Spiritual and Civilizational roots of Indian Nationalism – From the Vantage Point of Subhas Chandra Bose

Coauthored by Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, Dikgaj and Gangadhar

Subhas Chandra Bose gave his all to liberate India from the clutches of foreign imperialism. He pursued this one mission of his life with unrelenting passion. His patriotism is almost universally accepted, even by those who disagree with some of his specific policy choices. His biographer, Leonard Gordon calls him, a “lover of Bengal and India” p. 609, [15]. We explore the fountainhead of his nationalism, from his own writings and the reminiscence of the contemporaries who knew him closely.

His Indian nationalism had deep spiritual and civilizational roots ensconced in Hindu thoughts. In that sense, his Indian nationalism was Indic nationalism. He believed that India had a mission to fulfil, an original contribution to make to the culture and civilization of the world. Consistent with the spirituality ancient Indics associated with mother and motherland India, was his “divine motherland’’ . He ascribed Hindu spirituality to natural landmarks of India (Section A). Patriotism and spiritual realizations usually stem from attachment to nature of the region of origin. And, we find that Bose was deeply attached to the environment, the flora and fauna of his native Bengal (Section B). He deified India, following the footsteps of Swami Vivekananda, Bankim Chandra and Aurobindo Ghose. He was a product of Bengal Renaissance in that sense (Section C). As advocated by Swami Vivekananda, the fountainhead of his inspiration was Indic civilization and history (Section D). He held that his contemporary India was a direct continuation of took her ancient and sublime past in which he took enormous pride. He rejected European claims of civilizing India, of bestowing nationhood on India, and was not bound by the Eurocentric interpretation of India’s history. He was convinced that the political unity of India stemmed directly from her ancient civilizational past. He also traced to ancient India the roots of the cherished political and social concepts of his time, namely 1) democracy, 2) statecraft, 3) revolutionary movements 4) humanism and equity 5) communal ownership of property, 6) socialism, 7) municipal development. He was passionate about the history of India and delved deep into the history of his home-province, Bengal. This concept of Indic nationalism was shared by an overwhelming majority of the revolutionary freedom fighters, in particular while they were revolutionaries. Finally, although he was rooted in the civilizational past of India, he did not believe that those times ought to be recreated. He did not want India to live entirely in her history and wanted to adopt and integrate useful modern concepts as well. He also critiqued Indian civilization as appropriate, while simultaneously demonstrating unconditional loyalty and affection for the same (Section E).

Throughout our article, we show that a fundamental schism existed between Bose’s and communist worldview vis-à-vis India. Communism has its roots in Europe, many of the formulations of the founders, Marx and Engels, constitute responses to the historical events in Europe and trace their fountainhead to religions that had a substantial presence in Europe at the time the ideology was born. There was nothing Indic in the context, core ideology and motivation of communism. A colonial notion of inferiority of the countries that were colonized at the time of the founding of communism is ingrained in the ideology. The vision of the early communists was for the whole of Europe; they hardly gave any thought to the world beyond Europe. Lenin expanded the domain somewhat to articulate the role of communism in colonies of the European nations at that time, but otherwise continued alongwith the core doctrines propounded by Marx and Engels. Lenin’s confidante Manabendranath Roy (M. N. Roy), considered by some as the father of Indian communism, interpreted Lenin’s statement in the Indian context. In accordance with the Eurocentric roots of communism, Roy envisioned an India that would be disjunct from her ancient past and any religious ideology, and be subjected to intense class struggle. He denied any concept of civilizational nationhood for India, or fundamental unity of India and castigated his contemporary Indian nationalism as only political, exploitative and a reaction against a common oppression [21]. Jawaharlal Nehru, who was deeply influenced by communism, found nationalism as a narrow and negative sentiment, something which unhappily brings hatred and rivalry between different people. M. N. Roy did not find anything worthy of praise in India’s Hindu past, but enough to deride. He dismissed the Hindu reform movements of the nineteenth century as reactionary and denigrated Swami Vivekananda as a “spiritual imperialist’’. One can see this contempt for India’s Hindu past continue throughout the history of communism in India. Indian communists and the intelligentsia influenced by communists usually trace the roots of every concept they deem worthy to somewhere outside India, mostly in Europe. This communist doctrine has substantially influenced the intelligentsia. It is perhaps no accident of history that the revolutionary freedom fighters who committed highest sacrifices for liberating India largely shared Bose’s worldview, and the positions adopted by the practitioners of the contrasting ideology, namely Communism, have been deemed to be contrary to India’s national interests. The most well-known of these are the Communist Party of India’s 1) opposition of Quit India, 2) vilification of leaders of freedom fight such as Bose, Jayprakash Narayan, through cheap slander 3) support for partition of India (Gangadhar Adhikari’s “Pakistan and Indian National Unity’’) 4) support for China during 1962 war with India etc. Not coincidentally, biased, disparaging and often selective commentaries on Bose continue till date from Communists (primarily those outside Bengal for political reasons), eg, [27].

The political messaging of the Indian right wing has some superficial similarities with Bose’s articulation, primarily in the articulation of the civilizational nationhood and glorification of the ancient history of India. Yet, the right wing position lacks the scale, the sublime, the profundity, the majesty of Bose’s. Not only that, the writings and the reminisces that we reproduce clearly reveal that Bose was rooted in one particular region of India – Bengal, and rooting in native soil is a salient characteristic of Indic nationalism. Bose was passionate about the historical heritage of Bengal. He was a child of the Bengal renaissance and generously lauded the Hindu reform movements of the renaissance period, like the Brahmo Samaj, and the principal exponents of the reform movement, like Rammohan Roy. Bose’s biographer Gordon rightly describes him, as a “lover of Bengal and India” p. 609, [15] – not in the sense that Bengal is exclusive of India, but in that mentioning his affection for India alone without specifically mentioning Bengal, would not adequately characterize him. In contrast, the current Indian right wing allows consciousness of only some ethnic identities, namely Hindi speakers, Gujaratis, Marathis as also Marwaris and other mercantile groups. All others are subsumed in the “Hindu in name only’’ identity, and some ethnicities such as Bengalis and those from South India are actively encouraged to hate their ancestors and disown their historical legacy. It renders the interests of the ethnicities lower in its pecking order, such as Bengalis, South Indians, as subservient to those of Hindi speakers, Gujaratis, Marathis, etc. Many of its visible faces spout an inordinate hatred for Indics of certain ethnicities, primarily Bengalis, Kashmiri Pandits Malayalis etc. They routinely deny the rich historical heritage of Bengal and vilify the Hindu reform movements in Bengal, eg Brahmo Samaj, and the principal exponents of the reform movements like Rammohan Roy. For the members born in the reviled ethnicities, deriding their birth-ethnicities appears to be a necessary condition for rise in the right wing eco-system [25], [26]. Such ethnic ordering, hatred and crudity would be anathema to the spiritual consciousness of nationalism that Bose revealed, also given his Bengali origin and pride in his roots, culture and education. Accordingly, several visible members of the Indian right wing vilify Bose till date through half-truths and selective readings of history [23]. Similarly, Sitaram Goel, who has written some good books on history of destruction of Hindu temples, have authored a blistering critique of Subhas Chandra Bose, without evidently reading any of his writings [28]. Specifically, on 3^rd January, 1997, Sitaram Goel wrote in a letter to Sheshadri Chari, “Bose is not a patriot for me because his ruling passion is not love of India’s cultural patrimony but a blind hatred of the British. …I judge him by the standards set by Maharshi Dayananda, Bankim Chandra, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo whom alone I cherish as modern India’s foremost thinkers, heroes and patriots’’ [28]. The excerpts we provide from Bose’s writings, namely his political memoir “Indian Struggle’’, his unfinished autobiography “Indian Pilgrim’’ and innumerable other articles, letters and speeches, will show that Goel had formed his opinion on Bose without reading any of these. It is an intense love for the cultural heritage of India that drove Bose to undertake the enormous risks he assumed to liberate India from the British, and his articulations heavily drew from Bankim Chandra, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobind, in particular Swami Vivekananda. One however needs to observe that Goel had significant differences with RSS and therefore his views on Bose should not be viewed as representative of RSS’. Broadly speaking, Indic ethos simply can not be compartmentalized into Euro-centric left-right taxonomy, as such genuine Indic nationalists belong to neither the left nor the right.

Section A: Spiritual roots

Indian nationalism was but a spiritual experience for Subhas Chandra Bose – to him it represented the highest ideals of the human race, Satyam (সত্যম, the true), Shivam (শিবম, the good), Sundaram (সুন্দরম, the beautiful). On 3 May, 1928, he glorified Indian nationalism at the Presidential address at the Maharashtra Provincial Conference, Poona, “From the point of view of cultural internationalism, nationalism is sometimes assailed as narrow, selfish and aggressive. It is also regarded as a hindrance to the promotion of internationalism in the domain of culture. My reply to the charge is that Indian nationalism is neither narrow, nor selfish, nor aggressive. It is inspired by the highest ideals of the human race, viz., Satyam (the true), Shivam (the good), Sundaram (the beautiful). Nationalism in India has instilled into us truthfulness, honesty, manliness and the spirit of service and sacrifice. What is more, it has roused the creative faculties which for centuries had been lying dormant in our people and, as a result, we are experiencing a renaissance in the domain of Indian art ‘’ pp. 244-245, [5].

It is worth bringing out a starkly contrasting outlook on nationalism, adopted by Communists and the leaders in their influence sphere. In 1922, in “India in Transition’’, the father of Indian communism, M. N. Roy, described Indian nationalism as political, exploitative and a reaction against a common oppression: “The political nationalism of modern India expresses the political ideology and aspiration of a youthful bourgeoisie, which has risen in spite of innumerable obstacles and which has never had the opportunity of utilising the state apparatus for disseminating and inculcating in the people the idea of nationhood. But at the same time, it enjoys the advantage of shielding its exploitations under the cry against foreign oppression. The nationalism of contemporary India lacks the tradition of a national unity, but it rests on the reaction against a common oppression’’ p. 159, [17]. On 16 July 1938, Nehru, whose worldview was a derivative of communism, described nationalism as a negative sentiment, something which unhappily brings hatred and rivalry between different people. At a speech at Kingsway Hall, on 16 July, 1938, London, he said, “You know that nationalist struggle generates feelings of bitterness, almost of hatred. After all, nationalism is something is anti, anti-foreign government may be almost racial – it is a negative thing which has a definite positive side to it also. It is not a good thing taken by itself. Usually too much of it – too great a dose of it – stunts a race, although at the same time, at a certain stage, it is something that makes a race grow. It has two aspects – an aspect of leading a people to freedom and another aspect which you see so much in Europe today – something which leads to the reverse of freedom. And so nationalism often has been in the past something which unhappily brings hatred and rivalry between different people in its train’’ p. 72, [20]. In his autobiography written in mid 1930s, Nehru implied that nationalism was narrow and could only be elevated to a higher plane through internationalism: “The reaction of the Spanish War on me indicates how, in my mind, the problem of India was tied up with other world problems. More and more I came to think that these separate problems, political or economic, in China, Abyssinia, Spain, Central Europe, India, or elsewhere, were facets of one and the same world problem. There could be no final solution of any one of them till this basic problem was solved…..This reaction to foreign events was not confined to me. Many others in India began, to some extent, to feel that way, and even the public was interested. This public interest was kept up by thousands of meetings and demonstrations that the Congress organized all over the country in sympathy with the people of China, Abyssinia, Palestine and Spain. Some attempts were also made by us to send aid, in the shape of medical supplies and food, to China and Spain. This wider interest in international affairs helped to raise our own national struggle to a higher level, and to lessen somewhat the narrowness which is always a feature of nationalism.’’ p. 601, [19].

