Saṁbhāṣā | संभाषा

Introduction:

Swami Vivekananda, like all great thinkers, was a product of his time. His nationalist ideas were deeply shaped by the historical and social context in which he lived. This article critically analyses his idea of nationalism and explores the reasons behind the need for a national identity during his era. It argues that, for Vivekananda, India’s spiritual moorings embodied in Vedanta served as the basis for the national identity. It further argues that the for Vivekananda, the religious foundation could be the only base on which common national identity could be conceptualised. To argue the case, the article critically analyses some of the key deliverances of Swami Vivekananda and attempts to contextualise them in the colonial settings that informed Vivekananda’s ideas.

A setting that necessitated finding a national identity:

The history of the Indian subcontinent is scarred by periods of foreign rule. A land with rich resources and wealth, it attracted many invaders. Every invasion endangered and tested the strength and integrity of its people. The period of British colonization was arguably one of the worst phases of the subcontinent, economically as well as culturally. India was reduced from being the ‘Golden Bird’ to one of the poorest regions of the world; from a land which was the mother of all civilizations, it became a nation which was ashamed to own its identity. The British had not just colonized the land but also the minds of its people. For the British, to quote James Mill, Indians were “barbarous, antirational, stagnant and incapable of change from within.”^[1] And hence the Britishers took upon themselves, as the white man’s burden, the duty to civilize the Indians. They questioned and criticized everything Indian and labelled it as primitive and flawed. They claimed that only their religion was true, their customs rational, their language better, their society civilized, and their country advanced. As they grew and expanded in the subcontinent, they started imposing these ideas on the Indian mind, establishing cultural hegemony.^[2]

During that era, the Indian society was such that the poor had been suppressed to an extent that they almost forgot that they were humans, their religion had degraded and the caste system and the evils of untouchability and superstitions had penetrated deep, the society was fragmented from within and the people were fighting amongst themselves. This Indian society started internalizing the ideas and identities imposed on it. Gradually these notions of inferiority started penetrating so deep into the minds of the Indians that they forgot who they were, and blindly accepted the labels put on them by the colonizers. They began to understand and judge themselves through the lenses and frameworks of the British.  Believing everything ‘western’ was ideal, they started imitating those ideals and rejecting their indigenous customs, languages, dressing styles, knowledge systems, and religion.^[3] It became a part of their colonial consciousness. Hence, at such times, when the minds of the Indians were enslaved and they had lost their self-respect, to break free from these shackles, there arose a need for a strong national identity, one that they could trace their roots back to, one that they could call their own, one that they could be proud of.  

Every nation has an identity; So, did India. But the problem was that the identity was one imposed on the nation by the West; it was an identity that claimed India to be weak, incapable, uncivilized, savage. It was an identity that portrayed India as inferior. Hence it became essential to remind the weakened nation of its greatness and strength, of its real identity, of its glorious past; to proclaim a national identity which would unite the people of India, an identity which would display the underlying strength of the society, an identity which truly formed the core of the nation, without which the civilization wouldn’t survive. It was necessary to revitalize this fundamental principle. Swami Vivekananda played a very important role in this process.

According to him, the religion of the Indians was such an identity, it was the backbone of the motherland, keynote of the national life. For thousands of years, India’s atmosphere had been filled with religion so much so that it had become a part of their blood and bone itself, the very vitality of life.^[4] Despite all the plunders, invasions, and subjugations, religion was something that survived over years; Religion of India, for Vivekananda, was invincible.

It was the primary occupation of the Indians. As Swami Vivekananda said “The Indian Mind was first religious, then anything else.” It was the basic nature of the society and so fundamental to the national life, that if religion was given up, the nation wouldn’t survive. The Indian civilization had withstood centuries of oppression only because its people preserved religion, sometimes even at the cost of their lives. In a diverse country such as India with racial, linguistic, and social differences, religion was the only common ground before which all the differences melted.^[5] Hence, if there was to be any identity for the Indian nation, it was religion. What was the Indian religion and why was it the national identity according to Swami Vivekananda? 

Who Were the Indians and What was Their Religion?

