CHAPTER 19 Nation First

As per the Rāmāyaṇa, Lord Rāma said, “The mother and the motherland are superior even to heaven.” While having transcended the limiting senses of ‘I’ and ‘mine’ by virtue of His realization of and firm abidance in the non-dual Reality, His Holiness manifested intense patriotism.

He greatly valued the freedom movement. Having a keen sense of history, He was quite conversant with the lives of great freedom fighters and spoke admiringly and movingly of those who unhesitatingly sacrificed their lives for Indian independence. He was steadfast in His commitment to the sovereignty of our country. He firmly maintained that while we may have some differences of opinion on matters internal to us, as a nation, we must have a single voice in our dealings with external entities.

Having a keen sense of history, His Holiness was quite conversant with the lives of great freedom fighters and spoke admiringly and movingly of those who unhesitatingly sacrificed their lives for Indian independence. He was steadfast in His commitment to the sovereignty of our country.

When the nation’s sovereignty came under the threat of foreign aggression, He offered prayers to the Lord for the nation’s welfare and also contributed significantly to the National Defence Fund. It may be recalled that in the wake of the Indo-Pakistan war, the Prime Minister of India, Lal Bahadur Sastry, gave the slogan, ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’ in 1965 and appealed for generous contributions. In 1965, to mark the 49^th Vardhantī of His Holiness, grand celebrations were organized in Chennai. With offerings from devotees, His Holiness performed kanakābhiṣeka (worship with gold coins) to Goddess Śāradāmbā. Stirred by the call of the nation, during the felicitation functions at the conclusion of the celebrations, His Holiness spontaneously donated those gold coins along with a monetary contribution to the National Defence Fund. These were received in person by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, M. Bhaktavatsalam. His Holiness made generous donations even during the Indo-Pak war of 1971.

“In ancient times, the task of protecting the nation and its people was enjoined on the Kṣatriyas. That duty has now been entrusted to you. Whatever subgroup you may belong to, all of you of the armed forces have a paramount duty and that is to guard the nation.”

His Holiness

He addressed the members of the armed forces in numerous places, often exhorting them to diligently discharge their duties. For instance, addressing the armed forces at Hyderabad in 1967, He said, “I am pleased to see you all here to receive me in your midst. The purpose of life must be clear in your perspective. Man is bound by his duty. What is your duty? In ancient times, the task of protecting the nation and its people was enjoined on the Kṣatriyas. That duty has now been entrusted to you. Whatever subgroup you may belong to, all of you of the armed forces have a paramount duty and that is to guard the nation. In this, you should not be half-hearted, come what may. Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said in the Bhagavadgītā that fortunate is the warrior who gets an opportunity to wage a war against evil and for righteousness, and that the doors of heaven are thrown open to him. Do keep this in mind and execute the tasks assigned to you, diligently and to the best of your ability. To attain the objective of life, salvation, one should cultivate qualities such as compassion to all beings. You should practise them to the extent possible, with a clear understanding of their essence, taking into consideration the context. There is a teaching that is pertinent to all of you who have chosen to render the yeomen service of protecting the nation. Śrī Kṛṣṇa advised Arjuna on the battlefield, ‘Think of Me and fight.’ You too should do so.

“Pray to God before you set out to do anything and then perform your duty. That is enough for you and will fetch you great good. By your very performance of your duty duly accompanied by the thought of God and acting with sincerity and whole-heartedness, you will have served God well.” The members of the armed forces enthusiastically extended their support to His Holiness in the course of His tours, especially in the Himalayan region. They also thronged in large numbers to listen to Him discourse.

The following is an English translation of His Holiness’s message issued from Shivamogga on 27^th October, 1962, at the time when the Chinese had attacked India:

“Śrī Kṛṣṇa has said in the Bhagavadgītā that fortunate is the warrior who gets an opportunity to wage a war against evil and for righteousness, and that the doors of heaven are thrown open to him. Do keep this in mind and execute the tasks assigned to you diligently and to the best of your ability.”

His Holiness

“Non-injury is a daivī-sampat (godly attribute) in man and is opposed to causing injury, an āsurī-sampat (demonical attribute). Non-injury is a means to the realisation of the Absolute. In keeping with the averment, ‘ahiṁsā paramo dharmaḥ,’ it is reckoned as the highest dharma. There is another injunction, ‘Put down without hesitation.’ The two teachings should be reconciled. To the good, cause no violence; take all precautions not to hurt their feelings. Offend not the non-offending, overlook trifles and correct them with love. But desperadoes who commit arson, homicide, outrage the modesty of women and attack without provocation deserve to be punished.