For Subhas Chandra Bose, India had a mission to fulfil, an original contribution to make to the culture and civilization of the world:

On 25 December, 1928, he spoke at the third session of the All-India Youth Congress, Calcutta, “I am not one of those who in their zeal for modernism forget the glories of the past. We must take our stand on our past. India has a culture of her own distinctive channels. In philosophy, literature, art and science we have something new to give to the world which the world eagerly awaits‘’ p. 274, [5].
On 19 October, 1929, he spoke at the Lahore session of the Punjabi Students’ Conference, “Even at the risk of being called a chauvinist, I would say to my countrymen that India has a mission to fulfil and it is because of this that India still lives. There is nothing mystic in this word ‘mission’. India has something original to contribute to the culture and civilization of the world in almost every department of human life. In the midst of her present degradation and slavery, the contribution she has been making is by no means a small one. Just imagine for a moment how great her contribution will be once she is free to develop along her own lines and in accordance with her own requirements” pp. 51-52, [6]. He ended the speech with “Bande Mataram” as usual p. 53, [6].
On 29 November 1929, in his speech as President of the first C.P. Youth Conference, Nagpur, he said, “India lives today in spite of untold suffering and misery and in spite of numerous invasions- because she has a mission to fulfil ‘’ pp. 67-68, [6].
On 27 March 1931, he said in his Presidential address at the Karachi Conference of the All India Naujawan Bharat Sabha: “ The vision of free India, a completely free and emancipated India is what has captivated my soul. It is the dream of my life and the goal of all my activities. India has much to contribute to the culture and civilization of the world ‘’ p. 161, [6].
On 26 May 1931, he said at the U.P. Naujawan Bharat Sabha Conference in Muttra, “I have always said and maintained even at the risk of being criticized and misunderstood in certain quarters, that India had something new-something original- to give to the world and the whole world is anxiously waiting that gift’’ p. 186, [6].

In contrasts, communists of Indian origin ridiculed the notion that India or her culture is unique in any way. M. N. Roy wrote in “India in Transition’’, “This tribe of social reformers [of the nationalist movement] can be divided into two categories; the radical religionists with strong national jingoism and the class-conscious modern bourgeoisie with liberal tendencies. The first take upon themselves the great task of proving that Indian culture has been a unique thing, that it developed in its own way and that the structure of Indian society has not been subject to the action and reaction of material laws. And, following this course of reasoning, these apostles of Indian culture social re-adjustment that come to the conclusion that the class-struggle never soiled the sanctity of Indian society, and that it is never going to be the principal factor in the process of social readjustment. They preach that class-struggle is the peculiar outcome of the materialist civilization of the West and is not possible in Indian society, which is based on the knowledge of the spiritual essence of man.’’ pp. 95-96, [17].

Bose’s articulation of his dream of emancipating India from the bonds of slavery was resplendent with undiluted passion. On 1 December, 1929, he said in his Presidential address at the C.P. and Berar Students’ Conference, “ The dream that I love is that of a free India – India resplendent in all her power and glory. I want India to be the mistress of her own household and the queen of her own destiny – I want her to be a free republic with her own army, navy, and air-force and her own ambassadors in the capitals of free countries. I want her to stand out before the world as a perfect synthesis of all that is good in the East and in the West. I want her to go out to the world with a new gospel of freedom, the gospel of full, all-round emancipation ‘’ p. 86, [6].

India was his “divine motherland’’, consistent with the spirituality ancient Indics associated with mother and motherland: জননী জন্মভূমিশ্চ স্বর্গাদপী গরিয়সী (Mother and motherland are loftier than Heaven). He ascribed Hindu spirituality to her various different natural landmarks:

Between 1912-13, as a boy of 15-16, he had written to his mother, “India is God’s beloved land. He has been born in this great land in every age in the form of the Savior for the enlightenment of the people, to rid this earth of sin and to establish righteousness and truth in every Indian heart. [He was referring to the immortal hymns of BhagabadGita, যদা যদা হি ধর্মস্য / গ্লানির র্ভবতী ভাৰত / অভয়থানামধর্মাস্য তদাত্মানাম সৃজাম্যহাম/ পরিত্রাণায় সাধুনাং বিনাশায় চ দুষ্কৃতাম / ধর্মসংস্থাপনার্থে সম্ভাবামি যুগে যুগে] He has come into being in many countries in human form but not so many times in any other country- that is why I say, India, our motherland, is God’s beloved land. Look, Mother, in India you may have anything you want – the hottest Summer, the severest Winter, the heaviest rains and again, the most heart-warming Autumn and Spring – everything you want. In the Deccan, I see the Godavari with her pure and sacred waters reaching up to its banks, wending it’s way eternally to sea, a holy river indeed! To see her or think of her at once brings to one’s mind the story of Panchabati of the Ramayana – and I can see with my mind’s eye the three of them, Rama, Lakshmana and Sita, spending their time in great happiness and in heavenly blissed on the banks of the Godavari, forsaking their kingdom and wealth ; no worldly grief or anxiety affect the contented look on their faces ; the three of them are spending their time in great joy in the worship of Nature and the Almighty. And, at the other end, we are all the time being consumed in the fire of worldly sorrows ! Where is that happiness! Where is that peace ! We are hankering after peace! There can be peace only through the contemplation and worship of God. If there is any way of having peace on this earth, every home must resound with the song of God. Again, when I look in the northerly direction, a more sublime scene comes before my mind’s eye. I see the holy Ganges proceeding along her course – reviving in me another scene of the Ramayana. I see Valmiki’s secret abode of meditation in the wilderness – resounding all the while with the voice of the great sage, chanting mantras from the Holy Vedas – I can see the aged sage sitting on a deer-skin with his two disciples at his feet, Kusha and Laba, who are receiving instruction from him. Even the crooked serpent has lost its venom and is silently listening to the mantras with its head raised in attention ; herds of cattle, come to the Ganges to quench their thirst, as also stopping to listen to the blessed sound of the mantras , nearby a deer is lying on the ground and gazing intently at the face of the great sage. Every little thing in the Ramayana is so noble – the description of even a single blade of grass is so nobly done ; but, alas, having forsaken religion, we are now unable to appreciate this nobility. I am reminded of another scene. The Ganges is on its course, carrying away all the filth of this world ; the Yogis have collected on its bank – some have half-closed eyes engrossed in their morning prayers, some have built images and are worshiping them with sweet-smelling flowers collected from the forest and with burning sandalwood and incense, mantras chanted by some of them are being echoed and re-echoed through the atmosphere – some are purifying themselves with the holy water of the Ganges – some again are humming to themselves as they collect flowers for the Puja. Everything is so noble – and so pleasing to the eye as well as to the mind ‘’ pp. 141-142, [1].

His lifelong friend Dilip Roy has written: “ he [Bose] loved – adored – Bharat as a “sacred land”….The deification of the Motherland which stemmed first from our great Bankimchandra, the composer of Vande Mataram, is often denigrated by cosmopolitans on the ground that it is archaic ‘’ p. 238, [11]. Worthy of note is, Dilip Roy had been his close friend since their Presidency College days, both had studied in England simultaneously and had maintained their friendship though their paths diverged in that Roy never joined politics.
Dilip Roy has recalled, “I well remember how his [Bose’s] eyes glistened whenever I sang my father’s song on Bharatvarsha (translation, Sri Aurobindo):

“Mother, peace nests in thy bosom,
In thy voice Love’s courage glows ;
By thy hand are fed earth’s millions.
From thy feet salvation flows.
Deep thy joy is in thy children,
Deep thy suffering’s tragic night :
Mother India, great World-Mother !
O World-Saviour, World’s Delight ! ‘’ pp. 59-60, [11].

Bose adored and found thrilling the last song Dwijendralal Roy composed, a few days before his passing, “Bharat amar Bharat, jekhane manob melilo netryo...” p. 239, [11], “ভারত আমার ভারত, যেখানে মানব মেলিল নেত্র ‘’. Dilip Roy has written, “To mystic songs he responded every time with what the French call abandon. For it was always, in his case, a call of the deep to the deep: India calling to her beloved son, ready to stake his all at one throw of the dice ; India, the nurse of the spirit! ‘’ p. 240, [11].
Bose loved the following songs by Dwijendralal Roy:
1) Bango amar janani amar, Amar desh, বঙ্গ আমার জননী আমার, আমার দেশ,
2) Dhana dhanye pushpe bhara…emon deshti kothao pabe nako tumi ধন ধান্যে পুষ্পে ভরা…এমন দেশটি কোথাও পাবে নাকো তুমি pp. 195-197, [11].
Dilip Roy has recalled that “he [Bose] would recite in his warm, bass voice [stanzas by Kipling]:

There is but one task for all-
One life for each to give.
What stands if freedom fall?
Who dies if England live?

Only he would replace “England” by “India” whenever he declaimed this noble exhortation, but exploiting it only as fuel for the burning aspiration of his soul ‘’ p. 249, [11]. On 2.3.1933, before leaving for Europe, from his ship S. S. Gange, Bose replaced England by Bengal in a parting message he gave to Bengalis: “No sacrifice is too dear – no suffering too great – if we are to fulfil this mission. Friends, will you not rise to that noble height where the vision of a great and undivided Bengal will be the only reality before ? Remember the legacy bequeathed by our great men. Forget not that you are the heirs of their dreams – the hopes of the country’s future. If you are great ourselves in thought and deed – then alone will you be able to make your country great. Therefore I say with all the sincerity that I can command, “Forget your petty quarrels, sink your personal differences- strive to make Bengal united and great – so that in her greatness may be our highest happiness and glory. After all, who dies if Bengal lives ; who lives if Bengal dies ?” p. 263, [6].
On the day on which freedom fighting revolutionary Gopinath Saha was executed, Sabitri Prasanna Chatterji, comrade of Subhas Chandra Bose in Kolkata, Bose singing a Bangla song “Tomar pataka jare dao- tare bahibare dao shakati” (তোমার পতাকা যারে দাও- তারে বহিবারে দাও শক্তি) while looking at a map of India.p. 61, [12].

Throughout his documented political life, his motherland beckoned him whenever he had to venture afar in search of her liberty:

On 16.12.1925 he wrote from Mandalay to his sister-in-law, Bivabati, “It is indeed true that the devotee gets closer to Shri Krishna through the ordeal of separation. Because, the year’s exile has made my Motherland so much the dearer, sweeter and more beautiful to me. I now feel that I have never in my life loved my country as much as I do now. And, if one has to suffer for the motherland, more glorious than Heaven itself, – is it not a matter of joy ? Today I am outwardly in exile from my country – but my motherland is ever present inside my being and in my imagination. There is limitless joy in this inner closeness” pp. 169-170, [3]. “Motherland is more glorious than Heaven itself’’ is drawn from the spirituality ancient Indics associated with mother and motherland: জননী জন্মভূমিশ্চ স্বর্গাদপী গরিয়সী (Mother and motherland are loftier than Heaven).
On 20.2.1926 while in Mandalay jail he wrote in his prison notebook, “It is because of the deep influence of the Tantras that the Bengalees as a race are devoted to mother, and this is also the reason why they love to worship the Supreme Being in the image of the Mother. People of other races and religions (such as the Jews, the Arabs, the Christians) worship God as father. Sister Nivedita thinks that in those communities, in which men occupy a more important position than women, people naturally contemplate God as father. On the other hand, in societies where women have precedence over men, people learn to worship God as Mother. Anyway, it is well known that the Bengalees love to think of God, – and why God alone, even Bengal and India – as Mother. We think of our country as Motherland, but the correct English expression is Fatherland, and our use of ‘Mother-land’ is rather faulty from the point of view of English usage.

