‘The Proponent of the concept of ‘Ekatm Manavvad’ or ‘Integral Humanism’

The name, ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji’ invokes great and honorable sentiments in the Indian subcontinent. After all, he was one of most important leaders of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, the forerunner of the present Bharatiya Janata Party, which has emerged as the biggest political party in the world with the largest number of supporters in world history. He was the General Secretary of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh for many years and also the President of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh for some time. The Bharatiya Jan Sangh emerged as a powerful political alternative in India in the 1950’s. Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji was a world Visionary, who gave the unique principle of ‘Ekatm Manava Darshan’ or the concept of ‘Integral Humanism’.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji was born on the 25th of September of 1916 in a humble and simple family in the divine city of Mathura, which is in the current day modern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh, which has the distinction of being the birth place of two of the incarnations of Bhagwan Vishnu - Bhagwan Shri. Ram and Bhagwan Shri. Krishna. Bhagwan Shri. Krishna was born in Mathura.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji suffered from multiple traumatic experiences since early childhood. He lost his father at the tender age of three and mother at the impressionable age of seven and went on to lose another six close family members including his younger brother before he turned twenty- four. It might be his life’s experiences combined with his gigantic intellectualism that led him to have a very compassionate and holistic understanding of human life and society in its entirety, which led to the creation of an entirely new and unique concept or philosophy known as ‘Integral Humanism’.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji was a human being of great resilience, empathy, abilities, intelligence and genius. He kept working his way to success inspite of all his personal setbacks. He went on to pursue a Masters degree in English Literature. He later went to do his Teacher’s Training Course at Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh. He came into contact with Dr. Hedgewar of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh or RSS in Kanpur in 1937. However, it was in 1941 that he joined the RSS as a Pracharak. Upadhyaya ji also started the monthly publication ‘Rashtra Dharma’ or ‘National Duty’ in the 1940s. He joined the Bharatiya Jan Sangh in 1952.

It was at the Kanpur (Uttar Pradesh) session of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh, when Upadhyaya ji was elected as the General Secretary of the BJS. The Kanpur session was held between the 29th of December and the 31st of December of 1952. It was Upadhyaya ji who drafted eight of the sixteen resolutions.

The concept of ‘Integral Humanism’ or ‘Ekatm Manavvad’ or ‘Ekatm Manava Darshan’ is a very valuable one and is a roadmap for all generations and times. This principle was first enunciated by Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji in 1964 -1965. It is a kind of social, economic and political philosophy, which gives solutions to world problems using the ‘Bharatiya view point’.

According to Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji, the center of our whole system should be the welfare of the Human Being. According to his philosophy of Ekatm Manavvad or ‘Integral Humanism’, material tools are the means of Human Happiness. Materialism alone cannot lead to the solution of all the problems of the Human Being. He said that we need to harmonize spirituality and materialism. The philosophy of Integral Humanism accepts that there are differences of different entities in life but there is also unity amidst conflict.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji said that it was important to work on all aspects of development of a Human Being. He emphasized that mind, body and soul must develop together. He believed that there was no point in merely satisfying the physical requirements of a human being. The human being must also develop spiritual consciousness and wisdom.

Pandit Deen Dayal ji was inspired by the ‘Purusharth Chatushtya’. According to his ‘Integral Humanism’ philosophy, Artha or Materialism and Kama or desire are the only means to attain Moksha or the emancipation from the Cycle of Birth and Death with Dharma or Righteousness as the Foundation.

Pandit Upadhyaya ji says that we must guarantee people to a minimum standard of living, education, employment, social security and welfare.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji called for decentralization of power and claimed that many of the defects of capitalism are because of over-centralization. According to Upadhyaya ji, Human Happiness is the main goal of all economic production. He also believed that profit maximization as a goal of Economic Entities is not compatible with the Indian Philosophy of Life. Pandit ji denounced both the absence of wealth as well as too much wealth.

Integral Humanism was adopted as an official doctrine of the Jan Sangh in 1965. It was later adopted by the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji ideas of ‘Integral Humanism’ or ‘Ekatm Manavvad’ can be understood by his own speeches between 22nd and 25th of April of 1965.

