Dr David Frawley on the role of Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel in Hindu Reawakening

 November 14, 2019

  

 

Namaskar!

 

Sri Gurubhyo Namah!

 

It is myhonour to be with you and talk about two very important thinkers, gurus and intellectuals of modern India. And I think a lot of what is going on in the country today, a lot of the gains that are being made – whether it is with the RamJanmabhoomiissue or many different purposes – atleast to some extent, perhaps to a large extent, owe it to their influence on the minds of the people – the Hindu mind overall.

 

So, what I would like to do is to put this in a certain perspective and start off with my own background and encounter with Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel. I was one of the young Americans in the 1960s who took up the cause of Yoga and which moved me into Vedanta which was more unusual at that particular time. And then through the works of Sri Aurobindo, particularly The Life Divine, I was able to gain an entry into the Indian minds and even to some extent into the Vedic world. In fact, I was introduced to Vedic knowledge through Sri Aurobindo’s Hymns to the Mystic Fire and also Secret of the Veda. And then I came to India and came into contact with the deeper streams. And in my study of the Vedas, I could easily see that the Vedas have been interpreted wrongly. They have been misinterpreted at a historical and cultural level. And it wasn’t far from that to see how India has been misinterpreted at a cultural level.

 

In the 1980s I came into contact with the RSS organisations in India. Quite by way of coincidence, I met the Ayurvedic guru, DrB. L. Vashta who was a major journalist for RSS in Mumbai and Pune. He has written a number of books on VeerSavarkar and Guru Gobind Singh. And so, I was able to contact these Hindu groups directly before I had gone into any negative propaganda against them. Through that, after a couple of years, I was able to come into contact with these mysterious thinkers Dr Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel particularly around 1989. And of course, we had the Ram Janmabhoomi movement going on very strongly. And also, with the writings of KoenraadElst who was at that time, particularly working on the issue. I believe it was probably around 1990 or 1991, I met them in Delhi. And what I learnt from them, my initial encounter is, you know, I was looked upon as someone who was far pro Hindu and who was interested to find people who would support that and who would bring about a deeper understanding to that and show a true and clear awakening of the Hindu mind.

 

I had already written on the Aryan invasion and why it was wrong, and Ayurveda and JyotishVedanta. But with them, I found a more direct encounter with the Hindu mind. And one thing I always had trouble with in my discussions in India was the idea that all the religions were the same. In fact, some people had told me, “You are coming to India… very good. We can make you a better Christian.”

 

I already knew that becoming a better Christian was in not necessarilysame as having a deeper understanding of spirituality, Hindu dharma or anything else. So, they presented a true understanding of the Hindu thought and particularly starting with Ram Swarup, there was a critique of the other religions from the Hindu point of view. This statement which misinterpreted that all religions are the same caused a great deal of harm to the Indian psyche and to the Indian mind. In the beginning if you accept that all religions are the same, then you disarm yourself. You don’t have any critique against the missionaries and against all the distortions. You allow them to create a negative image of you which you don’t have to counter and you don’t go after their particular motives involved.

 

Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel were very stark contrast in some ways. Even in terms of bodily size, Sitaram Goel was so much taller, Sitaram Goel is much more outspoken. Ram Swarup was much more quiet and had few words to say, yet his words had tremendous impact. And what he brought about was a true and most authentic Hindu critique of the other religions. Not done out of spite or negativity, but out of clarity of mind. In fact, he came from the Gandhian background. He was the main voice in criticising Communism which in the 50s and 60s was almost elevated to a state religion in the country. And Sitaram Goel had himself been a Communist and it was RamSwarup’s influence that brought him over to the Hindu cause. He had also explored the different religions of the world. Both Swarup and Goelmet Swami Abhishiktanand who was a French priest who had taken over a quasi-Hindu monastic identity. But they saw the contradictions and to some extent the hypocrisy in that movement which outwardly used the symbols of Hinduism but never gave up converting people to Christianity. They would speak of the greatness of Hindu gurus extending to RamanaMaharshibut not go against the agenda of the church involved. So, he made us communicate with all these people and also found out where they were coming from.

