‘Dharma Rashtra’ through ‘Ekatma Manava Vaad’ – Dream of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya , the second president of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh ( the previous avtar  of BJP) was born on 25th September 1916 in UP to Shri. Bhagwati Prasad and Smt. Rampyari.

Bhagwati Prasad  was working as a Station Master. After finishing school in Sikhar, Rajasthan, Deendayal  came out with a first class in Intermediate exam from the Birla college in Pilani. He was awarded a gold medal by the college. He finished his graduation with mathematics as the main subject from the Sanathan Dharma College in Kanpur.

Even as a young lad Deendayal was full of nobility and wisdom.
 

While a student in college he  was attracted to the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh and was  participating in it’s work. Due to the efforts of Baburao Deoras he joined the RSS.

When he was pursuing MA (English literature) his aunt (mother’s elder sister) Ramadevi fell sick and Deendayal had to take care of her. So he could not write the MA final examination. But later on he went to Pryaag and secured his BEd.

At this time he decided to plunge into the service of the Nation and so he became a full -time pracharak of the RSS. He was made the organiser of Lakhimpur district in UP.

He became the Prantapracharak of UP in 1947. At this time he was offered the post of head master in a school. But Deendayal declined it citing his full time RSS work.

In 1947 he established the ‘Rashtra Dharma Prakashan’ and brought out a monthly named ‘Rashtra Dharm’ and a daily named ‘Swadeshi’. He himself was the editor of Swadeshi and another magazine ‘Panchajanya’. The success of these magazines is due to the tireless and unceasing efforts of Deenadayalji.

 He started the weekly ‘Himalaya’ when the Panchajanya was banned in 1948. Again when the ‘Himalaya’ was banned  he launched  the ‘Rashtra Baktha’. This shows his undaunted spirit.
 
On  the 26th of January 1950 India became a Republic. Dr.Shayam Prasad Mukherjee who was in the Nehru cabinet resigned citing the deficiencies in the Constitution which put a stamp of approval on the vivisection of Bharat, the failure of the government to protect Bharat’s ancient heritage and the special status granted to Jammu &Kashmir.

Dr.Shyam Prasad Mukherjee wanted to save the Nation from the congress which was taking the Nation on the wrong path . He consulted Guruji Golwalker, the Sarsanghachalak of RSS and impressed on him the need for a political alterative to the congress comprising selfless workers. Guruji accepted his proposal.

Hence was born the Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Deendayalji was asked to join the BJS. Even though he was keen on Sangh work nevertheless heeding Guruji’s words he joined the BJS on the 21st of October 1951.

At this juncture the situation in Jammu and Kashmir was worrisome.

The people in the rest of Bharat had to get a permit to enter that state even though it was very much a part of Bharat. Dr.Shyam Prasad Mukherjee vehemently opposed  this .The task of taking this issue to the people was entrusted to Deendayalji. He carried out his task splendidly.

Dr.Shyam Prasad Mukherjee who entered Srinagar violating the ban was arrested and lodged in jail .He died in the jail under mysterious circumstances. The entire nation was aghast and incensed.

The mantle now fell on Deendayalji to lead the party. He became the general secretary of the BJS in 1953.

For the next 15 years he toiled ceaselessly and brought the BJS to the second position pushing out the communists from that place. He had been stubbornly refusing the president’s post in the party. But finally he had to accede to the wishes of the party .He was made the president of the BJS at it’s Kozhikode session  in 1968.

On the 10th of February 1968 Deendayalji boarded the Siyalkot -Pathankot passenger to proceed to  participate in the Bihar executive committee meeting of the party slated for the next day.

Sri Ram Prakash Gupta, the deputy chief minister of UP who had seen him off at the railway station would not have imagined that it will be Deendayalji’s  last train journey. Major Sarma and M.P. Singh traveled with him till Varanasi. Only after the train halted and left  Mughalsarai  they found out that Deendayalji was missing. His body was found on the track. He was suspected to have been killed at Mughalsarai when the train had halted there for 45 minutes.

His demise was a great loss to Bharatiya traditions and Nationalism.

Until his last breath he lived for the society and the Nation. He lived as he preached. His every action was the quintessence of a noble tenet.

When he died his sole possessions were a handspun dhoti, a shirt, a Sangh knicker and  few sheets of paper for writing. He was simplicity personified.

The government never nabbed his killers. The evil elements might have killed him .

But his noble example of simple living, his political and economic ideals and above all his political roadmap and it’s growth are will remain forever.

Guruji observed that his death was a great loss since he strived to cleanse politics by personal example.  

His political philosophy was ‘Ekatma Manava Vaad’

He did not accept the communist view of considering man as a machine or the Western view that man is a social animal comprising of body, mind and intelligence. His view was that man, along with the above three  has what is called ‘Atma’ or Soul. He believed that it is possible to kindle the higher consciousness or ‘Pragna’ in man  to bring out his noble qualities and thereby unite the Humanity.

He cited the example of the RSS to explain how human life will be when the higher consciousness of the individual is kindled.

When every one imbibed the feeling of the Sangh then the Sangh family will arise. The country and the world will become one family.

He also postulated that Dharma was superior to anything else “be it religion, constitution or the judiciary. He said that government should be Dharma Rashtra

He said that the basis of democracy is Dharma. He was of the view  that Nationalism has a unique life force. Only that force or ‘Shakti’ has been protecting the Nation from crises and calamities.

He said that with our past and our ancient heritage as the bedrock, we have to plan the future .He  believed that this is the only way to make Bharat strong.

He believed that if a branch or even if a minor root is cut, the tree can grow robustly  growing fresh branches and giving out new roots provided  the Mother Root is intact and is nourished. Similarly if we have Dharma as the Mother root, the Nation can flourish even if we throw away  some unwanted baggages from the past which are not in tune with an enlightened society.