Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya : Bharatiya thinker & philosopher

 

 

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya

Executive Summary:

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was an eminent Bharatiya thinker, economist, writer, editor, political scientist, journalist, sociologist, historian, thinker, employer and philosopher, social worker and politician.He who was one of the leading lights  of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, the erstwhile avtar of  the present day Bharatiya Janata Party. He was born on 25 September 1916 in a religious family .

 His father, Bhagwati Prasad, was a well-known astrologer and his mother Shrimati Rampyari was a religious-minded lady. Both his parents died when he was eight years old and he was brought up by his maternal uncle. Deendayal was a proponent of an alternative model of governance and politics. He argued that neither communism nor capitalism were suitable for Bharat. Upadhyaya conceived the political philosophy Integral Humanism. He believed in Swaraj ("Self-governance"). He is also well known for the giving mantra of Antyodaya to the country- bringing the last person in the line to the first person in the queue. He died under suspicious circumstances and was found dead on 11 February 1968 at Mughal Sarai railway yard (now known as Pt. Deendayal Upadhyaya Junction named after him).

Key Points
Quotes about Deendayal Upadhyaya

If I could get two or three more Deendayals, I will change the entire political map of Bharat.’
Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee,{quoted in L.K. Advani, My Country My Life (2008)}
Bharat after Independence has produced few leaders who were also political philosophers. Deendayalji was one of the few, and the finest.
L.K. Advani, quoted in L.K. Advani, My Country My Life (2008)

Quotes by Deendayal Upadhyaya
“The English word Religion is not the correct word for Dharma.”

"The nearest equivalent English term for Dharma can be 'Innate Law', though even that does not express the full meaning of Dharma. Since Dharma is supreme, our Ideal of the State has been 'Dharma Rajya'.

"Dharma is very wide concept which concerns all aspects of life sustaining the society."
In Bharat the Principles of Ethics are termed as Dharma--The Laws of Life.

"The fundamental principles of Dharma are eternal and universal. However, their implementation may differ according to time, place and circumstances."

"Religion means a creed or a sect and it does not mean Dharma."


"A Nation is a group of persons who live with 'A Goal', 'An Ideal', 'A Mission' and look upon a particular piece of land as the Motherland. If either of the two--The Ideal and The Motherland--is missing, then there is no nation."

"It is essential that we think about 'Our National Identity' without which there is no meaning of 'Independence".
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"The basic cause of the problems facing Bharat is the neglect of Its 'National Identity".
"We had taken pride in resisting Things-British while They (Britishers) ruled us, but strangely enough, now that the Britishers have left, Westernisation has become synonymous with Progress."
"Western Science and the Western Ways of life are two different things. Whereas Western Science is Universal and must be absorbed by us if we wish to go forward, the same is not true about the Western Ways of life and values."
"In the past 1000 years whatever we assimilated-whether it was forced on us or we took with willingness-cannot be discarded now."
"Independence can be meaningful only if it becomes instrument for expression of our Culture."
"Both from the national as well as human stand point, it has become essential that we think of the principles of Bhartiya Culture."
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"The fundamental characteristic of Bhartiya Culture is that it looks upon life as an integrated whole."
"There is diversity and plurality in life but we have always attempted to discover the unity behind them."
"Hegel put forward the principles of thesis, anti-thesis and synthesis; Karl Marx used this principle as a basis and presented his analysis of history and economics; Darwin considered the principle of survival of the fittest as the sole basis of life; but we in this country saw the basic unity of all life."
"The Unit of Seed finds expression in various forms-The Roots, The Trunk, The Branches, The Leaves, The Flowers and The Fruit. All these have different forms, colours and properties. Still we recognise their relation of unity with each other through seed."
"Unity in diversity and the expression of unity in various forms has remained the thought of Bhartiya Culture."
Here in Bharat, we have placed before ourselves the ideal of the four-fold responsibilities of catering to the needs of Body, Mind, Intellect and Soul with a view to achieve the integrated progress of Man."
"The longings for Dharma, Artha, Kama and Moksha (the four kind of human effort) are inborn in man and satisfaction of these in an integrated way is the essence of Bhartiya Culture."
A Nation is a group of persons who live with 'A Goal', 'An Ideal', 'A Mission' and look upon a particular piece of land as the Motherland. If either of the two--The Ideal and The Motherland--is missing, then there is no nation."
"Conflict is not a sign of culture of Nature rather it is a symptom of their degradation."

