Vijayadashami 2014 speech of Sarsanghachalak

Summary of the address of Parampujya Sarsanghchalak Dr. Mohanrao Bhagwat on the occasion of Sri Vijaya Dashmi – 2014 on Friday 3rd October

We have gathered here once again after a year on this auspicious and holy occasion of Vijaya Dashami. This year the environment is quite different and everyone can feel it. . The grand success of our scientists in sending our "Mangal Yaan" into the orbit of Mars, that also in the maiden attempt, has tremendously generated respect for us and has added to our self confidence. We express our hearty congratulations to all our scientists and their entire team for their success in the "Magnal-Abhiyaan". We heartily congratulate all the athletes who made the nation proud by winning medals in Asiad games going on in South Korea. This year also happens to be the millennium year of victorious saga of life of the great Rajrajendra Chol. The 50th anniversary of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay"s great philosophy of "Ekatma Manav-darshan" i.e. "Integral Humanism" is yet another proud reference of this year. . We have also made the world realise that the common citizen of Bharat takes part in the process of future building of her/his nation through execution of her/his democratic responsibilities with maturity and enthusiasm as equal, if not more, to the prosperous and well educated citizens of so called developed countries. This realization about Bharatiya people among countries across the world has substantially increased respect for our patience, enthusiasm and our self confidence, as expressed by some of them. The enthusiasm and resolve exhibited by the Bharatiya Diaspora across the world towards Bharat is a welcome omen for the proud and prosperous Bharat.

But we must also realize that all this is only a small step in the direction of our goal of making Bharat the "Vishwa-Guru" of the world, a model nation that runs on the principles of happiness, peace and harmony. We have to do a lot and have to cover quite a long distance to reach our goal. One can understand this easily after reviewing the prevailing situation within Bharat and across the world.

Humanity can live a happy, peaceful and beautiful life only when we understand and follow the principles of loving and respectfully accepting the plurality inherent in nature; move with a sense of coordination, cooperation, empathy and dialogue and; adopt the path of non-violence and constitutional middle path instead of practicing unilateral fanaticism and violence in our practices in matters related to ideological and religious conduct. This truth has been intellectually preached, quite sufficiently for that matter, since the beginning of known world history. Everyone knows this at the thinking level. But these noble thoughts though preached regularly in discourses and advice has no backing of practice. What we observe is nothing less than arrogance, egoism, selfishness and utter rigidity when it comes to individual or national behaviour. It is not therefore surprising that despite a substantial progress on the fronts of human knowledge, science, technology, facilities and comforts and despite making all efforts and experiments in the direction of reducing unhappiness, pain and grief, over past two thousand years, humanity is still facing the same problems time and again. Rather this so called "progress" has added new problems which we are unable to handle.

Today we see that even when the issue of ecology is being discussed in details for past many decades, yet we find that with each passing day the ecological destruction is approaching much faster and closer to us. Because of this environmental destruction, the world is facing newer and deadlier natural calamities consistently. But except for some changes in their vocabulary or some half hearted attempts at symptomatic treatment, no meaningful change is visible in the policies of nations and large multinational companies. What we are witnessing today is simply the same old, single minded materialistic, consumerist and a self centred ideology at work in overt or covert forms. It is this self centred collective greed that gives rise to exploitation, suppression, violence and fanaticism. Precisely, operating on the basis of such selfish interests by the western countries is responsible for a new incarnation of terror and fundamentalism that has emerged today in West Asia in the form of ISIS terrorising the whole world. There is no doubt that most countries and religious groups of the world are thinking of standing united and fighting against this menace and they may do so; but, unless the momentum of that vicious cycle of terror is uprooted, it is not possible to rescue the world from the cyclic waves of terror which keeps on emerging in a new shape every time due to the acts and tendencies of self centeredness and selfish greed since centuries.

