Key Takeaways:
- The essay presents M.S. Golwalkar’s six ideas—swadeshi, character, spiritualism, social harmony, self-respect, and dharma—as the RSS formula for a strong India, tracing them to Hedgewar’s 1925 founding of the Sangh after diagnosing “internal weakness” under foreign rule.
- Swadeshi is framed as self-reliance that still allows global trade; the author urges handicrafts, affordable health and education, farm diversity, and keeping talent at home, while warning that caste, language, and communal appeasement weaken governance amid hostile neighbors.
- It argues spiritualism and discipline can produce harmony and honest leaders, then claims RSS growth stalled because of one-child Hindu families, consumerism, and energy diverted from shakhas into other work—so the nation-building vision remains unfinished.
Sri Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the visionary and the patriotic thinker had emphasized on six fundamental principles to build a strong and prosperous India. Swadeshi (Self Reliance), character building, spiritualism, social harmony, self respect and dharma are inseparable qualities for building a country. He has discussed his ideas in his books titled “We or Our Nationhood Defined (1939) and “Bunch of Thoughts.” Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, the RSS founder and the first Sarsanghchalak motivated Madhav Sadashivrao Golwalkar to take the responsibility of building a strong Bharat. Though Hedgewar was a physician, he did not pursue the medical profession. He diagnosed the root cause of the series of brutal foreign attacks on India, more than 1000 years of foreign rule and the sufferings of people. The disease had weakened India from within and compelled its citizens to bow down before the foreign powers despite immense economic potential, strength, knowledge, skills and wisdom. He found the solution of a strong Bharat. Through his RSS Shakhas, he preached his vision to the Swayamsevaks (volunteers). He convinced people that India has one culture which is more than 5000 years old. The unity in cultural diversity is clearly visible across the country. He said a united India with morally, intellectually and physically strong people will never lose freedom whether it is economic, social or political freedom. The journey of RSS began to instill courage, confidence and patriotism in the minds of people across the country. The first sign of a strong India in the making came to light.
The fundamental principles of developing a nation has influenced thousands of RSS volunteers to work relentlessly to build one India. It has shaken the British and the western historians’ misconception about the origin of India’s culture and history. Dr Hedgewar founded RSS in 1925 on Vijayadasami day. The birth of a Messiah in the form of RSS heralded the beginning of a new era of Indian patriotism. After Dr Hedgewar’s demise on 21 June 1940,Guruji Golwalkar worked relentlessly for 30 years for national integration; the caste and language divide in the country began to blur. The concepts: Swadeshi (self-reliance), character building, spiritualism, social harmony, discipline, self respect and Dharma are very much relevant to build a strong and prosperous country.
Swadeshi does not mean to disrespect foreign countries, their products and ideas. Swadeshi is the path to self-reliance which ultimately helps global trade, exchange of ideas, skills and the best practices among different countries. India has immense untapped potential to become self reliant in every field. Indians have the incredible skills to add high value to biodegradable materials. They can convert a piece of ordinary wood, metal and a stone into exquisite pieces of art which can sell in the global market at a very high price. The Indian artisans contributed to India’s phenomenal economic growth in the past centuries. Every Indian state has an average 25 to 30 handicraft and handloom traditions which can create jobs, prevent migration and generate foreign currency. The bio-degradable handicrafts will protect the environment and reduce global warming. If 152 crore people start using handmade items made in India, it will undoubtedly add to India’s growth and prosperity. Quality health care and education at an affordable cost contributes to building a strong nation. Cutting edge research, high end industrial products, work culture, preservation of biodiversity and water bodies etc can generate huge employment across the country. As hunger across the world is looming large, India’s rich crop diversity and fertile agricultural land will be a boon for the country. India can create quality jobs and advanced research facilities to prevent the migration of a large number of talented youth to foreign countries for advanced study and employment. The youth who have started living in the developed nations seldom return to India. Employment opportunities, ease of living and good governance will let educated youth live in their own country. India can tap its natural resources like water, minerals, forest, wind energy, solar energy and crop diversity in a sustainable manner. There is no dearth of quality human resources in India who can achieve sustainable growth. But tapping those resources is a challenge. The beauty of Indian culture, natural beauty, spiritualism, contentment and happy family life will make India a peasant place to live.
No nation can safeguard its economic, social and political freedom without honest, efficient and patriotic people. Political freedom is meaningless without social and economic freedom. Inclusive opportunity is the key to growth. Political leaders with strong character and patriotism can safeguard India’s immense economic potential and the scope of becoming a strong nation. They can improve governance, prevent nepotism, mismanagement and regional disparity. Leaders with character should live beyond caste, religion and language to identify talents for nation building. Appeasement of community, caste and language groups for political gain has disturbed India’s governance mechanism leading to economic and efficiency loss. India is living amid some hostile neighbors who will not let India prosper. In this situation, any divisions on the basis of caste, language and religion will weaken the country from within.
Practice of spiritualism helps the religious preachers or leaders recognize the presence of God everywhere. Once the religious practitioner recognizes God everywhere, he begins to love and respect every human being and creatures around him. Many countries lose resources, lives and livelihood due to lack of spiritualism in the religions. Those countries should quarantine their religions with spiritualism and start loving human beings irrespective of their religions and culture.
Social harmony as described by Guruji Golwalkar can be achieved through patriotism. Preserving the social capital associated with the country’s glorious history, culture, myths and mysteries will bring unity among the people. Social harmony can save income, generate employment, peace and prosperity. India desperately needs one acceptable mother tongue and uniform practices like one education system to achieve social harmony. Similarly, self-discipline is one of the main ingredients to build a nation. If political leaders, religious gurus, social activists, teachers and professionals set personal examples of self-discipline, it will have a positive influence on the general public. Lack of discipline breeds corruption, nepotism and poor governance which will bury the dreams of the future generation.
Guruji Golwalkar focused on instilling patriotism, self respect and Dharma among the people which are guarantees to freedom. Dharma is nothing but the power to choose the good from the bad; it is rooted in the human conscience. Universal love, fellow feelings and morality make a healthy religion. Unfortunately the RSS effort to build India was diluted due to price rise, unemployment, aggressive consumerism and monetization of various services etc. The majority of the Hindu families started having one child which has a negative impact on the growth of RSS. The RSS faced the scarcity of volunteers to run the Sakhas. The RSS aim was to merge in the social, cultural, political and religious organizations that could not materialize. Its growth was stunted and its objective was shifted as it diverted its energy for the growth of non RSS activities. The vision to develop a strong and prosperous country remains a challenge for RSS.
