NETAJI HAD NEVER MARRIED

NETAJI HAD NEVER MARRIED 

The moment I mention that Netaji had never married nor had he any progeny, it stirs a hornet's nest. But why? Do you not like the truth? Is casting calumny on the stainless character of Netaji what you like?

I await the response of these irresponsible assassinators of the character of the patriot of spotless purity. To remind them my considered assertion, I reiterate : Netaji had never married nor had he any progeny. Now, come and counter me if you will. 

Jai Hind!

Written by Sugata Bose

WHY SULLY THE MOST SELFLESS PATRIOT THUS?

WHY SULLY THE MOST SELFLESS PATRIOT THUS?

I go by evidence. There is no proof to suggest that Netaji had a wife and a daughter. So, I reject this fantastic claim as a treacherous design to malign Netaji who was, as per his stated affirmations, a bachelor through and through and had never personally affirmed anything to the contrary. So, the assertion that Netaji had married in Austria or in Germany and had fathered a daughter does not simply hold ground and is seemingly a fabrication for ulterior reasons which have suited concerned parties well enough. It has successfully eroded Netaji's godlike status among millions and reduced him to a fallible human being, even of questionable character for obvious reasons that will not be civil to state here in open forum. However, I reject this unproven claim by concerned parties about Netaji's husbandhood and fatherhood for there is not a shred of evidence to support it.

The question is this. Who benefited from this calumny thrust on Netaji? Why was it so thrust? What were the imperatives that so necessitated the maligning of India's most selfless freedom fighter thus? Well, I exhort all to shoot their reasoned answers and clear the air.

Jai Hind!

Written by Sugata Bose

EUROPE UNDER SIEGE? ... 1

EUROPE UNDER SIEGE? ... 1

There is a tremendous vacuum being created in Europe following the retreat of Christianity post Enlightenment. Islam is apparently making cultural inroads there through mass emigration of Muslims from elsewhere into Europe. This is causing Europeans to worry about their future European identity which they feel is very much threatened and may eventually be erased leaving a confused culture behind that will be uncharacteristic of all that Europe has historically stood for in terms of evolved values and practices.

Over a century ago Swami Vivekananda had planted in the heart of Europe and America (which is but an extension of Europe in terms of civilisation and culture) seeds of the Vedanta which were so very much in keeping with the spirit of scientific enlightenment that had swept Europe in the preceding few centuries in the wake of the Renaissance and the Enlightenment. Doctrinaire Christianity had been relegated to the background of the emerging European societies which went through a tremendous upheaval of reformation. It took centuries to evolve Europe from its theocratic mindset to its present rational outlook and no mean a price had to be paid for it as the forces of progress battled ceaselessly against the regressive religious order of the day to forge what is modern European society.

But Christianity held on. As its citadels fell one after the other before the canon-fire of logic and reason, it spread its wings to seek fresher pastures in Asia, Africa, America and Australia. This was the great migration of Christianity from Europe to elsewhere where it chose to strike roots afresh.

A similar migration is now taking place as Muslims from across the world are mass-migrating to the West which is leading to a confused mixing in European culture, a clash and a conflict of discordant values and even, as some scholars fear, a potential overpowering of Europe's cultural identity in the foreseeable future by the immigrant culture of Islam. The orthodox Islamic way of exclusive living and a refusal to integrate is posing grave threats to the future of Europe's cultural identity as it creates rifts and fissures in its body politic. The demographic tilt in favour of Islam owing to mass migration and hyper fertility of Muslims is added cause for worry as Europe struggles with her new concepts of pluralism and multiculturalism in practice, and their fallout.

This is a novel situation for Europe since the days of the Islamic expansion, the nights of the Crusades and the Jihads when a titanic struggle for cultural survival had ravaged European life for 150 years. Since then the tension between these Semitic siblings of like roots and unlike shoots has held the world attention ever but never was Europe so threatened by Islamic cultural invasion as now. Europe thought all along that the world was fodder for their cattle to graze on while the Asian, African, Australian and American natives were born inferior to offer them slave labour for free while Europe pillaged and plundered them at will. The colonisation of these continents by dint of superior warfare skills and technology by a single continent was thought to be a divine dispensation for them and a boon for the natives who the Europeans would civilise through their imposed values and religion, Christianity being the single beneficiary of such cultural violence in the name of the Lord who is said to have given his life on the Cross to atone for the sins of His children. And, yet, Christianity spread throughout the world on the shoulders of European global colonisation, the greatest sin ever perpetrated on humanity which no atonement on the Cross may ever absolve it of.

And now the situation has reversed. Christianity is on the defensive as Islam spreads its tentacles across Europe and a clash of civilisation is looming. The destruction of Europe in the Second World War led to massive labour shortages which Europe conveniently filled up by importing labour from the Middle Eastern countries and from elsewhere across Asia. The mass immigration that thus resulted has over the next three generations brought about this demographic crisis that Europe faces today from the presence of tens of millions of Muslims in its heartland. These Muslims when they refuse to integrate into the body of mainstream cultural Europe seemingly cause Europeans discomfort, and now with the rise of radical Islam and the incessant acts of terrorism that frequently disrupt European societal order, Europeans have started deep ruminations on their future in a world of increasingly heterogeneous interactions that go not quite their preferred way anymore. Hence, the worry.