Detailed Biography
Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya is one of the most influential Bharatiya political thinkers of modern times. He is perhaps the only Bharatiya political philosopher and practitioner  of modern times,  who acquired all the tenets of his thinking from vast Bharatiya culture and enormous sources of ancient Bharatiya knowledge tradition. His exceptional understanding of both capitalism and communism facilitated him with enormous rational background to reject both of these ideologies and plead for an all-encompassing Bharatiya alternative of Integral Humanism, the idea which hitherto remained neglected. He proposed idea based on ancient roots oriented towards facing contemporary challenges with an eye on future possibilities. This is why articulation of his writings has substantial relevance to provide Bharatiya vision of political thinking and proposing global alternatives.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya was born on Monday, September 25, 1916 (Ashwin Krishna Trayodashi Samvat 1973) in the holy region of Brij in the Village of Nagla, Chandraban in Mathura District of Uttar Pradesh. Born in Sanatan faith, his father Bhagwati Prasad was assistant station master at Jalesar and his mother Rampyari was a religious lady. Deendayal lost his father at the tender age of three and mother when he was barely seven. He was shifted to his maternal grandfather, Chuni Lal Shukla who worked as station master at Dhankia, Rajasthan. His maternal grandfather passed away when he was ten years old and later his younger brother Shivdayal also passed away due to grave illness and consequently his maternal grandmother also passed away.

        पंण्डित दीनदयाल उपाध्याय जी के पिता जी चन्द्रभान नंगला मथुरा के निवासी थे। दीनदयाल उपाध्याय जी का जन्म मूलतः उनके नानाजी के यहां हुआ था। तब नानाजी चुन्नीलाल जी शुक्ला धानक्या रेल्वे स्टेशन जयपुर के निकट राजस्थान पर स्टेशन मास्टर थे। दीनदयाल जी के एक छोटे भाई शिवदयाल जी भी थे। किन्तु पहले पिता जी, फिर छोटे भाई एवं बाद में माताजी का निधन हो गया। दीनदयालजी का लालन पालन नानाजी के यहां ही हुआ बाद में मामाजी ने ही उन्हे पढाया बडा किया । धानक्या रेल्वे स्टेशन जयपुर  में उनकी स्मृति में भव्य स्मारक निर्मित है।

Life of Pandit Deendayal Upadhayaya has been grueling and unfortunately difficult but in spite of his troubling personal life, he did exceedingly well academically. He stood first class first in his tenth Ajmer Board, securing a distinction in every subject for which he was awarded gold medal and scholarship by Maharaja Kalyan Singh of Sikar. He went to Pilani for pursuing intermediate and yet again won a gold medal and scholarship by Ghanshyam Das Birla. Deendayal went to Kanpur and joined Sanatan Dharm College for pursuing Bachelor degree in English Literature. His friend Balwant Mahashabde played an instrumental role in him joining the RSS in 1937. A few years later, he became an RSS pracharak.He came in contact with Dr. Hedgewar-the founder of R S S and gradually started devoting time to the activities of the organisation. After passing graduation with first class he went to St. John’s College, Agra for pursuing his post-graduation, he successfully took the Administrative Service Examination, where during the selection interview he was ridiculed for wearing dhoti, kurta and cap. This was the first instance of him being called Panditji, although in the later days of his life it was used with immense affection by his followers. The death of his cousin Ramo Devi sent him into despair and subsequently he left Master’s degree unfinished, despite securing first class results in the first year. His maternal uncle persuaded him to sit for the Provincial Services Exam, which he passed and he was selected after interview. But he was not interested in administrative service. In the year 1941, he moved to Prayag to pursue B.T. course.

