Awakening

The Hindu’s Conscience

By
Satguru Sivananda Murty Garu

Published by:
Dharma Rakshana Samithi
No 64, Police Commissioner Office Road, Egmore, Chennai - 600008.

Your Views to take forward this Vision is solicited.

Hindu Solidarity Movement.
hinducitizen@gmail.com

Printed by:
Madhava Mudhra
No. 12, M.V. Naidu Street, Chetpet, Chennai - 600 031. Ph: 2836 0874
 Awakening The Hindu’s Conscience
(Satguru Sivananda Murty Garu's discourse on Citizenship & Sanathana Dharma at PSS
School, Chennai for Dharma Rakshana Samithi on Nov 2nd 2007)

Vaagarthau iva Samprukthau vaagartha prathipathaye jagatha: pitharou vande Parvathi

Parameshwarou (oh! The parents of the World, Parvathi and Parameshwara, who are
inseparable like the word and its meaning, I salute you, to attain expertise in words and their
meanings)

Mahaganapatye namah, Bharata maatare namah!

Namaskar to everybody! Certain basic concepts have to be very clear in our minds before we
launch upon any activity related to the Society today. What are the problems? What are the
solutions? Where do these problems originate and where do the solutions to the problems of
the day also originate? Most of us are not happy with what is going on in this country. We
are all aware that something is going terribly wrong somewhere in our public life, be they
cultural, administrative or whatever.

I am not too well today. I hope I will be able to spend some useful moments with you and at
the outset I am thankful to Manyasri Sundaram and my friends in Sanatana Dharma services.
Dharma Rakshana Samithi is Sanathana Dharma Samithi! They are not different. The
Dharma we are trying to protect is Sanathana Dharma.

Suppose we go to a foreign land and somebody asks us what is Hinduism and its basic
tenets? Are we prepared to give him a brief answer within a few minutes? To be able to
answer this question in a succinct and quick way we have to have a wide range of
understanding, some depth of understanding and some clarity about it. With lot of
understanding only we will be able to deliver a few sentences relevant to the situations, like
to teach a 10th class in a school one has to be Master of Arts. The required knowledge is so
much so that we deliver a part of it relevantly, comprehensibly and with clarity.

I have met many people in this country or Indonesia or Malaysia or other countries like
USA. They all listen to many great scholars and spiritual teachers from India. No doubt the
speakers are very learned, they are having a deep knowledge about the Indian culture or
Hindu culture in particular but I found that still, those listeners spoken to are not clear about
what they have heard. They still have the fundamental questions lingering in their minds as
before even after listening to these speeches.

Today, we are going through a world of intellectualism. The mind is more active than the
heart so we have to meet the questioning mind with an answering mind backed up by a
true heart. Basically our understanding must be deep and must be felt by ourselves first.
Then we can deliver a few sentences with some relevance. For example, some Americans
asked me, "Swamiji! When do you think the backwardness of India will disappear?" I said
India is not backward. Now I cannot quote Upanishads before an American. That is
irrelevant to him. He means materialistic welfare and he immediately shot back with a
question, "How do you say that India is not backward?" So, at his level, a different kind of
answer is required. About 10 years ago in New York somebody put this question. I said.
'Look my dear American friend! Today there are 49000 Indian doctors in the universities of
America in the clinics of America treating the Americans; about 250,000 Indian Engineers
are working in various fields in America. India has not imported a single American whether
it is a Doctor or as an Engineer; who is backward? How do you say India is backward?' That
is quite relevant to the American mind. He is more than satisfied. Talk of spirituality, it is
Greek and Latin to him and he doesn't follow your language at all. Materialistic explanation
has to meet the materialistic questioning but that is not enough for us. We have to have some
clarity of understanding as to what is India.

Way back in 1948-49 some journalists used to funnily refer to India." The constitution says
India that is Bharat." That is where the constitution starts. The journalists used to make fun
of it by saying “India that was Bharat." None else than Babu Rao Patel who was a journalist
of the filmdom used to say India "that was Bharat." His understanding of the current India is
quite clear. We started with this understanding in the days of independence.

We got our independence but then, who got this independence? Is it independence of the
British subjected India, modern India, old India, and medieval India, which India got its
independence? That is the relevant question. We could successfully drive out the Britishers.
In fact if you go through the history and the many events that preceded the Independence say
something like 1944-47 you will see a great sense of urgency and anxiety to take over the
power even without a clear plan of action as to what we would like to do with India of our
own. Why do you want independence? What you would like to do with this independent
India? What is it that you are not able to do if the British are present? Well if the British
leave India what is it that you would like to do?