Those who want to undertake this effort will have to first completely eradicate the selfishness, fear and absolute materialistic fundamentalism from their own hearts and adopt an integrated and holistic view that looks for happiness of one and all. Those forces which focus only at achieving the economic interests of their own groups in the name of globalization; want to expand their own empires in the name of establishing peace or; compelling all other countries to remain weak and helpless in the name of non-proliferation of weapons, can never and shall never let the dream of a happy and beautiful world become a reality.

In the history of past one thousand years, Bharat has been the only example which has made genuine efforts in this direction through the path of truth and non-violence. Right from times immemorial to this moment, the unbroken current of national thinking that has prevailed in the vast region between the Himalayas and its extensions on one side and the sea on the other, has been known as Hindutva. Its special characteristic is that despite the natural plurality of languages, geography, faiths and sects, castes and sub castes, food habits, traditions etc., it assimilates and accepts all of them with full respect and takes them along in the direction of welfare of the entire world. It offers complete freedom in matters of one"s search for truth in life, experience and its inference. Neither any questions are raised against one"s faith being different, nor campaigns are run to destroy other idols of worship, nor there is a tradition of raising disputes over the validity or respectability of other"s faith on the basis of systems restricted by the dictates of a book. Full freedom of unrestricted debates on opinions about faith and beliefs intellectually, at the same time respect and acceptance of each other’s faith, harmony and cooperation is the hall mark speciality of Hindu Culture. With Bharat"s deep faith in the mantra of "Vasudhaiv Kutumbakam" (i.e. entire world is one family), a wide range of her Rishis, Munis, Bhikshus, Shramanas, Saints, scholars and experts travelled across the world from Mexico to Siberia in olden eras. Without attempting to conquer any empire or without destroying way of life of any society, prayer systems or national and cultural identity, they shared with them the Bharatiya ethos of love, affection and universal welfare. Even today the Bharatiya Diaspora and our spiritual leaders are loved and respected for carrying forward the same tradition. This explains why communities and thinkers across the world see a positive hope for themselves and the world in the future of Bharat.

A poet has described Bharatiya spirit in beautiful words which translate into English like this:

To the hungry babies of this world, I"ve fed blood from my heart,

Not others" lands, I"m determined to conquer innumerable hearts !

‘‘मैंने सीने का लहु पिलाकर

पाले हैं दुनिया के क्षुधित लाल

भूभाग नहीं

शत शत मानव के स्रदय जीतने का निश्‍चय। ’’

Our ancient Rishi-Munis too have given voice to this very goal of Bharat’s timeless existence in these words:

एतद्देश प्रसूतस्य सकाशादग्रजन्मन:।

(Children of this land should teach (the way of life) the Humanity by their own living examples.)

Hence, on this auspicious day of Vijaya Dashami, a new horizon of victory is clear to us -- as our goal of developing Bharat into the guide and torch bearer of the whole world. We have to develop India consistent with the present times and conditions, which can stand on its own as an all capable, beautiful and prosperous nation in every manner; a nation that looks at the entire world with a holistic, selfless, integral and impartial vision. Bharat of our vision is one which accepts all pluralities of the universe and is capable of presenting itself as an example of integration. We have to build a Bharat where prosperity comes hand in hand with ethics and rationality; where compassion, service, welfare and fearlessness are constituents of invincible strength; whose path of development should promote universal welfare. This is the Bharat that we have to build. Bharat of our vision whose Diaspora across the world grandly exemplify Bharat"s gentleness, strong character and universality to their host populations, a strong Bharat which will be a natural assurance of safety and security to every such person who claims links with its land, ancestors and culture.

With similar expectations in mind, few months ago, the people of Bharat brought about a drastic change in the government. This change of government is not even six months old. But positive signs are emanating from time to time which give hope about emergence of Bharat on the international horizon and it appears that the people"s desire of a life, secure and progressing in all its aspects, will soon start reflecting in the governance. In a very short period, some policy initiatives taken by the central government in national interest on the fronts of economy, national security, international relations and many other areas have raised good hopes. The government should now ensure that these policies maintain their momentum in a determined and well organized manner. We need to wait for some more time, with a sense of hope and faith.