This clash of cultures between the Judaeo-Christian tradition of the West and the Islamic cultural influx from a host of countries of Asia and Africa is throwing Europe into jitters and in this confusion a cultural vacuum is also being created where Europeans, --- atheists, agnostics and disillusioned Christians, --- are seeking a new philosophy of life. It is time for India to ponder this situation deeply and see if the Vedanta may now strike roots deep enough in the psyche of rational Europe that is in the dark and groping for a new light for sheer cultural survival. We must now send real missionaries of the Vedanta to the West and enlighten Europe and America about the divinity of the human soul that seeks no foundation in special revelations of prophets and messiahs but is the fundamental and verifiable truth of human existence.

The Vedanta stands on truth transcendental and requires no prophetic prop to make it stand, no God to lend validity to its principles and no unique experience of a special son or final messenger of an arbitrary heavenly authority to make it an exclusive salvation theory to be thrust on one and all, for the Vedanta is universal in its scope and eternal in existence that can enfold the whole lot of gods and goddesses, prophets and messiahs of all faiths and creeds and, yet, have spaces for more.

Vivekananda laid the foundation of the Vedanta movement more than a century ago in the very America and Europe that are now in their cultural death throes from self-erosion and alien cultural invasion. He left it to future Vedanta workers to build the edifice on the secure foundations he had laid. Now is the chance to do so. Shall India send missionaries to flood the West with the eternal message of the Vedas? Should she do, she will have rendered her greatest act of charity to the world and acquitted herself well in her mission of bringing home to the whole of humanity its essential divinity of being.

Written by Sugata Bose

Photo : Bertrand Russell, British mathematician, philosopher, nuclear pacifist and Nobel laureate.

MISSION INDIA ... 7

MISSION INDIA ... 7

Lies, lies, lies in the name of exclusive religion that kills for apostasy where it is in power but pretends liberalism where it is in minority. Fundamental tenets will not allow its acceptance of other religions or ideologies save its 'revealed' word of 'God' as true, yet, the pretence of its being peaceful and tolerant persists in broad daylight darkened by medieval ignorance.

It is time for consistent opposition to this hypocritical stance to come about not through vile criticism or condemnation but through the reverential study of the universal spiritual principles enshrined in the texts of the Indian dharma traditions. All of the dharma traditions of India must unite in this common fight for survival and the sustained effort to conquer the mind of the whole of humanity so that peace may prevail everywhere where unholy friction is tearing societies apart consequent on the claims of exclusive faiths spitting the venom of proselytising self-interest. India, unite !

Vande Mataram !

Written by Sugata Bose

MISSION INDIA ... 6

MISSION INDIA ... 6

We as a nation must stand together in terms of real knowledge and not assumptions, biases and prejudiced views accruing from imperfect education. Our history is distorted, our ancient habitat relocated from India to Central Asia by malefic design of the West and our dharma constantly maligned as being polytheistic, superstitious and false by agencies that gain through conversion of the heathen to their saving fold. Our intelligentsia has been so brainwashed and bought that they work against our own interests and usher in a neocolonialism that can potentially destroy our future hopes of a national resurgence and can thwart effectively the pace of progress we already are witnessing.

The dharma is our basis of national living. The Sanatana Dharma is the rationale of all religious thinking across the world. It has spaces infinite within it to enfold all the faiths of the world and countless more to come in the ages as yet to unfold.

The study of this universal system of Indian thought in depth is necessary today to overcome global maladies in the form of competitive international violence, intolerance, its offspring -- terrorism, and a host of other afflictions that affect human living. A cursory glance through Hindu texts is not enough. Detailed study with reverence is necessary to get to the core of the principles enshrined in these books of pristine purity of spiritual perception. Otherwise, misapprehensions will result which is the current case scenario.

The nation lives even today with a continuing culture dating from millenia in the past, a civilisation wedded to the quest of God in all phases of phenomenal and transcendental existence. The whole of India is impregnated with the spirit of the Upanishads and the people of this holy land of gods and goddesses are veritable gods and goddesses themselves. Such is the ideal, such the spirituality present in the common man who calls himself the descendant of the rishis.

This essential spirituality of the Indians is the bedrock of this nation's culture and existence that cannot be forsaken for flimsy western ideals that change by the day. This spirituality is the hallmark of our civilisation and must remain so. In it we have subsisted thus far. In it we have found perennial strength for cultural survival despite the onslaughts of barbarians from time to time. And in it we shall yet find the source of vigour that will enliven us unto progressing as a front-ranking nation of the world with a spiritual mission to fulfil. We must, thus, stand together in reverential study of our Hindu heritage and culture so that we may forge ahead with our historic programme of the spiritual transformation of the whole world, not entirely as we please but as the Mother dispenses in Her divine grace.

Vande Mataram ! Jai Hind !

Written by Sugata Bose

ON THE EDGE OF EARTHLY LIFE

ON THE EDGE OF EARTHLY LIFE

Ultimately, it's a broken life, a shattered dream, a case of no return, a consequence which no human hand can undo. It is futile for anymore to build on the citadels that in shambles lie at the vile feet of what we call civilisation. These words, culture and civilisation, are grand terms but they mean nothing to the suffering soul, the thwarted one whom none can console. It is a game gone wrong and there is no rematch to be in this case by divine dispensation. This is the end of it all, this earthly saga of delightful dreams and desperate measures to bring to fruition a harmony of discordant notes where society lays truant to thwart fellowship among heart-mates. 

Now the bonds are broken, the deed undone and destiny beckons unto a higher end. Renunciation calls as earthly blows have driven the nails into the coffin of courtship and union. But the body does not budge and the mind, too much into the inertia of the past, refuses to relent. Yet, the due experiences are largely over as the residuum holds.

