Why I write what I write?

By M.S.N. Menon (Organiser April 2008)

Is it because I am a Hindu bigot? Or, because I hate the minorities? More so, the Muslims? Dear Readers, if ever you thought so, you were mistaken. But I know that you have not seen me in this light. I am a nationalist. I love my country. I am proud of its past and of its great achievements. I am grateful to it all. And to my ancestors. They have given me pre-eminence among the peoples of the world. I am, therefore, concerned at the way the country is being led by a blind and ignorant leadership. For a thousand years we Hindus were under foreign rule. This is unprecedented in human history. The march of the greatest civilisation was arrested. Its roots were cut. And its people were silenced. Are we Hindus aware of the great damage that these thousand years of subjection have inflicted on us? We are not. Alas, even to enquire into it is taboo in our country! Why? Because, it is claimed, it will “offend” the minorities. Should we, therefore, falsify and prettify our history? It is time to break the silence that we have imposed on ourselves. We should lift the veil, as Tagore says. Silence did not save the country from Partition. The country was divided into two, leaving a bitterness that has festered to this day. Hindus are awake today. India is awake. The spell of a thousand years of subjection seems to have been broken. We have discovered our past. It is time to resume our journey. But the vast minority of Hindus—and that includes the upper and middle classes—know almost nothing of the greatness of their past. That is why they are ready to accept western leadership and the western way of life. So, are we condemned to remain the Caliban for ever? Can India never lead? Has it no message for mankind? It has. But we need a new generation to lead India again to its greatness—a generation that is profoundly inspired by nationalism, a generation that is aware of its great history. Destiny beckons India. History has chosen it for a special mission. It is already on the move. India must provide the moral leadership, they say. Says Father Peter Hans Kolvenbach, former Superior General of the Jesuit Order: “How in India people with many languages, religions and cultures live together is a lesson to learn. India has an important role to play in shaping the destiny of mankind.” Others agree. The point is: no other country in the world can take up this role. This task belongs to India alone, for it is only India that inspires the trust of mankind. But Tagore says, our people cannot go out into the world with an empty hand. We must carry our inheritance with us. But what is our inheritance? We Hindus do not know. As for Muslims and Christians, they reject the Hindu inheritance. I write what I write because I want Indians to think on these mental confusions. I want them to know their inheritance. And I want them to know the inheritance of others as well. What I write cannot be found in the media. The “Organiser” is an exception. We Hindus do not say, as Christians and Muslims do, that the “Gospel is the last word,” that “the Quran is the last word.” We say that the last word is with God. To know it is to know the mind of God! And to know the mind of God is to become God! The thought frightens me. The Hindu civilisation fascinates me. There is nothing like it in the world. It leaves you free. It consists of two streams—that of the mind and that of the senses. You can have your choice. The stream of the mind reached its apogee in Advaita. And that of the senses produced the richest material and sensual civilisation on earth. We call it “popular Hinduism.” Both are important. But the future belongs to the stream of the mind. Our journey is to super-consciousness. So says Aurobindo. The scientists agree. It was the mystery of the universe that set us on our quest. The Rig Veda wonders: “Who is there who truly knows, and who can say whence this unfathomed world, and from what cause!” We are still on the quest for an answer. That is the Hindu mission. The Christians and Muslims cannot joint us in this quest. They have the answers in their books. They are perhaps frozen in time. They will continue to mark time. They will live a repetitive life. They cannot march with us without causing immense damage to their religious beliefs. Our ways are, thus, different. But we can live together. How? Let us learn that too. That Hindus are living “in darkness”, that Hinduism is a “false religion”—these are still the kind of things being said about us by our critics. Why? Because we Hindus are a gentle people, our State is a soft State and we are ignorant of our past. Let us work on a New India—an India for the “Global Indian.”

CONCEPT OF TIME IN ANCIENT BHARAT

The Indian word for Geography is Bhugol, which means that the earth is round. Hindu temples are built as per the agamas set forth in the Vedas. The temples usually have a Navagraha that have all the planets of the Solar system. Here we can see that the Sun is in the middle of the solar family. Ancient scientists like Aryabhatta, Varahamihira, Bhaskaracharya, Brahma Gupta in the 5th and 7th centuries, made many calculations about the size and circumference of the earth, distance between the heavenly bodies and the periods of their movements around the sun. Their findings reckon closely with modern calculations. In Europe, Nicholas Copernicus in 1543 and Galileo in 1616 proposed that the earth is round, that it moves and that it revolves round the sun. But their theories were not only rejected but also declared as heresy. Giardano Bruno was burnt at the stakes on 17 February 1600 for his scientific views. Thus we see that the science in Bharat was at least 1,000 years ahead of that in Europe.

Lord Sun was worshipped in Ramayana and he was depicted in the Vedas as a shining personality riding a chariot driven by seven horses. These seven horses denote the seven days in a week. A question arises as to why did they show seven horses? The answer is again scientific. Sun ray passing through a prism or a raindrop breaks into seven colors (VIBGYOR). Also the Navagrahas contain nine heavenly bodies of the solar system. (Of these Rahu and Ketu are merely nodes in the orbit of the sun or earth)


DIVISION OF TIME IN THE HINDU CALENDAR

A. SMALLER UNITS OF TIME

The smallest unit of time as per the Hindu calculations in Truti which is 33,750th of a second
100 Trutis make a Tatpara,
30 Tatparas make a Nimesha and 45 Nimeshas make a Prana and A Prana is 4 seconds, the average time taken for breathing in and out by a normal healthy person..

1 Tithi or Divas is 1 day, the period of time from Sun-Rise to Sun-Rise on the following day. 1 Tithi or day is divided into 2 halves – Ahar the day time and Ratra the night time.
The day is further divided into 30 Muhurtas or 60 Ghatikas. Each Muhurta therefore is 48 minutes and each Ghatika is 24 minutes.
Each Ghatika is divided into 60 Palas and each Pala is further divided into 60 Vipalas. Thus a Vipala is 0.4 seconds.

7 days make a week called Saptah.
1 month called Maas is divided into 2 halves – Shukla Pakshha from Amavasya to Purnima (New moon to Full Moon) and the Krishna Paksha from Purnima to Amavasya. The month starts from the day after Amavasya.

1 year called Varsha is divided into 2 halves of 6 months each called Uttarayana and Dakshinayana. It is also divided into 3 parts of 4 months each called the Chaturmaas, 6 seasons of 2 months duration each called Vasant Ritu, Grishma Ritu, Varsha Ritu, Sharad Ritu, Hemant Ritu and Shishir Ritu.
There are 12 months in a year and the names of the months are Chaitra, Vaishakha, Jyaishtha, Ahadh, Shravan, Bhadrapad, Ashwin, Kartik, Margashirsha, Pausha, Magh and Phalgun.


B. BIGGER UNITS OF TIME

Higher values of years are called Yugas (Eras or Eons). There are four yugas. Kaliyuga has 432,000 years, Dwapar Yuga has 864,000 years, Treta Yuga has 1,296,000 years and Satya Yuga or Kruta Yuga has 1,728,000 years. A cycle of these four yugas, called a Mahayuga is therefore, 4,320,000 years.

1,000 Mahayugas make the day time (Kalpa) of Brahma, the Creator and another 1,000 Mahayugas make his night time.
360 Brahma Days make one Brahma Year and 100 such Brahma years make his working Period called Brahma-Ayu or Maha-Kalpa. Mahakalpa is the largest unit of time which is 311,040,000,000,000 solar years.


Thus Hindus have
Truti the smallest Unit of time which is 33,750th of a second

Maha Kalpa the largest unit of time which is 311,040,000,000,000 solar years



HINDU CALENDAR & THE WESTERN SIMILARITIES

The names of the weekdays are the same, of course different words in different languages, and in the same order. What we call as Bhanuwar or Raviwar in India is called Sunday. Bhanu or Ravi means the sun. The next day we call Somawar. Soma means the moon and the day in Europe was called Moonday which became Monday. Similarly Saturday or Shaniwar s named after the planet Saturn equivalent to the planet Shani. The other days of the week in the European calendar are named after the Greek Gods and in the Hindu calendar are named after the other solar planets. The week days in Bharat are named in a particular order depending on their distance from the earth - moon is the nearest heavenly body affecting the lives on earth followed by Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn is the farthest one here, Sun is the centre of the solar system. Thus we have Raviwar, followed by Somawar, Mangal, Budh, Guru, Shukra and Shani corresponding to these planets.
Another fact is the division of the year into twelve months current in the entire world. The original Western Roman calendar prior to 525 AD had only 10 months - January, February, March, April, May and June followed by September (Sapta - 7th), October (Ashta - 8th), November (Nava - 9th) and December (Dasha - 10th). But when they came into contact with our science of astronomy, they found that they were wrong and added two months after their great emperors i.e. July after Julius Caesar and August after Augustus and this was taken over in the present Gregorian calendar.