Being under extreme suffering and deprived conditions that could crash any ordinary individual but Deendayal drew strength from negative forces and hardships bestowed upon him by nature and developed a unique personality to rise above his circumstances. After declining the administrative post, he was even offered headmastership of a higher secondary school.
The reason for his declining the entire career opportunities lead us to believe in his obvious attachments to the purpose of R.S.S. Deendayal wrote, “I was at first thinking of taking up a job in some school and also attending to the sangh work of the place simultaneously. But in Lucknow, I was able to study the current situation and to form an idea of the vast field of work ahead, and I got the advice that instead of working in one particular town, I would have to work in a whole district. That is how the paucity of available workers in the dormant Hindu Samaj has to be made up.” Deendayal was concomitantly disturbed by the conditions that prevailed, wherein our society has become weak, devoid of power and steeped into arms of selfishness, people being engrossed in individual interest. Deendayal remarked, “Today begging bowl in hand, Samaj is seeking alms from us. He is known to have burnt all his educational certificates after becoming an RSS pracharak so that he could serve the organisation and the cause single-mindedly.
If we continue to be indifferent to its demands a day may come when we may, have to part with a great deal that we most dearly love.” He dedicated his entire life for the aim and mission of the organisation and to organise the society on the ideas and principles of R.S.S. Shanti Bhushan writes, “Deendayal always wanted to dedicate his life to the country, because he believed that service of the country was not possible after taking up a government job while the country was in bondage. So he dedicated his life to the service of the country, and for this he chose the medium of the R.S.S.” In 1940, the founder of R.S.S. Dr. Hedgewar died and Muslim League was intensely demanding a separate Muslim state. Deendayal opposed the partition demands and worked to combat Muslim fundamentalism and also to integrate the Hindu society. From 1942 onward, he dedicated himself to full time work in R.S.S., attended forty-day summer vacation R.S.S. camp at Nagpur and hence, became a lifelong pracharak after successfully finishing two year training in the R.S.S. education wing. He was regarded as an ideal swayamsevak essentially because his discourse reflected the pure thought-current of the Sangh. He earned reputation and acclaim be- cause of his hard work, dedication, sheer grit, capacity, sincerity, organisational skills, loyalty and commitment. Nanaji Deshmukh writes, “Deendayal was gifted with a many-faceted personality. He was an extraordinary successful organiser and had the knack for keeping people together. His role in the growth and development of the R.S.S. in Uttar Pradesh was very significant.”

Deendayal steered and geared up the organisational work by professing the ideas of R.S.S. and by exhibiting academic talent through various journals. For spreading the ideology of Hindutva nationalism in 1945, he established Rashtra Dharma Prakashan in Lucknow, from where he launched a monthly magazine Rashtra Dharma and in 1948, a weekly Panchjanya and in 1949, a daily Swadesh (now replaced by Tarun Bharat) was also published from Lucknow. In 1946 and 1947, he wrote two books, namely Samrat Chandragupta and Jagat Guru Sankracharya. Later, he expressed his ideas in philosophical essays and a number of speeches.
Deendayal’s indomitable ideas are contained in the books and literary works like, Integral Humanism, Rashtra Jeevan Ki Disha, Rashtra Jeevan Ki Samasyayen, Bhartiya Arthaniti aur Vikas ki Disha, Hindu Sanskriti Ki Visheshta, Akhand Bharat aur Muslim Samasya, Rashtriya Chintan, The Two Plans: Promises, Performances, Prospects, Political Diary, Devaluation: A Great Fall, His Presidential Address, etc. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee realised the necessity of forming an alternative to the Congress on all Bharat basis while R.S.S. too felt a need to from political party to protect its interest. Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee resigned from Nehru cabinet in 1950 opposing Nehru- Liaquat Ali Agreement terming it as unilateral surrender of Bharatiya interests to Pakistan. In September 1951, Dr. Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Deendayal Upadhyaya launched the B.J.S. in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. On 21st October, 1951 All Bharat Convention was held in Delhi to launch Jan Sangh where Dr. S.P. Mukherjee was elected as the founder President and Deendayal was the General Secretary. First National Conference of the B.J.S. was held on 29-31 December, 1952 in Kanpur.