So the tussle goes on and life after life is spent in an undulation that keeps fortunes swinging between reverse ends in a psychological oscillation that seemingly knows no end. But the vision clears ever so slowly and the mist of Maya that had mystified the soul begins to disappear in the dawning sunshine of a clarifying Spirit that lifts, uplifts the struggling soul. The Guru arrives and lends the lost one a pathway through the labyrinth of life. 

The journey begins afresh, this time on a singular note, a lone pilgrim through a sea of humanity, homeless and hopeless, dispossessed of the cherished dreams and fancies and possessed of but one self, oneself. It is a nightly sight to be under the stars, a daily drift by the rippling streams, the dainty brooks that give company as the seeking soul rises through plains and plateaus, hills and ranges to the haunting end of Himalayan heights where in peace resides in regal realm the royal renunciate, Shiva. Unto Him is the ascent now and in Him is its end. 

Written by Sugata Bose

MOCK MESSIAH AND THE MASSES

MOCK MESSIAH AND THE MASSES

The best way to be popular as a spiritual personality with a mass following is to be a confirmed fool that all can easily identify with and a fair degree of cunning to boot so that the powers that be can consistently connive with. That is the current story in our country.

You may question how the concurrence of such apparently opposite characteristics of foolishness and cunning may be in the same human personality. The answer to it is that cunning is not wisdom. It is a brand of lowly intelligence, that of the predator that successfully preys on its target with sheer instinctive ability rather than attributes of superior learning and light. This these modern messiahs and miracle mongers, who are essentially mercenaries masquerading as dispensers of divine delight, are eminently well-funded with which makes for their superb performance in the art of public deception and their runaway success in providing added delusion to their devotees over and above what Nature has endowed their infatuated human minds with. 

A fair ignorance as the attribute of the delightful spiritual deceiver and its foul counterpart which is the hallmark of the deceitful public servant called the politician make for a harmonic combination in destruction of national interest. Fools galore abound in these spiritual gatherings where tickets are high-priced or donations are craftily fleeced to ensure that enlightenment ensues in such self-sacrifice at the feet of the blessed Master who poses as anything from God to Guru but surely as someone in whom the special favour of the Divine subsists that can ensure deliverance of devotees from the turmoil of terrestrial life. Bogus philosophy is provided in pompous language where the deceiver is on the brighter side of the spectrum of wickedness and shallow nonsense is preached where the roguish Guru is on the duller side of things. But deception at any rate results, for the people are innocent and too inclined to believing anything that comforts them in this sorry tale of life where exploitation rules every sphere of natural expectation.

But to come to the original contention of this essay. Who succeeds the most in this stock exchange of spirituality? Well, the idiot surely is a runaway success for he the masses can identify with, and he, on account of all his shortcomings of the head, can actually resonate to the like failings of his flock to fleece them to content. And what a joy to be so fleeced in the name of the Lord who will bless here and hereafter! My countrymen, awake!

The sequel to it has yet to be enacted. The enlightened man, the seer of truth, the being of learning and light --- such a one has to wait in the wings as yet till society crawling upwards like the creeper attains to sufficient sunshine for sense to dawn and sensibility with it that will lend discrimination unto fair judgement and make a package of such spiritual garbage to be dumped into the seas. Till then we must endure this malefic culture of mass hypnosis by a handful of mischievous messiahs in collusion with constituents in the corridors of power that will keep our country riveted to regressive religion that benefits only these mercenaries among men and reduces the hopes and aspirations of a billion to ashes. Shall we allow this? May we not counter this mass deception by launching our programme of mass education? Well, that is the hope that lingers and the one avenue yet to explore which can drive away these deceivers to the Dead Sea whence they may choose a different habitat.

A final word and I will keep it short. I reiterate. My country, awake!

Written by Sugata Bose 

Photo : Swami Vivekananda, a study in contrast to the 'sages' cited above, a real rishi (seer of transcendental truth), a modern messiah for the whole of humanity who had appeared in the latter half of the nineteenth century in India at a moment in history when the world was on the verge of a cataclysm that could consume civilisation.

Vivekananda's storming of western civilisation with the message of eternal India, many scholars believe, could pave the path for a future harmony of the forces of civilisation that today tear the world apart. The Swami's celebrated Chicago Addresses at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893 was an epic event of momentous consequences, a veritable turning point in the course of human civilisation whose impact futurity will reveal in all its detailed delineation.

Vivekananda remains the prototype of many a sage and a saint and incarnation divine to follow and he also stands out personally as the spiritual benchmark against which we may accurately judge the authenticity of personalities professing spirituality publicly.

This then is the test to find out who is a man of God and who is a charlatan. Ask yourself yourself how far your subject of suspicion conforms to the Vivekananda standard and in the answer will lie the relative merit of your messiah or mercenary. Study Vivekananda's life and message and apply this test with confidence. Exhort others you know to do the same as well.

Jai Swamiji!

A DEVELOPING CONVERSATION ON A SELF-MUSING

A DEVELOPING CONVERSATION ON A SELF-MUSING

Sugata Bose : I'm not the body. It is changing. It will decay finally. I'll have to give it up.

Debkanti Moitra : I am also not the mind, not even the intellect but I am the witness and not affected by thoughts, emotions, pains, pleasure. All these appear in the consciousness.

Sugata Bose : But that is academic, learnt from texts, other people's thoughts and realisations. It has to be realised by oneself as well. Intellectually it is true but spiritually merely a statement not lived by as yet in fullest form. The ideal is there and the thrust must be on its actualisation in conception, perception and practice.

Debkanti Moitra : Not exactly academic, but it is the highest philosophy if Advaita Vedanta. Your initial comments are based on the doctrine of Drik, Drishwa Vivekaya- the seer and the seen are different. The seer is constant, remains unchanged but the objects changes.

