POLITICAL CULTURE: AS VISUALISED BY GURUJI (MADHAV SADASHIV GOLWALKAR)

According to MADHAV SADASHIV GOLWALKAR an ardent believer in ‘dharma’, the one and only priority of a polity should be that politics and culture should not be separated. It should have a connection with ‘dharma’ which will sustain the righteous element in polity and decline of dharma would be the ascendency of unrighteous conduct in polity. According to Guruji, our political culture and our philosophy has pictured the highest state of society and has offered an explanation for it too.  He visualised an ideal state where the whole society and the polity was regulated by dharma.  All protected one another by virtue of dharma. Dharma is the universal code of right conduct that awakens the common inner bond, restrains selfishness, and keeps the people together in that harmonious state even without any external authority. There will be no selfishness, no hoarding, no corruption and no lust for power if we live in accordance with his philosophy.

It is dharma only that is the distinguishing feature of human life not food or sleep. Treachery, materialistic lust are common to both animal and man but the special attribute of man is dharma; without it he/she is no better than an animal. It should never be forgotten that this the land of sacrifice and bravery. We should feel proud of our land where the national song ‘vande matram’ and the precious words of ‘Bhagvad gita’ always inspire us to induce dharma in our culture and strive towards the betterment of this country.

 It is beyond doubt that the decline of ‘dharma’ is the root cause of the blot on the contemporary political culture of our country. It is high time that we rejuvenate the glorious thoughts and philosophy of Guruji to curb the separation of Indian political culture from dharma which will be the greatest tribute to Golwalkar. This the only way by which India can regain its lost sheen and glory.