Recently, floods have incurred heavy losses of life and property in many parts of the country, especially in Jammu and Kashmir. We pray to the All Mighty for peace to the souls of those fellow citizens who lost their lives in these floods and express our sympathy and support to their family members. The swiftness, efficiency and open heartedness with which the Central government provided relief and help to the affected people deserves appreciation. As always, this time too, the Swayamsewaks of RSS and workers of Sewa Bharati joined hands with numerous other organizations to provide timely relief to the affected people. They have also taken up future action plans in this direction. Such moments, when Indian society rises above all differences and comes forward to offer every possible support to fellow countrymen, reflect collective sensitivity and national integration of Bharatiya society.

However, the present overall ground situation of the country appears quite difficult and complex. Leaving everything related to the nation"s future in the hands of government is not going to prove very effective. All prevailing policy systems across the world have proven themselves as incomplete and half baked visions. The system in our country too has been suffering from the same problem since our independence. Our society still remains afflicted by the decay of many of our vital social values like honesty, social harmony, entrepreneurship, idealism, cultured conduct and other similar collective qualities which are necessary for a nation to be strong. Many internal and foreign forces are still active in Bharat, whose only aim is to exploit the system for their petty gains. Their focus is of playing games by exploiting and aggravating these aberrations and creating clashes. It is therefore, expected that everyone involved in the government machinery should remain vigilant and efficient. They will have to evolve a suitable development path which suits our current situation and adopt best ones out of various development models prevalent today. They will also have to tackle the mistakes caused by the lack of an integral view and will have to evolve new alternative policies. The new policy makers should also take best advantage of the vision and experience of great Bharatiya leaders right from the tradition of Swamy Vivekananda, Yogi Arvind, Swamy Ramtirth, Gurudev Ravindra Nath Thakur and Lokmanya Tilak to Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Swatantrya Veer Savarkar, Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar, Acharya Vinoba Bhave, Second Sarsanghachalak of RSS Shri ‘Guruji’ aka Madhav Sadashiv Golvalkar, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia, Jayprakash Narayan and Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay. It is high time that Bharat should now evolve a new and suitable development model that incorporates the vision of such leaders in fields like education, culture, economics, sociology and security; which emerges from deep, integral, original and practical thinking process of such stalwarts. We must remember that the final test of the efficacy of these policies will be their impact on the life of the last person standing, a Bharatiya on the last step of the ladder. We must remember that the self reliance should be a necessary component of national prosperity and security. We must remember that Bharat has been the top leader of the world for centuries because of our richness in thinking about life from different viewpoints. In that sense, Bharat still holds the capability of world"s welfare. This thinking process has now to be adapted to the new situations prevailing in the present day world.

With faith and hope the society awaits the government to shape the nation as envisaged by our Constitution.

The evolution of nations in the world history shows that without active cooperation and participation of people, mere political power cannot bring about the desired change in the society. Therefore those individuals and organizations who are engaged in giving direction to the society and solving its various problems, must remain active and vigilant. In a democratic system, the governments gain tremendously from their activism, awareness and maturity in the interest of the nation and it also protects the nation from possibility of detracting in the game of power politics.

It is therefore necessary that all such individuals and organisations should rise above their and organizational interests and keep themselves busy in educating people and solving their problems. In a democratic system, it is necessary that these players, the government and administration should keep their dialogue alive; and the government be informed whether the fruits of its policies are reaching the last Bharatiya in the queue or not.