Sugata Bose : I have written what I felt to be true for the moment. I have not gone by aphorisms of Vedanta texts but have merely written down my perception for the moment. Truth is simple and I do not complicate it by scriptural assertions, neither am I capable of doing so for I am totally ignorant of them. I, therefore, write what appears to be true and poetic, leaving more abstruse matters of philosophic discussions to the erudite who know better. For me it is golden to perceive the glimmer of truth and present it in as beauteous a way I possibly can. Scriptures appear before the mind's eye for all to see but the vision flits by as men care more for the written word than the rhythms and cadences that otherwise fill the prosaic spaces of life.

WHEN MEN BECOME MONEYED, THEY BEAR THE HUMAN SHAPE BUT HAVE ANIMAL ATTRIBUTES --- RAMAKRISHNA

WHEN MEN BECOME MONEYED, THEY BEAR THE HUMAN SHAPE BUT HAVE ANIMAL ATTRIBUTES --- RAMAKRISHNA 

It is an imperative today for businessmen to be human in their dealings and disprove Ramakrishna's statement that when men become moneyed, they lose humanity. So far the Dakshineshwar Prophet has been spot on but the challenge he has thrown to rich people remains. Will they be able to respond in a befitting manner to prove the Incarnation of God wrong or will it be yet another prophecy of the Master that will assuredly make its mark? It has done so thus far but will it be a settled affair for good then? Are there no takers of this challenge? Are the rich real cowards? Have they lost their will to resurrect themselves? Well, I wonder.

Upon your response, O prosperous people of the world, depends the world's future estimation of your nature. Ramakrishna has made his remark and remarkable it will be truly if you, O rich, fail to make your mark in contradicting it in practice and in truth. How wonderful it will be for humanity if you can disprove a veritable God-incarnate and resurrect your sleeping divinity! But will you care to do so or will you simply sink deeper in your despicable desire for money extorted out of the lifeblood of the poor? There lies the moot question. 

Written by Sugata Bose

MALARIA IS A SPANISH DISEASE

MALARIA IS A SPANISH DISEASE

Malaria is not by origin a tropical disease. It is a continental disease imported into India by the leaving behind of large tracts of stagnant water post construction of railway lines. This the British gifted us and we suffer from it even today, although, the idea foisted on us that malaria is a tropical disease continues to hold our ill-informed minds that do not know that it is a Spanish disease in its origin. The massive railway projects of the British undertaken in the latter half of the nineteenth century --- which the British did not undertake by way of development of India by any chance but did purely from the consideration of their own interests of colonial commerce and conquest --- did actually result in the nationwide spread of malaria.

This piece of information I have gathered from the following source whose YouTube link I hereby provide : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSk3fvcmd9U

Written by Sugata Bose

Photo : Dr. Kunal Sarkar, the provider of the above piece of information.

BE INDIAN IN EVERY WAY, EVEN IN INTELLECTUAL LEANINGS

BE INDIAN IN EVERY WAY, EVEN IN INTELLECTUAL LEANINGS

Developing this model of countering the West with Western methods of intellectual violence is tantamount to playing into their hands. Indian spirituality must overcome these materialistic offences of the West. We need not fear their malefic modes in attempting to subvert our culture and civilisation. We instead need to practise well our own values and care not a fig for what the West thinks of us.

China is a case in point and its rise as a nation irrespective of what the West has thought of it since its consolidation as a power in 1949 is in sharp contrast to the manner in which we have dealt with the West. Our affinity for England post-Partition and for America since globalisation has left us short of national self-respect and devoid of national identity. We must no more allow this and must inculcate self-pride as Swami Vivekananda had long back exhorted us to do.

Western universities are the breeding ground of intellectual violence instead of being centres of humble learning and light. Materialism is at its highest in these institutions of intelligence gone wrong and these are becoming the models for our universities and colleges and schools as well. The poison bred there is seeking avenues in our national arteries and we have to shun contact with such. The only way is for us to go back to our spiritual treasures for learning and light even as we gain proficiency in science and technology simultaneously. Sociologically we must take recourse to our national cultural heritage and scientifically we must open ourselves to the West. This will maintain the much needed balance in national development.

Western imports for our spiritual well-being even when they cater to the Indian dharma traditions are unwelcome unless they groom themselves thoroughly in the dharma by practising it as sincere aspirants do. Mere lecturing in academic institutions and public fora abroad about the glory of the Sanatan Dharma without being sufficiently groomed in the genuine practice of its principles will do no good to India. It will merely allow these individuals to make capital out of our dharma without in the process doing anything worthwhile for the genuine propagation of the cause.

The same holds for monks who preach out of the impulsion to gain name and fame, a common tendency in monastics who have otherwise renounced the ties of familial life and all of its comforts. These monks ought to seriously introspect and look into their intentions before they make a mockery of the ochre robe that they don. It seems that esteemed spiritual organisations have run out of steam that they so entertain these affiliates of theirs who have become spiritual entertainers of sorts on the rostrums they ride.

A Ramakrishna is the call of the hour, a Vivekananda to hammer home spiritual realisation among the masses. But will they come to lift us out of this mire? Who knows? Till then, my friends, let us gird up our loins and fight it out once more to gain control of our minds before we even seek to deluge the world with the message of the masters. But no more western intellectual violence, please. Keep it out from our blessed motherland. Vande Mataram!