 

He also engaged in some dialogue with the Sufis and I remember one remark that Ram Swarup made. Having discussions on the unity of religions with the Sufis, the Sufi said, ‘all religions are one in Islam, that is what we need to accept.’ So we explored this and Ram Swarup brought out what is truly a tremendous and central insight that must be borne in mind. In Hindu and Buddhist thought, there is of course a deep tradition of meditation and the study of levels and states of consciousness. There is not just the ordinary state of human mind and some state of self-imagination or whatever you want to call it. There are many other states of the human mind. So, let me go into this in some detail.

 

Now another thing that had attracted me about Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel was that they were very closely connected to the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. And Sri Aurobindo had much more Shastriya model for India and he had brought out thisneed for deeper self-assertion, deeper understanding and reclamation of the Vedas. One of the main disciples or the followers of Sri Aurobindo was another great thinker calledShriAnirvanHarishchandra who has been publishing his important works, particularly Veda Mimansa.They were also reading Anirvan’s works. So what Ram Swarup did with their work, he said we have to use this critique of states of consciousness to examine Christianity and Islam.

 

If we go back to the Yoga Sutras, yoga is defined as a process ofChittavrittinirodh, but Vyasa commentating on Yoga Sutras says that Samadhi exists at all levels of the mind, all five Chittabhumis. The Yoga is only concerned with the samadhiof the Ekagraand the Niruddhabhumis,the higher bhumis, but it exists on other levels as well. And Swami Vivekananda made a very important statement. He said that an untrained person can fall into a state of Samadhi for various reasons. They can have a tremendous influence on the world. But there will be some tainted mix of rajas and tamasalong their experience that can cause a lot of illusion and even delusion as well. And Vivekananda then pointed out Mohammed as an example of that, for all the good that he did to humanity and so for all the forces that he set in motion or the forces that came in motion out of Islam. And if we look at the western religions, we find that there is not that clarity of chittashuddhi, purification of the consciousness, and there was not that understanding of the state of consciousness.

 

We have religions based upon faith and belief. In the Gita, speaking of shraddha, which we can roughly equate with faith, it is also described as sattvic, rajasicandtamasic.Faith is not always a good thing. There is blind faith and faith does not put things beyond question.

 

And this a little sidelight. I have been involved in a number of interfaith conferences. And one thing I noticed is that you cannot question anybody’s faith. And interfaith conferences are getting together to affirm everybody’s faith. So,jokingly, I said thatan ordinary person may believe in one irrational faith but in an interfaith movement you have to accept everyone’s irrational faith. So, belief in the Yoga Sutras traditions isvikalpa and imagination. There is nirvikalpasamadhi because one has to move in beyond all the imaginations and distortions. Now, looking at these states of consciousness then, what kind of state of consciousness has Ram Swarup discussed as Jehova represent in the Bible. You have a jealous God who gives commandments, at least this is how it is most commonly understood. We are also confronted with a psychic formation that is not purely sattvic. And then, in the Abrahamic tradition, there is not a concept of Atmaor self and self-realisation. There is a concept of Ishwaraas a kind of cosmic God. But that Ishwaracan be a partisan figure and can have some very human emotions. Even the Jewish scholars today admit that not only has humanity evolved over time but God has also evolved over time. And it has hopefully gotten better in the process.

 

So, when we promote a belief what are we doing? We want to convert and conquer the world. We want to save others and we want to save the world. These are motivations born out of rajoguna, not satoguna. They all can connect to a militaristic frame of mind, control, conquest. So, violence, suppression, conquest,comes out of that, rejecting of other forms of belief. I am not going to get into the arguments involved there. But the fact is that the mindset or the psychic influence coming out of these traditions lack proper introspection. Instead of examining ourselves, there is a need to control and conquer the other.

 

So, Ram Swarup brought out this critique. He also explained the states of consciousness as per Yoga Sutras, Vedas, Upanishads, all of that, that theology does matter. And if you are following a theology that does not have a deeper insight where there is no self-knowledge, then that theology can set in negative forces because in religion, absolutes come into play. And if you make absolutes versus relative – chosen people, last Prophet, only son of God – this language itself is ahankara – as a certain egoistic trend to it. And then, it develops an exclusivism.