Most of our great writers afford illustrations of this mother-cult in their writings.

Bankim wrote :-

‘Hail O Mother ;

Well-watered, fruitful, cooled by the western breeze

Green with corps, O Mother ; “

[বন্দে মাতরম্ ৷ সুজলাং সুফলাং মলয়জশীতলাম্ শস্যশ্যামলাং মাতরম্ !]

Dwijendralal sang :-

“When that Mother India emerged out of the blue waters of the Sea”.

[যেদিন সুনীল জলধি হইতে উঠিল জননী ভারতবর্ষ]

And Rabindranath sang :-

“Oh my mother-land let me lay my head at thy feet”

[ও আমার দেশের মাটি তোমার পারে ঠেকাই মাথা] p. 32, [5].

On 21.7.1926, from Mandalay jail he wrote in Bangla to his mentor C. R. Das’ widow, Basanti Devi, “ We have become reconciled to permanent settlement here. The vision of the Mother, of Mother Bengal, of the Universal Mother – all that we adore – have and will become even more adorable, sacred and dear to us within the confines of the prison. They will remain fresh in our minds all the time but their presence in our imagination will make our separation from the material world all the more poignant” p. 332, [3].
In December 1926, he wrote in Bangla from Mandalay Jail to Anath Bandhu Dutta, “I am of course a prisoner – but there is nothing to be unhappy about. To suffer privation for the Mother is a matter of glory. You have to believe me when I say that there is joy in suffering. Otherwise, one would go mad, one could not laugh with his heart brimful with joy even in the midst of privation ! What to external appearance is suffering, appears to be a source of bliss when you go deep into it. Well, of course, I do not feel this way every day in the year or every hour in the day ; after all I can feel the fetters on my body. But there can be no doubt that one who has not got this feeling more or less, can neither enrich his life through suffering nor keep calm in suffering. ….My only prayer now is : tomar pataka jare dao tare bahibare dao shakti “ ((তোমার পতাকা যারে দাও- তারে বহিবারে দাও শক্তি, O Lord, give unto your chosen one the strength to bear the cross) ‘’ p. 131, [4].
In his prison note-book in Mandalay [1924-27], he had noted down in full, “The Rebel’’ by P. H. Pearse. The notes had the following lines, “I say to my people that they are holy,

that they are august, despite their chains,

That they are greater than those that

hold them, and stronger and purer,...” pp. 55-56, [5].

On 2.3.1933, before leaving for Europe, from his ship S. S. Gange, he sent a parting message to Bengalis, “For over a year I have been exiled from my own province. During this period owing to unhealthy conditions of confinement my health completely broke down. As my condition worsened, I was shifted from one province to another – but I was deliberately kept away from the hospitals and the physicians who were so anxious to take charge of my treatment. Even the prisons of Bengal, so hospitable to thousands of my countrymen- shut their doors on me. To my physical suffering was added mental torture. During my incarceration outside Bengal, I watched with a sense of increasing pain and helplessness the repression that was prevailing in the province. All that I could do in the circumstances was to silently pray in the seclusion of my cell that the Divine Mother may grant strength to our people and that a new Bengal may be born. Torn away from the realities of life, through those lung and dark hours I sought refuge in contemplation. The vision of India conjured up and worshipped by our great seers from Bankim and Vivekananda to Dwijendralal and Deshbandhu – rose before my mind’s eye to give me solace, strength and inspiration. I felt – as I had never felt before that the vision of “Bharatmata” (ভারতমাতা) as she was destined to be – was the supreme reality which transcended the shortcomings and imperfections of the present hour. That vision was a treasure of which no earthly power could deprive me – it was a shrine at which I worshipped from day to day.’’ pp. 262-263, [6].
On 26.3.1936, on his journey back to his home to India, he wrote to Mrs. Vetter, “I am now on a pilgrimage-so there is now no worry” pp. 168, 169, 170, [7].

After he returned to Calcutta after a long sojourn in Europe, the Calcutta public arranged a public reception for him on 6 April, 1937. Addressing the mammoth gathering, he said, “Friends, let me thank you once again from the bottom of my heart for the warmth of affection which you have been good enough to bestow on me this evening. This is an event which will continue in my memory for all time and it will be an inspiration in the midst of trials and difficulties that may yet be in store for me. There is nothing that I can offer you in return, except a re-affirmation of my unflinching resolve to devote all that I have to the service of our Motherland and her political and economic emancipation” pp. 195, 389, 393, [7].
On 22 March 1944, the ‘Azad Hind’ organ of the Indian Independence League Headquarters at Singapore flashed on its front page the most sensational and joyful news of the entry (on 18 March 1944) of the Indian National Army into India. On that occasion he issued a special order of the day: ‘….there, there in the distance – beyond that river, beyond those jungles, beyond those hills lies the promised land – the soil from which we sprang – the land to which we shall now return. Hark! India is calling – India’s metropolis Delhi is calling – three hundred and eighty eight millions of our countrymen are calling. Blood is calling to blood. Get up, we have no time to lose. Take up your arms. There, in front of you is the road that our pioneers have built. We shall march along that road. We shall carve our way through the enemy’s ranks – or if God wills, we shall die a martyr’s death. And in our last sleep we shall kiss the road that will bring our Army to Delhi. The Road to Delhi is the road to Freedom. Chalo Delhi “ p. 189, [10].
On 12 September, 1944, he issued a broadcast from somewhere in Burma, on the Gandhi-Jinnah meeting, “ There should be no compromise with Britain. Our divine motherland shall not be cut up.” pp. 266-268, [10].

The communists of Indian origin, in contrast, ridiculed the spiritual component of Indian nationalism, and attributed the acceptance of the same to the backwardness of the masses. M. N. Roy wrote in “India in Transition’’: “Orthodox nationalism, on the other hand, is closer to the understanding of the people, and for this reason succeeds in provoking enthusiasm from time to time; but the reactionary tendencies inherent in it preclude the possibility of its ever becoming a dynamic revolutionary force…. The backwardness of the people makes them respond more to religious nationalism than to constitutional democracy. ….It was the narcotic effect of the much-vaunted “spiritual civilization” which kept the Indian masses apathetic to any movement for material progress. They have been taught to sacrifice the hallucinations of the phenomenal world in expectation of a blissful existence hereafter. ‘’ p. 207, [17].

Section B: Attachment to soil

Subhas Chandra Bose clearly ascribed spirituality to natural landmarks of India. We now show that he was in fact deeply attached to the environment, the flora and fauna, of his home-province, Bengal. Patriotism is always a bottom-up phenomenon.

On 20.11.1915, he wrote to his childhood friend Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, “

“Bengal of course has other attractions, but, apart from that, this rustic hilly country (Darjeeling) is incomparable. Verily, the Himalayas are the abode of the Gods – a paradise. Our illiterate Brahmin cook, pointing towards the Kanchenjungha said, ‘That way is paradise’. All others laughed at him. But I realized that his words were metaphorically true” p. 179, [1].

On 12.8.1925 he wrote from Mandalay jail to renowned author Sarat Chandra Chattopadhyaya in Bangla “If I had not been here, I would never realise the depth of my love for golden Bengal. I sometimes feel as if Tagore visualized the feelings of a prisoner when he wrote: Sonar Bangla, ami tomae bhalobasi!
Chirodin tomar akash tomar batas
Amar prane bajae banshee”

সোনার বাংলা আমি তোমায় ভালোবাসি

চিরদিন তোমার আকাশ তোমার বাতাস

আমার প্রাণে বাজায় বাঁশি

[O my golden Bengal, I love you so,

your sky and the air ever play

the music in my heart]

When, even for a moment, the vision of Bengal’s variegated beauty rises before my mind’s eye – I have the realisation that going through all this trouble and coming to Mandalay have been worth the while. Who knew before that there was so much charm hidden in the soil of Bengal, in her waters, in her skies and air ! “ p. 111, [1].

On 20.12.26 he wrote from Rangoon Central Jail in Bangla to Basanti Devi, “Not only my own kith and kin, but also Bengal and the whole of India shine in matchless beauty in my dreams. Reality has receded from my life – I am now clinging to my dreams” p. 119, [4].

In December 1926, he wrote in Bangla from Mandalay Jail to Anath Bandhu Dutta, “You said in your letter, “distance and time have made you even dearer to Bengal”. On the other hand, I can hardly express in words how much dearer and truer has beloved Bengal become to me on account of the distance and time that separates us. The late Deshbandhu said in his book of Bengal lyrics, “An eternal truth is inherent in the waters and soil of Bengal”. Had I not been away for this one year, I would not appreciate the truth of this saying. “The wavy, green rice-fields of Bengal, the blooming and sweet-smelling mango groves, the spectacle of evening prayer at the temples with the burning of incense, the picturesque courtyards of our village homes” – to see all this even with the mind’s eye is a rare delight. When I see patches of white clouds floating across the sky in the morning or afternoon, I momentarily feel – as the exiled Yaksha of Meghdut did – like sending through them some of my innermost feelings to Mother Bengal. I could at least tell her in the Vaisnavic strain – “tomari lagiya kalanker bojha, bahite amar sukh” (তোমারিলাগিয়া কলঙ্কের বোঝা, বহিতে আমার সুখ, To face calumny for your sake is to me a blessing). As darkness descends, the sun disappears behind the high ramparts of the fort of Mandalay and the western horizon is lit up with the rays of the setting sun and the crimson rays give the countless clouds a dazzling beauty – I am reminded of Bengal’s skies, the scene of Bengal’s sunset. Who knew before that there was such charm even in the imagined scene ? When the light and color of morning prevade the sky and then hit my sleepy eyes and wake me up, I am reminded of another sunrise, the sunrise through which Bengal’s poets and savants have realized Mother Bengal” p. 132, [4].

On 22.4.1932, he wrote from Seoni Sub-Jail (Seoni, C.P.) to a friend, “I do not know when I shall be able to return to Bengal – but I have felt during my stay here, as I have never felt before (except once only when I was in Burma) what Tagore wrote in his exquisite style.

Sonar Bangla! Ami tomai bhalobashi

Chirodin tomar Akash tomar Batas

Amar prane bajai banshi

সোনার বাংলা আমি তোমায় ভালোবাসি

চিরদিন তোমার আকাশ তোমার বাতাস

আমার প্রাণে বাজায় বাঁশি

(O my golden Bengal, I love you so,

your sky and the air ever play

the music in my heart)

And I long at times for the scenery which one can see only in Bengal – the ocean like rivers and the smiling fields of wavy corn. And I cannot help repeating in the poet’s words – Ore Aghrane tor bhara khete

Ki dekhechi Madhur Hashi

ওরে অঘ্রাণে তোর ভরা ক্ষেতে

কি দেখেছি মধুর হাঁসি

(Oh what a picture of sweet smile came to my gaze

Reflected from the fields replete with corns in the month of Agrahayan (the eighth month in the Bangla calendar)

Before my arrest this time I had toured in the interior of Maharashtra and I enjoyed heartily the wild and rugged scenery of the hills of Maharashtra. But much as I liked it – I felt simultaneously that the picture was not complete without the poetic scenery of Bengal- the vast rivers and the never ending field of Agrahayan paddy. Where an experience is denied to the senses – the mind has to conjure it up for self-enjoyment. That is my excuse for the digression. “pp. 279-280, [4].