Since Yugadi, the Hindu Lunar New Year fell in March, Europe also accepted March as their New Year. March, April, May, June, July, August was followed by September (Sapta-7th) and so on till December (Dasha - 10th). January was their eleventh month and February was their last month or 12th month. That is why all months had 30 or 31 days and the last month February had the balance of 28 or 29 days to complete a year of 365 or 366 days.

Measurement of day and night

The earth rotates round its axis at the rate of 1600 kms per hour and as such approx. 24 hours (23 hrs 56 min) are taken from one sun-rise to another. Due to this rotation a civil day of 24 hours including night is formed. The lighted part of the earth is known as day (ahah) and the dark part as night (ratri). Thus both day and night are called ahoratra. Later developed hora system was the degenerated form of a-hora-tra only. The English term ‘hour’ also evolved from Sanskrit term ‘hora’.


Sankalpa is observed before the commencement of any religious activity.
In the Sankalpa we mention, Kalpa, Manvantara, Yugadi, Samvat, Ayana, Ritu, Maas, Paksha, Tithi, Vaar, gruha, Nakshatra and the geographical location of the place where the religious activity is conducted. Thus our forefathers, the Vedic Rishis had a complete knowledge of Astronomy and geography (Khagol and Bhugol Shastra).


1 Manvantar is the time taken by Solar System for 1 revolution, which is 322,580,000 years (32 crore, 25 lakhs, 80 thousand years)
There are 14 Manvantaras. We are now in the seventh Manvantara called Vaivasvatha Manvantara

1 Mahayug is the time taken to complete a cycle of Kali yug, Dwapar yug, Treta yug and Satya yug. This is 4.32 million years.We have completed 27 such mahayugas are now in the 28th Mahayuga.

1 Kaliyuga is 432,000 years.Twice of kaliyug is Dwapar yug 864,000 years.Thrice of Kaliyug is Treta Yug 1,296,000 years and four times is Satyayug 1,728,000 years.
We have completed several Kaliyugas Mahayugas and Manvantaras.

In this present Kaliyuga, we have completed 51 centuries and today we are entering the Chiatra Shudha Pratipada in the second year of 52nd century in Kaliyug.
(Yugabda 5110, AD 2008)


Interesting Anecdote

Two friends Ram and Shyam went on a camping trip.
After a good meal and mouthful of pedas, they lay down for the night, and went to sleep.
Some hours later, Ram awoke and nudged his faithful friend. “Shyam, look up at the sky and tell me what you see." Shyam replied. "I see millions and millions of stars."
”What does that tell you?" Shyam pondered for a minute.

"Astronomically, it tells me that there are millions of galaxies and potentially billions of planets.
Astrologically, I observe that Saturn is in Leo.
Horologically, I deduce that the time is approximately a quarter past three.
Theologically, I can see that God is all-powerful and that we are small and insignificant.
Meteorologically, I suspect that we will have a beautiful day tomorrow.

“What does it tell you?"
Ram was silent for a minute, then spoke.
"Shyam, you idiot, someone has stolen our tent."


Maya in Physics

The Sanskrit word for Uiverse is ‘Viswa’ meaning ‘all’. Thus the universe may be defined as that which includes everything. ‘Jagat’ is another word in Sanskrit, used in the sense of the universe. It is derived from the Sanskrit verb root ‘gam’ (gam+kvip), which means ‘to go’. Everything in Jagat is in motion, everything is changeable, mutable. Anything which is at rest, which is motionless and immutable is not concerned with jagat. There is another word ‘samsara’ (sam+sr+ghan) in Sanskrit. It is also used for universe. According to this concept, everything in the universe moves with others in harmony. It is akin to the word ‘cosmos’ involving order instead of disorder or chaos.

Study of the Vedic literature of ancient India reveals that a few astrophysical concepts prevalent at that time have close resemblance with those of modern sciences.
· The cosmic egg, the excessive heat produced in the cosmic egg and the bursting of the egg have been mentioned in unambiguous language. (Tandva Brahmana vii.10.1; Jaimini Brahmana I.145; III.12; Shatapat Brahmana VI.1.2.3.)
· After the explosion of the primordial egg, the universe expanded. (Mundaka Upanishad I.1.8)
· The stars were formed out of clouds of gases and dust. (RV, V.47.3; X121.5; YV, XIII.30; Tbra 1.5.2.5; S.Bra VII.5.1.8; X.6.5.2; J.Bra II.45 and 62; A.Bra IV.20).
· The earth had its origin from the sun. All the planets of our solar system and the moons of the planets originated primarily from the sun. (TS, III.4.3; VII.3.10; S.Bra, I.4.1.22; J.Bra I.87; Vap, 50.99.53;
· The earth is spherical in shape. (S.Bra VII.1.1.37)
· The sun, the earth, the moon and the other planets and the space are all spherical in shape. (J.Bra, I.2.57; II.62; S.Bra VII.1.1.37)
· The interior of the earth is full of hot molten mass. (YV, XI.57; S.Bra, XIV.9.4.21; T.S. V5.2)
· The earth and the other planets of the solar system rotate round their respective axis and revolve round the sun. (YV, III.6; A.Bra III.4.6)



Early Western Concept

“God has created man and created everything else for the pleasure of man. The centre of the universe is man. Earth is the place where man lives. Hence the anthropocentric universe is bound to be geocentric. Earth is the centre of the universe. It is stationary and everything else is moving around it. The sky is a dome-shaped blue canopy hanging over the earth. The sun and the moon are small objects wandering in the sky. The stars are insignificant specs of light glued to the sky for decorative purpose only.” This was the anthropocentric and geocentric concept of the Western man.
‘The world’, ‘the universe’, ‘the cosmos’ and ‘the Earth’ were synonymous terms in the geocentric concept. Such an idea has now been discarded. It has been realized that the earth occupies an insignificant dot in the illimitable universe.

For Aristotle (384-322 BC), the Greek philosopher, it was the law of Nature for the heavens to be perfect and changeless. Hipparchus (190-120 BC) was a Greek astronomer. Claudius Ptolemies (AD 100-170), who was another Greek astronomer, summarized Hipparchian system and his own in the form of a book. Both these astronomers could visualize the epicycloid motion of planets. Ptolemy gave the idea of a geocentric universe. In the Ptolemaic system, the Earth is pictured as the centre of the universe, with all other astronomical bodies circling around it. The Bible supported the idea of the geocentric universe.

Pliny (AD 23-79) a Roman scholar was astonished to observe a new star in Scorpio. But how could it be possible? If it violated the concept of a ‘perfect and changeless heavens’ could it be correct? Is it not sacrilegious to report a change in the heavens? The medieval astronomers in Europe and Middle East might have observed changing stars in the heavens; but they might not have reported their findings on religious grounds, and might have explained them away as their observational errors. The astronomers of that age, whether Christian or Muslim, saw in the perfection of the heavens a symbol of the perfection of God. He could not dare to find a flaw in the perfection of the created objects of God. For the astronomer, the earth too would have been perfect, had not Adam and Eve committed the first sin. They ate the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden. That was the reason of the earth being imperfect. But nothing like that happened for the heavens. And so the heavens were perfect and changeless.

In the sixteenth century, there was a conceptual change in the Western world, and hence the old idea of the changelessness of the heavens was discarded. In 1543 Nicholas Copernicus, a Polish astronomer proved that the sun was the centre of the universe and that all the planets including the earth revolved round the sun. Giordano Bruno (1548-1600) an Italian philosopher supported the Copernican heliocentric theory and also popularized his own theory that each star is a sun attended by a retinue of planets. This was originally the doctrine of Nicholas of Cusa (1401-1464), a German cleric. At that time no one believed the fact that there were stars too dim to see. People questioned, “Why should such invisible stars exist? Why did God create them? Is it not sacrilegious to suggest that God’s creation is purposeless? Bruno was declared to be a heretic and burned at the stake.
The heliocentric concept that the sun was the centre of the universe, was in vogue until Harlow Shapely (1885-1972), an American astronomer gave a big blow to it. He showed that the sun was not the centre of our galaxy and that it was far on the outskirts of the galaxy. According to him, our position in our galaxy (Milky Way) and the then supposed universe was eccentric.
Our galaxy, the Milky Way was then considered the universe. Now it is well known that there are innumerable galaxies and all of them are in motion; all of them move; In our present concept, the universe has no centre. We live in an acentric universe.


The Gregorian calendar

The present calendar used worldwide which says this year as 2008 AD is called the Gregorian calendar introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 by a Papal Bull. This superceded the previous Julian calendar that was introduced in 4 AD and later amended in 525 AD by a Roman abbot Dionysus Exiguous.

