Self-Development and Social Transformations?

Self-Development andSocial Transformations?

The Vision and Practice of the

Self-Study Mobilization of Swadhyaya

ANANTA KUMAR GIRI

Foreword by

Arjun Appadurai

RAWAT PUBLICATIONS

Jaipur � New Delhi � Bangalore � Mumbai � Hyderabad � Guwahati

ISBN 81-316-0105-6

© Author, 2008

Simultaneously published in the USA by Lexington Books (A Division of

Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.) 4501, Forbes Boulevard, Suite 200,

Lanham, MD 20706 USA.

This edition for sale in SOUTH ASIA ONLY (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,

Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, and Bhutan).

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means,

electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information

storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers.

Published by

Prem Rawat for Rawat Publications

Satyam Apts, Sector 3, Jawahar Nagar, Jaipur 302 004 (India)

Phone: 0141 265 1748 / 7006 Fax: 0141 265 1748

E-mail: info@rawatbooks.com

Website: www.rawatbooks.com

New Delhi Office

4858/24, Ansari Road, Daryaganj, New Delhi 110 002

Phone: 011 2326 3290

Also at Bangalore, Mumbai, Hyderabad, and Guwahati

Typeset by Rawat Computers, Jaipur

Printed at Chaman Enterprises, New Delhi

For the practitioners of Bhaktipheri (devotional travel)—past and present—

and for Dr K.S. Singh and Professor B.K. Roy Burman

who practice anthropology as a Bhaktipheri

for the enrichment of this fragile home of ours

Contents

Foreword ix

Preface xi

1 Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 1

2 Active Devotion in a Local Context: 37

The Dynamics of Swadhyaya in Simar

3 Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments: 124

The Dynamics of Swadhyaya in Veraval and Beyond

4 From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir: 202

The Work of Swadhyaya in Tribal Areas

5 The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 235

6 Globalization of Swadhyaya 258

7 Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 284

References Cited 306

Glossary 312

Index 316

— vii —

Foreword

Ananta Kumar Giri is one of the pioneers of the study of transnational

social activism and its implications for civil society. Since his first

detailed study of the organization called Habitat for Humanity, devoted to

volunteer efforts to build houses for the poor on a global basis, he has

remained concerned with ethical and conceptual wellsprings of organized

collective action. This original interest has taken many forms in the inter-

vening years and the book he has now written, on the social movement

called Swadhyaya, is a rich case study of a very different sort of

movement.

In the first place, this book reminds us that many movements end up

being global or transnational but all movements must begin locally.

Swadhyaya is born in Western India and Giri’s analysis of its history,

strategies and aspirations is of considerable interest to those of us inter-

ested in the politics of Hinduism, and in the many varieties of political

activism that have Hindu roots. In addition, it is interesting to read about a

movement that had its origins in the Marathi-speaking world of Bombay

but found its full social expression in several districts of rural Gujarat.

This historical fact reminds us that Western India has a complex cultural

history which is neither bounded nor best understood by the boundaries of

the linguistic states that were created in 1956, in this case the states of

Maharashtra and Gujarat.

In a more global perspective, Giri gives us an interesting picture of

how a highly localized social vision moves into a transnational trajectory,

through the Middle East, Europe, and the United Kingdom. This process,

which is the subject of Chapter 6, contains many valuable glimpses into

— ix —

the negotiations of migrant actors struggling with a social vision in

geographical motion.Since Swadhyaya is a movement directly related to the centrality of

personal devotion (bhakti) in Indic history, this book may also be seen as acontribution to the study of bhakti in contemporary India, and of the waysin which personal devotion has become connected—once again—toprojects of social reform. The link between self-transformation and socialtransformation is one of the striking features of Indian history—givenworldwide force by the life and work of Mahatma Gandhi. But it is also afeature of many other ethical and political movements—including earlyChristianity, radical Islam, recent Christian evangelical movements, andthe Falun Gong movement based in China, among many others. Giri’sstudy of the Swadhyaya movement is a close look at how ordinary peopleget drawn into deep projects of social and ethical change.

Giri’s greatest strength is to allow many of the people to whom hespoke to speak for themselves. Rather than covering his ethnography in ashellac of social theory, thus masking or silencing the voices of keyactors, Giri gives us direct access to the struggles, debates, hopes, anddoubts of those engaged in the movement, both in and outside India. In theend, this is the best contribution that ethnography can make to the study oftransnational social movements.

This study of Swadhyaya marks another important addition to thegrowing archive of studies of India’s contemporary social movements. Aswe now know, there are few civil societies which are as vibrant as those ofSouth Asia. In the midst of immense inequality and frequent politicalviolence, ordinary citizens in this part of the world have taken up battlesagainst the state, or battles that the state has abandoned. These include thestruggles over forests and dams, the struggles over human rights andminority freedoms, the struggles over women’s issues and education, andthe struggles over micro-credit and urban housing for the poorest of thepoor. India is a live democracy in spite of its manifest poverty because ithas access to many great traditions of reform, including those of thebhakti tradition. Ananta Kumar Giri has shown how this archive is stillcapable of nurturing new movements, and of how, as the world changes,these movements move beyond their initial geographical horizons. Hethus offers us a direct glimpse of the relationship between the grass andthe roots in one vital grassroots social movement.

June 2006 Arjun Appadurai

New York John Dewey Professor of Social Sciences

New School of Social Research

x Foreword

Preface

We live in a society obsessed with the self: above all, most of us want to

be rich, powerful, beautiful, and admired, or at least one of the above [..]

But instead of saying we are so obsessed with the self, perhaps we

should say we are not obsessed enough; we have not looked deeply

enough into what we really want, which is the just self, capable of

treating others justly in the context of a just society.

—Robert N. Bellah (2007),

“Ethical Politics: Reality or Illusion?,” pp. 67-68

[..] Everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of human

freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances,

to choose one’s own way.

—Viktor Frankl

To think with an enlarged mentality one trains one’s imagination to go

visiting

—Hannah Arendt (1982),

Lectures on Kant’s Political Philosophy

The liberation of science and religion would open the way to a profound

cultural turning from which economic and political turnings naturally

follow. As humans come to embrace the truth that we are all creatures of

the one living, immanent Spirit, competition for dominator power of

one over another becomes an anachronism. Gratuitous violence

becomes sacrilege. The pursuit of money beyond reasonable need

— xi —

becomes idolatry. Chauvinist exceptionalism becomes a mark of

emotional immaturity.

—David C. Corten (2006),

The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community, p. 265

This is a study of the vision and practice of the self-study mobilization

of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya means study of self but in Swadhyaya this has

a broader connotation and practice of pursuing study of oneself in the

context of varieties of meaningful relationships and practices which

contribute to mutual enrichment and creation of dignified social relation-

ships and collective foundations of well-being. I first came to know of

Swadhyaya in October 1994 and have worked on it ever since, carrying

out fieldwork on it in Gujarat (Veraval, Una, and Sabarkantha), Bombay,

Dubai, London, Leicester, and Chicago.

In this study I have been helped by many kind and sympathetic

brothers and sisters of Swadhyaya Parivara to all of whom I am grateful.

Naming all of them would be next to impossible as I have met hundreds of

brothers and sisters of Swadhyaya who have not only helped me in this

project of learning but also have very kindly invited me to their homes and

hearts. With my apology to all those whose names I am not able to

mention, may I here express my deep gratitude to Revered Pandurang

Shastri Athavale (Dadaji), Jagdish Bhai Shah, Hermraj Bhai Ashar, Ajay

Bhai Joshi, Pappot Bhai, Mahesh Bhai Dhruv, Jadavji Bapa, Sirish Bhai

Joshi, Dhriubhai Patel, and Jayashri Behen Talwalkar (Didi) for their kind

help and consideration. This study was carried out with financial support

from Madras Institute of Development Studies, Chennai and Indian

Council of Social Science Research, New Delhi and my grateful thanks

are due to all friends in these two institutions. I have been fortunate to

present this work in forums around the world and have benefited from

kind and generous comments and advice from many scholars. I am

grateful to all of them, especially to Professors N.R. Sheth, C.T. Kurien,

A. Vaidyanathan, Alain Touraine, Jean-Calud Galey, Des Gasper, Jan

Nederveen Pieterse, Jonathan Friedman, Leo Howe, Jonathan Spencer,

John Cameroon, Fillipo and Caroline Osella, Bhikhu Parekh, Ranjit Guha,

and Philip Quarles Van Ufford. Professor John Clammer, Dr Des Gasper,

and Mr. O.P. Bhasin have kindly looked at this manuscript and have

helped me with their invaluable comments. I thank them for their

continued generosity. P.S. Syamala and C. Kalai Selvi, Sushanta

Mohapatra and Rajakishore Mahana have typed some part of the

xii Preface

manuscript and my thanks are due to them. My grateful thanks are also

due to Professor Arjun Appadurai for kindly encouraging this effort by

writing a foreword. I thank friends in Lexington Books, USA and Rawat

Publications, India, especially Pranit Bhai, for their kind encouragement

in bringing out this work simultaneously in North America and

South Asia.

This work is humbly dedicated to all the practitioners of bhaktipheri

(devotional travel)—past and present. This is also dedicated to Dr K.S.

Singh and Professor B.K. Roy Burman who practise anthropology as a

devotional travel for enrichment of this fragile home of ours. Dr Singh is

no more physically with us but this is a humble tribute to his immortal

spirit and his eternal quest for human creativity and cultural pluralism. It

has been my blessing to have shared many moments with this great

embodiment of human spirit. Similarly, it has been my blessing to share

many thoughts and paths with Professor Roy Burman who continue to

strive for a new mode of human dignity and a new anthropology of

conviviality beyond the dominant trappings of power. May the works of

these two great anthropologists from India inspire us to be dedicated to

anthropological fieldwork and broader issues of human survival and

planetary destiny as a matter of urgent devotional commitment to our own

selves and the fragile worlds we currently inhabit!

It was fourteen years ago that I first began my tryst with Swadhyaya

and on this day of Easter—the day of resurrection of Jesus Christ, an

inspiring traveler and spiritual experimenter in human history—I present

this with tears as a humble gift to all the seeking souls of the world who

are striving for new modes of self-development and collective enlight-

enment. May this inquiry into an initiative in self-development encourage

us to explore new dimensions of self-realizations and social transforma-

tions!

Easter 2008 Ananta Kumar Giri

On the way from the journey of life, Malta

Preface xiii

1

Understanding the Vision and Practice of

Swadhyaya

I see Bhakti as an understanding of God’s profound love for us. We

respond to that in the form of active concern for His creation. We show

our concern by translating it into community action; that is expanding

the circle of love for meeting the common goal. In doing so, we are not

engaged in any social service nor are we obliging others. It is our

gratitude to the Supreme Creator that issues into a dynamic activity,

actional devotion—Krutibhakti as we call it. Understood in this larger

sense, Bhakti has the potential to solve the socio-economic problems. It

becomes an antidote to expressive individualism and oppressive state

control. Participation in community reconstruction also becomes a

journey of self-discovery.

—Pandurang Shastri Athavale (1997),

Templeton Prize Address

I am here to serve no one else but myself, to find my own

self-realization through the service of these village folk. Man’s ultimate

aim is the realization of God, and all his activities, political, social, and

religious, have to be guided by the ultimate aim of the vision of God.

The immediate service of all human beings becomes a necessary part of

the endeavour.

—Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1961),

My Philosophy of Life, p. 5

The political, ethical, social, philosophical problem of our days is not

try to liberate the individual from the State and its institutions but to

— 1 —

liberate us both from the State and the type of individualization linked

to the State. We have to promote new forms of subjectivity.

—Michel Foucault (2005),

Hermeneutics of the Subject, p. 544

Post-independent India, confronted with the challenge of building a

society of dignity, has witnessed varieties of mobilizations. While some

of these have been political such as the Naxalite movements, others have

raised issues of self-development, cultural identity, and societal transfor-

mations drawing inspirations from religious and spiritual traditions of the

land. The self-study mobilization of Swadhyaya has been one of the

most-widespread mobilizations emanating from the religious and spiritual

traditions of India but now globalized and at work in different countries

around the world. Swadhyaya means study of self but self here does not

mean only possessive individualism nor ego but a universal dimension

within oneself, which is connected with others as a reality as well as possi-

bility. As a major departure from many aspects of India’s spiritual

traditions where self-study and self-development are more often pursued

in a mode of isolated meditation and lonely quest, self-development and

self-study in Swadhyaya are practiced also in devotionally active relation-

ships with others. In Swadhyaya efforts in self-study and self-

development are encouraged to be linked with going out to and with the

other and creating life-elevating prayogs or projects.

Foundations of Swadhyaya

Bhakti (devotion) is the foundation of Swadhyaya. The idea of indwelling

God that God resides in every heart and works in every body is at the core

of the vision and practice of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya draws inspiration

from Bhagawad Gita that God resides in everybody’s heart.1 There is a

universal connectedness in every heart as a locus of God. Bhakti or

devotion is an acknowledgement of this inner divinity in oneself and

others. In Swadhyaya, as Ramashray Roy, one of the earliest social scien-

tists reflecting on the work of Swadhyaya tells us: “Devotion is not simply

worship. Devotion is an orientation, an outlook that induces one to

develop one’s capabilities to the fullest and then open them in the source

of God who resides in all human beings. It thus combines in itself both

knowledge and action” (Roy MS: 36). The idea of indwelling God as a

foundation of Swadhyaya gives a new self-identity to participants. As

2 Chapter 1

Rahenema argues, power and empowerment are perceived very differ-

ently here: “The very notion of Aham Brahma Asmi [I am Brahmin]

excludes by definition the concept of anyone’s powerlessness”

(Rahenema: 14).

Bhakti is usually thought of as an emotionally charged relationship

with one’s divine interlocutor but Swadhyaya makes a distinction

between Bhavabhakti and Krutibhakti—emotional devotion and actional

devotion—and emphasizes the need for both. In Krutibhakti one

embodies one’s devotion in concrete acts of labor and love for and with

the other. For Swadhyaya, one is impoverished without the other.

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 3

Dadaji with Lord Yogeshwara Krishna

Athavale, the founder of Swadhyaya, says: “I see Bhakti as an under-

standing of God’s profound love for us. We respond to that in the form of

active concern for His creation” (Athavale 1997: 9). Linking self and

other through Bhakti and pointing towards a perspective of responsibility,

Athavale writes: “Bhakti is our entry point through which we develop

bonds of brotherhood. Because of its voluntary nature, obligations are

self-incurred. From passive spectators and helpless victims we become

responsible for our lives and the world in which we live” (ibid).

Bhaktipheri or devotional travel is the starting point of this realization

of one’s responsibility to oneself and the other where one goes out to meet

with the other in a spirit of devotion. In bhaktipheri one comes out of

oneself and meets with the other. Bhaktipheri is the first step towards

self-development as co-development. “Bhaktipheri is not only indicative

of person’s resolve to take time out from his busy life to offer it to God

and do God’s work. It is also indicative of the person’s willingness to

explore, consolidate and enrich his self knowledge and, at the same time,

make others partners in this process” (Roy MS: 43). Swadhyaya

movement began when nineteen young people undertook bhaktipheri

4 Chapter 1

Yogeshwara Krishna, Goddess Parvati with Lord Ganesha and Lord Shiva:

The Deities of Swadhyaya

from Bombay to the villages of Gujarat in 1958. Bhaktipheri is a founda-

tional act of Swadhyaya in both genealogical as well as constitutive sense.

It is in fact continued bhaktipheri for twenty years which led to the

widening of the circle of Swadhyaya and also the starting of its many

socio-economic projects in well-being.

Bhaktipheri provides an opportunity to come out of oneself and

realize that one is not just one’s ego, or just social role; it provides an

opportunity to experience homelessness, touch the transcendental

dimension within oneself and the other and establish new relationships.

While bhaktipheri can be conducted anywhere, for example, in U.K.,

Swadhyayees from London going to Leicester, in Indian context it has the

primary meaning of going to the village, not only by town dwellers but

also by villagers from one village to the other. In Swadhyaya going to

village, moving from one village to the other, is considered a spiritual

work par excellence.2 Probably after Gandhi this is the most vibrant

initiative in civil society where going to village and undertaking rural

development is considered redemptive and transformative for the self. To

understand the crucial significance of village in Swadhyaya the following

comments of Ashis Nandy are helpful: “Many Indians have come up to

own up the colonial city as the self, the village as the other. . . . This

reimagined village cannot take care of itself. . . . All initiatives in the

village, including remedies for social discrimination and institutionalized

violence must originate in the city. . . . As the flip side of the same story,

the village of imagination has become a scene, pastoral paradise. . . . The

village symbolizes control over self; the city reeks of self-indulgence and

the absence of self-restraint” (Nandy 2001: 12-13). In Swadhyaya, it

seems, both these imaginations of the village are at work. While

Swadhyayees go to villages, in fact, as a spiritual pilgrimage much of the

critical discussion about work in the village is now concentrated in the

city. As we shall see, while earlier members of the Swadhyaya

decision-making and deliberative body were also from the village, now

they are mainly from the district or the taluka or block (county)

headquarters.

Swadhyaya gives its participants a new perception of self and society.

At the core of this perception is the vision that God resides in the heart of

everybody. For Swadhyayees, this is a literal realization that God is

always a companion residing within oneself. This perception enables

Swadhyayees to relate to their self and society in a new way. As

Rahenema helps us understand:

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 5

The new perception is built on the vision, common to almost all the

world’s societies, that sufferings and miseries are the facts of life, the

heaviest burdens always falling on the shoulders of those living at the

bottom of various societal pyramids. This vision is however coupled,

for the Swadhyayee, with the belief that there is a God within one’s

immediate reach who can make it possible to put an end to those

sufferings. Yet, these remain only the symptoms of a much more

momentous phenomenon: the alienation of man from his divine

essence. To bring technological or fragmented solutions to particular

pains of an immediate nature might only alleviate or reduce a number of

symptoms. It never eliminates their fundamental causes. More, to

reduce the scope of one’s action into fighting a number of self-picked

up ‘enemies’ or ‘outer causes’ is another way of avoiding the real

issues. This also tends to dissipate one’s vital energy which should

always be directed towards the essential.

. . . long-lasting, revolutionary changes are only possible if one

re-discovers, honors, listens to, and follows the divine source within

one. The God like power gained by this very awareness, not only

provides one with all the means needed to confront reality but also

eventually to change that reality (Rahenema: 10).

This change of perception is facilitated by both discourse as well as

practice. Swadhyayees listen to Dada’s Pravachana (discourses)—Video

Pravachan as well as Audio Pravachan. Dada’s Pravachans contribute a

great deal towards change of reality. In the Pravachan, Dada takes the

listeners to a ‘guided tour’ “into their own inner ‘temple’, enchanting

them with his colorful presentations of the Yogeshwara inhabiting

them. . . . These guided inner tours are always a festivity and a cathartic

‘happening’ for all. . . . Dada talks to them about oldest gods, goddesses,

and heroes of yester-years as if they were still alive and active in their

midst. For a while, myths become realities and realities are perceived in

their transcendental truth” (ibid: 11).3

Swadhyaya presents itself neither as a movement nor as a voluntary

organization but as a Parivara—family.4 As Athavale says: “My model

was that of parent-child relationship and love among children of one

family. Child is vulnerable but parents nurture him. I wondered how the

resourceful and powerful in the society can be motivated to share with the

needy and take care of the needy? . . . The need was to remind man of the

idea of divine nearness. He had to learn that the unit of relevance for us is

6 Chapter 1

not only of our biological family but also the family of man. Most

religions have these ideals in some form of the other. However they have

remained dormant. . . . I was convinced that these ideas can be put into

practice” (Athavale 1997: 7). But family as the foundational metaphor of

Swadhyaya, Athavale himself tells us, “is not a structural perspective. It is

a perspective of shared divinity and caring family” (ibid).

In Swadhyaya, both the rich and the poor are encouraged to partic-

ipate in a set of activities which is meant to bring “man closer to man”. In

Swadhyaya bhaktipheris continued meeting between those who have

knowledge and wealth and those who do not have become the starting

point of a critical reflection on the existing life and building collective

foundations of welfare and well-being. This begins with a series of

projects where people can come together and share their time and labor.

Among the farmers, this initiative is called Yogeshwara Krishi or Lord’s

farming. The Swadhyayees of a village take a piece of land on lease and

cultivate it. They cultivate it through their own labor. Swadhyayees

consider their work in community farming as an instance of

sharamabhakti, devotional labor. They consider their work as worship

and themselves not as volunteers but as pujaris, worshippers. Whatever is

the produce from collective farming is considered as apoureshaya laxmi

or impersonal wealth by the Swadhyayees. Ideally, this wealth belongs

neither to individuals nor to the communities but to God. One-third of this

wealth stays at the village level and the remainder is deposited in a Trust

in the name of the village at the Swadhyaya headquarters in Bombay.

