DIALECTICAL HINDUTVA – INTEGRAL HUMANISM AND ROLE OF NaMo
Hindutva is confusing only to those who have either never heard of dialectics, or to those who have forgotten it in their zeal for materialism. Dialectics is an approach that recognises opposites and polarities in material life and seeks to reconcile them into a synthesis – a ‘new synthesis’.
Speaking in honour of Eknath Ranade on occasion of his centenary last year, NaMo set out three cornerstones of the dialectics of Hindutva - better known to the orthodox as Integral Humanism. He recognised three opposing tendencies in thought and action, and advanced the idea of a ‘Ek Bharat’ – ‘One India’ – एक भारत, as a reconciliation, as a new synthesis – of three polarities.
1) ONE INDIA – DIVINE AND GRAND – एक भारत, दिव्य भी, भव्य भी !
Ever since we got rid of the British, the dominant discourse in India has opposed its ancient search for divinity to the needs of progress, to its grandeur in the modern world. In his speech, NaMo argued that these were not opposed tendencies, but had to be reconciled, as a part of reconciling the international mission of India with its national needs.
While the world needs India’s spirituality, India’s poor need its prosperity. Neither objective can be neglected – we must attain both, he explained. It can be asked as to how these opposites can be reconciled? NaMo recalled two principles of synthesis laid out by Sri Deendayal Upadhyaya ji .
2) THE FUTURE MUST GROW INTEGRALLY FROM THE PAST – अतीत और भविष्य का मिलाप !
Spirituality can be balanced with prosperity, only if India’s future grows integrally out of its spiritual past. This requires us to find the growth links that connect modernism with our ancient heritage and belief systems.
Although, NaMo did not say so in his speech, the push for yoga can be seen as one such connecting link – weaving order and well being of individual human beings into chaos of modern social life.
3) SUCCESS SHOULD BE REALISED WITHIN A SEARCH FOR MEANINGFULNESS .
Competition is chaos. The chaos of competitive modern life is characterised by success without meaning. This is leading to enormous psychological stress, frustration and even moral and cultural decay.
The apparent chaos of competitive success can be resolved, only if one builds one’s life and career around the search for the meaningfulness of existence. Even the great success stories of the west are veering round to such a reconciliation, albeit often at the end of their careers.
Giving the example of Bill Gates, NaMo explained that Bill had attained huge success in material terms with Microsoft, but having done so, realised that it was not meaningful in itself. So now, by donating all his wealth for helping poor nations, he is seeking meaningfulness.
CONCLUSION : One sidedness is the hallmark of cartesian Reason – it is blind to the other side – to the contradictions that reality holds. Hence, its tragedy is inbuilt in the very success of cartesian Reason. As Hegel famously remarked –
“It is the cunning of nature to seize Reason by its blind side.”
In his lectures on Integral Humanism, Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya ji noted the manifold one-sidedness of modernity, and identified key principles of balancing it into a new synthesis. The work that he started then continues today in theory and practice, and a new Praxis of dialectical Hindutva is now unfolding in India.
Forward to a New India ! Vande Mataram!...........(Presented by Rahul Shastri )