HINDUTWA


NATIONAL AND CULTURAL IDENTITY OF HINDUS

Rashtra Sevika Samiti's basic principle is Hindutwa. The Samiti firmly believes that every person born Hindu must practise this principle. In the absence of it there is every possibility of Hindu, losing his identity and losing identity is a crisis in a nation's life. Samiti is committed not to allow it.

Nationhood and Citizenship

When we think about Bharat, it is automatically evident that Hindutwa and nationhood are two sides of one and the same coin. The concept of nationhood in Bharat is based on the bonds of love and affection, while the modern concept of citizenship is based on a sort of legal contract with the administration for one's safety and benefits. Citizenship is liable to be changed while the nationhood cannot be changed. Citizenship demands while the nationhood inspires dedication.

What is a Nation ?

A populace living in a specific geographical area, does not by itself constitute a nation. Sheer multitude of human beings, at the best may only be a crowd, but when these people live together, inspired by integrated ideas and ideals, strive with deligence and devotion for accomplishing some common aspirations, welfare and mutual benefit, there arises and flourishes the concept of a nation. The important and vital unit of a nation is the populace. A human being is born and not manufactured in a factory. The same applies to the Janashakti which is self emerging. The people should have common will power that is aspirations for a well organised life. The means of fulfilling these aspirations is called Dharma by our Rishies. Still more important constituent of a Rashtra is, it's own eternal values of life and ideals. In such a populace the members do not merely exist but live together a purposeful life for a long period of time. Then there emanates a fragrance which is called Sanskriti.

Mother Child Relation

Just as a human personality is an integral combination of body, mind, intellect and soul, the Rashtra is an integral combination of land, people, their common will, aspirations, traditions, Dharma and values of life. The concepts of Rashtra is not merely geographical but an emotional one, based on mutual relationship of the people and the land as that of a mother and her children. From absolute devotion towards the nation, springs out eternal and abundant strength.

Unity in Diversity

Bharat presents human evolution in all its states and stages from the lowest to the highest. She may be described as a living store house of cults and creeds, customs and social systems. It is not a museum of inert things and material objects but a congregation of living communities and a spiritual, emotional and intellectual system developing in a common way of life. The character of Bharat is easily elevated and mingled with her continental vastness and diversity. The whole is too large to grasp as a unit but its vast variety contains and exhibits a common thread of inner unity. Unity in diversity is the peculiarity of Bharat, that being a symbol of vitality, richness and strength. A Hindu, living in any distant corner of the universe, has the same common points of honour. There is still a wide misunderstanding about our name Hindu. Many think that it is a name given by outsiders who pronounced Sa as Ha and therefore Sindhu became Hindu but the, Barhaspatya Puran contains a shloka which unequivocally proclaims that this country was known as Hindusthan long before the advent of any foreigner, which means this name is not a mere geographical expression. But it has a significance indicating our values of life and peculiarities of our character. i.e. a divine creation which is far more superior to any human creation. The foundation of Hindutwa has been laid down on the bedrock of spiritual truths. The entire structure of Hindu life is built on eternal truths; on the findings and experiences of our great Rishies. It is stern and rigid regarding the fundamentals but very elastic and adjusting to the externals and non essentials. Our deep devotion, love and sense of service is expressed in our literature. The mention of seven sacred cities and rivers from various parts of the country, the four Dhamas situated at the four ends of the Country denote this feeling and elevates an individual to the superlevel patriotism.

Ex British Prime Minister's Views

A former Prime Minister of Britain, the late J. Ramsay MacDonald describes this sentiment of Hindus as follows. "The Hindu regards India not only as a political unit, naturally the subject of one sovereignty whether British, Muslims or Hindus but as an outward embodiment as the temple nay even the goddess mother of his spiritual culture. He made India the symbol of his culture. He fitted it with his soul. In his consciousness, it was his greater self." (Introduction to The fundamental unity of India) The title of Hindusthan was purposely changed to India by the British rulers with a definite idea to make us forget our initial relationship with our motherland. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadbyaya has said " One cannot say India Mata Ki Jai and that the constant practice of saying India instead of Bharat, Hindustan, will definitely devoid us of this Mother child relationship."

Hindutva a Vital Force

The history of Bharat bears the imprints of Hindutva which is its life energy and vital force. Individual Hindutva is not correlated to the way of worship. Therefore, a group worshipping Buddha, Mahavira or Guru Granth Sahib is a Hindu; just as Saivites, Vaishnavites, Shaktas etc. are Hindus. There are a lot of unifying forces. The integrity of a nation cannot be attained only by one rule, one policy, one constitution or one ruler, though they are the vital factors in attaining it, one aspiration, one heart, one centre of honour and pride are equally important. There can be local aspirations but they should be localised and should not stand in conflict with the nation's aspirations, giving way to separatism. Integrity of Bharat should be attained by emotional and devotional aspects respected by each and everybody.

