<keyword id="19980783" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Swami-Vivekananda" source="keywords">Swami Vivekananda</keyword>, born Narendranath Datta, was a towering figure in Indian spirituality and the spread of its influence in the Western world. A disciple of the mystic Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, Vivekananda is best remembered in the West for his speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893, where he began with the words, “Sisters and brothers of America!”. His teachings and philosophy continue to inspire millions, emphasising the potential of the human soul and the unity of all religions. However, the circumstances surrounding his death on July 4, 1902, remain shrouded in mystery and speculation. <h2>The final day</h2>On the morning of July 4, 1902, Swami Vivekananda reportedly awoke early and proceeded to Belur Math, the headquarters of the self-founded <keyword id="20167907" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ramakrishna-Mission" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ramakrishna Mission" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Ramakrishna Mission">Ramakrishna Mission</keyword>. He spent three hours in meditation, a practice central to his daily routine. Following this, he taught the Shukla-Yajur-Veda, Sanskrit grammar, and the philosophy of yoga to his pupils. Later, he discussed plans for a Vedic college at the <keyword id="21095504" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Ramakrishna-Math" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Ramakrishna Math" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Ramakrishna Math">Ramakrishna Math</keyword> with his colleagues. At 7:00 pm, Vivekananda retired to his room, asking not to be disturbed. By 9:20 pm, he had passed away while meditating. The official cause of death was given as the rupture of a blood vessel in his brain. <h2>The mystical element</h2>The circumstances of Vivekananda’s death have fueled various speculations and mystical interpretations. Some followers believe that his departure was not due to any physical ailment but was a conscious decision to leave his body. This belief is rooted in the <keyword id="22288053" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="yogic-concept" source="keywords">yogic concept</keyword> of <keyword id="22288055" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="maha-samadhi" source="keywords">maha samadhi</keyword>, where an enlightened soul consciously exits the physical form. This idea is further supported by the belief that the rupture in his brain was due to the piercing of the “brahmarandhra” — an opening at the crown of the head — allowing his soul to merge with the universal consciousness. <h2>Swami’s <keyword id="22288056" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="premonition-of-death" source="keywords">premonition of death</keyword></h2>The mysticism of the man only intensifies when you take in the fact that Vivekananda seemed to have a premonition of his death. As per ‘The Monk as Man’, a biography of Swami Vivekananda by renowned Bengali writer Shankar, the Swami reportedly told the French soprano Rosa Emma Calvet in Egypt that he would not live past the age of 40. This was a prophecy that indeed came true as he passed away at 39 years, five months, and 24 days. This sense of impending death did not deter him from his work, however, and he remained active in his duties at the Ramakrishna Math until his final day. His close associates noted that he was keenly aware of his mortality and often spoke about the ephemeral nature of life. <h2>Vivekanada’s struggles with health</h2>However, this is not to say that the Swami did not suffer from his share of mortal troubles. Throughout his life, Vivekananda battled numerous health problems, amounting to no less than 31 different ailments, as per reports. Insomnia plagued Swami relentlessly, and he often wrote about his struggles with sleep in letters to close friends. He also suffered from liver and kidney diseases, malaria, migraines, diabetes, and heart ailments. In the book, Shankar pens “shariram byadhimandiram” to describe Vivekananda's body, which roughly translates to a “temple of diseases". Despite his emphasis on physical strength — once controversially stating that it was better to play football than read the Gita — his own health was in a constant state of decline. <h2>Legacy and reflection</h2> Swami Vivekananda's life and teachings continue to resonate with people around the world. His message of self-realisation and unity of all religions remains relevant today. Reflecting on his own identity, Vivekananda once said, “Nature, body, mind, go to death, not we. We neither go nor come. The man Vivekananda is in nature, is born and dies; but the Self (soul) we see as Vivekananda is never born and never dies. It is the eternal and unchangeable Reality.” Swami Vivekananda was finally cremated on a sandalwood pyre on the banks of the Ganga, opposite the spot where his guru, Ramakrishna, was cremated sixteen years earlier. His legacy lives on through the Ramakrishna Mission and the many lives he touched with his profound wisdom and unwavering dedication to the <keyword id="22288057" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="spiritual-upliftment" source="keywords">spiritual upliftment</keyword> of humanity.