Written by Sugata Bose

SWAMI NIRBHAYANANDA (Swami Nirbhayananda), AN INSPIRED MONK WITH A MESSAGE

SWAMI NIRBHAYANANDA (Swami Nirbhayananda), AN INSPIRED MONK WITH A MESSAGE

This monk is inspired. I wish all of India's youth listens to him as often as they can. I, for one, consider it a pilgrimage to wash myself in the holy waters of the message that issues forth from the lips of Swami Nirbhayananda and after each such dip emerge rejuvenated. This is no hyperbolic statement which I am engaging in for I have nothing to gain from such verbal exaggeration but what I say is from experience tangible that all of you may as well verify through hearing him who seems to me to be the echo of the Swami Vivekananda who is Swami Nirbhayananda's guiding force in life.

In these days of pretentious piety where spiritual preaching has become a marketable service, Swami Nirbhayananda remains a wonderful exception to this general rule. He adheres to the best ideas of the Sanatan Dharma in its practical form as were manifest in his Master, the Swami Vivekananda, over a century ago and he seems to be so impregnated with the Swami's spirit that he radiates the same lustrous beams that illumine the hearts of his audience.

After listening to decades of insipid talks on spirituality barring a few exceptional speakers who bore the stamp of authority, I stumbled on to Swami Nirbhayananda one fine evening on YouTube and was captivated by the sheer authority and force of conviction with which he spoke. What was refreshing was that he did not bother about so-called political correctness in what he spoke and it seemed that he had no organisational trappings to curb him in his speech. These were later further confirmed as I delved a little more into his profile and activities which were no less inspiring.

The problem speakers of an established Order often face is that they do not know how to effectively navigate through the strictures of their organisation and the correctness of their affirmations. A bad compromise is often the result which takes away conviction from the words spoken. No wonder Sri Ramakrishna had said that it requires divine commission to preach when, and when alone, the words spelt out make a lasting impression on the minds of the audience and help transform personality for good. Swami Nirbhayanandaevidently bears some such blessing either from God or from Guru or, plain enough, from Truth itself which he so eloquently expresses without fear or favour. It is this courage of conviction that he brings to his talks, his sincerity in articulation of what he is inwardly convinced of and his intrepid spirit in propagating the dharma that cause for his enduring appeal in as critical a mind as mine. I am sure that others who are less critically oriented in appreciation will be impressed even more by this leonine monk's message which is the message of all humanity emanating from the lips of a luminous soul in line with the sages and saints of India. 

So, there he is, Swami Nirbhayananda Saraswati, a monk dedicated to Ramakrishna-Vivekananda, one who runs Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Ashrama at Gadag and Bijapur in Karnataka. He has represented India and Hinduism in the 4th World Parliament of Religions held in Barcelona, Spain from 5 July to 13 July, 2004. A university graduate and a Bank employee in his pre-monastic days, he was inspired by the life and message of Swami Vivekananda to found 'Vivekananda Seva Kendra' in 1984 at Mangalore in Bijapur District. The institution grew overtime and was transformed into a free residential school for orphans and underprivileged children. Swami Nirbhayananda has adopted the children of the martyrs o the Kargil War and is providing them with free education till the 10th standard in this school.

His mission to serve brought him into contact with the inspiring monk of the Ramakrishna Order, Swami Purushottamananda, who directed the young man to be ordained into sannyasa in 1993. And so he did to emerge as our fiery monastic leader bearing the name Nirbhayananda which so very typifies him, for intrepid is he in his assertions and forthright in his articulation of convictions deep and divine which he lends admirable outflow to transform personalities that chance to come within its ambit. May Swamiji keep blessing him and keep him in good health and spirits so that he may continue to raise the world with his message of hope and light delivered dauntlessly as has been his characteristic all along! I only add on to such my insignificant but reverential prostration at his blessed feet.

Written by Sugata Bose

THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL SANSKRIT UNIVERSITY

THE NEED FOR A NATIONAL SANSKRIT UNIVERSITY

There must be a national university devoted entirely to the study of Sanskrit and Hindu culture. This institutional framework must be the springboard for greater academic work in Indian heritage and culture that will in course of time make our countrymen more literate about their spiritual and cultural inheritance and will conduce to the greater well-being of the nation.

Hinduism is the bedrock of our national civilisation and its study is a sine qua non for the resurgence of India as a nation. Hence the need for this Sanskrit University and it is my appeal to the Government of India to consider this proposal seriously. 

Written by Sugata Bose 

Photo : Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University

STOP CONVERSION BY LAW

STOP CONVERSION BY LAW

Conversion of Hindus to Islam and Christianity must be banned by fundamental legislation.

Swami Vivekananda has this to say in the matter of conversion from Hinduism to Islam and the reverse prospect of homecoming thereafter :

[ ON THE BOUNDS OF HINDUISM
(Prabuddha Bharata, April, 1899)
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_5/interviews/on_the_bounds_of_hinduism.htm

Having been directed by the Editor, writes our representative, to interview Swami Vivekananda on the question of converts to Hinduism, I found an opportunity one evening on the roof of a Ganga houseboat. It was after nightfall, and we had stopped at the embankment of the Ramakrishna Math, and there the Swami came down to speak with me.

Time and place were alike delightful. Overhead the stars, and around — the rolling Ganga; and on one side stood the dimly lighted building, with its background of palms and lofty shade-trees.

"I want to see you, Swami", I began, "on this matter of receiving back into Hinduism those who have been perverted from it. Is it your opinion that they should be received?"

"Certainly," said the Swami, "they can and ought to be taken."

