Sangh-Promoting Character and Discipline, by Shobhit Mathur
The West has made great material progress in the past couple of centuries. However, this progress has been accompanied with destruction of natural resources, less emphasis on family values, increased stress, loneliness, crime, and hatred. In its search for solutions to these problems, the West has found many answers in the ancient Hindu philosophy. This quest for answers from the Hindu thought can be seen in the recent rise of many Hindu organizations, yoga studios, meditation centers, etc. Many Hindus are themselves rediscovering their ancient past and the timeless teachings of their rishis.
While the whole world is looking for answers from the Hindu civilization, we as guardians of this philosophy are not prepared to disseminate it. The Hindu society itself faces many challenges, including division on the basis of caste and language, lack of correct knowledge of its heritage, and most importantly lack of pride. To provide guidance to the world, the Hindu society needs to first put its house in order. This is where the role of Sangh is important. Hindu Swayamsevak Sangh aims to revitalize the Hindu society and inculcate a sense of unity and pride. It focuses on promoting character, virtues, discipline, and leadership qualities.
Swami Chidbhavananda, a leading light of Hindu religious renaissance of yester-years in Tamil Nadu, addressing the trainees at one of the Sangh training camps: “The man making training you are receiving in Sangh is exactly the one that Swami Vivekananda had conceived of for our young men.”
H.V. Seshadri, who was once the All India General Secretary of Sangh, in his book RSS: A Vision in Action says, “In the Sangh scheme of regeneration and consolidation of Hindu society, cultivating character and moral values is given a pride of place. Without this ennobling aspect of samskara, the other arenas of transformation like social harmony, social justice and improvement in living conditions are bound to remain unwholesome and often bereft of real benefit. A major focus of the man-making process of Sangh is on this aspect of character molding.”
Founded in 1925 by Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar with a handful of children and youth, Sangh has now spread all over the world. Currently, there are over 55,000 shakhas (branches) in India and about 1,000 in 40 other countries. No section or group of society—students, teachers, farmers, workers, artisans, industrialists, intellectuals, etc.—has been left out of its fold. Swayamsevaks and sevikas of each shakha meets daily or weekly and conduct activities that aim at physical and intellectual development. These activities include yoga, games, discussions, lectures, songs, etc. H.V. Seshadri says, “One who observes closely the Shakha-technique can easily understand how and in how many ways this man-making process at work in the Shakha manifests itself.”
Hindu YUVA is carrying forward the character molding process of Sangh among the youth in USA.
Shobhit Mathur is a software engineer at Amazon.com in Seattle, WA. He is the youth coordinator of the “Yuva for Sewa” fellowship program of Sewa International, USA. You can contact Shobhit at shobhit.mathur@gmail.com.
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