Swami Vivekananda death anniversary: Did you know the mystical aspects around Swami’s death?

On the 122nd <keyword id="19933365" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="death-anniversary" source="keywords">death anniversary</keyword> of <keyword id="21415083" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="philosopher" source="keywords">philosopher</keyword> and monk <keyword id="19980783" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="Swami-Vivekananda" source="keywords">Swami Vivekananda</keyword>, Prime Minister <keyword id="19895781" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Narendra-Modi" source="keywords">Narendra Modi</keyword> paid <keyword id="20382079" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="homage" source="keywords">homage</keyword> to him on Thursday, stating that his teachings give strength to millions. Taking to 'X', <keyword id="19899320" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="PM-Modi" source="keywords">PM Modi</keyword> wrote, "I pay homage to Swami Vivekananda on his Punya Tithi. His teachings give strength to millions. His profound wisdom and relentless pursuit of knowledge are also very motivating." <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> I pay homage to Swami Vivekananda on his Punya Tithi. His teachings give strength to millions. His profound wisdom and relentless pursuit of knowledge are also very motivating. We reiterate our commitment to fulfil his dream of a prosperous and progressive society. - Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) July 4, 2024 </blockquote> The Prime Minister further reiterated the government's commitment to fulfilling Vivekanada's dream of a prosperous and progressive society. "We reiterate our commitment to fulfilling his dream of a prosperous and progressive society", he wrote on 'X'. Born on January 12, 1863, in West Bengal's Kolkata, Swami Vivekananda was a philosopher, monk, and religious teacher. His full name was Narendranath Datta. The Chief disciple of Indian mystic Ramkrishna Paramhans, Vivekananda, popularised <keyword id="19983840" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Indian-culture" source="keywords">Indian culture</keyword> across the world. He delivered several speeches across the United States, England, and Europe, promulgating the core tenets of Hindu philosophy. He is one of the most influential monks in the world. Keen on spiritualism and <keyword id="19919721" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="vedanta" source="keywords">Vedanta</keyword>, Vivekananda became popular in the 1893 Parliament of Religions in Chicago, where he delivered his famous speech, beginning with the words, "Sisters and brothers of America..." The country observes 'National Youth Day' on his birthday, January 12. He died on July 4, 1902, at the age of 39.

PM Modi pays homage to Swami Vivekananda on his death anniversary

<keyword id="6364300" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Swami-Vivekananda">Swami Vivekananda</keyword> was one of the greatest spiritual masters India has produced. His life, teachings and messages have inspired millions through several generations. He was the fountainhead of wisdom and inspiration. He could ignite hearts with spiritual quest and also convey lofty thoughts in a lucid but powerful way. Here are a few select quotes of Swami Vivekananda that have become immortal and continue to ring in the hearts of people leading their journeys. You are the product of your thoughts "We are what our thoughts have made us; so take care about what you think. Words are secondary. Thoughts live; they travel far." You become what you think "Whatever you think, that you will be. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be; if you think yourselves impure, impure you will be; if you think yourselves pure, pure you will be." Perseverance is the key to success "To succeed, you must have tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. 'I will drink the ocean', says the persevering soul, 'at my will mountains will crumble up.' Have that sort of energy, that sort of will, work hard, and you will reach the goal." Have faith in yourself "Let people say whatever they like, stick to your own convictions, and rest assured, the world will be at your feet. They say, 'Have faith in this fellow or that fellow', but, I say, 'Have faith in yourself first'. That's the way." Purity is strength "If you are pure, if you are strong, you, one man are equal to the whole world." How the achieve your goal Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life – think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success; that is way great spiritual giants are produced. Never worry about failures Never mind the struggles, the mistakes. I never heard a cow tell a lie, but it is only a cow— never a man. So never mind these failures, these little backslidings; hold the ideal a thousand times, and if you fail a thousand times, make the attempt once more. What will thrust you forward I want each one of my children to be a hundred times greater than I could ever be. Every one of you must be a giant— must, that is my word. Obedience, readiness, and love for the cause— if you have these three, nothing can hold you back. I hate politics I hate cowardice; I will