01-25-2006, 09:08 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->and i'd prefer to read the koran in a free india over reading the gita or anything else in a india under poms.<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why do you say so?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->how the hell does gita and other theology factor into a discussion about a war of independence. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It does factor in because Indian Civilization is inseparable from Sanatana Dharma, from its inception Indian nationalism went back to Sanatan Dharma and our scriptures for inspiration, during the 1857 revolt sadhus like Swami Omanand went around and in their appeals they also mentioned religion, the Bengal revolutionaries (in the early stages) used to ask Kali for blessings and used to invoke the Gita, Madhan Lal Dhingra for example had the Gita in his hands before he was executed, the following illustrates my point:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Organisationally, the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti was an independent body under the supreme direction of Pulin Bihari Das. But it was connected with Pramathanath Mitra's Calcutta Anushilan Samiti where Das used to stay during his visits to Calcutta.
Appeal to Hindu spirituality and religion provided dynamic power to the Samiti. The profoundly Hindu character of its inspiration is evident in the reading list of its members, which was predominantly Hindu mythology. Among the books recommended for its members, the works of Swami Vivekananda were given the first place. The Gita was employed at the time of administering the vows when one was admitted to the fold of the Anushilan Samiti and this was a technical reason why a Muslim could not be admitted.
http://search.com.bd/banglapedia/Content/HT/A_0270.HTM<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Lokmanya Tilak (1856-1920)Â was known as the âFather of Indian Unrestâ. He was the very first person to demand full independence from Britain in the Congress sessions. He explained: "The most practical teaching of the Gita, and one for which it is of abiding interest and value to the men of the world with whom life is a series of struggles, is not to give way to any morbid sentimentality when duty demands sternness and the boldness to face terrible things." And âIt is my firm conviction that it is of utmost importance that every man, woman and child of India understands the message of the Gita.â He write a commentary on the Gita called âGita Rahasyaâ, which even today is one of the best books written on the Gita.
Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1858-1930) â Bankim Chandra was not a freedom fighter, but through his writings he sparked of an intense freedom struggle and breathed a new passion and life into the nation, particularly his native region of Bengal, which became kindled with religious, nationalistic and artistic fervour after being infused with the powerful visions contained in his writings. Virtually all of you will have heard the famous slogan âVande Mataramâ (I bow to the Mother). The poem and song by this name was first written by him in his famous novel âAnandamathâ. The Anandamath story is set in 18th century India, when a group of warrior sannyasis mounted a guerilla war against Muslim rule (based on a true historical attempt by sannyasis to do precisely this). It was a riveting story line with amazing characters and meaningful dialogues. Yet more importantly, hundreds of thousands of Indians took the story as a metaphor for their own present day situation, understanding it as a call to arms to drive the new tyrants (the British) away from the sacred soil. âVande Mararamâ became the slogan of the freedom struggle. Bankim Chandra drew deep inspiration from the Gita. He wrote a commentary on the Gita, which was only three quarters complete when he died, and an inspiring life sketch of Krishna based on historical and literary research, titled Sri Krishna Charitra.
Mahatma Gandhiâs (1869-1948)Â role in the freedom movement of India needs no explanation. His very name invokes images of Indiaâs Independence. He was a kshatriya who fought his battle with unique weapons. He drew great inspiration and courage from the Gita, âI find a solace in the Bhagavad-Gita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount [Gandhi felt that the Sermon was the most deep and meaningful dialogue in the Christian teachings]. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there , and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies -- and my life has been full of external tragedies -- and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad-Gita.
Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) was one of the greatest revolutionaries in the early phase of the Indian freedom struggle, and is recognised throughout the world as a great mystic, intellectual and visionary. He felt that Indiaâs weakness had been due to a weak-minded and cowardly group of leaders, who did not have the nerves to face hardship and take risks for the better of the nation. He emphasised the necessity of the Gita in uplifting India as well as liberating humanity from the bondage of our lower nature into the bliss of divinity. He wrote a beautiful selection of essays on the Gita and its secrets. âA certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin. It is an error, we repeat, to think that spirituality is a thing divorced from life.... It is an error to think that the heights of religion are above the struggles of this world. The recurrent cry of Sri Krishna to Arjuna insists on the struggle; "Fight and overthrow thy opponents!", "Remember me and fight!", "Give up all thy works to me with a heart full of spirituality, and free from craving, free from selfish claims, fight! Let the fever of thy soul pass from thee."