 

Recently, I was writing something about multi-culturalism. In multi-culturalism, when you are bringing in an exclusive culture, you are actually destroying it. Like in an ecosystem, you bring an inappropriate species and it destroys the rest. So, what modern Hinduism has been lacking along with its critique of other religions is the deep love of discernment based upon the teachings. In India, a good and a bad thing happened – in that you have the Independence movement – the Independence movement came out of what essentially was a Hindu awakening. But when it became a political force it had to give respect to all the other religions and the critique of the other religions came to an end and at the same time the other religions critique of Hinduism could continue.

 

So, he brought that discrimination and discernment back. And of course, it does raise questions. Just as calling Hindus as heathens orkafirs raises questions, even from a Hindu point of view, we may question the level of consciousness or awareness of Mohammed or anyone else in these traditions raises questions. And at the same time, the Hindu tradition is not aggressive, but at the same time it has the right to defend itself. If you are seeking to convert us and our children, we have the right to question your motives, your theology and even your leaders. Because you are the ones who are saying that we have to do this because your leader will save us and all human beings should do this.

 

So, this science of consciousness is not there in the other traditions of the world. And interestingly, I have also studied Buddhism to some degree. And I have a friend who is a professor of Buddhism at San Francisco State College. One of the texts he was going through was called the Shurangama Sutraand the Shurangama Sutra outlines the false samadhis or different illusionary states of consciousness that can occur. He actually came from the Jewish background but he made the remark that this sounds like some of the religions outside of the karmic traditions. So, then there has been the study that has been going on like the psychology of the Prophet. That wouldn’t necessarily endorse western psychology in that regard. But there is a need to look at the states of consciousness involved. And if we want an authentic dharma, there has to be proper understanding of Moksha,Gyan, Paramatma, Jeevatma, Karma etc. Some people say all religions are the same. But all religions don’t have karma. Is karma something dispensable?

 

And we also have the other challenge which is of using western theological terminology to approach the Hindu dharma. For example, some people were saying that at the KumbhMela, Hindus were taken to bathe in the river to liquidate their sins and achieve salvation and go to heaven. So, this terminology has also served to disarm the Hindu dharma. I am not saying that freedom of religion should not be there but we require the same viveka or discernment related to religion and spirituality, even more so because this is a crucial area of absolutes as we do for any other aspect of human life whether it is politics, economics or the food we eat. Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel brought that back.

 

It is also interesting to note that when we make all religions the same, we not only disarm the Hindus, we also discredit the Pagans and other indigenous traditions throughout the world who are similarly being attacked and targeted for conversion and have been targeted for centuries. Just as Hindu thought is downgraded to something backward and primitive. That is happening throughout the world.

 

Recently we were in Mexico. When the Spanish came, they burned all the book of the Mayans except for three. In those three books, we find the most sophisticated astronomy which they didn’t even have in Europe at that particular time. Yet, we were told that they were primitive people. We also have an awakening of Pagan thoughtand groups throughout Europe, includingwhether it is Celts, whether it is Germanic group, Lithuanians or Slavic groups, so many of them are doing that. And when we say all religions are the same, we also discredit them.

 

So, Ram Swarup had an outreach to the pagan traditions. He had a dialogue with them and he also encouraged them to study and be faithful to their traditions and develop their own critiques of Christianity. In the world, we are in awe of western civilisation for the past few centuries maybe because of science, democracy, certain aspects of art and technology. Yet, if we look at historically, all these main trends that we admire of the Western thoughts had pagan roots. They were the products of the Bible, they were imposed by the Christian church, they came out of Graeco-Roman background or even the background prior to Christianity. Even what we call philosophy and theology are mysticism. Both Christianity and Islam have pagan roots. Catholic theology goes back to Aristotle. The mysticism goes back to Plato. Or there was a figure named Apollonius of Tyana who is sometimes confused with Jesus. He performed miracles and he is historically known to have gone to India and come back.

