Special on Guruji Janamashatabdi

The Personality Most Inspiring
By V. Shanmughnathan

The history of the world is simply the chronicle of what has happened because of the deeds of a smaller number of ordinary people who had extraordinary levels of commitment to make a difference.

Parama Poojaneeya Shri. Guruji lived a life of inspiration. On the last day of his life on 5th June 1973, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee met him in Nagpur RSS Headquarters. That was Jyeshta Suddha Panchami. That day evening Shri Guruji completed his prarthana in the evening branch of RSS. “Bharat Mata Ki Jai “ was his last words. Then he passed away.

In 1951, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookherjee had a long discussion with Shri Guruji Golwalkar. Consequently, Bharatiya Jana Sangh was launched with the blessings of Shri Guruji Golwalkar.

Birth centenary of Shri Guruji Golwalkar is celebrated throughout the world. During this year we should imbibe the sprit of Shri Guruji and lead our life on the path shown by him.

A Hero par excellence : A question is generally asked: What can an individual do to truly make a difference in the world ? Virtually anything ! The history of the world is simply the chronicle of what has happened because of the deeds of a smaller number of ordinary people who had extraordinary levels of commitment to make a difference. They decided that something must change, that they must be the ones to do it, and they could do it – and then they summoned the courage to persist until they found a way to make it work. They alone are the people called heroes. A hero is a person who courageously contributes under even the most trying circumstances; a hero is an individual who acts selflessly and who demands more from himself than others would expect; he defiles adversity by doing what he believes is right, who is willing to set an example, one who lives by the truth of his convictions. One can find all these characteristics and a lot more in Shri Guruji.

A Visionary : With his fingers always on the nation’s pulse, with his unceasing concern for the good of the country Shri Guruji warned the national leadership on a number of important issues. When passions ran high in favour of formation of states on linguistic basis, he proclaimed without mincing words that all the languages of Bharat were national languages and conceitedness in any language should not be allowed to become a breeding ground for divisive elements. He had repeatedly cautioned about the impending danger of Chinese aggression much before 1962 and exhibited a truly nationalist attitude by extending full support of Sangh to then governments during the wars in 1962, 1965 and 1971. As Sardar Patel was also a visionary he took the assistance of Shri Guruji which resulted in accession of Jammu & Kashmir to Bharat.

A Unifier : Shri Guruji brought together the dharmacharyas drawn from all shades of faith under one platform under the banner of VHP at Udupi in 1969. They all in one voice called upon the entire Hindu world to banish untouchability. They also announced unanimously that untouchability had no sanction in Hindu dharma. The Sammelan also saw the birth of historic mantra ‘ Hindavah Sodarah Sarve’ ( All Hindus are brothers) thus paving the way for Hindu Unity and consolidation.

RSS from its very inception has worshipped the ideal and not an individual. It is because of this, the world knows RSS but does not know much about its founder Dr. Hedgewar. Only during the Birth Centenary year of its founder in the year 1989, the world came to know of him. The same applies to Shri M.S. Golwalkar (fondly known as Shri Guruji), who took the reigns of the organization after the demise of Doctorji and spearheaded the organisation and saw to it that the organization branched out to various fields. He is no more. But his thoughts are with us and men like Shri Guruji live on through their thoughts and actions and continue to inspire and guide generation after generation as if they are living and moving amidst us.

Sahasram Vada, Ekam Ma Likha : This is one of the wise saying from our ancient times, which means, ‘Say a thousand times, but never through writing’. Though Dr. Hedgewar was capable of communicating his plan of action in writing he chose to speak to boys, youth and elders alike and was successful in laying the foundation of the organization. Shri Guruji also followed this ancient saying. Like Swami Vivekananda, Guruji’s ideas have come down to us mostly through the lectures he delivered and the letters he wrote on innumerable occasions. He neither had the time, nor the inclination to sit down and write any book, though his skill, ability, scholarship and mastery over the language for the task was unquestionable. Though an erudite scholar he never resorted to propagation of the idea of nation building through writing but preferred to tour the entire country constantly and meet people at all levels and to impress upon them the need to remember the underlying cultural oneness of our motherland and rebuild the same to make her more mighty so that she can fulfil her mission in the world as a leader in the ways of the spirit and as a helper and friend of all the people.