Similar is also the arrangement in case of the community-fishing boat

among the fishermen which is called Matsyagandha. This is manned by

the shramabhakti of the fishermen in the community.

Swadhyaya applies similar approach to creating institutions of

collective well-being in case of different communities. Among the

diamond cutters it has an experiment called Hira Mandir or the Temple of

Diamond, which works through the same principle of generating imper-

sonal wealth through shramabhakti. Among the businessmen it has an

experiment called Parivara Stores. The doctors of a locality come

together and run a hospital through the same principle of bhakti.

While the above are community or group specific programs there are

also many programs which bring different communities together. One is

the Vriksha Mandir prayog or the project of the tree temple. In the tree

temple, people from surrounding villages and towns, from different social

and professional backgrounds—farmers, fishermen, and doctors—come

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 7

and take care of the community garden. They worship plants and trees in

this garden as gods. Shridarshanam is another project in agriculture which

works at a supra-village level where villagers from surrounding twenty or

more villages come and work together. All these projects provide

Swadhyayees opportunities to work “selflessly” for the generation of

impersonal wealth and the creation of the common good. Swadhyaya

argues that as individuals work on their own firms and professions and

generate profit for themselves there must be also such platforms of

creativity and productivity where they do not produce for themselves but

do so for a common good.

For its welfare activities, Swadhyaya says that it does not accept any

grant from the State nor any donation from the rich. Shramabhakti or

devotional labor where time and labor are not sold through the media of

money and market (cf. Offe & Heinze 1992) is the source of impersonal

wealth here. The vision and generation of impersonal wealth has a

spiritual foundation in Swadhyaya. God is a partner in one’s time and

labor, hence the wealth generated does not solely belong to the actor, God

has a share in this wealth too. This share of God must be taken out for

doing God’s work which means working for creating a better condition of

material and spiritual life for God’s children. Swadhyaya believes in the

following dictum of Manu Samhita—the Laws of Manu—that when one

is eighteen, one should keep eighth part of one’s income for one’s use and

one part ought to be taken out as God’s share for deployment in God’s

work and when one is eighty-one, eighth part of one’s income must be

utilized for God’s work, and one part for one’s use. Pandurang Shastri

Athavale, the leader of Swdhyaya, has a commentary on Sri Suktam, a

series of prayers offered to Goddess Laxmi, the Goddess of Wealth, in

which he develops a spiritual approach to wealth. This spiritual approach

to wealth where one is required to be related to wealth in a

non-possessive, non-proprietary, and impersonal way has a potential to

overcome the limitations of private capital in the creation of a good

society, a task which has remained unfinished in the agenda of modernity.

Marxian vision and practice of abolition of private property was a step in

this direction but it did not succeed. A spiritual relationship with wealth

accompanied by a project of radical democracy in society where social

institutions are governed by principles of justice and spirit of moral

argumentation may provide us a way out of the continued problem of

rapacious private capital as a source of obstacle to realization of full

human potential and many distortions and exploitations in society (cf.

Giri 2002a).

8 Chapter 1

There is however the challenge of theory and practice in this project

too. The vision and projects of Swadhyaya focus on spiritual regeneration

of impersonal wealth but in practice there still seems to be a lot of gaps in

terms of realizing this normative potential of relating to wealth in a

non-possessive manner and using the so-called “impersonal wealth”

generated out of Swadhyaya collective projects for the well-being of the

poorest of the poor in the local communities. Only one-third of the

Mahalaxmi (impersonal wealth) generated stays in the local community

and two-third of it is sent to a Swadhyaya-run Trust in Bombay. Even at

the level of the local communities, in many instances, this one-third is not

fully utilized even if there is a lot of deprivation. Moreover, local

followers of Swadhyaya share this wealth only with the fellow members

of Swadhyaya family, not with all the poor, downtrodden, and the

low-caste of the village.

A Brief History

Pandurang Shastri Athavale is the founder of Swadhyaya. He is widely

known in the Parivara as well as in the wider world as Dada which means

elder brother. He was born in Roha, Maharashtra in 1920 to a Chitapat

Brahmin family, “one of the most conservative subcastes among the

Brahmins” (Little 1995), and passed away in 2003.

Athavale started giving discourses on Bhagawad Gita at the

Madhavbag Pathasala in Bombay, an informal center for the study of

Indian culture which his father had established in the mid-1920s. The

Pathasala is held in the premises of a temple in Bombay. Athavale had got

a special education in Sanskrit and the classical knowledge of India and he

studied English and Western philosophy on his own at the Asiatic Society

library. His followers tell with a sense of pride that he had supposedly

read nearly one lakh books in this library. Athavale’s discourses do show

his wide acquaintance with philosophical and other issues though much of

his invocation of Western philosophy probably lacks in depth (Little

1995).5

In Madhavbag Pathasala, Dadaji gave discourses on Bhagawad Gita,

Narayana Upanishad and other important texts. He primarily focuses on

Gita’s Karmayoga. As he was growing up he felt the need to have a wider

calling for human betterment. Says Athavale: “When I was growing up

and began to think, I was pained at what I saw, I saw man becoming

egocentric and selfish, untrusting and untrustworthy, ungrateful,

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 9

uncaring, and exploitative. I saw rapid erosion of human values and

virtues. As I studied and observed and thought through, I was concerned

that merciful creator could not have wished his children to become what

they are becoming” (Athavale 1997: 2).

This pathos led him to think of establishing human intimacy and

solidarity on a divine footing and without “ethnic, economic and social

barriers” (ibid). Athavale was also disillusioned with both the statist and

constitutional approach to solving the problem of social inequality as well

as the communist and socialist approach. Though even in his Thoughts on

Glorious Heritage, Athavale (1975) writes that Marx is probably the only

thinker in human history who thought about eradicating social inequality

10 Chapter 1

root and branch, Athavale has strong reservation about egalitarianism as

for him it is nature which supports inequality and distinction.6 But what

really made him uneasy was the atheistic and agnostic preaching of the

communists and socialists. Bhaktipheri as an “active and well defined

method of proselytization” (Little 1995: 277) was used to bring the

message of Vedic culture to the villages to counter the “atheistic and

agnositic” message of the communists, among others. Athavale strove to

spread his message with a missionary zeal as he continuously referred to

the self-sacrificial work of Christian missionaries as a model to follow for

himself as well as for his followers.7

Athavale’s followers undertook bhaktipheri in the villages of Gujarat

and Maharashtra for twenty years. By early seventies prayogs such as

Amrutalayam, Yogeshwara Krishi, and Vriksha Mandir began to be estab-

lished. These prayogs and the hard work of Swadhyayees brought

millions of people, especially in Gujarat, to the fold of Swadhyaya. This

probably encouraged Swadhyayees to strive for both inner as well as outer

consolidation. Swadhyaya organized a Bhava Samparka Samaroha in

Bombay in 1976. It organized the next mega meeting called Teertharaj

Milan in 1986 in Allahabad at the confluence of Ganga which for the first

time brought Swadhyaya to the media attention and brought followers as

well as sympathetic observers of Swadhyaya from many different parts of

the country and around the world. In the 1990s these large-scale

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 11

Dadaji, Tai (His Wife), and Didiji (His Daughter) worshipping Lord Shiva

mobilizations got intensified both within Gujarat and outside, for

example, Swadhyayees organizing large-scale parapranta bhaktipheri

(devotional travel outside one’s region) in Kurukhestra (Haryana) and

Nanded (Maharashtra).8 With this growing public attention of Swadhyaya

there slowly grew a personality cult. Dada as elder brother started slowly

being deified and became the Guru and God. By mid-1990s celebration of

birthday of Athavale annually became a mega event where in some places

Dada began to be weighed in gold.

Swadhyayees are proud to tell that Swadhyaya is not a panth (sect)

but a samjhan or understanding. Furthermore, there is no formal

membership of Swadhyaya—one can come and go at any time. But, in

2001, twenty-one followers of Swadhyaya, all of them very active and

some who had pioneered the initial Swadhyaya bhaktipheri in 1958, were

expelled from Swadhyaya. This outward explosion for the first time

followed probably a long internal struggle within Swadhyaya Parivara

about many issues such as proper use of impersonal wealth generated out

of devotional labor, but most crucially about succession. Athavale did not

have his own child though he has been married for long and he had

adopted his brother’s daughter. Jayashree Talwalkar, Dadaji’s adopted

daughter, who is also known in Swadhyaya Parivara as Didi, was chosen

by Athavale to be his successor. This was not accepted by those

Swadhyayees who had found some supposedly serious character flaws in

Didi.9 Many of them were expelled in January 2001. It is important here to

take note of the circumstances in which they were expelled. In December

2000 Swadhyaya organized a huge celebration in the banks of Narmada in

Bharuch to celebrate the eightieth birth day of Dadaji. Didi and her

supporters used this also as an event for the coronation of Didi. According

to a sympathetic observer of Swadhyaya, “This seemed to have been a

violation of the arrangement Dada had agreed to: the affairs of

Swadhyaya would be managed by a committee of senior and dedicated

Swadyayees and Didi would not be the sole authority.”

The brief description of the story of Swadhyaya shows us that like all

of us, individually as well as collectively, Swadhyaya has a contentious

dimension to its history. This contentious dimension in Swadhyaya’s

history is probably related to the foundational principles of Swadhyaya

itself. Bhakti and Gita’s Karmayoga are foundations of Swadhyaya. These

bring Swadhyaya’s devotion to the social field and create the possibility

of an enriching intertwinement between spirituality and human devel-

opment. But Swadhyaya is not only concerned with open-ended spiritual

quest as one of its most foundational practices—bhaktipheri—would

12 Chapter 1

suggest. Swadhyaya, especially its founder Athavale, is equally

concerned with order. He writes about it clearly in his Thoughts on

Glorious Heritage: “If we want Vedic culture to survive, we have to

maintain the age-old traditions. To this end, the Upanishads are absolutely

necessary. But above all we want Manu and the social life envisaged by

him. Let Manu come first and then the Upanishads” (Athavale 1975: 84).

Athavale defends the system of varna and caste allocation by birth.

Drawing on the so-called scientific arguments from eugenics and biology

that “inherent attributes are hereditary, acquired one’s are

non-hereditary,” Athavale writes: “Viswamitra had acquired Brahmin

attributes, he had not inherited them because he was not a Brahmin by

birth and therefore Vasistha refused to recognize him as one” (ibid: 101).

Did such a conception of inheritance make Athavale choose his adopted

daughter as his chosen successor?But here Athavale’s defense of Manu needs to be put in perspective.10

As Daniel Gold writes: “Dadajee accepts the significance of birth caste,pointing to the relevance of training” (Gold 1998: 181). Athavale urges usto appreciate the fact that in Varna Vyavastha everybody had anoccupation. Athavale argues: “Equality should not mean equality ofopportunity but equal guarantee of the means of livelihood” (Athavale1975: 175). Probably keeping the contemporary condition of destructionof livelihood of shoemakers in mind Athavale writes: “. . . a Vaishya candiversify and will be able to do the business of a shoemaker also. As moreskilled in salesmanship, he will earn more than the shoemaker. In thecourse of time, the shoemaker will be wiped out. Similarly, if a Vaishyaand a carpenter compete, the carpenter will be ruined or will have tobecome the slave of the Vaishya. Equality of opportunity may thus ruinthe weak or make them slaves” (ibid: 192). In these days of capitalistglobalization, when the only normative value is profit making no matterwhether it destroys others or not. Athavale’s arguments needs to be atleast heard.11 Athavale further challenges the egalitarians and what hewrites needs to be heard by those who do not find the individual incomedistinction of the present as an assault on human dignity: “[According toManu] the highest wages should not be more than four times the lowestwages. Who is a socialist?” (ibid: 179).

There is no point in hiding also these foundational premises of

Swadhyaya either by the participant or the observer but what is certainly

helpful for all of us concerned is to suspend our quick judgment and resist

the temptation of either one-sided celebration or total condemnation.

Instead, there is a lot to learn from Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya Parivara has

spread to thousands of villages and towns in Gujarat, Maharashtra, and

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 13

some other parts of the land as well as in the U.S.A., the U.K. and other

countries in the West and the Middle East. “The SP followers have taken

up a wide range of programs of individual and social development. The

membership of Swadhyaya Parivara has expanded to several millions of

whom 200,000 are active Swadhyayees” (Shah et al 1998: 6). Now, nearly

2 lakh active Swadhyayees undertake bhaktipheri and they have also done

outstanding work in local communities in field such as water harvesting.

Swadhyaya has given a new normative vision to million of people that life

is not only bhoga (consumption) but is also a continued striving to enrich

oneself and others. Majid Rahenema, who unlike many others is not a

mesmerized sociological observer of Swadhyaya, still writes: “From what

I have seen, particularly in the villages, it has brought to ordinary human

beings a new sense of dignity, different meaning of the self. It has helped

them discover new ethical dimensions to their individual and social

questions” (Rahenema 1998: 52).

Athavale started his work by going to the downtrodden sections of

society such as fisherfolk community—Agri, Bagri, and Sagri, as they are

told in Swadhyaya discourse. Dada wanted to make everybody a Brahmin

while at the same time retaining the caste. “Dada has given yagnopaveeta

(sacred thread which only the twice-born caste Hindus are entitled to

carry) to fishermen and other lower caste Swadhyayees, a blasphemous

act in the eyes of the orthodox” (Srivastava 1998: 23). But this may not be

so blasphemous as both Brahmin spiritual teachers as well as low-caste

social movements have provided their followers sacred threads

irrespective of caste (see Rao 1979).

In his work, Athavale has also taken steps to bring about reconcili-

ation among warring groups. A notable work here is the reconciliation and

peace established between Kharwars and Mers in Porbander. Dada facili-

tated such reconciliation by holding a Satyanarayan Puja in which

families from both the communities would sit in front of the idol of

Satyanarayan and pray. It was not a grand sacrificial puja; it was a

low-cost affair. Actors of Swadhyaya have also worked with many critical

communities and cases. Shraman Munja was an underworld don in

Porbander. While in jail he accepted Swadhyaya. He seemed to have

renounced the path of violence and was killed by his rivals. Another

instance of much talked about change is the village Nandrekh in

Saurashtra, which has featured in Shyam Benegal’s film on Swadhyaya

entitled Antarnada. This village had the notoriety of being a dacoit

village. People in the surrounding villages were afraid of the people of

this village. In fact, Benegal’s film features a person who had killed

14 Chapter 1

another person in another village on contract. Probably first time in my

life, I had the opportunity to shake hand with somebody who had

committed a murder. This person is an active member of Swadhyaya

Parivara in this village. This village is part of Kandhi Shridarshanam and

is close to the village Untwala where I did my fieldwork. People of

Nandrekh now lead a normal life and they also have an Amrutalayam in

their village. Nandrekh is presented as an example of transformation

taking place in society as a result of Swadhyaya work on

self-development and bhaktipheri as co-development.

Swadhyaya, Self-Development and Social Transformations

Swadhyaya’s socio-economic projects to generate impersonal wealth and

to create space where people from different backgrounds can come and

work can be looked at as developmental projects. But Swadhyaya says

that it is not primarily a project on social development. It does work with

self and society and whatever happens in society is a bye-product of one’s

work with oneself.

Swadhyaya gives emphasis on self-development. Development is not

just an extraneous process in economic development and political

empowerment; it is primarily an initiative in developing one’s intellect

and heart. It is fundamentally a work on inner transformation. As

Srivastava argues putting forward the Swadhyaya perspective: “It is the

inner self which has to be changed, and the agency of moral change can

and should be bhakti. If the consciousness of brotherhood of man is

strengthened, and spirituality and society are reinforced through bhakti,

technology can and must be used for socially productive and creative

purposes that will respect the individuality of each participant in the

creation of impersonal wealth” (Srivastava 1998: 43). “Swadhyaya argues

that when change of ownership takes place before the change in the

psychology of man, the question of economic man is bound to dominate

and thwart the emergence of the self-sufficient satyagrahi or the socially

motivated trustee of the enlightened socialist” (ibid: 30). Swadhyaya

emphasizes the need for “self-cultivation as a means of both personal

development and social reconstruction” (Roy MS: 37). Cultivation of

devotion to God is an important part of self-cultivation. “When the

individual feels His presence, he cannot be wanton and licentious because

there is a friendly authority constantly by his side who keeps account of

all his activities. This feeling is a means of internal purification and

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 15

elevation” (ibid: 36). In Swadhyaya, “the process of self-discovery is

instrumental in cultivation of an orientation that underlines the fact that

others are as integral a part of one’s own self-development as one’s own

effort. It is only on this basis that individuals can engage in action in the

spirit of Yajna. It is in this sense that self-knowledge and society as Yajna

are organically linked and stand in a relation of reciprocal sustenance”

(Roy MS: 17).Swadhyaya perspective on development can be appreciated by

listening to Pappot Bhai, an important grassroots leader of Swadhyaya inSaurashtra, Gujarat. As I was once accompanying Pappot Bhai and histeam in the village of Supasi near Veraval, Pappot Bhai asked me: “Isbuilding road the only meaning of development? Developing mind,intellect and heart of human beings—is it no development?” This questionof Pappot Bhai could be asked to the project of development which,despite its shift from economic development to human development, doesnot have within itself any striving for development of human heart.Swadhyaya challenges us to reconstitute development not only as anethical project of trying to do something good to the other but also as anaesthetic project enabling one to discover one’s own inner light andengage in developing oneself as a work of art.12 This aesthetic work ofSwadhyaya challenges us to go beyond the interventionist conception andmodel of development. As Rahenema argues: “Right action involvingothers starts always as a personal work on oneself. It is the fruit of analmost divine kind of exercise, which usually takes place in the solitude ofthought and action” (Rahenema 1997: 131).

Swadhyaya believes in color, not in mechanical uniformity.

Swadhyaya has given new names to different deprived social and caste

groups which were earlier being designated only in a negative manner

such as fishermen being called machimar—the killer of fish. Swadhyaya

instead calls fishermen sagaraputra—sons of the sea. This can be looked

at as part of a creative identity formation. Bringing a sense of color to the

task of social transformation, Swadhyaya speaks about pancharanga

kranti—economic revolution, political revolution, social revolution,

emotional revolution and spiritual revolution.

Modernity, Tradition and Socio-Religious Mobilizations:

Understanding Swadhyaya in a Comparative Perspective

Swadhyaya has the potential to deepen, interrogate and transform the

contemporary development discourse and this depends on its ability to

16 Chapter 1

creatively build on tradition. As Athavale says: “I tried to rework tradi-

tional ideas. I wanted to minimize cultural shock of existential living and

enable man to accept new ideas in old framework” (Athavale 1987: 9).

Swadhyaya is part of a long tradition of socio-spiritual mobilization in

Indian history and society though a bit more tilted to Manu than to Narsi

Mehta.13

When one looks at Swadhyaya one cannot but think of Sarvodaya.

Sarvodaya means welfare of all (Gandhi 1954; Kantowski 1980).

Sarvaodaya was an important initiative in social development in pre- as

well as post-independent India with the participation of Gandhi, Vinoba

Bhave, Jaya Prakash Narayan and his followers. In post-independent

India Sarvodaya had initiated land-gift (Bhoodan) and village-gift

(Gramdan) movements (see Oommen 1972). It also emphasized on the

self-development of agents of development. The same emphasis on

self-development is also found in the Sarvodaya Shramadana Movement

in Sri Lanka pioneered by Dr A.T. Ariyaratne and inspired by the

Sarvodaya experiment in India. For Ariyaratne Sarvodaya means not only

welfare of all but “awakening of all through sharing” (Ariyaratne 1998:

92). Like Swadhyaya developmental projects beginning after nearly

twenty years of bhaktipheri in villages, Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka began

with a holiday camp on the part of students and teachers of Nalanda

Vidyalaya, an elite Buddhist school of Colombo, in the village of

Kanatoluwa in 1958.14 Since then, Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka has grown into

a large movement with its various self-initiated works touching more than

half of the total villages of Sri Lanka. During a recent visit to the village

Hikkaduva near Gale, Sri Lanka, I saw the Sarvodaya Shramadana Samiti

Bank with its work in savings and credit. The Sarvodaya Samiti of the

village also runs a pre-school with the help of volunteer teachers who

themselves are children of earlier generation of Sarvodaya volunteers and

workers suggesting that the Sarvodaya tradition of “sharing of one’s time,

thought and energy” moves on from generation to generation.

Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka strives to reawaken “four principles of

personality development” in its participants as well as people at large—

Metta (Loving Kindness), Karuna (Compassion), Mudita (Sympathetic

Joy) and Upekkha (Equanimity) (Kantowski 1980: 47). The Sarvodaya

Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka also built upon transformational

revival of Buddhist tradition embodying what Gananath Obeyesekere and

Richard Gombrich (1988) call conjunction of Protestant Buddhism and

Bhakti. Embodying a quest of engaged Buddhism Sarovodaya concept

“starts with the individual,” he or she trying to cleanse one’s mind or

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 17

thinking process (Kantowski 1980: 46). But individual also has to

“recognize that there are unjust and immoral socio-economic chains

which keep the vast majority of people enslaved” (Ariyaratne, quoted in

Kantowski 1980: 46). While both Swadhyaya and Sarvodaya represent

“the resistance of human soul to its destruction by society” (Roy MS: 12),

this is a major difference between Sarvodaya in Sri Lanka and Swadhyaya

that the former links self-development with the need for structural trans-

formation of structures of inequality, domination, and poverty, whereas

the latter is silent about it. As we will see, Swadhyaya’s silence on the

structural roots of poverty and powerlessness puts limits to its ability to

create social transformation. Another difference here is while Sarvodaya

in Sri Lanka receives funds from the government as well as multilateral

donor agencies Swadhyaya does not receive any such. We of course have

to acknowledge a foundational difference that while both Sarvodaya in

India and Swadhyaya strive for self-development, Sarvodaya Shramadana

Movement in Sri Lanka building as it does on Buddhist tradition strives

for realization of anatta (no-self) which would enable participants to free

themselves from the chains of “craving (tanha), illusion (moha) and

aggression (dosha)” (Kantowski 1980: 73).

While Sarvodaya is active in Sri Lanka as a social mobilization, it

seems to have lost much of its fire in India. But Swadhyaya, despite its

probable inevitable routinization and cult-formation, is still active and

widespread. The resurgence of Swadhyaya in Gujarat from 1970s

onwards had to do with disenchantment with the bureaucratization and

institutionalization of ideals of life such as Gandhi’s by both the

government as well Gandhians.15 Swadhyaya’s aesthetic turn and

non-austere moves also matched with the aspiration of a socially

conscious rich and upper class who found in Swadhyaya a new mode of

relating to society without feeling guilty about their wealth and

life-style.16 Bhaktipheri and devotional labor in Swadhyaya prayogs gave

them a meaningful space of realizing the universal dimension with oneself

and one’s fellowship with others. But one divergence here between

Swadhyaya and Sarvodaya is that Athavale despite his presenting himself

as Dada or elder brother soon led himself to be deified. The social impli-

cation of this deification has been a dynastic succession in Swadhyaya

and a systematic effort to make Dada the maker of all that is in

Swadhyaya. During a fieldwork conversation in Nasik, one Swadhyayee

told me: “Dadaji has created all these prayogs and we are only taking our

breath under his shade.”17 Such a proprietary approach to Swadhyaya has

led to bitter quarrels and struggles over resources and authority. This has

18 Chapter 1

led to brutal assaults on critics of Swadhaya’s present mode of

management including murder of a critical member of Swadhyaya from

the U.S. in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2006 for which some of the members

of the present leadership team at the local level have been arrested (more

on this in the concluding chapter).

Athavale is not a native Gujarati; he was born in Maharashtra. One

hundred and fifty five years before Athavale Gujarat had welcomed

another religious preacher from outside who played a major role in the

making of a modern Gujarat. He is Sahajananda Swami, the founder of the

Swaminarayan movement. Swaminarayan movement also emphasizes

honesty and personal integrity in one’s relationships. Self-development as

purity in one’s physical and financial relation in Swadhyaya had its

antecedent in Swaminarayan. As Williams writes in a recent study on

Swaminarayan, “Adultery and sexual license were condemned. Likewise,

marriage songs full of jokes and double entredes were replaced with songs

composed to dignify the wedding ceremonies” (Williams 2001: 26). Like

Swadhyaya’s emphasis on active devotion (Krutibhakti) Sahajananda

Swami had emphasized the need for undertaking manual labor on the part

of his ascetic followers. It must be mentioned here that while there are

renouncers in Swaminarayan Movement there are no Sannyasis or

renouncers in the conventional sense in Swadhyaya. But Sahajananda

Swami wanted the ascetics and renouncers to undertake manual labor. “In

a departure from the recognized convention that ascetics were above

doing manual labor, Sahajananda ordained that his ascetics would engage

in manual work. He ordered them to dig wells and reservoirs for water and

to repair old ones that were out of use” (Williams 2001: 23). The ascetics

of Swaminarayan movement, such as Pramukh Swami of Akhara

Purusottam Dham in Ahmedabad, still now have a crop of ascetics, house-

holders and volunteers to carry out socially constructive work as well as to

provide emergency relief service.

Williams says that when Sahajananda Swami came to Gujarat in

1810, the society was suffering from internal disturbance and conflict.

Sahajananda Swami and his Swaminarayan movement were instrumental

in bringing a sense of order. It also contributed to a new literary and social

imagination. As Williams argues, “The literature of the movement

coming up from Sahajananda and the poets, hymn writers and theologians

who were his companions gave momentum to the standardization of the

Gujarati language and slowly helped to form the various dialects into a

distinct, unified language for the entire Gujarati population” (Williams

2001: 31). Similarly, Swadhyaya has unleashed a creative wave in

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 19

Gujarati society. Swadhyaya has touched almost all the locales of Gujarat

and Swadhyayees write and sing life-elevating songs and dramas. They

also write moving songs embodying a new poetics and aspiration of life.

They initiate normative discussion about different dimensions of a good

life and good society in both intimate relations as well as in the public

sphere.

Swadhyaya tries to carve out a modern religious path relevant to the

needs of the present. Unlike many such revival movements, Swadhyaya is

not opposed to science and technology. It also stresses that people should

not have a blind faith in religion or God, rather they should develop an

intellectual love for God. It probably recognizes that religion in the

modern world ought to be able to justify itself though modes of reasoning

and justification should not be confined only to modernistic science. Love

and labor are aids in such justifications. In this attempt to carve out a path

of religious and spiritual engagement, which is attentive to the needs of a

modern living, Swadhyaya reminds one of the Radha Soami movement.

Radha Soami movement is widespread in western India and has two

important branches in Agra (Uttar Pradesh) and Beas (Punjab). Radha

Soamis have built spiritual communities in these places with the combi-

nation of devotion (bhakti) and labor. One important practice that

followers of Radha Soami engage is Mitiseva in which they carry loads of

dirts on their head to clean the road (Juergensmeyer 1991).

Apart from participating in services of physical work and labor,

Radha Soamis also believe in honesty in business relations. Like

Swadhyaya, “The Radha Soami emphasis on fairness and honesty is

especially noticeable in the area of business relations” (Juergensmeyer

1991: 34). What needs to be taken note of here is the Radha Soami effort

to create “progressive spiritual society” (ibid: 48). “Both the centers were

imbued with the vision of a new society and captivated by the task of

creating in their midst a sort of spiritual socialism” (ibid: 48). “At

Dayalbagh, one’s salvation is thought to be affected by the quality of

one’s social relations (ibid: 160). This is in tune with the Swadhyaya

emphasis on creating a relational revolution. Radha Soami also redefines

renunciation in the direction of meaningful relationship with the self and

the world. Anand Swarup, one of the pioneers of Radha Soami in the last

century, described the Radha Soami ideal of renunciation as “better-

wordliness”—a purified, spiritualized form of worldliness that he

depicted as superior to extreme forms of crass materialism and other-

worldly renunciation” (ibid: 160).

20 Chapter 1

The business people and the middle class are predominant in Radha

Soami. But their participation in Radha Soami provides them an oppor-

tunity for self-expansion. “. . . the utilitarian aspects of individualism are

softened by bhakti and blended with communalism”(ibid: 224). There is

the problem of caste in Radha Soami satsanga as well and in the course of

this book we shall have several discussions about the participation (or

lack of it) of low caste people in Swadhyaya. But, a discussion of this

issue in Radha Soami can help us to see the significance of Swadhyaya

and Radha Soami in enabling people to meet across caste boundaries. It

can probably help both the reader as well as the writer to resist quick

judgment. In this case, what Juergensmeyer writes about Radha Soami is

relevant to Swadhyaya:

One untouchable activist . . . characterized the Dera [the Radshasoami

camping ground] as guest house for the rich where lower castes do the

work. But Parsini [an untouchable woman follower of Radha Soami

near Beas, Punjab] does not see it this way. She feels that there have

been significant social as well as spiritual changes in her life as a result

of her association with the Radha Soami fellowship. She has gained a

position of influence among members of her own caste; she associates

with people of upper castes on a level of equality when she works as a

sevadar of the Dera; through satsang connections she has to come to

know women of merchant caste background at Ropar, and her son has

developed a friendship with a Rajput woman (ibid: 211).

Radha Soamis also emphasize Bhakti but here Guru Bhakti, devotionto master as the living embodiment of God, is a way of going beyond theSaguna Bhakti and Nirguna Bhakti. But, in Swadhyaya, there is anoverarching emphasis on Krutibhakti—active devotion.

Another issue that is of insight in Juergensmeyer’s study of Radha

Soami reality is his discussion of conflict of values in the Radha Soami

path. In the words of Jurgensmeyer: “. . . the individualism of Radha

Soami’s spiritual quest is tempered by the fellowship of satsanga; the

value placed on religious technique is offset by the assertion that love is a

yet more efficacious path. . . . It would appear then that there are parallel

sets of values within the Radha Soami tradition, one confirming the mores

of its middle class constituency—its rational, equalitarian

efficiency—and the other transforming those values to produce quite a

different vision of the suprarational and social ideal. Both are at odds with

traditional Hinduism, but they are also at odds with each other” (ibid:

194). This can suggest a new way of looking at the values of efficiency

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 21

and devotion (bhakti) in Swadhyaya as not completely synonymous with

each other. Bhakti in Swadhyaya is not a traditional concept. It seeks to

develop the nipunata or efficiency in each individual group but what

seems different from the Radha Soami reality, at least theoretically, is

Swadhyaya’s suggestion that being efficient in whatever one does

including being professionally meticulous in spiritual activities is a form

of bhakti-devotion.

Swadhyaya is a movement of awakening from within Hindu tradition.

Here, it is helpful to keep in mind that the discursive field where

Swadhyaya stands is also inhabited by Hindu fundamentalist movements

such as Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ascendant Dalit

movements and movements within Islam such as Tabligi Jamaat which

encourages its practitioners to go out in pilgrimage to other houses and

places.18 In the study I do not carry out a systematic comparison and

contrast of Swdhyaya with all these movements such as RSS, Dalit

mobilization and Tabligi Jamaat which also in some way share the same

space though in some sections of the book there is a discussion of the

work of Swadhyaya and RSS in a particular locale.

In this context, Thomas B. Hansen, an insightful scholar of the Hindu

fundamentalist movements, writes: “In India, sedimented fears of the

abstract and generalized ‘Muslim’ remain today the decisive ideological

bedrock of the Hindu nationalist movement” (Hansen 1999: 12). The

demonization of the Muslim other and now the Christian other has been

accompanied by a monolithic construction of pure Hindu tradition or a

semitization of Hinduism. This is discernible not only in RSS, the mother

of contemporary Hindutva movements, but also in Arya Samaj, which

was founded in 1875. For Hansen, “Like most cultural nationalist

movements, the Arya Samaj was preoccupied with physical strength and

youth. The ailing Hindu culture should be given new life through bodily

purification”. In the network of Gurukal schools physical training,

mountain climbing, cold water baths, and similar physical exercises were

given high priority in order to strengthen the manliness and purity of the

‘Arya nation’ (ibid: 73). As we shall see in Swadhyaya educational insti-

tutions, there is also emphasis on physical training and cold water bath

and on harnessing the energy of youth but this is stated to be for

self-development and not directed against others.

Coming to RSS, while RSS wants to establish a Hindu Rastra

Swadhyaya is different at least in its vision. Despite its valorization of

Vedic culture Swadhyaya urges Hindus to accept other religions as the

22 Chapter 1

Vedic Rishis did with their soul touching invocation: “Ano Bhadra

Rutaba Jantu Viswatha: Let noble thoughts come to us from all quarters.”

Swadhyaya challenges Hindus to accept Jesus Christ as the eleventh

incarnation of God and prophet Mohammed as the twelfth. Sawadhyaya

also challenges Hindus who criticize and attack Christian missionaries to

learn from the devotion and hard work of the missionaries who go to

remote areas and work with the downtrodden sections of society.

Sarva Dharma Swikara—acceptance of all religions—is the motto of

Swadhyaya and Swadhyaya does not believe in Sarva Dharma

Samanyaya—integration of all religions. In distantiating itself from totali-

tarian integration, Swadhyaya suggests new possibilities in religion,

ethnicity and spirituality in our contemporary world.

However, while Swadhyaya is not opposed to any religious other, it

does not fight fundamentalist forces publicly when they destroy and kill

the other. It neither condemns Islamic fundamentalism nor the barbaric

violence unleashed by the Hindu fundamentalist forces. This silence is

sometimes quite perplexing. But, in local communities, as it would be

evident in our following ethnographic description, Swadhyaya provides a

silent and reflective counter to Hindu fundamentalism’s oppositional

identitarian mobilization. As we shall see in chapter five some young

people from the Sabarkantha district of Gujarat who had taken part in

Babri Masjid destruction in Ayodhya got disillusioned with such a mobili-

zation of hatred and joined Swadhyaya.

Swadhyaya has intensified its work among the low castes, mainly the

Harijans or the Scheduled Castes, in the last fifteen years. It does not

consider either political mobilization or the constitutional measure to

solve the problem of inequality and caste discrimination as adequate. It

has rechristened the Harijans as Bhavalaxis—store houses of emotion.

Swadhyayees argue that there should be greater interaction and intimacy

between the high caste and the low caste people. In their work with

Harijans, Swadhyayees sometimes find resistance from Dalit political

activists but they seem not to retaliate. Swadhyaya appreciates, according

to the Swadhyayee leaders working with the scheduled castes, the pathos,

pangs and vision of Baba Saheb Ambedkar. One Brahmin Swadhyayee

leading the work of Swadhyaya work with the Harijans says: “Baba Saheb

emphasized on education, mobilization and struggle. This is also what

Swadhyaya wants.”

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 23

Objectives of the Study

This study aims at a critical description of the vision and practice of

Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya is a widespread initiative in Gujarat and has

spread to some parts of India and among Gujaratis in Europe, North

America, and the Caribbean. In this study I aim at a critical processual

description of the vision and experiments of Swadhyaya in the context of

contemporary discourse and calling of human development and social

transformation. I do not present a statistical portrait of the impact of

Swadhyaya on its followers nor do I carry out a systematic comparison

between Swadhyayees and non-Swadhyayees in a particular locality.

Such a study has been carried out by Bimal Shah, N.R. Sheth, and Pravin

Visaria for the district of Sabarkantha in Gujarat (Shah et al. 1998b). This

study was carried out in twenty sample villages in Sabarkantha following

a survey method as well as group discussion. One important objective of

this study was to find out what change in participation in Swadhyaya has

brought to its followers. From the point of view of self-development and

social transformation, the following findings from their study deserve our

careful consideration:

(a) Improvement in Education of Children and Women

“About 73 to 78 per cent of the respondents indicated an increase in

improvement in the education of children and women in their family.

. . . since the Swadhyaya Parivara expects all its members to recite

Trikala Sandhya (prayer three times) and view (or listen to) Dada’s

discourses on Bhagawad Gita and Upanishads on the Swadhyaya

Kendra once every week, it is not surprising that almost three-fourths of

them have reported an increased interest in Sanskrit language” (Shah

et al. 1998b: 75).

(b) Improvement in Intra-Family Relations

“About 81 to 89 per cent of the respondents reported a positive impact

of SP ideas and activities with regard to parent-child and husband-wife

relations. The differences by socio-economic status and caste are not

statistically significant . . . it is the level in intensity of the participation

of SP members rather than their caste or socio-economic status which

brings out even a modest difference in the respondents’ perception of a

positive impact of SP on intra-family relations” (ibid: 76).

24 Chapter 1

(c) Impact of SP on Other Matters

“The most striking aspect of participation in SP activities is that about

88 to 91 per cent of the respondents perceived an increase in

improvement in their family with regard to (i) respect towards the

people of other communities and religion, (ii) cleanliness, and

(iii) readiness to contribute to their labor and skills for community

work in this village. An impressive eighty five per cent of them also

reported an improvement in their style of functioning in economic

activities” (ibid: 70). Shat et al make clear that “percentage differences,

in this regard, between the various categories of classificatory variables,

are relatively small. But, what makes the crucial difference here is the

presence of an active Swadhyayee worker or Krutisheel in the family or

whether the respondent belonged to Swadhyaya Parivara.”

While the above is the impact of Swadhyaya on the participants how

do non-Swadhyayees look at changes in their local communities. This

study tells us: “. . . about 40 per cent of the NSP (non-Swadhyayee

Parivara) respondents indicated that there were some positive changes:

(a) decrease in behavior and conflict and consequent improvement in

social relations, (b) improvement in thinking and activities of the village

youth in particular, (c) economic benefits, (d) cleanliness in the village,

(e) cooperation and participation in family and village celebrations, and

(f) participation of NSP children in the Bala Sanskara Kendra (the center

for the young people).”

The study makes another observation about background character-

istics of Swadhyayees: “. . . about 12 to 14 per cent of those engaged in

cultivation, salaried jobs, family business, and professions are

Swadhyayees but only 2.76 per cent of agricultural and other laborers and

6.8 per cent of artisans are Swadhyayees” (Shah et al. 1998b: 39).

We can keep this detailed statistical study in mind as a prelude to our

ethnographic study of the vision and practice of Swadhyaya. In this study,

we get to know and hear the voices of those who are active in Swadhyaya.

So far such a critical descriptive study seems not to be around. Some

social scientists have written about it mainly outlining Swadhyaya’s

vision, many a time in a celebratory mood, while scholars such as Vimal

Shah and others present us a statistical profile of the work of Swadhyaya

in a local setting. But, in this study, we describe processes of actors and

institutions including the dilemmas they face and the conflict between

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 25

values and practices in the work of Swadhyaya not only in several locales

in India but also around the world such as Leicester, London, Dubai, and

Chicago.

Methods and Universe of Study

The primary research engagement in this study has been that of intensive

fieldwork consisting of participant observation and qualitative interviews.

I have taken part in various mobilizations of Swadhyaya and recorded my

meetings.

I first became interested in Swadhyaya from a discussion with a

student who had come to seek advice on her doctoral work on

management philosophy of Bhagawad Gita when I was at Indian Institute

of Management, Ahmedabad. Bhavana Behen, this student, had urged me

to pay her and her family a visit and before my departure I visited her in

Porbandar. This was in October 1994. During breakfast I asked Bimal

Bhai, Bhavana Behen’s husband, about what he does. He told: “I put

Bhavana Behen on my moped and drop her in the college and rest of the

time I work with Swadhyaya.” I was quite struck to hear this from Bimal

Bhai. I had planned to visit Dwaraka that day before but requested Bimal

Bhai to show me some the activities of Swadhyaya. Bimal Bhai put me on

the back of his moped and first brought me to the Swadhyaya prayer home

(Prarthana Mandir) in the fishermen locality of Porbandar. I was struck

by the serenity of the place as well as a space for meeting that it created.

We met with a young fisherman follower of Swadhyaya. It was striking

for me to hear from him: “Karl Marx tried to solve the problem of have

and have-not but he could not succeed. In Swadhyaya we are trying to

solve it through the experiment of Matsyagandha. In Matsyagandha we

go out to catch fish and whatever we earn from this offer at the feet of

Lord Yogeshwara. We thus generate Apauresheya Laxmi (impersonal

wealth). This is given as a prasad to those who are in need.” In the

afternoon Bimal Bhai took me to a near by Vriksha Mandir (tree temple). I

was again struck to see around hundred people—men and women of

different ages—digging the ground, watering plants, and constructing the

rest house for the daily worshippers (pujaris), i.e., who come to offer their

devotion at the tree temple every day. This devotional labor struck me

most as I was then finishing my doctoral work on Habitat for Humanity, a

Christian socio-religious movement in the U.S., which also works

worldwide, where volunteers build houses for the low-income

26 Chapter 1

families (see Giri 2002b). In fact, through the study of Habitat I became

interested in practical spirituality where one puts one’s faith into

practice as an emergent reality and possibility. When the Sun was

setting down on that rocky land in Porbander I was touched by this

emergent practical spirituality from the Hindu fold.