The complexity and seriousness of the situation of the nation reflects this need in the development process of the nation. There is a serious upsurge in the jehadi activities in the southern parts of Bharat, especially in Kerala and Tamil Nadu. No effective policy imperatives, efforts are visible in curbing such activities. No visible reduction in smuggling of rare earth minerals from the southern coast has come to notice. In states like West Bengal and Assam, the population imbalance has been caused by illegal migration of a particular community from across the national borders. Near surrender before these fanatic elements and appeasement policy adopted by the ruling parties in these states, have put the life of local Hindu communities, the law and order situation as well as the national security under serious threat in the region. The nation has yet to see the impact of the joint plan of the Central and State governments in putting an effective check on the activities of Jehadi and Naxal extremists and those forces which are helping and promoting them. These extremist groups have presented a serious threat to the internal national security.

But the society too has to play an important role in meeting this challenge. The society needs to be aware towards tackling this problem. Those individuals who are engaged in various kind of smuggling o n the borders also belong to the same society. Those people who provide shelter and employment to the illegal migrants (infiltrators) from other side are none other than the very citizens of our country. The social situations causing exploitation of poor and lack of development finally help the Naxals in recruiting poor youths as their cannon fodder. Though an alert, transparent, sensitive and a rule abiding administration is necessary for ending exploitation and ensuring development, equally important is the role of society in eradicating exploitation of the poor through active cooperation, striving in a democratic way to end their exploitation and by running various types of help and support activities in order to take these fruits of development to the deprived people. We feel it necessary to put a ban on meat exports, beef in particular and cow smuggling in immediate future.

It is necessary that policies of the government should take the nation towards self reliance and should encourage entrepreneurship among the people, but it is equally important for the people to encourage consumption of Swadeshi products. Our tendency of buying daily need goods, even buying foreign made statues of our Gods and Goddesses, simply because they are cheaper in price, needs to be abandoned. We need a vigilant government, a strong defence policy and brave and efficient defence force to ensure the security of our nation, but we equally need a society of people who are patriotic, vigilant and of a high moral character. The discourse in the society should be such that the morale of the armed forces and the government is enhanced. It is the duty of the society to provide sufficient number of capable youths as soldiers and officers to our armed forces. The society must keep vigilant eyes and ears on the activities going on around them to ensure safety of the nation.

But are we sure about the actual situation in our society? Can we say for sure that the atmosphere in our family life is suitable for giving right kind of training to our children and adolescents? Do the parents in our family provide the right kind of example to encourage positive values among the children? The increasing consumption of narcotic drugs among our young generation simply reflects the falling levels of mutual affection, communication and values among the family members. We have been a society which has been guided by principles like

‘‘मातृवत् परदारेषु ,परद्रव्येषु लोष्ठवत्। आत्मवत् सर्वभूतेषु ’’

(Viewing every other woman as mother, others wealth as mere dust and every other creature as one’s own self.) The erosion of these values is now clearly reflecting through increase in crime, atrocities on women and misconduct and also lack of restraint on the part of our young generation across the country. In order to put a check on these unfortunate tendencies, we surely need a strong and effective enforcement of law. But there is an equal need to put forth our own examples of good conduct and cultured behaviour.

Everyone is aware of the role of government in such an environment. The education departments have to see that the education they impart is available to all, instilling values and cultural components, empowering the students to stand up with self respect and courage in the struggle of life. It is the responsibility of the government to keep check on tendency of visual and print media to offer such programs and advertisements which degrade morality in society. But society need not await for the government actions in this regard. Our own family too is a micro society. Family as a fundamental unit of society is still a part of our life. We cannot run courses in different subjects in family, but our families can surely provide training in fields like adding human values to a family member"s life; discretion in do’s and don’ts, importance of courage and patience which strengthens a person in the struggle of life. In our own family it is entirely up to us to preserve the traditional values and mould the conduct of elders in the family and create a dialogue, consistent with the traditions, among family members. It is the need of every household today.