Nevertheless, at the insistence of M.S. Golwalkar, Deendayal joined the Bhartiya Jana Sangh. M.S. Golwalkar had remarked, “Deendayal had not the slightest inclination towards politics.” Vasant Nargolkar writes, “It seems that those who wanted to protect the Hindu interests and promote the Hindu culture exclusively, began to feel the need for a political front to propagate their views through elections and representation in the legislature.” R. Balashankar writes, “Deendayal Upadhyaya is to the B.J.P. what Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was to Congress.” The acumen and highly meticulous attitude exhibited by Deendayal deeply moved Dr. Mookerjee and elicited his famous remarks, ‘If I had two Deendayals, I could transform the political face of Bharat.’ Deendayal contested 1963 by elections from Jaunpur Parliamentary Constituency unsuccessfully.  He also visited the United States, United Kingdom and some European and African countries where he addressed annual functions of R.S.S.
In August 1964, he released a significant document Integral Humanism which later became the basis of B.J.S. Programme.This was adopted in Vijayawada meeting of Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha of B.J.S. on 23-25 January, 1965.21 The various tenets of Integral Humanism were contained in four lectures delivered by him in Mumbai from 22-25 April, 1965. He remained General Secretary of B.J.S. for fifteen years (1953-67). In the Calicut session of B.J.S. held in December 29-31, 1967, he was elevated to the position of President after the death of Dr. Mookerjee. He remained President of B.J.S. only for forty three days. His untiring efforts made BJS a strong political force to be reckoned with while effectively building up and strengthening the network of Jan Sangh throughout Bharat. He was found dead on railway tracks of Mughal Sarai on 11 February, 1968. Mystery of his death still remains unsolved. Sunder Singh Bhandari said, “It was his tremendous dedication and inexhaustible capacity for contact with the people that wove a country wide organisational network for the Jan Sangh.

Deendayal believed in converting the ideas into a reality, he said, ‘We do have before our eyes a vision of a great future for this country; we are not mere visionaries but are Karamyogis, resolved to translate our vision into reality” In a commentary, Satyavrata Singh writes, “It is true that Deendayal never received from the people and the press the same attention as the known leaders of other political parties did both before and after independence.”
Despite the fact that significant contributions have been made by Deendayal Upadhyaya, very little academic discourse is available on his philosophical and ideological orientations and analysis of political accomplishments. In this light, it becomes pertinent to examine and analyse the ideas and life of Deendayal Upadhdyaya.

It is heartening to note that the Bharat national movement produced a large number of dedicated people, who gleefully sacrificed their life for the attainment of independence. The national movement simultaneously used a series of thinkers and scholars who concentrated on understanding and analysing broader societal issues and questions of modern Bharatiya having social, economic, political and cultural dimensions. This is essentially what led to multi- dimensional trajectory of the struggle for freedom, culminating into various streams of social reformers, spiritual development, nation building, academic excellence, legal advancement and so on. This is not a co-incidence that the common available platform to address various issues of social-political life in pre-independent Bharat got converted itself into a political party, contesting elections to achieve power. This political party, like others, in compulsion of retaining political power and to stabilise its power and following, made itself inclined to one particular stream of thinking which somehow led to being intolerant towards other viewpoints prevailing in post independent Bharat. It is also interesting to note that any differing idea with the ruling elite was usually termed as fascist, fundamentalist or retrograde. Social scientists in Bharat also could not muster sufficient courage to look at any point of view which did not follow in line of the contemporary ruling elite. Assigning the infamous adjective of fascist to the political ideologies not in consonance with the ruling political ideology has become a political fashion in our country since independence and the natural corollary of all this has been the one-sided and blatantly partial nature and profile of academic manifestations of socio-political thinking in Bharat. Therefore, the movement of the idea of integral humanism of Deendayal Upadhyaya from the party offices and meetings to the academic discourse is a significant phenomenon.