This was in the first week of October 1994 and then because of

several contingencies I could come back to Porbandar only in June 1995.

From 1995 to 2000 I have come every year to Gujarat and visited scores of

villages and Swadhyaya neighborhoods in cities in all the parts of

Gujarat—Surat, Valsad, Ahmedabad, Varoda, Sabarkantha, and Kutch. I

have also visited Swadhyaya work in Sabarkantha and Kutch in

August-September 2003 and continued my conversation with the present

leader of Swadhyaya as well as some of the expelled pioneers right up to

the present. I have carried out intensive fieldwork in Simar, Veraval,

Vidia plot, Untwala in Una (all in Junagarh district) and Adepur in

Sabarkantha district. I have also visited specific projects in different parts

of India and the world, for example, the Temple of Diamond (Hira

Mandir) prayog among the diamond cutters in Ahmedabad, Sneha Care

(Center for Love) of London where Swadhyaya volunteers run a service

center for the elderly, Yogeshwara Educational Trust—an educa-

tional-cum-agricultural center in Jyotisar, Harayana, Tatwagyan

Vidyapeeth in Thane, The Swadhyaya School in Bhandei, Kuch as well as

in Nasik, Maharashtra. I have also visited Swadhyaya centers in Dubai,

Chicago, Edison (New Jersey), and Leicester (U.K.).

In this study I have tried to follow the method of participant obser-

vation but while carrying this out have not followed the strict boundary

between subject and object. I have not made Swadhyaya and

Swadhyayees into an object of study without myself sharing in its

normative vision, to begin with. I have taken part in Swadhyaya but with

my participation have not abandoned my role as an observer. I have tried

to understand the dilemmas and aspiration of the actors. But I have not

gone to Swadhyaya with an apriori privileging of the role of the observer

nor with a suspicion of its spiritual vision and mode of realization. I have

also tried to open myself to the transcendental realm which animates the

vision and practice of Swadhyaya. But, as I have tried to open myself to

the transcendental dimension of Swadhyaya, I have also tried to under-

stand its work in the lives of actors and in their life spaces—Swadhyaya

centers, neighborhoods, villages, communities, and regions.

In this study I have sought to understand the vision as well as the

practice of Swadhyaya. In pursuing this path of understanding I have

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 27

drawn upon critical theories which urge us to pay simultaneous attention

to the work of spiritual visions as well as to the work of power in self,

culture, and society, especially in the articulation and dynamics of

normative movements. This however requires a shift, in fact a founda-

tional one, in the way we conceptualize, think about and relate to

spirituality and power. Spirituality is not concerned only with the other

world; spirituality refers to webs of relationship and therefore also

concerns the materialities of life. In fact, Swadhyaya itself challenges us

to look at spirituality in webs of relationship and the ground of well-being

we generate for the self as well as the other. But, while Swadhyaya

probably following the Vedanta ideal thinks of relationship between self

and other as harmonious, I, following critical theory, particularly of

Foucault, seek to explore the disjunctions that lie between these. While

Swadhyayees talk of our glorious heritage, I, following Habermas (1998),

seek to explore the failure of tradition, especially in such instances as

denial of education to Eklavya by Dronacharya.19 But here, instead of

proceeding with an apriori judgment on the moral failure of tradition, I

have sought to bring such issues to the realm of deliberation with the

fellow Swadhyayees. Even on such critical issues as appropriation of

village community land by influential people of the village including

some Swadhyayees I have tried to bring such issues to the Swadhyayees

themselves and present what they think.

So, in this study, I have followed an engagement of simultaneous

participation and integrally evolving criticism—a criticism which is

connected and emerges out of dialogue with actors. In this context, the

following two reflections are helpful to think with. Srivastava says about

his study of Swadhyaya: “I should confess that its study has perhaps

already put an end to my acceptability as a professional social scientist,

for it did prompt one to break the golden rule we were told to respect when

I started my academic studies in that field, i.e., that a researcher should

always keep one’s distance from the reality he is observing. The problem

is that in real life, particularly in a remote village of India, you cannot

observe without ‘relating’. And how could I have related if I had deliber-

ately kept that ‘academic distance’ ” (Srivastava in Rahenema n.d.). But

observation with relationship is now an imperative not only in a remote

village but in any context of knowing; it is the bedrock of what I have

elsewhere called an “ontological epistemology of participation (Giri

2004; Giri 2005). As Sundar Rajan (1998: 78) would challenge us, to

know is not merely to “know of” but “knowing with”. But observation

28 Chapter 1

with relationship at the same time can be a critical probing. While some

Swadhyayees would say that “Swadhyaya is the only solution” (such

discourses are discussed in chapter two) an engagement of a social

scientist even when not wearing the garb of professional orthodoxy is to

open up such observations to further deliberations and realizations.

In his study of Radha Soami which once again goes beyond the canon

of conventional sociology of religion by taking seriously the spiritual

foundation of the movement, Juergensmeyer writes the following:

“Scholars of religion such as Clifford Geertz use the metaphors of

‘context’ and ‘language’ to describe religion in a phenomenological way.

But these metaphors also reveal a basic question inherent in the study of

religion: does religion point beyond its contextual framework and its

religious language to a special, indeed ultimate aspect of reality or is it

simply a particular way of talking about the everyday world? This

ambiguity about the reality towards which religion is oriented is often

mirrored in the discourse of religious leaders where the sacred is

sometimes said to be transcendent, sometimes immanent”

(Juergensmeyer 1991: 10). Juergensmeyer is open to both the transcen-

dental and immanent dimensions of religion and the present study also

embodies a simultaneous opening to the transcendental and immanent

dimensions of religion.

Swadhyaya and the New Horizons of Human Development

We are at a crossroad now in our vision and practice of development.

Much of our difficulties here relate to our inability to look at and partic-

ipate in the field of development as a field of relationship and as a quest of

a shared responsibility which brings the self and other together. Half a

century ago, development began as a hope for a better human possibility

but in the last fifty years, this hope has lost itself in the dreary desert of

various kinds of hegemonic applications and projects of intervention

carried out by state, multilateral donor agencies and now agents of

market. But in all these projects of interventions and applications devel-

opment was mainly for the other, namely, for the poor and miserable other

in one’s society and in the so-called Third World.20 In this context, the

vision of Swadhyaya challenges us to realize development as

multi-dimensional relational revolutions where development is not only

for the other but also for the self. Swadhyaya as well as movements such

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 29

as Sarvodaya Sramadana Movement of Sri Lanka challenge us to bring to

the fore the vision and practice of self-development.

But development as self-development challenges us to understand the

meaning of self. What is self? Does self refer only to the egoistic

dimension of individual? Does it mean only homo sociologicus, homo

economicus, or the “technopractitioner”?21 Self is all these but at the same

time is not exhausted by these and has a transcendental dimension—a

dimension of transcendental and transversal connectivity to the other,

society, nature, world, and cosmos what Roy Bhaskar (2002a) calls

“transcendentally really self.” In a recent work, I have submitted a plural

and multi-dimensional conceptualization of self as consisting of

overlapping and concentric circles of unconscious, techno-practitoner,

and transcendentally real self (Giri 2004). Self-development means devel-

opment of all these dimensions of self in a spirit of autonomy and

interpenetration and non-dual realizations. Self-development thus

includes processes of capacitation in various techno-practical fields of life

such as economy, polity, organization, state, civil society and now in the

field of interlinked globality and a cosmic humanity. Self-development

involves the capacity for freedom as well as responsibility; in the

economic field, it means gaining economic independence, market

freedom; in the political field it involves development of the capacity for

appreciation for as well as realization of rights, justice and citizenship and

deepening and broadening these from their earlier state-centeredness to

fulfill the needs of a global humanity (Beck 2002; Benhabib 2002).

The project of self-development is linked with a project of inclusion

of the other. But this may not always be a reality as there may be insuffi-

cient acknowledgment of this link on the part of actors and institutions.

Self-development may not always be accompanied by social transfor-

mation as it depends upon the nature of self-development itself. If

self-development takes the form of change of behavior such as change of

addiction to such things as liquor (as it happens sometimes in Swadhyaya)

and does not address the larger issues of social transformation such as

land reform or stopping the theft of village common land, then, its ability

to be a catalyst for social transformation becomes limited. Thus, while

this study explores simultaneously the logic of self-development and

social transformation in Swadhyaya, it does not assert that one is

reducible to the other and there are no disjunctions between them.

Swadhyaya emphasizes the primacy of inner change. The present

work builds upon important theoretical and philosophical works in this

field which also point to the intertwinement of self-change and social

30 Chapter 1

change (Bhaskar 2000; Melucci 1996; Touraine 2000) in the

transformative dynamics of self, culture, and society. It also draws upon

engagement with self-cultivation in contemporary critical theory which

challenges us to go beyond the logic of empowerment and strives towards

realizing a “power free existence” (e.g., Dallmayr 2001) where self and

society strive to realize a realm beyond “power and impotence,

dominance and submission” and allows beings to “be” (Dallmayr 2001:

190).22 The present study seeks to understand Swadhyaya from the

perspective of practical spirituality which brings practitioners of faith into

varieties of concrete projects of action and dialogue overcoming varieties

of dualisms such as faith and life, religious self and non-religious others,

and between transcendence and immanence. The idea of practical spiritu-

ality can provide a supplement to the vision and practice of practical

discourse. In practical discourse, as Habermas (1990) suggests, actors are

engaged in deep moral argumentations about the foundations of their life.

They open each other to mutual examinations. In Swadhyaya actors too

participate in mutual and multigonal conversations but their mode of justi-

fication and argumentation despite aberrations seems to touch the

spiritual dimension of self, culture, and society and thus overcoming the

limits of a mere reason-centered and immanent practice. But

Swadhyaya’s spiritual approach to self-development and social transfor-

mation does not address the problem of power. It seems what both

practical discourse and practical spirituality are confronted with is an

evolutionary transformation where discursive deliberation would be part

of an interconnected spiritual engagement and where spiritual mobili-

zation would be accompanied by democratic transformation of modes of

power and authority and nurture and encourage critical, public delibera-

tions. The present study of Swadhyaya shows us both the limits and

possibilities of a spiritual approach and therefore it is helpful to begin with

a question mark: “Self-Development and Social Transformations?” But

this is an invitation for further realization rather than a judgment about

final solution or success and failure.

Notes

1. For the Swadhyaya founder Pandurang Shastri Athavale, Gita possesses the

quality of a prasad, i.e., simplicity of language and benediction. Gita encourages us

to “appreciate the poetic view of life” (Athavale 1970: 69). But, for Athavale, “The

poetic ideal of life however cannot eradicate from its root the passion from human

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 31

mind. If the chapter on Bibhuti Yoga is to be fully understood in true perspective,

one must remember that it is an attempt on the part of the Lord to bring near God

who is outside Nature and far beyond it, without degrading him or without his

deneration. The God in Heaven becomes the God in Nature, the God in Nature

becomes the God who is Nature, the God who is Nature becomes the God within the

temple of the body and the God dwelling in the temple of the body is finally

identified with him—the devotee. The chapters on Vibhuti Yoga and Viswarupa

Darshana Yoga make the devotee a really God integrated personality. This is not

sublimation but purely a conversion of the outlook towards Nature and its objects”

(Athavale 1970: 70).

2. Pankaj Jain, a participant as well as researcher of Swadhyaya, helps us

understand another dimension of this emphasis on village in Swadhyaya. He

suggests that people in the cities did not respond well to Swadhyaya’s messages:

“When Dadaji formally launched Swadhyaya in 1956, people were largely

secularized in cities in post-independent India. Urban Indians had no interest or

search for anything to do with religion” (Jain 2004: 14).

3. Regarding the cathartic significance of such discourses and spiritual

meetings compare the following observations on the Radha Soamis, also a

socio-religious movement in contemporary India: “[Radha Soami practice] is a sort

of spiritual therapy. Practitioners of Radhsasoami, like patients undergoing

psychological therapy, have to become aware of who they are, an awareness that is

experienced as liberating. This view of liberation places great weight on the role of

the Radha Soami master as therapist. Both master and therapist represent what the

seekers aspire to achieve: a higher state of consciousness that brings calm to one’s

mind” (Juergensmeyer 1991: 222).

4. But there are certain recent organizational changes in Swadhyaya which

point to the limit of Swadhyaya’s self-conception of itself as a family. During a

recent interview a leader in Ahmedabad tells us: “Swadhyaya has grown in all

directions and in haphazard manner. Didi [the present leader of Swadhyaya] has

now to make it an orderly organization. Earlier, a lot of compromises were made

keeping in mind the need of individual workers. Now, some workers may have to be

sacrificed to maintain the purity of the organization.” But what is important is that

still Swadhyaya continues to present itself as a family. For present-day Swadhyaya

leaders, the greatest challenge is how to keep it family like and, at the same time,

have strict organizational discipline.

5. John Little, who had done fieldwork with Swadhyaya, writes: “In a

discussion about the social structure of rama rajya, for examaple, Athavale

considers whether society should “be dominated by wealth, sex or religion” and

asserts that: “Freud, Jung, Adler have been clamouring for a society that is sex

predominant since sex urge is dominant in human behaviour” (Athavale 1976:

38). . . . The ‘textualist’might object that Athavale frequently does little more than

invoking famous names, often displaying no more actual knowledge of his

32 Chapter 1

reference than the previous quotation about Freud, Jung, and Adler” (Little 1995:

272).

6. The reference to Marx in this text of Athavale is interesting as this is in many

ways a problematic text and it upholds unquestioningly many aspects of the

so-called traditional way of life such as case system, early marriage and prohibition

on widow remarriage.

7. During a recent discussion a senior Swadhyayee, a long-time associate of

Dadaji but who is no more part of the present Swadhyaya structure says: “Dadaji

used to continuously refer to the work of Christian missionaries. They were his

frames of references. I wish he had followed it all through so that later it won’t have

led to a personality cult around him.”

8. Swadhyaya has spread to different parts of India and the world but even in its

spread it does carry a predominantly Gujarati touch. Swadhyayees did carry out

devotional travel outside Gujarat but according to a student of spiritual mobiliza-

tions in Indian history who had read the draft of this work, Athavale himself did not

travel in the nook and corner of Indian subcontinent as some other spiritual leaders

did such as Guru Nanak who not only traveled the length and breadth of India but

also traveled westward to Mecca and Medina. The lack of such wide personal travel

on the part of the founder may have influenced the shape Swadhyaya took in course

of time.

9. The alleged issue was Didi having an extra-marital relationship. There was

also serious question about her prudent use of Swadhyaya resources.

10. During a recent interview an associate of Dadaji from his early days but who

is no more in the present structure tells us: “Dadaji was radical in his personal life

but while expressing his views he was traditional. We have to understand that

Dadaji started his work as a preacher of Bhagawad Gita in a pathasala, he was not a

social worker, nor a reformist. He was a Brahmin.”

11. That this is not a fiction of imagination can be appreciated by reading the

following accounts of the condition of the leather workers in India:

“The leather industry in India has been modernized and technology

and market have taken over the art and skill of the Madiga [a

low-caste people dealing with skin and leather]. Now those who

matter in the industry which fetches nothing less Rs 8000 crores per

annum, for Bharat’s ex-chequer, are the Brahmin, the Bainya, the

Kamma, the Reddy and the Muslims, not mention the all-gobbling

Globalizing Market itself. The stigma of pollution by leather has been

removed by the Mammon of big money. In the bargain, the Madiga,

the Chamar has been alienated from his own work and product, his

sweat and blood. This is not the language of Karl Marx in a new

avatar! This is the raw fact of the Madiga, still doing the polluting

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 33

work, whether at home, in his crude vat or in the modern leather

factory, where technology has taken over. Madiga still provides the

manpower, does the dirty work, and earns a pittance. The removal of

this alienation from the life and work of the Madiga is a question of

his Human Rights and the Right to be Human” (interview with Dr

Nandini Joseph, Central Leather Research Institute, Chennai in

Maliekkal 2003: 29).

12. For instance, as suggested in the following lines of Foucault:

“What strikes me is the fact that, in our society, art is now linked to

objects, rather than to individuals or life itself. . . . But couldn’t we

ourselves, each one of us, make of our lives a work of art? Why

should a lamp or a house become the object of art—and not our own

lives?”

13. As we have already seen before Athavale’s tilting towards Manu for the

preservation of social order. Narsi Mehta is an important Bhakti poet from Gujarat.

14. It is interesting to note that Swadhyaya bhaktipheri also began the same year

in 1958. Like well-placed people from Bombay going to different villages of

Gujarat here was also a movement of the educated and high-class sections of

society to the down-trodden sections. As Kantowski writes: “Ariyaratne later

admitted that this first experiment was meant mainly an attempt to give the urban

elite an insight into the real living conditions of some of their low-caste

fellow-country men in the rural areas” (Kantowski 1980: 41-42).

15. In this context, Gita Dharampal-Frick, another scholar of Swadhyaya, also

writes:

“In the situation of instability which became more pervasive from the

mid-1970s when formerly propagated slogans began to ring hollow

and post-independence India seemed to be undergoing a crisis of

identity, holistic visions, providing coherence and orientation in the

present, must inevitably have exerted a forceful appeal. Set against

the overcentralization and overbureaucratization of the state, the

family-like functioning of Swadhyaya—with its non-hierarchic and

self-reliant localized networks stressing individual integrity, social

altruism and spiritual mutuality—appeared for many to present a

viable antidote to the seemingly indomitable ‘evils’ of corruption,

casteism and communalism” (Dharampal-Frick 2001: 279).

34 Chapter 1

16. The relationship between aesthetics and austerity is a multi-faceted one. On

the one hand thinkers such as Gandhi and Illich urge us to realize the beauty that

radiates from a life of austerity. For Illich, “austerity is a mode of being in the world

that enhance ‘graceful playfulness’ in personal relations” (Esteva and Prakash

1998: 204). “It does not exclude all enjoyments but only those which are distracting

from or destructive of personal relatedness” (Illich 1973: xiii). In Swadhyaya there

is an attentiveness to gracefulness in personal relations but they are not austere in a

strict Gandhian sense of wearing only handspun dress or not wearing golden

ornaments. As a woman leader of Swadhyaya tells us: “Earlier, when my husband

was in Sarvodaya I used to feel guilty while wearing golden ornaments. But not any

more.” But during our discussion we had not discussed whether wearing dazzling

ornaments in the company of others who are poorly clad may enhance graceful

playfulness or not.

17. Surely, one can find many Bhavgeet in Swadhyaya depicting the same

feeling. Another expelled Swadhyayee once told me soon after my discussion with

the Nasik Swadhyayee: “We are responsible for this. We wrote

Bhavgeets—emotional—songs about him.”

18. There are interesting parallels between Tablighi Jamaat and Swadhyaya.

Like Swadhyaya, Tabighi Jamaat stresses not on “book learning” but on

“face-to-face, or ‘heart to heart,’communication” (Metcalf 2004: 273). Travel is an

important part of this movement. This movement takes Islamic teachings “away

from the Madrasa . . . towards inviting lay Muslims, high and low, learned and illit-

erate, to share the obligation of enjoining others to faithful practice” (ibid: 272).

19. In his recent work The Argumentative Indian, Amartya Sen (2005) also

raises some critical questions about Indian traditions though in my approach I

would like to supplement argumentation with reflections, including spiritual

reflections in understanding visions and strivings for good life in Indian traditions.

20. Even in the influential theories of human development initiated by Amartya

Sen (1999) there was no challenge to this foundational act of othering in the

discourse and practice of development. For example, Sen writes: “African

Americans in the United States are relatively poor compared with American

Whites, though much richer than people in the Third World. It is, however,

important to recognize that African-Americans have an absolutely lower chances

of reaching mature ages than do people in many Third World societies such as

China, or Sri Lanka or parts of India. . . . If development analysis is relevant even

for richer countries . . . the presence of such inter-group contrasts within richer

countries can be seen to be an important aspect of the understanding of devel-

opment and underdevelopment” (Sen 1999: 6). In this perspective again,

development is only meant for the other but what about development of the rich

White Americans as well as Black Americans in terms of

self-development—developing the capacity to share, to give without pride and not

Understanding the Vision and Practice of Swadhyaya 35

to assert one’s self-justificatory logic of freedom to the exclusion of responsibility

or to bomb others in the name of liberty and freedom. But Sen as well as current

theorists of human development do not raise these questions. It is no surprise than

that in Sen’s vision of development as freedom there is no explorations of

freedom’s possibilities in a self-critical direction of responsibility where one’s

strivings for freedom has within itself strivings for self-development and responsi-

bility to the other (Quarles van Ufford and Giri 2003; Giri and Quarles van Ufford

2004).