have nothing to do with cowards or political nonsense. I do not believe in any politics. God and truth are the only politics in the world, everything else is trash. Be unselfish and humble Do not be afraid of a small beginning. Great things come afterwards. Be courageous. Do not try to lead your brethren, but serve them. The brutal mania for leading has sunk many a great ships in the waters of life. Take care especially of that, i.e. be unselfish even unto death, and work Be strong and practical Be strong, my young friends; that is my advice to you. You will be nearer to Heaven through football than through the study of the Gita. These are bold words; but I have to say them, for I love you. I know where the shoe pinches. Manifest the power in you Arise, awake, sleep no more; within each of you there is the power to remove all wants and all miseries. Believe this, and that power will be manifested. Depend on yourself Be free; hope for nothing from anyone. I am sure if you look back upon your lives you will find that you were always vainly trying to get help from others which never came. 3 Golden rules of life Who is helping you, don’t forget them. Who is loving you, don’t hate them. Who is believing you, don’t cheat them. Talk to yourself Talk to yourself at least once in a day. Otherwise you may miss a meeting with an EXCELLENT person in this world… Contemplate on high ideals Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you and out of that will come great work.

Swami Vivekananda Quotes with Meaning

With <keyword id="20910895" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mothers-Day" source="keywords">Mother's Day</keyword> 2024 approaching this Sunday (May 12), it's time to honour and celebrate the remarkable women who have played an indispensable role in shaping our lives. The roots of this contemporary <keyword id="19931928" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mother" source="keywords">Mother</keyword>'s Day can be traced back to the tireless efforts of Anna Jarvis, an American woman, who advocated for an official day dedicated to honouring mothers during the early 20th century. During the Civil War era in the US, Anna Jarvis's mother, Ann Reeves Jarvis, founded "<keyword id="21616921" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mothers-Day-Work-Clubs" source="keywords" meta.keywordsubtype="org" meta.entityname="Mother's Day Work Clubs" meta.hostid="261" meta.entityid="Mother's Day Work Clubs">Mother's Day Work Clubs</keyword>" to bolster public health and foster unity among mothers. After Ann's death in 1905, Anna campaigned vigorously for a national day honouring mothers, ultimately leading to President Woodrow Wilson proclaiming the second Sunday in May as Mother's Day in 1914. In India, where mothers are revered as embodiments of love, sacrifice and strength, expressing gratitude and affection on this special day holds immense significance. To help you convey your heartfelt emotions, here are some Indian quotes and wishes to make your mother feel cherished and appreciated. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mother’s Day special: Quotes by famous Indians" comment="subhead" text="Mother’s Day special: Quotes by famous Indians">Mother’s Day special: Quotes by famous Indians</cmsannotation> “Mother represents colourless love that knows no barter, love that never dies.” — Swami Vivekananda “It may be possible to gild pure gold, but who can make his mother more beautiful?” — Mahatma Gandhi “A mother's love is a divine melody, resonating through the cosmos and binding hearts together.” — Rabindranath Tagore “A mother's love is the closest thing to God's love manifested on earth.” — Jhumpa Lahiri “The heart of a mother is a reservoir of strength, a wellspring of compassion, and an ocean of unconditional love.” — Arundhati Roy “A mother's love is the foundation upon which the edifice of humanity stands, the cornerstone of civilization.” — Salman Rushdie “A mother's love is the universe in a heartbeat, the cosmos in a caress, the essence of existence itself.” — Amitav Ghosh <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Mother’s Day wishes for Indians" comment="subhead" text="Mother’s Day wishes for Indians"><keyword id="21616922" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Mothers-Day-wishes-for-Indians" source="Orion">Mother’s Day wishes for Indians</keyword></cmsannotation> Mumma, your sacrifices and selflessness have shaped me into the person I am today. On this special day, I want to express my deepest gratitude and love for everything you do. Happy Mother's Day! Amma, your warmth and affection have been the guiding force behind every success in my life. Today, I want to shower you with love and gratitude for being the best mother anyone could ask for. Happy Mother's Day! Aai, your love is the foundation on which my life is built. As I celebrate you on Mother's Day, I want you to know that you are cherished, admired, and deeply loved. Wishing you a day filled with laughter and happiness. Dear Mom, your unwavering love and unconditional support have been my greatest treasures. Wishing you a Mother's Day filled with joy, laughter, and all the happiness you deserve. To the strongest woman I know, my mother: May your day be as bright and beautiful as your smile. Thank you for