According to the Article 3 of BJP’s constitution ‘Integral Humanism’ is the basic philosophy of BJP. After his extensive thinking, study and reflection Pt. Deendayal Upadhyay propounded it as ideology in the year 1964-65.
Western political thoughts have given the ideology of secularism, individualism and communism. Leadership of independent India is also seeking its future within these ‘isms’. In his findings, while making an intervention, Deendayal Ji raised the question that when we have rejected the western imperialism then what is the compulsion that we should follow western ‘isms’.
Generally, all the established parties in the Indian political arena used to think that we will have to accept these western ‘isms’ with some amendments because we don’t have any other thought. Westerners by coming to India prepared us to become a nation. We are a ‘nation in the making’ or a new nation.
Bharatiya Jana Sangh or Bharatiya Janata Party considers India as an ancient and eternal nation. The thought of India’s ‘cultural nationalism’ is older than the West’s thought of ‘nation-state’. Indian culture has a glorious knowledge tradition, and we have to comprehend our future from this knowledge tradition.
The western vision of looking at a man is divided. Its individualism is the enemy of socialism and socialism is the enemy of individualism. They want the victory of man over nature; here nature versus man is their equation. By adopting secularism, they have snapped spiritualism from the public life. Therefore, dialectical equations of materialism versus spiritualism, state versus church and religion versus science have emerged.
Deendayal Ji believed that this debate of the West is also a human debate. We should know it and learn from it, but we should not become a follower of dialectical conclusions. Therefore, he accepted the responsibility of providing an alternative on the basis of Indian thoughts. All the karyakartas of Bharatiya Jana Sangh were engaged in this work. In this context, 1959 Poona Abhyas-Varg, 1964 Gwalior Abhyas-Varg and 1964 Sangh Shiksha Varg are important. Deendayal Ji presented the ideas which matured in these Vargs in a draft ‘Principles and Policies’ in the name of ‘Integral Humanism’. First of all, in the Vijayvada Bharatiya Jana Sangh National Convention of 1965 it was accepted as basic philosophy and in 1985 Bharatiya Janata Party accepted it as its basic philosophy.
This idea is not about individual versus society but idea of integration in the society. It is not an idea of man versus nature but an idea of integration between man and nature. In India it is called ‘Dharma’ – ‘Yato abhyudaya ni-shreyas sansiddhi sa dharma’. It means that it is a thought of integration between vayshti, samasti, srishti and parmeshti.
This idea is not about individual versus society but the idea of integration in the society. It is not an idea of man versus nature but an idea of integration between man and nature. In India, it is called ‘Dharma’ – ‘Yato abhyudaya ni-shreyas sansiddhi sa dharma’. It means that it is thought of integration between vayshti, samasti, srishti and parmeshti.
This thought discovers the threads of integration in apparent separateness. In world there is no separateness but diversity and what is present in ‘pind’(unit) is present in ‘brahmanda’(universe). Today man by considering himself an individual is waging war against social institutions, family, caste, kinship, panchayat; he is considering everyone his enemy. In the name of socialism he is creating dictatorship, in the name of development he is fighting against nature, he is inviting dangerous destructions by destroying environment. By rejecting spiritualism he has become slave of his senses. He is earning sorrow in his search for happiness and he is unaware of the concept of happiness.
This thought discovers the threads of integration in apparent separateness. In the world there is no separateness, but diversity and what is present in ‘pind’(unit) is present in ‘brahmanda’(universe). Today, a man by considering himself an individual is waging war against social institutions, family, caste, kinship, panchayat. He is considering everyone his enemy. In the name of socialism, he is creating a dictatorship, in the name of development he is fighting against nature; he is inviting dangerous destructions by destroying the environment. By rejecting spiritualism, he has become the slave of his senses. He is earning sorrow in his search for happiness and he is unaware of the concept of happiness.
Indian tradition rejects this separateness and establishes its relationship with both unconscious and conscious. Earth is a mother, the moon is a maternal uncle (mama), the mountain is a god, the river is a mother. Ideas like every individual of the society are mutually linked. This world is not an alien place, this earth is family that frees us from the ideas of separateness, alienation and dialectical relationship.
Integration is present in completeness. In the lack of completeness, man is affected by partial vision. As the universe is complete so an individual is also complete. The individual does not only mean physical being, but he also has mind, intellect and soul. If anyone of these four is ignored the happiness of man will be handicapped. An individual cannot become happy by separating the happiness of these four. He needs integral and intense happiness which is called joy or bliss (Anand). In the same manner, society is not the only government; it has its own culture, people and country. Without the proper movement of these four the happiness of samasthi is not possible. In the same way, there are five great elements (mahabhut) of creation with which justice should be done and proper contact should take place with spiritual elements which might be invisible but can be experienced. Then only man will be happy.
The man integrated with vyashti, samashti, srishti and parameshthi is virat. Its goals (purusharth) are four-dimensional. Dharma, Artha, Kama, moksha are situation neutral goals and society and its system’s work is to fulfil them.
Dharma – means education, culture and legal system.
Artha – it’s sadhan purusharth (‘means’) – economy, employment, production, distribution and utility etc. as per Dharma.
Kama – ‘Dharmavirudh Kamoaham’ – in this all indulgences one has to make them positive by giving them cultural moderation through music and different arts. The Kama in opposition to Dharma is not purushartha but distortion.
Moksha – is the highest goal when an individual is free from the complex of scarcity and influence. All these Indian thoughts should not be issues of sermons but of politics. The policies of the country should be made on their basis.