On 4.8.1933, he wrote to his European friend, Mrs. Vetter, “I am personally a lover of the mountains and one of my regrets is that we in Bengal do not have more mountains. To reach the mountains, we have to travel right up to the north – i.e. to the Himalayas. But we have one of the grandest snow-views of the world – that of Kanchanjunga which is 27000 ft.” p. 24, [7].

Given how deeply he loved the ambience he was nurtured in, he understood the same innate need of others. Girija K. Mookerjee, who had known him well in the 1920s and had subsequently worked closely with him in 1942 in Germany, writes, “Subhas also knew perfectly well that because of the Indian peasants’ strong prejudices against the Europeans one could never work them up to fight, unless they were treading the soil of their forefathers and unless they breathed the air of their homeland ‘’ p. 213, [14].

Section C: Child of Bengal Renaissance

Subhas Chandra Bose’s deification of India followed directly from the writings of Bankim Chandra, Swami Vivekananda and Sri Aurobindo. In this sense, he was a child of the Bengali renaissance:

Swami Vivekananda said in his memorable Colombo lecture (January 1897): “Formerly, I thought, as every Hindu thinks, that this is the Punya Bhumi, the land of Karma. Today I stand here and say, with the conviction of truth, that it is so. Hence have started the founders of religions from the most ancient times, deluging the earth again and again with the pure and perennial waters of spiritual truth. Hence have proceeded the tidal waves of philosophy that have covered the earth, East or West, North or South, and hence again must start the wave which is going to spiritualise the materialized civilization of the world.” pp. 238-239, [11].
Aurobindo Ghose wrote in his homage to Rishi Bankim Chandra (as he called him):
“ Ours is the eternal land, the eternal people, the eternal religion, whose strength, greatness, holiness may be overclouded, but never, even for a moment, utterly cease. The hero, the rishi, the saint, are the natural fruits of the Indian soil and there have been no age in which they have not been born. Among the rishis of the later age ….we must include the name of the man who gave us the reviving mantra which is creating a new India, the mantra Vande Mataram” p. 239, [11].
Dilip Roy has written about Bose: “ he loved – adored – Bharat as a “sacred land”, a la Vivekananda he worshipped and Sri Aurobindo he admired….The deification of the Motherland which stemmed first from our great Bankimchandra, the composer of Vande Mataram, is often denigrated by cosmopolitans on the ground that it is archaic ‘’ p. 238, [11].
Dilip Roy recalled Subhas Chandra Bose’s conception of India during their College days: “Within the short time at my disposal I cannot possibly enlarge on how our friendship developed in Calcutta and then at Cambridge where we discussed the three worlds and how he thrilled me day after romantic day by telling me of his dream of the India to be, recalling deep exhortations of Swamiji, Sri Aurobindo and others, especially a famous passage in one of Sri Aurobindo’s letters (in Bengali) to his wife, where he wrote (translation mine): “Others look upon our country as an inanimate thing, a sum total of fields and pastures, jungles and forests, mountains and rivers. I look upon her as our very mother to be adored and worshipped. When an ogre sits on her chest, out to suck her blood, what does the son do ? Eat his meal in peace or go all out to the rescue of his mother ?” Day after day, he would thus pour his heart out to me and once he talked away far into the night (I have characterized is as our “last unforgettable night” in my Bengali memoirs) telling me about his sleepless solicitude for our motherland….” p. 237, [11].

Subhas Chandra Bose himself has described Swami Vivekananda as the “spiritual father of the modern nationalist movement’’ at least in Bengal, Bose’s home province. He wrote in his political memoir, “Indian Struggle’’, “Ramakrishna, the master, was brought up in the orthodox Hindu fashion, but his disciple was a young man educated at the university who was an agnostic before he met the former. Ramakrishna preached the gospel of the unity of all religions and urged the cessation of inter-religious strife. He emphasized the necessity of renunciation, celibacy and asceticism in order to live a truly spiritual life. As against the Brahmo Samaj, he advocated the necessity of symbolism in religious worship and condemned the ultra-modern imitative tendency of the Samaj. Before he died, he charged his disciple with the task of propagating his religious teachings in India and abroad and of bringing about an awakening among his countrymen. Swami Vivekananda therefore founded the Ramakrishna Mission, an order of monks, to live and preach the Hindu religion in its purest form in India and abroad, especially in America, and he took an active part in inspiring every form of healthy national activity. With him religion was the inspirer of nationalism. He tried to infuse into the new generation a sense of pride in India’s past, of faith in India’s future and a spirit of self-confidence and self-respect. Though the Swami never gave any political message, everyone who came into contact with him or his writings developed a spirit of patriotism and a political mentality. So far at least as Bengal is concerned, Swami Vivekananda may be regarded as the spiritual father of the modern nationalist movement. He died very young in 1902, but since his death his influence has been even greater ‘’ p. 22, [2].

M. N. Roy summarized the essence of Swami Vivekananda’s teachings similarly. But, Bose’s and Roy’s qualitative assessment of the impact of the Swami were polar opposites. While Bose derived his inspiration from Swami Vivekananda’s teachings, Roy deemed Swami Vivekananda as an intellectual adversary, as a “spiritual imperialist’’: “ Religious nationalism of the orthodox as well as reformed school had begun to come into evidence in the province of Bengal since the first years of the twentieth century. Although its political philosopher and leader were found subsequently in the persons of Arabinda Ghose and Bepin Chandra Pal respectively, its fundamental ideology was conceived by a young intellectual of petit bourgeois origin. He was Narendra Nath Dutta, subsequently known by the religious nomenclature of Swami Vivekanada. …Like Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Dutta was also a prophet of Hindu nationalism. He also was a firm believer in the cultural superiority of the Indian people, and held that on this cultural basis should be built the future Indian nation. …He preached that Hinduism, not Indian nationalism, should be aggressive. His nationalism was a spiritual imperialism. He called on Young India to believe in the spiritual mission of India. The following quotation from his voluminous writings and speeches can be taken as the fundaments of his philosophy, on which was subsequently built the orthodox nationalism of the de-classed young intellectuals, organized into secret societies advocating violence and terrorism for the overthrow of British rule. Vivekananda said: “Materialism and all its miseries cannot be conquered by materialism. Armies, when they attempt to conquer armies, only multiply and make brutes of humanity … Spirituality must conquer the West. Now is the time to work for India’s spiritual ideals penetrating deep into the West. We must go out. We must conquer the world through our spirituality and philosophy. We must do it or die. The condition of Indian national life, of unashamed and vigorous national life, is the conquest of the world by Indian thought.” pp. 193-194, [17].

Section D: Indic civilizational and historical roots

Swami Vivekananda had advocated pride in one’s civilizational roots: “It has been one of the principles of my life not to be ashamed of my own ancestors. I am one of the proudest men ever born, but let me tell you frankly, it is not for myself, but on account of my ancestry. The more I have studied the past, the more I have looked back, more and more has this pride come to me, and it has given me the strength and courage of conviction, raised me up from the dust of the earth, and set me working out that great plan laid out by those great ancestors of ours. Children of those ancient Aryans, through the grace of the Lord may you have the same pride, may that faith in your ancestors come into your blood, may it become a part and parcel of your lives, may it work towards the salvation of the world!…. Do not be in a hurry, do not go out to imitate anybody else. This is another great lesson we have to remember; imitation is not civilisation. I may deck myself out in a Raja’s dress, but will that make me a Raja? An ass in a lion’s skin never makes a lion. Imitation, cowardly imitation, never makes for progress. It is verily the sign of awful degradation in a man. Ay, when a man has begun to hate himself, then the last blow has come. When a man has begun to be ashamed of his ancestors, the end has come. Here am I, one of the least of the Hindu race, yet proud of my race, proud of my ancestors. I am proud to call myself a Hindu, I am proud that I am one of your unworthy servants. I am proud that I am a countryman of yours, you the descendants of the sages, you the descendants of the most glorious Rishis the world ever saw. Therefore have faith in yourselves, be proud of your ancestors, instead of being ashamed of them. And do not imitate, do not imitate! Whenever you are under the thumb of others, you lose your own independence. If you are working, even in spiritual things, at the dictation of others, slowly you lose all faculty, even of thought. Bring out through your own exertions what you have, but do not imitate, yet take what is good from others. We have to learn from others. You put the seed in the ground, and give it plenty of earth, and air, and water to feed upon; when the seed grows into the plant and into a gigantic tree, does it become the earth, does it become the air, or does it become the water? It becomes the mighty plant, the mighty tree, after its own nature, having absorbed everything that was given to it. Let that be your position. We have indeed many things to learn from others, yea, that man who refuses to learn is already dead. ‘’ [16].

Subhas Chandra Bose was an ideological disciple of Swami Vivekananda. Naturally, Bose’s Indic nationalism was rooted in his concept of civilizational India with an ancient and sublime past. He has written about reading about the ancient civilization of India from a young age. On 8.12.1915, at the age of 18, he wrote to his childhood friend Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, “I am writing an article for our Debating Club in the column ‘Next Monday’s Reading’ – the subject being ‘The civilization of India in the Vedic and Pouranic Age’ ‘’ p. 181, [1]. He believed that his contemporary Indian civilization was a continuation from the timeless past. He rejected European claims of civilizing and politically uniting her and bestowing nationhood on India, which he considered as Eurocentric interpretation of India’s history (Section D.1). Leonard Gordon has written that during his student days in Calcutta, Bose and his Calcutta College friends “were touching upon a theme of Tagore’s writings: Indians must stop accepting the European version of the Indian past. They must search through the documents and artifacts of the past and construct their own ideas about Indian culture, traditions, and society, as a step in the reconstruction of India” p. 42, [15]. He traced the roots of the cherished political and social concepts of his time to ancient India, namely, democracy, statecraft, revolutionary movements, humanism and equity, collective ownership of property concept of communism, socialism, municipal development (Section D.2). He showed enormous pride in India’s ancient, medieval and modern history (Section D.3). Goes without saying then that he would be an ardent student of India’s history himself. He showed an enormous scholarly interest in the history of his home-province, Bengal, and also studied the history of India as a whole (Section D.4).

Section D.1: Civilizational and Political Unity of India

In his political memoirs, “Indian Struggle’’, Bose called for rejecting the British historians’ version of Indian history which show Indian ruling chiefs to be perpetually fighting against each other and India could be unified and peace and order instituted only during the British regime. He reminded readers that India has always been a self-contained geographical unit, with a civilization dating back to 3000 B.C, and there has always been a cultural continuity ensuring a fundamental unity underlying her diversity. The most important cementing factor in India has been the Hindu religion and that all Hindus look upon India as their holy land.