People had funny ideas .The common man was told you can travel free in the railway trains!
The common man was gullible enough to believe that. Or, you don't have to pay taxes or
things like that. I would be excused if I say that the poor masses were taken for a ride even
by the public speakers at that time. Why? The leaders wanted the mass support to-fight
against the British. The mass support was massive without understanding the need for
independence except some utopian promises and hopes that were nourished and nurtured in
their minds. Now what kind of India we got?

It was departure of the British and India was divided into Muslim India and Hindu Muslim
India; that is the division. Let us clearly understand this. Hindu Muslim India already
existed; we got the same continuation of the Hindu Muslim India minus their exclusive
Muslim India. This is what we gained! At what cost? If only you understand how much of
crime, destruction, displacement of millions of people that took place! Every family lost at
least one or two members, not in the struggle for freedom but in the process of
independence. Struggle was more peaceful than the process of Independence. Struggle went
for a long time but so many people were not killed but only in the partition I wonder how a
country can afford to lose so many people for something which is going to be celebrated by
the leaders. Whose celebration is it?

Was it the people's celebration? No it was apolitical celebration. Those who took over power,
the reins of power into their hands they celebrated. People were not in a mood to celebrate;
not even a smile could be seen anywhere around Delhi on any face; people living in Indian
Punjab lost their kith and kin in the Pakistan Punjab; people migrated; people were all living
on the streets of Delhi. A beautiful well-organized capital of British Capital of India became
a huge slum. They had nothing to eat, nowhere to sleep and crying over what they lost - not
only properties but members of their family. It was such a tragic situation. I was a witness to
it and then I reacted. I interacted with many people who narrated their stories of suffering,
their losses. A young man aged about 40 whom I met said, "Sir I am the 5th child to my
mother. I had two elder brothers. My family, my parents were running away from Lahore.
We were to arrive at Delhi and halfway even before entering into the Indian Territory our
train was stopped and it was a common sight to see our kith and kin butchered in the trains.
My mother has two daughters also and three sons; two sons are elder to me; my mother knew
very well what would happen to the girls so she spread her sari; she could hide her the two
girls under the seat but she could not hide and I was also pushed below the seat but she could
not hide my two elder brothers; they could not be saved; they were standing aged about 14
and 11; before my mother's eyes my two elder brothers were butchered; they were
beheaded."

Is not one family's experience like this enough to wake us up? Should we see millions of
people being butchered to wake us up to our responsibility? One single story is more
than enough to inspire people into patriotism, into patriotic reaction leading to a plan
of action. That is necessary and that is one of the many sad stories I had to hear.
Several sleepless nights I had to spend after listening to those woeful things.

We all know that a few years ago Sri Krishan Kanth was the Vice President of India. He was
a very close friend of mine. His family was very close to Lala Lajpat Rai. His father Lala
Achut Ram was a close associate of Lala Lajpat Rai. If you have heard them you would
understand what patriotism is. His mother is still alive; she is 101 years old. He was a Vice
President of India promised with a presidential chair but suddenly given a go by overnight;
justice was not done to him; you know the reason. He was a thorough and serious patriot; so
vice president chair was all the country could offer to him. It was the so called nationalist
BJP that was in power at that time. When we asked people like Mr. Vajpai, they said,
"Guruji! No, it is not BJP Govt. It is a BJP led Govt. We are helpless." There is always an
explanation. The kind of tales I heard from him (Sri Krishna Kant) from his mother and his
wife, how they migrated from Lahore, were poignant. It was a very respectable family in
Lahore.

Why are we suffering today even 60 years later? The other day Sashtiabdapoorthi was
celebrated but we are groping in the dark.

Now let us think what this Sanathana Dharma all about is. What is the basic difference
between this Sanathana Dharma of India and the Dharma of other countries? Is it Religion?
Religion is secondary. Primarily there is discovery of a secret of human life. There is only
one unrivalled unparalleled discovery in the history of mankind - the discovery of Soul
in man. The Soul is deathless. It takes a rebirth again and again. What is happening in
this chain of births? The Soul is evolving. The experience of Soul is evolving and not the
Soul itself.