By the Papal order, Pope Gregory omitted 10 days in the calendar to make corrections for the difference between the sidereal year and the solar year. Thus, Thursday 4 October 1582 was followed by Friday 15th October 1582. Further corrections were made by omitting 1 day each in the years 1700, 1800 and 1900 AD.


Science in the West in 16th Century

The western world did not know in those days that earth was round in shape that the earth was moving around its own axis and that earth revolved round the sun. Scientist Nicolas Copernicus published the books "The Revolutions of the Heavenly Bodies" in 1543 and dedicated it to the Pope of his times. But this book was rejected and banned and was called the devils work. In 1616 Galileo who observed the sunspots said that the earth is moving (E pur si mouve). He faced the solemn condemnations of the western authorities that proclaimed his theory as heresy. Galileo approaching 70 years was imprisoned, blinded and helpless in the jail, he died after 9 years. In 1600 another scientist Giordano Bruno paid the price of his faith in science at the stakes.

In the absence of the knowledge about the sun, the moon, the earth and their shapes, distances, their orbits etc no calendar can be designed properly. Hence the western calendar was based on the scientific discoveries made in other countries especially India with which it had an active contact even prior to the times of Pythagoras, Megasthanese and Alexander.

THE ESSENCE OF EDUCATION

Osho, Rajneesh

“The education that has prevailed in the past is very insufficient, incomplete, superficial. It only creates people who can earn their livelihood but it does not give any insight into living itself. It is not only incomplete, it is harmful too -- because it is based on competition.
Any type of competition is violent deep down, and creates people who are unloving. Their whole effort is to be the achievers -- of name, of fame, of all kinds of ambitions. Obviously they have to struggle and be in conflict for them. That destroys their joys and that destroys their friendliness. It seems everybody is fighting against the whole world.

Education up to now has been goal-oriented: what you are learning is not important; what is important is the examination that will come a year or two years later. It makes the future important -- more important than the present. It sacrifices the present for the future. And that becomes your very style of life; you are always sacrificing the moment for something which is not present. It creates a tremendous emptiness in life.
The commune of my vision will have a five-dimensional education. Before I enter into those five dimensions, a few things have to be noted. One: there should not be any kind of examination as part of education, but every day, every hour observation by the teachers; their remarks throughout the year will decide whether you move further or you remain a little longer in the same class. Nobody fails, nobody passes -- it is just that a few people are speedy and a few people are a little bit lazy -- because the idea of failure creates a deep wound of inferiority, and the idea of being successful also creates a different kind of disease, that of superiority. Nobody is inferior, and nobody is superior. One is just oneself, incomparable.

So, examinations will not have any place. That will change the whole perspective from the future to the present. What you are doing right this moment will be decisive, not five questions at the end of two years. Of thousands of things you will pass through during these two years, each will be decisive; so the education will not be goal-oriented.
The teacher has been of immense importance in the past, because he knew he had passed all the examinations, he had accumulated knowledge. But the situation has changed -- and this is one of the problems, that situations change but our responses remain the old ones. Now the knowledge explosion is so vast, so tremendous, so speedy, that you cannot write a big book on any scientific subject because by the time your book is complete, it will be out of date; new facts, new discoveries will have made it irrelevant. So now science has to depend on articles, on periodicals, not on books.
The teacher was educated thirty years earlier. In thirty years everything has changed, and he goes on repeating what he was taught. He is out of date, and he is making his students out of date. So in my vision the teacher has no place. Instead of teachers there will be guides, and the difference has to be understood: the guide will tell you where, in the library, to find the latest information on the subject.

And teaching should not be done in the old-fashioned way, because television can do it in a far better way, can bring the latest information without any problems. The teacher has to appeal to your ears; television appeals directly to your eyes; and the impact is far greater, because the eyes absorb eighty percent of your life situations -- they are the most alive part. If you can see something there is no need to memorize it; but if you listen to something you have to memorize it. Almost ninety-eight percent of education can be delivered through television, and the questions that students will ask can be answered by computers. The teacher should be only a guide to show you the right channel, to show you how to use the computer, how to find the latest book. His function will be totally different. He is not imparting knowledge to you, he is making you aware of the contemporary knowledge, of the latest knowledge. He is only a guide.

With these considerations, I divide education into five dimensions. The first is informative, like history, geography, and many other subjects which can be dealt with by television and computer together. The second part should be sciences. They can be imparted by television and computer too, but they are more complicated, and the human guide will be more necessary.In the first dimension also come languages. Every person in the world should know at least two languages; one is his mother tongue, and the other is English as an international vehicle for communication. They can also be taught more accurately by television -- the accent, the grammar, everything can be taught more correctly than by human beings.

We can create in the world an atmosphere of brotherhood: language connects people and language disconnects too. There is right now no international language. This is due to our prejudices. English is perfectly capable, because it is known by more people around the world on a wider scale -- although it is not the first language. The first is Spanish, as far as population is concerned. But its population is concentrated, it is not spread all over the world. The second is Chinese; that is even more concentrated, only in China. As far as numbers go, these languages are spoken by more people, but the question is not of numbers, the question is of spread.
English is the most widespread language, and people should drop their prejudices -- they should look at the reality. There have been many efforts to create languages to avoid the prejudices -- the Spanish people can say their language should be the international language because it is spoken by more people than almost any other language.... To avoid these prejudices, languages like Esperanto have been created. But no created language has been able to function. There are a few things which grow, which cannot be created; a language is a growth of thousands of years. Esperanto looks so artificial that all those efforts have failed.
But it is absolutely necessary to create two languages -- first, the mother tongue, because there are feelings and nuances which you can say only in the mother tongue. One of my professors, S. K. Saxena, a world traveler who has been a professor of philosophy in many countries, used to say that in a foreign language you can do everything, but when it comes to a fight or to love, you feel that you are not being true and sincere to your feelings. So for your feelings and for your sincerity, your mother tongue... which you imbibe with the milk of the mother, which becomes part of your blood and bones and marrow. But that is not enough -- that creates small groups of people and makes others strangers. One international language is absolutely necessary as a basis for one world, for one humanity. So two languages should be absolutely necessary for everybody. That will come in the first dimension.

The second is the enquiry of scientific subjects, which is tremendously important because it is half of reality, the outside reality.

And the third will be what is missing in present-day education, the art of living. People have taken it for granted that they know what love is. They don't know... and by the time they know, it is too late. Every child should be helped to transform his anger, hatred, jealousy, into love.

An important part of the third dimension should also be a sense of humor. Our so-called education makes people sad and serious. And if one third of your life is wasted in a university in being sad and serious, it becomes ingrained; you forget the language of laughter -- and the man who forgets the language of laughter has forgotten much of life.So love, laughter, and an acquaintance with life and its wonders, its mysteries... these birds singing in the trees should not go unheard. The trees and the flowers and the stars should have a connection with your heart. The sunrise and the sunset will not be just outside things -- they should be something inner, too. A reverence for life should be the foundation of the third dimension.
People are so irreverent to life. They still go on killing animals to eat -- they call it game; and if the animal eats them -- then they call it calamity. Strange... in a game both parties should be given equal opportunity. The animals are without weapons and you have machine guns or arrows.... You may not have thought about why arrows and machine guns were invented: so that you can kill the animal from a faraway distance; to come close is dangerous. What kind of game is this? And the poor animal, defenseless against your bullets....It is not a question of killing the animals; it is a question of being irreverent to life, because all that you need can be provided either by synthetic foods, or by other scientific methods. All your needs can be fulfilled; no animal has to be killed. And a person who kills animals, deep down can kill human beings without any difficulty -- because what is the difference? And there are cannibals....
Just a few days ago in Palestine, the people demanded that the government allow them to eat human flesh, because there was not enough food -- so why waste a dead body? Whether it has died naturally or has been destroyed by the terrorists or has been in an accident, it is good food! And the surprising thing is that the government of Palestine has agreed -- they had to. Food is short, and people cannot be left hungry. Today they will be eating the naturally dead or the accidentally dead, or those killed by terrorists; but this is not going on forever. Soon they will start finding ways to kill people -- to steal children, because their flesh is thought to be the most delicious.

A great reverence for life should be taught, because life is God and there is no other God than life itself, and joy, laughter, a sense of humor -- in short a dancing spirit.
The fourth dimension should be of art and creativity: painting, music, craftsmanship, pottery, masonry -- anything that is creative. All areas of creativity should be allowed; the students can choose. There should be only a few things compulsory -- for example an international language should be compulsory; a certain capacity to earn your livelihood should be compulsory; a certain creative art should be compulsory. You can choose through the whole rainbow of creative arts, because unless a man learns how to create, he never becomes a part of existence, which is constantly creative. By being creative one becomes divine; creativity is the only prayer.

