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VASANT NARGOLKAR
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Hindi at the UNO
There are some more areas of agreement in the thinking and views of Gandhi, Lohia and Deendayal. All three, for Example, never approved of the slavish mentality exhibited by some anglophiles who think that Indians can never do without English. Though Gandhi himself wrote, whenever nacessary beautiful English in a biblical style, he never encouraged the use of English in preference to the regional languages or Hindustani. It is well known that Lohia and his followers had started an Angrezi Hatao (Banish English) campaign. Deendayal echoed those very sentiments when he categorically stated that the need for one’s Own language (Swabhasha) can never be fulfilled by a good language (Subhasha. It was indeed good for promoting a sense of self-respect among Indians in this respect that Shri Atal Behari Vajpayee, the Minister For Foreign Affairs in the present Janata Government, spoke in Hindi in November 1977 at New York, while addressing the United Nations General Assembly. Al vestiges of colonial rule, which are inconsistent with the self-respect of newly independent States, must thus be abolished one by one.
Gandhi’s contribution to the Indian and world thought Systems was his ideology of Sarvodaya. Lohia spoke of “Seven Revolutions, while Deendayal evolved integral Humanism” as an ideological basis for Jan Sangh, his own political party.
Lohia’s Sevenfold Revolution
Lohia believed that a crusade against all types of injustices should be simultaneously started. Revolutionaries all Over the world were engaged in struggles of one kind or another. Lohia Briumerated Seven Types of revolts and appealed to the Indian people to initiate or consolidate the efforts to raise them. The “Seven Revolts” are:
A revolt to establish complete quality between men and women.
A revolt against the economic, political and social inequalities based on the colour of the skin,
A revolt against the traditional concept of caste based on birth, and in favour of special opportunities for the backward.
A revolt for overthrow of foreign ruler, for freedom and for the establishment of a democratic government,
A revolt against the inequalities in accumulation of capital, for economic equality and planned increase in production,
A revolt against interference in the private life of citizens and in favour of a democratic System of Government, and lastly.
A revolt against conventional and nuclear weapons and for recognition of satyagraha as a legitimate Weapon.
If all these seven revolutions succeed, they will usher in, Lohia thought, an Era of inner peace and material prosperity for the whole of mankind.
Deendayal’s Integral Humanism
Deendayal’s “Integral Humanism” was a great improvement on the old objectives of the establishment of a **Hindu Nation** and the promotion of “Bharatveya Culture.” Very late in his life, Shri M. N. Roy had named his philosophy as “Radical Humanism.” Shri Aurobindo on the other hand had used the adjectivo “integral” to qualify knowledge in his FDCPum opusThe Life Divine. An integral knowledge is knowledge of the truth of all sides of Kİstence both separately and in the relation of oach to all and the relation of all to the truth of the Spirit’, Puoplo all Over the world aro familiar with the word “Humanism”, Humanism is O movement projecting a system of thought which concentrates upon human interests and the mind of mam, Father than upon the external world of nature or upon religious ideals’.
Deendayal was to have developed, his idea of Integral Humanism” and written about it elaborately, but unexpectedly. his life was cut short. Like Gandhi, he wanted to spiritualize politics. The way to human welfare can be found only if we take all aspects of life and the human being into consideration. Life is an integrated whole. Therefore, we must have a philosophy of life which must try to reconcile many pairs of apparent opposites in life. Man is not only the body. He has a mind, an intellect and a soul. Man’s Progress means the balanced development of these entities residing in his body.
The four purushartlias prescribed by Hinduism place before men four objectives according to the integrated view of life, Marx emphasized the economic aspect of man’s life, while Freud declared the sex instinct as all important. But according to the Hindu View of life, Dharma which leads to the ultimate objective Moksha and subordinates Artha and Kamma lo itself, is the most important constituent of a cultured life. Dcondayal felt that this Vory intégrationist View of life should prevail while dealing with other Opposites in life Such as, for example, the individual and the State, capital and labour, majority and minorities, one’s nation and the world and lastly, even men and nature. Deendayal’s Integral Humanism” is thus a philosophy of life which advocates a balanced, integrated progress of man towards the achievement of vor higher and nobler human ideals.
Socialist Ashrams
Being originally a Marxist, a Socialist and therefore a rationalist, Lohia WIS not at first much enamoured of the religio-spiritual ideals of life. And yet he was a radical humanist, an integral humanist and even a Sirvodayiti all rolled into one. His views on ends and means, non-violence, class strugglü, difference of caste and colour, nationa= lism, internationalism, war, political freudom, social and economic justice and equality woré sa unorthodox and advanced that he considered himself a world citizen and pleaded for the establishment of a world government. The process of logical thought, however, must have led him to think of the spiritual aspect of lile ulsoOnce when asked by Gandhi, Lohia said that he did not believe in God. But later in 1952, in a speech, he narrated the beautiful story of Kumar Nachikata from the Kathopanishad and said :
“This debate between the desirable and the pleasurable, the Freyas and the Shreyas, which Nachiketa and Yama hold. ..is entrancing….How fascinating these and similar verses are. When One Comes across such a Verse, which is a bar of gold, one closes one’s eyes. sits back and relaxes and moditates for hours and hours on that single verse.
Whether Lohia knew it or not, his appreciation of the Upanishadic Story in such glowing terms shows that the spiritual bug had then bitten him also. On another occasion, while speaking on the doctrinal foundation of socialism, he Stressed the need for a Socialist Code of conduct. From the following passage taken from that speech of his, it is obvious that a Socialist also wants to give sufficient importance to the training of the spirit. Lohia said:
“There is also a need for ‘Socialist ashrams’ at least one in each state, to which members of the Party could repair in times of spiritual need…..It is in the Indian tradition to build ashrams for the training of the Spirit and the spread of a doctrine.”
Self-realization, the Ultimate goal
Gandhi was engaged in so many varied activities for full fifty years, but his life was an indivisible whole. All his activities Fan one into anothor, But the Supreme goal of his life was self-sualization through “incessant tail in the Service of my country and there-through of humanity.” Apart from truth, non-violenc, satyagraha, decentralization of the means of production as well as of political powor and brotherhood of marin, Gandhi’s truo meSge to India and 10 the whole World Oyun in this SPICO Ugo is that man’s ultimta goal is self-roalization through the Service of humanity. He was quite conscious of it all throughout his life and used to express it thus sometimes:
“What I want to achieve-what I have been striving and pining to achieve…. is self-realization, to see God face to face to attain moksha, I live and move and have my being in pursuit of this goal. All that I do by way of speaking and writing and all my ventures in the political field are directed to this end.”
Gandhi was in a special category of leaders. He was out and out spiritual in his view of life. It has been truly said that one such walks the Earth once in ten centuries.
It will thus be seen that so far as their personality and life-Styles, as well as missions and messages were concerned, there was much that was common between Mahatma Gandhi, Dr. Ram Manohar Lohia and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyayu. An integrated view of life, cultural tolerance, non-violence, sort to appropriate technology, decentralized democracy. World peace and World government are the principal messages that these greats Sons of India have left for their own country and to a certain extent for the whole world also. It is now upto the Indian people to translate some of these inspiring ideals into reality within a reasonable period of time and set an example to other nations of the world.
(Source: Gandhi, Lohia and Deendayal, Edited by- P. Parameswaran,
Pub. by Deendayal Research Institute, New Delhi)