being my pillar of strength and inspiration. Happy Mother's Day! Wishing a very Happy Mother's Day to the one who fills our home with laughter, warmth, and boundless affection. Mummy, you are our guiding light and source of endless inspiration. On this special day, I thank the universe for blessing me with a mother as incredible as you. Your love knows no bounds, and your kindness touches countless hearts. Happy Mother's Day! To the woman who taught us the true meaning of resilience and compassion, Happy Mother's Day! Your unwavering love and unwavering strength make you our superhero. Happy Mother's Day to the woman who juggles a million roles with grace and poise. Your love is the foundation of our family, and your sacrifices do not go unnoticed. We love you endlessly. On this Mother's Day, I wish you all the love and happiness in the world, Mom. Your endless sacrifices and tireless efforts deserve to be celebrated today and every day.

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India secured its independence on August 15, 1947 and declared itself as a sovereign Republic on January 26, 1950. As a free nation, India has journeyed through several ups and downs and has proved its capabilities in every domain of life. The present state of achievements the country has made a promise to see India as one of the well-developed superpowers of the world within just a few years. When India celebrates its 74th <keyword id="6416557" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="Republic-Day" source="Orion">Republic Day</keyword> on January 26, 2022, we can inspire ourselves with these wonderful quotes to take pride in the legacy we share and to remind ourselves of the great responsibility we have in front of us as Indian citizens. <cmsannotation type="cmsannotation" annotationid="Republic Day 2023 Quotes" comment="subhead" text="Republic Day 2023 Quotes">Republic Day 2023 Quotes </cmsannotation> “Even if I died in the service of the nation, I would be proud of it. Every drop of my blood… will contribute to the growth of this nation and to make it strong and dynamic.” - Indira Gandhi "Everything that is really great and inspiring is created by the individual who can labour in freedom." - Albert Einstein "Let new India arise out of peasants' cottage, grasping the plough, out of huts, cobbler and sweeper." - Swami Vivekananda "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong." - Mahatma Gandhi "An eye for eye only ends up making the whole world blind" - Mahatma Gandhi." - Mahatma Gandhi “Bombs and pistols do not make revolution. The sword of revolution is sharpened on the whetting stone of ideas.” - Bhagat Singh “The strength of a nation derives from the integrity of the home.” – Confucius "Democracy is not merely a form of government. It is primarily a mode of associated living, of conjoint communicated experience. It is essentially an attitude of respect and reverence towards fellow men." - BR Ambedkar “It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.” – J. Horace Mcfarland “A man’s feet must be planted in his country, but his eyes should survey the world.” – George Santayana "Faith is the bird that feels the light when the dawn is still dark." - Rabindranath Tagore "One individual may die for an idea, but that idea will, after his death, incarnate itself in a thousand lives." - Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose Let your life lightly dance on the edges of Time like dew on the tip of a leaf." - Rabindranath Tagore “One flag, one land, one heart, one hand, One Nation evermore!” – Oliver Wendell Holmes "I feel that the constitution is workable, it is flexible, and it is strong enough to hold the country together both in peacetime and in wartime. Indeed, if I may say so, if things go wrong under the new Constitution, the reason will not be that we had a bad Constitution. What we will have to say is that Man was vile." – B.R. Ambedkar "Take up an idea, devote yourself to it, struggle on in patience, and the sun will rise for you." - Swami Vivekananda "We are Indians, firstly and lastly." – B. R. Ambedkar “Democracy means simply the bludgeoning of the people by the people for the people.” – Oscar Wilde SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/india/article/happy-republic-day-2022-wishes-and-messages/articleshow/89107128.cms">Republic Day 2023 – Here is a list of wishes and messages you can send to your fellow citizens</a>

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<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54971d46ecad04023207b23f-1200-924/narendra-modi-29.jpg" border="0" alt="Narendra Modi">Hindustan Times/Getty ImagesPrime Minister Narendra Modi pays tributes to freedom fighter Veer Savarkar on 131st birth anniversary at Parliament House on May 28, 2014 in New Delhi, India. </img>In 1906, in a lodging house for Indian students in Highgate, a pleasant area of north London, a young lawyer called Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi dropped in on a law student called Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, who happened to be frying prawns at the time. Savarkar offered Gandhi some of his meal; Gandhi, a vegetarian, refused. Savarkar allegedly retorted that only a fool would attempt to resist the British without being fortified by animal protein.
