This is an article written by me as a Part 2 to the one on Swami Vivekananda and Economics , this being largely on Politics and Swami Vivekananda . Admittedly it does cover the same ground at places , but then , neither the Swami nor the real world treat economics and politics as separate disciplines . This is also a work in progress ,since there are other things which need to be addressed in order that the article becomes comprehensive .....but as of now this is a short preview :
The Importance of Swami Vivekananda for understanding contemporary India
It is not a matter of doubt that Narendra Nath Dutta also more famously known as Swami Vivekananda had a profound effect on the idea of nation building in India . In many ways Swami Vivekananda has given and continues to give direction to those who want to actively be engaged with India and more importantly it’s people . He remains along with Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb B.R.Ambedkar one of the most important political philosophers and icons of the country . He predates them both , in both in terms of their work as well their conceptions of the challenges that faced India and continues to face India .His answers are more practical in many ways than both Gandhi and Ambedkar .His views on society , religion , economics and politics as will be apparent from reading his writings have actually shaped India as we see it today .The fact that the religion of India “Hinduism” or Sanatana Dharma or Vedanta as he would like to call it , is what it is today , very different from what it was 100 years back and still survives intact and it’s adherents can still make sense out of the changes is because of Swami Vivekananda who discussed the oncoming changes and made practical and far reaching predictions. As even an ordinary person without great erudition would notice , the society of India today is neither of Gandhi or of Ambedkar , but the mean lies with Vivekananda .
He spoke about using Non Violence as a method against your enemies predating Gandhi’s Hind Swaraj , and as the leading authority on Gandhi today says , Gandhi was deeply influenced by Vivekananda . In his initial days Gandhi even went to meet Vivekananda , but since the Swami was very ill , he could not meet him and came back disappointed . Gandhi also realized that Vivekananda did not endorse his views about an ideal Indian village completely or his ideas about complete opposition of the East and West as he made out in Hind Swaraj . Vivekananda spoke about a synthesis of the best of both worlds and was clearly conscious that technology of the West may indeed benefit the poor of India and for that he was very keen.
Vivekananda preceded Ambedkar in being vocal about caste discrimination and was prescient about it’s remedies as well as the pitfalls which may arise for those who want to remedy it . His discussion on caste discrimination , predate Ambedkar’s on the same issue and their views are almost the same , with the crucial difference that Vivekananda wanted to make the change from within and Ambedkar wanted to make the changes by rejecting the system entirely . Interestingly Gandhi raised the question of Vivekanand and his spiritual guru “Ram Krishna Paramhans” as a breaker of caste in his correspondence with Ambedkar and Ambedkar agreeing to the same and recognizing the fact was of the view that Ram Krishna had not been able to have a deep impact on Hindu society . Interestingly Ambedkar who had extensive knowledge of both contemporaries as well as both Hindu and Brahmin scriptures chose not to utter a word about Swami Vivekananda. Infact till today a large section of the leftist intellectuals of the Dalit Bahujan movement is confused about how to deal with Vivekananda as to whether to accept him or reject him , since in many ways he anticipated their ideology and pointed out the pitfalls of pushing their ideology without recognizing the results of the same .
The importance of Swami Vivekananda in Indian socio-political thought .
Swami Vivekananda is also interestingly a person whose philosophy and reading of the conception of India , Hinduism and the people of India , is very much touched with his experiences in the United States of America and the New World , unlike most of India’s other political philosophers like Mahatma Gandhi whose experience of the west came from the British and or Britain.
Swami Vivekananda is a man in any ways engaged with the ideas which still haunt us today . He is also a person who had traveled extensively across the world , speaking about India . He is possibly the foremost person of his times who confronts the question of caste , religion , minorityism , modernism , economics and politics of India and he brought a refreshing viewpoint to the same . He is articulate and very clear and with his writings and sayings managed to set the agenda which is still with us today as Nationalists.
Vivekananda is a radical traditionalist. His version and interpretation of high religious philosophy was also marked with a very specific political / economic outlook which arose from his concern about the people of his country , or his co-religionists . His vision is still relevant and broadly and startlingly still applicable in India today .