 

So, Ram Swarup also reached out to that community and helped revive that community and give them a sense of support from India. You have to understand that Hinduism is the third largest of religions in the world today, only after Christianity and Islam. It is also largest of the non-Abrahamic traditions, the non-Monotheistic traditions. So, it carries on the aspirations of the pagan and the indigenouspeoples.We have some native American people, the Navajo. They live in a village of about 3000 people. They don’t have adequate water or electricity even though they live in the United States because they are native Americans. So, I asked them, do you have missionaries targeting you? He says, in our community, there are 3000 people and there are 19 different organisationsactive even today. Theyare targeting the children and we do not always know how to counter them because they want them to represent the more enlightened, the more compassionate humane traditions. We see that going on in India today. So, Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel not only defended those traditions, they also raised critique against the Missionaries and also the Islamists in India at a time when it wasn’t politically correct to do so.

 

We need a free and open discussion. And if we look at some of the evangelical groups, they believe miracles, healing and rolling on the floor and the others things that they do can be easily understood as the altered state of consciousness in which you are motivated by a belief rather than an open pursuit of truth. If you are motivated by a belief, then your mind may play any trick to promote and uphold that belief.

 

So, over that whole era of all religions being equal and Hindus being disarmed, when Hindus had to be re-armed, Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel, it needs to be remembered were couple of individuals, they did not have the support of a vast organisation. In fact, there were a lot of political media and social influences against them just for raising questions. As you well know that when Sitaram Goel produced his book on the Hindu temples, quoting Islamic records, he was called bigoted for showing the truth. He was put into a lot of trouble just for exposing what the truth was. That took a lot of personal courage and also, they did so without having a lot of financial resources. In fact, there was a lady named Meera Nanda from The Week. When we started writing the books in the 90s, they started attacking us. After I did a short book on Aryan invasion for the Voice of India, I was named as a fascist by Meera Nanda. There was every possible distortion that had no basis in actual facts. They sustained because of a certain political media and academic support. So, they bore the brunt of that attack at a time when very few people were writing.

 

One thing I can say today quite happily is that we have a lot of good writers, young writers who are following the same themes that Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel put in motion. We also have asocial media that can challenge mainstream media which had a monopoly. We also have alternative movements in academia. Academia also remains a realm in which these false views are entrenched. For example, in the accounts of history books, Christianity and Islam come off a lot better soundingthan Hinduism or even Buddhism. In the textbooks of India, one of the things I could feel proud about in my life is that we have been challenging this Aryan invasion and someone I know met on plane RomilaThapar and she was discussing how these writers from Voice of India have ruined her life. So, there was an impact.

 

So, Meera Nanda came to Voice of India and asked where are you getting all your moneyto function, what do you do etc. She thought that there were some tremendous resources behind it. It was the strength of the ideas and the insights. It wasn’t a question of having a big popular publishing company with wide outreach, it was mouth to mouth and smaller groups and to some extent influential people. Another group I have been closely connected to is the Hinduism Today publication. They have some of the best books on What is Hinduism. Also, they have magazine and now they have very good videos. For example, one simple thing they did related to ‘all religions are the same’, they simply did a comparison, they had pages for each religion – what its beliefs are, values are, what its ideas are etc.- so you just read through and see how much same they actually are. And I have to tell you that one of their mains inspirations were Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel. Their main guru is SivayaSubramuniyaswami and they have been the dominant voices of Hinduism in the West and they have kept up very closely with the critique of these religions because they have to see that. The young Hindu in the west is going to be confronted with dozens of attempts to convert them throughout their lives.

