On Day 5 of Disha Bharat’s lecture series for the run up to 74th Indian Independence Day, Sri V Nagaraj trustee of Disha Bharat and RSS’ Manya Kshetriya Sanghachalak for the states of Karnataka, Andhra, Telangana spoke on the topic of ‘Rise of Nationalism during Freedom Movement’
Sri V Nagaraj in his address said that the nationalism in Bharat has been existing for times immemorial with our ancient texts also guiding on the same lines. However with the English education system brought into effect by Macaulay in Bharat, leading to mockery of the values and morals of ancient Bharatiya thoughts, disregarding Bharat as a Rashtra and belittling it as a subcontinent in an established way resulted the nation to be under slavery. The Rashtra bhava which was in its zenith was pulled down to nadir by the external invaders and the same resulted in Bharat being under the rule of foreigners for quite a while he said.
The real identity of Bharat has been being Dharmik and Adhyatmik (spiritual) and the leaders in all generations were motivated and guided by such spiritual gurus. Vidyaranya during the Vijayanagar rule or Samartha Ramadas during Shivaji’s rule or the Guru Parampara of the Sikhs were all spiritualistic and guided the kings, leaders towards victory of not just self but of the nation he said.
Sri V Nagaraj also said that Swamy Dayanand Saraswati stood as a priest of social reformation founded the Arya Samajand had given the call for Swaraj. Swamiji’s call for Swaraj and Swadeshi provided insightful guidance to the leaders of the then Bharat he said
Swamy Dayanand Saraswati
While any common man in Bharat has the belonging to the land he is born in, culture which he practices, people he is transacting with, the feel of Rashtriyata will enable him to be at his best for the nation he said. Elucidating examples from the freedom struggle, V Nagaraj spoke about the Patriot Monk Swami Vivenakanda and his message to Bharat and the sansyasis. He said, the Uttisthata Jagrata Prapya Varannibodhata call from the Upanishad and Swami Vivekananda’s clarion call of “Awake Arise Stop Not till the goal is reached” in literal sense had re awakened lots of minds in Bharat during freedom struggle.
Swami Vivekananda had also called for people to sacrifice themselves to serve Bharata Mata and consider her as the goddess to offer prayers. The prayers to Her was through serving the poor to strengthen them to re awaken and fight for independence of Bharat. Swamiji’s thundering words were not meant mere for Sadhus but it was an inspiration to the freedom fighters including the revolutionaries. Balagangadhar Tilak, Lala Lajpat Rai, Mahatma Gandhi, C Rajaji and many revolutionaries took the inspiration from his words he said. For Subhash Chandra Bose and others who had not heard or seen Swami Vivekananda also, the inspiration flowed, for their selfless work towards Bharat and the freedom struggle he concluded