Since ancient times, India was known as the Sapta Sindhu, the land of seven rivers. Since the Persians pronounced ‘s’ as ‘h’, the region of Sapta Sindhu became Hapta Hindu. And the people of the land came to be known as ‘Hindus’ and their way of life or their religion was the Hindu religion.^[6] Swami Vivekananda also used the term Hindus in a similar context. For him, the term Indians was synonymous with the ‘Hindu race.’ But he felt that after the Mohemmadian invasions and the migrations, the demography of the region had changed and the word had lost its meaning because all the people living in the region of the Sapta Sindhu did not follow the same religion as they did earlier.^[7] Hence, to him, Hindus were the original inhabitants of the land and the religion that they followed was the religion of the Vedas - Vedanta.^[8]

Why did Vedanta qualify to be the national identity?

Vedas were the oldest scriptures of the Hindus and were a source of their civilization, the foundation of the Hindu way of life, and their common heritage. All the different sects of the Hindus like the Shaivas, Shaktas, Vaishnavaites, the dualists, and the monists had a common principle, which was their belief in the authorities of the Vedas and Upanishads. Hence their religion was called Vedanta. It was not religion in the sense of the Mohemadians, the Christians, or the Buddhists; it was not centred on people, or books, or adherence to certain norms, but rather was based on principles.^[9] It was a way of life in which all the sects could thrive together, it was a religion which tolerated everything but intolerance. Hence it was not sectarian but universal.

The religion of Vedanta was very inclusive and tolerant. The national identity had to be accommodative of all the different religions, casts, creeds, and sects existing in India and Vedanta provided such a unifying framework. For centuries, India had been a land of toleration. Accommodating diversity was never a problem for the Hindus and antagonism or hatred for people of other religions was never a part of the Indian experience. As Swami Vivekananda explained in the Parliament of religions, “India was a nation which welcomed all those who were persecuted and seeking refuge irrespective of their religion or nationality. The Israelites and the Zoroastrians, all were sheltered here.”[10] This was because their religion taught them that all the different paths led to the same goal, that there was only one ultimate being who was called by different names like Allah, Jesus, Ishvar, or god. “Ekam Sad Vipra Bahudha Vadanti - He who exists in one, the sages call him variously” - this was a principle which had permeated in the nation and had become one with them.^[11]

Moreover, the religion of Vedanta was a uniting force. It declared the spiritual oneness of the whole universe. It believed that there was only one ultimate soul throughout the universe, only one existence. You and I are really one. It urged people to recognize the divine in others and the self.^[12] Recognizing this truth of oneness made all differences of the class, caste, the “other” disappear and make one realize that they were always illusory.  And lastly and most importantly, it was a religion that empowered. At a time when the Hindus had lost faith in themselves and in their identity, when they felt culturally inferior, it was essential to have an identity which would help restore the lost faith, an identity which the Hindu could be proud of. Vedanta believed that every being is divine, and has a soul with infinite potential and capability. The religion affirmed that none is really weak, irrespective of caste, class, birth or gender.^[13] Hence one must have faith in himself. Swami Vivekananda encouraged people to realize the god within themselves, to awaken the sleeping soul, to believe that all the power resides inside, and to rise and express the divinity in one’s self.^[14] This belief in one’s self would also lead to belief in one’s identity, one’s religion, and one’s nationality. This was very important in those times.  Due to all these reasons Vedanta qualified to be the national identity of the Indian subcontinent.

Conclusion:

Today, India is a sovereign nation-state, but is still in the process of nation-building. It is an ongoing, dynamic process that demands both reflection and commitment from every citizen. In these crucial times, it becomes essential to remind ourselves of the core principles that form the foundation of our national identity; These are not just abstract ideals; they define who we are as a people and what we represent globally. We must remain conscious of our collective identity; It is our responsibility to uphold these principles in both word and action — to protect them, practice them, and pass them on to future generations. Losing sight of these guiding values would mean more than just the erosion of ideals; it would lead to the disintegration of the very fabric that binds us together as a nation. Without them, our sense of unity and purpose would falter, and we would risk losing not only our identity but our existence as a cohesive, functioning nation.