Thinking of Deendayal Upadhyaya essentially fills the gap of integrated and multi-dimensional attempts to visualise the future Bharat in post- independent scenario. His philosophy of integral humanism presents before us a well organised and well thought of body of philosophy which is inspired by universal values of perennial tradition of Bharatiya thinking. Deendayal Upadhyaya makes earnest attempts to synchronise the all time cultural and ethical tradition of spirituality, morality and acceptability of diverse ideas with modern instruments of democracy. He also tries to present before us the fundamentality of dialogue, discussion, debate and discourse in a contemporary shape with traditional foundations.

Bharatiya tradition always believes in the centrality of assimilation of varying ideas and streams of thinking. Therefore, the differing idea cannot be termed as anti. A thesis does not necessarily require an anti-thesis, a synthesis does not entail upon the existence of anti-thesis. This means that any idea which may appear opposite to one idea is not the idea of the enemy, differing ideas are not necessarily inimical rather opposite ideas having a discourse may lead to a conclusive idea which emerges out of thorough discussion and debate. Therefore, diversity of ideas is not at all a problem rather it is our strength. This diversity gets reflected in all kinds of human life in Bharatiya society for more than five thousand years. This diversity has been recognised, appreciated and acknowledged in almost all the treatises of ancient Bharat. Rigveda underlines and highlights the diversity of religious beliefs, languages and cultural inclinations with an added emphasis on their peaceful co-existence and concomitant assimilation. The hymn in Rigveda says:
नाना धर्माणं बहु विवाचसम्
जनं विभ्रति पृथिवी यथौकसम्।।
This assimilation of diverse viewpoints is integral to Bharatiya ways of thinking. Additionally, it has to be acknowledged that all attempts of human beings are aimed at ultimate pleasure and welfare of humans. In this way, integrity between individual, society, universe and the Supreme is the fundamental basis of the philosophy of integral humanism which Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya has propounded through his lectures and writings.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya contributed immensely to the political dimension of the nation. According to him, a nation needs four things: one, land and people, which together constitute to form a unit called country; secondly, a common collective will is necessary that contains the desire of all; thirdly, a well knit and defined system, constituting a set of principles or a constitution for which the concept of Dharma is invoked in Bharat from ancient traditions; and fourthly, ideals of life. Just as a man is comprised of body, mind, intellect and a soul and in the scenario of absence of any of them we may fall short of being a human in true sense. Likewise, all these four elements combined comprise of a nation and absence of any may not be termed as a nation.28 He made a whole set of distinction between a country and a nation, while they may appear to be synonymous yet the two differ to a large extent. He also draws an analogy between individual and a nation and what steps should be taken by us individuals to reach ideals of life. Country on one hand is a visible entity but the nation on the other hand is a subtle and unseen reality.

A nation is formed “when a group of people lives with a goal, an ideal, a mission, and looks upon a particular piece of land as motherland, the group constitutes a nation. If either of the two- an ideal and a motherland is not there, then there is no nation.” Hence, the name, Bharat makes one think of only a territory, but the appellation, ‘Bharat Mata’ evokes a special, unified consciousness that establishes a relationship between the land and the residents and in this context, the idea of motherland or Janma Bhumi is cultural specific in Bharat. The country is conceived as mother, which is regarded not a mere mass of territory but a living entity working through her sons and fulfilling her mission through them. This notion represents the highest ideal of love and devotion to the land as mother by the residents. According to Deendayal solidarity of the people with the land in which they reside lays in the concept of Ekjan’, one people, one nation. Ekjan, to him, is a living organism. He believes that Ekjan, which is the basis of nation, evolves over a passage of time, which is rooted in a long and unbroken tradition spanning generations. Ekjan, according to him is the life- breath of the people. It shapes the consciousness of the people residing in a specific territory. The unified consciousness exhibited by the psycho-spiritual nature of the people in unison is termed as ‘Chiti’ by him. The fundamental tenets and principles evolved on the basis of the Chiti (collective consciousness) determine and maintain the nature and identity of the nation. As long as such collective consciousness exists a nation remains living and resilient. If the principles, which constitute the Chiti (collective consciousness of the nation), are followed and upheld, then the nation become strong and stable, acquires vitality and glows energetically. According to Deendayal Upadhyaya, Chiti provides power and energy called Virat. It protects the nation from distortions and malformations, and leads to national awakening. He is of the view that if Chiti and Virat are actuated then only can the nation and its people progress; draw all kinds of worldly and spiritual pleasures emerge triumphant in the world; and attain glory.