 

It is very interesting. I live in New Mexico. We have a house up in the mountains. My brother took me to a remote area and once in a while some missionary groups have come. We just tend to ignore them. But one morning, I went to the gate and found a whole set of literature in Hindi on why Hindus should become Christians and this is in the United States. So, don’t think that you are making inroads with these people by not having a critique in return. I tried to be friendly and open and told that spirituality should be like a science, of course they will agree but they will have a different view of it. We have to introduce introspection. And now in India, we have an adaptation to culturalisation process going on. And Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel spoke about that very clearly in the beginning. That is when groups, particularly the Catholic Church adopts the terms of another religion, but for conversion purposes. You have stumps in front of the churches, they will do aarti, you may find Mother Mary with kalasha, they may say ‘Jesus is a yogi and if you become a Christian, you can be a better yogi like us.’ A couple of years ago we were staying in a hotel and a Christian group was having a mass outside, instead of using the term God, they used the term paramatma, although they were using it in a different way than the Hindu teachings of the Vedanta. Because for them, atma is not the name of the divine, atma’sself is not something they recommend. So, their culturalisation is exposed.

 

There was another friend called Swami Ishwara Acharyain a debate with Father B Griffins who had taken over Shanti Niketan from Swami Abhiskitananda. He had an Om and a Cross and he was still converting people to Christians. So, the Swami who was a Canadian criticized him for that and said he has no right to take over Hindu symbols and he in turn said Om is not a universal symbol. In that debate which went to the media, the Hindu Swami was said to be intolerant for questioning the Christian monk for using the Om and the Cross. They never mentioned the conversions going on in that name. So, Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel also exposed the whole process of a culturalisation. Just because these groups are taking on Hindu terms and practices, it doesn’t mean that they are honouring. In fact, it was also said that they want to do with the Hindus what they had done with the ancient Greeks – take over their philosophy, their art, their mysticism and use it for the church and eventually of course eliminate it all. By that we would have Christian Bharatanatyam, Christian Ayurvedam, we have bhajans where Jesus’s name is used – the whole process of culturalisation is going on. And there, we can also see the alliance of the anti-Hindu forces. South India is the only place I know where you can see Communists, Islamists, the Evangelical Christians and the Jews – all together as if they share a common religion or ideology. One thing they have in common is to remove the Hindu culture because it is so strong and they have to subvert it.

 

You have huge seminary groups in Bangalore where they are studying Vedanta and they invite Gurus, not because they want to follow that tradition but because they want to learn that language to better convert Hindus. This is an old practice and Churches have always done this. When it comes to theology, none of these groups can compare with the Vedanta. So, they have to create distortionsor beliefs or they have to create social benefits like money, schooling for the children and all these other factors. So, Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel exposed that and relative to Islam, they warned about Islamic terrorism before it raised its face as an outcome of the exclusivist way of thought.

 

It is interesting, the other of ours friend who work closely with the Voice of India whose name is Rajaram. One book he found was by the Brigadier General Malik of the Pakistan Army, It was called the Islamic Art of War and it had a foreword by General Zia. In the foreword, they explained that the most important thing to start of a war was terrorism because once you have undermined the confidence of the masses, then they will be easy to attack and overcome.

 

Then we have historical data. I started with the question of Aryan invasion and all of that. And Voice of India also became the main company that was bringing out books like Elst addressing these issues as well. Why was this issue so politicised? I always wondered that and the reason is very simple. The historic issue sets the foundation for interpreting the whole history of India and the culture. So, after Independence, we had the old independence movement, the old Gandhi Congress was thrown out, the Independence leaders were discredited or forgotten. And we had the new Nehruvian Congress who had outsourced intellectuals and rewrote history to undermine any cultural identity or continuity in the Indian context. And Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel also wrote in a way to affirm that continuity and expose those distortions. The Mughals, whose work was to destroy the Indian civilisation and it was totally out in the open and it has been covered over from the historical standpoint.