Spirit of Receptivity a Speciality of Hindus

Adi Shankaracharya, a man born in Kerala, the south most part of our country is honoured and respected throughout the country because all the people have a common bond of devotion towards culture. Sant Namadev born in Maharashtra went to Punjab and some of his compositions were included in Guru Granth sahib. Guru Govindsingh and all the Sikh Gurus find a place of reverence in every nook and corner of Bharat. No Saint of any region of Bharat ever felt any difficulty of language and security as all were equally honoured as the carriers of our divine culture. Every man who is born Hindu has a sacred feeling in his heart about the Ganga, The Himalayas, Varanasi, Rameshwaram etc. One of the commonest prayers for a Hindu is to recall and worship the image of Motherland as the land of seven sacred cities, representing important regions of the country. The spirit of these prayers is further sustained by the Hindu institution of pilgrimage. The Hindus experienced and lived integrity, without making a fuss about the word integrity .

Sanskrit Vehicle of Sanskriti

Sanskrit is the vehicle of cultural unity. Monier Williams in his book 1 Hinduism has stated "India though it has more than 500 spoken dialects, has only one sacred language and one sacred literature accepted and revered by all Hindus alike however diverse in race, dialect, rank and. creed. That language is Sanskrit and that literature is Sanskrit, the only repository of Veda or knowledge in its widest sense, the only vehicle of Hindu theology, philosophy, law and mythology, the only mirror in which all the creeds, opinions, customs, usages of the Hindus are faithfully reflected and the only quarry whence requisite material may be obtained for improving the vernacular or for expressing important religious and scientific ideas."

Purusharthas: Dharma based way of co ordination

Purusharthas are another set of values and guidelines which enable a Hindu to live a meaningful, purposeful and harmonius life. Many misunderstood Hindutwa as leaning towards negativism, but contrary to it Purusharthas motivate an individual to earn and fulfil (ones) his desires in a Dharma based way. These values elevate a man from his body consciousness to higher planes of thoughts and supervalues. All other powers, have sown seeds of separatism, to make Bharat weak as they know that Bharat is the only country to challenge their material supremacy on the strength of her spiritual practices. But we should be alert and defeat their purpose by emphasising on every Hindu. mind that we are a component limb of our society. Just as every limb has its specific duty, but has no existence without the body, we have also no existence without our Samaj purush's body. The body cannot function without its limbs and limbs cannot exist independently, separating them from the body. This relationship can be safeguarded by promoting the ideals of Hindutwa. It is the truth universally accepted that it is impossible to think of the society without an individual and there is no existence of an individual without society. The basis on which the individual and the society and attained co ordination and harmony was named as purusharthas.

Varnashram Dharma scientific social system

Varnashram system was logically and also scientifically based on the same values of life to maintain the quality and texture of an integrated life. Hindutwa has imparted to the whole of Bharat a strong and stable cultural unity that has through ages stood the shocks of political revolutions and foreign invasions Hindutwa is neither ascetism nor illusionism, polytheism nor pantheism. It is not only a collection of thoughts but a successful way of divine life evolved through ages. It is a complete view of life, characterised by wide toleration, deep humanity and high spiritual purpose, free from fanaticism. It is a synthesis of all types of Dharma based experiences. This and this alone is the reason of its survival. The glory of Hindutwa is ineffable. It has within it, all the features of universal Dharma its doctrines sublime, philosophy, grand ethics soul, elevating, scriptures wonderful and unique Vedantic practices. But in a craze to project that one is ultra modern or progressive, living in a computer age, it has become a fashion to deny one's identity with this divine culture. Due to constant brain washing by the foreign rulers, introducing oneself as Hindu is taken as a sign of ,regress or communalism, by many Hindus. As such, we are standing on a suicidal turn of losing our identity and life force. It can be accepted that a Hindu is one who honours the tradition having its origin in the Vedas, the tradition which was led further by Shri Ram and Shri Krishna and glorified by Chhatrapati Shivaji and Rana Pratap and other great sons of this land. A Hindu identifies himself with the glory, the insult and the calamities of Bharat and responds to it in a very spontaneous way disregarding his personal interests. Awakening these sentiments and organising the Hindus on a cultural basis is the life mission of Samiti. It must further be reiterated that Hindu cannot be communal or selfish or narrow minded, because it this Hindu philosophy only, which has professed the principles of
  1. Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam - The whole world is one family. The love & affection prevailing in the family is expected to prevail among the human beings all over the world.

  2. Krinvanto Vishwamaryam - We should make all the world sophisticated and cultured in thought and practice.

  3. Atmavat Sarvabhuteshu - We should behave with others as we expect others to behave with us.

  4. Matruvat Paradareshu - All women except the wife are to be honoured and respected as mothers.

  5. Sarvepi Sukhinah Santu - Let all the living being of the world be happy and healthy.

  6. Gratitude To express gratitude towards everybody and everything from which we get something essential for our life.

  7. Unity in diversity - There is one inner thread of unity amongst the outward diversities.

All these principles speak about the generous, broad and tolerant nature of the Hindus, Though some Hindus may show outwardly indifference or disregard towards Hindu Sanskriti yet in the heart of their hearts they have some regard about it, and it is expressed some time or other consciously or unconsciously. That particular point of sentiment is to be appealed and promoted for bold and vivid expression. When this oneness is attained no problems exist. So it is the duty of every Hindu to .experience the feeling of gratification as well as total oneness with the dignity or otherwise of Bharatmata. Then one will positively strive to attain a stage where nobody will dare to insult us.

Let us boldly come out of this fake cover and proudly identify with this divine way of life to meet all the current challenges successfully.

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