A Karmayogi : Though Shri Guruji had attained a high spiritual state he worked incessantly till his last breath crisscrossing the nation more than 70 times. Never was there any place in his thinking for things like personal pleasures and family attachment. Before the blaze of his passionate idealism the shadows of the temptations of the mundane world fled.

Extraordinary, yet Simple : Guruji was not just an academic philosopher. No doubt, he had mastered the crux and complexities of Hindu philosophy. But, as a down-to-earth, practical leader of men, guide and philosopher of a multi-faceted countrywide movement, he had tested his philosophical wisdom by experience and experiment in his every day life and contact. He never lost touch with ground realities and burning problems. As such, his viewpoint, while remaining deeply rooted in the Hindu spiritual tradition, had intense practical relevance.

One who made men out of dust : It is said that, “To affirm a person’s worth of potential, you may have to look at him with the eye of faith and treat him in terms of his potential, not his behavior. Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is, treat a man as he can and should be, and he will become as he can and should.” Shri Guruji who watched Dr. Hedgewar in close quarters noticed him turning men out of dust and followed it explicitly in his life. Because of this great virtue Shri Guruji created a dedicated band of self-effacing sadhaks in the service of our motherland in various fields.

One who showered intense love: Generally people blame the way they behave on the pressure they’re feeling. Actually, pressure doesn’t create negative behaviour. Think of yourself as an orange. If an orange is squeezed, if all this pressure is being applied from outside, what happens? Juice comes out, right ? But the only thing that comes out when the pressure is applied is what’s already inside the orange. You decide what’s on the inside by holding yourself to a higher standard. So when the pressure is on, what’s going to come out is the good “stuff”. It is because Shri Guruji kept his inner fabric full of worthy qualities and intensely loved one and all, he kept his balance under the very trying circumstances like the ban on Sangh in 1948.

One who transcended ego, name, fame etc: Though Shri Guruji possessed extraordinary qualities and was instrumental in taking the organization to new heights, he always felt that he was only an instrument in the great endeavor. While replying to a civic address at Madurai in December 1949, Shri Guruji aptly observed : A post box receives letters, at times very important ones. But the box has no reason to be flattered by them. It is only an intermediary through which letters pass to proper persons in the proper places. The honours which you have bestowed on me I will pass on to those countless workers whom I am privileged to represent.

One who blended Spiritualism and Nation building work : While casting of their mortal coil, both Swami Akhandananada and Dr. Hedgewar had an innate satisfaction, Swami Akhandanandaji for having handed over the torch of spiritualism to a worthy disciple and Dr. Hedgewar for leaving the Sangh in strong, safe hands. As a disciple of the former and successor of the latter, Shri Guruji combined in himself both the roles, both in one, both at once. In him were fulfilled the missions of both blended into one. He established through his example that apparently divergent messages of these two illustrious souls were in reality not only compatible but also perfectly identical.

One who looked upon the society as the living manifestation of Almighty : As Shri Guruji had this outlook, he said, “ It is verily God who has taken those forms of the poor, the destitute and the suffering. What for ? Does He want anything? He is the very embodiment of all power, all knowledge, and is the Master of all. Then what is it that He wants? He comes in those forms to give us an opportunity to serve Him. Once our life becomes soaked with this true spirit of service, we will feel that all our individual and family possessions, however, abundant they may be, do not really belong to us. These are only the means to worship God in the form of Society. He gave a parable to drive home this point.

Finally a last word. To the question why, in spite of his thorough knowledge of history, he did not write down book on history, Guruji reply was typical: “We are here to make history. It is for others to write”. Yes. The nation is bound to write history about him and the organization he represented.

(The writer is co-convener of BJP’s Publications Cell )