In Sankhya system it is called the Atma Aparinami. It doesn't evolve; not undergoing any
change but its experience of the world is changing. So, one day it will reach the creator the
God. That direction every Soul is traveling, making a long journey through many stations
that are called lives. Janma, janma parampara. This is the basis of Aryan Understanding.
Hinduism is born just to tell us what to do and what not to do. What is the real dictionary
meaning of Dharma? Dharma is nothing but appropriateness of thought, deed and
attitude. Anything should be appropriate to that situation, that day, to that condition. That is
Dharma. This is the broadest Definition. To fight an enemy mercilessly to kill him in a
battle is Dharma. To save somebody is also a Dharma. To kill 100 people to save a
noble Soul is Dharma. Sometimes to sacrifice one's own life is Dharma. To protect
oneself is Dharma, depending on a situation; The situation could be a battle, could be a
wedlock could be love or hatred, facing an enmity whatever it is we are passing
through different circumstances everyday and these vicissitudes decide the end
proprietary of our decision, the path, our action, our understanding of it and reaction
to it. That is Dharma. This complex concept was thoroughly understood by the
forefathers - Rishis and Maharshis. They left nothing unsaid about this. They showed
the path, the life style, the style of life, your actions what you ought to do. Under all
circumstances there is an appropriateness of your action clearly prescribed in the
Dharmashastras.

We say we are a Vedic religion. Yes Vedas are revelations from the creator Brahma into the
minds of Rishis who meditated upon the meaning of this creation. What is this creation?
Who is responsible for it? Who am I? Where am I? What am I to do? In fact, this kind of
meditation was first started by Brahma himself. Brahma Deva was all alone sitting at the
centre of the huge lotus millions of miles wide. Alone all! He was all alone. If you are all
alone what would you do when you have a serious question? You go into silence and you
look for an answer within. That is what Brahma did. He realized who was his creator, the
purpose of his own creation what he has to do with himself first.

That is where the knowledge began to evolve. Knowledge was there. It has to reveal
itself to us. This Sanathana Dharma is giver of the path to the humankind and it started
in this Bharat Bhoomi. That is the specialty of this country. They call it Do aab.
Between two rivers Ganga and Yamuna and the Dharma was finalized and given to us.

When India got its independence how long was it under subjection? For more than a
thousand years! We had about six centuries of Muslim presence. We had no choice. We were
ruled we were subjected. Our religion itself could not walk around holding its head high; it
was a condemned religion; a condemned concept of worshipping Gods in stones and things
like that and we were called non-believers by the Muslims. They called themselves true
believers. True believers believing in untruth whereas our thoughts were far away removed
from the reality of the Ultimate truth and we were in a deluge. We were in a blind folded
travel without any direction. So they took upon themselves to save us from our ignorance!!
The prescription was 'take to Islam. This is the true path for every human being. Prophet
Mohammed has given this.’ The same slogan was adopted by the Britishers. Britishers said,
"We are ruling India not for the sake of Britishers but for the benefit of Indians." With these
benefactors we were beneficiaries whether it is the British rule or the Mogul rule!!

History is known to all of us and when we got Independence India was divided; whatever
you have achieved is not called Hindustan; it is India and it is called Indian Republic. Now,
there are three aspects. The country of India, the nation of India - these two are different -
and the state of India. Three different things! We are citizens in all these three. We are the
citizens of the country of India we are the citizens of the Republic of India we are citizens
under the State of India. This is a very important thing we will have to clearly understand.
Who got this Independence? What happened? It is not the Bharat that was India; it did not
get its independence. It continued to be subjected to a new republic. The Ancient India was
subordinated to a new republic. Let us very clearly understand it. It is subordinated by a new
Republic. What is our philosophy? The new Constitution! What does the constitution say?
We guarantee equal rights to all citizens. Who are its citizens? The Hindus, the Muslims, the
Sikhs the Christians, etc. All of them are free to propagate their religion and follow their
religion. But if there is any reaction from Hindus to the Christian spread of their message
among the Hindu masses, it is 'fundamentalism!' Because, the guarantee given to the
Christian to spread his message or even convert the Hindu cannot be challenged! Some
experiments have been conducted in the recent decades. Some states tried to ban conversion.
It was not a success, why? The Hindu population did not take it seriously. It could have been
a success, otherwise. We didn't support that law or fight its opponents tooth and nail.
Republic of India is not Bharat. It is a different thing. It is based on the philosophy called
constitution, the authors of which did not give any importance to the Bharat and its soul and
mind. In their hearts the ancient Bharatvarsha, Bharat Bhoomi had no place.

On the other hand if some of the congress leaders tried to rebuild a temple Pandit Nehru
asked 'Ah! Patelji what are you doing? Are you mad? You want to reconstruct that temple!
What for? Why should they build a temple in Gujarat that has been destroyed eighteen times?
Why do you want to rebuild it? You may believe in God but your scriptures say God is in
your heart, why build temples? It is waste of public money, forget about it and being a
congress leader do you want to rebuild it?' Patelji had to say, Panditji! I am not taking any
government funds; so you cannot object.' Tooth and nail Panditji opposed the reconstruction
of the temple in Gujarat. Still, against all odds, against strong opposition Somnath temple had
to be rebuilt. That is the kind of republic into which we have landed! The Bharat has landed
into a republic with these attitudes of the leaders.