And the fifth dimension should be the art of dying. In this fifth dimension will be all the meditations, so that you can know there is no death, so that you can become aware of an eternal life inside you. This should be absolutely essential, because everybody has to die; nobody can avoid it. And under the big umbrella of meditation, you can be introduced to Zen, to Tao, to Yoga, to Hassidism, to all kinds and all possibilities that have existed, but which education has not taken any care of. In this fifth dimension, you should also be made aware of the martial arts like aikido, jujitsu, judo -- the art of self-defense without weapons -- and not only self-defense, but simultaneously a meditation too.

The new commune will have a full education, a whole education. All that is essential should be compulsory, and all that is nonessential should be optional. One can choose from the options, which will be many. And once the basics are fulfilled, then you have to learn something you enjoy; music, dance, painting -- you have to know something to go inwards, to know yourself. And all this can be done very easily without any difficulty.
I have been a professor myself and I resigned from the university with a note saying: This is not education, this is sheer stupidity; you are not teaching anything significant.
But this insignificant education prevails all over the world -- it makes no difference, in the Soviet Union or in America. Nobody has looked for a more whole, a total education. In this sense almost everybody is uneducated; even those who have great degrees are uneducated in the vaster areas of life. A few are more uneducated, a few are less -- but everybody is uneducated. But to find an educated man is impossible, because education as a whole does not exist anywhere.”

Purpose of education

Education is not mere a mean to meet two ends. Neither it is something to satisfy one's ego. With whole focus of modern education outwardly, only utilitarian aspect of things are taught. Educated person not necessarily in position to understand and practise the basic values of life which a so called uneducated man can follow with his age old wisdom. Even we accept that any knowledge is a double edged sword, by any aspect modern man is not becoming more wise with education. As the purpose itself is not propagating even secular values, we all become expert technicians of a subject without understanding a soul behind it.

Why education is failed to bring any fundamental change in one's nature or help him to evolve with his natural potential? We always talk that the root cause of all problems in developing countries like Bharat is lack of education to masses. It is also claimed that traditionally majority were deprived of basic rights of education by certain class in the name of castism and it is because of Britishers that people of modern Bharat could avail uniform education to everyone. When i see the problems of Bharat even after 60 years of independence following the western concept of education at all levels, I hardly can convince myself that the current format of education is and will solve the problems of our society. We are producing just literate masses without any roots merely trained to earn money by any means.

If we invest to educate coming generations, in the era of globalization and mass communication obviously people will be exposed to everything across the civilizations but without having firm roots on the ground. The result will be more and more cutting of future generations from the very idea of Bharat and producing mere western copy in desi body. By no means I want to devaluate western education system. It has its own strengths and west has built a civilized society on that basis in last few centuries. But the aspirations, goals, requirements of western society are totally different and why one should assume that the same is applicable to us and we cannot progress without following the footprints of the society whose philosophy of looking towards the life is diagonally opposite of the age old wisdom of eastern people? The world need two diagonally opposite ideas and both are necessary and true on its own. People should able to choose from them depending on one's inclination. Unfortunately we are allowing only one idea to develop and that too at the cost of other. We, the people of Bharat are at the diagonally opposite side of looking at the things not merely in past but in today's day to day life. Hence we see conflicts between what we see or practise and what we learn at every stage of the life. Obviously as we are not aware about and not taught about the meaning of what we see or practise, we tend to ridicule using the knowledge we acquire which is meant for totally different purpose.

To elaborate on this I would like to highlight the differences in two philosophies:

Who am i

This is as an old quest as human existence. Approaches may differ but everyone is interested to know the ultimate truth. As there is nothing beyond matter for western philosophy naturally Bharatiya mind will never get answer to this inner journey for him which starts beyond matter.

Matter and energy and consciousness

Western philosophy interprets everything in the language of matter as for them there is nothing beyond it. Bharatiya thinking is that everything is an interplay of energy in different forms. Matter is too a kind of energy. If we penetrate matter then we reach to electrons which is neither matter nor energy as per the latest understanding. This matter-energy is nothing but ever changing part of universe behind which is the primordial consciousness filled everywhere which is same in each living and nonliving thing.

Medicine

Allopathy is concerned only with physical body. Bharatiya philosophy considers the system as psychosomatic which is made up of body-mind-soul. Psychiatry too considers mind as just byproduct of bodily functions and not as independent entity.

Nature-human being relationship

Everything around is made for us and we are here just to exploit it for our benefit. This is what western philosophy believes and practice. Bharatiya darshan says that nature has enough for every-ones need and but not for every-ones greed. We are part of nature and have no special status over other living beings. We should extract only what is required without disturbing the natural balance.

Evolution of Genetic and Karmic code

Darwin's theory explains at physical level,how we are evolved from monkey. This was well known to our ancestors in the form of 'dashawatar tradition'. But this is not enough to explain the reason of ones birth in particular social,cultural and economic background. If everything in this world is governed by certain laws then birth of anyone whether human or amoeba cannot be without logical reason. Here comes the theory of reincarnation which can be easily explained with law of conservation of energy. Hence along with genetic code, karmic code also plays important role in evolution. Evolution is not necessarily always physical but it can be psychological, emotional and spiritual as well.

What one want to achieve in life

Human being is not just a bundle of desires. The ultimate happiness is never possible with materialistic possessions. Education should able to teach us how we can discriminate between 'Shreyas' and 'Preyas' meaning necessary and useful. Freedom is the ultimate thing everyone hankering for, it may be natural, economic, political, social, emotional or spiritual. We cannot feel bondage of next level until we get freed from lower bondage. At the moment we are only concerned about economical freedom and think that we will achieve everything then. But once economic freedom is achieved next bondage can be understood. Bharatiya darshan had experienced these levels long back and accepted that all levels are necessary but one should not stop at any step until the last one and that is to go beyond birth and death cycle.

How all living creatures are related

All living beings has same consciousness. As we only look at the matter, we see each one as unique entity. Once we understood and feel the oneness then we will treat everyone same as we our-self expected to be treated by others. Education can play vital role to mould young minds in early years. But we have no such thing in present day education which has emphasis on right than duties.

All paths leads to same truth

Bharatiya darshan believes that same truth can be said in different ways. By accepting this we can expect the possibility of coexistence. With the notion of superiority or inferiority over other will not allow to accept other's ideas in right spirit. Every individual is at different step of evolution and not a single pill is useful for everyone. Religion is not the thing to be marketed but is for uplifting the individual to next level of freedom.

It may look like that this kind of education is not necessary for day to day living and one can get such learning in religious schools or at home by tradition. But the independent nation is for people and by people which should look after well being of an individual at every possible level. By defining growth in terms of consumerisation and then accordingly making people just a machine either to produce or to consume things is leading us to dead end. No doubt, we should not stretch and remain stuck to either end and try to follow middle path, but certainly the emphasis will differ if the goal is set. In the present day Bharat with diagonally opposite ideas about history and future about our nation it looks practically impossible to make such changes overnight.

But it only depends on attitude and our culture has inherent capacity to take everyone together. Once we start looking things from our own perspective and for our own needs, we will see things as they ought to be!

Citizens must participate in own affairs

Tarun Vijay (http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Tarun_Vijay_Indians_must_step_forward/articleshow/2724824.cms)

Are we a republic? On the eve of Republic Day, it’s rather sacrilegious to ask this question, but on seeing the passive voter who has learnt to bash governance at each step and on seeing political parties being run as family fiefdoms, it’s more appropriate to say we are a nation trying to emerge as a republic.

What's the status of inner party democracy and how are parties commonly described? Congress under Sonia, BSP under Mayawati, DMK and ADMK under Karunanidhi and Jayalalithaa respectively, RJD under Lalu and Rabri, National Conference under the senior and junior Abdullahs and the Samajwadi Party under Mulayam Singh are some of the expressions used. Words like elections, democratic norms, republican sentiments and acceptance of differing viewpoints are replaced with nominations, authoritarian dictates, crowd-pulling capacities and 'follow or out' norms.

Still, we think at least we are doing better than Pakistan and Bangladesh and perhaps Myanmar too.

Democratic values are defined not only through personal, political and economic freedoms but also through peoples' actions and strength of the non-political leadership. Those who do not necessarily seek political and public office, yet are determined to correct socio-political wrongs. Those who volunteer to take the lead and be the first to face the bullets but do not don the mantle of rulers. If roads are dirty, temples littered rivers filthy and railway platforms stinking, it's not just the bad ruler and the incompetent bureaucrat to be blamed. The failure of inactive. self-centred people to rise and revolt is equally responsible for a failing state.

