“Let New India arise in your place. Let her arise—out of the peasants’ cottage, grasping the plough; out of the huts of the fisherman, the cobbler, and the sweeper. Let her spring from the grocer’s shop, from beside the oven of the fritter-seller. Let her emanate from the factory, from marts, and from markets. Let her emerge from groves and forests, from hills and mountains. These common people have suffered oppression for thousands of years—suffered it without murmur, and as a result have got wonderful fortitude. They have suffered eternal misery, which has given them unflinching vitality.”
Can you guess, dear reader, who delivered this seemingly revolutionary, powerful, and impactful speech in Indian history? The usual suspect would be a communist or socialist leader. But you might be intrigued to know that these words were spoken by a monk—Swami Vivekananda. The lines are excerpted from his book, Memoirs of European Travel.
It is rather ironic that today, for most people, the name Swami Vivekananda conjures up the image solely of a religious leader, a guru of muscular Hinduism, one whose vision for India the right-wing groups would like to imagine aligns with their own. Such is the power of propaganda and appropriation. The Sangh Parivar has repeatedly attempted to portray Swami Vivekananda as the poster boy of its brand of hyper-nationalism and hyper-religiosity, but the facts say otherwise.
In reality, Vivekananda grounded his ideas in Hinduism but firmly championed modernity over the reactionary revivalism that the Sangh Parivar embraces, as author Govind Krishnan V. argues in his book, Vivekananda: The Philosopher of Freedom. Historian Manu S. Pillai calls the book a conscious effort to challenge the Sangh Parivar’s portrayal of the monk. In this enlightening interview with Pillai, Govind talks of the real core of Vivekananda’s philosophy and writings.
Enjoy the read.
Before we sign off, here’s an interesting piece of trivia. Even though Swami Vivekananda was not a revolutionary communist, his younger brother, Bhupendranath Datta, was one. A notable sociologist and anthropologist, Bhupendranath was closely associated with the revolutionary guerrilla movement known as Jugantar. His book, Swami Vivekananda, Patriot-Prophet, is an enlightening read on the spiritual leader who was his brother.
Have a great week ahead,
Team Frontline
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