Triveni Journal

1927 | 11,233,916 words

Triveni is a journal dedicated to ancient Indian culture, history, philosophy, art, spirituality, music and all sorts of literature. Triveni was founded at Madras in 1927 and since that time various authors have donated their creativity in the form of articles, covering many aspects of public life....

Rajaji

T. V. Viswanatha Aiyar

When we think of Rajaji, we are reminded of one, slightly bent in frame, with dark glasses and the inevitable walking stick, one who is all brains and no brawn, steadfast in purpose and iron of will, who sets goals high, however big, the obstacle or great, the sacrifice. It is difficult for those of small mind and little knowledge to understand, much less to appreciate him. The unknowing may even think he has been suffering from the vice of virtue but the discerning will readily grant that it was all born of clear and close analysis, of ends and means. He was an Everest among Himalayan peaks, not easy to approach or to conquer. He was unapproachable in more senses than one. He was rather like Rama, an ideal to be attempted, than a Krishna, one of us, with whom we could rub shoulders, with all our foibles and weaknesses. Fire purifies but in the process gets us out of shape; ice solidifies but makes us inert and lifeless. If we did not see the warmth and the great quality which admitted of easy approach, the fault was of course with us, for we knew he was capable of great affection, sympathy and kindliness, not to speak of wit and humour; but that was for the fortunate few. The rest of us had perforce to be content with worship and admiration or cursing for that matter, all from a respectable distance, neither too far nor too near. He was a patriot and thinker of the first order; few, in India or abroad, had his vision and insight or could write with such precision, directness, simplicity or effect. If mere argument and reasoning could do the trick, fewer still could equal him.

Looking at the great service he rendered us in interpreting our classics, the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, the immortal Kural and the lovely Bhajagovindam, we are lost in admiration of how one great mind understands and interprets other great minds, the seers of old, all in such simple and chaste Tamil or English.

Rajaji’s insistence on observance of Dharma in our daily lives, social behaviour and in the act of government, and his warnings to us in our dealings with the outside world, all stemmed out of his ability to turn the searchlight of his powerful mind inwards to the problems of the day and seeing the dangers ahead as a doctor Bees the bacilli, dirt and disease through his powerful microscope.

He was responsible, single-handed and more than any other, to give content and courage to a meaningful opposition to the ruling party and put it in the dock, as it were, with an impressive charge sheet of commissions and omissions. Even when one did not agree with him in all he said, one had no doubt about his sincerity, sense of duty and purpose. Let us also not forget the pain and poignancy with which he was doing all this in the last two decades of his life. He gave of his all to the cause of the nation and grew grey in the service of the Indian National Congress, and was accepted for long, as its great and shiningexemplar and support. It was his indomitable will and love of our motherland, sense of national duty, that sustained him.

He had his own share of grief and suffering. Lesser minds would have quailed and given up the struggle.

His own ideal is Valluvar’s dictum:

“Do not say to yourself, let me see
about it later when I shall be better
fitted. Live the true religious life
now. It will be the one unfailing
support while all else will disappear
and be of no use.”
(Kural – Rajaji’s translation)

By all standards, age and experience, wisdom and knowledge, discipline and character, he was a real Chakravarti and Bharata Ratna.

He was a power-house, as it were, which served to give both light and power to whomsoever that pressed the right switch. He was in truth and fact a national asset and his light, power and energy were available to all alike, like the Sun, unasked and equally.

Let me conclude with a prayer which besides being a “Prayer for our times” serves amply to portray the moral and spiritual grandeur of Rajaji’s life and thought.

A PRAYER FOR OUR TIMES

God!
Merciful God!
Because a dark deepening crisis
Is engulfing this beloved land of our...
Give us men a time like this demands
Honest men
Men of strong minds
of big hearts
and true faith
Men whom lust of power
will not corrupt
Men whom spoils of office
will not buy
Men for whom
Service to the nation
will come
before their selfs
Men who will not indulge
in gimmickry
Men who will not feed us
on slogans or
on stunts
Give us, O God!
Men of honour,
of integrity
Men who can
and will
Stand up to demands
of demagogy
Men who will not
yield to trecherous
flatterers
Men who will live
above the fog
and fluff of mock
adulation
God! Give us such men
a trying and testing time
like this demands.





“It is difficult to think of Madras and India without Rajaji. He served India with great distinction in a variety of ways. We have lost a very great man and I have lost an old friend.”

–Dr S. RADHAKRISHNAN

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