When political parties comprise climbers and seekers alone at the micro levels as well and peoples' organisations run after government grants and patronage, republics turn into banana republics.

In spite of a spectacular urban economic growth and mushrooming religious organisations with astonishing clout, India is witnessing an abysmally low level of non-political leadership that can change the spectrum for the general good of the masses. Temples in most of the holy towns and pilgrim centres remain dirty, priests do not utter mantras correctly and take money from devotees and then we expect the government to do something about it. The government takes over temples, resulting in further deterioration. Delhi is on the banks of the Yamuna, one of the greatest rivers of the land, yet it’s impossible to take a guest for a walk along the Yamuna or use a few drops for religious chores. Yet the government is petitioned, urged, requested to do something about it.

That's how the devotees of Krishna, whose life would remain incomplete without the Yamuna, continue with their daily routines. Delhi is ruled by Hindus, so are other states where we have holy shrines. Yet not only do the Hindu rulers belonging to any which party or ideology shy away from making pilgrim centres the best managed centres of faith in the world, but even Hindu billionaires and the socially effective glitterati find the civil dharma too mean to be engaged in.

The other day, ADMK leader Jayalalithaa issued a statement against Chief Minister K. Karunanidhi over the government’s attitude towards Rameshwaram temple where 15 cows had died due to negligence. I was there a couple of weeks ago and saw the world famous temple in a pathetic state. The main door, through which devotees enter the corridor leading to the sanctum sanctorum, had a huge billboard of Karunanidhi as if a darshan of the Chief Minister, an atheist, is compulsory before Lord Shiva's darshan. The corridor was littered with spilled prasadam, flowers and dirt. At the entrance itself, inside the temple precincts, an ugly cabin of Tamil Nadu Tourism had been erected and next to it was a cycle and scooter stand for government employees working there. On the right was a marble plaque announcing the opening of the Mandapam and unveiling of a statue of Raja Bhaskar Sethupathy on February 11, 1974. He was a protector of the Ram Sethu and belonged to a warrior clan created with the sole purpose of protecting the great bridge that Ram built.

Inside the temple area, the grandeur of the Rameshwaram pillars is a mesmerising sight – 400 in all in a 4,000-feet long corridor. It's a world heritage site built in the 12th century by the Lankan King Parakram Bahu. Later kings of Ramanathpuram and Travancore kept on adding to the structure. Swami Vivekananda visited the temple on January 27, 1897 and a stone engraving cherishes that memory; his praise of the temple priests has been inscribed in his own handwriting. The Shiva lingam at the temple is believed to have been built by Sita with clay and is one of the 12 jyotilirlingas. Such an ancient temple and world heritage site is in utter neglect and is losing its pristine glory and charm. The well inside the room where prasadam is prepared and the kitchen are in shambles, darkness prevails with a feeble lamp adding confusion to the smoky and darkened room. Devotees are given stale and badly cooked bhog. Still, thousands of Hindus visit the place from across the world. They see, murmur some complaints, have a darshan and go away.

The temple management is in the hands of the Tamil Nadu government led by Karunanidhi who is infamous for issuing insulting and sarcastic statements about Ram and Sita. But what about the millions of devotees living around Rameshwaram?

We have seen nationwide agitations for and against reservations but people have never demonstrated to save rivers or cleanse temples. There is an organisation in Tamil Nadu with a Hindu tag that objected to a dress worn by an actress at a public function. They said it hurt Hindu sentiments. But these Hindus never get hurt when Sanskrit is abolished or the Hindu population declines or when poor Hindus are converted to other religions. Hypocritical Hindus worship Durga for Shakti, Saraswati for knowledge and Lakshmi for prosperity. But the same Hindu also commits female foeticide in large numbers. And this is true for other religious communities equally. True, there are organisations opposing it and spreading awareness and this has provided positive results. But foes of the girl child abound.

In Gaumukh, the source of Ganga, pilgrims leave bindis, plastic bags, incense sticks and other non-perishable items after the puja to 'absolve' themselves of all their sins. Should we blame the government alone if the glacier is shrinking and the heavenly place defining the solitude of divinity looks as if it has been defiled by the devotees themselves?

The republic is not just about casting votes, that too at less than 50 per cent roughly along caste lines. Republic is the active participation of people in their own affairs with righteousness as the benchmark of decisions and Gandhi's talisman as a touchstone. It calls for rising above immediate self-interest. That decides the levels of happiness in a society, not bank balances and a mention in Fortune 500 lists.

Abdul Rahim Khan-i-Khana was a great poet and benefactor of the poor and needy. Every evening, a large number of people would visit him seeking help. He would refuse none, but always looked down while giving alms. Once a gentleman asked why do you not even glance at the person who is receiving the money? He replied: “Denhaar koi aur hai, devat hai din rain, log bharam mo pe karein, tase neeche nain (“The real giver is someone else [God], but people perceive I am the one. Hence the eyes look down in embarrassment!). It's bliss to have such humility and it is this pure heart that sanctifies a republic and raises her people's happiness level.

The republic thrives on the spirit of giving. Everyone says everything should be done by government and everyone seems to be dissatisfied with everything - municipal corporators, parliamentarians, officers, doctors and drivers. The crowd in religious places is hardly seen to be carrying the responsibility of applying in the outside world what they obtained inside the congregation hall. No one says hate others, yet hate spreads astonishingly. Intolerance increases intolerance and accumulation of ill-gotten wealth further whets the appetite.

This is the time when the people of the republic should seriously come together to find way for eliminating religious intolerance and hate based on ideological apartheid. Recently a step was taken in this direction with religious leaders having a global presence and appeal sharing the dais for exactly this purpose – strengthening peace and plurality and resolving conflicts. Led by Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the day-long deliberations saw Sri Sri Ravishankar, the Dalai Lama, Swami Ramdev, Deoband's Mohammad Madani, Mumbai's Archbishop Oswald Gracious and of course former President Abdul Kalam. Such efforts need peoples' support if the republic has to live its ideals.

Once we saw JP movement. It failed. Gandhians have become merely sarkari jholawalas. The last hope lies in those who would unshackle themselves from burden of historical sins and write a fresh new republican order to throw off the fossilised system and its offshoots. The new rebellious generation, already showing signs of revolt and free from the colonial mindset and obsolete ritualism, shall create a new path like Adi Sankara , with just one religion in heart - the good of humanity and elimination of the unrepentant wicked. Trust your tricolour, its going to happen before we leave the world.

RSS that we do not know (Part II)

http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/History/Achievements.jsp

Much has been said and written about RSS and people take pride in maligning right wing organizations in India in the name of secularism. But we should not overlooked the fact that no other organization is survived over 80 years and still growing. Here is the brief overview about role of RSS during invasions by neighbouring countries on nascently independent nation, which even many swayamsevaks are not aware of!

During 1962 Chinese Invasion

Deep concern for the national sovereignty over every inch of the country has ever remained the life-breath of Sangh all the years. The Indian Government, for the umpteenth time, tried to buy peace with Pakistan by appeasing her with the gift of certain areas in West Bengal. In December 1959, the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal (the All-India Executive Committee) of Sangh warned that "The introduction of a bill to amend the Constitution for transfer of Berubari and other Indian territories to Pakistan is detrimental to our national pride and solidarity." It also urged all members of Parliament "to vindicate their supreme duty of safeguarding the nation's sovereignty by firmly rejecting the suicidal bill and allaying the fears of the people in that regard."

When the Kashmir issue was taken to the UNO, Shri Guruji publicly warned that the step would boomerang and pose serious problems in future for the security and integrity of the country. Again, he was the first public leader to give out the news of illegal occupation by the Chinese of large chunks of our strategic Himalayan borders. In 1960, when Pandit Nehru and Chou-Enlai were jointly touring our country singing the lullaby of "HindiCheeni bhai bhai", Shri Guruji's was the one voice laying bare the dragon's teeth hidden behind that enchanting slogan.

And two years later, when the Chinese openly invaded our territory in 1962, the Swayamsevaks swung into action mobilising support to the governmental measures in general and to the jawans in particular. Pandit Nehru was so much impressed that he invited a Sangh contingent to take part in the Republic Day Parade of 26th January 1963. At a mere two days' notice, over 3,000 Swayamsevaks smartly turned up at the parade in full Sangh uniform. Their massive march, in fact, became the major highlight of the programme. When, later on, some Congressmen raised their eyebrows over the invitation to Sangh, Pandit Nehru brushed aside the objections saying that all patriotic citizens had been invited to join the parade.