Now, you examine what has happened in these sixty years. The republic has been launching
every day some programme or other to make people feel, "Dear Hindu! This is not your
exclusive country; you are one of the citizens along with the rest of the population and you
have no exclusive right over this land; you cannot call it your own motherland; you may call
it your motherland but it is not exclusively so; you have to share it with everybody else.'
Slowly, we entered into a different scenario wherein the minorities have become more
important; not just equals but more than equals just because we allow things to happen the
way the leaders wanted them to! Your own right to protect yourself is called fundamentalism
today! It is ignorance.

What does the Government say about us? 'They are not living in the spirit of the constitution;
so they are violating constitution by talking of Hinduism in India. They should have accepted
the Indian Republic as very generously giving a place in India to live along side other
religions with equal rights. That itself is a great concession; we are allowing the Hindus to
follow his religion. Constitution is so liberal that Hindu is allowed to follow Hinduism.' That
is their definition of Constitution!!!

How do you define the Country? It is a geographical area say from the Himalaya to Kerala.
We call it Hindustan; we call it Bharat where certain Sanathana Dharma existed; a religion
based on the theory of rebirth, theory of existence of God as our benefactor. Based on the
theory we have to approach; one day we have to reach God over several births; so in that
direction my journey should proceed on these lines of do's and don'ts.

If I pray to God, it is for the ultimate. Everyday the sankalpa is ‘Dharma artha kama
moksha chaturvida phala siddhyartham.’ (Fructifying of righteousness, material living,
fulfillment of desires and liberation) Even when you are celebrating a house warming,
even there the purohit says this prayer! It is never to be forgotten, never to be given up
even in a mundane activity. This is Hindu Dharma that has been handed on to us.
It is very strange thing that the bulk of the Hindu population does not protest whereas very
strong reaction ought to be there. Even a mild protest is not there. The press, the media the
intellectuals or the secularists or the anti-Hindu Hindus speak so much for it! Who are the
communists in this country? Don't you see that all of them are Hindus by birth? Is there a
Muslim Communist? Is there a Christian Communist? How come communist nastik vadis
are only Hindus?

This is the result of a foreign rule, a continued Moghul rule and the so called reformist
activity within the Hindu society condemning many practices of the Hindus as
outdated.

Indian Hinduism or Hindu religion certainly needed some reforms. It did need some reforms.
Maybe, some beliefs are blind some practices are outdated. They have no place in a civilized
society. The Britishers made much of the Sati practice. Was every woman burning herself on
the pyre of the husband? Was it a practice going on in India and if that was the practice why
are there so many rules about widowhood? The Dharma gives so many dos and don'ts to a
widow which means the wife survives the husband; not necessarily burning herself on the
pyre and that is the majority! One in thousand might have committed the Sati. That is one of
the reasons pointed out by the British thinkers that India is still living in ignorant times,
barbarism is still ruling the Hindu mind and practices were condemned while we were of
quite aware of what we were doing. Even persons like Raja Rammohan Roy invited the
British. He wrote letters to the British Government, the Company bosses, 'I am happy to note
that you have started educating my colleagues in India; your schools are welcome; English
education is most welcome so that we may come out of our dark ages and come forward.' We
don't know why but if you look at some of the letters written by Raja Rammohan Roy you
can see how much of condemnation he had in mind about the Hindu practices which is
surprising to say. And, when we think without knowing what he said, what he wrote and
what he did, we worship these leaders.

What about Gandhiji? Was he not an educated lawyer in the inner temple of London? He
became a lawyer; he addressed the British Judges “Your Lordship." He was a faithful British
Indian citizen. He took pride in being a British citizen practicing Law in South Africa,
saying, 'I am a British citizen. I am an Indian. I passed out of the inner temple in London. I
am a Bar-at-Law. I am a Barrister.' But then, you know when he was insulted in a train the
real mahatma woke up like Chanakya. Chanakya also faced a serious insult at the hand of a
bad ruler. He could wreak vengeance. He did not sleep till the empire fell. So, something
personal should have happened to these great patriots to become revolutionaries.

