Lessons from My Three Gurus: Insights from Swami Vivekananda, Chhatrapati Shivaji and Veer Savarkar

A Tribute to my Gurus

We all know about the importance of Gurus in Indian culture. Here, Guru is not just a teacher, he is an entity, which makes us realise everything. That’s why Guru’s place is considered as higher than the divine being. Sant Kabir Das says,

“Guru-Govind dou kharey, kake lagu paaye,

Dhanya hay Guru keejo, Govind diyo dikhaye.”

Another saint, not as popular as Kabir ji, Sahjo-

bai, the shishya of Sant Charan Das says,

“Ram taju mein Guru na bisaru,

Guru ke sam Hari ko na niharu.”

(I can disown Ram, but not my Guru,

I don’t observe Hari as the equal of Guru.)

So, you can have the concept of the importance of Guru from these lines. But if you think that the Guru will guide you in just spiritual evolution, then you are just a colonial-minded person and you must decolonise your mind. They will guide you in your religious, national, sentimental, cultural, civilizational and more types of consciousness.

I have mentioned three well known great men in the heading. They don’t need any introduction. Bharat can never forget their contribution in nation building. But, I, as an individual was also personally helped by these great personalities. But how? Let’s see.

Swami Vivekananda

·         Swami Vivekananda, The Monk Who Taught Me Dharma: On a certain point of age 11-12 years old, when I deeply lacked self-confidence and fearlessness, I came across the writings by and on this great man and got sub-merged in it. It was me in my pre-Vivekananda era, who was a kid always scared of Ghosts and Satanic entities. Then He came to my life and taught me to scare the scary. I started thinking and meditating on his thoughts. The outcome was the new myself, who feared a very little number of things. He made my self-confidence high. Because I am also a small part of the Brahman, the divine entity, then why I would fear anyone? Why I would be underconfident. He (the divine) resides in me. So, if I can’t believe in myself, how I can believe the divine. All his teachings installed the initial bases of Dharma inside me. Because, without becoming fearless and self-confidant, how one can learn and understand Dharma?

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj

·         Chhatrapati Shivaji, The Deity Who Taught Me National Consciousness: As I was recently talking about Swamiji, it should be mentioned that he labelled Shiv Chhatrapati as the symbol of national consciousness. So, what is national consciousness.

As a student in the leftist rule era, I have received colonial education, which taught us to deeply hate our cultural origins. As a result, in the age of 15-16, I became a fully colonial minded boy. But there can be some traces of nectar in a glass full of poison. The home tutor, who taught me history, told me about a deity, who later became my favourite superhero. Its not just a name, it’s an emotion- Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. (I will call him ‘Raje’). The tutor told me about how Raje escaped from the confinement of the Mughals along with his son, Shambhu Raje.

In 2019, I started reading the book “Shivaji: The Great Maratha” by Ranjit Desai due to the curiousness, seeded in my mind by the tutor. I observed that how along with saving nation from the invaders, he fought also for preserving its culture. That fact gave a clue in my mind that, in Bharat, nation and culture was bound to each other. But why? To find the answer, I started exploring more books and finally by reading J Sai Deepak books, I found the reason. India, that is Bharat is really a civilizational state. JSD also elaborated how the colonisers and later the leftists played with history to make our minds colonized. That books hammered the last nails in the coffin of colonial thinking process in my mind.

So, if I am a nationalist today, its because I have studied Shivaji Raje. So, finally I can say with confirmation that if you want to be a patriot, you must read Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. That’s why he is truly the symbol of national consciousness!

Swatantrya Veer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar

·         Veer Savarkar, The Revolutionary Who Taught Me Endurance: It was 2020. School, colleges, offices everything was closed. I was deeply frustrated.

There is no scope left for my life. I can tolerate no more. My story is already finished.

Then came a book from Flipkart. It was Savarkar: Echoes from The Forgotten Past by Vikram Sampath. I was left with that book and completed that book in a short span of time (less than one month). I thought, if this man and others can endure such hardships in cellular jail and still be unbroken, then why I should lose my hope? I am still living today with being mentally fit, just because of this book. Such an indebted I am towards Veer Savarkar, the revolutionary, who sends shivers to the tukde tukde gang members and leaders in current times! If you want to be a strong man, who can endure and sacrifice anything, you must study Veer Savarkar.

Books Recommended:

1.       Shivaji the Great Maratha by Ranjit Desai (Amazon link: Shivaji: The Great Maratha)

2.       Savarkar series by Vikram Sampath (Amazon link:Savarkar Boxset (Vols 1 & 2): Savarkar: Echoes From A Forgotten Past 1883–1924 + Savarkar: A Contest : Vikram Sampath: Amazon.in: Books)

3.       Vivekananda a biography (Vivekananda: A Biography)

4.       Living the Vivekananda Way by Ananya Awasthi and Nikhil Yadav (Buy Living the Vivekananda Way: Practical Spirituality for Modern India Book Online at Low Prices in India | Living the Vivekananda Way: Practical Spirituality for Modern India Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in)

5.       Swami Vivekananda for Our Times (Buy SWAMI VIVEKANANDA FOR OUR TIMES Book Online at Low Prices in India | SWAMI VIVEKANANDA FOR OUR TIMES Reviews & Ratings - Amazon.in)