 

We have also seen that discourse turningin our favour – whether it was the discovery of the Saraswati river. Recently, moving ahead a little beyond the topic, I have been following the works of the geneticists working in India, NirajRai and V Shinde. They have now done extensive work on hundreds of skeletons throughout India and at different periods of time. Some of the work has been released. It can now be proved that even genetically the West are accepting it that you have a continuity of the same population in India throughout history. There is no evidence of steppe people either before 1500 B C or even after it, the indications are very small. And the oldest population is actually from Gujarat. And recently, they are discovering the imprint of the Indic population in Iran – Eastern Iran more than 4000 years ago which shows that the Indian civilisation moved out. It is out of India theory which KoenaardElst has also emphasized quite a bit, I have also emphasized that. We have also found the oldest chariots in the world. It is in Baghpat, not far from Delhi going back more than 4000 years made of copper. And the geneticists have also been working on the animals and their contribution. They found thatthe humped Zebu was the animal used in Iran more than 4000 years ago. And that the Indian horse is genetically connected to the Arabian horse and it cannot be equated with the Central Asian horse. In fact, so far where and when exactly the Central Asian horse came is not known in terms of the genetic record. So, a lot of these historical markers have also moved in our favour.

 

What has been amazing about the work of Sitaram Goel and Ram Swarup is the different areas they covered at the critical edge of Hindu thought in the late 20th century. And it has legacy today. Because all these movements, all thoughts, are going forward. But strangely, a lot of young people don’t know about the Voice of India. They don’t realise that the ideas they have read about has a history and would not have been possible without a prior work. And along with Voice of India, Ram Swarup and Sitaram, I was also working very closely with RSS at many different levels. They have supported this work and all the different subjects involved.

 

Recently, in March, I was in Ahmedabad giving a talk. I was there with Mohan Bhagwat. We released a book of Ram Swarup along with my foreword in Hindi. SitaramGoel’s work ismuch well known, it still should be more well known than this. Ram Swarup’s work not this well known. There are four volumes of collective work that are very important. He wrote on Hinduism, he wrote on Hinduism and mono-theistic traditions, he wrote on Word as Revelation, Names of Gods and he also wrote on Yoga and meditation. He set up this metaphysical foundation of the Hindu movement quite clearly. He also wrote on some of the more mundane socio-political issues. Sitaram Goel wrote mainly on the religious issues and also to some extent the political issues. And he was the one who really galvanised the Hindus against these missionary influences, Catholic ashrams.

 

They came in the beginning to establish dialogue and discovered that there was no dialogue at all. So, it is very important that their legacy is preserved and that they are honoured. When Ram Swarup passed away, he was called the Great Rishi by the RSS and the BJP leaders. And I know that his work has been widely studied. RSS throughout the world has been facilitating the study of his particular books. At the same time, I think there needs to be a greater study of the works. And I think Ram Swarup’s work in particular needs more examination today to create that broader philosophical and metaphysical foundation. But it is essential that there is a Hindu critique of the religions in the world. Ram Swarup has a Hindu critique of Christianity and Islam, that is a very good place to start.

 

There is always the famous quote of Mahatma Gandhi. When asked about western civilization, he said it would be a good idea. And the point is that there needs to be a Hindu critique of Western civilisation and both the good and the bad. Because western civilisation does not have the science of consciousness. It regards the intellectual who is often rajas in character as to be the ultimate spokesperson. Someone who has some scientific insights can today attempt that. Without having the deeper vision, how can humanity be guided? We could say that Ram Swarup has brought that vision back.

 

There is benefit to western science and technology. But there are also problems involved. A new critique is necessary related to the information technology. We don’t have time to address that, it is another topic. But, essentially the mechanical life, the control by drugs and media going in a big way etc. And the cultural war against Hinduism continues. Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel addressed that clearly from their time and their place. We have more work going on. But it is still continuing and creating more avenues and inroads to certain media and commercial levels. So, we might say that Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel were pioneers of the Hindu awakening and it is coming to the fore today. We have won significant victories like Ayodhyaand even Kashmir, much more needs to be done. Education system needs a more fundamental overhaul. Academia and media have made some changes, but more needs to be done on those areas.