He sat gravely for a moment, thinking, and then resumed. "Besides," he said, "we shall otherwise decrease in numbers. When the Mohammedans first came, we are said — I think on the authority of Ferishta, the oldest Mohammedan historian — to have been six hundred millions of Hindus. Now we are about two hundred millions. And then every man going out of the Hindu pale is not only a man less, but an enemy the more.

"Again, the vast majority of Hindu perverts to Islam and Christianity are perverts by the sword, or the descendants of these. It would be obviously unfair to subject these to disabilities of any kind. As to the case of born aliens, did you say? Why, born aliens have been converted in the past by crowds, and the process is still going on.

"In my own opinion, this statement not only applies to aboriginal tribes, to outlying nations, and to almost all our conquerors before the Mohammedan conquest, but also in the Purânas. I hold that they have been aliens thus adopted.

"Ceremonies of expiation are no doubt suitable in the case of willing converts, returning to their Mother-Church, as it were; but on those who were alienated by conquest — as in Kashmir and Nepal — or on strangers wishing to join us, no penance should be imposed."

"But of what caste would these people be, Swamiji?" I ventured to ask. "They must have some, or they can never be assimilated into the great body of Hindus. Where shall we look for their rightful place?"

"Returning converts", said the Swami quietly, "will gain their own castes, of course. And new people will make theirs. You will remember," he added, "that this has already been done in the case of Vaishnavism. Converts from different castes and aliens were all able to combine under that flag and form a caste by themselves — and a very respectable one too. From Râmânuja down to Chaitanya of Bengal, all great Vaishnava Teachers have done the same."

"And where should these new people expect to marry?" I asked.

"Amongst themselves, as they do now", said the Swami quietly.

"Then as to names," I enquired, "I suppose aliens and perverts who have adopted non-Hindu names should be named newly. Would you give them caste-names, or what?"

"Certainly," said the Swami, thoughtfully, "there is a great deal in a name!" and on this question he would say no more.

But my next enquiry drew blood. "Would you leave these new-comers, Swamiji, to choose their own form of religious belief out of many-visaged Hinduism, or would you chalk out a religion for them?"

"Can you ask that?" he said. "They will choose for themselves. For unless a man chooses for himself, the very spirit of Hinduism is destroyed. The essence of our Faith consists simply in this freedom of the Ishta."

I thought the utterance a weighty one, for the man before me has spent more years than any one else living I fancy, in studying the common bases of Hinduism in a scientific and sympathetic spirit — and the freedom of the Ishta is obviously a principle big enough to accommodate the world.

But the talk passed to other matters, and then with a cordial good night this great teacher of religion lifted his lantern and went back into the monastery, while I by the pathless paths of the Ganga, in and out amongst her crafts of many sizes, made the best of my way back to my Calcutta home. ]

''... And then every man going out of the Hindu pale is not only a man less, but an enemy the more...'' Therefore, trusting the prophet-patriot's wisdom, it is time for the Government to pass a Bill that will ban conversion from Hinduism to Islam and Christianity but will not shut the doors of the renegade Hindus to return to the fold of the Mother religion. This is a one-way traffic for sure but quite in keeping with justice as there is no formal conversion in Hinduism and anybody who thinks he is a Hindu and behaves as one is a Hindu unlike in Islam and in Christianity where artificial formal conversion procedures are there which convert people from other faiths en masse.

Much of the problems that beset the nation today have their basis in the historical conversion of Hindus by force into Islam and the Partition of India stands as the most glaring example of it all. Kashmir is a similar instance where Islamists are creating conditions of cessation into which gullible individuals are unwittingly being drawn in.

The root of the problem lies in the mass conversion of Hindus to Islam and this needs to be righted. Our civilisation has been much wounded and can bear no more of these historical heresies. In free India we should be able to address these problems and through legislation prevent any further conversion of Hindus to Islam or Christianity. Only then will we be able to reassert our strength as a people by fostering unity among ourselves and promoting world welfare through the spread of the dharma without fear of betrayal in our very own backyard. May the Hindus unite to make this glorious end possible! Vande Mataram! 

Written by Sugata Bose

TWEETS GALORE ... 40

1. Slavery to God or slavery to the senses? Come off it and stand free in the sunshine of life.

2. The all-engulfing ocean of existence is all over us. Where shall we seek for deliverance when free we ever are?

3. The war is with Avidya, that infatuating principle, that deflecting device that steals consciousness and hurls us into death.

4. The word of the Guru ought to be law in the disciple's life. But the Guru must be above Maya to be considered qualified.

5. Honour the monk as representative of God. But be careful with fake representations of such.

6. The whole focus of Hinduism is to unshackle man from the limitations imposed upon him by the senses. Freedom's the call.

7. The greats of the world who we honour are/were bound souls mostly. Rare indeed is the one who is/was free.

8. The personality must die so that the principle may live. Science has achieved it. Religion must, too.

9. There is a greater need of cohesion of the movement, a greater zeal, an enthusiasm to spread even as we consolidate our gains.

10. Holiness is infectious. Thus, association with holy men is the standard recommendation from saints for spiritual aspirants.

11. Is there a way out of this terrible dungeon called the body? Yes, there is. Chant the holy name of God and you will be free.

12. Be the giver and you shall be free. Hope to receive and bound you will be.

13. The Rishis remain unparalleled in spiritual attainment and the rational exposition of subtle thinking. What a civilisation we had!

14. Do not believe in a religion that asks you to have fundamental faith in some arbitrary assertions passing off as God's Word. Reason.

15. Reject all unreasonable fundamental doctrines of religion that seek to pass off as God's inviolable Word directly revealed.

16. Humanists, agnostics, atheists and rationalists are often better people than believers who are superstitious and turn fanatical.

