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By Daya G.
Guruji Smriti Divas falls on June 5
ON a pleasant evening one spring, a bhajan session was in progress. Sitting on the bench by the side of the window from where the songs wafted in with the air, my attention went to one particular song which started with the words Keshavaya namah; Madhavaya namah. How true and beautifully the Lord'snames fall in order for the Sangh struck my mind. Simply, started by ?Keshav? Baliram Hedgewar, it was nurtured by ?Madhav? Sadashiv Golwalkar.
There are institutions and organisations all over, but building a lasting and ever-expanding organisation is really a tough and extra-ordinary task, and that too in the most adverse conditions. If someone has done that job very successfully it must be ?Madhav? alone. Bharat has really done some great penance to get the ?Madhav? in our Guruji.
The way he handled the various difficult situations faced by the Sangh are sagas in their own way. He was like a mother with a definitive purpose for her child; not an ordinary mother but a friend, philosopher and a guide. But I feel he was more than that? a mother who sacrificed her very being for her child and a disciplined mother who saved the Sangh child from all the worst difficulties it had to face, whether it be under the British rule or after Gandhiji'sassassination or during the volatile storm of Partition.
What a great and unique General he was, who was able to turn every defeat into a great success not only for the organisation he was leading, but for the entire nation.
With utmost clarity of vision and a heart filled with over-flowing love, he made Sangh to withstand the all-out efforts of others to crush it. What a great and unique General he was, who was able to turn every defeat into a great success not only for the organisation he was leading, but for the entire nation. I cannot stop wondering how he was able to do all these. He was just like any other well-educated intellectual leader of his times. But what made him to stand out from others?
Is it his absolute love for his motherland, which even made a great soul like Sri Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, the Paramacharya of Kanchi to write to him when his own mother died that, ?your mother, Bharata Mata has not died. She will live eternally and how can you feel the bereavement of your mother?? Or his absolute dedicated service to his guru Swami Akhandananda, a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna and the first to start a social service institution, which gave the right impetus to the society in serving the poor as daridra narayana or serving god by serving man? Or his guru'sblessings, which came in the form of a comment ?whatever work he (Guruji) takes up will turn into gold,? or his wide learning and the ability to comprehend and understand any situation in its true context?
May it be for his nectarine heart, which spoke only about cooperation and development of those who wanted to crush him out or his steadfast love and belief in his own people which made him to say after the fiery ordeal of Sangh ban: ?Let us close this chapter of the ban on the Sangh. Do not let your minds be overcome with bitterness for those who you feel have done injustice to you. If the teeth were to bite the tongue, do we pull out the teeth?? Or his complete identification with the suffering millions which made him to work day and night to provide a comfortable and decent livelihood for the refugees from Pakistan and East Pakistan and the millions of janjatis and Vanavasi brothers.
Or it is his humility which made him to remind the workers very often that Sangh is more important than the individual and when praise and attention was heaped on him, to say, ?How can one individual be ever given the credit for such a great organisation like the Sangh? Doubtlessly, countless workers have contributed to its growth. I am no doubt fortunate enough to be the object of your affection, but I do not deserve for my individual self all that credit.?
Maybe it was his razor-sharp intelligence which foretold and warned of many a disaster like the Chinese aggression, large-scale degradation in national values, the linguistic problem et al. that made him unique or his keen intellect which at the same time suggested and practically implemented the steps to resolve or avert the disasters, made him so.
Or his great will power which kept doing Sangh work even after getting a killer disease like cancer. Or the complete absence of ego, which usually accompanies men of such great achievements and talents, or it is all these together and some more admirable qualities which sat on the person very lightly. We can keep wondering all our lives!
One quality emerges out of all his actions is that, ?love comes first from the heart and then the men before him.? His objective mind worked ceaselessly for the one goal that is national regeneration not in just one field, but in all areas and for years to come. No doubt, as said earlier, he, as a mother of the Sangh, has given birth and nurtured many a leading organisation which makes our country proud. A host of institutions and lakhs of people he inspired with practical knowledge to create what is now famously referred to as the Sangh parivar. Really, it is a family with many members and the mother is absolutely ?Madhav? (Guruji). In the true spirit of a mother, he even instructed the Swayamsevaks not to build any memorial for him.
A fitting tribute to any mother by her children will be fulfill all her wishes as early as possible and build a living memorial to her by emulating her great sacrifices. Isn'tit time we think and act of creating and moulding our lives in tune with Sri Guruji'sideals to create a living edifice as a unified nation, committed to a broad national outlook which thinks on every issue on All-India basis. Shedding narrow-mindness, short-sightedness and prejudice, let us march ahead to glory so that we can do something to show to our Guruji during his fast approaching centenary in February 2006. Let us re-echo the song by saying ?Madhavaya namah.?
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