The meeting is said to have begun hostilities between the two young Indian nationalists; whether or not the story is apocryphal, there were real reasons for antipathy.
The two men had very different approaches to the struggle against Britain. Gandhi, who became leader of the Indian National Congress (INC), was a pacifist with an inclusive attitude towards Muslims and Christians. Savarkar, who would lead the Hindu Mahasabha, was a right-wing majoritarian who spawned the idea of hindutva, or Hindu-ness--the belief that the Hindu identity is inseparable from the Indian identity. Congress eclipsed the Mahasabha and, since history belongs to the victors, the story of India's independence movement became one of non-violence. But the strand of thought that Savarkar represented was more important than is generally recognised, and is enjoying a revival.
A member of the Mahasabha broke away to form the paramilitary Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or national volunteer organisation, in 1925, modelled, some say, on the British army. A social rather than explicitly political organisation, it presented itself as the world's largest non-governmental group, in which like-minded, khaki-uniformed men could gather for dawn calisthenics. It recruited boys at an impressionable age, as the Jesuits did, the better to inculcate them with discipline and with passion for the cause. One such was the eight-year-old Narendra Modi. The future prime minister attended training sessions with the RSS, was subsequently inducted as a cadet, and in 1985 was assigned by the RSS to its political wing, the Bharatiya Janata Party, which he rose to lead.
Mr Modi is India's strongest leader since Indira Gandhi, and its most controversial. The source of controversy is his failure in 2002, when chief minister of Gujarat, to avert a massacre of Muslims, which opponents attribute to a hostility to Muslims born of the ideology that Savarkar spawned. Mr Modi has never apologised for the massacre, though he said last year that he felt regret over them, as he would at seeing a puppy run over in the street. Nor has he made any attempt to distance himself from the RSS.
The RSS, meanwhile, is becoming more overtly political. Mohan Bhagwat, its current leader, is somewhat in the mould of Savarkar, paraphrasing his beliefs and promoting Hindutva. In August this year Mr Bhagwat directly echoed Savarkar by saying all who live in "Hindustan" are in fact Hindus, whatever Muslims, Christians or secular Hindus might say. More striking, the RSS leader has switched the organisation's methods. Now, far from eschewing party politics, the group has become an enthusiastic and effective actor within it. The RSS's millions of members and volunteers (no one knows just how many active ones there really are) played a big role in electing the BJP by a landslide in 2014. At least 19 ministers in government, including Mr Modi, have a background in the RSS. Its leaders are seconded to senior posts in the party too. So the ideas of the man who inspired the RSS matter more than ever before.
<h3>The naked jumper</h3>
The lawyer described by a British official in 1906 as "a small man with an intelligent face and a nervous manner" does not sound like the muscular hero that Indian nationalists crave, but Savarkar clearly had a certain dash. In 1910, while he was in London, he was charged with conspiring to wage war against the king and with providing weapons used to assassinate a Briton in the Indian civil service, sentenced to two life terms--50 years--in jail and sent back to India. While the steamship "Morea" was berthed in Marseille harbour, he slipped away from his guards, leapt, almost naked, into the sea and swam ashore. Unfortunately for the eulogists, he was promptly caught by French police and bundled back to the ship.