Damodarpanth Chapekar (executed 1898) - In the late 1890âs, in the Maharashtra province of India, there was a devastating plague, which killed many people. The British colonial government was very unhelpful about relief for the suffering people. Indeed, the British agricultural policies (enforcing production of cotton rather than traditional food crops) seriously compounded the problem. The celebrations of Queen Victoriaâs Golden Jubilee (50 yearâs of rule) were held in the Poona city of Maharashtra. The celebration was carried out with such immense pomp and splendour, in a region where innumerable people were suffering. This sent a wave of resentment amongst the Indian populace, against the colonial government. It was at this time that the erstwhile limited freedom struggle against the British gained support and momentum. As a mark of the peopleâs resentment against the British administration, an important incident occurred which was to breath a hitherto unknown fire into the revolutionary freedom movement. Outraged by the countless miseries of the famine and plague stricken masses and the excesses committed by the British soldiers, Damodarpant Chapekar shot dead the British plague commissioner, Mr Rand, and the British officer Mr Ayerst on June 22, 1897, in Poona (the city which has been a cradle of heroes throughout history). He was later betrayed by two friends, and was sentenced to death. He embraced the gallows with the Bhagavad Gita in his hands on April 18th 1898.
Madanlal Dhingra (1887-1909) was the assassin of Sir Cyrzon Wyllie, in London in 1909. He was executed in London on 17 August 1909. Bhagat Singh acknowledged Dhingra as his predecessor. A colourful and brave personality throughout his short life, he died with the Gita in his hands.
Khudiram Bose (1889-1906) was a young revolutionary from Bengal. He was brought up with a deep knowledge of the Hindu heritage, and he was constantly pained that a country which had once achieved so much was now bankrupt and under foreign yoke. He was arrested and hung at the young age of 17 for his part in an attack on British targets. He had the words âVande Mataramâ on his lips and the Bhagavad Gita in his hands when he died.
Hemu Kalani (1923-1943) was a freedom fighter from Sindh, who participated in all aspects of the freedom struggle, from the boycott of British goods, to Gandhiâs campaigns and revolutionary activities. He was caught in a plot to steal British munitions and supply it to Indians. While marching to the gallows, he consoled his distressed mother by quoting verses from the Gita regarding the indestructibility of soul. This shows the bravery and coolness that the Gita can inspire, even in the face of calamity. He said as he was about to be executed that he would like to be born again to finish the job of liberating India. Little did the young revolutionary know that India was to become free within a few years after his death. He was hung on 21st January 1943.
http://groups.msn.com/hindu-history/rawarc...487690063540078<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Gita and the Nationalists
The Gitaâs stress on true manhood and âdesireless dutyâ or nishkama karma was to be Sri Aurobindoâs prime inspiration during his revolutionary days. It is little known that Sri Aurobindo was, in 1906, the first Indian to openly call for complete independence from the British Empire,[6] at a time when the Congress Moderates were busy praising the âprovidential characterâ of British rule in India and swearing their âunswerving allegiance to the British crown.â Through the pages of the English daily Bande Mataram and in his speeches, Sri Aurobindo exhorted his countrymen to find in themselves the strength to stand up to their colonial masters. He soon became the leader in Bengal of those whom the Moderates contemptuously called the âExtremists.â In April 1908, a few days before his arrest in the Alipore Bomb Case, he wrote :
A certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin. Their temperament forbids them to feel the delight of battle and they look on what they cannot understand as something monstrous and sinful. âHeal hate by love, drive out injustice by justice, slay sin by righteousnessâ is their cry. Love is a sacred name, but it is easier to speak of love than to love.... The Gita is the best answer to those who shrink from battle as a sin and aggression as a lowering of morality.[7]
Clearly, Sri Aurobindo anticipated here the rise of non-violence as a creed ; but he took Sri Krishnaâs admonition of Arjuna literally and, like Swami Vivekananda, put his faith in strength, not in ahimsa. Shortly after his release from jail the following year, Sri Aurobindo developed this point in a speech on the Gita at Khulna :