The moment we got our independence Nehru was looking to the Russians for inspiration.
Not any other country (before five or six years or seven years of Independence) but it was
Russia that he toured. Well, in 1947 what was the age of the Russian Republic under Stalin,
hardly 30 years? It was still in the making. Day before yesterday we read in papers that
President Putin joined his Services in memory of those killed by the Secret Police of Stalin
just because they protested against the fundamentalist rule of the Communists. Suppression
and repression was there. At least 20,000 well meaning Citizens were killed. That was the
source of inspiration for Pandit Nehru! He was in the know of things of what was happening
in new Russia. A few decades later Communism has been given a go by. Lenin's statue was
dumped into the Museum and they declared independence from Communism and
Communists are dictating terms to the Govt. of India! A Govt. that rules this Country has no
regard for the heritage of this Country. Somebody who rules the Govt. is there elsewhere!
Govt. is ruling the country somebody is ruling the Govt. They have no regard for what is
dharma. When a particular Governor had to be appointed in a particular Indian state you
know the lady said, 'Ah! This man always talks about Sanathana Dharma and all that. Is he
alright? Can he hold the chair of the Governor? Is it not something wrong with him? I heard
him writing about Sanathana Dharma and things like that. He must be a very backward man.
How can you select him as a Governor?' She retuned the file without approval. These are the
facts known to me. This is the governance in this Country!

Apart from the Republic of India, the ancient India or Bharatvarsha, the third thing is the
state of India. A Republic is called a Nation. When we deal with other countries it is inter
national relationships and not inter-country. It is from Government, to Government,
Constitution to Constitution that the interaction takes place and the country is silently
watching whether it likes it or not. The policies of the Govt. of India do not reflect the
feelings of Indians particularly the Hindus. They can enter into contract with any other
country; the citizen has no knowledge of it.

Here the role of the citizen of the Republic comes into play. The citizen of the Republic
should fundamentally be the citizen of the Bharatvarsha. Then he should be the citizen
of India that is Bharat. We have to assert ourselves as citizens of the Indian Republic.
That is in public life. In our cultural or private life we should be the citizens of Bharat
and citizens of the Indian State.

If the state machinery is not recognizing your personal culture; fight against it as a citizen. 'I
am a citizen of Bharat first I don't agree with this Republican Concepts. It is not taking care
of my heritage, my religion, and my values. It is giving a very petty treatment to my heritage.
So I am refusing to be a citizen of this Republic but I assert myself as a citizen of Bharat."
Citizenship is of different kinds. State is ruling us. State is making Laws. Those laws are
binding all of us.

For example Hindu Law is different. Hindu Law is made by the British and forwarded
to Indian Republic. It is different from the Hindu Code. Hindu Code is in fact our Law.
If anything has to be amended to suit the modern times in modern society and demands
of the modern life the Hindu Codes have to be given slight amendments not by the
Government but by the Hindu Religious leaders.

It is for their Personal Law others are asserting and fighting. Why don't we assert ourselves?
Is there a provision for Divorce in the Hindu Law? The modem Hindu Law provides for it. In
Hindu Code there is nothing like a divorce. There is bigamy provided by the Hindu
Dharmashastra. Hindu Law does not permit it.

The gulf between the Law of the Land and Law of the Religion is so wide that when we
start examining it, we are bound to react strongly to it. Unless we understand what is
happening in this country our own Citizenship cannot be total Citizenship. Total
Citizenship is our birth right. We are born with a right to assert our culture. This is my
culture, my Religion; my parents and my grandparents followed this. I have a right to
follow this. I object to any kind of deviation in Public Law from the spirit of my
Personal Law.' That is Citizenship. Well, Citizenship includes paying some taxes
getting the services done by the Government. All that is a Republican Citizenship; but
where is the Hindu Citizenship in this? Hindus are not citizens of this republic. For that
reason, without exaggeration I can say this: We are Citizens of the Republic but not
Citizens of Bharatvarsha. Unless this is totally appreciated the truth cannot be
understood in full.

We will have to educate ourselves first about the goings on in this country in the last
sixty years, who are the fathers of the Constitution and every political leader keeps on
talking about unity of land, unity of people. Everyday every step taken by every
Government in the state or the center is to go on dividing the society into pieces, the SC,
ST, backward class OBCs, this and that what is all this? Is it unification of the society?
Are they not disuniting us deliberately? For what purpose? For vote Bank or whatever
it is, they have their own benefits. Why are the people fighting so keenly in the
elections? For the opportunity to rule the Government. To rule the Country, the self
seeking politicians want their personal coffers to be filled. Not that they are anxious to
serve the Country as it ought to be served!

We are an educated lot. There are billions of intellectuals in many fields in this country
today. There are former judges, former advocates, and bureaucrats. Is anyone consulted
about any public matter by this Government? Are we so backward? Are we Tribesmen?
Are we uneducated ruts? Are we not supposed to be consulted in whatever they do?

Is it enough for some members in the parliament to come to some conclusion and pass
an act? Are they gathering any public opinion? Let us remember one thing; sixty years
have passed and three generations have gone, the more the time passes our own rights
as Hindu Citizens would be on the decline everyday. It is high time we woke up and
fought for it. Otherwise nobody, no outside force is going to save us in a situation.