“When the mighty Bhīmasena was a lad, his mother Kuntī, out of desire to curb the exuberance of his spirit, softly said, ‘Bhīma, my child! Do not interfere in the affairs of others.’ ‘Yes, mother,’ replied Bhīma. Out of boyish curiosity, Arjuna accosted Bhīma and asked, ‘Brother dear, what will you do if others mischievously meddle in your affairs?’ ‘I will not spare them,’ came the prompt reply.

“Our land is wedded to peace, but a neighbour of ours mistakes it for our weakness. China has demonically attacked us and its forces have set foot on our sacred soil. ‘Fight,’ was Kṛṣṇa’s message to Arjuna. Our people, as one united force, must fight to put down that aggression and establish peace.

“What can I give - I, who have renounced all? I may not be useful in the battlefield. But this pīṭha established by Śrī Ādi-Śaṅkara is replete with the power of the tapas of sages, and from that treasure, I whole-heartedly give to our Jawans, my blessings. May the treasure of tapas contribute to victory. The able-bodied ones amongst you may serve in the defence forces; the affluent should part with their wealth to enrich the defence fund. All should stand by our leaders and obey their behest. My prayers are with you.”

His Holiness

On hearing of natural calamities, His Holiness’s heart melted. He was generous in parting with whatever aid the Maṭha could afford to the afflicted ones. For instance, when He was camping in Chennai in 1977, a cyclone caused devastation in Andhra Pradesh and, to a lesser extent, in Tamil Nadu. His Holiness contributed generously to both the states. He was not for publicising such acts, which in any case, He considered as His duty, not favour, to the nation and its people.

In His speeches at various places, He said that in response to the question “Who are you?” the first thought that arises in many is of the form, “I am a Keralite,” “I am a Punjabi,” etc. This is not how it should be. One’s first response should be, “I am an Indian.” He said, “If all people feel they are Indians first and only then think of any other divisions, the nation will have great prosperity and the divisive forces will not be operative as they are today.”

His Holiness said that in response to the question “Who are you?” the first thought that arises in many is of the form, “I am a Keralite,” “I am a Punjabi,” etc. This is not how it should be. One’s first response should be, “I am an Indian.”

His Holiness pointed out, “Since time immemorial, we have been one as a nation, despite the fact that there were many kingdoms ruled by many monarchs of varied dispositions. The oneness of the nation was never lost on us.”

He pointed out, “Since time immemorial, we have been one as a nation, despite the fact that there were many kingdoms ruled by many monarchs of varied dispositions. The oneness of the nation was never lost on us. What was the spirit that held us together? It was the underlying dharma practised by the vast majority that unified us. Thus, though divided by kingdoms, we were united by the spirit of dharma. A glorious demonstration of that spirit can be seen in the life of Śrī Ādi-Śaṅkara Himself, centuries ago. He established four monasteries to sustain, uphold and propagate sanātana-dharma. He was born in Kalady in Kerala. However, He chose to establish His monasteries in the four corners of India – Sringeri in the south, Dwaraka in the west, Puri in the east and Badri in the north. Moreover, He had no petty concerns such as regionalism. His actions are an illustration of this. Look at His choice of His principal disciples as the first pontiffs of those Maṭhas. He appointed Sureśvarācārya who was from the current Bihar to head the southern Maṭha at Sringeri; Padmapādācārya, a southerner, was appointed to head the western Maṭha at Dwaraka.

“The famous temple of Lord Viśvanātha is in Varanasi in the north; in the south, we have the celebrated temple for Lord Rāmanātha at Rameswaram. Yet, what was the ethos induced in us by our ancients? One from the northern belt cherished as a lifetime ambition a pilgrimage to Rameswaram and bathing Lord Rāmanātha with the waters of the holy Gaṅgā. Likewise, for the southerner, a pilgrimage to Kashi and darśana of Lord Viśvanātha there were lifetime goals. Besides, even something so seemingly commonplace as the custom of naming our children has a definite stamp of the oneness of our nation. While names such as Ramnath and Sharada are seen in the north, Viswanatha and Dwarakanatha are common in the south. How could all this have been if the great had not seen our nation as an integral entity?”

His Holiness could linguistically interact with people of the south and the north with equal ease. He was at home with Kannada, Telugu and Tamil, the languages of the south. To connect readily with a majority of the population to the north of the Vindhyas, He mastered Hindi, on His own, to the extent that even native Hindi litterateurs were charmed by the chastity of His Hindi in His discourses and interactions with Him. Consequently, some of them even refused to believe that Hindi was not His mother tongue and insisted, ‘ye hamare swamiji hain (He is our own Swamiji).’ He communicated freely in Sanskrit with traditional scholars from every part of the country.