 

Hindus need to be political. The Hindus are the least political of any of the religious social groups in the world. Politics we might say is the currency. If you don’t vote, you don’t win, you don’t get anything. You are not rewarded for not voting. So, it is very important that we honour these. We need to go back to their work and we encourage the young people to study their work and the writers today to credit them for the insights. They were also not the first. There was Aurobindo, there was Anirvan, there was Samarth Ramdas. People forget that the Guru of Shivajiwas a great Advaitanti who also encouraged all these Hanuman wrestling and gyms throughout Maharashtra to make people strong. That kshatriya dharma needs to come back. Sitaram and I were in England in 1996. I mentioned this intellectual kshatriya idea to him and he said we have to emphasise that. The intellectual also has to be a kshatriya. The first level of defence for a country is the intellectual and India has been deprived of that by the Nehruvian academia and the media.

 

Sitaram Goel is the foremost Indian kshatriya of modern India. He spoke very boldly. In fact, some people found him to be offensive. I once asked him why is he being so bold. He said, “Today if I am not bold, they will not listen.” Ram Swarup took on the role of a Rishi but he also influenced many people including my friend Lokesh Chandra. One of the four volumes of Ram Swarup’s collected works was put together and edited by Lokesh Chandra. Their influence has gone very far. Inspite of the lack of adequate support or resources to promote it.I am very happy that we are addressing that at least to some extent today. But we need more of that and we need to produce more thinkers like this and honour that heritage. Because if they had not come along with the intellectual defence – Swami Chinmayananda was doing it a bit, Swami Dayananda did it – but mostly they were caught in a dilemma. So, if they hadn’t given the intellectual defence of Hinduism, this whole modern awakening may not have occurred or it may have occurred much more slowly. So, we have to honour these pioneers and continue their legacy which means we do have to ask critical questions, we have to challenge intellectual distortions. And we cannot pretend that everything is going to be okay because karma is with us, Gurus are with us or Shiva is with us. We ourselves must act.

 

And today, I will say the decisive turn has been made with the Modi government. But we need to push it further. It is a generational change that is required, an institutional change that is required. A change of the mindset when there is tremendous resistance from overseas forces. Because all the other countries and religions prefer a weaker India or weaker Hinduism. Naturally, why do you want to have the world’s second largest country in terms of population be strong? So, that we must remember and we must not give up on our vigilance. We must remain kind and considerate but we must hold to the truth even if it is unpleasant, whether for ourselves or even if it is unpleasant for others. And we must promote the culture. The culture is what is surviving by supporting all the festivals, all the rituals, all the temples. It is very important. I will not go into the details of that now.

 

We also need to teach the Vedantic philosophy to everyone. It could be the Advaita or the Dvaita, that is not the issue. It is the foundation that is necessary to understand the negative theology. We need to criticise this whole conversion-based movement. You are certainly free to follow whatever religion you want, but when you are seeking to convert us, we are going to challenge you and expose your motivation and the unspiritual way that you have approached – like too many missionaries today are coming on tourist visas,that also needs to be exposed. So, in other words, even though a decisive turn has been made, much more needs to be done. Never underestimate your enemy and also recognise the outside forces that have supported these groups in the country.

 

I think in the long run, we say SatyamevaJayate, that is in the world of eternity. Also, in the long term in history, we have to be prepared for the long run. Now that we have the proper intellectual and spiritual foundation, we have to share that - all the literature, the basic principles of Ram Swarup, the critique of Christianity and Islam. So, when someone asks about what do you believe in, you can reply with references. When someone asks a Hindu, what is your one book, we often say that we do not have one book, we are the people with libraries. We need to address these particular issues.

 

So, with these comments I would bring my lecture to a close. But in summary, this legacy should be preserved and shared and maybe reorganised, put in certain principles or forms. And also, correlate it with other teachings and critiques. Follow the example of Shankaracharya. He travelled all over India but he also did a critique of all the different systems of thought. And make sure we have the intellectual acumen to deal with the media. Now, on one of the things Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel mainly emphasised was the English medium because that was the intelligentsia they had to address. It is important that it goes on. But it is also important that these ideas are brought into the local languages as well.

 

I thank the India Policy Foundation for organising this event and also Shankar Sharan who is the motivation behind it. Also, with the presence of Voice of India here, we can feel the presence of Ram Swarup and Sitaram Goel.

 

Thank you!

 

Sri Gurubhyo Namah!