Sita Ram Goel conclusively shows how Chhatrapati Shivaji occupies an unparalleled, inevitable place in Bharatavarsha's history by embodying the valour of Skanda. Contemplating Shakti-putra Shivaji's life is the means to keep Hindu nationalism eternally dynamic and Dharma-centered.
IN ANY UNAMBIGUOUS interpretation of the history of Bharatavarsha, Shivaji's place establishes itself naturally and inevitably. His position in our history is the same as that of Chandragupta Maurya, of Senapati Pushyamitra Shunga, of Shatru-shatru Vikramaditya, and of Emperor Skandagupta. Just like these supremely valiant great kings, Shivaji too turned the struggle of his own people towards victory and thereby reversed the course of history. He was the incarnation of Skanda who made the divine army, which had been retreating before the Muslim mleccha forces, once again surged forward with valor. That is why we have called him ‘Shakti-putra’ and thereby given his true introduction.
Shivaji was called Shakti-putra because, in his era, by combining stratagem and armed might against the most natural and strongest adversary of Hindu Dharma, he completely terrified the enemy. In terms of military power and cunning policy, Aurangzeb holds the foremost place among Muslim emperors. Shivaji made the teeth of that very Muslim emperor grate and thereby issued a call to the Hindu race. Had Shivaji not been Shakti-putra, the great deeds he accomplished with effortless ease would not have been possible for him.
Many Hindu warriors such as Prithviraj Chauhan, Maharana Sanga, Maharana Pratap and others had displayed tremendous valor, but because they did not resort to cunning against a deceitful enemy, the great valor of those great men came to naught. Shivaji remedied this flaw in Hindu valor. He was the very incarnation of discernment. Strength becomes possible only where military power is combined with wisdom.
However, it would also be a mistake to say that Shakti-putra Shivaji was merely a discerning and valiant conqueror. There have been many conquerors in world history, and we are aware of the misconduct of most of those conquerors.
Shivaji cannot be confined merely to the designation of a conqueror and placed in the same category as Alexander, Caesar, Napoleon and others. The reason is that, besides being a great conqueror, he was also a supremely virtuous great man devoted to his own Dharma. Being fully acquainted with and inspired by the essence of Sanatan Dharma, he was permeated from head to foot with the forgiving nature characteristic of the foremost Kshatriya. He never insulted even an ordinary soldier from the side of a defeated adversary. He never regarded the women of a defeated enemy as anything other than mothers, sisters or daughters, and never cast an evil eye upon them. He never destroyed, punished or desecrated the religious scriptures, religious preceptors or places of worship of any other religion.
He also demonstrated his incomparable forgiving nature at a time when the brutality of his adversary was evident at every step on the soil of Bharatavarsha. His adversary was drenched from head to foot in the blood of unarmed and innocent Hindu people. His adversary regarded the act of rape against Hindu women as the very pinnacle of valor for his co-religionists. And his adversary was resolutely determined to obliterate Hindutva itself by destroying the religious scriptures, religious preceptors, and places of worship of the Hindu race. If in the history of any other race a comparable forgiving Kshatriya is to be found, we are eager to read such history.
It was possible for so many virtuous qualities to coexist in the profound and vast personality of Shakti-putra Shivaji precisely because he was nurtured by the spiritual tradition of Sanatan Dharma.
Shivaji’s glorious mother was one who knew the essence of Sanatana Dharma. Shivaji’s preceptor was a man of firm faith in the conduct prescribed by Sanatana Dharma. And Shivaji himself would remain engrossed in listening to the pure utterances of the saints and mahatmas of Maharashtra. He had the direct company (satsang) of Saint Tukaram and Samarth Ramdas. As soon as he offered full prostration before Goddess Bhavani, he would become drenched in emotion. This is why, even while leading an unbroken and ceaselessly active life, he always remained a man devoted to renunciation. At times this sentiment of renunciation would surge so powerfully within him that he would become restless to take sannyasa. His sense of ego had undergone such complete dissolution that even at the moment of his victories, the lowly feeling of self-pride or self-congratulation could not so much as touch the edge of his mind. Absorbed in contemplation of the revolutions of the wheel of time and the rise and fall of fortune, he had become detached as it were. We must never forget even for a moment this aspect of Shivaji’s character.
Without deeply realizing this spiritual longing that manifested in the inner heart of Shakti-putra and this spiritual practice that marked his conduct, we cannot understand Shivaji in his true and complete form.
If we disregard his spiritual worship, what remains of Shivaji may well be a shrewd politician, a courteous and valiant warrior, but he cannot then be called a sacred, illustrious great man of Indian history. The Shivaji who stands before us bereft of spiritual worship would force us to regard all his virtuous qualities as mere accidental occurrences, and all his successes would begin to appear as nothing more than fortunate coincidences. Such a Shivaji would no longer remain worthy of our contemplation and emulation.
Shakti-putra Shivaji remains worthy even today of our contemplation and emulation precisely because he was not created by the circumstances or family of his own time, but rather by the eternal practice of Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma has always possessed, and will always possess, the capacity to produce great men like Shivaji. That is why Sanatana Dharma alone is the radiant national religion of Bharatavarsha, and especially of the Hindu race. Any nationalism in India from which the consciousness and inspiration of Sanatana Dharma has been erased will only be capable of committing evil deeds. Such nationalism may well succeed in crushing the head of the enemy, but it will never be able to bring about the welfare of the motherland in any manner whatsoever.
In today’s era, the true form of nationalism in Bharatavarsha must be understood with special care. The reason is that under the influence of Western education, the so-called ‘enlightened’ class of the Hindu race is becoming increasingly ignorant of the essence of Sanatana Dharma and more detached from its eternal practice. Today, many ‘enlightened’ people among the Hindus have begun to nurture fierce hatred towards Sanatana Dharma. On the other hand, some Hindus have started to regard the creation of atrocities against those who take refuge in other faiths without any protective intent as the supreme manifestation of valor. This is a double demonic conduct. This is the path to the destruction of Bharatavarsha.
Sanatana Dharma has never, in any circumstance, given shelter to any kind of tyrant. Destroying the tyrant has always been, and will always remain, fully and completely sanctioned in the tradition of Sanatana Dharma. However, it has never eternally branded any particular sect, caste, or community as tyrannical. A tyrant is one who behaves like a tyrant. The unparalleled tyrant of today’s era is Communism or Soviet imperialism. It has committed unprecedented atrocities in many countries of the world. And now it has become eager to devour Bharatavarsha as well.
If our Hindu nationalism fails to see that tyrant, then it has become blind. If our Hindu nationalism fails to rise up with valor against that adversary, then it has become lame. In Bharatavarsha, some people who propagate Communism and welcome Soviet imperialism are themselves the children of Hindu parents; for this very reason, their tyrannical conduct cannot be disregarded. The suppression of that deceitful sect bearing the Hindu name is, from the perspective of Sanatan Dharma, entirely just and proper.
The sacred memory of Shakti-putra Shivaji repeatedly reminds us of a singular principle: every kind of stratagem and all other available means must be employed against a tyrant. In this context, he never allowed fruitless debates about the propriety of ends and means to lead his valor astray or blunt his skill. Yet his gaze was always fixed upon the tyrant of the present. He never turned his eyes to the past in search of some defeated or nearly defeated tyrant.
As long as Hindu nationalism remains vibrant, it will continue to turn its eyes away from the tyrants of the past and fix them solely upon the tyrant of the present and punish him.
The sole purpose of analyzing and reflecting upon the radiant life-character of Shivaji should be this: that Hindu nationalism may remain vibrant at every moment.
To be continued
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