"It is essential that we
think about 'Our National Identity' without which there is no
meaning of 'Independence".
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on Monday September
25, 1916, (Ashwin Krishna Trayodashi, Samvat 1973) in the sacred
region of Brij in the village of Nagla Chandraban in Mathura
District. His full name was Deendayal Upadhyaya, but he was
called Deena by the family. His mother Shrimati Rampyari was a
religious-minded lady and his father, Shri Bhagwati Prasad, was
Assistant Station Master at Jalesar. His great-grandfather,
Pandit Hariram Upadhyaya was
a well known astrologer. An astrologer who studied his horoscope
predicted that the boy would become a great scholar and thinker,
a selfless worker, and a leading politician - but that he would
not marry. After his birth, two years later, his mother Shrimati
Rampyari gave birth to her second son, Shivdayal. He lost his
father Shri Bhagwati Prasad when he was less than three years
old and his mother before he was eight.
Two years after his mother, Shrimati Rampyari's death, her
father Shri Chunnilal, who was bringing up her two sons to his
village Gud Ki Mandhai, near Fatehpur Sikri in Agra District, as
a legacy of his dead daughter, also passed away in September
1926. Deendayalji was in his tenth year at that time. He was
thus bereft the love and affection of both his parents and his
maternal grandfather. He started living with his maternal uncle.
Deendayal's aunt was sensitive to the feelings of two brothers;
she brought them up like her own children. She became a
surrogate mother to the orphans. The ten year old Deendayalji
became a guardian for his younger brother at that tender age; he
looked after him and took care of all his needs. When he was in
the ninth class and in his eighteenth year, his younger brother
Shivdayal contracted smallpox. Deendayalji tried his best to
save Shivdayal’s life by providing him all manner of treatment
available at that time, but Shivdayal also died on Nov. 18,
1934. Deendayalji was thus left all alone in this world.
He later went to high school in Sikar. Maharaja of Sikar gave
Pandit ji a gold medal, Rs. 250 for books and a monthly
scholarship of Rs.10. Pandit ji passed his Intermediate exams
with distinction in Pilani and left to Kanpur to pursue his B.A.
and joined the Sanatan Dharma College. At the instance of his
friend Shri. Balwant Mahashabde, he joined the RSS in 1937. In
1937 he received his B.A. in the first division. Pandit ji moved
to Agra to pursue M.A.
Here he joined forces with Shri Nanaji Deshmukh and Shri Bhau
Jugade for RSS activities. Around this time Rama Devi, a cousin
of Deendayalji fell ill and she moved to Agra for treatment. She
passed away. Deendayalji was very depressed and could not take
the M.A. exams. His scholarships, received earlier from
Maharajaj of Sikar and Shri. Birla were discontinued.
At the instance of his aunt he took a Government conducted
competitive examination in dhoti and kurta with a cap on his
head, while other candidates wore western suits. The candidates
in fun called him "Panditji" - an appellation millions were to
use with respect and love in later years. Again at this exam he
topped the list of selectees. Armed with his Uncle's permission
he moved to Prayag to pursue B.T. and at Prayag he continued his
RSS activites. After completion of his B.T., he worked full-time
for the RSS and moved to Lakhimpur District in UP as an
organizer and in 1955 became the Provincial Organizer of the RSS
in UP.
He established the publishing house 'Rashtra Dharma Prakashan'
in Lucknow and launched the monthly magazine 'Rashtra Dharma' to
propound the principles he held sacred. Later he launched the
weekly 'Panchjanya' and still later the daily 'Swadesh'. In
1950, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee, then Minister at the Center,
opposed the Nehru-Liaquat pact and resigned his Cabinet post and
joined the opposition to build a common front of democratic
forces. Dr.Mookerjee sought Shri. Guruji's help in organizing
dedicated young men to pursue the work at the political level.
Pandit Deendayalji convened on September 21, 1951 a political
convention of UP and founded the state unit of the new party,
Bharatiya Jana Sangh. Pandit Deendayalji was the moving spirit
and Dr. Mookerjee presided over the first all-India convention
held on October 21, 1951.
Pandit Deendayalji's organizing skills were unmatched. Finally
came the red letter day in the annals of the Jana Sangh when
this utterly unassuming leader of the party was raised to the
high position of President in the year 1968. On assuming this
tremendous responsibility Deendayalji went to the South with the
message of Jana Sangh. The following rousing call he gave to the
thousands of delegates in the Calicut session, still rings in
their ears:'
We are pledged to the service not of any particular community or
section but of the entire nation. Every countryman is blood of
our blood and flesh of our flesh. We shall not rest till we are
able to give to every one of them a sense of pride that they are
able to give to every one of them a sense of pride that they are
children of Bharatmata. We shall make Mother India Sujala,
Suphala (overflowing with water and laden with fruits) in the
real sense of these words. As Dashapraharana Dharini Durga
(Goddess Durga with her 10 weapons) she would be able to
vanquish evil; as Lakshmi she would be able to disburse
prosperity all over and as Saraswati she would dispel the gloom
of ignorance and spread the radiance of knowledge all around
her. With faith in ultimate victory, let us dedicate ourselves
to this task.'
--
कथा : विवेकानन्द केन्द्र { Katha : Vivekananda Kendra }
Let's work on "Swamiji's Vision - Eknathji's Mission"
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मुक्तसंग्ङोऽनहंवादी धृत्युत्साहसमन्वित:।
सिद्धयसिद्धयोर्निर्विकार: कर्ता सात्त्विक उच्यते ॥१८.२६॥
Freed from attachment,
non-egoistic, endowed with courage and enthusiasm and unperturbed by
success or failure, the worker is known as a pure (Sattvika) one. Four
outstanding and essential qualities of a worker. - Bhagwad Gita : XVIII-26