Chanakya Shakha RSS - Theen Darbaja Karauli

Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory, through organising the entire society and ensuring protection of Hindu Dharma.

Having identified this goal, the Sangh created a method of work in consonance with that ideal. Decades of functioning has confirmed that this is the most effective way of organising the society.

The Sangh's method of working is of the simplest kind, and there is hardly anything esoteric about it. Coming together every day for an hour is the heart of the technique, and the Sangh has always grown only by personal contact. This is a self-contained mechanism; hence its success.

The daily Shakha is undoubtedly the most visible symbol of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The Shakha is as simple in its structure as it is grand in conception. No better example can be given to prove the truth of the adage that it takes a genius to simplify a mechanical tool, while even a third-rate engineer can complicate a simple mechanism! After nearly seven decades since the inception of the Sangh, people continue to express puzzlement as to how such a simple tool as the daily Shakha can produce idealists and patriots of such sterling worth, willing to dedicate all their energies and talents to the cause of the Motherland, willing even to shed their lives if need be to protect the honour of the Motherland. Herein lies the extraordinary vision, skill and foresight of Dr. Hedgewar, the founder of the Sangh.
What is the Shakha?

A saffron flag (called the Bhagawa Dhwaj) flutters in the midst of an open playground. Youths and boys of all ages engage in varieties of indigenous games. Uninhibited joy fills the air. There are exercises, Suryanamaskar, sometimes training in skillfully wielding the 'Danda'. All activities arc totally disciplined. The physical-fitness programmes are followed by group singing of patriotic songs. Also forming part of the routine is exposition and discussion of national events and problems. The day's activity culminates in the participants' assembling in orderly rows in front of the flag at a single whistle of the group leader, and reverentially reciting the prayer "Namaste Sada Vatsale Matrubhoome" (My salutation to you, loving Motherland). The prayer verses, even as the group leader's various commands are all in Samskrit. The prayer concludes with a heart-felt utterance of the inspiring incantation "Bharatmata Ki Jai".

This, in outline, is the Shakha of RSS. The participants are the 'Sangh Swayamsevaks'.

The Shakha is the most effective and time-tested instrument for the moulding of men on patriotic lines - outreaching by far its physical dimension.

The Shakha process is further strengthened by graded training-camps celled 'Sangha Shiksha Varga' at provincial and all-Bharat level, at regular intervals.
The Sangh has popularised the observance of six national festivals of social significance: Varsha Pratipada or Hindu New Year; Hindu Samrajya Dinotsav on Jyeshtha Shuddha Trayodashi, commemorating the coronation of Chatrapati Shivaji; Gurupooja on Ashadha Poornima; Raksha Bandhan on Shravana Poornima; Vijayadashami on Ashwayuja Shuddha Dashami; and Makara Sankranti.
Mission
The Hindu culture is the life-breath of Hindusthan. It is therefore clear that if Hindusthan is to be protected, we should first nourish the Hindu culture. If the Hindu culture perishes in Hindusthan itself, and if the Hindu society ceases to exist, it will hardly be appropriate to refer to the mere geographical entity that remains as Hindusthan. Mere geographical lumps do not make a nation.The entire society should be in such a vigilant and organized condition that no one would dare to cast an evil eye on any of our points of honour.

Strength, it should be remembered, comes only through organization. It is therefore the duty of every Hindu to do his best to consolidate the Hindu society. The Sangh is just carrying out this supreme task.The present fate of the country cannot be changed unless lakhs of young men dedicate their entire lifetime for that cause. To mould the minds of our youth towards that end is the supreme aim of the Sangh.
Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar

Founder of RSS

Sangh: Unique And Evergreen

A unique phenomenon in the history of Bharat in the twentieth century is the birth and unceasing growth of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). The Sangh's sphere of influence has been spreading far and wide, not only inside Bharat but also abroad, like th radiance of a many splendored diamond. Sangh inspired institutions and movements today form a strong presence in social, cultural, educational, labour, developmental, political and other fields of nationalist endeavour. Sangh initiated movements be they social-reformist or anti-secessionist - evoke ready response and approbation from the common multitudes as well as from vast numbers of elite of different shades. It has increasingly been recognized that the Sangh is not a mere reaction to one or another social or political aberration. It represents a corpus of thought and action firmly rooted in genuine nationalism and in the age old tradition of this country.

No other movement or institution has attracted such vast numbers of adherents, several thousands of them making social work their life's mission, whose character and integrity are not doubted even by their most virulent critics.

As a movement for national reconstruction totally nurtured by the people, Sangh has no parallel in Bharat or elsewhere. The growth of the Sangh - as a movement for assertion of Bharat's national identity - acquires added significance when we remember that the birth of the Sangh was preceded by mental, cultural and economic onslaught by alien rulers for long decades.

There could be only one explanation for the continuing march of the Sangh from strength to strength: the emotive response of the millions to the vision of Bharat's national glory, based on the noblest values constituting the cultural and spiritual legacy of the land and collectively called 'Dharma', comprising faith in the oneness of the human race, the underlying unity of all religious traditions, the basic divinity of the human being, complementarity and inter-relatedness of all forms of creation both animate and inanimate, and the primacy of spiritual experience. That the mission of the Sangh is in tune with a millennia old heritage itself carries an irresistible appeal.

It would have been logical for our post-1947 rulers to re-structure the national life in keeping with our culture. Sadly, that golden opportunity was lost. Until Dharma also is recognized as a basis of survival and progress, national integration and such other oft-repeated goals will remain a far cry indeed. Idealism and patriotism are tangible exterior manifestations of Dharma.

Absence of idealism has been at the root of most problems haunting our polity. Amidst such an environment, Sangh is unique in according primacy to inculcation of patriotism in all citizens and in all life's activities.National reconstruction demands the fostering of a national character, uncompromising devotion to the Motherland, discipline self-restraint, courage and heroism. To create and nurture these noble impulses is the most challenging task before the country - what Swami Vivekananda succinctly called man-making.

It is to this historic mission that the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has addressed itself.

Sangh: A Dynamic Power-House

Great oaks from little acorns grow. What started as a tiny stream in an obscure corner of Nagpur in Maharashtra 68 years ago has now swollen into a mighty river engulfing the remotest villages of the country. That the number of Sangh Shakhas has crossed 25,000 is one indicator of the expanding reach of the Sangh.

It redounds to the foresight of Dr. Keshav Baliram Hedgewar (1889-1940) that he anticipated the need for strengthening the foundations of the Hindu society and for preparing it for challenges on social, economic, cultural, religious, philosophical and political planes. A galaxy of savants such as Dayananda and Vivekananda, Aurobindo and Tilak, had sown the seeds of the most recent phase of national renaissance. What was needed was a sufficiently strong instrumentality for carrying that process onward. This instrumentality was created and bequeathed to the nation by Dr. Hedgewar in the form of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which he, after years of deliberate and patient preparation, founded at Nagpur on 27th September, Vijayadashami Day of 1925.

One of the hazards of organisation-building is allowing one's vision to be clouded with immediate concerns, resulting in dilution of perception of the ultimate goal. Dr. Hedgewar's especial strength was that he never allowed demands of the immediate present to veer him away from the ultimate mission he set to himself.