It is anybody’s guess that the free spirit is not manifest yet in the nation. We are caged by past imprints on the Bharatiya chitti.
By Abhisek Kumar Panda, Research Associate at Rashtram
Veer Savarkar begins his booklet “Essentials of Hindutva” that formalised a significant ideology of our times, with a question- “What is in a name?” Today we must ask ourselves- “What is in a date?” To be frank, if you are reading this you must have celebrated multiple Independence days of India in past years. The day begins with a euphoric remembrance of our past freedom movements and dies with a short shelf life, just like New Year’s eve resolutions. Isn’t it? Of course, no denying the communitarian bonding, etc. and let’s not try to be nihilists. But what’s special of a date that Lord Mountbatten chose for withdrawal of the Queen’s rule from the most prized possession of the Raj, that too consciously on the second anniversary of Japan’s surrender in World War II?
Well, there is meaning if one is willing to look deeper. And who else to draw inspiration, from the past, for the future other than Sri Aurobindo, whose birth anniversary is also on 15th August? It is necessary to resolve the question- “Who am I” or “Who are we” before charting the future path. This question raised in Isopanishad pertains not only to an individual but to a nation as well. So the answer to this fundamental question must reflect a permanent and intransient entity. The substratum of our civilisational identity can’t be intransient, impermanent, or mundane. Else, it is no identity, rather a mere fiction.
There is no doubt that this substratum is spirituality. Sri Aurobindo writes “Indian spirituality which has always maintained itself even in the decline of the national vitality; it was certainly that which saved India always at every critical moment of her destiny, and it has been the starting-point too of her renascence”. But the problem has been understanding spirituality as asceticism only thereby losing its multiple dimensions. Until and unless spirituality is internalised consciously or subconsciously, rationally or emotionally, vigorously or smoothly, in whatever form and substance- the identity dilemma will remain for the nation as a whole.
The Bharatiya Shakti cannot rise in a state of confusion. In his famous Uttarapara speech, Sri Aurobindo categorically said “When therefore it is said that India shall rise, It is Sanatana Dharma that shall be great. When it is said that India shall expand and extend herself, it is Sanatana Dharma that shall expand and extend itself over the world. It is for the Dharma and by the Dharma that India exists”.
Out of this clarity soaked in timeless Indian spirit, the future could be modeled. The principles, theories, ideas, and intellectual rigour will flow from this infinite spirit for the creation of the clarion call- New India. Based on this, every tangible and intangible form of our society and nation has to reinvent and remodel itself. This should be the infinite vision of this particular date. A date when a spark of common consciousness could be ignited towards the creative goal! “Arise, awake, stop not till the goal is reached.” The mass realisation of the Bharatiya Chitti, the subconscious Indian spirit, is higher on this date, due to conscious attempts.
It is anybody’s guess that the free spirit is not manifest yet in the nation. We are caged by past imprints on the Bharatiya chitti. Coloniality has drawn a deep wide scar even at the subconscious level of Indian spirit. Being reactive can no more be the yajna or yoga of the nation. Reactivity is not a sign of spiritual transformation. It is at most an animalistic instinct. India has to be actively vigilant and consciously work on the transformation of the outer forms. This date is an aid for this transformation which aligns the stars for us. Or, do we align them?
Image Source
- http://blog.capertravelindia.com/india-gets-ready-for-independence-day-celebrations.html