His daring did, however, win him fame, and also created legal history. France's government, annoyed that Britain had overseen an arrest on its territory, wanted Savarkar returned. Britain refused so the matter went to the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague. It ruled his arrest was indeed "irregular", but decided Savarkar might as well stay in India. The case was one of the earliest heard by the tribunal.
Savarkar's next stop was the Andaman Islands--a group of islands in the Bay of Bengal. This palm-fringed tropical paradise served as a penal colony for the British. Cellular Jail in the capital, Port Blair, is now a memorial for freedom campaigners. In a park opposite stands a row of statues of independence heroes. One is of a slender man with a pinched face behind round spectacles. A pen protrudes from his jacket pocket, one hand rests on a part-furled umbrella and the other wags a finger at the sky. You might mistake him for a prissy bank manager, but a plaque identifies him as Vinayak Damodar Savarkar. The park is named after him.
Ranjit Savarkar, his great-nephew, who runs the Savarkar trust, says that he showed great fortitude in jail. A trained yogi, he overcame thoughts of suicide. Other inmates nicknamed him "Barrister Babu", for his London legal training. Already a published historian and poet, he used Cellular Jail to work on his writing--literally: he wrote on its walls. He spent a decade there before being moved to the mainland in 1921. He was subsequently freed, after pledging to keep out of politics--a promise which the ideology he was developing in jail suggests he did not intend to keep.
A fierce nationalist, he adored Guiseppe Mazzini, who fought for the unification of Italy, writing about him in the hope of inspiring resistance to the British in India. Savarkar believed that India is really composed of, and must only be run by, Hindus. In his 1924 book, "Hindutva", he drew on cultural, philosophical and religious practices of ancient Hinduism, a rich faith that allows immense variety in how it is followed. But he also distinguished the ideology of hindutva--an attempt to unite disparate Hindus in a political project--from the religion. He himself was an atheist, and disapproved of aspects of traditional Hindu belief, dismissing cow worship as superstitious--a stance that would upset many today. He was an early outspoken opponent of caste discrimination. In the 1920s and 1930s others among the emerging Indian political elite opposed "untouchability", the rejection as sub-human of those considered "below caste". But Savarkar went further, saying modern India should drop altogether the idea of dividing people by caste.
His attitude towards Muslims, who made up a quarter of the population before partition, and other non-Hindus was less liberal. He regarded them as alien and separate, in effect not as real Indians. He was fiercely opposed to the formation of Pakistan and what his great-nephew calls the "appeasement" of Muslims. He believed that they, along with the Europeans, had crushed Hindus for a millennium--a sentiment echoed by Mr Modi in an address to parliament after his election this year, when he spoke of ending "1,200 years of slave mentality" in India.
Aside from his view of Muslims, the big difference between Savarkar and the nationalists in the INC lay in their contrasting attitudes to violence. He also wrote one of the first Indian accounts of the uprising in 1857, centred in Delhi. Known as the "Mutiny" to the British, it is referred to by many Indians as the "first war of independence"--echoing the title of Savarkar's book, "The Indian War of Independence". It was a gruesome episode, in which hundreds of thousands were killed, but Savarkar was untroubled by the violence, and seemed to justify the murders of British women and children. His works are steeped in a desire for revenge against those who have humiliated Hindus, and his frustration with the passivity of his co-religionists: "I want all Hindus to get themselves re-animated and re-born into a martial race." In his early years, he circulated manuals on bomb making. He approved of--and probably assisted in--the assassination of colonial administrators. He was suspected, for example, of encouraging a student radical who shot dead Sir Curzon Wyllie, a government official, one summer night on a Kensington street in 1909.