21. Faubion (1995) presents this model of the subject building upon the works

of Habermas and Bourdieu.

22. This aspect of self-development has a longer lineage in philosophical and

spiritual traditions of the West and as well as the rest of the world, for example in the

Christian concept of “kenosis” of self-emptying (cf. Vattimo 1999; Wilfred 2000),

Confucian emphasis on self-cultivation (cf. de Barry 1991) and Foucault’s (1986)

plea for developing self-restraint on the parts of holders of power.

36 Chapter 1

2

Active Devotion in a Local Context:

The Dynamics of Swadhyaya in Simar

Even when we are in our own familiar environment, we can have a

sense of temporary sojourning, a sense of being stranger to ourselves.

The expansion of horizons, which is the condition of amity and its

outcome, requires a metabasis, change from centeredness within

oneself to regard for the good of the others.

— Margaret Chatterjee (2002),

Hinterlands and Horizons: Excursions in the Search of Amity, p. 127

Central to praxis was the idea of the will that finds its immediate

expression in an act, while, by contrast, central to poeisis was the

experience of production into presence, the fact that something passed

from non-being to being, from the concealment into the full light of

work. The essential character of poiesis was not its aspect as a practical

and voluntary process but its being a mode of truth understood as

unveiling.

— Giorgio Agamben, (1999) The Man Without Contents, pp. 68-69

Dalitbahujans, on the other hand, layer by layer, keep working for the

well-being of the so-called upper caste. Clearly, what needs to be

changed is the culture of the ‘upper castes’ who live by exploiting

Dalitbahujan labour and by converting the fruits of that labour into their

property.

— Kancha Ilaiah (1996), Why I am not a Hindu: A Sudra Critique

of Hindutva Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy, p. 119

— 37 —

Simar is a middle-sized village near the coastal town of Veraval in the

district of Junagarh in the Saurashtra region of Gujarat. The much wider

known town of Veraval is sixteen to seventeen kilometer away from this

village. The village is around two kilometer inside from the nearby roads.

I still remember the noon time in June 1995 when I got down from the bus

at the Shantipara station—the bus stop of the locality—along with Bimal

Bhai. We saw two signs pointing at two different directions. On the one

side it was written Sri Lokanath Amrutalayam, Simar and the other side it

was written Sri Lokanath Amrutalayam, Shantipara. On alighting from the

bus we asked about Simar to people in the bus stand and suddenly two

Swadhyayees appeared on the scene. They put us behind their Hero

Honda and took us in to the village. We first went to the village

Amrutalayam. As somebody who had first seen Amrutalayam only eight

months ago, I was struck by the beauty and grandeur of the place. We

prayed inside the Amrutalayam and went to the Nirmal Nir, the huge pond

constructed in front of it. The village of Simar, like most of the villages of

drought-prone Saurashtra region, has problem of water. As a response to

the scarcity of water which affects the life of people in the villages in

many ways, Swadhyaya has presented many creative solutions. Nirmal

Nir—pure water—is one of the experiments where Swadhyayees as well

as the non-Swadhyayees both from and outside the village come together

and dig a pond. In the context of the soil structure of Saurashtra it is not an

easy exercise. Ranmalla bhai, the motabhai of Swadhyaya in the village,

told us: “You should have come here only day before yesterday. There

were 5,000 people here offering their shramabhakti—devotional labor.

Farmers from the whole region had come with their hundreds of tractors.

When the tractors were digging the soil and throwing it out, it was as if

they were offering a garland of flower to God.” While returning from the

Nirmal Nir, we met Madhu Behen near the Amrutalayam. Madhu Behen

was coming from the field. On seeing us, she smiled and invited us inside

her house. Her house is just beside the village Amrutalayam. She told us

that she is not feeling well. She misses the brothers and sisters who were

in her village for days offering shramabhakti in the construction of the

pond in the village, Nirmal Nir. There was a great sigh in her voice and

tear in her heart. I shared her sense of pathos in my heart and there was a

sigh within myself as well.

We bade farewell to Madhu Behen. Then, we met Jivabhai Parmar,

the headmaster of the village school. After this, we visited two more

villages that day and by now in the last five years of my journey in

Swadhyaya I must have visited scores of villages. But in all this, Simar

38 Chapter 2

has a very special place in my heart. The scorching heat that very day, the

calmness of the village street, the Nirmal Nir of Simar, the sigh of Madhu

Behen and the smiling invitation of Jivabhai made a lasting impression in

my heart. After my first fieldwork trip in June 1995, when I spent only an

hour in the village, I dreamt about this village. I wanted and prayed to

come to this village. The next opportunity came only in October 1996

when I spent two weeks in the village. I stayed in the house of Pratap

Bhai, one of the pioneer soldiers of Swadhyaya in the village. Pratap Bhai

was a youngster when Swadhyaya’s stream first started flowing into the

village. Pratap Bhai’s father Bhana Bapa was one of the first bearers of

Swadhyaya into the village. I visited Swadhyaya two times in 1997—first

two weeks in March and then ten days in July. Then, in 1998, I visited

Simar for two days. This time, it was a visit along with my family. Finally,

I visited Simar for a week in March 1999. It is Simar which has provided

me a first grounded understanding of the dynamism of Swadhyaya.

Swadhyaya in Simar:

The Beginning, the Initial Years and a Brief History

Swadhyaya came to Simar around 1972. The first bhavpheri began in

1972. Swadhyayee brothers from Bombay used to come to Simar and they

were meeting in the village Ram Mandir. The village Ram Mandir is near

the Brajma river. Influenced by them, some villagers used to take

prabhatpheri—devotional morning walk. Bhana Bapa, the father of

Pratap Bhai and Jha Bhai used to take a lead role in this prabhatpheri.

According to Bhana Bapa, they used to spend a lot of time in the village.

Bhana Bapa is a hard-working person. Even at the ripe age of

seventy-five, he works very hard. There are two tattoos in Bhana Bapa’s

hand—Alasni Jibita Manasni Kabarche (a life of laziness is a grave for

man) and Satyanarayan Dev ki Jay (in praise of Lord Satyanarayan).

Bhana Bapa, Jivabhai and others were first doing the prabhatpheri. They

were touring in the main street in the village. At that time, all the inhab-

itants were staying in the village. Bhana Bapa says that when they were

doing prabhatpheri some people were making fun of them.

The prabhatpheri was only for one hour every day. From discussion

with Bhana Bapa and Jivabhai it emerges that only four to five people

must have taken part in it. The visiting brothers from Swadhyaya met the

interested people in the village Ram Mandir. Jivabhai, who was present in

the first Swadhyaya meeting in 1972, tells about the story the visiting

Active Devotion in a Local Context 39

Swadhyaya brother from Bombay had told. Once a fisherman had gone to

the sea. He threw his net into the sea for the whole night but did not get

anything. Towards the end of the night, he received a bag in the net. There

were some stones inside this. The fisherman was disappointed that there

was no fish inside the net and started throwing the stones. When there was

less of darkness and the dawn of light in the sky, the fisherman saw

radiance in the stones he was throwing out to the sea. Then, he discovered

that these stones are nothing but pearls. The Swadhyayee brother then said

that our life is like the unrecognized pearl of the fisherman. We have

thrown many of the unrecognized pearls of our lives. Now, what is left

should be preserved. This story touched the deepest chord of the heart of

Jivabhai as well as many of the villagers present. To this meeting,

everybody was allowed. Bhana Bapa says that when they were doing

bhaktipheri, other people were making fun of them. By that time

Swadhyaya work had begun and, in fact, had taken roots in the neigh-

boring village of Badodara Dodiya. Two active followers of Swadhyaya

from this village had an important role in the spread of Swadhyaya in

Simar as well as in the villages around. They used to come with their own

ration and they were not even taking cups of tea from the people. This

selfless visit and meeting influenced villagers such as Bhana Bapa. They

were the early messengers of Swadhyaya in the village.

Of one of these visiting Swadhyayee brothers from Bombay, Bhana

Bapa’s son Pratap Bhai told me the following: One day, years ago, Pratap

Bhai and other members of the village were sitting on the rooftop. It was a

moonlit night. As they were engaged in conversation, there was tear in the

eyes of the brother from Bombay who was undertaking his Swadhyaya

bhaktipheri in the village. Pratap Bhai asked him, “Brother! why there is

tear in your eyes?” The Swadhyaya Bhai said, “Today is the day of

marriage of my daughter. I had to come in my bhaktipheri. Since it is a

commitment to God and Swadhyaya, I could not break it. When I left

home, I told my daughter who was in tears: “My daughter, please do not

be sad. On the day of your marriage, look at the moon. I shall also look at

the moon. We shall remember each other.” Pratap Bhai continues his

rumination of the early days of Swadhyaya in the village: “We were

young then. Sometimes we were not interested to sit down and listen to

the discourse of the visiting Swadhyayee Bhai. Then, the Swadhyayee

Bhai would take us out in picnic. They would not tell us anything about

Swadhyaya. We would have picnic by the side of the river. We would also

play. So much more difficulties in spreading the work of Swadhyaya in

the villages was taken up by the Swadhyaya Bhai’s from Bombay.”

40 Chapter 2

After the initial work of Swadhyaya, i.e., the prabhatpheri and the

Swadhyaya Kendra where people would come together one day a week

and listen to the audio cassettes of Dada’s Pravachan (the Video

Cassettes and the Video Kendras, which are an intimate part of the work

of Swadhyaya now, had not emerged then), Yogeshwara Krishi (Lord’s

agriculture) was started in Simar in 1975. These additional activities and

experiments of Swadhyaya take place stage by stage. Depending on the

state of development of a locality, particular Swadhyaya activities and

experiments are sanctioned. So it took four years for Simar to prepare

itself for the experiment of Yogeshwara Krishi. By that time, an

Amrutalayam, in fact, world’s first Amrutalayam, had already been estab-

lished in the village Badodara Dodiya. The establishment of the

Amrutalayam had an inspiring influence on the work of Swadhyaya in

Simar. Villagers were interested to build an Amrutalayam for themselves

in the village. They were enthusiastic; so even if the village did not have

the required 90 per cent of the villagers as Swdhyayees, which is a precon-

dition for the establishment of an Amrutalayam in the village, the village

had the sanction from the Swadhyaya co-ordinating headquarters in

Bombay to establish an Amrutalayam.

Establishment of the Amrutalayam in 1982 was a turning point in the

life of Swadhyaya in Simar. A land was identified on one side of the

village which was part of the gochara land. Swadhyayee brothers and

sisters did shramabhakti on the land. Now, the Amrutalayam is twenty-

five years old and has a beautiful campus. It has fruit and flower trees.

There is a bit of grass on the ground and with the continued care of some

of the neighboring Swadhyayees, particularly Bhupat Bhai, an enthusi-

astic young Swadhyayee who regularly gives water to the plants, the

Amrutalayam looks beautiful. But for this, the villagers have worked hard

to develop a barren land into a place of worship. It is Dadaji’s philosophy

that an Amrutalayam should not have a permanent structure, particularly,

its roof must be made of thatches, rather than tiles, asbestos, or concrete

cement, but there exists a tiled roof in the Amrutalayam. It seems in the

initial few years Simar had a thatched roof and then Swadhyayees built a

tiled roof. Ranmalla Bhai, the motabhai of Swadhyaya in the village, says:

“Following strictly the vision of Swadhyaya, this should not have taken

place. But we built a concrete roof. Dadaji’s idea in having a thatched roof

was meant to bring Swadhyees together every year in repairing and

renovating the thatched roof.” But, in this case, as it is in the case of many

of the villages I visited in Saurashtra as well as in other parts of Gujarat

Active Devotion in a Local Context 41

such as in Surat and Valsad, Dadaji’s vision of Swadhyaya as a permanent

mobilization very soon gave away to stable structures.

When Swadhyaya came to the village, villagers were in two kinds of

bondage. In their religious life, they were in bondage to the so-called

sadhus and the mahatmas and in their economic life they were in bondage

to the beparees—the merchants and the middlemen. People had a lot of

faith in the sadhus. The sadhus would visit the villagers during the harvest

season and tell the farmers to give a substantial portion of the harvest to

them. They would threaten the farmers that if they do not give adequately

to the visiting mahatmas, then misfortune would fall on them. The sadhus

were exploiting what Veshram Bhai, one Swadhyayee of Simar, calls the

andhasraddha (blind faith) of the villagers. The significance of

Swadhyaya has to be understood against this background of exploitation

of the simple religious faith of the people. While in their religious life,

people were exploited by the sadhus, in their economic life they were

exploited by the merchants. Merchants would come and purchase the

produce of the farmers at a very low price. Farmers would borrow from

them during the harvest season and sell at a low price. Moreover, there

was not enough agricultural development in the locality. It is to this

situation that Swadhyaya came.

About these initial years, Meramanbhai says: “When Dadaji came,

people in the locality would wonder: oh! who is this man? This man

neither gives anything nor takes anything. What would this man do? But

Dadaji instilled confidence in the villagers. In meetings after meetings,

Dadaji would say: Please do not be afraid of anybody. Tame Khedut Ho,

Tame Akashgami Ho—you are farmer, your destination is the sky.”

Meramanbhai further says: “If this great man had not come, then half of

our property would have vanished by now by propitiating the Babas

[religious leaders].” Meramanbhai says that in the beginning, the thoughts

of Dadaji did not “settle down” in the minds of the villagers. They would

think: “Oh, Bhakti is alright, if you have to perform your Bhakti then offer

the same to your father and mother. But what does it mean to keep karma

(work) in the middle. What is this Karmayoga?”

There took place a huge Swadhyaya meeting in Bombay named

‘Bhavamilan Samaroha’ in 1976. This was an important event in the lives

of many a Swadhyayee. At that point, Swadhyaya was slowly getting

more and more involved in many a social experiment. Its base also was

getting widened. This event brought nascent Swadhyaya villages such as

Simar and Swadhyayees such as Meramanbhai to the wider networks of

Swadhyaya. Since Meramanbhai was busy in giving water to his sugar

42 Chapter 2

plantation, he was initially reluctant to go. But having gone there he was

deeply impressed. He stayed in the meeting for three days. The slogan that

animated the participants there was: Jhute Bandhan Ko Toddo, Lachari

Ko Chod Do (Break false chains and throw away your helpness). For

Meramanbhai, this was a slogan for the revitalization of people’s power.

This shakti was getting stolen by the false saints. For Meramanbhai, “It

was like the days of Hiranyakshipu when lokashakti was getting stolen.”

Other Swadhyayees from Simar, such as Bhana Bapa, had also joined the

Bhavamilan Samaroha in Bombay.

After the Bhavanmilan Samaroha, another important event in the

history of Swadhyaya in Simar was the ‘Teertharaj Milan’ at Allahabad

in 1976. This was a very big event where lakhs of Swadhyayees from

different parts of the country and the world had taken part. Swadhyayees

from the village such as Meramanbhai and Bhana Bapa had also taken

part in this. But four months before the meeting, young Swadhyayees

from the village such as Pratap Bhai had gone on a motorcycle ride to

Allahabad all the way from Veraval. Sisters in the village such as Pratap

Bhai’s wife Manju Behen and mother Ratanma were at home. They could

not go but they would always think of these wandering Swadhyayees.

They would feel happy only when they receive post cards from the road.

So, Swadhyaya’s work in Simar was getting new inspiration and

momentum from huge events such as Bhavamilan Samaroha and

Teertharaj Milan of Allahabad. Such an intertwining of influence

between the local and the wider Swadhyaya activities continues to

energize the activities of Swadhyaya in this small village. After the

Teertharaj Milan in 1986 there was another big event in 1996. This time,

it was the celebration of ‘Krutagyata Samaroha’ (this is observed on the

birthday of Dadaji to express gratitude to him) in Bombay. All these

events strengthen the mobilizational roots of Swadhyaya in Simar. Those

who work in the village get a new exposure. Moreover, for all these mega

events, there is a preparation in the village. For instance, during my

fieldwork in the village in March 1999, there was the celebration of the

Ramnavami festival. Swadhyaya had decided to observe Dampati Milan

(meeting of the couples) for this. On this particular day, Swadhyayees

were to come to the Amrutalayam and celebrate the values of an ideal

married life. For this, there was door-to-door meeting in the village in

which longtime Swadhyayees such as “Jivabhai Master” (that is how he is

called in the village) had an important role to play.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 43

Jivabhai has just retired from the village school a year ago. The

foundation of Swadhyaya in the village has been laid in the Bala Sanskara

Kendra—the Swadhyaya center for children. Jivabhai used to take this

center twenty-five years ago. Many of the active workers of Swadhyaya in

the village have been groomed in this center led by Jivabhai. Jivabhai says

that during the early days of Swadhyaya in the village, Dadaji had once

come to Jivabhai’s house. Dadaji asked his mother, “Mother! How is your

son? Do you like your son doing God’s work? What do other villagers

think?” Jivabhai’s mother told Dadaji, “I do not have any problem but the

people of the village tell that he would renounce the world and become a

sannyasi.” Dadaji said, “No, mother! He would not renounce the world.

Rather, he would bring the renouncers back home and make them house-

holders.”

Jivabhai says that during the early days he and other Swadhyayees

used to go to other villages on bullock carts to tell them about Swadhyaya.

Of course, now Swadhyayees go from village to village on their motor-

bikes. But during the early days when Swadhyaya was not much known in

the locality, the Swadhyaya messengers from Simar used to face people’s

condemnation and sarcasm. Says Pratap Bhai: “Once we had gone to do

bhaktipheri in a village near Veraval. This village was a prosperous

village. At the outskirt of the village we met the headman of the village.

He asked us: Why have you come? We told him that we have come to

meet him. He told us that he is not interested in meeting anybody and we

should not enter the village.” Reflecting on this experience, Pratap Bhai

says: “When you go out in bhaktipheri, your self-confidence increases.

When you go out, God takes care of you. As long as you are locked

inside your house, you cannot experience this.” As we have already

mentioned, Bhana Bapa’s family had taken an active part in the spread of

Swadhyaya. Pratap Bhai, Bhana Bapa’s son, is an important leader of

Swadhyaya in the village. Bhana Bapa’s daughters have also actively

contributed to the spread of Swadhyaya in the village. Dudhi Behen is one

of the daughters of Bhana Bapa. She was studying in class six when

Swadhyaya came to the village. She had taken part in it whole-heartedly.

She used to organize women’s meetings in the village. In the beginning,

many families in the village were not permitting their members to join

Swadhyaya. There was more restriction in case of girls and the family

members of the village. But, the work of Dudhi Behen helped overcome

this opposition. Dudhi Behen met girls and women in their families and

talked to them about Swadhyaya. The male householders could recognize

change in the behavior of the girls after their exposure to the ideas of

44 Chapter 2

Swadhyaya. Seeing this, the male heads of the family permitted women to

attend the Mahila Kendra.

Dudhi Behen was married when she was only one day old. Dudhi

Behen was given in marriage to Natha Bhai Mori in the same village of

Simar. It may be noted here that many of the Swadhyayees have married

inside the same village. As we shall see, kinship network plays an

important role in the spread of Swadhyaya. There is a classic story in the

locality concerning this. This relates to the legendary Swadhyaya worker

Dr Malabhai Dodiya. Dr Dodiya comes from the village of Badodara

Dodiya, the first village in the Swadhyaya world to have an Amrutalayam.

When Dr Dodiya’s sister was getting married, according to the local

custom, she locked herself in a room. The custom demands that she would

open it if only her brother promises to fulfill one of her wishes. When Dr

Dodiya knocked the door and asked for what does she want, she told him,

“My Brother! I have only one wish—you please make my sasural’s

(father-in-law’s) village a Swadhyayee village.” Dr Dodiya assured her

sister that he would fulfill her wish. Indeed, Dr Dodiya fulfilled his

promise. There is now an Amrutalayam in the village of Mandore, his

sister’s village. Making a single person Swadhyayee is different from

making the entire village Swadhyayee. In order to establish Amrutalayam

in a village, according to Swadhyaya rule, at least 80 per cent of the

people in a village must be Swadhyayee. Dr Dodiya’s dedicated work

made this possible.

This story shows the significance of kinship and marriage network in

the spread of Swadhyaya. Natha Bhai was not a Swadhyayee; he became

one after his marriage to Dudhi Behen. Dudhi Behen is an active worker

of Swadhyaya in the village and leads the Mahila Kendra in the wadi. She

goes in Ekadashi every fortnight.

