Bhagavadgita

The Bhagavadgita was rediscovered as a text that provided guidance in time of war; and the lonely figure of Arjuna who must fight the long arduous war for justice in spite of his reluctance to kill became the symbol for the bhadralok revolutionary who must participate in a violent struggle to forge a nation out of blood and sacrifice.

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008

The most portrayed and at times caricatured figure of the early twentieth century “Swadeshi” revolutionary was a young upper-caste and middle-class Hindu male who carries a pistol and a copy of the Bhagavadgita in his two pockets.

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008

Here, Aurobindo used the celebrated discourse from Bhagavadgita on the immortality of the soul, the mortal fragility of the body and the ease with which the virtuous abandon their bodies for a just cause – in short, the ideal speech for the recruitment of prospective martyrs for the cause of the nation:

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008

Even in his speech in 1907, Aurobindo used the rhetoric of the Bhagavadgita to sway his audience:

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008

The selfless action performed by Arjuna who was nothing but an instrument in the grand divine design of things nimitta, as he is called by Krishna in the Bhagavadgita, was valorized ad infinitum by the nationalist leaders.

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008

This medieval Christian work, popularly attributed to Thomas a Kempis, fascinated Vivekananda and it was the only text, along with the Bhagavadgita, that he kept with him during his years of traveling around India after the death of his beloved teacher, Ramakrishna.

Archbishop Hosts Annual Inter Faith Lecture 2008

In the Bhagavadgita (18: 68-69), for example, Shri Krishna speaks of sharing his teachings with others as a priceless service (na ca tasman manusyesu kascin me priyakrttamah).

Archbishop Hosts Annual Inter Faith Lecture 2008

The Bhagavadgita (18: 61) describes God as abiding in the heart of all beings (ishvarah sarvabhutanam hrddeshe arjuna tishtati).

Archbishop Hosts Annual Inter Faith Lecture 2008

As Krishna states it in Bhagavadgita (4: 11), "the paths people take from every side are Mine (mama vartmanuvartante manusyah partha sarvasah)."

Archbishop Hosts Annual Inter Faith Lecture 2008

The references to "sanatana dharma" and the Bhagavadgita would return in Indian politics with the most successful leader – Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi – who would manage to mobilize more sections of the common population than any leader who came before or after.

It would not be fair to consider Sri Aurobindo complicit in the creation of Hindu nationalism Tusar N Mohapatra 2008