17. To faith you have a right. To reason you have a right, too. But infringement of others' rights, to it you have no right whatsoever.

18. The western world is being rocked up by reason and people are fast losing faith in a benevolent God. Vedanta is now the way out.

19. Why do so many of the rational West still hang on to the irrational Semitic faiths? Many, however, are rejecting them as well.

20. It is time to create universities for Vedic studies so that missionaries from India may carry the dharma to distant lands.

21. God is testing us in this life -- what a ludicrous logic! He has his hands full with our exam papers. No wonder His line is busy!

22. Cast off superstition as so much worthless appendage. Strike out a path to perfection. Follow close if you have found one. Be free.

23. Believer and sceptic are both bound to the passions of the body and the mind. Freedom is equidistant from both.

24. Arrogance in the name of reason is as despicable a trait as arrogance of faith. The wise are humble.

25. It is a queer monotheism that Semitic religions all profess, a curious dictatorship of a tyrant God.

26. Religions that propagate the theory of end-times on earth are nearing their own end before such fanciful earthly doom results.

27. Conversion is a spiritual malpractice that no righteous religion ought to allow. Yet, it is the standard of Islam and Christianity.

28. Conversion to Abrahamic faiths for a Hindu is submission to hypnotic inducement of an ulterior kind.

29. Let 1.15 billion Hindus across the world stand united. That will be too great a force to resist. Peace will dwell on earth then.

30. The Hindus throughout the world must be considered a single people bound as they are by a common spiritual conception.

31. There is a single life-force running through all of animate and inanimate life-form even as thread runs through pearls in a necklace.

32. Ideas are universal, practices local. Even as culture roots you to finite forms, spread out your horizons in search of the infinite.

33. The deal with this body is this : Thou art my friend faithful that offers me residence as I embark on the search after my Self.

34. There is but a law of life that never fails when directed with sanity. Love all but with discrimination to guide its outer flow.

35. Everyday expand. Expand the horizons of knowledge, the limits of your love, the boundaries that define your finite self. Onward !

36. The best way to defend the Sanatan Dharma from foreign offences is to be aware of its principles well. Study the scriptures.

37. Prolific Bhaskar (Sen Sharma) restrains his pen. Why? Let his statement of the soul see the light of day. We await his luminous lines.

38. Happy birthday, Bhaskar (Mukherjee)! What more shall I say than that we miss the celebration in distant homeland?

39. Freedom is the one call that sounds from the depths of the soul. We either respond or in captive bonds remain.

40. Swamiji exhorted us to be patriotic for that was the first step to decolonisation of the Indian mind. Freedom would follow thereon.

41. We as a nation are being ideologically subverted by foreign influence that seeks to undermine our sovereignty. We must self-defend.

42. We have to raise the standard of Hindu intellectualism so that it can better represent the Hindu cause in world fora.

43. Business houses must patronise the study of Sanskrit. Only then will it proliferate and progress duly.

44. The Indian dharma traditions must combine to provide a united front against the Abrahamic faiths' assault on them.

45. First kill the infidel, then pray for their families. What a hypocrisy! Come out of fanatical faith if you be men enough.

46. The West has become intellectually violent. This is evident in their universities the most. Worldliness of the brain. Reprehensible.

47. Spirituality is missing in talks on spirituality. Why do monks speak of materialism so much? Business and money and CEO and what not?

48. Why is it necessary for over a billion people across the world to take recourse to medieval texts to direct their modern living?

49. I'm not the body. It is changing. It will decay finally. I'll have to give it up.

50. Imran says, let Kashmir be resolved. I say, let Pakistan be dissolved and reabsorbed into India. It is India after all.

51. By changing surname, a man does not change. By naming a part of India Pakistan, a country is not formed. It is India still.

52. Immy bounces, Sidhu ducks. We should wear helmets before facing Pak pace for we must counter their reverse swing of intent.

53. The Catholic Church that so advocates secularism in India must first make sure that the Vatican City is declared a secular state.

54. Pluralism is intrinsic to Hinduism. It is a fundamental feature of it. The concept of the Ishta (Chosen Ideal) testifies to it. But what about the pluralism of Christianity and Islam? Do they also in scriptural terms vouch for it?

55. Block a man from expressing his opinion in innocent fun and you would get your version of modern liberalism.

56. Happiest is he who lives in the Self.

57. ARe we to NAB each other in a nightly vocal match where the GO ahead is given by SWAMI for us to uphold the REPUBLIC?

58. Netaji left India by her north-western border but arrived with his army crossing the north-eastern border. Why so?

59. Give the people their lost identity, their forgotten individuality, as Swamiji put it, and they will be a power for good.

60. Let reverence for man be the basis of all social transformation. Worship man as your Ishta, your Chosen Ideal.

61. The life of the Spirit must here be lived, right now in this hermitage of humanity. This is the message of the Geeta.

62. Within a bubble is a whole atmosphere. So is infinity within man.

63. God is the sublimest ideal earthly man can conceive of Reality, the conception differing as per the culture of man.

64. Look after the poor people. They are the divinities who your scriptures address as God.

65. Be active, my friends, in the practice of the dharma and in the strengthening of your soul will lie its own defence.

66. Spread with zeal over the length and breadth of the country and make a Ramakrishna centre in every village.

67. The Ramakrishna Movement must spread far and wide, striking roots deep in the collective consciousness of humanity.

68. The Bhagavad Geeta teaches valour, detached action, renunciation, resignation unto the Lord and freedom of the Self.

69. A religion that converts can never be a religion of peace for conversion itself is war on human culture.

70. When you serve, do so with a smile. It costs nothing, yet it is so dear.

71. Purity is the precondition for the growth of all human attributes that make a person great.

72. Intellectual culture is good but turns roguish when not backed up by spiritual culture.

73. To be ignorant of one's culture does not stand one in good stead when residing in a foreign country. It

74. Obliteration of the ego is the aim of all austerity. Realisation spontaneously flows from it.

75. Tagore said to Romain Rolland, ''If you want to know India, study Vivekananda.'' But I say unto you, ''If you wish to be Indian, study Vivekananda.''