During the war, the attitude of labour becomes a crucial factor. When China invaded Bharat, a section of the Communist Party of India proclaimed that Chinese forces were here for 'liberating' Bharat (from capitalist domination). Their leaders like Basavaponnaiah went to the extent of saying that Bharat was the aggressor and had occupied Chinese territory. Their unions were made tools to sabotage or obstruct our defence efforts. Their water-transporting union in the North-Eastern region served a strike notice. Transport of food and other materials to the jawans at the Front was hampered. However, the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh decided otherwise. At once it withdrew all agitations by its unions. All the pending demands were put off for the time being. A call was given to workers to give top priority to stepping up defence production and assisting all defence efforts.

The BMS did not stop at that. It decided to end the potentiality for mischief in future by such Trojan horses. In strategic sectors such as defence production, transport, power generation, transmission, etc., special efforts were made. Two decades of such persistent efforts have secured for the BMS federation in the defence sector-the Bharatiya Prati Raksha Mazdoor Sangh- a premier position. BMS is now confident that the leftist unions dare not try their 1962 tactics in the future. So also, in other lifelines of the nation like power generation, road and railway transport, the BMS has established a clear lead over others.

During 1965 Pak Aggression

When Pakistan attacked Bharat in 1965, Lal Bahadur Shastri, the Prime Minister, personally rang up Shri Guruji who was then touring Maharashtra and requested him to be in New Delhi for the All-Leaders Conference the following day. At the conference, Shri Guruji extended complete co-operation on behalf of the Sangh. He also urged that the hands of the Indian army should not be tied down to a defensive posture but allowed to evolve its own offensive strategy. At the conference, when one of the representatives, while addressing Shastriji, kept on saying 'your army', Shri Guruji corrected him with a sharp reminder: "Say, 'our army'."

In Delhi, for the entire period of 22 days of war, police duties like traffic control were transferred to Swayamsevaks to free the police for more pressing tasks. Ever since the beginning of war, batches of Swayamsevaks daily reported at the General Military Hospital, Delhi, to offer blood. The military looked upon the Sangh as a friend in need. Whenever they felt the need for any kind of civil assistance they would just ring up the Sangh Karyalaya. When the war was at its peak a military train carrying wounded jawans arrived in Delhi. Hundreds were urgently in need of blood transfusion. The army officers telephoned to the Delhi Sangh Karyalaya. It was midnight. The very next morning 500 Swayamsevaks reached the military hospital to donate blood. According to the hospital rules, each of them was offered 10 rupees. But the Swayamsevaks returned the amount saying that it could be better used for the wounded jawans.

The Sangh Swayamsevaks of Amritsar organised four canteens on the border within the shelling range of the enemy. It was indeed a sight to see the supreme courage of the young men working in such dangerous areas. The villagers used to donate huge quantities of milk free of charge to these canteens. They would bring meals prepared in desi ghee to these canteens, where hundreds of jawans took their food. On 8th September, when the Government authorities wanted clothes for a large number of injured soldiers, they were got ready in just four hours. The leadership provided by two Swayamsevak MLAs of the Jana Sangh during those crucial days was exemplary.

Prior to the commencement of the undeclared war, the civilian aspect of work was mostly on paper. But the superb way in which cent per cent black outs, night patrols and other items of civil defence measures were performed by the civilians was a miracle. The unarmed civilians successfully caught the Pakistani paratroopers who were armed to the teeth. Every mile of rail track, every bridge and culvert over rivers or canals and every aerodrome was guarded by the civilians in a most courageous and determined manner. And in all these efforts, needless to say, the Swayamsevaks were in the vanguard.

When the war broke out, the Jana Sangh MLA-a Swayamsevak-in Ferozepur district, whose village was situated in the border area just near the theatre of war, promptly told his villagers: "I will stay in my village and shall remain here whatever may happen." Whenever people, terror-stricken by Pakistan's shelling, wanted his consent to leave the village, he would tell them, " You can leave the village, if you so desire. But mind you, I will remain here and fight against Pakistan to my last." Listening to such heroic words, the villagers would again stick to their posts of duty, their morale steeled. Another Jana Sangh MLA, a Swayamsevak, continued to stay in Ferozepur even when the city was actually being bombarded and shelled by Pakistan. Fazilka town had a normal population of about 40,000. Hardly 5,000 persons stayed on eventually, and they were almost all Swayamsevaks and their families.

In Rajouri in Jammu, when two Swayamsevaks-one of them a leader of Jana Sangh-observed Pakistani troops proceeding towards the town, they hastened to the Army Cantonment to give the news. The Army Officer, on his part, had already prepared himself to face the enemy, but he suggested to the two Swayamsevaks to immediately shift to Jammu for safety. He offered them an army vehicle also for the purpose. But they refused the offer saying that their duty lay in their own place for maintaining people's morale and mobilising civilian support for the Army. The next day, a committee was formed for the purpose, which performed its job admirably and thus helped saving Rajouri from the enemy hands.

From Meindhar in the same area comes the story of a Swayamsevak, who dared to enter the enemy trenches. He snatched the stengun from the Pakistani soldier who was firing upon the neighbouring village, killed him and his comrades in the trench and saved the lives of hundreds of our countrymen. Another Swayamsevak of Pathani, in Naushera Taluk, sneaked through the Pak military formation which had surrounded and ambushed a section of the Indian army, and supplied the jawans the much needed water and foodstuffs. When the soldiers tried to shower presents on him he refused them saying that he had only done his duty towards the Motherland.

In Jammu, where the influx of displaced persons swelled into lakhs, the Sangh-sponsored Sahayata Samiti was the one foremost in the field of mobilizing the civilian co-operation for their relief. Right from 15th August up to 6th September, it arranged daily meals for about 25-35 thousand persons and supplied them with all the daily necessities of life. In Gujarat too, a Sangh Swayamsevak working at Okha near Dwaraka shot down two Pakistani satire jets flying low to bombard that port. When he was profusely congratulated by the army men, he remarked, in the true spirit of a Swayamsevak, "I have just done my duty, that is all." When the fighting ended, General Kulwant Singh told a Sangh worker, "Punjab is the sword-arm of India, and RSS is the sword-arm of Punjab." Soon after the war, when the Prime Minister was invited to Tashkent, Shri Guruji sent a message urging him not to go. When, however, he decided to go, Shri Guruji sent a letter to him through Atal Behari Vajpayee, wherein he had urged him to stand During 1971 War of Bangladesh Liberation When war with Pakistan broke out again in December 1971, Shri Guruji's advice to the Government and the people was clear and crisp: "At least now, we should be shaken out of our illusion that an appeal to the so-called international conscience would work wonders." He also said, "Our war aims should be clear. As our Shastras have declared, no shatru shesh, residue of the enemy, should be allowed to remain." However, the Government, in the wake of the heroic liberation of Bangladesh by our jawans, again relapsed into its old groove. With what results we all know now - with both Pakistan and Bangladesh becoming more and more belligerent all the time.

During the war, as on previous occasions, thousands of Swayamsevaks throughout Rajasthan, North Punjab, Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal pledged their services with the authorities for every kind of mobilisation of civilian support. At several important cities and towns, hundreds of Swayamsevaks enlisted themselves as blood donors as well as volunteers for civil defence and first aid. Patrolling during black-out and undertaking relief works became their normal duties. In Uttar Pradesh, a sustained programme for public awakening was undertaken. Prabhat-pheris (early morning marches) and public contacts were taken up for exhorting the people to remain vigilant about the pro-Pale elements and their possible fifth column activities. In Delhi, the Kingsway Camp police station authorities requisitioned the services of the Swayamsevaks to guard the broadcasting and other vital installations in Radio Colony and the water works at Wazirabad. The Swayamsevaks also looked after the wounded jawans in hospitals at many places. Army hospitals were often flooded with fruits and other consumer articles for the use of the wounded jawans.

On 7th December 1971, when the Barmer railway station in Rajasthan was bombed by Pakistani planes, about 40 to 45 Swayamsevaks rushed to the dangerous spot. A goods train carrying petrol drums was likely to catch fire. The Swayamsevaks, unmindful of the intermittent bombing, removed the drums to safer places. During those critical days, senior defence and government officers insisted that only the Sangh men be permitted to run the canteens in those sensitive border areas.

During 1971 War of Bangladesh Liberation

When war with Pakistan broke out again in December 1971, Shri Guruji's advice to the Government and the people was clear and crisp: "At least now, we should be shaken out of our illusion that an appeal to the so-called international conscience would work wonders." He also said, "Our war aims should be clear. As our Shastras have declared, no shatru shesh, residue of the enemy, should be allowed to remain." However, the Government, in the wake of the heroic liberation of Bangladesh by our jawans, again relapsed into its old groove. With what results we all know now - with both Pakistan and Bangladesh becoming more and more belligerent all the time.