“It is only during the last three decades that attempts have been made to give a true picture of the history of India since the earliest times. Prior to that it was customary for British historians to ignore the pre-British era of Indian history. Since they were the first to interpret political India to modern Europe, it was but natural that modern Europe should think of India as a land where independent ruling chiefs had been fighting perpetually among themselves until the British arrived and after conquering the land, proceeded to establish peace and order and bring the country under one political administration. In order to understand India, however, it is essential to bear in mind at the outset two important facts. Firstly, the history of India has to be reckoned not in decades or in centuries, but in thousands of years. Secondly, it is only under British rule that India for the first time in her history has begun to feel that she has been conquered. ….there have been in the course of India’s history periods of progress and prosperity followed by intervals of decay and even chaos and the former have been always characterized by a high level of culture and civilization. Only through ignorance or through prejudice could one assert that under British rule India began to experience for the first time what political unity was. As a matter of fact, though for reasons of expediency India has been brought under one political administration by Great Britain and English has been enforced on the people everywhere as the state language, no pains have been spread to divide the people more and more ‘’ p. 1, [2].
“Though geographically, ethnologically and historically India presents an endless diversity to any observer- there is none the less a fundamental unity underlying this diversity. But as Mr. Vincent A. Smith has said: ‘European writers as a rule have been more conscious of the diversity than of the unity of India …..India beyond all doubt possesses a deep underlying fundamental unity, far more profound than that produced either by geographical isolation or by political suzerainty. That unity transcends the innumerable diversities of blood, color, language, dress, manners and sect’ (Bose cites Vincent A. Smith, The Oxford History of India, Introduction p. 10). Geographically, India seems to be cut out from the rest of the world as a self-contained unit. Bounced on the North by the mighty Himalayas and surrounded on both sides by the endless ocean, India affords the best example of a geographical unit. The ethnic diversity of India has never been a problem – for throughout her history she has been able to absorb different races and impose on them one common culture and tradition. The most important cementing factor has been the Hindu religion. North or South, East or West, whenever you may travel, you will find the same religious ideas, the same culture and the same tradition. All Hindus look upon India as the Holy Land. The sacred rivers like the sacred cities are distributed all over the country (These and other facts and arguments will be found in Prof. Radha Kumud Mookherji’s The Fundamental Unity of India (Longmans, 1914). If as a pious Hindu you have to complete your round of pilgrimage, you will have to travel to Setubandha-Rameswara in the extreme south and to Badrinath in the bosom of the snow-capped Himalayas in the north. The great teachers who wanted to convert the country to their faith had always to tour the whole of India and one of the greatest of them, Shankaracharya, who flourished in the eighth century A.D., built four ‘Ashramas’ (monasteries) in four corners of India, which flourish to this day. Everywhere the same scriptures are read and followed and the epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, are equally popular wherever you may travel ‘’ pp. 2-3, [2].
“The civilization of India dates back to 3000 B.C., if not earlier, and since then, there has been on the whole a remarkable continuity of culture and civilization. This undisturbed continuity is the most significant feature of Indian history and it incidentally explains the vitality of the people and of their culture and civilization. The latest archaeological excavation at Mohenjodaro and Harappa in North-Western India prove unmistakably that India had reached a high level of civilization as early as 3000 B.C., if not earlier ‘’ p. 4, [2].

He echoed similar thoughts in his other writings and speeches, throughout. Specifically, he stated that Ramayana and Mahabharata provide the fundamental basis for Indian civilization, and India’s ancient culture, civilization and thoughts continue into the present, unlike those of Egypt or Babylon, Phoenicia or even Greece which perished.

In 1927 he wrote to Bivabati Bose in Bangla from Shillong, “Please get all the children to read Kashiramdas’s Mahabharata and Krittibas’s Ramayana; Jogin Babu’s editions are perhaps the best. He has rendered the old Bengali of Kashiramdas and Krittibas into the current language and has written in verse. They are thus easy for children to read. The more I grow up the more I realise that the Mahabharata and the Ramayana provide the fundamental basis of our civilization. It is a pity that I never read the Mahabharata and the Ramayana well and from end to end” p. 253, [4].
On 26 January, 1943, he delivered the Independence Day address in Berlin. He said there, “To offer some kind of moral justification for British domination and exploitation of India, British propagandists have depicted it as a land where there is no unity, where the people are eternally fighting among themselves, and where the strong hand of Britain is necessary to maintain order and ensure progress. But these presumptuous Britishers conveniently forget that long before their forefathers knew anything about administration or national unity – in fact, long before the Romans came to Britain to teach culture and civilization to the uncivilized Britons- India had not only an advanced culture and civilization but a modern Empire founded by Chandragupta extending from Cape Comorin in the South to Afghanistan in the North – an empire that was geographically larger than the India of today. And India is a country where the past has not been forgotten as in Babylon, Egypt or Greece, but where history and tradition live in our blood and in the marrow of our bones. It is because of this national self-consciousness that neither political domination nor economic impoverishment has been able to kill our soul. We measure history not in decades – not in centuries – but in thousands of years. Consequently, when misfortune and ill luck overtake us, we do not lose our nerve. We know that if we preserve and fight on – we shall once again come to the top of the wave.’’ p. 184, [9].

On 28 June, 1943, Bose gave a press interview about India to Erwin Wickert. In the interview he said that, “When the British came to India we had for a long time our own successful governments. We have an age-old history, much older than the British.” p. 36, [10].
In November 1944, Bose addressed the faculty and students of Tokyo University. In this speech he summarized the different ideas of India that the foreigners engender: (1) ordinary Europeans believe that three things can be found in India: snakes, fakirs and maharajas (2) those who have been influenced by British propaganda believe that in India “people are always fighting among themselves”, and “the strong hand of Britain is required in order to maintain peace and order among the people” (3) the Orientalists and the Indologists of Europe believe that “India is a land of mystics and philosophers, a land which at one time produced a very rich philosophy, but which is today as dead as the ancient civilizations of Egypt and Babylon are dead today”. Bose went on to outline his conception of India: “unlike other ancient civilizations, such as Egypt or Babylon, Phoenicia or even Greece, the ancient culture and civilization of India is not dead. It still lives in the present. And we Indians of today think the same thoughts, fundamentally the same thoughts, and have the same feelings, the same ideals as our forefathers who lived 2000 or 3000 years ago. In other words, there is a continuity, historical and cultural continuity, extending from the ancient times till the present day – which is in some ways a very remarkable thing in history. Now, in order to understand India, this fundamental fact should first be understood, namely, that India of the past is not dead. India of the past lives in the present, and will live on in the future.” p. 286, [10].

He traced the genesis of the political unity of India to the Maurya empire in her ancient past. In Indian Struggle, he had written:

“.. one notices a distinct tendency towards the growth of monarchical power following the expansion of Aryan influence and domination in India. At this time there would be frequent wars between the independent states flourishing in Northern India, with a view to obtaining supremacy. The issue of these wars would be not political annexation but acceptance of the overlordship of the victor by the vanquished parties. The victorious king would be called ‘Chakravartin’ or ‘Mandaleswara’, and elaborate ceremonies – ‘Rajasuya’ or ‘Vajapeya’ or ‘Aswamedha’ – would be held to celebrate such victories. This tendency towards the centralization of authority grew stronger during the Vedic and Epic periods of Indian history till from the sixth century B.C. the movement for the political unification of India took definite shape. This movement reached its fulfillment during the next era – namely the Buddhistic or Maurya period – when the Maurya emperors were able to unify India politically for the first time and establish an empire ‘’ pp. 4-5, [2].
“ The greatest of the Maurya emperors was Asoka, the grandson of Chandragupta, who ascended the throne about 273 B.C. Asoka’s empire embraced not only modern India but also Afghanistan, Baluchistan and a portion of Persia. Under the Maurya emperors, public administration reached a high level of efficiency. The military organization was perfect for that age. The government was divided into separate departments under different ministers. … In short, the whole country was politically unified for the first time under one sound administration. And when Asoka accepted Buddhism, the entire state machinery became the hand-maid of the Buddhistic faith. Not being contented with political sovereignty or with propagating Buddhism within the limits of his empire, Asoka sent missionaries to all parts of Asia – from Japan on one side to Turkey on the other – to preach the lofty tenets of Buddhism. This period has been regarded by many people as the Golden Age of Indian history, when there was a uniform and all-round progress in every department of life (An imperial observer like the Greek Megasthenes bears testimony to the above facts) ‘’ pp. 5-6, [2].

In November 1944, addressing the faculty and students of Tokyo University, he said, “ India was for the first time politically unified nearly 2500 years ago under the Buddhist emperor, Asoka….the India of the time of Asoka the Great was even larger than the India of today. Asoka’s India included not only modern India, but also Afghanistan and a part of Persia. After the time of Asoka, India has gone through many ups and downs in her national life. There have been periods of decay, followed by periods of progress and national upheaval. But throughout these ups and downs in our national life, we have been able, in the long run, to keep up our progress. About one thousand years after Asoka, India again reached the zenith of progress under the Gupta Emperors” pp. 286-287, [10].

Communists dismissed the notion of civilizational or political unity of India and described India as an accident of geography rather than an expression of a common civilization. M. N. Roy wrote in “India in Transition’’: “ Political nationhood is comparatively a recent phenomenon in the annals of human history. It is the result of a certain stage of economic development, affecting communities inhabiting a given geographical region. Diverse groups of peoples living in the same surroundings, are gradually welded into a national entity under the pressure of economic forces. So long as these forces are not sufficiently developed, the sense of nationhood remains unknown to a people. India is no exception to this law. The extensive peninsula called India, is a mere geographical expression; it is very distinctly marked out from the mainland Asia by physical barriers. But to hold that this geographical accident has been in itself sufficient to create a sense of of national unity among the diverse communities inhabiting India, would be to misread the history of human evolution. To weld the numerous races and tribes, divided by language and grades of culture, into one national unity was conditional upon the development of a material force which could make such fusion possible. As long as the productive forces remain so backward that the different groups of the people can live in self-contained isolated communities, the simple accident of their happening to be situated within the limits of a certain geographical area does not suffice to make a nation out of them. It is only economic development that induces these isolated communities to come into relation with each other to satisfy their mutual needs’’ pp. 147-148, [17].

Section D.2: Tracing the roots of the contemporary cherished political and social concepts to ancient India

Subhas Chandra Bose traced the roots of the cherished political and social concepts of his time to ancient India, namely, democracy, statecraft, revolutionary movements, humanism and equity, collective ownership of property concept of communism, socialism, municipal development.

Section D.2.1: Democracy

In “India Struggle’’, he cited scholarly writings to argue that democracy existed in India from times immemorial. Practice of democratic concepts has been documented throughout the Vedic literature and Mahabharata. Republics existed in India during the times of Chandragupta Maurya (322 B.C.), Gupta emperors, Harsha Vardhana and the Cholas:

“In the earliest Vedic literature there is reference to non-monarchical forms of government. Where these existed, tribal democracy prevailed. In those days, ‘Grama’ (or village) was the smallest and ‘Jana’ (or tribe) was the highest social and political organization among the Vedic communities. (Development of Hindu polity and Political Theories by Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya, p. 60, published by Chuckerverty Chatterjee & Co. Ltd., 15 College Square, Calcutta). In the later Epic literature, the Mahabharata for example, there is clear reference to republican forms of government (K. P. Jayaswal, Republics in the Mahabharata (J. O. and B. Res. Soc., Vol. I. pp. 173-8). There is also evidence that since the earliest times popular assemblies used to be held in connection with public administration. Throughout the Vedic literature one finds reference to two kinds of assembly- the Sabha and the Samiti (also called Samgati or Samgrama). The ‘Sabha’ has been interpreted to mean the advisory council of the selected few, while ‘Samiti’ has been interpreted as a gathering of the entire community. The ‘Samiti’ met on important occasions like royal coronations, times of war or national calamity, etc. (Development of Hindu Polity and Political Theories by Narayan Chandra Bandyopadhyaya, pp. 115-18) ‘’ p. 4, [2].
“After the retreat of Alexander the Great from India, Chandragupta Maurya founded his empire in 322 B.C. About this time and also later on, there were many republics in India. The Malavas, Kshudrakas, Lichchhavis and other tribes had republican constitutions. Mr. K. P. Jayaswal in his book Hindu Polity gives a long list of such republics. There is no doubt that when India was unified politically under one emperor, these republics continued to flourish as autonomous states recognizing the suzerainty of one emperor. Besides, the popular assembly was a well-established institution during this period of Indian history ‘’ pp. 5-6, [2].
“From the above historical narrative it will be evident that democratic republican forms of government existed in India in the ancient times. They were usually based on a homogeneous tribe or caste. In the Mahabharata these tribal democracies are known as ‘Ganas’ (As late as 1927 the writer has personally seen such institutions flourishing among the Khasi tribe in Assam in North-East India). Besides these full-fledged republics, in monarchical states also, the people enjoyed a large measure of liberty, as the king was virtually a constitutional monarch. This fact which has been consistently ignored by British historians has now been fully established through the researches of Indian historians. Besides political matters, in other matters also, the people enjoyed a large measure of liberty ‘’ pp. 7-8, [2].
“Indian literature from the earliest times abounds in references to public bodies called ‘Paura’ and ‘Janapada’. The former correspond to our modern municipalities – while the latter probably mean non-urban public bodies of some sort. Moreover, owing to the existence of caste, the people were self-governing in social matters, through a system of caste-democracy under the control of a ‘Panchayat’ (Panchayat, which literally means a committee of five, is a very ancient institution). There were popular ‘Panchayats’ in India since the oldest times, not only for carrying on the village administration – but also for administering the caste-regulations and maintaining discipline within the caste. Throughout the succeeding Buddhistic period the people enjoyed large self-governing powers. During this period, the ‘assembly’ and the ‘vote’ were popular institutions. The advent of Maurya imperialism did not encroach on these powers nor did it destroy the republics which still continued to flourish. The Empire of the Guptas and of Harsha proceeded on the same lines. Under the Mohammedan rulers, though there was unbridled autocracy, the Central Government rarely interfered in provincial or local affairs. The governor of a ‘Suba’ or a province was of course appointed by the Emperor, but as long as revenue was regularly sent into the imperial coffers, the provincial administration was not interfered with in any way. ….Both before and after the Aryan conquest of India, autonomous village institutions have been a consistent feature of the public life of India. This is true as much of the Aryan kingdoms of the north as of the Tamil kingdoms of the south (In this connection it is worthwhile studying the Chola Kingdom of South India of the tenth and twelfth century A.D.). But under British rule these institutions have been destroyed and the long arm of the bureaucracy stretches into the remotest villages. There is not one square foot of land where the people feel that they are free to manage their own affairs ‘’ pp. 8-9, [2].

On 3 May, 1928, Bose had spoken about the Indian origin of democracy at the Presidential address at the Maharashtra Provincial Conference, Poona. He cited scholarly writings and artifacts in museums he visited in Bengal: “Some European writers – Lord Ronaldshay for instance – go so far as to say that democracy is unsuited to the Oriental temperament and political advancement in India should not, therefore, be made in that direction. Ignorance and effrontery could not go further. Democracy is by no means a Western institution ; it is a human institution. Wherever man has attempted to evolve political institutions, he has hit upon this wonderful institution of democracy. The past history of India is replete with instances of democratic institutions. Mr. K. P. Jayaswal in his wonderful book, ‘Hindu polity’ has dealt with this matter at great length and has given a list of 81 republics in ancient India….Among the Khasis of Assam, for instance, it is still the custom to elect the ruling chief by a vote of the whole clan ; and this custom has been handed down from time immemorial. The principle of democracy was also applied in India in the government of villages and towns. The other day while visiting the Varendra Research Society Museum at Rajshahi in North Bengal, I was shown a very interesting copper-plate inscription in which it was stated that civic administration in the good old days was vested in a committee of five, including the Nagar Sreshthi (i.e., our modern Mayor). With regard to village self-government, it is not necessary to remind an Indian audience about the village Panchayats – democratic institutions handed down to us from days of yore. Not only democratic but other socio-political doctrines of an advanced character were not unknown to India in the past ‘’ pp. 243-244, [5].

Section D.2.2: Statecraft

In “Indian Struggle’’ also wrote about documentation of statecraft in Mahabharata, Dharma Shastras and particularly Arthasastra of Kautilya: “With regard to political literature also, ancient India has much to boast of. The Mahabharata is a storehouse of knowledge and information for the student of political science. The Dharma Shastras also, with a mass of subsidiary literature, are of immense value. But most interesting of all in Arthasastra of Kautilya which probably belongs to the fourth century B.C. ‘’, pp. 8-9, [2].

Section D.2.3: Revolutionary Movements

In a conversation with Dilip Roy in 1921 in England, he refused to attribute the genesis of the revolutionary freedom movement in India to Russia. Dilip Roy recalled: “He [Bose] paused and murmured: “Then ….Revolution.” …“But now”, I said, trying in vain to be cool as cucumber, “who is it that favours importing Russian ideas into India?” “Man alive!” Subhash gasped. “Have you never heard of such a thing as the Partition of Bengal and Ananda Math and Aurobindo Ghosh ? Russia ! Her revolutionaries had only just been weaned when we were full-grown adults.” ….Yes, those were wonderful days. I was then only a stripling. But I can still hear in my blood those wonderful Swadeshi songs of your father: dhana dhanya pushpabhara [ধন ধান্য পুষ্প ভরা], Banga amar janani amar [বঙ্গ আমার জননী আমার, আমার দেশ], dhao dhao samarakshetre [ধাও ধাও সমরক্ষেত্রে], Mevar pahar [মেবার পাহাড়] etc. – Really Dilip, you had a wonderful father !” I felt proud notwithstanding the implied antithesis of the son! ‘’ pp. 180-181, [11]. In his political memoirs, Indian Struggle, he wrote the same, “ Though the earliest revolutionaries studied something about revolutionary methods in other countries, it would not be correct to say that the inspiration came from abroad. The movement was born out of a conviction that to a Western people physical force alone makes an appeal’’ pp. 335-336, [2].

Section D.2.4: Humanism and Equity

He traced the genesis of the doctrines of humanism and equity to India:

In a public speech in Narail on 7 July, 1931, he said that Europe was talking of the doctrine of humanism just then, Chandidas pronounced it through his poems five hundred years back p. 204, [6]. He was referring to “humanity above all else’’ সবার উপর মানুষ সত্য, তাহার ওপর নাই doctrine of Chandidas. On 23.2.1934, he wrote to his Jewish friend in Austria, Mrs Kitty Kurti, “Samya means equality. Samyavadi means ‘one who believes in equality’. ‘Sangha’ means ‘Society’ or ‘Association’. The idea of Samya is a very old Indian conception-first popularized by the Buddhists 500 years before Christ. I therefore prefer this name to the modern names now popular in Europe.” p. 56, [7].
In February, 1936, Bose wrote an article in Modern Review, titled, Labour in Jamshedpur- “The Other Side of the Picture’’ in which he pointed out that “in India low-born people often rose to the highest positions by dint of their personal qualities’’, eg, the Kaivarta kings of Bengal emerged “from a so-called low stratum of society’’. It was a response to an article in December, 1935 issue of Modern Review, in which J. L. Keenan, the General Manager of TISCO, Jamshedpur made derogatory and false claims about Indian society: “Mr. Keenan is also wrong when he goes on to say ‘that a labourer was as a rule forbidden to accumulate wealth and, though he was a slave, even if his master gave him freedom, he was still a slave’ (p. 705). I wonder from where Mr Keenan culled this valuable piece of information. We know, on the contrary, that in India low-born people often rose to the highest positions by dint of their personal qualities. If we investigate the past history of some of the present Maharajah and landed aristocrats, useful information can be collected in this connection. I may also point to examples like that of the alleged Kaivarta Kings of Bengal, who came from a so-called low stratum of society. “ p. 328, [7].

Incidentally, his long-time friend and colleague, Girija K. Mookerjee has written this about him: “a child of Indian Renaissance of the nineteenth century, Subhas Bose, who imbibed in his youth the ideas of Tagore, Aurobindo, Vivekananda and Gandhi, was a profound humanist in the Hindu sense of the term as revealed in his letters written in Bengali, published in the book Patravali. These letters are eloquent testimonies of his deeply ingrained sense of liberalism and love of liberty ‘’ p. 63, [13]. Inserting Gandhi in the list of Bose’s ideological inspiration is a reflection of Mookerjee’s own admiration for the latter, since none of Bose’s early writings mention Gandhi, but the rest is an accurate assessment.

Section D.2.5: Collective Ownership of Property

On 3 May, 1928, at the Presidential address at the Maharashtra Provincial Conference, Poona, Bose had spoken about the Indian origin of the collective ownership of property concept of communism, “Communism, for instance, is not a Western institution. Among the Khasis of Assam, to whom I have referred, private property as an institution does not exist in theory even today. The clan as a whole owns the entire land ‘’ p. 244, [5].

Section D.2.6: Socialism

He traced the roots of socialism in Hindu thoughts. He pointed out that before Karl Marx came to be known in India, Swami Vivekananda embraced the whole of society. Swami Vivekananda’s gospel manifested itself in the writings of C. R. Das. On 30 March 1929, he spoke at the Presidential Address at the Rangpur Political Conference, “ It was Swami Vivekananda who gave a new turn to the history of Bengal. As he repeatedly said, man-making was his mission in his life. In the work of man-making, Swami Vivekananda did not confine his attention to any particular sect but embraced the whole of society. His fiery words – “Let a new India emerge through the workshop and from the huts and bazaars” – are still ringing in every Bengali home. This socialism did not derive its birth from the books of Karl Marx. It has its origin in the thought and culture of India. The gospel of democracy that was preached by Swami Vivekananda has manifested itself fully in the writings and achievements of Deshbandhu Das, who said that Narayan lives amongst those who till the land, prepare our bread by the sweat of their brow, those who in the midst of grinding poverty have kept the torch of our civilization, culture and religion burning…..New ideas of socialism are nowadays traveling to India from the West, and they are revolutionizing the thoughts of many, but the idea of socialism is not a novelty in this country. We regard it as such only because we have lost the thread of our own history.’’ pp. 2-3, [6]. In contrast, ideological communists felt no innate need to relate Socialism or Communism to Indic thoughts before embracing the same. Harkishan Singh Surjeet, who made it to the CPI Politbureau , saw Socialism as a Russian concept: “ It must be realised that unlike the European and some of the Latin American countries, no socialist movement existed at that time in India. Though capitalist development was taking place and the working class was born, socialist organizations had not yet been set up in India. Some leaders of the national movement had attended one or two conference of the 2nd International [1920] and had the opportunity of meeting Lenin. This however did not enable them to equip themselves with the ideology of socialism even within the framework of social democracy. It is only after the October Revolution [1917] that these ideas began spreading. Indian revolutionaries abroad were the first to come under its influence due to the firm stand of the Russian revolution in support of Indian independence ‘’ p. 20, [18].