In his speech he said, ‘It is essential we think about our National Identity. Without this identity, there is no meaning of progress and happiness.’

He also went on to say, ‘The Nation too like the individual becomes a prey to numerous ills when its natural instincts are disregarded. The basic cause of the problems facing Bharat is the neglect of its national identity.’

Upadhyaya ji rejected the theories of Capitalism as well as Marxism. According to him, capitalism was Individual centric and Marxism was Society centric. According to Upadhyaya ji, the overall happiness and well being of a Human Being is when the Individual and the Society function as an Integral Unit. He called this idea as Ekatm Manavvad or Integral Humanism.

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji said in his lectures of 1965 that ‘Western ideologies cannot be the basis of our progress because they have risen in certain special situations and times. They are not necessarily universal.’

Pandit ji rightly says that ‘If Culture does not form the basis of Independence, then the political movement for independence would be reduced simply to a scramble by selfish and power-seeking persons.’

According to Pandit ji – ‘Philosophers are basically scientists. 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.’

According to Pandit ji, ‘On the sound basis of Dharma, we must proceed with the analysis of life as an integral whole. Dharma are the laws of life.’

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji also brought into context the individual and the group. He said that there can be no permanent inevitable conflict among the multi-dimensional personality of an individual and the different institutions of society. He also stated that State and Society are not the same. He also said that Dharma and Religion are different things. According to Upadhyaya ji, basic needs of the individual must be met. He also called for Economic Structure suited to National Genius. He also spoke about ‘Chiti’ or ‘National soul’. He called the power that energizes and activates a nation as ‘Virat’. He said that just as ‘Prana’ influences the life of a human body, ‘Virat’ influences the life of a nation.

In his lecture series in 1965, Pandit Upadhyaya ji famously said, ‘We wish neither to make this country, a shadow of some distant past nor an imitation of Russia or America.’

He believed that we shall be able to re-reconcile nationalism, democracy, socialism and world peace with the traditional values of Bharatiya culture and think of all these ideals in an integrated form.

Shri. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh understood the intellectual prowess and the organizational abilities of Deen Dayal ji. He famously remarked, ‘If I get two Deen Dayals, I can change the face of Indian politics.’

According to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji, ‘Jan Sangh is not a party but a movement.’ Deen Dayal ji carried on the work of the Bharatiya Jan Sangh after the sudden demise of Shri.Shyama Prasad Mukherjee.

The Bharatiya Jan Sangh under Upadhyaya ji wanted to bring The Uniform Civil Code, stop religious conversions and called for Goa’s liberation.

In the 1957 Elections under Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji, the Bharatiya Jana Sangh won 4 seats in Parliament - two from Uttar Pradesh and two from Maharashtra. The 1962 Election results were encouraging, too.

Shri. Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji’s key strategy was ‘Pravaas’ or tours. He travelled extensively. That would also be a great way to improve ‘Samvad’ or ‘Dialogue’ between the highest and lowest levels of Bharatiya Jan Sangh organization as well as improving dialogue between the general public and Bharatiya Jan Sangh.

Dattopant Thengdi notes in the First Volume of ‘Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Vichar Darshan’ that ‘Pandit ji travelled continuously for three consecutive decades on various modes from Bullock Cart to train to plane.’ He delivered many public speeches, conducted many meetings and closely interacted with many people. Pandit ji had undertaken the vow of ‘Akhand Charaiveti – a ceaseless, continuous peregrination - all by himself.

Upadhyaya ji was found assassinated at the Mughal Sarai railway station in Uttar Pradesh under mysterious circumstances on the 11th of February, 1968. Even after years, we have no answers. Like Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee. Like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose.

However, great souls like Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose, Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, and Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji live forever in the minds of their countrymen who worship them for inspiring them and for contributing to the progress and well-being of Bharat.

Bharat Mata ki Jai!

Bibliography

1. Bharatiya Janata Party by Shantanu Gupta
2. Amit Shah and the March of the BJP by Anirban Ganguly and Shiwanand Dwivedi.
3. www.historicalindia.org
4. The four important speeches of Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyaya ji between 22nd April and 25th April of 1965