His Holiness was consistently apolitical. He held and expressed the view that whoever was genuinely committed to the welfare of the nation deserved the support of the people. In the course of a discourse in Kannada in Bengaluru, He stated, “People ask me to which pakṣa (party) I belong. I am niṣpakṣa (neutral). Whoever works for the welfare of the people at large deserves our support. Violent agitations and repeated moves to disrupt the proper functioning of a duly elected Government must be eschewed.” Various leaders from within and outside the political establishment called on Him. Various Presidents of India, such as Rajendra Prasad, S. Radhakrishnan, Zakir Hussain and Giani Zail Singh came to Him for blessings. Prime Minister Indira Gandhi met Him on several occasions and sought His benediction. Likewise, Chief Ministers, Governors and other dignitaries all came to have His darśana. He said, “By their deeds, leaders should set examples for others to emulate. If they do not abide by the principles they propagate, they cannot expect others to have faith in them and act in a manner conducive to national welfare. Śrī Kṛṣṇa’s teaching that is pertinent here is, ‘Whatever a great one does, that do the others follow.’”

With Rajendra Prasad

With S. Radhakrishnan

With Zakir Hussain

With Giani Zail Singh

With R. Venkatraman

With S. D. Sharma

With Indira Gandhi and P. V. Narasimha Rao

With A. B. Vajpayee

With L. K. Advani

With G. S. Pathak

With B. D. Jatti

With Prabhudas Patwari

With the king of Nepal

With M. Channa Reddy

With Ashok Nath Banarjee

With Mohanlal Sukhadia

With C. Subramanian

With Buta Singh

With M. Bhaktavatsalam

With Ramakrishna Hegde

With K. Karunakaran

With Dayanand Bandodkar

With Shashikala Kakodkar

With Vengal Rao

With Gundu Rao and S. Bangarappa

With R. M. Veerappan

With the Maharaja of Mysore, Jayachamraja Wodeyar

With Vaidyasubramania Iyer and Muthiah Chettiar

With the Maharaja of Gwalior, Madhav Rao Scindia

With the Maharaja of Ramnad

With the Maharaja of Travancore

With the Rajaguru of Nepal

With T. S. Bharde

With Justice Somanatha Iyer

At a time when communal harmony was challenged over reports of conversions in southern Tamil Nadu, His Holiness issued a message to the following effect:

No one must act in such a way as to harm another.

The śāstras do not recognise conversion of a Hindu to another religion. As such, those who have ‘changed’ their religion, if they are remorseful, may be treated as if no change has occurred.

None should impose restrictions on the use of wells, places of prayer etc., that are meant for the use of common people. People imposing restrictions as to who should use these may be penalised.

The Śāstra says: “Dharma protects one who protects it,” and “There is higher good in performing one’s own dharma.” These precepts should be borne in mind and acted upon accordingly.

When His message to the nation was sought during another outbreak of communal disharmony, He said, “All Indians must owe allegiance to the Constitution of India, which we have given ourselves. We have set procedures to legislate through our elected representatives. We have the judiciary to adjudicate as per the law of the land. Attempts at settling disputes between communities, sects or regions by taking recourse to unlawful means are totally unacceptable.”

With regard to the diversity in religious and social practices, He said, “Whatever practices one may wish to have in private is left to the individual, so long as they do not infringe on the others. One must abstain from fermenting quarrels with and creating trouble for other individuals or communities. Verily, everybody has a right to happiness. The prayer our ancients have taught us is: ‘May all beings be happy.’

“Our nation and its culture have a hoary past and we should all be proud of it. Blindly following the west is not conducive to our benefit. For instance, caring for aged parents has come down to us traditionally; we must never neglect this duty by indiscriminately aping the so-called liberal societies, wherein concern for one’s own progenitors is at a low ebb.”

“By their deeds, leaders should set examples for others to emulate. If they do not abide by the principles they propagate, then they cannot expect others to have faith in them and act in a manner conducive to national welfare.”

-His Holiness

His Holiness spoke with such frankness, love and purity of heart that wherever He went, He found a place in the hearts of the people regardless of whichever part of India they were from.

His Holiness spoke with such frankness, love and purity of heart that wherever He went, He found a place in the hearts of the people, regardless of whichever part of India they were from. Every night, at the commencement of His Candramaulīśvara-pūjā, as part of the saṅkalpa, His Holiness supplicated the Lord for the welfare of all beings.