Dudhi Behen’s younger sister Labhu Behen had also done active

work in the village. She was also a very good student. But she was

engaged quite early when her would-be husband’s mother died and there

was the need for his early marriage. Labhu Behen had to give up her

studies and get married. But this marriage brought not only a full stop to

her studies, but it also brought a provisional full stop to her enthusiastic

work in Swadhyaya. Her husband’s family was not at all interested in the

Swadhyaya work. Even after eighteen years of marriage, her husband’s

family does not allow her to go in either bhavpheri in the village or in

bhaktipheri outside the village. The village she is married to, the neigh-

boring village of Vishnavel, is not an active Swadhyayee village.

However, Labhu Behen’s father-in-law allows her only to go to the

Active Devotion in a Local Context 45

Swadhyaya Kendra. I had a discussion with Labhu Behen when she was

visiting her father Bhana Bapa’s house in April 1997. She told me that for

five years she could not talk to anybody in her husband’s family about

Swadhyaya. Her only recourse was her prayer in the night to Lord

Yogeshwara. She further says: “When I come to Simar I go to

Amrutalayam and tell Prabhu (The Lord): Oh Prabhu! You have to do

your work. If you want me to do your work, then please help me.”

Kamla Behen is another of Bhana Bapa’s daughters. When she was

growing up, she was not as active in the Swadhyaya work in the village as

Dudhi Behen and Labhu Behen. According to Pratap Bhai, she was rather

a merry-go-lucky girl who enjoys her own world and does not want to

make much running around. But, she was lucky enough to continue

further in her studies and complete her bachelor’s degree. With high

education, she was able to get an educated husband and unlike her two

other sisters, she did not have to work in the field. She stays with her

husband Birendra Bhai Singh at the district headquarters of Junagarh.

Kamla Behen has, however, become an active Swadhyayee after her

marriage. She is active in her neighborhood. The history of Swadhyaya in

the village of Simar is the story of families and individuals like Bhana

Bapa. As we shall come to know of them more as workers of Swadhyaya,

we should now move on to having more knowledge about the village and

different programs and activities of Swadhyaya in Simar.

The Village of Simar

The population of the village of Simar consists of 1,284 souls, accordingto the statistics given by Jivabhai from the village record. There arearound 175 families in the village out of which, according to Jivabhai,there are around 100 active Swadhyayee families (But, this was whatJivabhai had shared with me during my fieldwork in April 1997. Duringmy fieldwork two years later, Jivabhai conceded to my assessment thatonly around 40 per cent of the families are active Swadhyayees). Thefollowing is the caste composition of the village.

Male Female

Karadia Rajput 488 412

Harijans 175 133/135

Baghri 30 20

Brahmin 2 4

46 Chapter 2

Giri/Babaji 3 5

Nai (Barbers) 6 5

Darji (Tailors) 7 6

Koli (Adivasi) 3 2

Lohana (a high caste) 3 2

Kumar (Blacksmith) 6 5

The village of Simar is dominated by the Karadiya Rajputs. Most of

the villages in Sausrastra are single caste villages or where one caste is

numerically preponderant as well as socially dominant. Simar is a village

of the Karadiya Rajputs (This is a sub-caste of the Rajputs. Under the

Mandal Commission, it comes under the category of the OBCs—the

Other Backward Castes) as the neighboring village of Sukhpur. But the

village of Shantipara is the village of the Ahirs—the Yadavas who trace

their lineage to the caste of Lord Krishna. It is the Karadia Rajput caste

which also plays the most important role in the activities of Swadhyaya in

the village. This is also the land-owning caste while almost all the

Harijans of Simar are landless.

According to Jivabhai, there are nearly hundred land-owning families

in the village. The highest land that is held by a family is sixty bigha and

the lowest is ten bigha. Most of the prosperous and land-owning families

in the village belong to Swadhyaya, or at least, announce their formal

association with it. But their intensity of involvement varies. For example,

Jaisinghbhai whose house is just near the village Amrutalayam is a rich

land owner in the village. He has one of the highest land holdings in the

village. But he is not that deeply involved with the activities of

Swadhyaya. There are also a few exceptionally active workers of

Swadhyaya from the poor and landless sections of the village such as

Madhu Behen and Veshram Bhai. Madhu Behen is a wage-earning

person. She and her husband Kanti Bhai do not have any land. Madhu

Behen is one of the most active women workers of Swadhyaya in the

village. Similarly Veshram Bhai also does not belong to the established

sections of the village in terms of land holding. He is a barber. He is an

important worker and leader of Swadhyaya in the village. Therefore in

Swadhyaya, we have participation from all the strata of society though

almost always the rich and land-owning people in the village have far

more power in the decision-making dynamics of Swadhyaya in the

village.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 47

Most of the land-owning farmers in the village stay in their own land,

in their wadis. They have built their houses on their plots of land. They

have their farm and residence in one place. The land-owning farmers have

started moving to their farming land or wadi nearly twenty-five years ago.

It was for a variety of reasons. First, the water in the village became salty,

khara as it is spoken in the local parlance. This increases the salinity of the

water. The decrease in the sweet content of the water affects the agricul-

tural production of the farmers not to mention their day-to-day life. They

started moving to those farming lands at the outskirt of the village where

water was good. Moving to the farmland was also convenient because

they could keep their animals there too. Earlier when they were in the

village, they had to cover a long-distance everyday to come to their farm

land with their farming animals.

In many of the villages in the locality—not only in Simar—farmers

have moved to their wadis. This is comparable to the movement of

population to the suburbs in American cities. While the land-owning

farmers move to their wadis those who stay back in the village are mostly

the landless families. A majority of them stay in the Harijan neigh-

borhood, or in the Harijan basa. In fact, the entire village is sometimes

called basa.

The special configuration of the village between wadi and basa is an

important factor in the functioning and mobilization of Swadhyaya. The

wadis are located at far off places from the village center where exists the

Amrutalayam. Sometimes the distance between them is two to three

kilometers. So, there are two sets of Kendras in the village. There are

Swadhyaya Kendras for people in the village as well as in the wadi. It is

difficult for people in the wadi to come everyday to take part in the activ-

ities of the Amrutalayam. As we shall see in greater details in our

subsequent narration, there takes place prayer twice daily in the village

Amrutalayam—in the morning as well as in the evening. The morning

prayer is called prata prarthana and the evening prayer, sayam

prarthana. People staying in the village find it difficult to come to the

Amrutalayam for their morning prayer and evening prayer. As a result, in

many of the weekdays the attendance in prayer meeting at the

Amrutalayam is quite thin. But on the day of the Video Pravachan of

Dadaji many people from the wadi come and attend the Kendra.

The suburban movement of the village to the wadi has affected the

prosperity of the village. While the space in the wadi looks prosperous, in

the main village center and surrounding it the village looks rundown and

dilapidated. The stake in the village main street, in the old village, has

48 Chapter 2

declined on the part of those who stay in the wadi. But because of

Swadhyaya, there is at least a vibrant movement back and forth between

the wadi and the old village. So, Swadhyaya helps to put a connectedness

between the two universes: the village and the wadi. Some of the

reflective Swadhyayees express their sadness at the dilapidation of the

village culture and the village space as a result of the movement to the

wadi. Ranmalla Bhai, the Swadhyaya motabhai in the village is one such.

Says Ranamalla Bhai: “We have not done well by going to the wadi. We

have destroyed the culture of the village. Dadaji has told us to go back to

the village.”

The Amrutalayam is located in the main center of the village. In front

of the Amrutalayam is the huge pond called Nirmal Nir that the

Swadhyayees of the village have constructed. Adjacent to this is the

village primary school providing education upto fifth standard. The

village school has played an important role in transplanting the seeds of

Swadhyaya in the village. In front of the village school lies a series of

houses. Among these, two important and active Swadhyayee families

stay. One is the family of Madhu Behen and the other is the family of

Veshram Bhai. As we move on to the other side of the village following

the village street, on the one side falls the house of Punjabhai master.

Punja Bhai is an internal critic of Swadhyaya and we shall hear more

important things about Swadhyaya and the village as we continue our

journey. On the otherside of Punja Bhai’s house is the house of Jivabhai.

This is a most important Swadhyayee house in the village. Behind the

house of Jivabhai is the neighborhood of the kumbhar—the potters. The

kumbhar maintain a distance from Swadhyaya. As we move further, we

find on the one side Rama temple and on the other side the temple of

Shiva. Near the temple of Rama is the space for the village deity. In front

of the village deity, villagers gather to celebrate Holi, especially Holi fire

in the night. These three temples continue to play an important role in the

life of the villages. The establishment of the Swadhyaya temple in the

village has not diminished the importance of these temples. Some

Swadhyayees go to these temples as well.

Behind the Rama temple is the Harijan basa. It is a sprawling

settlement. Most of the houses are tiled and the streets within it are clean.

The Harijans of the village are mostly wage earners. They are landless.

Some landed people in the village say that Harijans were given land as

part of the land distribution scheme decades ago, but, they have sold it.

Even for many Swadhyaya landed people, the fact that Harijans have no

land is not a problem. For them, “Harijans are able to earn quite a lot.” The

Active Devotion in a Local Context 49

daily wage has increased, touching Rs 100 a day. Some of the Harijan

families cultivate land of the farmers on the basis of sharecropping. Some

other Harijans in the village keep mango grove for maintenance and

nurturance. The neighboring area of Talala is famous for its mango and

mango grooves. The owners of these mango groves lease out these to the

Harijans of the locality for a year for a fixed price, say Rs l lakh. Whatever

they earn during the harvest season is their profit. Two important

Swadhyayees in the Harijan basa—Megha Bhai and Chinna Bhai (both of

them are brothers)—undertake such leases. When I first met Chinna Bhai

in March-April 1997, he was only carrying out the work of the leasing of

the mango groove. But from 1999, Chinna Bhai has opened a grocery

store in the Harijan basa.

Harijans are called Bhavalaxis in Swadhyaya. The relationship

between the caste Hindus and Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe is the

field of yet another experiment in Swadhyaya. In case of the Harijan,

Dadaji has rechristened them as Bhavalaxis, i.e., those who are store

houses of emotion. For Dadaji and the followers of Swadhyaya, what the

Harijans need is emotional love and identification. The Bhavalaxis of the

village Simar have varying degrees of involvement in the activities of

Swadhyaya in the village. While a few come to the Amrutalayam, many

come to the weekly sherikendra—the neighborhood center. Kalubhai, a

devoted worker of Swadhyaya in the village takes the sherikendra in the

Harijan neighborhood. We shall have more detailed description regarding

the participation of Harijans in the subsequent pages in this chapter.

Swadhyaya in Simar: The Work of Different Kendras (Centers)

(a) Sherikendra (Neighborhood Center)

The most important activity of Swadhyaya is the conduct of different

Kendras (centres) in a particular place. These Kendras bring

Swadhyayees together and enable them to discuss the thoughts of Dadaji.

At the root of all these Kendras is the sherikendra. In sherikendra, the

neighborhood Swadhyaya center, people of twenty families which consti-

tutes the elementary unit of Swadhyaya flow meet. The person who leads

in this center is called Kshetradhar, i.e., the holder and upholder of a

particular locale. Kshetradhar is expected to nurture twenty families in

the neighborhood. The Kshetradhar and sherikendra are the foundations

50 Chapter 2

of Swadhyaya. But the sherikendra is not only for the Swadhyayees; it is

for all the twenty families in a neighborhood including those families

which are not Swadhyayees. There are eleven sherikendras in the village

of Simar. Each sherikendra has a Kshetradhar and a Kshetradhar

mitra—upholder of the locale and his associate.

I was present in one sherikendra taken in the Harijan basa. This

Kendra used to be taken by Kalubhai—a caste Hindu. Kalubhai was the

Kshetradhar in the Harijans basa and Chinna Bhai was the Kshetradhar

mitra. It may be recalled that Chinna Bhai is the Harijan from the village.

When I asked him why he is the assistant upholder of the locale rather the

principal Kshetradhar, he told me that he did not have time. Now another

brother, Sahmat Bhai, takes the Kendra in the Harijan neighborhood.

Let us come back to Kalubhai’s sherikendra in the Harijan basa of

Simar. It was on March 24, 1997. Nearly seventy people from the Harijan

neighborhood had come to Kalubhai’s Kendra. Children, men, women

and the old—all of them were there. They were eagerly waiting for

Kalubhai’s arrival. Kalubhai has an intimate relation with the people of

the basa. The subject of discussion in that meditative evening was

Jagadguru Shankaracharya—Shanakracharya, the world teacher.

Kalubhai said:

Shankaracharya wanted that human life should be radiant—manas

tejaswee jivan paye. Man should do prabhukarya—God’s work. For

this Shankaracharya moved from village to village, hut to hut. He was

keen that this thought of a raidant life and the life of God’s work should

move from house to house. For this Shankaracharya did the work of a

Bhagiratha. Bhagiratha is the legendaryfigure in Hinduism who brought

Ganga from heaven to earth. He came to people in the village. He did

not go to doors of either the king or the pundit. He himself went and

came to the people in the village—he came to gamda manas. Similarly

Dadaji has moved from village to village. Dadaji wants that in our life

there should be the play of green and Vaidic Vichar (Vedic thoughts)

should enter our blood.

After the meeting, Kalubhai told me that before the coming of

Swadyaya, people in the basa were gambling but not any more.

Pratap Bhai is another Kshetradhar in the village who takes the

sherikendra adjacent to the Harijan basa. He takes the sherikendra

regularly but he faces difficulties in carrying forward his task of

Swadhyaya. His father scolds him but he says: “I always find time for

Active Devotion in a Local Context 51

Swadhyaya. If I have a Swadhyaya meeting to attend then I finish two

day’s work in one day.” Pratap Bhai told me that in his seri there is a

disenchanted Swadhyayee. His name is Virabhai. Virabhai was earlier

taking part in Swadhyaya. But then he became disenchanted. He says that

he was disenchanted by the fact that some of the Swadhyayees have

appropriated gochara land (land meant for cattle grazing) and have added

it to their own plot. He had a minor grievance too. He spoke with a touch

of sarcasm: “I lost my sleepers everytime I visited Amrutalayam. Of

course, no Swadhyayee would take it but I became tired of my sleepers

being snatched away by the dogs.”1

When we talk to the Kshetradhars of sherikendras, we get a better

idea of the work of Swadhyaya and the pivotal role of Kshetradhar in it.

For Jaisinghbhai Chawda, an enthusiastic young Swadhyayee who

teaches in the local high school and whose clarity of thought about

Swadhyaya is really striking, Kshetradhar and sherikendra are the two

foundations of Swadhyaya. According to Jaisinghbhai, “However big a

worker may be, he can fall down if his foundation is not strong. One’s

foundation becomes strong only when one is in contact with the families

in one’s sherikendra as a gift of God. Papppot Bhai [a legendary worker

of Swadhyaya in the locality about whom we shall learn more when we

come to the subsequent chapter on the work of Swadhyaya in Una and

Veraval] works in three districts but he works as a Kshetradhar.”

Speaking of his own experience of working in his sherikendra,

Jaisinghbhai says: “Whenever I go to any family in my sherikendra as a

Swadhyaya Kshetradhar, I do not talk of any selfish thing. For instance,

when I go to my uncle’s house in the locality bringing the message of

Swadhyaya, I do not talk to him about my seed or ask for his bullocks for

my agriculture.”

Jaisinghbhai had once taken me to a Swadhyayee family in his

locality who is not regular in his attendance of Swadhyaya. This man is a

middle-ranging farmer. He says that he sends his children to the Bala

Sanskara Kendra but he finds difficult to take part in this himself. I asked

Jaisinghbhai: “How do you interact with the non-Swadhyayees

(bin-Swadhyayees) in your neighborhood.” Jaisinghbhai says:

If we truly follow the message of Swadhyaya then there is not really any

non-Swadhyayee. Who is a Swadhyayee? One who studies one’s own

self is a Swadhyayee. So everybody is a Swadhyayee in one’s own way.

There is a part of Swadhyaya in each of us. There is not a single family

in the twenty-eight families I have in sherikendra which does not have

52 Chapter 2

the touch of Dadaji’s vichara. Those who do not come to the

sherikendra, I make it a point to go to their house quite often. They give

so much love from the inner bosom of their heart, one can not really get

this from anywhere in the world. The people who oppose Swadhyaya or

are disenchanted with it do not oppose Dada or Swadhyaya; their disen-

chantment is with the local karyakara—the worker. Obviously as a

human being, the Swadhyaya worker may not be always a full person. If

people see any incompleteness in him then they not only oppose him,

they also lose their interest in Swadhyaya.

Those who are disenchanted or are not actively involved with

Swadhyaya may not come to the Amrutalayam but would still come to the

sherikendra. For instance, I have not seen anybody from the huge Baghri

family in the village Amrutalayam but they come to the sherikendra.

Similar is also the case with another Swadhyayee brother in the village.

This brother had a conflict with the main leader of Swadhyaya in the

village. So, he does not come to the village Amrutalayam. But he comes to

the sherikendra in the locality. This person’s neighbor is not now active in

Swadhyaya and he rarely comes to the Amrutalayam but he comes to the

sherikendra. So one gets a more grounded picture of Swadhyaya in the

sherikendra, not in the Amrutalayam.

It must be noted here that earlier the Kshetradhars were being given

cyclostyled notes for their discussion on the sherikendras. But this has

been subsequently stopped. Now they discuss it from the Swadhyaya

books such as Sraddhabhaga-1 and Sraddhabhaga-2 (two books of

Swadhyaya).

(b) Bala Sanskara Kendra (Center for Imparting Culture to

Children)

To come back to Simar and take part in other Kendras, let us begin with

Bala Sanskara Kendra—center for imparting culture to children. It is

usually for children up to twelve years of age. Children come here, learn

different slokas, and they also play. There are two Bala Sanskara Kendras

in Simar—one in the village, the other is the wadi. As we shall see, in case

of each Kendras, there are two holdings in Simar. I had participated in one

Bala Sanskara Kendra in Simar. This was being held near Pratap Bhai’s

wadi, in the compound of one farmer. Bhavana Behen who studies in the

degree college in Veraval takes the Bala Sanskara Kendra. On that day,

Active Devotion in a Local Context 53

Bhavana Behen first asked the participating children to recite Trikala

Sandhya. After this, she told a story. Bhavana Behen was taking the

Kendra with all seriousness. There were some other slokas being recited

other than the Trikala Sandhya. The Bala Sanskara Kendra was being

taken earlier by the elder sister of Bhavana Behen. After her marriage

Bhavana Behen has taken responsibility for the regular conduct of the

Bala Sanskara Kendra.

(c) Yuvakendra (Center for the Youth)

There are Yuvakendras (Center for Young Men) and Yuva BehenaKendras (Center for the Young Girls) too. Swadhyayees believe that apartfrom meeting at the general Swadhyaya Kendra, Swadhyayees shouldmeet with each other at the level of their age group. I had taken part in oneYuvakendra held in the village in the Amrutalayam. This was in March1999. That sitting of the Yuvakendra was devoted to a discussion of thegunas or virtues of life. The three gunas discussed were—tejaswita,tapasvita and taptarata (radiance, spiritual strivings and steadfastness).The co-ordinator of the Kendra, Pravin Bhai, asked his fellow participantsto elaborate on these virtues and give example of this. All the participatingyouths sat in the circle and took part in the discussion. One youth gaveSwami Vivekananda as the example of tejaswita—radiance. Anothergave the example of Abhimanyu, the valiant young hero fromMahabarata. Elaborating on the meaning of the second virtue, tapaswita,the participants arrived at the understanding that the work we do for Godis tapaswita and we should be tapaswee for God’s work.

Pravin Bhai, the co-ordinator of the workshop, is a graduate fromTatwagyan Vidyapeeth. He tells that the following and the subjects ofengagement for the Yuvakendra (YK): on the 1st Wednesday of the monththere is discussion and debate on issues such as what a youth shouldbecome like. On the second Wednesday, there is discussion of life-storyof great personalities. On the third, there is discussion of qualities of lifeas proposed in Bhagawad Gita. On the fourth, there is play and on the fifthWednesday of the week, there is discussion on the prayogs (experiments)of Swadhyaya such as Amrutalayam.