During the war, as on previous occasions, thousands of Swayamsevaks throughout Rajasthan, North Punjab, Jammu, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Bengal pledged their services with the authorities for every kind of mobilisation of civilian support. At several important cities and towns, hundreds of Swayamsevaks enlisted themselves as blood donors as well as volunteers for civil defence and first aid. Patrolling during black-out and undertaking relief works became their normal duties. In Uttar Pradesh, a sustained programme for public awakening was undertaken. Prabhat-pheris (early morning marches) and public contacts were taken up for exhorting the people to remain vigilant about the pro-Pale elements and their possible fifth column activities. In Delhi, the Kingsway Camp police station authorities requisitioned the services of the Swayamsevaks to guard the broadcasting and other vital installations in Radio Colony and the water works at Wazirabad. The Swayamsevaks also looked after the wounded jawans in hospitals at many places. Army hospitals were often flooded with fruits and other consumer articles for the use of the wounded jawans.

On 7th December 1971, when the Barmer railway station in Rajasthan was bombed by Pakistani planes, about 40 to 45 Swayamsevaks rushed to the dangerous spot. A goods train carrying petrol drums was likely to catch fire. The Swayamsevaks, unmindful of the intermittent bombing, removed the drums to safer places. During those critical days, senior defence and government officers insisted that only the Sangh men be permitted to run the canteens in those sensitive border areas.

In the era of information explosion, these things need to be told again to generations to come!

RSS that we do not know (Part I)

http://www.rss.org/New_RSS/History/Achievements.jsp

Much has been said and written about RSS and people take pride in maligning right wing organizations in India in the name of secularism. But we should not overlooked the fact that no other organization is survived over 80 years and still growing. Let us look in to the other aspect of RSS that is not even swayamsevak are aware of!

In Freedom Movement THE SPIRIT of freedom Dr. Hedgewar had embodied in himself and had infused in the Swayamsevaks has continued to blaze radiantly. Several have been the occasions when this quality has come to the fore-both when the British were ruling and after they left.

By the early forties, the war took an adverse turn for the British. Shri Guruji had just assumed the leadership of Sangh. The urgent and paramount task of mobilising and training the Hindu youth brooked no delay. His hurricane tours over large parts of the country began . The message went home. Hundreds of young Swayamsevaks gave up their studies, left their hearths and homes and began spreading the message of national emancipation through Sangh.

The launching of the 1942 'Quit India' agitation by the Congress proved more like a sporadic outburst than as an organised and well-planned rebellion. There was no prior consultation by the Congress with other organised, patriotic groups like the Sangh. Nevertheless, several Sangh workers took active part in it. They played a notable role in Chimur in the famous Ashti Chimur rebellion in Vidarbha. The British fury in suppressing it was unparalleled. The putting out of action of the Delhi Muzaffarnagar railway line was the handiwork of young men from Delhi, mostly Swayamsevaks. While Nana Patil of Patri Sarkar fame in Maharashtra was sheltered by Pandit S. D. Satwalekar, the celebrated Vedic scholar and Sanghachalak of Aundh, Sane Guruji, an underground Socialist leader, was under the protective wings of Pune Sanghachalak Bhausaheb Deshmukh. Inside the capital Delhi itself, Jayaprakash Narayan and Aruna Asaf Ali took asylum with Lala Hansraj Gupta, the Delhi and Punjab Sanghachalak. The waning of the 1942 movement left behind a gaping void in the people's mind. There was yet another growing threat looming on the national horizon. With all the nationalist leaders of Congress lodged behind bars, the Muslim League had a field day. Egged on by the British, their posture now became more recalcitrant. The League had already passed, in 1940 at Lahore, the 'Pakistan' Resolution. By now the League's designs had become crystal clear. It had taken recourse to violence and bloodshed to browbeat the Congress leadership into accepting Partition. The 'Direct Action' call and the great Calcutta killings had left no one in doubt about the dreadful shape of things to come. During those days Gandhiji's stay was in Bhangi Colony in Delhi. On one night, when Muslim ruffians surrounded the place and hurled vulgar abuses and threats at Gandhiji, the Sangh Swayamsevaks stalled further mischief by their night-long vigil thereafter.

By now, the spectre of Partition had begun to haunt the nation's mind. The Hindu masses instinctively felt that a militant and organised Hindu force was the urgent need of the hour. That alone could rescue the integrity and freedom of the Motherland from the gang-up of the twin hostile forces of the British and the Muslim League. No wonder, to the average Hindu, the Sangh appeared as the only ray of hope. The result was a tremendous Hindu upsurge sweeping all over the country.

During the 1947 Crisis

The sudden and unexpected decision on 3rd June 1947 of the Congress leaders to accept Partition came as a stunning blow to the Hindu people, and more so to the Sangh Swayamsevaks. The British, more than anyone else, knew what the Sangh was all about. Their intelligence records had referred to Shri Guruji as an astute leader. Their report with the National Archives in New Delhi, referring to one of his speeches at the RSS training camp, says: "Golwalkar denounced those persons who render every possible assistance to the present government for their own selfish ends... He declared that the Sangh had resolved to do its duty even though the whole world goes against it and impressed on the volunteers that they must be ready to sacrifice their lives for the cause of Bharat Mata."

The British also unerringly read the pulse of the nation. They knew that time was running out against them. The INA trials had revived the stirring memories of Subhas Chandra Bose. The sparks of naval revolt in Bombay flew to distant cantonments touching off sympathetic strikes by the airmen and the army. This was followed by the British Prime Minister's declaration to quit Bharat at the earliest date. And on 20th February 1947, he also announced the date of their quitting as not later than June 1948.

However, Mountbatten, the last Viceroy who carried out the final operation of Partition, fixed 15th August 1947-a full ten months earlier-for quitting. Leonard Mosley, who accompanied Mountbatten, laid bare the chief reason behind it. He wrote that the advancement of the date of transfer of power, in spite of opposition from army commanders, was "to jostle a settlement through before any really effective opposition to the partition of the country had time to develop." One of the more crucial forces which could have contributed to the opposition was, obviously, the rise of Hindu power spearheaded by the Sangh. The British clearly knew that the Sangh was committed to Complete Independence of Akhand (Undivided) Bharat. They were also aware that Shri Guruji in his countrywide tours was invoking the inspiring vision of Akhand Bharat, and that his call to the youth to consider no sacrifice too great in the cause of safeguarding her unity and integrity was eliciting tremendous response. To the Rescue of Delhi

However, Partition did come about. The country was gripped in a terrible convulsion. The Swayamsevaks who had day in and day out cherished the picture of a free and united Bharat were plunged in deep anguish. However, they responded to the call of duty to protect the integrity of whatever portion of the land had been liberated and to save the life and honour of the Hindu brethren left in the lost portions.

Delhi was then in the throes of violence and intrigues by the Muslim Leaguers. When later on Dr. Bhagawan Das, the great sarvant and a recipient of the Bharat Ratna award, came to know the details of the role of Sangh in those crucial days, he wrote feelingly on 16th October 1948: "I have been reliably informed that a number of youths of RSS were able to inform Sardar Patel and Nehruji in the very nick of time of the Leaguers' intended coup on September 10, 1947, whereby they had planned to assassinate all members of Government and all Hindu officials and thousands of Hindu citizens on that day and plant the flag of Pakistan on the Red Fort and then seize all Hindusthan." He added: "Why have I said all this? Because if those high-spirited and self-sacrificing boys had not given the very timely information to Nehruji and Patelji, there would have been no Government of India today, the whole country would have changed its name into 'Pakistan', tens of millions of Hindus would have been slaughtered and all the rest converted to Islam or reduced to stark slavery. Well, what is the net result of all this long story? Simply this-that our Government should utilise, and not sterilise, the patriotic energies of the lakhs of RSS youths."

In the Integration of Kashmir

Immediately after Independence a most serious challenge to the freedom and integrity of independent Bharat was posed in Kashmir. Briefly told, the Declaration of 3rd June 1947 had left all the princely rulers of undivided Bharat free to join either Bharat or Pakistan or even remain independent. However, Hari Singh, the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir, was in an awful fix. The Maharaja, a devout and patriotic Hindu, could not think of joining Pakistan. In view of the marked Muslim majority in the State, he felt hesitant to straightway join Bharat either. Mountbatten specially flew to Kashmir in the third week of June in a bid to persuade the Maharaja to join Pakistan. The Maharaja, however, resisted the pressure and as a stop-gap arrangement executed a 'Stand-Still Agreement' with Pakistan and wanted to have a similar link with Bharat. But the Indian leaders would not consent to that proposal. Inside the State itself, the Muslim Conference began pressing the Maharaja to opt for Pakistan. R. C. Kak, the then Prime Minister of Kashmir, however, advised him to remain independent.