There are few more fields in which we don"t need to wait for the government"s role and can take lead on our own, like putting an end to poverty and social discrimination. Luckily we have had a tradition of thinking and action on both of these fronts. There are many voluntary groups which are active in fields like education, health, increasing environmental awareness and self reliance. There are many areas like occupational training, water conservation, organic farming, cow protection and promotion, and rural development etc. in which many people are already working enthusiastically. Our Swayamsewaks too are engaged in many such activities. But considering the vast expanse of our society, there is still a huge potential for expanding these activities. Depending upon our own taste and capability, we can join any of such activities or can even start a new project independently. At least, we can start with our own family members to help some needy brothers and sisters in our neighbourhood or among our domestic helps.

There is an urgent need to take up eradication of social discrimination in our society in a bigger and faster way. No government or administrative machinery has the powers to remove feeling of discrimination from people"s mind. It will end only with the efforts and initiative of society itself. This can start only by direct action at the level of our mind, our family and friends. To do this, we will have to remove all such habits, misbelieves, traditions and practices which encourage such discrimination. We will have to drive out even the smallest of the remnants of our caste based, regional and linguistic egos which breed such prejudices. We will have to stop ourselves from even listening to or speaking such provocative statements which encourage such prejudices in our hearts. We must also stop ourselves from participating in any such violent activity that arises from such provocative speech and environment. Each one of us must test each of our act, whether big or small, on the simple ground that each member of my great Hindu society, and each son/daughter of Mother Bharat, is my own brother and sister. We must ensure that each of our Hindu temple, cremation ground and community water source must remain open to all Hindus. We should ensure that all Hindus should participate in all functions, celebrations as well as festivals of great heroes and personalities.

By shedding away the contraction inflicted on our extent of love through ages by breaking this barrier, is one kind of “Seemollanghan” we must do today.

We are not short of philosophies. Many of our great men have been proponents of personal and collective wisdom in tune with the eternal as well as contemporary suitable values. This is the 50th year of "Integral Humanism" presented by Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay ji. Fortunately we can see today a set of leadership which appears to be keen to give practical shape to the values that were presented by our great leaders through their honest and selfless thinking for the welfare of our nation. Any social enterprise supported by qualities like vigilance, integrity, personal and national character and discipline etc is bound to succeed in building a balanced, happy and beautiful national life in spite of any challenges, in any form.

Vijaya Dashmi is the celebration of victory. The new horizon of victory visible before the nation is calling us. The nine days vigilance and penance for attainment of collective strength bore fruit of the victory of the virtuous Divine, on the Vijaya Dashmi day. Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh has been engaged since 1925 in building a virtuous, strong and organised society. A conducive environment in society helps the transformation in the conduct of people that leads to desired change in the system. In view of the size of our society; the complexity of the internal and external problems it is facing; and the great goal that awaits this nation -- a lot more is yet to be done. Since its inception, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh has been engaged in the great mission of building a work force of such swayamsewaks, who are energized with the pride of their national Hindu identity; are empowered by inculcating great qualities in their personality; and are prepared to sacrifice everything even their life for the great goal as a constituent of dedicated and disciplined organisation. The all inclusive and all encompassing truth is what we call Hinduness. It is our national identity. That is why we should take the Sangh Shakha to each home in every village, street and community. The entire world is today waiting for this eternal nation to stand up in its own form which was described by a poet in following words: (as roughly translated from Hindi original :)

“Every country in the world when baffled and stumbled,

Visited this very land in search of truth,

The land offering solace to every trounced,

Offering to rescue every fallen.”

O! Great Nation! O! Great Hindusthan!"

‘‘विश्‍व का हर देश जब भी ,दिग्भ्रमित हो लड़खड़ाया ,

सत्य की पहचान करने ,इस धरा के पास आया।

भूमि यह हर दलित को पुचकारती ,हर पतित को उद्धारती ,

धन्य देश महान ,धन्य हिन्दुस्थान। ’’

I conclude hereby with a reiterated call to come forward and contribute towards reconstruction of this great nation!

"BHARAT MATA KI JAI"