<h3>Rewriting history</h3>
<img src="https://static-ssl.businessinsider.com/image/54971c4e69bedd2367d1449f-1200-924/gandhi-4.jpg" border="0" alt="gandhi" width="800">AP/James A. Mills</img>
Today, some Indians adulate him. On the day your correspondent called in at Cellular Jail, a party of jovial men in their 80s and 90s, an official "Eminent Committee of Freedom Fighters", was also visiting. Among the last surviving veterans who battled the British in the Quit India movement in the 1940s, they raised gnarled fists to chant "Jai Hind", posed for pictures and praised Savarkar as strong. The local MP called veer (brave) Savarkar a "ferocious, dangerous man who frightened off the British". Rashida Iqbal, the jail's curator, assessed him as "one of the most important freedom fighters". Port Blair's airport, like the park, bears his name. Some 2,000km away, in his native Maharashtra, a street and a park in Mumbai also each carry his name. (In London a blue plaque identifies his former home in Highgate.)
Savarkar's enthusiasm for violence sits uncomfortably with conventional ideas of how India got its independence. India's first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru, and then the Congress party (successor to the INC) promoted a pacifist narrative of history, the idea that Gandhi and the likes of B.R. Ambedkar, a social reformer who inspired the Modern Buddhist Movement, triumphed through non-violent resistance. That meant downplaying the bloodshed of 1857, in which atrocities were perpetrated by both sides, and also the roles of Savarkar, Subhas Chandra Bose and Vallabhbhai Patel.
Bose, the Bengali leader of an Indian National Army against the British in the second world war and an ally of Hitler and imperial Japan, led some 40,000 soldiers against the British. (He didn't get far, though the Japanese briefly handed him control of the Andamans.) Patel, the "Iron Man of India", had the Bismarckian task of uniting the country. He oversaw the integration of 562 princely states into India, threatening and using military force. Operation Polo in 1948, a five-day conquest of Hyderabad, a wealthy and Muslim-run state in the south, was bloody indeed. Official estimates, only made public in 2013, suggest the fighting and subsequent Hindu-Muslim clashes there killed between 27,000 and 40,000 people. Some historians claim the real toll might have been five times higher.
The way the story of Indian independence is told is beginning to change. Mr Modi and the BJP are keen to celebrate muscular, nationalist figures. Patel is likely to have a much higher profile in future: in the national budget, in July 2014, the government set aside $32m to erect a statue of him in Gujarat, twice the size of the Statue of Liberty, by 2018. And while Mr Modi frequently invokes Gandhi's name and beliefs, he refers almost as often to Swami Vivekananda, a 19th-century nationalist who revived Hinduism and promoted it abroad. Mr Modi is said to be named after him (the swami was originally called Narendra Nath Datta) and frequently poses before his photograph. Vivekananda's ideas on invigorating Hinduism foreshadowed Savarkar's hindutva project.
Savarkar's profile is lower, but is also rising. Educational comics, hagiographies and patriotic films retell parts of his life story. In 2008 Mr Modi, then chief minister of Gujarat, inaugurated a website (savarkar.org) that promotes a man "largely unknown to the masses because of the vicious propaganda against him and misunderstanding around him that has been created over several decades", and in 2012 he launched a Gujarati-language biopic. A previous BJP-led government put Savarkar's portrait in parliament. On his birthday this year, May 28th, the prime minister paid homage to him there. Mr Modi tweeted about Savarkar's "tireless efforts towards the regeneration of our motherland". Ranjit Savarkar's group plans various events to mark the 50th anniversary of Savarkar's death in 1966. (Aged 83, he submitted to what he called atmaarpan--refusing food, water or medicine in order to die. It took 20 days.)
Yet Savarkar remains immensely divisive. He was a fiercely outspoken critic of Gandhi, still India's top national hero: he called Gandhi weak, a "sissy" and far too willing to collaborate with Britain. Gandhian talk of man's common humanity he regarded as utopian to the point of naivety. In articles from the 1920s to the 1940s Savarkar lambasted Gandhi as a "crazy lunatic" who "happens to babble...[about] compassion, forgiveness", yet "notwithstanding his sublime and broad heart, the Mahatma has a very narrow and immature head." Gandhi promoted ahimsa, a Buddhist rejection of violence which Savarkar called "mealy-mouthed". He said Gandhi was a hypocrite for supporting violence by the British against Germany in the first world war. Nor did he cheer Gandhi's prominent backing for the Ottoman Caliphate Movement, designed to win Indian Muslims to oppose British colonial rule.