Section D.2.7: Municipal Development

Bose traced the roots of municipal development to the ancient civilization of India – Mohenjodaro and Pataliputra. On May 10, 1938, he said in an address to the Bombay Corporation, “We are frequently told by foreigners that municipal development, like other attempts at social progress in this country, have been the result of our contact with the West and that before we came into intimate touch with Europe in the 18th and 19th centuries, very little had been achieved in the direction of civic progress. Sir, I should like to take this opportunity of giving the lie direct to this charge. In the sphere of municipal progress we are not creating something out of nothing, but we are building on ancient foundations, so also in the sphere of local self-government we are doing the same. One has only to turn to the ancient relics of Mohenjodaro to realize what a high degree of civic achievement our forefathers in this ancient land could boast of. And after the age of Mohenjodaro if you come to the Mauryan empire and study the records and descriptions of the capital of the empire, viz., Pataliputra, you will find that the city of Pataliputra was not only a highly developed city but the municipal government of that city had varied functions, functions which can compare very favorably with those of any modern municipality. For words like Mayor and other modern municipal terms you will find synonyms in our ancient language which were then in vogue. Then came what may be called the Dark Age in Indian history. During this Dark Age there was a set-back not only in municipal progress but in other departments of national life as well. But because of the Dark Age one should not conclude that prior to that, we had not achieved any progress in civic affairs. It is necessary to remind our countrymen about this, because unfortunately as a result of our agelong servitude we have to a large extent forgotten our own past. It is only on account of the researches, past and present, made by our own scholars and historians that have unraveled to us our own forgotten past, that we can now realize what progress our forefathers had once made in the domain of civic affairs. Therefore, we can claim that in the matter of civic progress we are building our ancient foundations. That I think will give us inspiration in addressing ourselves to the problems of the present and of the future ‘’ pp. 34-35, [8].

In Indian Struggle, he had referred to the municipal administration under the Maurya emperors as well: “ The municipal administration of the capital, Pataliputra, near modern Patna was also creditable ‘’ pp. 5-6, [2].

Section D.3: Pride in India’s history: ancient, medieval, modern

In “Indian Struggle’’, he has written glowingly about the cultural renaissance in India’s ancient Hindu past, namely that under the Guptas: “After some time decay set in and there was an interval of chaos – religious, cultural and political. Largely because of its exaggerated asceticism, Buddhism lost its hold on the Indian people and there was a revival of Brahmanical Hinduism. On the philosophical side, the Vedanta philosophy which was first propounded in the Upanishads, was restored to its pride of place. Socially, there was a revival of the caste-system and a new breath of realism took the place of the morbid asceticism of the later-day Buddhists. Political anarchy was ended through the rise of the Gupta Empire which flourished in the fourth and fifth centuries A.D. The greatest of the Gupta Emperors was Samudra Gupta who ascended the throne in A.D. 330. During the Gupta period, the country was not only unified politically, but art, literature and science flourished (Impartial testimony is borne this time by the Chinese pilgrim and traveller Fa-hien) and once again reached the high watermark of excellence. This renaissance took place under the influence of Brahmanical Hinduism and this period is therefore regarded by orthodox Hindus as a more glorious age than the preceding Buddhist period. As under the Maurya emperors, India once again had active contact, both cultural and commercial, with Asia and also with some countries in Europe, like Rome. After the fifth century the political power of the Gupta emperors came to an end but the cultural renaissance continued unabated till once again it reached its peak in A.D. 640, when under king Harsha the country was once again unified politically’’ p. 6, [2].

Between 1912-13 at the age of 15-16, he had written to his mother about India’s Hindu medieval history: “ If you read the history of India, you will see that so many mothers have lived for the sake of Mother India and have, when the need arose, sacrificed their lives for her. Think of Ahalya Bai, Meera Bai, Durga Bati- there are so many – I cannot remember all their names ‘’ pp. 143-144, [1]. Recall that both Ahalya Bai and Durga Bati were women who were monarchs and had fought in battle-fields. Durga Bati had died fighting Mughal Emperor Akbar’s army. Ahalya Bai is known for erecting and rebuilding Hindu temples throughout India, some of which were razed to ground by Mughal emperor Aurangzeb. That they fought Mughal imposition was not a disqualification in his worldview.

In his unfinished autobiography, “Indian Pilgrim’’ [1] and in his political memoir, “Indian Struggle’’[2], he wrote glowingly about the Hindu revivalism in Bengal (and India) during the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. He bestowed high praise on Ram Mohan Roy and Iswar Chandra Bidyasagar, credited with ushering in landmarks of the reform movements. He noted that both the orthodox circles and the Brahmo Samaj in the Hindu Bengali made significant literary contributions and met the “ terrible onslaughts on Hindu religion coming from the Christian missionaries’’, and the Brahmos assimilated all that was good in the Western culture into the Hindu society, though initially they were inclined “to go too far in emulating the West’’:

“Ram Mohan Roy stood out as the apostle of religious revival. He urged a return to the original principles of Vedantism and for a total rejection of all the religious and social impurities that had crept into Hinduism in later times. He also advocated an all-round regeneration of the social and national life and the acceptance of all that is useful and beneficial in the modern life of Europe. Raja Ram Mohan Roy therefore stands out against the dawn of the new awakening in India as the prophet of the new age ‘’ pp. 20-21, [2].
“ While the Brahmos and other progressive sections of the people replied to the challenge of the West by trying to assimilate all that was good in Western culture, the more orthodox circles responded by justifying whatever there was to be found in Hindu society and by trying to prove that all the discoveries and inventions of the West were known to the ancient sages of India. Thus the impact of the West roused even the orthodox circles from their self-complacency. There was a great deal of literary activity among them and they produced able men like Sasadhar Tarkachuramani- but much of their energy was directed towards meeting the terrible onslaughts on Hindu religion coming from the Christian missionaries. In this there was common ground between the Brahmos and the orthodox Pundits, though in other matters there was no love lost between them. Out of the conflict between the old and the new, between the conservatives and the radicals, between the Brahmos and the Pundits, there emerged a new type – the noblest embodiment of which was Pundit Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar. This new type of Indian stood for progress and for a synthesis of Eastern and Western culture and accepted generally the spirit of reform which was abroad, but refused to break away from Hindu society or to go too far in emulating the West, as the Brahmos were inclined to do at first. Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar, for instance, was brought up as an orthodox Pundit, became the father of modern Bengali prose and a protagonist of Western science and culture, and was a great social reformer and philanthropist (Speaking of the Pundit, the Poet Madhusudan Dutt, the originator of blank verse in Bengali, once wrote ….”You are not merely the ocean of knowledge (Vidyasagar means literally ‘the ocean of knowledge’) as people know you in India, but also the ocean of generosity.”) – but till the last, he stuck to the simple and austere life of an orthodox Pundit. He boldly advocated the remarriage of Hindu widows and incurred the wrath of the conservatives in doing so – but he based his arguments mainly on the fact that the ancient scriptures approved of such a custom. The type which Iswar Chandra represented ultimately found its religious and philosophical expression in Ramakrishna Paramahansa (1834-1886) and his worthy disciple, Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902). Swami Vivekananda died in 1902 and the religio-philosophical movement was continued through the personality of Arabindo Ghose (or Ghosh). Arabindo did not keep aloof from politics. On the contrary, he plunged into the thick of it, and by 1908 became one of the foremost political leaders. In him, spirituality was wedded to politics. Arabindo retired from politics in 1909 to devote himself exclusively to religion ; but spirituality and politics continued to be associated together in the life of Lokmanya B. G. Tilak (1856-1920) and Mahatma Gandhi (1869) ‘’ pp. 17-18, [1].
“About the time that Ramakrishna Paramahansa flourished in Bengal, another prominent religious personality flourished in North-Western India. He was Swami Dayananda Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj. The Arya Samaj movement had the largest following in the Punjab and the United Provinces. Like the Brahmo Samaj it advocated a return to the early Hindu scriptures and it condemned all later-day accretions and impurities. Like the Brahmo Samaj it also advocated the abolition of the caste-system which did not exist in the oldest times. In short, according to Swami Dayananda Saraswati, people were to go back to the pure Arya religion and live the life of the Aryas of old. His characteristic slogan was: ‘Back to the Vedas’. Both the Brahmo Samaj and the Arya Samaj attempted proselytization but the Ramakrishna Mission never made any such attempt, for Ramakrishna was against the creation of a new sect. But while the Brahmo Samaj was influenced to some extent by Western culture and Christianity, the Arya Samaj derived all its inspiration from indigenous sources. None of the three societies had any political mission, nevertheless whoever came under their influence rapidly developed a sense of self-respect and a spirit of patriotism ‘’ pp. 22-23, [2].

In contrast, communists dismissed the Hindu reform movements of the nineteenth century as reactionary. M. N. Roy wrote in “India in Transition’’: “ In the 90’s, tendencies of religious reform were being expressed as if to counteract the wave of radicalism headed by the modernized intelligentsia. These tendencies took organized form

in the “Arya Somaj” in the north and the “Ramkrishna Mission” in Bengal. The object was the rejuvenation of the teachings of Hinduism in order to make them compatible with the psychology

created by modern education. But in fact, it was the resistance of the forces of conservatism

and reaction trying to adapt themselves to the new environments. The glaring social corruptions

and stifling religious superstitions could not be overlooked, even by the stoutest admirers of the spiritual civilization of the Aryans. The best that could be done and was done by those elements,

which constituted the bulwark of the old, was to lay the blame on the degeneration brought about by time. The pristine purity of the original doctrines was vigorously upheld. And a national revival was advocated with the slogan of “back to the Vedas” which even in the present moment finds an apostle in Gandhi. The new movement headed by Tilak perhaps unconsciously transplanted into the political field this tendency of looking backward, in order to find inspiration for a forward march. ‘’ p. 183, [17].

Section D.4: Ardent student of history

Rooted as he was in Bengal, he delved deep in her history. He used his periods of confinement in jails for this purpose. On 9.5.1926, while in Mandalay jail in Burma, he wrote in his prison notebook, “The culture of these Pancha Gours (Five Gours, Pataliputra, Gaur, Nabadwip, Purushottawama, Kamakhya) was fundamentally the same. What was it ? Broadly speaking, this Gauriya culture was a product of a kind of synthesis between the Tantra, Vaishnavism, Nabya Nyaya with the Vedic culture. At present the centre of this culture is in Bengal. But who can tell whether in the future the centre of this culture will not be in Puri or Gauhati? Those who believe in the superiority of this culture should devote themselves to more historical research in this regard. To them Pataliputra, Gaur, Nabadwip, Purushottawama, Kamakshya etc., are holier than places of pilgrimage. So everybody should visit these five places of pilgrimage ‘’ p. 11, [5]. In Mandalay jail in Burma, he went through records concerning Bengal available in Burma. On 17.5.1926, He asked his elder brother, Sarat Chandra Bose, if he knew the historian Rakhal Das Bannerji, and if so, he would pass on some missing links in the history of early and medieval Bengal from Burma records p. 288, [3]. On 4.6.1926, from Mandalay jail, he wrote to a well-read old College friend, Shibnath Chatterjee, a long letter asking about books on topics he was reading. He asked where he could get “Banglar Itihas” by Ramgati Naya Ratna Birachita and by Iswar Chandra Vidyasagar and if there were any further development on the theory of the racial origin of the Bengalis post the book by Rakhaldas Bandyopadhyay pp. 335-338, [3].