Before the start of the Yuvakendra on that day, Pravin Bhai spoke in

his chintanika (meditative utterance) that now Swadhyayees must take

note of the new meaning of bhaktipheri given by Didi. If earlier

bhaktipheri was going out to meet the other, now Swadhyayees must

bring the qualities of Swadhyaya into their lives. “There is not much need

54 Chapter 2

for further bhavpheri and bhaktipheri. Now, one has to bring Swadhyaya

into one’s own life.” This suggests that there is a subtle shift in the

emphasis of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya is not only outward-oriented but

inner-oriented. But the fact remains that realizing the virtues and ideal

values of life is a challenging task as borne out in recent developments in

Swadhyaya where violence has been unleashed on dissenting

Swadhyayees.

(d) Mahila Kendra (Center for Women)

There are two Mahila Kendras in the village—one in the village and the

other in the wadi. The one in the village is taken by Madhu Behen and the

one in the wadi is taken by Dudhi Behen. We have already gotten to know

Dudhi Behen a little bit and let us try to know Madhu Behen a little later.

Both of them are ideal followers of Swadhyaya and are exemplary

persons. The Mahila Kendra in the wadi takes place near Dudhi Behen’s

house. There is now a new monthly women’s meet to which Dudhi Behen

goes. This is a meeting for all the co-ordinators of women in the locality.

There is a discussion on the issues to be discussed in the Mahila Kendra.

Dudhi Behen gets a cyclostyled note. During my meeting with her, Dudhi

Bahen shared with me contents from a recently cyclostyled note. The

issues raised in this note are: you must have the same love for your

nananda (husband’s sister) that you have for your behen (your sister). It is

written in the note that the ideal gunas of women have been described in

the tenth chapter, thirty-fourth sloka of Gita.2 Dada tells that “woman is a

Laxmi who brings bhava to bhoga: we must bring a deep feeling and

attention to what we enjoy. Dudhi Behen says that after hearing such

thought, it comes to our mind that we should develop such thoughts.” It is

also written in the cyclostyled note: Bijana Kahta Kahta Apka Manbudhi

Aur Jeevan Khile (Let your mind, intellect and life dance by telling others

about good life).

Dudhi Behen gives a lot of importance to peace. In her own words,

“Apna Jeevan Chaya Asanta Nathi—the conduct of your life should not

be disturbed.” Dudhi Behen is a hard-working person. She works quite

hard with her husband Natha Bhai. She takes care of her eighty year old

mother-in-law whom she addresses not as sashu (mother-in-law) but as

Ma (mother). She says that she does not go anywhere without asking her

Active Devotion in a Local Context 55

mother. If there is any disturbance in any family in the neighborhood she

goes and talks to both the husband and wife.

Madhu Behen is another sister who has been actively involved in the

work of Swadhyaya for the last twelve years. In the first five years of her

association, she took up the responsibility of taking up the Mahila

Kendra. The Swadhyaya Achara Samhita or code of conduct stipulates

that one has to hand over responsibility to another person after holding

one particular charge for five years. Accordingly, Madhu Behen passed

on the responsibility to another sister in the village, one named Ratan

Behen. Ratan Behen continued for three years and then got married. After

Ratan Behen’s marriage, Madhu Behen has taken up the responsibility

again. Madhu Behen says that though there are many educated women in

the village, they did not have much understanding of the work of

Swadhyaya; so she had to take up this responsibility again.

Madhu Behen is strict about the Swadhyaya Achara Samhita—code

of conduct. The Mahila Kendra has to continue whether there is one

person present or fifty. The Mahila Kendra also cannot be taken by

unmarried women. Says Madhu Behen: “Because there are not many

women present, you cannot also bring little girls and complete your

Swadhyaya work. You also cannot close the Swadhyaya Kendra because

not many women have turned up.”

I was present in a few sittings of the Mahila Kendra held in the

Amrutalayam. In one such meeting, the Mahila Kendra began at 9 o’clock

in the night. This was after the prayer in the Amrutalayam. The Kendra

was taken by Madhu Behen. They read from the Swadhyaya book

Dashabatara. From this book, they discussed about Hiranyakashipu and

Prahallada. The theme of Hiranyakashipu is a pet theme in the discourse

of Swadhyayees. They contrast the devotion of Prahallada with the cruelty

and demonic conduct of Hiranyakashipu. They read a few lines from

Dashabatara and then discussed it. This discussion went in many direc-

tions. In the midst of this, Madhu Behen raised Dadaji’s rhetorical

question: “If you want to get salvation, then should you steal another

person’s wife?”

(e) Manahar Kendra (The Center for the Old People)

Manahar Kendra is another important Kendra in the village in which

senior citizens of the village assemble. The literal meaning of Manahar is

the men who should be treated with man, respect. This Kendra takes place

56 Chapter 2

in both the wadi and the village. I was present in two sittings of Manahar

Kendra one in the wadi and the other in the village Amrutalayam. Both the

Kendras are taken by Jivabhai. In one Kendra, in March 1997, Jivabhai

discussed this in the Manahar Kendra that there should be no insult of the

older people—such insults destroy your punya, your virtue. The old

people also ought to take part in God’s work and they should encourage

their children to do God’s work. Becoming more explicit, Jivabhai said:

“You should come to hear Dada’s Prabachana at the Video Kendra. When

your son or daughter-in-law want to do God’s work, do not prevent them,

rather encourage them. You also engage your daughter-in-laws in God’s

work. At least, allow them to attend the Mahila Kendra. When your own

son or daughter-in-law wants to do God’s work, do not prevent them,

rather encourage them.”

Jivabhai was discussing about the character of Srikanth on that day.

Around eight old people had taken part in the Manahar Kendra on that

day. Jivabhai was reading about the character of Srikanth from one of the

Swadhyaya books, Jeevanateertha. Jivabhai told that Srikanth was inter-

ested in the development of the prajas, the subjects, especially the ryots.

In the words of Jivabhai: “Potana Vikash, Praja Vaibhabshalee Baneche,

Mari Andar Bhagavan Che, Ved Vicharke Log Jivan Biteche.” Srikanth

told that kings and the richmen of his times: “Your people are helpless but

they should be fearless.” For instilling fearlessness in people Srikanth told

people that they should realize that there is God in each of them. As a

result of the work of Srikanth, the ryots were awakened.

My second participation in the Manahar Kendra was two years later.

It was in the village Amrutalayam. Some disenchanted Swadhyayees had

joined the Manahar Kendra in the village because of sustained bhavpheri

of Jivabhai. This included Virabhai whose decline of interest in

Swadhyaya we had seen a few pages ago. After his retirement from the

school Jivabhai has taken the establishment of and nurturance of

Manahara Kendra as the new mission of his life. Says Jivabhai, “I want to

start Manahar Kendra in each of the 101 villages of the Veraval Taluka.

Now, the Manahar Kendra has been started in the neighboring village of

Sarosoa and Baroda Dodiya.”

(f) Video Kendra

The Video Kendra is an important center for the Swadhyayees. It is in the

Video Kendra that Swadhyayees get to see and listen to the life-elevating

Active Devotion in a Local Context 57

thoughts of their main source of inspiration, Pujya Dadaji or Reverend

Dadaji. So, Monday evening is the time Swadhyayees of Simar look

forward to in their entire week. On this day, the Amrutalayam on the day

of the Video Kendra wears a festive look. Swadhyayees come with their

best dress and some with notebooks on their hands. Males sit on the one

side of the room—on the left side, while females sit on the right side. The

television is kept in front of the deity and the video show of Dada’s

Pravachan begins with prayers. Then the television showing the video is

switched on exactly on time at 9 PM. If there is any electricity failure, then

this cannot be replayed again when light comes. This has to finish exactly

in time.

The Swadhyayees listen to Dadaji’s discourses (Pravachan) with rapt

attention. Most of them come with their own notebooks and take notes

from Dadaji’s Pravachan. While viewing the video, they have to sit in a

particular manner. They can not stretch their legs. This particular kind of

body-discipline is part of the wider Achara Samhita of Swadhyaya. But

those people who have difficulty in sitting on the floor without stretching

their legs find it difficult to come to the Video Kendra. This, for instance,

is the case with Meramanbhai, otherwise an enthusiastic follower of

Swadhyaya.

For many Swadhyayees, Dadaji’s Pravachan in the Video Kendra

gives them a new lease of life. It is a tonic for their living for the week.

They do not feel well in their heart if they miss Dada’s Pravachan or

Video Kendra. In case of many women, the day of the Video Kendra is the

only day in the week when they can come to the Amrutalayam. This, for

instance, is the case with Shantibehen, the wife of Kalubhai. Shantibehen

stays around two kilometers away from the village main center. So, it is

difficult for her to come to the Amrutalayam on other days. But she never

misses the Video Kendra in the Amrutalayam. The same is the case with

Dudhi Behen, the co-ordinator of the Mahila Kendra in the wadi and

Bhavana Behen, the co-ordinator of the Bala Sankara Kendra.

The above gives us a glimpse of the work of different Kendras in

Simar. The following is the latest schedule of the Kendras in Simar:

1. Monday: Video Kendra: At the Amrutalayam. Around 9 PM after the

Alati

2. Tuesday: Going to other villages for the work of Nivah [we shall soon

describe the arrangement of Nivah]

3. Wednesday: Yuvakendra (The Center for the Young Men): Both in

the village and the wadi. This Kendra takes place around 9 PM. Both

Pravin Bhai and Arshi Bhai take the Kendra in the village and

58 Chapter 2

Jaisinghbhai Chawda and Sur Singh (son of the Swadhyaya motabhai

Ranmalla bhai) take the Kendra in the wadi.

4. Thursday sherikendra: in both the village and the wadi. This takes

place before the Alati in Amrutalayam, usually around 7 PM.

The Manahar Kendra during day time.

5. Friday Behena Yuvakendra at the Amrutalayam 9-10 PM.

Bhavana Behen and Pravena Behen take this.

6. Saturday: Bala Sanskara Kendra.

The Work of Other Important Activities and Institutions of

Swadhyaya in Simar

(a) Amrutalayam

Amrutalayam is the most important institution of Swadhyaya and much of

the activities of Swadhyaya revolve around it. It is an attempt to redefine

and reconstruct the meaning of temple. It is also an attempt to create a new

space of creativity, dialogue and worship in the village. The Amrutalayam

in Simar has a beautiful campus. On the one side is a huge pippal tree and

on the otherside there are a couple of fruit trees. There is a well inside the

campus which helps in the watering of plants. Bhupat Bhai, a young man

whose house is just near the Amrutalayam—takes care of the plants of the

Amrutalayam.

The floor of the Amrutalayam in some other village such as Tukuda

near Porbander is full of beautiful painting. But one does not find such

beautiful floor painting in the Amrutalayam in Simar.

Let us try to understand the usual routine of an Amrutalayam. It

begins early in the morning. Interested Swadhyayees assemble in the

Amrutalayam before dawn. Then they do the morning prayer called prata

prarthana. This consists of the Atmastakam slokas of Shankaracharya and

begins with the first sloka of Ishopanishada: Purnamidam Purnamada

Purnat Punamudayaye, Purnashya Purnamadaya Purnaeva Bashisthake,

Aum Shanti, Shanti, Shanti Aum. The message of this means—This is full,

That is full, Let us move from fullness to fullness. Let there be peace. The

first line of the Atmastakam goes like this

Manorbuddhi Ahamkaram Chittani Naham

Nacha Srotajiwhe Nacha Ghrananetre

Active Devotion in a Local Context 59

Nacha Byoma Bhumi Tejonobayu

Chidananda Rupam Shiva Ahom Shiva Ahom

It means: “I am not mind, buddhi, ego; I am not just organ of hearing or

smelling, nor am I soil, light and air. I am chidananda—consciousness

and delight, and I am Shiva, I am God.”

In this sloka, the sadhakas or the seekers present themselves as a

chidananada, a pure consciousness, and a pure bliss. The sadhaka is

neither mind, nor intellect. After the morning prayer begins

suryanamaskar—salutation to Lord Surya, the effulgent Sun. The atten-

dance in suryanamaskar varies from Amrutalayam to Amrutalayam. In

some Amrtalayam such as in Untwala (described in the next chapter)

around fifty people cutting across different boundaries of age and sex

come and do their suryanamaskar. But to the Amrutalayam in Simar only

three-fourth males come everyday. This includes one young shopkeeper

in the village named Patel. Jivabhai also comes regularly to attend the

morning prayer and suryanamaskar. So does Bhupat Bhai. In all the

morning prayers I have attended in the Amrutalayam of Simar, I have not

seen more than five people. After the morning prayer, people disperse and

become busy with their lives. Some people might come to the

Amrutalayam during the course of the day. Sometimes some Kendras

such as the Manahar Kendra are also held in the afternoon in the

Amrutalayam.

Then there is the evening prayer in the Amrutalayam. The attendance

in the evening prayer is more than the morning. It begins with the

Swadhyaya evening prayer called sayam prarthana. The beginning lines

of this long prayer are:

Abinaya Mapanaya Vishnu

Damaya Mana Samaya Vishaya Mruga Trushna

Bhuta Dayam Vistarasya Taraya Sansara Sagarata

A rendering of this prayer means:

O Lord Vishnu! Please help me overcome my lack of humility, help me

to control my mind, put to peace my material craving. Enable me

enchance my compassion to all beings and cross over this sea of the

world.

60 Chapter 2

Earlier, the whole text used to be recited which used to take nearly

fifteen minutes but now a portion of the text is not recited.3 After the

evening prayer, which like all prayers end up with the invocation which

proclaims Lord Krishna as Jagatguru—the teacher of the world. (This

invocation is sung in all Swadhyayee meetings: Vasudeva Sutam Devam,

Kansha Chanura Mardanam/Devaki Paramanandam Krishna Vande

Jagatguru). Then there is the Alati which is aesthetically so pleasing. A

pujari couple does Alati before the deities of Lord Yogeshwara, Lord

Shiva, Goddess Parvati and Lord Ganesha on her lap.

The pujaris do worship, do the Alati at the Amrutalayam. They do

worship as couples. For all the days of the year, there is a main pujari and

there are some to assist the main pujari. In case the main pujaris are not

able to come then the assistant pujaris come and do the prayer and the

Alati. The 168 Swadhyayee families of the village are divided into 24

groups. Each group is responsible for the worship at the Amrutalayam for

fifteen days. Pujaris come from all sections of society such as the Harijan

basa. I had spoken with a few pujaris from the Harijan basa of Simar.

They told me that they very much like to come to the Amrutalayam and do

the Alati. They consider it their great blessing and privilege that they

come to the Amrutalayam as pujaris while they cannot go to other

temples. While they go to other temples they have to wait for the priest but

here they are themselves priests. Some of the pujaris from the Harijan

basa told me that while they do not attend regularly prayers at the

Amrutalayam they attend their pujari bara, the work schedule of the priest

without fail.

Pujari is an important identity in Swadhyaya. All the institutions and

experiments of Swadhyaya are run on the basis of the devotional sharing

of time and labor on the part of the pujaris. Pujari means priest. Any

engagement in any of the activities of Swadhyaya is looked at as the

working of a priest. But in Swadhyaya, the worshippers identify

themselves as part-time priests. For example, those who go to

Yogeshwara Krishi identify themselves as pujaris of Yogeshwara Krishi.

Those who go Vriksha Mandir identify themselves as purjaris of Vriksha

Mandir. The same is the case with those Swadhyayees who go to offer

their devotional time and labor at the feet of the Lord in Shridarshanam:

they identify themselves as pujaris of Shridarshanam. Thus pujari is a

very important category of Being and Becoming, identity and aspiration

in Swadhyaya. But Swadhyayees are also clear in their understanding that

they are not full-time priests, they are part-time priests.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 61

The Amrutalayam in Simar is the space for congregation as well as

source of inspiration for such part-time priests. The Amrutalayam is also

the site of many festivals in the village. Three important festivals which

have a particular significance in the life of the Swadhyayees and the

village are—Gita Jayanti (The month of December), which celebrates

birthday of the scared book Bhagawad Gita, Ramnavami which

celebrates birthday of Lord Rama (April) and Janmastamee which

celebrates the birthday of Lord Krishna (August). Swadhyayees on these

days offer their due to God in the village Amrutalayam. Swadhyayees

believe that God has a share in whatever one earns or produces because

God also works within oneself as a partner. Swadhyayees believe that

God resides as an active partner in us. On these three occasions,

Swadhyayees offer their due to God. In Swadhyaya, this is known as

Bhagban Ka Bhag—the share of God. Bhagavan Ka Bhag is the special

privilege for the Swadhyayees of the Amrutalayam village. Those who are

not Swadhyayees in the Amrutalayam village cannot offer their Bhagavan

Ka Bhag. The places and villages where there is no Amrutalayam, they

also cannot take out Bhagavan Ka Bhag, the God’s share from their

earnings. What they offer is known by a different name—it is called

Bhava Samarpana.

I was present in Simar on the Ramnavami Day in April 1997. After

the evening prayer and Alati, many villagers came with their bullock carts

to the Amrutalayam. I particularly remember the radiant smile in the face

of Ojrang Bhai. Ojrang Bhai is a middle income farmer in the village. He

has around 10 bigha of land. He is not a much literate person and his wife

is also not literate. They are devoted followers of Swadhyaya. Ojrang

Bhai had brought bags of wheat to the Amrutalayam. The moon was in the

sky. The rays of moonlight were creating a radiant reflection on people’s

faces. At that time, with prayer, the offering of Bhagban Ka Bhag began.

Those who had come with kind such as Ojrang Bhai offered these at the

step of the Amrutalyam. Those who had come with cash put their money

in the envelope that lies in front of the sanctum sanctorium of

Amrutalayam. Then they came with the envelope and offered it at the feet

of the deities inside the sanctum sanctorium. On seeing the assembled

people offering their Bhagban Ka Bhag, I also wanted to take part in this.

So, I took an envelope and went inside the inner chamber of the

Amrutalayam but suddenly there were many voices. Prominent was the

voice of Jivabhai: “Nehi, Nehi, Ananta Bhai!” (No, No, Ananta Bhai). I

could not make my offering because I am not a Swadhyayee in the village

otherwise it would be philanthropic donation which goes against the

62 Chapter 2

principles of Swadhyaya. Moreover, those who offer must have a

long-term, clear and sustained understanding of the notion of God’s

partnership. Otherwise it would be donation or philanthropic contribution

which does not have any place in the Swadhyaya scheme of things.

Jivabhai further told that there is a sanctity in the whole process. The

envelopes in which people put their cash should not be a torn one, nor

should it be a used envelope. Therefore clean envelopes are used by

Swadhyayees. Moreover, they are not expected to give any physically

torn note. Jivabhai keeps the collection of Bhagavan Ka Bhag. But he

keeps it exactly as it is collected. He cannot give any small change from

this money if a neighbor asks for a change. He has to deposit it as it is in

the Bank in the account of the village. Jivabhai says that the envelopes are

closed envelopes and they are anonymous. What one offers as Bhagavan

Ka Bhag is one’s own voluntary sharing born out of one’s depth of under-

standing of the ideal of God’s partnership. Another person does not know

how much one has offered. This anonymity is another important aspect of

the sanctity in the whole process of offering. Purity is the foundation of

Swadhyaya and in the financial transanctions, purity of exchange or Artha

Pabitrata is a highly regarded value in Swadhyaya. Swadhyayees stress

Artha Pabitrata in all their dealings and the same is in case of offering of

one’s due of God’s partnership. So, whatever is the cash collected is

counted in the presence of a group of Swadhyayees in the village. Then a

form is duly filled up in which the amount collected is mentioned.

Jivabhai puts his signature there as the person in charge of Bhagavan Ka

Bhag. Two other witnesses also put their signature on this form. Three

copies of this form are made—one is kept in the village file, the other is

sent to Bombay, while the third is sent to the Jaayas office (district

Swadhyaya office) in Veraval.

Jivabhai further tells that those families which have more than one

source of income are expected to reflect this in the offering of Bhagavan

Ka Bhag. In the village, there are people like Madhu Behen and Veshram

Bhai who are wage earners. But in these families also there are multiple

source of earning and the offering of Bhagavan Ka Bhag should reflect

this. For instance, in Madhu Behen’s family, both Madhu Behen and her

husband Kanti Bhai work, so, when an offering is made it is made taking

into God’s contribution as an active worker in both the partners. The same

is the case with Veshram Bhai whose son works as a barber like him. In

case of some other families in the village such as Jaisinghbhai Chawda,

Ranmalla Bhai, and Mansinghbhai, there is income both from land as well

Active Devotion in a Local Context 63

as from service-employment. Thus there is no compulsion but

Swadhyayees are expected to make offering which reflects their multiple

sources of earning at the level of family and household.

