M S Golwalkar aka Shri Guruji for the uninitiated
There is sudden interest in Shri Golwalkar Guruji - the 2nd Sarsanghchaalak of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the longest serving one, after the high profile RSS programme in Delhi in September this year. Many critics are happy that Shri Guruji has been ‘dumped’ by RSS which tells us that critics of RSS have not even tried to understand RSS or studied it. The study is too superficial to understand the secret of RSS’s sustained growth, flowering into multiple national level organisation and total unselfish commitment of its workers. For the millennials Shri Golwalkar Guruji is an unknown personality, presented as a frightening extremist Hindutva proponent.
For most so-called opinion leaders it would be news that Shri Golwalkar ‘Guruji’ was a Sadhu of Ram Krishna Mission who received diksha (initiation) from Swami Akhandananda, gurubhai (disciples of same Guru) of Swami Vivekananda whose matham was situated in Sargaachhi, Bengal. He was persuaded not to take that path but serve the Hindu society by Dr. K. B. Hedgewar. As Shri Guruji put it, “I wanted to go to the Himalayas to gain peace, but then I decided that the peace of Himalayas will come to my heart.”
Shri Guruji was the only surviving son in the family, no sibling had survived childhood. When his mother insisted on him getting married, telling him who will carry the family name, the ‘kul’, he replied, “Mother, 1000s of kuls will need to disappear for Bharatmata to rise again in its glory.”
Ranga Hari, a senior RSS pracharak and former all India Bouddhik Pramukh recounts in his biography of Shri Guruji (Incomparable Guruji) that Guruji’s name appeared in the list of probable successors to Shankaracharya of Govardhan Peeth of Jagannathpuri left behind by the late Shankaracharya. But, he politely declined, saying his life is dedicated to RSS and he cannot do justice to the post. This was the recognition of this selfless scholar.
This goodwill led to foundation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) in 1964 in Sandipani Ashram of Swami Chinmayananda, another fiery rishi of Hindu dharma who was the first to bring Hindu dharma without any apologetic ‘secular’ cover to the western world after Swami Vivekananda, with his scientific ‘Geeta Yagnas’. VHP was the first common platform various matams born out of Vedic civilisation.
The first conference of VHP was organised in 1966 Prayag Mahakumbh. What surprised the world and the Hindu society was the presence of the entire spectrum of Hindu dharma. Heads of every sect, sampradaya, matham, Jain munis, Buddhist monks, Sikh saints etc. came on a single platform. This had never happened in 6000 years of document history of Hindu civilisation. All the saints, sadhus, gurus sat at the same level – no high seat no low seat, while Shri Guruji sat in the audience. Infact, he had offered to exchange his normal khadi kurta with the saffron kurta of a saint who wanted special seat for himself, saying he can’t be a sanyasi if he believed in such ‘oonch-neech’. And saint did attend the first conference! Such was the respect Shri Guruji commanded among the spiritual leaders.
More surprising achievement of Guruji was to persuade entire sadhu samaj (saints’ gathering) to disown ‘varnashram’ or ‘caste system’. All the saints, gurus unanimously passed a resolution “Hindavaha sadoraha, na Hindu patito bhavet”. Meaning, all the Hindus are born out of same womb (of Bharatmata) so they are brothers, no Hindu can be treated as fallen (or untouchable). This was the biggest reformist push anybody could have imagined. The signatories included all the Shankaracharyas who were firm believers in varnashram system at one time. To brand such a man as forcing ‘brahminical hegemony’ is most ill-informed criticism or deliberate propaganda. He had earned Swami Karpatri ji’s displeasure when he politely refused to propagate Varanshram as part of Hindu dharma using RSS swayamsevaks. Swami ji was head of the Ram Rajya Parishad, a political party floated by him.
Shri Guruji’s role leading from the front during the dark days of partition is recorded in history. Infact, such was his popularity that BBC remarked, “the only person who can beat Nehru in popularity is RSS chief Golwalkar.” He was in Sindh on 7th August 1947 when most of the Congress leaders had escaped to safer environs of partitioned India, sometimes taking help of RSS. He refused to be cowed down into non-violence as advocated by Nehru, Gandhiji when millions were being butchered. But, he was equally clear that one must be strong and should retaliate only when attacked. RSS volunteers saved thousands of Hindus and Sikhs at the cost of their lives, home and families. They worked from Sindh to Punjab to Jammu & Kashmir to Bengal. He was felicitated in Punjab by the jathedars of Mastuana Sahib Gurudwara near Sangrur in recognition of his work as a saviour of the society. His allergy for publicity was so profound, just like Dr. Hedgewar that he even refused to release a book recounting role of RSS during this period, saying, “One doesn’t publish the news of serving one’s mother. It is our duty that we carried out. We do not complement our swayamsevaks as they were just doing their duty to the motherland.”
Yes, he didn’t reconcile to division of Bharat and believed, like Shri Aurobindo, that this partition will go one day. He was clear about Akhand Bharat. The fiery speeches of his are oft quoted by his critics to demean his stature and abuse RSS. If you understand the context of these speeches of that time, you would understand the angst that he and swayamsevaks felt about that period. His life beyond this period was that of a highly positive force of Hindu consolidation.
I will not go into the history of ban, satyagraha and lifting of the ban, unconditionally apart from submission of a written constitution of RSS, which only described what RSS was already following. But, this ban had proved very costly in terms of breakdown of organisational machinery and personal losses suffered by RSS swayamsevaks who lost their jobs, lost their businesses or years in studies. He put his head down to rebuild the organisation ground up. He travelled incessantly. In his 33 years as RSS chief, he travelled the whole country 66 times; mostly on trains, in third class. He used to say, “Railway compartment is my home.” He travelled all over India even in the terminal stage of cancer, under great pain, but always sunny, smiling and laughing with his colleagues. He would say, “My body is suffering, I am not.”
Guruji did not carry any hatred for Muslims. He told swayamsevaks working in social service (sewa) that there can be no discrimination in Sewa (or service) on basis of religion, caste or creed. In an interview with the editor of The Illustrated Weekly in November 1972, he said “Indianisation does not mean making all people Hindus… let us realise that we are all the children of this soil coming from same stock, that our great foregathers were one and our aspirations are also one. This is all, I believe, the meaning of Indianisation.”
In another interview to a veteran scholar Dr Jeelani in Organiser weekly in August 1972, he said, “I would say that only right policy towards Muslims is to win their loyalty by love. ...I am optimist and feel that Hindus and Muslims will learn to live with each other.” Interestingly, on Uniform Civil Code he felt that a mechanical leveller approach is not correct. “I would be happy if they arrive at the conclusion that polygamy is not good for them, but I would only like to persuade them.”
Shri Guruji’s was the life of true selfless savant who gave his all for the Motherland, Bharat.