76. Bose and Bose -- between the two of them, they liberated India.

77. What a shame it is that Swami Nirmalananda who is a direct disciple of Sri Ramakrishna is no more recognised as such! Awake! Awake! Awake to the truth!

78. Conversion from Hinduism to Islam and Christianity must be banned by law in India if Hindu interests at all are dear to Indians.

79. Demographic changes through mass proliferation, conversion and immigration are dangerous for the future security of our country.

80. NOT ONLY A MAN LESS, BUT AN ENEMY THE MORE

Conversion from Hinduism must be stopped as it reduces the numerical strength of Hindus even as it creates potential enemies in the form of such perverts to the faith all the more. Swami Vivekananda had this to say about such converts from Hinduism : ''And then every man going out of the Hindu pale is not only a man less, but an enemy the more.''
http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/…/on_the_bounds_of_h…

Written by Sugata Bose

81. DEVOTEE AT LAST

The coming 2019 Lok Sabha elections are making out of politicians what no Hindu preacher has succeeded in bringing about so effectively and so fast thus far. It is making Hindu devotees out of vote-hungry politicians who are now flocking the temples and monasteries to get their much needed mandate. At last we see the emergence of character even in corruption and the renaissance of Hinduism. Hinduism has a hope after all. Haha!

Written by Sugata Bose

82. The network of civilisation must spread to alleviate the misery of the masses.

83. Same old track, beaten, yet, not battered quite. What to reply? Let people learn through experience or not learn at all. Men believe what they wish to believe and few are intelligent enough to comprehend issues beyond what casual and cursory glances through core concerns lead them to. The superficial ever ruminate superficiality and they have a right to their respective ruminations. So, may peace dwell in discourse yet and people counter my comments as they please so long as they do not vilify me in doing so.

84. Conversion is the curse of religion that has caused its perversion like nothing else. No religion that converts can be peaceful.

85. The problem of peace is perplexing for it is the resultant of so many conflicting forces at so many levels of human evolution.

86. An incomplete philosophy is the legacy of an individual prophet. The collective wisdom of humanity is what ought to guide us.

87. Humanity has to move on from its tribal past. It is time to modernise thinking.

88. Where there is life, there ought to be love. Where there is love, there life flourishes. Future civilisation must be built on love.

89. How long must man be bound to medieval practices and beliefs?It is time to look ahead. Explore new horizons and discover yourself.

90. Human sympathies are so limited even within the family and they talk of world peace!

91. The smaller the individual, the narrower his sympathies, the meaner his means and the viler his ends.

92. Tribal culture dominates even the modern man as he goes about his conquest of others' domains without compunction of conscience.

93. If there is one sin on earth, it is the thrusting of God on man. Let man evolve a God out of himself. Free him of imposition.

94. Liberalism must not be foolish enough to lose out to fanaticism hands down. What is needed is pragmatism.

95. A reverse cultural colonisation is now taking place in the West as immigration is changing its cultural patterns.

96. Changes in demography sweep through Europe. European civilisation in danger of being usurped. Cultural conquest by immigrants.

97. Appeasement created the Nazi demon. Will another such create a worse one now?

98. The Indian dharma traditions must combine to combat the menace of cultural subversion in our country. Cooperate, brothers.

99. India has been partitioned once and cannot afford it again. It is time for us to uplift our masses to prevent such an eventuality.

100. We need to educate ourselves in the scriptures of alien religions before pronouncing them as benign. Ignorance will get us nowhere.

THANK YOU DR. JAYANTA CHOUDHURY (Drjayanta Choudhuri)

THANK YOU DR. JAYANTA CHOUDHURY (Drjayanta Choudhuri)
https://www.facebook.com/bhomitv.in/videos/207583846785915/UzpfSTEwMDAwMjkwMTkyNzcwMDoxNjgyNjczNzQxODM5MzQw/

Bad moderation as usual afforded to a brilliant speaker who ought to be given more time and less interruption during his disclosures on Netaji. Who wishes to hear these hackneyed phrases on Netaji from the anchor? Let Drjayanta Choudhuri speak without undue interruptions. This is a point to be noted for future interviews to be conducted as promised in this one.

A discussion should an aim, an objective, a point to pursue and establish on the basis of sound facts and it ought not to be aimless as here where the time ran out and no inferences could be drawn. The speaker is an erudite in this subject but the anchor sadly lacks in sufficient knowledge to lend the interview life and colour. It seems that catering to Netaji is secondary objective to the primary one of garnering audience support for the channel. However, this writer generally comes across far worse moderators in such programmes on Netaji who are barely articulate enough to express themselves clearly and one feels grateful that the present anchor is far better than such ones in terms of diction, common sense and plain propriety while interviewing the scholar.

A word of thanks for the organisers of this video presentation and a hope entertained for periodic, say, monthly, shows like this one that will disclose facts about Netaji and expose the heresies of history perpetrated by agencies thus far. It is in such revelations that lies the best good of our motherland as she marches forward to set her history and civilisation right. Netaji was the way then and Netaji remains the way ahead. Jai Hind!

Written by Sugata Bose