Right after the expiry of his political mentor, Deshbandhu C. R. Das, Bose was very keen that a documented, scholarly biography be composed on him. On 26.6.1925 he wrote from Mandalay Jail to his brother Sarat, “I have already written to you to ask Sudhir Babu to preserve carefully all the papers, letters, notes etc. belonging to the late Deshbandhu. These would be required for compiling a biography. It is a practical and matter of fact consideration which may not strike those who, owing to their proximity, are directly under the shadow of the great bereavement” p. 299, [4]. On 1.8.1925, he wrote from Mandalay to Sarat, “In the ‘Ashar’ issue of the monthly Basumati there is an article on Deshbandhu from the pen of the historian Mr. Rakhal Das Banarjee. The article is interesting – and contains a lot of information re. Deshbandhu’s last seven days on earth. How far the facts related are correct – I do not know – but I take it that Mr. Banerji being a historian is an accurate recorder of facts. Please make time to read the article

– it won’t take more than ten minutes. When you have time later on – you may also read in the same journal the article from the pen of the novelist, Babu Sarat Chandra Chatterji. It is worth reading…..Most of the articles written about Deshbandhu are superficial and devoid of substance. There is a plethora of grandiloquent phrases but that is all. I wish the writers would write more about their personal reminiscences. It is these which really interest the public and serve to unfold the character of the man. Sarat Babu’s article referred to above is an attempt in the right direction. By narrating and analyzing his conversations with Deshbandhu and by skillful reference to events which on the surface appear to be of no significance- he has attempted to portray the man as he saw him in real life. Mr. Banerji too has made an attempt in the right direction. There is one aspect of Deshbandhu’s work which is not ordinarily spoken of now but which in the years to come is bound to have a profound influence on Bengali thought. I refer to the line of thought which he tried to foster and develop in the columns of his Narayana. As you know his object was to revive the ancient national culture of Bengal as revealed in the poems of Chandidas, Bidyapati and in the writings of a host of other writers – and at the same time to expose the hollowness of the shallow internationalism in life and literature of Tagore and his school which did not realize the fundamental truth in nationalism. I have been trying to study some of the articles which appeared in Narayana written by writers of the anti-Tagore School and I feel sure that in the days to come this school will come greatly into prominence. There is one gentleman whom Deshbandhu regarded as the best exponent of his thought in this particular field. He is Babu Girija Sankar Rai Chowdhury vakil of the High Court ‘’ pp. 302-303, [4]. On 14.5.1026, he wrote to Sarat, “ Has Hemendra Babu published his life of Deshbandhu ? When is Pritwish Babu’s going to be out ?” p. 295, [3].

In his Presidential Address at the Rangpur Political Conference, 30 March 1929, he said:

“Bengal has a message of her own to deliver to the world. The message is the sum total of the life and history of Bengal as a whole ; and as she tried in the past to make that message heard, she is doing it even now. That message is ingrained in the character of Bengal. The heart of Bengal is always for diversity, harmony and fraternity. Bengal is always for novelty. Bengal’s innate nature is always dynamic and not static. She might well be called ‘revolutionary’. From the Vedic age down to the present, history abounds with instances which show that she is always moving and assimilating.’’ p. 1, [6].

He was also interested in the history of India as a whole. On 17.6.1926, he wrote to Sarat that he was trying to get a copy of Romesh Mazumdar’s recently published book, “Ancient Indian Colonies in the Far East.” If that book did not include some of the materials that Bose recently discovered, he would communicate those to “Rakhal Babu”. He also requested Sarat to send a note to Rakhal Babu to help him on some of the points he sent along with his letter p. 308, [3]. On 7.8.1926, he followed up with Sarat on what the latter did with the historical note he had sent. He asked Sarat to approach Babu Bijoy Majumdar if he couldn’t reach Rakhal Babu. Bijoy Babu was a great scholar in many subjects and as much a giant as Rakhal Babu. He noted that he lived at Lansdowne Road, and would know their father, and pointed to a mutual acquaintance, Satya Babu, who might know him p. 328, [3]. On 4.6.1926, from Mandalay jail, he wrote to a well-read old College friend, Shibnath Chatterjee, a long letter asking about books on topics he was reading. In the above letter, he asked his friend if 1) Dr. Naren Laha and others have been publishing an English journal on historical themes, and whether it was good and contained articles and papers based on original research 2) whether Rakhal Das Bandyopadhyay had written any book other than that on the history of Bengal, 3) a list of books on History of India, 4) if there were books on the Histories of Assam and Annam and a journal or a book on the discovery of Mohenjodaro that he could recommend, 5) if there was a book by Pandit Savariroyan, whose work on the Aryans and Tamilians, Swami Vivekananda had referred to (he gave a specific reference to Swami Vivekananda, Mayavati Memorial Edition) pp. 335-338, [3].

Section E: Conclusion

Although Bose was rooted in the civilizational past of India, he did not believe that those times ought to be recreated. He did not want India to live entirely in her history and wanted to adopt and integrate useful modern concepts as well, and while doing so, he posited that the lead could not come from priests. He therefore believed in different but valuable roles for both priests and scientists. On 25 December, 1928, he spoke at the third session of the All-India Youth Congress, Calcutta,

“In this holy land of ours Ashrams are not new institutions and ascetics and Yogis are not novel phenomena; they have held and they will continue to hold an honoured place in society. But it is not their lead that we shall have to follow if we are to create a new India, at once free, happy and great. …We can no longer live in an isolated corner of the world. When India is free, she will have to fight her modern enemies with modern methods, both in the economic and in the political spheres. The days of the bullock-cart are gone and gone for ever. The free world must prepare itself for any eventuality as long as the whole world does not accept whole-heartedly the policy of disarmament ‘’ p. 273, [5]
“I am not one of those who in their zeal for modernism forget the glories of the past. ….In a word, we must arrive at a synthesis. Some of our best thinkers and workers are already engaged in this important task. We must resist the cry of “Back to the Vedas”, on the one side, and on the other side the meaningless craze of modern Europe for fashion and change ‘’ p. 274, [5].

He also critiqued Indian civilization as appropriate. He felt that India had in the past neglected the material and physical side of the civilization, relatively speaking, and had focused on the intellectual and spiritual side, though India was able to strike an adequate balance between the two in the glorious periods of her history. In April 1935, he wrote in The Modern Review, about his experiences in Cairo: “As compared with Egypt, India also can boast of a very ancient culture and civilization, but one must admit that we have not been able to preserve what we constructed, owing to our comparative inefficiency in the art of preservation. Moreover, I do not think that we developed the material side of life – the arts and crafts – as much as the ancient Egyptians did. Our emphasis was not on civilization, but on culture ; not on the material side of life but on the intellectual and spiritual. Therein, we had our advantages as well as disadvantages. Owing to our superior thought-power, we could hold our own against invaders from outside even when we were vanquished physically for the time being – and in course of time we could also absorb the outsider, while the ancient Egyptian went down before the Arab invaders and disappeared altogether. On the other hand, emphasis on the intellectual and spiritual side caused us to neglect the development of science and left us comparatively weak on the material and physical side of life. The glorious periods of our history were when we were able to strike the golden mean between the demands of spirit and of matter ; of the soul and of the body – and thereby progress simultaneously on both fronts. Owing to the interrelation between the soul and the body, the neglect of the body not only weakens a nation physically – but in the long run, weakens it spiritually as well. India at the present moment appears to be suffering not merely from physical weakness but from spiritual exhaustion as well – the inevitable result of our neglecting one aspect of life ‘’ pp. 294-295, [7].

In conclusion, it is fair to ponder which competing outlook has been or still is in synergy with the psyche of most Indians. There are two definitive pointers: 1) the electoral rise of BJP-RSS from scratch and the continuation of its juggernaut despite massive failures in governance 2) popular culture in the regions in which communists won electorally repeatedly. As noted before, BJP-RSS’s overarching cultural messaging shares superficial similarities with Bose’s outlook on India, the major differences are only apparent to the initiated. The political forces, such as Congress, left, whose messaging has been rapidly diverging from how most Indians consider India are on electoral wane as we write. In the past, the communists did win several regions through shrewd exploitation of legitimate grievances on governance, economic discrimination, etc. But, on ground, the electoral messaging remained distinct from the core ideology. And, the popular culture in the regions the communists won remained rooted and devoid of cosmolitanism or internationalism. The communists continued to remain in power for long because they did not shove their ideology into the unreceptive masses, once they forgot this root guiding principle, they started losing elections, and today they are limited to college campuses and the intelligentsia.

References:

[1] `An Indian Pilgrim: An Unfinished Autobiography’, Subhas Chandra Bose, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 1, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[2] Subhas Chandra Bose, “The Indian Struggle’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 2, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[3] “In Burmese prisons, Subhas Chandra Bose Correspondence May 1923-July 1926,’’ Netaji Collected Works, Volume 3, Edited by Sisir K. Bose

[4] “Renunciation and Realization : Correspondence 1926-1932’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 4, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[5] “The Call of The Motherland: Writings and Speeches 1923–1929’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 5, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[6] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Leader of Youth 1929-1932’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 6, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[7] Subhas Chandra Bose, “India’s Spokesman Abroad, Netaji Collected Works,’’ Volume 8, Letters, Articles, Speeches and Statements, 1933-1937, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[8] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Congress President Speeches, Articles and Letters, January 1938-May 1939’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 9, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[9] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Azad Hind, Writings and Speeches, 1941-May 1943’’, Netaji Collected Works, Volume 11, Edited by Sisir K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[10] Subhas Chandra Bose, “Writings and Speeches, Chalo Delhi, 1943-1945’’, Netaji Collected Works: Volume 12, Edited by Sisisr K. Bose and Sugata Bose

[11] Dilip Roy, “Netaji – the Man Reminisces’’

[12] Sabitri Prasanna Chatterji, “Subhaschamdra O Netaji Subhaschandra’’

[13] Girija K. Mookerjee, “Subhas Chandra Bose’’

[14]Girija K. Mookerjee, “Europe at War (1938-1946) – Impressions of War, Netaji and Europe’’

[15] Leonard Gordon, “Brothers against the Raj’’

[16] Swami Vivekananda Complete Works, Volume 3, “Lectures from Colombo to Almora, The Common Bases of Hinduism’’, https://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_3/lectures_from_colombo_to_almora/the_common_bases_of_hinduism.htm

[17] M. N. Roy, “India in Transition’’

[18] Harkishan Singh Surjeet, “March of the Communist Movement in India’’

[19] Jawaharlal Nehru, “An Autobiography’’

[20] S. Gopal, Selected works of Jawaharlal Nehru, Vol 9

[21] Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, Dikgaj and Gangadhar, “Communism and Nationalism – The Twain Can Never Meet – The Saga of Indian freedom fight’’

Communism and Nationalism – The Twain Can Never Meet – The Saga of Indian freedom fight

[22] Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, Dikgaj and Gangadhar, “Nehru, Subhas and Communism ‘’, https://sringeribelur.wordpress.com/nehru-subhas-and-communism/

[23] Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh and Dikgaj, “The why of myths on Subhas Chandra Bose: Poor scholarship, bias and politicisation of history’’ https://www.firstpost.com/india/the-why-of-myths-on-subhas-chandra-bose-poor-scholarship-bias-and-politicisation-of-history-2615490.html

[24] Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, and Dikgaj, “The Communist betrayal of the Indian Freedom Struggle – the groundwork’’https://sringeribelur.wordpress.com/the-communist-betrayal-of-the-indian-freedom-struggle-the-groundwork/

[25] https://sringeribelur.wordpress.com/2018/08/05/links-to-articles-on-ethnic-bias-in-the-bjp-rss-ecosystem/

[26] Saswati Sarkar, Shanmukh, and Dikgaj, “Of Surjo Sens and Netra Sens – the anatomy of an intellectual collusion with the British invaders’’, https://sringeribelur.wordpress.com/of-surjo-sens-and-netra-sens-the-anatomy-of-an-intellectual-collusion-with-the-british-invaders/

[27] Manimugdha S Sharma, “Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose wanted ruthless dictatorship in India’’ http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/46980513.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst

[28] Sitaram Goel, Letter to Sheshadri Chari, 3.1.1997 https://drive.google.com/file/d/0Byt5rZk61GyMaWxGbmZ6Q0Vzb3c/view?pli=1