Is there any friendly neighbor to this country? What is our foreign policy? I have toured
extensively the Indonesian Republic. When we landed in Jakarta we saw a big banner. The
previous day it was the celebration of the Republic of Indonesia. You know the banner read
'Dhirgayu Indonesian Republic'. Is there a slogan like "Dhirgayu BharatVarsh” in India? I
found on a twenty thousand rupaya note the picture of Ganesha. Mahalakshmi is the
goddess of wealth. Can't we print Mahalakshmi picture on the thousand rupee note?
Republic’s laws don't permit it! 'Mahalakshmi may be your Goddess of wealth but She is
not the Nation's not the Republic's Goddess. You have no place in this.' even very small
things compared.

Why did Nehru not make friends with Indonesia? He thought it was all backward. It is an
excellent Muslim country with 80% Muslim population it was 100% Hindu culture. 80%
namke vaste it is Islamic Republic and everywhere we saw Hindu culture in public there.
Before the President's house where four or five roads meet, there is a huge monument about
seven horses drawing a chariot on which Krishna is teaching Arjuna the Dharma!' Arjun
Vijaya' is the name of the huge monument. That sculpture is the size of the hall. That is their
guiding spirit! They asked me, 'Guruji! What kind of status Hinduism enjoys in your
country?' I said, 'no status.' There is no status. We have no status. We are Indian Citizens
not Hindu Citizens. They were surprised, 'We are Citizens in the Republic of Indonesia; our
culture is Hinduism. We are proud to say!’ Can you assert your Hindu culture in public life
in the Indian Republic? Then what kind of citizen are you? If you have no right in public to
speak about your Hindu culture and assert your position as a Hindu in this country in the
Republic of India, you are only a Republican Citizen, not a Hindu Citizen. Can you see this
difference! It is a serious difference; a lapse.

The British permitted the Hindus to build Hindu colleges, D. A. V College and things like
that. Many things happened before Independence to save the Hindu society from the Muslim
fundamentalism and those efforts of the Hindu society to protect themselves were all
supported by the British Government. For example, Arya Samaj. Anything like that, any
movement was supported by the British and there were many British authors who tried to
wake up the Hindu society from the slumber. We are the admirers of the Hindu Culture. "We
find great qualities of intellectualism and spirituality in the Hindu culture. Friends! You
assert yourself. No doubt we will leave this country one day but who is going to rule and
what principles will be ruling your country after we leave? Are you very sure about what is
going to happen?" In a meeting with viceroy Gandhiji said, 'You must quit India this minute.'
Quit India Movement of 1942 failed within six months. Nothing happened and Gandhiji did
not know what to do. There was a big outburst from the people, 'Quit India! Quit India!' and
all that. I also participated in that. We stopped the Madras Mail. Halfway on the track we
were arrested and thrown into jail for a few hours. The magistrate let us off in the evening at
five. The heat subsided within six months. We did not know what to do. We looked at
Gandhi, wondering what our next programme was. Alas!

He was also searching not knowing what to do. A few years later when the British gave an
opportunity; 'How do you share the power with us? Train yourself to rule this country in a
civilized manner. Take care of your culture. The process will take about five to six years
time. We are going to quit India. We are not going to hang around here but do you know
what to do with your country?' These were the questions. Mahatma Gandhi said we prefer
a bad national government to a good foreign rule. That is exactly what happened.
Words were prophetic in their own way! We prefer to have a bad national government to a
very good foreign rule. We don't care.

What is there to be proud of the Independent India today? The projects, the roads, the
highways, the train service? Yes there has been improvement but at what cost? That is the
question. Where a million rupees were to be spent six million were spent. N.K Singh was a
former bureaucrat. He was secretary of finance for sometime. He has written a book,' The
Aborted Revolution,' long ago. It describes the mixed economy of the Nehru model, how
they failed, how the congress had no vision for the future India, how they did not try to
understand the heart and soul of India, How heartless and mindless their plans are and so on.
A competent, a senior bureaucrat like him knew all about this mis-governance and
governance. We should understand what has happened to us all these years and what is
happening today. Well we may propagate our religion. Our religious activity goes on.
Nobody can destroy Hinduism. It is a forever phenomenon. Nobody can ever griddle
Hinduism to a smaller size. No one can destroy Hinduism but Hindu Citizenship is
lacking that is exactly where every Hindu Citizen must act. 'I am a Hindu Citizen of
the Indian Republic first. That is the definition. That is my address you can note down.'