Interestingly his exploration of Hinduism and the condition of the people of India leads him to two broad presumptions , one that religion cannot be given on an empty stomache and two , the poor of India or as he would like to term the “sudra” should be awakened . This has lead to attempts by socialists and communists to appropriate the legacy of Swami Vivekananda . However Vivekananda was clearly and completely against formal rigid equality though he did claim to be a socialist in a very colloquial sense . Vivekananda recognized clearly that for a society to work in the long run , man had to be given the opportunity to excel and make money … and he has memorably and famously equalized the Grihasta making money with an anchorite ( sadhu) praying in his cell .
He seems to be the first person to have discovered the link with what is today known in India “ caste is class” theory and also to have seen that such was not a perfect formulation. His vision of combining and reading caste and class together is even by today’s standard extremely radical and innovative.
He antedates Gandhi’s thinking on non violence . He talks about democracy and self rule and the need to be rational in the application of our history and culture . He vehemently opposes the Aryan invasion theory and promotes the cause of the Shudra and the Pariah
.
He is the originator of the word “Dalit”, a word to be used for the pariahs , since it is a direct translation from the word “suppressed” to describe the situation of the “pariahs” of his time.Interestingly he realized as well that the only way to destroy the caste system in India was through “free market”.
Vivekananda is unique in that he is neither in thrall of the past , nor is he willing to discard everything from it . Gandhi himself realized that though Vivekananda looked to the past for inspiration he did not want to replicate the past .In that way he is the “middle path” between Gandhi and Ambedkar ,and therefore reflective of the true Indian mean in society .
Swami Vivekananda’s reading both on modern and ancient texts is vast and his capability of drawing apt practical lessons from them is unparalleled .
In the present tumultuous times therefore he stands as an inspiration of a very unique philosophy which is not inward looking yet very proud of being what it is . He is the person who puts the markers which comprise the clear boundaries of modern popular Hinduism as well modern Indian nationalism . He also recognizes the economics of his age and the impact on India
Vivekananda and the Ideals of the Indian state
The question here is what sort of an Indian state would Swami Vivekananda have envisaged? It is a difficult to answer since Swami Vivekananda deliberately kept out of politics and consciously so. Yet , we can surmise some of the broad outlines that he would have looked forward to . I no doubt realize that my guess is as good as anyone else’s as to what sort of Constitution would Vivekananda have wanted , but for the sake of consideration I would like to put forward the following :
(i) Vivekananda would have definitely wanted a more equal society , both in economic terms as well as in social terms , that much is clearly apparent from his writings . But as he was wont to say that he was not against inequality per se as it was the nature of things , but he was against “privilege”.
(ii) Vivekananda would not have wanted a state under a planned economy , he was clearly of the view that the duty of a Grihasta was to create and distribute wealth ;
(iii) Vivekananda would have wanted a country in which caste did not exist and indeed saw the future of caste doomed, however he would have been definitely against war in the name of caste consciousness and the annihilation of caste.
(iv) Vivekananda would have focused the constitution on the Grihasta and the family and put on them the onus of creating and distributing wealth in the society . He would have perhaps wanted the rich to be more integrated in the development of the society .
(v) Vivekananda , would have been a proponent of individual liberty and freedom , yet based on Bharatiya tradition .
(vi) Vivekananda is a democrat and skeptical of the rule of kings.
(vii) Vivekananda would have wanted a strong independent Indian state , a state which used it’s mechanism to help the poor. He would not be against modern technology if it was for the benefit of the poor.
(viii) He would have wanted a strong resurgent India . An India which would enjoy it’s rightful place in the world .
(ix) However he would have wanted a spiritual India and an India which has not forgotten it’s older culture and wisdom .
