and very practical.
That is why it is called Dharma and other religions are called only Mata
which make a flat rule.
Q : The cow, the very embodiment of humility, beneficence and
innocence is taken as the symbol of our culture. A lion which is
described as ‘the king of animals by his own prowess’ is also our
cultural symbol. How can both of these contradictory things be
reconciled?
A : Yes, both are our cultural symbols. Shri Krishna on the one hand
preaches the Bhagavad-Gita and on the other holds the Sudarshana. The
command of our culture is Idam Braahmam Idam Kshaatram.
Q : What is the speciality of Hindu culture in respect of womanhood?
A : Except his wife, a Hindu considers all the rest as mothers. The
others consider the entire womenfolk except their mothers as objects of
enjoyment.
Q : What is the special feature of Mahabharata?
A : It is a complete treatise on Dharma – the social order, Artha – the
science of administrative and wealth, Kaama – the essence of human wants
and their gratification, and Moksha – the supreme goal of all religions
and philosophies.
Q : There is a common notion that our scriptures preach only individualism and not corporate life. How far is it true?
A : The oldest and the supreme scripture of ours is RigVeda. It sums up
by giving certain specific directions to the people to live a corporate,
organized and glorious life. It says : “Our minds should be one, our
thoughts should be similar, we should help one another and bring
prosperity and happiness.”
Q : What is the proof that the Hindu way of life is founded on a firm base?
A : There were countless attacks from various foreign groups such as
Shakas, hunas and Muslims. We stood like a rock and faced them keeping
the frame of our society intact. Then came the European people like the
Portuguese, French, Dutch and the British to annihilate us in a shrewd
manner. Still, we have continued to live as the same people. In addition
to the galaxy of saints and emperors right from the beginning of
history, modern Bharat has produced giants like Vivekananda, Ramatirtha
and Mahatma Gandhi. Is this not a sufficient test to prove that our
Hindu life is founded on a firm base?
Q : No man is born as Hindu or Mussalman or Christian. It is only later on that distinctions are made.
A : This may be true of others. But for a Hindu, he gets the first
samskaar when he is still in the mother’s womb, and the last when his
body is consigned to the flames. There are sixteen samskaars for the
Hindu even before we emerge from the womb of our mother. We are born as
Hindus. About the others, they are born to this world as simple unnamed
human beings and later on, either circumcised or baptized, they become
Muslims or Christians.
Q : Usually Muslims and Christians are not allowed inside the
Hindu temples, whereas there is no such bar for the Hindus to enter
mosques or churches. Why?
A : That is because a Hindu considers a church or a mosque as a place of
worship, and reveres it as such. It is not so with the Muslims or
Christians. They consider idol-worship a sin. They – especially the
Muslims – pride themselves as idol-breakers. In fact, in our own
country, countless number of broken idols and desecrated temples stand
testimony to this attitude of theirs. They may not know the Hindu mode
of worship but that does not matter. We shall have no objection even if
they kneel and pray with devotion in their own fashion and in their own
language, when they come to our temples. But with their attitude of
sworn enmity it would be a sacrilege if they are allowed to enter our
temples.
Q : In these days when power has come to mean only a means to
wallow in luxuries and enjoyment, Lal Bahadur Shastri alone appeared to
be an exception. His family continued to live in a rented house even
while he was the Prime minister.
A : That is in line with our tradition. Chanakya, even when he was the
Prime Minister of the vast Magadha empire, continued to reside in a
small hut outside the capital. And so was Shri Madhavacharya who founded
the famous Vijayanagar empire. He would conduct all the state affairs
during the day remaining in the capital and return to his hermitage in
the night.
Q : What was the role of the Joint Family in our social set-up?
A : Joint Family has been a great cooperative institution in our
society. But it has by no means been the same unchanging thing
throughout history. Even now, the family in the North is not what it is
in Malabar, Economic and social forces are disintegrating it. But I feel
that something should take the place of the Joint Family and the caste
as social security systems. The old bond of love and service between man
and man should not break even though the form of its fulfilment
changes.
(With the Editor, Illustrated Weekly, November 1972)
Q : Why do you pin your faith on religion when most of the world is turning irreligious and agnostic?
A : Hinduism is on firm ground because it has no dogma. It has had
agnostics before; it will survive the wave of irreligiousness better
than any other religious system.
Q : How can you say that? The evidence is the other way. The
only religions which are standing firm and even increasing their hold on
the people are based on dogma – Catholicism, and more than Catholicism,
Islam.
A : It is a passing phase. Agnosticism will overtake them, it will not
overtake Hinduism. Ours is not a religion in the dictionary sense of the
word; it is Dharma, a way of life. Hinduism will take agnosticism in
its stride.
(With Moulvis at Coimbatore, 1956)
Q : Will not belief in One Name, One God, One Scripture help achieve human unity as Islam says?
A : Do you believe that God likes only Koran and not Geeta? Do you
believe that He will come only if you call Him in the name of Mohammed
and would refuse to come if you call Him Rama? Do you think that God
understands only Arabic and no other language?
We Hindus believe that each individual can worship the Form of his
choice in his own way. All can attain Him – if the effort be sincere and
honest. And that is why Hinduism is not a proselytizing religion. The
very idea of conversion starts with the assumption that mine is the only
sure and correct way and all others must be converted to it. Do you
believe in this? This, if said in respect of attainment of God, will be
speaking too low of Him. In fact in Hinduism we not only tolerate
another man’s religion or way of worship, but we have a respect for it.
Q : But Hindus themselves are taking to converting Muslims and Christians nowadays?
A : It is not ‘conversion’ into Hinduism. It is only giving an
opportunity for those who had been made to change the faith by force of
circumstances in the past, to return to their ancestral faith. Is it not
a fact that only a handful of Muslims came to our country from outside?
All the rest have only came to our country from outside? All the rest
have only changed their faith for well-known reasons. Returning to one’s
ancestral faith is not conversion at all, it is merely home-coming.
(With friends)
Q : Would you welcome conversion from other faiths to Hinduism?
A : If the sheer force of the tenets of Hinduism attracts the non-Hindus to the Hindu fold, then it is welcome.
Q : Who is a Hindu?
A : One who observes his religion without assailing others.
Q : Today all the important movements have a world-wide base.
Whether they are economic systems like Capitalism and communism, or
religious systems like Islam and Christianity, they all work on the
international plane. By comparison, Hinduism sounds parochial and
limited.
A : The international look is more an appearance than a fact. Behind
each of them, is a powerful country – or group of countries – trying to
control the rest of the world. It is bloated insolent nationalism, not
honest internationalism. Unfortunately the weak-kneed Hindu is dazzled
by such show of self-confident power.
I consider Hinduism the one true system of peaceful international
living. It is a truer base for internationalism than all other ‘isms’
put together.
(With friends at Thane, November 1972)
Q : What are the unique characteristics of Hinduism, which are not found in other religions?
A : The idea of Ekam sad vipraah bahudhaa vadanti (Truth is one, sages
call it variously) is one of the unique ideas o Hinduism. Secondly,
whereas the others have been pursuing an outward search for happiness,
our philosophy has concentrated on the inward search. It is this inward
happiness that has been termed as shreyas.
The social order, if it has to secure maximum happiness to all, must
be able to ensure shreyas to one and all. The philosophical basis for
the incentive to do this lies in our concept of the community of soul
and its realization. Bhagavad-Gita has said Ishwarah sarva-bhootaanaam
hriddeshe:rjuna tishthati. Such a categorical assertion of the identity
of soul in all living beings is found nowhere else.
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