There is no other way. Otherwise, one day or the other, we are going to launch our progeny
into a subjected country, subjected by intellectuals who have no understanding of the
education system or public governance. The State of India does not recognize Hinduism,
the Republic of India does not recognize Hinduism or Hindus as legitimate inheritors
of this land and the Nation of India does not recognize the Hindu Nation, Hinduism.
We are allowed to live on so long you don't raise your voice but if a solitary voice is raised
here and there it is subdued. It is crushed and suppressed but if united voice of the Hindu
society is coming up it is going to be heard even beyond the borders of this country. There
are people to support us even beyond the borders of India. There are many, many
intellectuals even in America and in United Kingdom. I know many people there who are
wondering, 'Why are they tolerating all this? We are very sympathetic to the Hindu culture.
Why is it that you don't even protest against the policies of the Government?' We have more
sympathizers abroad but people condemning Hindutva as it is within the Hindu society are
our enemies. Three forces have entered this country. They have no origin in India.

First comes Islam, then Christianity and the third force is Communism. They have no Indian
origin; they have no Indianness in them; they are anti-India which means anti-Hindu; anti-
Hindu is anti-Indian; there is no difference between them. If you are anti-Hindu you are anti-
National. 'I recognize India as a Republic but not Hinduism.' How can that be? What does it
really mean? India without Hinduism?! Is that your Republic? What else? What is your
understanding of Hinduism? Every country-take Germany, Switzerland or U.K. or France.
There the Republic of the Country, the State of the Country the Nation of the country is all
one and the same. The Republic of India is different, the Nation of India is different, and the
Sanathana Dharma of this country is totally different. It has, no recognition, no Status. They
are all one. Go to Austria; yes, they speak German; their heritage is Christianity; their Kings
and Rulers are Christians; their Church is recognized as state religion but without imposing it
on any other Citizen. Anybody can come and follow. Americans are permitting Hindu
Temples liberally. People to people Indians are friendly with Americans. Americans are
friendly with Indians. But State to State, Nation to Nation we treat Americans as our
enemies, why? Because, Hinduism seems to be attracting the Americans! They might
interfere and divide us and arouse the passions of the Hindu Society in India. This is the
thought of Pandit Nehru. So look to China as our friend! He had immense belief in the
Chinese friendship which got burst in 1962. Who came to our rescue in 1962? Did Russia
come to our rescue? Who was befriended by all us all the time? Russians said, 'It is a
communist Country how we can help you against them?'Americans came and helped us.
What is our International relationship? Do we have a finalized foreign relations policy with
us? That is not there. We looked upon the Indonesian Republic and countries like that as
backward nations. What is there to see? At the Bandung Conference which Nehru attended
what kind of treatment they gave to the people, members who attended the conference? 'Ah!
Indonesia is more backward; they call themselves Muslims but they are all Hindus.' When a
great scholar from USA came to India, he met Nehru. 'Panditji! I have come to see the
progress and revival of Hindu India in the new Republic. ‘You know what Nehru said? 'That
is exactly we are trying to destroy and we are going to start a new History of great Indian
Republic, we will set an example of what is going to be Indian Republic, not Hindu Republic'
He has recorded these sentences and published.

So we started on the wrong track in the wrong direction, we go on traveling in the wrong
direction and we cannot come back to the original position without spending several
decades. The reversal of the direction is necessary. Any great achievement for a great
Country like this DEMANDS A REVOLUTION; IT DEMANDS A COLLECTIVE
ASSERTION. There is no other alternative path to this collective protest; that is the
only path we have to follow; we don't have to indulge in violence; we don't have to say
anything. It is the nature of the Constitution that is denying your Citizenship as a
Hindu. Try to attack the very fundamental principles of the constitution itself and try to
find a respectable place in this Constitution for you as a Hindu. That` is the starting of all
problems. Forgetting the origin of all problems and dealing with this or that is of no use. The
disease has to be recognized. The cause of the disease has to be treated. The effects of the
disease cannot be treated appropriately without finding the cause of the disease.

Our cause for all our troubles is in the Constitution and in the thinking of the Constitution
makers. They had no sympathy for this Ancient India. You know the reason? In one of the
speeches a senior congress leader said, "What did the Hindus do when Moghuls ruled for six
centuries? Why could they not assert themselves then? How did they not assert themselves in
the British Rule? They could not raise their voice. How can they raise their voice now? Let
them lie low. We will follow the Constitution. After a Century there will be no Hinduism.
There will be only Indian Republic. That is his perspective! He is a Hindu by Birth and he
speaks like this!