Deendayal Upadhyaya was also influenced by the concept of democracy. He says “the people of this country have an abiding faith in nationalism and democracy and they will not tolerate elements who seek to subvert these values.” He goes on to say “Democracy has been defined as government by debate. Bhartiya culture goes beyond this and looks at debate as a means of realisation of truth.” As the famous ancient Bharatiya pronouncement from Rambha- Shukha samvad: Okkns okns tk;rs rÙocks/k%A (Though continuous dialogues alone does one arrive to the truth.)

We believe that truth is not one-sided and that it’s various facets can be seen, examined and experienced from various angles”. The oldest treatise of the World Rigveda declares this in emphatic manner:- एकं सद् विप्राः बहुधा वदन्ति। (Truth is one but the learned refer to it in different names.) Deendayal Upadhyaya believes that the effectiveness and vibrancy of democracy depend upon consciousness of responsibility, discipline and the feeling for the nation in the life of the people. If these sanskaras (spiritual values) are absent in the citizen, democracy degenerates into an instrument of individual, class and party interest. Nation is viewed as an integral and organic entity which according to him forms a unified state structure. While discussing about Dharma Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya says, Dharma is not just a sovereign value and a balancing wheel between Artha and Kama to attain Moksha but also the anchor-sheet of nation, state and government. Therefore, he emphatically upholds the primacy of Dharma not just for the individual and society, but also for the nation, state and government.
Deendayal Upadhyaya’s philosophy of Integral Humanism has various dimensions such as social, political and economic. He is of the view that an individual is inseparably attached to society. Society, according to him, is an enlarged man. He also deals with the relation of man with humanity and universe. Deendayal also laid great emphasis on Swadeshi and decentralisation for the development of Bharat. He speaks for the development of both agriculture and industry in his ‘Arthayam.’ For the establishment and proper development of the industry Deendayal emphasises the consideration of seven ‘M’s, which are man, material, money, motive power, management, market and machine. He develops an integrated indigenous model of development, which is very important for the development of Bharatiya society because of its peculiar conditions.30 He seeks to achieve not only the material development of man but also craves for his spiritual advancement. Deendayal Upadhyaya deserves the credit of enriching Bharatiya thought through his philosophy of Integral Humanism, which aims at an overall development social, political, economic and spiritual of man. His philosophy of Integral Humanism is also very important as it seeks to harmonise the interests of an individual, the society, the mankind and the entire universe. Deendayal believes that man is a complex of tatvas (elements). He says “Body, mind, intelligence and the soul-these four make up an individual.” These four elements cannot be viewed separately because they are integrated and intertwined with each other. Man’s progress means that balanced development of the entities residing in the body. For the development of man, he emphasises the importance of body and stresses that the satisfaction of bodily needs is necessary for the realisation of self. In this contexts, he quotes from Upanishad- i.e. vनायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्यः %, weakling cannot realise the self. Again शरीरमाद्यं खलु धर्मसाधनम् “the body is truly the primary instrument to discharge the responsibilities that Dharma enjoins.31 He divides human nature into two types, viz: the Asuri bhav (demonic disposition) and the Devi bhav (dynamic disposition of Goddess). Former is based on self interest and the latter on selfless service. He wants to build up a well-knit harmonious edifice or order of civilisation on the principle of complimentary and mutual relationship based on fellowship, cooperation sympathy and goodwill in man’s life.
The first interaction of individual is with the Earth and throughout life the maximum interaction of the individual is with the Earth only. As per Bharatiya tradition of thinking the human body is made up of five elements namely, Earth, Water, Fire, Air, Sky. All the consumable and required things and material for individual are derived from Earth only. The final destination of human body is also Earth only. The Amrit (nectar) is derived from the earth so is the Visha (poison), same is with the water, fire and life. Therefore, the Earth is called. This is why Bharatiya tradition calls the Earth Mata (Mother). The Vedic hymn says: माता भूमिः पुत्रोहम् पृथिव्याः।

