Syllabus:

GS 1: Social empowerment

GS 4: Contributions of moral thinkers and philosophers from India

Context: 

Recently, Bharatiya Janata Party is marking 60 years of Integral Humanism (known as Ekatm Manavvad in Hindi), a philosophy developed by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay which focuses on holistic and human-centered development.

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay

• He was an Indian philosopher, economist, political thinker and co-founder of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS), the forerunner of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
• He was born on September 25, 1916, in Nagla Chandrabhan, Uttar Pradesh. Orphaned at a young age, he was raised by relatives.
• He joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the 1930s and became a full-time pracharak (campaigner) of the RSS.
• He was associated with the BJS from the beginning and was general secretary before being elected its president in Calicut in December 1967.
• He died in 1968, under mysterious circumstances. His body was found near a railway track in Mughal Sarai (now Deendayal Upadhyaya Junction).

Philosophy of Integral Humanism 

The philosophy is aimed at offering an indigenous socio-economic model rooted in Indian culture.

Core principles:

• Rejection of both Western capitalism and socialism.
• Focus on holistic development—physical, mental, intellectual and spiritual.
• Emphasis on self-reliance, decentralization and harmony between individual and society.

It has Served as the ideological foundation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and earlier the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS).

Upadhyay ended his fourth lecture by saying that over the past four days, they had discussed the idea of Integral Humanism. 

He believed this approach could harmonize nationalism, democracy, socialism and world peace with the traditional values of Indian culture, viewing all these ideals in a unified and balanced way.

Dattopant Thengdi (1920–2004), an RSS pracharak, played a key role in developing and explaining Upadhyay’s concept of Integral Humanism. 

He worked with the BJS in its early days in Madhya Pradesh, later founded the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) and served as a BJS member of the Rajya Sabha from 1964 to 1976.

Chiti and Dharma

In his lectures, Upadhyay referred to ‘Chiti’, which he said was “fundamental and central to the nation from its very beginning”.

According to Daishik Shastra: Bharatiya Polity and Political Science, originally written by Badrishah Thulgharia and later translated into English by Ashok Bhandari in 2003:

• “Chiti determines the direction in which the nation is to advance culturally. Whatever is in accordance with Chiti, is included in culture”.
• “Chiti is the soul of the nation. On the strength of this ‘Chiti’, a nation arises, strong and virile if it is this ‘Chiti’ that is demonstrated in the actions of every great man of a nation”

Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay believed that Dharma is the “repository of the nation’s soul,” and that anyone who abandons Dharma is betraying the nation (as stated in Daishik Shastra). 

He also outlined six important Objectives of our Economy:

• “An assurance of minimum standard of living to every individual and preparedness for the defence of the nation;
• Further increase above this minimum standard of living whereby the individual and the nation acquires the means to contribute to the world’s progress on the basis of its own ‘Chiti’;
• Provide meaningful employment to every able-bodied citizen…and to avoid waste and extravagance in utilizing natural resources;
• Develop suitable machines for Bharatiya conditions (Bharatiya Technology) taking note of the availability and nature of the various factors of production (The ‘Seven Ms of Man, Material, Money, Management, Motive Power, Market, and Machine’);
• This system must help and not disregard the human being,… protect the cultural and other values of life… [and] cannot be violated except at a risk of great peril;
• The ownership, state, private or any other form of various industries must be decided on a pragmatic and practical basis.”

Early beginning and Inspiration

• After completing his manuscript, Thulgharia, an advocate from Almora, sent it to Mahatma Gandhi and Bal Gangadhar Tilak for their opinions.
• Gandhi responded, “For the first time, I had come across such an excellent book on Oriental politics.” Tilak said, “My view is entirely in accord with yours, and I am glad to find that it has been forcefully put forward by you.”
• The manuscript was published in 1923 as “Bal Gangadhar Tilak Smarak Daishik Shastra” by Chitrashala Press in Pune, owned by Tilak’s friend Shankar Narhari Joshi. The book was dedicated to Shree 108 Sombari Baba, a local saint. By the time of publication, Tilak had pased away.
• M.S. Golwalkar, the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS (1940–73), advised Upadhyay to read Thulgharia’s book and visit Almora to see the library set up by the Thulgharia family. Following this, Upadhyay stayed in Almora for a few weeks during 1958–59.
• In 1959, Upadhyay wrote a series of articles in “Panchjanya”, the weekly magazine of the Sangh Parivar. In the English preface to “Daishik Shastra”, he urged his countrymen to study the book carefully, calling it the only one that clearly explains both ancient and modern Indian principles.
• Six years later, during his lectures in Mumbai, Upadhyay used many terms and ideas from “Daishik Shastra”, referring to them as “Ekatm Manavvad” (Integral Humanism).

Mains Practise question

Q. Discuss the philosophy of Integral Humanism as propounded by Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay. How did the ideas from Daishik Shastra influence his thoughts? Examine the relevance of Integral Humanism in contemporary India.