The virtue of the Brahmin is a great virtue : You shall not kill. This is what Ahimsa means. [But] if the virtue of Ahimsa comes to the Kshatriya, if you say âI will not kill,â there is no one to protect the country. The happiness of the people will be broken down. Injustice and lawlessness will reign. The virtue becomes a source of misery, and you become instrumental in bringing misery and conflict to the people.[8]
The teaching of the Gita, he said in his concluding words, âmeans perfection of action. It makes man great. It gives him the utter strength, the utter bliss which is the goal of life in the world.â[9]
Indeed, the revolutionaries in Bengal and Maharashtra drew such inspiration from the Gita that the colonial authorities came to regard it as a âgospel of terrorism,â and it became one of the most sought-after pieces of evidence in police raids ; it is also one of the chief influences cited in the 1918 Rowlatt Sedition Committee Report, side by side with Swami Vivekanandaâs works.[10] Sri Aurobindo himself is said to have given initiation to several revolutionaries by making them swear on the Gita that they would do everything to liberate India from the foreign yoke..[11] But in the columns of the Karmayogin, he took objection to this summary characterization of the Gita :
We strongly protest against the brand of suspicion that has been sought to be placed in many quarters on the teaching and possession of the Gitaâour chief national heritage, our hope for the future, our great force for the purification of the moral weaknesses that stain and hamper our people..[12]
http://micheldanino.voiceofdharma.com/gitalecture.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->(A disciple
There is a marked difference between the national workers of the Swadeshi period and those at the present time. The former workers drew their inspiration from the Gita; the present workers have discarded the Gita, they laugh at spirituality, they draw their inspiration from the Bolshevists or similar other European movements.
    That is the reason why they have degenerated and cannot do anything. They only take the forms adopted in the previous movement without realizing the changed circumstances and fresh requirements of the time.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/ir/IR_part3.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
Why do you say so?
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->how the hell does gita and other theology factor into a discussion about a war of independence. <!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
It does factor in because Indian Civilization is inseparable from Sanatana Dharma, from its inception Indian nationalism went back to Sanatan Dharma and our scriptures for inspiration, during the 1857 revolt sadhus like Swami Omanand went around and in their appeals they also mentioned religion, the Bengal revolutionaries (in the early stages) used to ask Kali for blessings and used to invoke the Gita, Madhan Lal Dhingra for example had the Gita in his hands before he was executed, the following illustrates my point:
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Organisationally, the Dhaka Anushilan Samiti was an independent body under the supreme direction of Pulin Bihari Das. But it was connected with Pramathanath Mitra's Calcutta Anushilan Samiti where Das used to stay during his visits to Calcutta.
Appeal to Hindu spirituality and religion provided dynamic power to the Samiti. The profoundly Hindu character of its inspiration is evident in the reading list of its members, which was predominantly Hindu mythology. Among the books recommended for its members, the works of Swami Vivekananda were given the first place. The Gita was employed at the time of administering the vows when one was admitted to the fold of the Anushilan Samiti and this was a technical reason why a Muslim could not be admitted.
http://search.com.bd/banglapedia/Content/HT/A_0270.HTM<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Lokmanya Tilak (1856-1920)Â was known as the âFather of Indian Unrestâ. He was the very first person to demand full independence from Britain in the Congress sessions. He explained: "The most practical teaching of the Gita, and one for which it is of abiding interest and value to the men of the world with whom life is a series of struggles, is not to give way to any morbid sentimentality when duty demands sternness and the boldness to face terrible things." And âIt is my firm conviction that it is of utmost importance that every man, woman and child of India understands the message of the Gita.â He write a commentary on the Gita called âGita Rahasyaâ, which even today is one of the best books written on the Gita.