I had an interaction with many, many intellectual people at various levels, the Hindu leaders
or the political leaders, thinkers or writers. Citizenship in the Indian Republic of the Hindu is
to be well defined. That is our goal. That should be our goal. A united front has to be opened.
Sanathana Dharma is something we all respect in our hearts but you are not supposed to hold
a public office like Vice Chancellor of a University Suppose it is an educational Institution
can we assert that you are a Hindu first? We dare not! Then we will be removed from that
position. If you are a Judge you cannot talk of Hinduism. If you are a public servant you
cannot talk about it. "I am a servant to a Constitution. I am a public servant to the
Constitution, not to the Hindu Society." Well, this is the kind of perspective. This is the state
of mind into which we have been trained in the JNU by Indira Gandhi with all the bitter
experiences. Who is Ruling us? What happened to the Bharat Mata? We always sing of
Bharata Mata “Bharata Bhagyavidhata." Who is this vidhatha? Who is this governor of the
destiny of Bharatvarsha? “Bharata Bhagyavidatha... Jaya Hey" Whom are we addressing? It
is in fact your conscience. It is our conscience i.e. "Bharata Bhagyavidhata" not somebody
sitting in the skies elsewhere. ''Bharatha Bhagyavidatha'' should be in our hearts.

We should be able to assert ourselves. We will decide what to, who should rule us and what
should be the guiding principles of the Constitution. We will revise them. There constitution
lies with 400 operations all over its body! So many sutures! Is it a healthy Constitution by
any definition? No! Then why should we subject ourselves to this? So Citizenship in
Bharatvarsha should be the same as Indian Republic, Nation of India, and State of India. All
three should be one like any other Country. It is the fate of only this Country that these three
are different. History of the last 1000 years is responsible for this servility and servitude. The
self seeking politicians have no idea about what is Country. It is high time we woke up and
asserted ourselves. Yes 80 cores of Hindus are there. We don't have to wake up all these 80
crores. Half of them are children or old people; poor people are ignored. Eight lakhs is more
than enough! If they came to their wakeful state we can fight back all these anti-Indian
forces. Communism is the third force that has come up from outside. Whether it is Islam,
Christianity or Communism they are all of foreign origin. They have no sympathy for India
or the Hinduism. That anti-Hindu, anti-India, let us fight it. It should be Hindu Republic
giving a decent equal status to every Muslim and Christian to do what he liked to do with
himself. He should be able to prosper. He should be able to earn a lot of money. He can be
successful in business. He can be servant of the Government. No restraints on any non-
Hindu but it should be Hindu Republic, owned by Hindus. Ultimately that should be
the goal. Let us not mince matters. Let us not be afraid of expression. It should be the
goal. If not today if you start the battle it will end up in success one day. Let it take two
decades, three decades or four governments, any number of days but let there be a start
of the right kind of a battle for the right cause.

That should be started. I call this Citizenship. I call this Sanathana Dharma. Sanathana
Dharma can never be compared with any other Dharma. What does any other religion
know about after life? Is there some knowledge? Has anyone seen the after life in other
religions? You have a fund of knowledge in the Upanishads or the philosophy of Bhagavat
Gita. Is there another work equal to Bhagavat Gita or all the other texts can be equal even to
two sentences of Bhagavat Gita? Why did Krishna himself give Bhagavat Gita while very
learned sages were there? How come it was not a Rishi who gave us Bhagavat Gita and only
Krishna gave it? There are Brama-jnani's. They all know all about the ultimate truth but not
all about this world. Krishna knew all about this world. He should be the right teacher. So to
know our world in which we are living is the fundamental requirement of our growth.
Let us understand our Country.

I had taken one hour's time. I don't know how much of expression I could give to my
thoughts. I thank you all for giving me this great attention and this opportunity to express
myself before this learned audience. I thank Mr. Sundaram garu particularly for this
occasion.

Satguru Sivananda Murty, who is greatly revered as the ultimate spiritual master by many,
is essentially a profileless phenomenon. Amazingly self-effacing and more humble than the
humblest, this sweet gentleman defies descriptions. If at all there is personality about him, it
is that of a citizen, an Indian citizen, an Aryan of yore! Leading from the front like a General
and goading from behind like a Shepherd, he has been inspiring, motivating and guiding
thousands of people to think about the society and work for a resurgent India. Placing all his
time, resources, energy, comforts and health at the feet of Mother India, he has been
exhausting himself over seven decades now for kindling the spark of citizenship in a million
hearts. Ancient and modern at once, no activity in any arena of life has escaped the sharp
eye of this keen observer. As an exemplary example, he is larger than life but as a trailblazer,
he has enabled many to follow him. Disarmingly sweet, accessible and gentle, great
transformations of heart take place in his presence. His seemingly casual remarks on the
country, its culture and its current challenges, leave an indelible imprint in the consciousness
of the listener. "India’s future lies in its past; not the recent past but the remote past,” he
would say. His firsthand knowledge of that glorious past and this tumultuous present make
him an irresistible talker.

In him we find the perfect example of Indian citizenship.