The Ideology of Swami Vivekananda
In the end if there is an “ideology” of Swami Vivekananda it can be said to be encapsulated by oft quoted following quote which still haunts us today :
““O India! With this mere echoing of others, with this base imitation of others, with this dependence on others this slavish weakness, this vile detestable cruelty — wouldst thou, with these provisions only, scale the highest pinnacle of civilisation and greatness? Wouldst thou attain, by means of thy disgraceful cowardice, that freedom deserved only by the brave and the heroic? O India! Forget not that the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti; forget not that the God thou worshippest is the great Ascetic of ascetics, the all-renouncing Shankara, the Lord of Umâ; forget not that thy marriage, thy wealth, thy life are not for sense-pleasure, are not for thy individual personal happiness; forget not that thou art born as a sacrifice to the Mother's altar; forget not that thy social order is but the reflex of the Infinite Universal Motherhood; forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper, are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers. Thou brave one, be bold, take courage, be proud that thou art an Indian, and proudly proclaim, "I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother." Say, "The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother." Thou, too, clad with but a rag round thy loins proudly proclaim at the top of thy voice: "The Indian is my brother, the Indian is my life, India's gods and goddesses are my God. India's society is the cradle of my infancy, the pleasure-garden of my youth, the sacred heaven, the Varanasi of my old age." Say, brother: "The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good," and repeat and pray day and night, "O Thou Lord of Gauri, O Thou Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me! O Thou Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man!"
Interestingly Swami Vivekananda noticed this problem of philosophers believing that caste was a religious institution rather than a social institution . He said “ The Hindu must not give up his religion, but must keep religion within its proper limits end give freedom to society to grow. All the reformers in India made the serious mistake of holding religion accountable for all the horrors of priestcraft and degeneration and went forth with to pull down the indestructible structure, and what was the result? Failure! Beginning from Buddha down to Ram Mohan Roy, everyone made the mistake of holding caste to be a religious institution and tried to pull down religion and caste all together, and failed. But in spite of all the ravings of the priests, caste is simply a crystallised social institution, which after doing its service is now filling the atmosphere of India with its stench, and it can only be removed by giving back to the people their lost social individuality. Every man born here knows that he is a man. Every man born in India knows that he is a slave of society. Now, freedom is the only condition of growth; take that off, the result is degeneration”; The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 5 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 23
“ A cloud of impenetrable darkness has at present equally enveloped us all. Now there is neither firmness of purpose nor boldness of enterprise, neither courage of heart nor strength of mind, neither aversion to maltreatments by others nor dislike for slavery, neither love in the heart nor hope nor manliness; but what we have in India are only deep-rooted envy and strong antipathy against one another, morbid desire to ruin by hook or by crook the weak, and to lick dog-like the feet of the strong. Now the highest satisfaction consists in the display of wealth and power, devotion in self-gratification, wisdom in the accumulation of transitory objects, Yoga in hideous diabolical practices, work in the slavery of others, civilisation in base imitation of foreign nations, eloquence in the use of abusive language, the merit of literature in extravagant flatteries of the rich or in the diffusion of ghastly obscenities! What to speak separately of the distinct Shudra class of such a land, where the whole population has virtually come down to the level of the Shudra? The Shudras of countries other than India have become, it seems, a little awake; but they are wanting in proper education and have only the mutual hatred of men of their own class — a trait common to Shudras. What avails it if they greatly outnumber the other classes? That unity, by which ten men collect the strength of a million, is yet far away from the Shudra; hence, according to the law of nature, the Shudras invariably form the subject race.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 1 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 467
“But what can be attained is elimination of privilege. That is really the work before the whole world. In all social lives, there has been that one fight in every race and in every country. The difficulty is not that one body of men are naturally more intelligent than another, but whether this body of men, because they have the advantage of intelligence, should take away even physical enjoyment from those who do not possess that advantage. The fight is to destroy that privilege. That some will be stronger physically than others, and will thus naturally be able to subdue or defeat the weak, is a self-evident fact, but that because of this strength they should gather unto themselves all the attainable happiness of this life, is not according to law, and the fight has been against it. That some people, through natural aptitude, should be able to accumulate more wealth than others, is natural: but that on account of this power to acquire wealth they should tyrannize and ride roughshod over those who cannot acquire so much wealth, is not a part of the law, and the fight has been against that. The enjoyment of advantage over another is privilege, and throughout ages, the aim of morality has been its destruction. This is the work which tends towards sameness, towards unity, without destroying variety.” The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 1 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 435
Not a step forward can be made by these inter-caste quarrels, not one difficulty removed; only the beneficent onward march of events would be thrown back, possibly for centuries, if the fire bursts out into flames.”; The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 4 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 300
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 4 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 473-476.
The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda ; Vol : 4 ; Advaitia Ashram ; Kolkata ; 2006 ; page 479