Bankim Chandra Chatterji (1858-1930) â Bankim Chandra was not a freedom fighter, but through his writings he sparked of an intense freedom struggle and breathed a new passion and life into the nation, particularly his native region of Bengal, which became kindled with religious, nationalistic and artistic fervour after being infused with the powerful visions contained in his writings. Virtually all of you will have heard the famous slogan âVande Mataramâ (I bow to the Mother). The poem and song by this name was first written by him in his famous novel âAnandamathâ. The Anandamath story is set in 18th century India, when a group of warrior sannyasis mounted a guerilla war against Muslim rule (based on a true historical attempt by sannyasis to do precisely this). It was a riveting story line with amazing characters and meaningful dialogues. Yet more importantly, hundreds of thousands of Indians took the story as a metaphor for their own present day situation, understanding it as a call to arms to drive the new tyrants (the British) away from the sacred soil. âVande Mararamâ became the slogan of the freedom struggle. Bankim Chandra drew deep inspiration from the Gita. He wrote a commentary on the Gita, which was only three quarters complete when he died, and an inspiring life sketch of Krishna based on historical and literary research, titled Sri Krishna Charitra.
Mahatma Gandhiâs (1869-1948)Â role in the freedom movement of India needs no explanation. His very name invokes images of Indiaâs Independence. He was a kshatriya who fought his battle with unique weapons. He drew great inspiration and courage from the Gita, âI find a solace in the Bhagavad-Gita that I miss even in the Sermon on the Mount [Gandhi felt that the Sermon was the most deep and meaningful dialogue in the Christian teachings]. When disappointment stares me in the face and all alone I see not one ray of light, I go back to the Bhagavad-Gita. I find a verse here and a verse there , and I immediately begin to smile in the midst of overwhelming tragedies -- and my life has been full of external tragedies -- and if they have left no visible or indelible scar on me, I owe it all to the teaching of Bhagavad-Gita.
Sri Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950) was one of the greatest revolutionaries in the early phase of the Indian freedom struggle, and is recognised throughout the world as a great mystic, intellectual and visionary. He felt that Indiaâs weakness had been due to a weak-minded and cowardly group of leaders, who did not have the nerves to face hardship and take risks for the better of the nation. He emphasised the necessity of the Gita in uplifting India as well as liberating humanity from the bondage of our lower nature into the bliss of divinity. He wrote a beautiful selection of essays on the Gita and its secrets. âA certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin. It is an error, we repeat, to think that spirituality is a thing divorced from life.... It is an error to think that the heights of religion are above the struggles of this world. The recurrent cry of Sri Krishna to Arjuna insists on the struggle; "Fight and overthrow thy opponents!", "Remember me and fight!", "Give up all thy works to me with a heart full of spirituality, and free from craving, free from selfish claims, fight! Let the fever of thy soul pass from thee."
Damodarpanth Chapekar (executed 1898) - In the late 1890âs, in the Maharashtra province of India, there was a devastating plague, which killed many people. The British colonial government was very unhelpful about relief for the suffering people. Indeed, the British agricultural policies (enforcing production of cotton rather than traditional food crops) seriously compounded the problem. The celebrations of Queen Victoriaâs Golden Jubilee (50 yearâs of rule) were held in the Poona city of Maharashtra. The celebration was carried out with such immense pomp and splendour, in a region where innumerable people were suffering. This sent a wave of resentment amongst the Indian populace, against the colonial government. It was at this time that the erstwhile limited freedom struggle against the British gained support and momentum. As a mark of the peopleâs resentment against the British administration, an important incident occurred which was to breath a hitherto unknown fire into the revolutionary freedom movement. Outraged by the countless miseries of the famine and plague stricken masses and the excesses committed by the British soldiers, Damodarpant Chapekar shot dead the British plague commissioner, Mr Rand, and the British officer Mr Ayerst on June 22, 1897, in Poona (the city which has been a cradle of heroes throughout history). He was later betrayed by two friends, and was sentenced to death. He embraced the gallows with the Bhagavad Gita in his hands on April 18th 1898.
Madanlal Dhingra (1887-1909) was the assassin of Sir Cyrzon Wyllie, in London in 1909. He was executed in London on 17 August 1909. Bhagat Singh acknowledged Dhingra as his predecessor. A colourful and brave personality throughout his short life, he died with the Gita in his hands.
Khudiram Bose (1889-1906) was a young revolutionary from Bengal. He was brought up with a deep knowledge of the Hindu heritage, and he was constantly pained that a country which had once achieved so much was now bankrupt and under foreign yoke. He was arrested and hung at the young age of 17 for his part in an attack on British targets. He had the words âVande Mataramâ on his lips and the Bhagavad Gita in his hands when he died.