Over the years, Savarkar was eclipsed by his rival. During the 1920s and 1930s, the INC benefited from its ability to claim plausibly that it spoke for Muslims as well as Hindus, which made it a more credible interlocutor with the colonial authorities. Perhaps more important, it had an impressive organisation and, in Gandhi and later in Nehru, accomplished political leaders.
By the mid 1940s Savarkar and his supporters in the Mahasabha (which he led until his death) had a new gripe against Gandhi. They were enraged at the prospect of Pakistan seceding from India. Gandhi, in their eyes, did nothing to stop that "vivisection". Worse, he seemed to favour Pakistan when it sent forces to violently seize Kashmir, evidence to Savarkar that warlike Muslims were again crushing passive Hindus. When Nehru applied economic sanctions on Pakistan (refusing to pass on its share of central-bank funds from before independence), Gandhi launched a fast in protest and forced him to back down. To Savarkar's followers in the Mahasabha, that constituted national betrayal.
On January 30th 1948 Gandhi was assassinated in Delhi. The killer, Nathuram Godse, was a member of the Mahasabha, edited its newspaper and was an associate of Savarkar's. Godse's explanation of his actions echoed Savarkar: he said he murdered Gandhi for his "false notions of Hindu-Muslim unity" and in fury over the secession of Pakistan. Savarkar was arrested and tried as a plotter in the murder. He denied all and was acquitted. That did not convince everybody. As the leader of the Mahasabha, who had praised the efficacy of violence and railed against Muslims, it was reasonable to suspect he had at least inspired Gandhi's killer. A.G. Noorani, author of a book on Savarkar and Godse, goes further. He draws a parallel to the Kensington murder of Wylie in 1909, saying the elder man had twice pressed others to pull the trigger. "I would definitely call him complicit in the assassination of Gandhi," he concludes. He points, too, to an official commission of inquiry into Gandhi's death, in the late 1960s, which drew on testimony unavailable at the original trial. It found the evidence was "destructive of any theory other than the conspiracy to murder by Savarkar and his group". Following Gandhi's murder the RSS was also banned, for a year. Yet the final reason why Savarkar should remain unacceptable in modern India goes beyond suspicion over Gandhi's murder. It lies in his attitude to his fellow, non-Hindu, Indians. In his own writing he relates joyfully how as a 12-year-old boy he led a gang of schoolmates to stone his village mosque and smash its windows and tiles, in the aftermath of Hindu-Muslim riots. Relating how "we vandalised the mosque to our heart's content", he adds that when confronted by Muslim boys, he and his pals wielded knives and sticks and chased them away.
Throughout his writing he sets out Muslims as savage, immoral, sensual and eager to destroy the Hindu way of life. In 1937 he wrote of there being "two antagonistic nations living side by side in India", an idea that relies on using religion as the defining characteristic of any Indian, one utterly against the secular constitution of India. And while he occasionally wrote admiringly of the political and religious fervour of Islam, or rather of Muslim political leaders, he did so to encourage his fellow Hindus to match or exceed it.
In India today the fear of communal clashes--between Hindus and Muslims--should not be overblown. But it is never far away. Especially before elections, parties exploit religious tensions. Those who promote hindutva and echo Savarkar whip up stories of "love jihad", alleging that Muslim men convert large numbers of Hindu women by seducing them. Earlier this month a BJP parliamentarian praised Godse as a "patriot" equal to Gandhi. Members of the increasingly influential RSS feel emboldened. Such majoritarian politics, when a larger religious group sets out to absorb or flatten a minority, is utterly destructive. One need only look at the failure of Pakistan as a reminder of that. Sarvarkar could be a brilliant, eloquent and progressive leader. He could also be extremist, violent and divisive. If his influence grows, India's tolerance and moderation will be at risk.
"Notwithstanding his...broad heart, the Mahatma has a very narrow and immature head," wrote Savarkar
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Savarkar (back row, second left) was arrested and tried as a plotter in Gandhi's murder. He was acquitted
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