THE PIONEERS OF CULTURAL NATIONALISM

 When we evaluate nationalism on the principle of culture then it is referred to cultural nationalism. Culture means Good conduct .So our nationalism becomes holistic in nature when we equate it with culture.We consider nation as spiritual and cultural entity decorated by our rishis and munis. Some of the pioneers of our cultural nationalism are...........................

                                          VIVEKANANDA

   He said when the life-blood is strong and pure ,no diseased germ can live in that body.He emphasized that our life blood is spirituality.If it flows clear,strong and vigorous,everything is right.Political,social,any other material defects ,even the poverty of the land ,will be cured if that blood is pure.He further said for a complete civilisation the world is waiting ,waiting for the treasures to come out of India,waiting for the marvellous spiritual inheritance of the race,which ,through decades of degration and misery, the nation has still clothed to her breast.The world is waiting for the treasure;he said little do we know how much of hunger and of thirst there is outside of India for these wonderful treasures of our forefathers.We talk here ,we quarrel with each other;we laugh at and ridicule everything holy.Little do we understand the heart pangs of millions waiting outside the walls;stretching forth their hands for a little sip of that nectar which our forefathers have preserved in this land of India.

                                             AUROBINDO

Sri Aurobindo was also one of the spiritual sants of India.He wrote:God has set apart India as the eternal fountain head of holy spirituality,and will never suffer that fountain to run dry. India is the Guru of the human soul in its profounder maladies,she is destined once more to now mould the life of the world and to restore the peace of the human spirit.He spoke of Hindu religion as ‘sanatan dharma’.Sanatan meaning eternal and Dharma meaning which holds together and unites society in the universal sense                     

                               MAHATMA  GANDHI

He wanted that each and every Indian by heart  accept the cultural heritage of India.He said Today the Gita is not only my Bible and Quran it is more than that –It is my mother.I lost my earthly mother ,Who gave me birth, long time ago;but this eternal mother has completely filled her place by my side ever since.she has never changed,she has never failed me.When I am in difficult or distress ,I seek refugee in her bossom.The Gita is the universal mother .She turns away nobody .Her door is wide open to anyone who knocks .

                                    BANKIM CHANDRA CHATTERJEE

He considered nation as divine mother.Bankim Chandra was looked upon as a rishi or seer because he gave the country  the inspiring secret formula ,the mantra of VANDE MATRAM: ‘I BOW TO THE MOTHER’.In this mantra was combined love of divinity as well as love of the country.The country itself was transformed into a deity.

                                          RABINDRA NATH TAGORE

HE said “The spirit of India has always proclaimed the ideal of unity.This ideal of unity never rejects anything ,any race ,or culture .It comprehends all,and it has been the highest aim of our spiritual exertion to be able to penetrate all things with one soul,to comprehend all things as they are ,not keep out anything in the whole universe –to comprehends all things with sympathy and love.This is the spirit of India”.The view of this world ,which India has taken ,is in one compound Sanskrit word, SACCHINDANDA .The meaning of Reality,which is essentially one,has three phases .The first is sat;it is simple fact that things are ,the fact that relates us to all things through the relationship of common existence. The second is chit ,it is the fact that we know ,which relates us to all things through the relationship of knowledge.The third is ananda ,it is the fact which we enjoy , which unites us with all things through the relationship of love.

                         

                                

                                LALA LAJPAT RAI

Lajpat rai said that there is no race conflict in INDIA . Mother India knows and recognises no race distinctions . But he said that there is a religious conflict in India that cannot be denied.Even that conflict is is more artificial than real ,, manufactured quite recently by interested parties . If mother India is proud of a NANAK she is also proud of a CHISTI . If she had an ASHOKA  she had an AKBAR too. If she had a CHAITANYA she also had  KABIR.If she had a HARSHA  she had a SHER SHAH too.If she had a VIKRAMADITYA she had a SHAHJAHAN too.If she had MUHAMMAD TUGHLAQ and ALAUDDIN KHILJI , she had there hindu prototypes as well. For every Hindu hero , she cites a Mohammadan hero

                                            BAL GANGADHAR TILAK

Tilak’s concept of of nationalism was not only confined to intelligentsia and elite sections of the society but he gave a mass base to nationalism by creating psychological unity among masse through Shivaji and Ganesh festivals. National festivals are the easiest way of promoting and generating the the feeling of national pride,psychological and sentimental attachment towards  country and and their cultural heritage among masses . Nationalism is both the psychological  as well as spiritual phenomenon.

                            BIPIN CHANDRA PAL

Pal very clearly expressed the fundamental ideals of the INDIAN NATIONALISM . He said : Association not isolation; co operation not competition ; socialism,in the highest and truest sense of the term and not merely what is understood to mean by the followers of MARX-this socialism and not individualism; duty and not right-these are the rudimentary concepts of our social and political philosophy . These are the fundamental ideas of INDIAN NATIONALISM

                                  VEER SAVARKAR

SAWARKAR  said: We believe in a universal state embracing all mankind and wherein all men and women would be citizens working for and enjoying equally,the fruits of this earth and this sun,this land and this light which constitute the real MOTHERLAND and FATHERLAND of man. All other divisions and distinctions are artificial.

              SARVEPALLI RADHAKRISHNAN

He said it is the intense spirituality of India and not any great political structure or social organisation that it has developed,that has enabled it to resist the ravages of time and the accidents of history.

                           GOLWALKAR

According to Guruji,each nation has its own keynote in life and marches ahead in tune with that national ethos.Our Hindu nation has also preserved a unique charastersticts since time immemorial.To us,the aspects of material happiness,i.e.artha(amasing of wealth)and Kama(the satisfaction of physical desires)are only a part’s of man’s life,Our great ancestors declared that there are two more aspects of human  endeavour,dharma and moksha.They built our society on the basis of this fourfold achievement,the chaturvidha purushartha of dharma,artha,kama,and moksha.We are therefore ,called a highly moral,spiritual and philosophical people.

                   DEEN DAYAL UPADHYAY

He said if there is any standard for determining the merits and demerits of a particular action, it is this chiti:whatever is in accordance with our nature or chiti is approved or added on to the culture.These things are to be cultivated.Whatever is against chiti is discarded as perversion,undesirable and is to be avoided.Chiti is the touchstone on which each action,each attitude is tested, and determined to be acceptable or otherwise.Chiti is the soul of the nation.It is on the foundation of this chiti(soul)that a nation arrises and becomes strong and virile. And it is this chiti that manifested in the action of every great man of a Nation.

                                   KM MUNSHI

In a famous letter to JAWAHARLAL NEHRU(April 24;1951),Munshi wrote :It is my faith in our past which has given me the strength to work in the present and to look forward to my future. I cannot value freedom if it deprives us of BHAGWAD GITA or uproots our millions from the faith  with they look upon our temples or thereby destroys the texture of our lives. He wanted to link modern generations with the golden ancient cultures of INDIA.He favoured COW-PROTECTION,Astrology and Ayurveda.

From the accounts of all the above mentioned great personalities it can be summarised that the soul of our CULTURAL NATIONALISM is SPIRITUALITY which gives strength to our nation and is something to feel proud of.

I have also authored a book on this very subject-“INDIAN CULTURAL NATIONALISM” PUBLISHED BY INDIA FIRST FOUNDATION.