Amidst these conflicting pulls, the Sangh leaders in the State began exerting every possible influence to persuade the Maharaja to declare his accession to Bharat before the deadline of 15th August 1947. The State Sanghachalak, Pandit Prem Nath Dogra, submitted several memoranda and followed them up with personal interviews with the Maharaja. Several social and political organisations in the province were also persuaded to pass resolutions urging the Maharaja to join Bharat without delay. Thousands of telegrams were sent to him from all parts of Kashmir and other neighbouring states. Badridasji, Sanghachalak of Punjab whom the Maharaja held in high esteem, hastened to Srinagar to meet and advise him.

However, forces inimical to Bharat would not let the Maharaja have his way. When 14th August came, the postal authorities in Srinagar hoisted the Pakistani flag on their office because the post offices within the State came under Sialkot circle which now formed part of Pakistan. Promptly, the Sangh Swayamsevaks and sympathisers saw to it that the postal authorities pulled down the Pakistani flag. On the next day, i.e., the 15th of August, the Indian Tricolour flew over most of the houses and shops in Srinagar. The flags had been prepared in hundreds in the Sangh Karyalaya and distributed to the people.

In the meanwhile, the pro-Pakistani elements inside Kashmir intensified their propaganda to pressurise the Maharaja to join Pakistan. Large-scale smuggling of arms into the State to foment internal rebellion was on. Economic blockade from outside was clamped by Pakistan. The Sangh leaders were the first to realise the gravity of the situation; and again they sent memoranda to the Maharaja. A Sangh Swayamsevak in the guise of a Muslim had wormed himself into the camp of the Muslim personnel of the State's Armed Forces at Srinagar and secured detailed plans of the projected Pakistan invasion. A prominent Sangh worker of Kashmir personally informed the Commander of the State Forces about the plan and the impending tragedy. Later developments tallied word to word with the details of that plan.

At the diplomatic level at the Centre, too, Sangh had made certain moves in the crucial mid-October days. Sardar Patel, knowing the mind of the Maharaja, had pitched upon Shri Guruji to talk to him. Shri Guruji, he knew, commanded the implicit confidence of the Maharaja. Shri Guruji flew to Srinagar on 17th October 1947. He brought home to the Maharaja the futility of harbouring any idea of retaining Kashmir as an independent kingdom and advised him to join Bharat straightway. Finally, the Maharaja expressed his readiness to sign the Instrument of Accession to Bharat. Shri Guruji returned to New Delhi on 19th October, and reported to Sardar Patel about the Maharaja's readiness to accede to Bharat.

The sudden and massive invasion of Kashmir on 23rd October by Pakistani tribesmen, the SOS to Delhi by the Maharaja for help, agreeing to the accession of the State to Bharat and the flying of Indian troops to save Kashmir-all these followed in lightning succession. The first attack by Pakistani raiders was made on 11th October 1947. Many on the Indian side were butchered and large numbers of women abducted. Then began regular raids on a long stretch of the border. By October 22-23, the entire Jammu Sialkot border was aflame reducing scores of border villages to ashes. Within the city of Jammu itself, the local Muslims numbering about 20,000 were in a rebellious mood. The first shot was fired in Talab Katikan area which was followed by a series of riots. The fate of Jammu city and the entire countryside, with no troops on hand, hung in a precarious balance. A terrible tragedy stared everybody in the face. But the young men of Sangh rose to the occasion. They faced the pro-Pakistani Muslim elements inside, repulsed their repeated attacks and shattered their designs.

Thus was saved Jammu. But for the Swayamsevaks' valiant efforts, Jammu could never have been saved; and without Jammu, there was not the ghost of a chance to save Srinagar even by Indian forces.

Once the backbone of internal saboteurs was broken, Swayamsevaks took up the urgent task of broadening the Jammu aerodrome. Five hundred Swayamsevaks toiled round the clock for seven days and made the aerodrome ready for the Indian dakotas to land. Roads for the movement of Indian Army were also repaired and constructed by them in record time. In the meanwhile, in several villages on the border, the local Muslims had joined hands with the invaders and butchered thousands of Hindus and abducted thousands of Hindu women. In that critical hour, once again the indomitable spirit of heroism and sacrifice of the Sangh Swayamsevaks came to the fore. Hundreds of Swayamsevaks from Jammu laid down their lives in saving the lives and honour of tens of thousands of Hindus remaining in Mirpur, after it fell into Pakistani hands.

The helpless refugees struggling towards Jammu had no other protection against the Pathan snipers except a hundred and more Sangh men moving by their side, in a day-and-night vigil. Kotley was a strategic border town.. Pak raiders assisted by local Muslims intruded into the town repeatedly and carried out killings and other atrocities. But the Hindus did not give up. Every time they fought back and almost every street and house became a fortress of defence. Scores of our mothers and sisters perferred martyrdom through poison or at the hands of their own male folk rather than sacrificing their honour at the hands of invaders. For six weeks, the Hindus held on to their post. The entire credit for this historic defence of a vital border post goes to the Sangh Swayamsevaks. Led by their heroic Nagar Karyavaha (city secretary of Sangh) the Swayamsevaks strengthened the people's morale, roused their spirit of patriotism and organised them for heroic resistance.

Swayamsevaks felt no sacrifice too great when the call came to assist our Army. The garrison inside Kotley had run out of ammunition. 20 chests of ammunitions dropped by our Air Force had fallen off a steep slope, well within the range of Pakistani artillery. The Commander of the garrison thought it unwise to risk the life of the few available soldiers to salvage the material as the task seemed to entail sure death. However, a local Sangh worker, Krishnalal, along with 20 other Swayamsevaks, accepted the challenge and brought back 17 chests. But they had to pay the price of six precious lives, including their leader. In lieu of the six, however, they had saved the life and honour of six thousand Hindus in the town. And right at the fag-end of the battle, Prakash, the Nagar Karyavaha, also fell a martyr while defending the town.

In Kashmir Valley, too, the situation was similar. Though Sheikh Abdullah, assured by Delhi of his supreme position in Kashmir, stood firm against the Pak invasion, his followers joined the raiders being carried away by the Islamic frenzy let loose by Pak propaganda. The Swayamsevaks joined the militia in large numbers and stood by the Indian Army in throwing out the raiders. The defence of Srinagar claimed the life of Pandit Manmath, a Sangh worker in the militia. Sheikh Abdullah's government allowed the Sangh Swayamsevaks to work in the militia till the Kashmir Valley was cleared of the raiders and his own regime was well settled. And once that purpose was served, the Sangh Swayamsevaks were eased out of the militia and even out of Kashmir in a planned manner.

In the Liberation of Goa

The struggle for Independence was not over with the quitting of the British. On 2nd August 1954, one hundred Sangh Swayamsevaks stormed the remaining Portuguese enclaves of Dadra and Nagar Haveli. The attack was led by the late Vinayak Rao Apte, Pune Sanghachalak. The group included several prominent Sangh workers. They formulated the guerilla strategy and attacked the main police headquarters at Selvassa and forced the 175 soldiers there to surrender unconditionally. The National Tricolour was hoisted and the region handed over to the Central Government on the same day. On 2nd August 1979-the occasion of the silver jubilee of that historic event-the people of Selvassa invited the 100 freedom-heroes and felicitated them. In 1987, the Maharashtra State Government too recognised them as freedom fighters and honoured them.

The Portuguese still held sway over Goa. The first to unfurl the Tricolour Flag over the Panaji Secretariat in 1955 was a Swayamsevak working as a teacher in Goa. He remained in the Lisbon jail for full 17 years-well after Goa was liberated in 1961. In 1955, Swayamsevaks took a leading part in the all-party national struggle for its liberation. The task of providing food and shelter, all along the Goa border, to the Satyagrahis who were streaming from different parts of the country was shouldered by the Swayamsevaks. Prominent workers of Sangh and Jana Sangh led several batches of Satyagrahis and a number of them suffered bullet wounds and inhuman tortures in Portuguese jails.

Rajabhau Mahankal of Ujjain was among the prominent Swayamsevaks who led a batch from Madhya Bharat. Right at the border, the Protuguese police were ready with their bayonets and bullets to 'welcome' the Satyagrahis. Before Rajabhau proceeded into Goa border, the first three columns of Satyagrahis were fired upon. They fell down wounded. When the daring Sahodara Devi of Saugar in the third row fell wounded, Rajabhau took the Tricolour from her hands and stepped forward with the roar of 'Bharat Mata ki jai'. Rajabhau fell with one of his eyes pierced right through with a bullet. In those few seconds, before he became unconscious, he commanded others to take care of the Flag and of the other wounded Satyagrahis. And within a few minutes, he joined the rank of martyrs who had covered themselves with immortal glory in the cause of the freedom of the Motherland.