Hemu Kalani (1923-1943) was a freedom fighter from Sindh, who participated in all aspects of the freedom struggle, from the boycott of British goods, to Gandhiâs campaigns and revolutionary activities. He was caught in a plot to steal British munitions and supply it to Indians. While marching to the gallows, he consoled his distressed mother by quoting verses from the Gita regarding the indestructibility of soul. This shows the bravery and coolness that the Gita can inspire, even in the face of calamity. He said as he was about to be executed that he would like to be born again to finish the job of liberating India. Little did the young revolutionary know that India was to become free within a few years after his death. He was hung on 21st January 1943.
http://groups.msn.com/hindu-history/rawarc...487690063540078<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->The Gita and the Nationalists
The Gitaâs stress on true manhood and âdesireless dutyâ or nishkama karma was to be Sri Aurobindoâs prime inspiration during his revolutionary days. It is little known that Sri Aurobindo was, in 1906, the first Indian to openly call for complete independence from the British Empire,[6] at a time when the Congress Moderates were busy praising the âprovidential characterâ of British rule in India and swearing their âunswerving allegiance to the British crown.â Through the pages of the English daily Bande Mataram and in his speeches, Sri Aurobindo exhorted his countrymen to find in themselves the strength to stand up to their colonial masters. He soon became the leader in Bengal of those whom the Moderates contemptuously called the âExtremists.â In April 1908, a few days before his arrest in the Alipore Bomb Case, he wrote :
A certain class of minds shrink from aggressiveness as if it were a sin. Their temperament forbids them to feel the delight of battle and they look on what they cannot understand as something monstrous and sinful. âHeal hate by love, drive out injustice by justice, slay sin by righteousnessâ is their cry. Love is a sacred name, but it is easier to speak of love than to love.... The Gita is the best answer to those who shrink from battle as a sin and aggression as a lowering of morality.[7]
Clearly, Sri Aurobindo anticipated here the rise of non-violence as a creed ; but he took Sri Krishnaâs admonition of Arjuna literally and, like Swami Vivekananda, put his faith in strength, not in ahimsa. Shortly after his release from jail the following year, Sri Aurobindo developed this point in a speech on the Gita at Khulna :
The virtue of the Brahmin is a great virtue : You shall not kill. This is what Ahimsa means. [But] if the virtue of Ahimsa comes to the Kshatriya, if you say âI will not kill,â there is no one to protect the country. The happiness of the people will be broken down. Injustice and lawlessness will reign. The virtue becomes a source of misery, and you become instrumental in bringing misery and conflict to the people.[8]
The teaching of the Gita, he said in his concluding words, âmeans perfection of action. It makes man great. It gives him the utter strength, the utter bliss which is the goal of life in the world.â[9]
Indeed, the revolutionaries in Bengal and Maharashtra drew such inspiration from the Gita that the colonial authorities came to regard it as a âgospel of terrorism,â and it became one of the most sought-after pieces of evidence in police raids ; it is also one of the chief influences cited in the 1918 Rowlatt Sedition Committee Report, side by side with Swami Vivekanandaâs works.[10] Sri Aurobindo himself is said to have given initiation to several revolutionaries by making them swear on the Gita that they would do everything to liberate India from the foreign yoke..[11] But in the columns of the Karmayogin, he took objection to this summary characterization of the Gita :
We strongly protest against the brand of suspicion that has been sought to be placed in many quarters on the teaching and possession of the Gitaâour chief national heritage, our hope for the future, our great force for the purification of the moral weaknesses that stain and hamper our people..[12]
http://micheldanino.voiceofdharma.com/gitalecture.html<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->(A disciple
There is a marked difference between the national workers of the Swadeshi period and those at the present time. The former workers drew their inspiration from the Gita; the present workers have discarded the Gita, they laugh at spirituality, they draw their inspiration from the Bolshevists or similar other European movements.    That is the reason why they have degenerated and cannot do anything. They only take the forms adopted in the previous movement without realizing the changed circumstances and fresh requirements of the time.
http://voiceofdharma.org/books/ir/IR_part3.htm<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->