Guru Pooja- Shri Mukul Kanitkar ji’, Member, All India Vimarsh Team, RSS spoke on the occasion of Prauda Guru Pooja function at Narada Gana Sabha, Chennai on 30th July 2023.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangam started on Vijayadasami Day in 1925 and is marching towards its centenary year celebrations. Dr. Kesava Baliram Hedgewar (Dr.ji in short) after serving in several freedom movements, followed Ahimsa Marg – Indian National Congress as well as those who believed in an armed struggle such as Anushilan Samithi. He was not an ‘also ran ‘ person but played a lead role in many of their activities such as satyagrahaas.
Even in the midst of hectic actions, Dr. Ji took time to contemplate and find solutions as to why were we enslaved and what needs to be done for sustaining the hard-earned freedom when many others focused only on when would we become free.
These searches made him conclude that the Hindus should not only have discipline at their individual level but also at the societal level and systems must be put in place to institutionalize the governance at the Rashtra level. For achieving his aspirations, he founded the RSS and the rest is history.
“Each nation has the destiny to fulfill, each nation has a message to deliver, each nation has a mission to accomplish,” said Swami Vivekananda. RSS functions to bring Swamiji’s desires and dreams into reality.
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Today, as part of Guru Pooja we paid our respects to Bhagwa Dhwaj that is, the saffron flag. Bhagwa Dwaj represents the flames emanating from the home kundam or the sacrificial fire. Sanga symbolises the samarpana bhava. We insist upon thangka-based governance. We can compare it to Kapala bhakti praanaayaamaa.
A breathing exercise where the practitioner does a series of continuous exhalations only, and inhalations occur whenever the body feels the need. Unlike Western ideologies, our philosophers have always followed the principles of thyaagaa similar to Kapaala bhaati wherein self-interest is met very naturally in the course of selfless service.
This has been the Sanskrit way of life in this land. Here, we on an everyday basis challenge Charles Darwin’s Theory of Evolution which spoke eloquently about the Survival of The Fittest. Our Dharma reinforces again and again that it is the responsibility of the powerful or resourceful to take care of the weak, disabled, and less privileged.
We do not even call the disabled but prefer the usage of the word Dhivyaang meaning persons with Divine limbs. It is not mere ‘ tokenism ‘ but we mean it to remind us ourselves of the responsibility. We believe that even the inanimate should not be exploited as there too the divine force exists though presently it may be dormant.
In the course of the Guru pooja, we stood in front of Bhagwa Dwaj, placed our hand over the heart, and bowed our head which completed the ritual called pranayam. This is a simple demonstration of a practice that combines the Head Heart and Hand as insisted upon by the educationists. Now technology experts say that our applications and gadgets should be user-friendly. We in Sanga following the Bharatiya Samskruti are continuously working towards making the profound thoughts user-friendly through the rituals.
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Take the case of Yagna. Not all family heads may be able to perform elaborate yagnas. However, if one feeds an Athithi, a stranger who arrives without prior intimation, then he fulfills his responsibility to that extent.
RSS has expanded over different phases as per the need of the Hindu society over the course of history from time to time. In the first phase, the move was to spread geographically all across our country. Then the swayamsevaks having imbibed the spirit of Sangha went into different fields starting Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad, Bharatiya Sikshan Mandal and scores of such organizations. Which all became the number one, size and quality of influence wise, in the respective sphere of their operations. This happened during the sustained efforts in the second phase.
In between, there was an organized attempt from the inimical forces both within and without. To destroy the foundation of our civilization, that is the concept of Family. Realizing the need to make the families strong enough to ward off the attacks such as conversion and revitalize Hindu families, we launched Kudumba Prabhodan.
Moving on further, we are working on different projects such as Go Sevaa, (cow protection). Graama Seva- nurturing self-sustained villages and building the rural economy and Paryaavaran Paalanam- Environmental protection-preservation. Thus, today we have moved into different fields without exception.
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We need to always reinvent ourselves and become the trendsetters. In this era of Battle of Narratives or Psycho-perception Wars. We need to be the opinion makers and Narrative Setters in the national interest. Let us attend Sanga Shaakaas. And spare our time and money to achieve these goals. Which will ensure our nation in this Amrit Kaal, stated Mukul Ji.
Earlier, Shri Sridhar Vembu, Founder&CEO, Zoho Corporation during his Presidential address quoted the words of Mahaakavi Bharati. Who exhorted Bharatiyaas to reach out to all corners of the world and bring the treasures back to our country. And further to take them to villages so that our brothers in the villages lead a better life. Now, our people are working in and leading many organizations across the globe. And bringing wealth from those nations, we need to redistribute the gains in our villages.
‘ Dharmasya moolam artham ‘emphasizes the need for money to propagate services to fellow beings. For Rural Development, there is a need to focus on yet another set of R and D. That is Research & Development. It might be needed at the early stages of development for our men and women to go and earn overseas.
However, if we do not innovate and bring better products and services. We may not be able to attract back youngsters to our country. Here in we need to learn from China which successfully brought back the talent from abroad and similarly. We need to avoid the lapses of Malaysia which failed to get back its talent pool resulting. In sliding down in the global ranking, insisted.
Isai Peroli Shri Saketharaman rendered an invocation song. With swayamsevaks paying pranam to Bhagwa, the gathering concluded with a vote of thanks.
Courtesy: vsktamilnadu.org, This article was originally published on vsktamilnadu.org