The approach of looking at the Mother Nature essentially transforms our behaviour and attitude towards the other living and non-living creatures inhabiting the earth, individual and society, and individual and the universe. This integrity of individual and universe will necessarily pave the way for the integrity between the individual and supreme. Keeping in mind this natural integrity among these elements Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya provides an altogether different perspective of analysing the social life. It does not anticipate any kind of conflict or clash of interest between any of these elements. The existence of each of these elements is independent and separate but not delinked to any of the other elements. So, each of these elements is complimentary and connected to each other. There cannot be any existence of any of these elements without the other. Individual is at the central point but, not the role point. We cannot find a distinctive demarcation with the Supreme. The feeling of the existence of a supreme authority transforms an individual into human being. It prevents him from becoming brutal, it lessens the animal trends, it disseminates the virtues of sympathy, love, affection, compassion, etc. The aspiration for the interaction with the ultimate authority guides the individual towards understanding of intricate secrets of the nature. It introduces the individuals to his ultimate aim. It defines his path of life. It relates him with society, nation and universe. It indicates the trajectory of human welfare. This is why the Bharatiya tradition of thinking does never differentiate between nations, societies, regions, classes, groups and so on. It always prays for the welfare of all, it always prays for the good of all, it always prays for the Vishwa Kalyan.

लोकाः समस्ताः सुखिनः भवन्ति।
The most famous Bharatiya prayer of Upanishad aims at achieving welfare of all.

सर्वे भवन्तु सुखिनः सर्वे सन्तु निरामयाः।
सर्वे भद्राणि पश्यन्तु मा कश्चिद् दुःख भाग् भवेत्।।

The contemporary relevance of the philosophy of integral humanism of Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya lies in underlining the idea of welfare of all in Bharatiya tradition and attempting to address the various issues and questions, being faced by the society as a whole in the light of integral humanism. Deendayal not only examined the existing body of thinking throughout the world but also tried to provide the Bharatiya alternative. It has been rightly observed that integral humanism of Deendayal Upadhyaya attempts at creative interpretation of ancient Bharatiya tradition and culture through re-inventing the system of life prevailing in post-independent Bharat. It indicates at lop-sidedness of the capitalist and socialist ideological perspectives and seeks to offer an indigenous system of life.

Although it must be underlined that Deendayal himself argued that neither those who discarded everything that has originated in Bharat are correct, nor those who suggest that we must go back to the position of past and must restart from there are to be accepted. Both of these view-points represent partial truths. He argued that: यद्देषस्य यो जन्तुः तद्देषस्य तस्यौशधम् i.e. for the disease in each place, a remedy suitable to that place must be formed. “Therefore, it is neither possible nor wise to adopt foreign issue in our country in original form in toto. It will not be helpful in achieving happiness and prosperity”, He further candidly says that “We must absorb the knowledge and gains of the entire humanity so far as eternal principles and truths are concerned. Of these, the ones that originated in our midst have to be clarified and adopted to changed times, and those that we take from other societies have to be adapted to our conditions.

Deendayal Upadhyaya has touched upon a large number of issues ranging from secularism to majoritarianism, Dharma to society, state to individual, market to profit, nation to nationalism, democracy to culture, constitution to decentralization, legislature to judiciary, education to employment, Bhartiya to Swadeshi and so on. Therefore, he attempts to address most of the issues of contemporary relevance and to provide an alternative perspective to the solutions.

References
Amarjeet Singh(2015) Main Deendayaal Bol Raha hoon  , Pratibha Pratishthan, New Delhi
Deendayal Upadhyaya (2019) Complete Works of Deendayal Upadhyaya Set of 15 Volumes , New Delhi :Prabhat Prakashan
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