In the village of Simar, Bhagavan Ka Bhag is taken out and offered

during harvest season. So, these festivals coincide with three harvest

seasons. During Ramnavami, it is the harvest season for wheat. During

Janmastamee, it is the season for groundnuts. During Gita Jayanti those

who do a third crop in the village also harvest.

Coming back to that night of offering of Bhagaben Ka Bhag in the

Amrutalyam, some of the Swadhyayee brothers and sisters continued a

little longer after the Amrutalayam when other people had left. This

included important workers of Swadhyaya in the village such as Ranmalla

Bhai, Pratap Bhai and Pratap Bhai’s wife Manju Behen. We sang

Bhavgeet—devotional songs. Reflecting on this mid-night devotional

engagement, Pratap Bhai told me the following day. “Yes, it was a

wonderful night last night. We sat down, talked and sang. But then we

could not have continued beyond 12 mid-night. Har Chisma, Ek Maryada

Ka Bandhan Hotehei—there is a boundary of dignity in everything.”

(b) Yogeshwara Krishi

Yogeshwara Krishi means Lord’s farming. The farmers in the village

have their own plots of land. They also work on their own plots. But they

primarily work for themselves on their plots. Swadhyaya believes that

they should also have a space and opportunity where they can work for

God, others, society and the whole Humanity. Yogeshwara Krishi is one

such field where farmers work without any wage for the sake of God by

offering their time and labor at His feet. The experiment of Yogeshwara

Krishi is also founded on the vision of Srimad Bhagawad Gita that the

way one can offer one’s Bhakti to God is not just by reciting God’s name

but by offering one’s nipunata (efficiency) at His feet. But the land on

which farmers offer their efficiency should not be taken free from the

farmers concerned. One of the foundations of Swadhyaya is that one

should not take anything for free. So, even if a rich farmer is prepared to

gift his land to the Swadhyayees of the village for this purpose of

co-operative agriculture, villagers are not supposed to take it for free.

Swadhyayees of a village are expected to take a piece of land on lease and

pay back half of the produce as fees for the lease. But it has to be noted

64 Chapter 2

that this Swadhyaya principle is not always followed. In the neighboring

village of Baroda Doidiya, the Amrutalayam has purchased a permanent

plot of land.

The Swadhyayees of Simar have been offering their nipunata

(efficiency) on the land of Dudhi Behen and Natha Bhai for the last many

years. Yogeshwara Krishi started in Simar in 1975. The Krishi has

continued uninterrupted in the village ever since. When the time of culti-

vating comes, Swadhyayees of Simar go to the land of Yogeshwara Krishi

(what they call Bhagavan Ka Kheta) and offer the prayer of Sri Suktam.

Sri Suktam is a prayer to the Goddess of Wealth, Laxmi. It is an

invocation to Mahalaxmi for bringing prosperity to the village. In fact,

Shree means both beauty and prosperity. Jivabhai says that when Laxmi

comes to a village, everybody should live well. Nobody should wear torn

clothes nor anyone stay in a jhupudi, in a dilapidated thatched house.

It is not that only before the ploughing or the tilling of land,

Swadhyayees have to pray near the land. After the harvesting they have to

come to a festival at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth, Pune. They have to bring the

sankalpa (resolve) of the village. The festival is called Prakata Utsava or

the day of the manifestation of Lord Yogeshwara. It is also abbreviatingly

called Pattostava. Every year Swadhyayees from Simar go to the

Yogeshwara temple at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth and present the Sankalpa

of the village to continue Yogeshwara Krishi. Those who come to the

annual resolution at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth in Thane take care of their

expeneses. Ranmalla Bhai had gone to take part in the Pattostava in 1996.

Returning from Bombay, Ranmalla Bhai shared his experience with

Swadhyayees in the Amrutalayam: “When I looked at Lord Yogeshwara

at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth, I saw in Him the God of our village

Amrutalayam. There I thought of the whole village. I prayed for the

prosperity of the entire village.”

It must be noted that while Swadhyayees of Simar take, at least, two

crops from their land and quite a few, three; they cultivate only once a

year in Yogeshwara Krishi. So that particualr land of Dudhi Behen and

Natha Bhai is given in lease to Swadhyaya for one crop and to Megha

Bhai of the Harijan basa for the other crop, especially during the winter

season. On my second visit to the village of Simar in October 1996, on the

very second day of my visit I was taken to the land of Yogeshwara Krishi.

I met there Megha Bhai and Mungibehen. Megha Bhai is one of the few

long-time Swadhyayees of Simar and Mungibehen is his wife. Megha

Bhai had taken the lease of Dudhi Behen’s land on a fifty-fifty basis. They

said that they go with Kalubhai to do bhaktipheri. Megha Bhai there also

Active Devotion in a Local Context 65

said: “If you are a closed bottle and even if you are put inside Ganga,

nothing can enter inside you. So, to accept new ideas you should be open.”

This he had heard in Dadaji’s Pravachan sometime ago.

On the site of Yogeshwara Krishi, Pratap Bhai told me that he had

given his land on lease for three years before Dudhi Behen. This land is

just around one acre. There was a querry in my heart as to why

Yogeshwara Krishi should be done on such a small amount of land. Pratap

Bhai could understand the querry in my eye and before I could ask him

told me: “We usually take an acre for Yogeshwara Krishi. We take less

amount of land so that people can fulfill the tasks in their own fields as

well as offer their shramabhakti in Yogeshwara Krishi. So that there

would not be any burden on any person.”

The produce from Yogeshwara Krishi is called Apoureshaya Laxmi

or impersonal wealth. It is called Apoureshaya Laxmi or impersonal

wealth because this wealth does not belong to any person in particular.

This is not within the ownership of any particular person. This belongs to

God. For Swadhyayees, the idea and experiment of generating impersonal

wealth is an important contribution of Swadhyaya to modern economic

thought and practice. Because, for Swadhyayees modern economic

thought does not have within itself any space for nurturance and gener-

ation of wealth which is not within anybody’s possession.

(c) Apoureshaya Laxmi and Prasad (Impersonal Wealth and the

Gift of God)

For Swadhyayees, the generation of Apoureshaya Laxmi and its distri-

bution among those who have financial difficulties and other maternal

challenges as a gift of God is the solution to the problem of Haves and the

Have-nots. During my very first visit to any Swadhyaya experiment, this

was told to me by a fisherman boy in Porbander. I had gone to visit the

Swadhyaya Prarthana Mandir in the fishermen locality of Porbander way

back in September 1994. I was accompanied by my Swadhyayee friend

and guide Bimal Bhai. When we were sitting on the floor of the Prarthana

Mandir discussing about Swadhyaya, one young fisherman came. He

described for us the experiment of Matsyagandha in the fishermen

communities which work on the same principle of Yogeshwara Krishi.

Matsyagandha is a fishing boat which is manned by the Swadhyayees

who work there as pujaris who offer their devotional time and labor. What

is generated out of this is brought to as prasad, gift of God, to those who

66 Chapter 2

have needs in the locality. For this friend, “The generation of impersonal

wealth and its sharing as prasad is the solution to the problem of the

Have-nots. Karl Marx spoke about class warfare for solving the problem

of the Haves and the Have-nots. But it did not work. Swadhyaya’s way is

the way of generation of impersonal wealth out of the devotionally

offered time and labor of people and to share this with the less fortunate.”

two-third of this Apoureshaya Laxmi is sent to Bombay to be deposited

there on the account of the village and one-third stays in the village.

How does this sharing of impersonal wealth as prasad take place in

the village of Simar? According to a Swadhyaya motabhai, the motabhais

of Swadhyaya know who is the needy in the locality. So before being

approached, the motabhais take the initiative of offering the prasad. But

this offering is done in the most dignified manner. It is brought in the

middle of the night so that nobody can know. The prasad is given grace-

fully and much care is taken to see that those who give present themselves

as messengers of God and divine brothers and those who receive do so

without any feeling of inferiority.

Regarding prasad, Ranmalla Bhai, the motabhai of Swadhyaya says:

“The impersonal wealth is only for giving as a prasad to the other children

of God.” In concrete terms, it means that the Swadhyaya prasad is given

to only Swadhyayees in the village. Pratap Bhai explains this by saying

that the prasad is not given to the non-Swadhyayees because since they do

not have understanding of Swadhyaya, they are likely to take such

offering as a philanthropic gift and it would produce Bhikharipan—

beggary—in the receivers. Swadhyaya which is founded on the

philosophy of Karmayoga of Bhagawad Gita which Swadhyaya interprets

as “Kam Karteja, Hak Marta ja, Madad Tayarche”4 cannot encourage

such beggary in people. But some other Swadhyayees have a different

understanding. Jivabhai agrees with me that one implication of Dadaji’s

advice of “unto the last man” (i.e., the spiritual responsibility of

Swadhyayees reaching out to the last man in the village) is that the

Swadhyaya prasad must be given to everybody, and not only to those who

are part of the Swadhyaya Parivara. Jivabhai says: “Yes, this is what

Swadhyayees should be doing. But for him, neither Swadhyaya in general

nor the Simar village in particular has yet reached such a stage.” By this,

Jivabhai had in mind the stage of financial strength. But I think

Swadhyayees have not yet reached this stage of understanding that they

have a fundamental moral and spiritual responsibility to reach out to

others no matter whether the other belongs to Swadhyaya Parivara or not.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 67

Ranmalla Bhai further says that impersonal wealth cannot be spent on

developmental work such as building of road, or renovating the school

compound, or digging the well. These are instances of samajik

karya—social work. “Swadhyayees are for doing God’s work as a Bhakta

and not for doing any samajik karya or development work as a social

worker or as a development worker.” The distinction between prabhu

karya and samajik karya is a very important distinction in the vision and

ideal of Swadhyaya and in the self-understanding of the Swadhyayees.

But people in the village have a different expectation. The priest of the

Shiva temple in the village laments that Swadhyaya does nothing to

develop the village. He says: “Just look at the road to the village. Should

not Swadhyayees be doing something about it? Should not they establish

cowshed in the village? Shouldn’t they repair the delapidated building of

the school?” This priest is not necessarily an apriori and essentialistic

critic of Swadhyaya. He holds Dadaji in esteem and he appreciates the

fact that before worshipping at the Amrtualayam Dadaji had come to

worship at the village Shiva temple.

One senior Swadhyayee of the village told me that from Yogeshwara

Krishi and Bhagbanka Bhag, nearly Rs 50,000 is generated every year.

But this has to be spent strictly for God’s work and not for social devel-

opment. I recall the beautiful night when Ranmalla Bhai and myself were

coming back from the Vriksha Mandir in Maljujwa to the village of

Simar. We continued our discussion on the Swadhyaya method of need

addressal and the sharing of prasad. I asked him if there is a poor boy in

the village who is not able to pay his school fees, will Swadhyaya help

him? Ranmalla Bhai said: “No, the Apureshaya Laxmi is not meant for

such purpose. If it is absolutely essential, then, we will do the ‘shoul-

dering [meaning sharing]’ among ourselves and come to his help.”

I had also a discussion with Kalubhai regarding this. Kalubhai says

that Swadhyayees do come to the aid of needy people in the village but

this they do on their own, and sometimes, a few Swadhyayees together. In

this context, Kalubhai mentioned about a widow in the Harijan basa. She

had a marriageable daughter and she had no help. Kalubhai has helped in

the marriage of this daughter. But Kalubhai is emphatic that the

Mahalaxmi of Swadhyaya is not for those who misuse money, and spend

it for drinking and gambling. It is also not meant for the beggar to make

him more of a beggar. Says Kalubhai: “Even if we give, it won’t make a

lot of difference. We will first change his thought, we will first bring his

children to the Bala Sanskara Kendra.”

68 Chapter 2

Jivabhai says that Bhagban Ka Prasad now has been given to four to

five people in the village. When I asked who are the people who have

received it, Jivabhai was reluctant to tell the names. For him, there is a

sanctity in the whole process. He said that one brother in the village has

been given this support for purchasing a rickshaw. This brother is really a

needy person. He does not have any land. The other person who has been

given prasad has been given so for purchasing a pair of bullocks for his

agricultural development. This person works as a clerk in the local school;

he has a small farm but a big joint family. Though he is able to run his

household, he needed support for further development. So, Jivabhai

makes clear that Bhagavan Ka Prasad is not meant only for the

fulfillment of basic needs or for meeting emergency requirements but also

for providing developmental assistance for investing in agriculture or

business. But Jivabhai makes clear that to be eligible for this ‘divine’

support, one being a Krutisheel Swadhyayee (active Swayadhyayee) is a

must. Participation in important Swadhyaya activities such as

teerthayatra is also taken into consideration here.

Another person’s name was recommended for prasad but he politely

said no. Says this brother: “Five years ago, my name was recommended

for prasad. But I said: I do not need this. I earn Rs 3,000 per month. Then

my name was recommended for help in house construction. I also did not

need this. Then when I was building my saloon I was asked if I need any

help for purchasing furniture. When I was getting my son married, our

Swadhyayee brothers asked if I needed any help and I said no.”

The village of Simar has a lot of money from its Apoureshaya Laxmi

but all this is lying unutilized. This support is not meant for the poorest of

the poor but for Krutisheel Swadhyayees. I discussed this issue with a

senior Swadhyayee in Ahmedabad. He tells us that it is a wrong notion

that poor people only are in need of this money. “This should be given to

those who want to progress economically. In Saurashtra, even this money

is being utilised by the rich peasants. It is a wrong notion that only the

needy people should be supported from this resource.”

(d) Lokabhogya Utsava

Amrutalayam is either the site or the center of many festivals in the

village. This includes traditional festivals such as Krishna Janmastamee

or Ramnavami and also the new ones which Swadhyaya has introduced

Active Devotion in a Local Context 69

among the people. But in case of the existing festivals, Swadhyaya has

given these a new interpretation and a relational embodiment. In case of

Janmastamee, while only the boys from the high-caste families in the

village can play the role of Balakrishna and enact Krishna’s legendary

breaking of the pots of the Gopis, in case of the Swadhyaya Janmastami,

the boys from any caste could play the role of the Krishna and be at the

center of the procession. But probably the most innovative reinterpre-

tation and reconstruction of an existing festival in Swadhyaya is that of

Deepavali, the festival of light. This is a very important festival in

Western and North India and its significance is parallel to that of

Christmas in the Euro-American world. Swadhyaya has provided a new

relational base to this festival and this reconstruction is quite imagina-

tively called a prayog (experiment) by the Swadhyayees. In Deepavali

Milan prayog, Swadhyayees from Simar go to the neighboring village of

Badodara Dodiya. They first reach the Amrutalayam. In the

Amrutalayam, Swadhyayees of Badodara Dodiya eagerly wait for the

arrival of their “divine brothers and sisters” from Simar. Then the

awaiting Swadhyayees pick up the letters of God in front of the deities in

the Amrutalyam. In this, the name of the Swadhyayee who would be his

guest in the Deepavali is written. Then the Swadhyayee brother invites the

visiting Swadhyayee brother to come to his house. Many Swadhyayees

have told me with a sense of righteous pride that if in the slip of a high

caste Brahmin, the name of a Harijan appears then he would also gladly

invite this Harijan to his house and share the gifts and cakes of the festival

with him. The next day, the Swadhyayees from Badodara Dodiya come to

Simar. They first reach the Amrutalaym and from there go to the houses of

individual Swadhyayee families.

During the 1997 Ramnavami, I was present in Simar and Veraval.

This year Swadhyaya had initiated that Swadhyayees must come in

couples to either the Swadhyaya Kendra or the Amrutalyam. There was

the programme for a Dampati Milan—the meeting of the couples. In

Dampati Milan, Swadhyayees come to the Amrutalayam and listen to the

ideals of an ideal marraige. But before the Swadhyayee celebration of

Ramnavami in Simar, there was intense bhavpheri in the village. For

instance, the veteran Swadhyayee brother Jivabhai was moving from

house to house in the village of Simar and telling them to come to the

celebration of Ramnavami at the Amrutalayam. For this, one Swadhyayee

brother from another village comes and presents a discussion. This

discussion revolves around the significance of an ideal married life where

the husband and wife respect each other.

70 Chapter 2

Apart from reinterpreting existing festivals, Swadhyaya has created

one new festival. This is called Lokabhogya Utsava. Every month

Swadhyaya celebrates one festival. This festival is meant for the entire

village. On this day, a Swadhyayee brother from another village comes

and presents a discourse. This Lokabhogya Utsava is expected to be held

at the center of the village and not in the Amrutalayam. This festival is

meant for the whole village. It is also an occasion for establishing a

creative link between the Swadhyayees and non-Swadhyayees in the

village. It is also an occasion to present the Swadhyaya perspective on a

particular festival to everybody in the community.

I was present in two Lokabhogya Utsavas—one in the village of

Simar and another in the village of Amrapura which was taken by

Ranmalla Bhai, the motabhai of Simar. While the Lokabhogya Utsava in

Simar was held in the Amrutalayam, the one in Amrapura—a village

nearly 20 kilometer away from Simar—was held at the main center of the

village. The Lokabhoya Utsava in Simar which I had attended years ago

was held on July 26, 1997. Dr G.B. Buha, a surgeon of renown from

Veraval, had come to give chintanika on this day. In fact, Simar is Dr

Buha’s village. He has been working with Simar for the last three years.

Dr Buha comes here once a month and meets Swadhyayees in the

Amrutalayam.

The Amrutalayam was beeming with people on that day. Many

Swadhyayees had come to the Amrutalayam on that day. But I did not

meet with any non-Swadhyayee in the Lokabhogya Utsava. Probably,

greater non-Swadhyayee participation would have been possible if the

festival had been held outside the Amrutalayam. Swadhyaya has many

creative ideas but those who follow it sometimes give these their own

twist. At the end, the vision and experiments of Swadhyaya take a back

seat.

On the Lokabhogya Utsava that day, Dr Buha was welcomed to the

Amrutalayam without any formality by J.D. Bhai, the headmaster of the

local high school. He was accompanied by his wife and son, as well as by

another Swadhyaya couple from Veraval—Professor Babaria and his

wife. Dr Buha on that day began his presentation by speaking of the

significance of Chaturmashya in the Hindu calendar:

Chaturmashya means four months in the rainy season and during this

period, God sleeps. If somebody sleeps then another person takes care.

So, if God sleeps then the responsibility of nurturing and maintaining

the world, the responsibility for lokasangraha5 is upon us.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 71

Chaturmashya is for the cultivation of Daivigunas—(Daivi Gunaka

Bardhan Ho)—divine virtues. It is for cultivating divine virtues such as

abhaya, tejas and karuna—fearlessness, radiance and compassion.

The other Lokabhogya Utsava or Gramotsava which I had attended

was on March 2, 1997. It was on the occasion of Holi. Ranmalla Bhai,

Pratap Bhai and myself had gone in the evening to the neighboring village

of Baroda where the motabhai of Veraval Taluka, Lakha bhai, stays. Then

Lakha Bhai joined the three of us and we went to Amrapura. First, we

went to the Amrutalayam. It was already time for the evening prayer.

After the evening prayer, we came to the village center. Many people

from the village including some whom I had not seen on the Swadhyaya

prayer at the Amrutalayam had come. When the evening began there were

only five people but soon fifty people joined. Ranmalla Bhai said: “Holi

brings new color to life. Today bhogabada (consumerism) and jantravada

(mechanical logic) have encircled human beings. Then Ranmalla Bhai

told about King Hiranyakashipu and contrasted him with his devoted and

spiritually awakened son Prahallada. Ranmalla Bhai told that our life has

become a life of Hiranya Kashipu, out to enjoy the world but here the

challenge is to be a Prahallada.” For Ranmalla Bhai, while Hiranyakshipu

is the symbol of consumerism and sexual enjoyment, Prahallada is the

symbol of spiritual awakening. About Dadaji, Ranmalla Bhai said:

“Mahapurushaka gamda tare prem Achi—the greatman has love for the

villages!”

We can note here that Hiranyakashipu and Prahallada are constant

themes in Swadhyaya. Another important theme is, coming to village,

loving people in the village and working with them. Ranmalla Bhai, as

innumerable many others in Swadhyaya, emphasize the fact that Dadaji

has been able to transform the life of the villagers.

(e) Ekadashi

Ekadashi is another traditional practice which Swadhyaya has trans-

formed. In the existing form, people celebrate Ekadashi by observing

fasting. But Swadhyaya states that Ekadashi is not for changing your food

i.e., for observing fast and eating fruits. Ekadashi is for changing the

brutti of your life, the vocation and direction of your life. Ekadashi is for

meeting other people in a selfless manner, as children of God. On the

Ekadashi day, Swadhyayees start going to another village. In fact,

72 Chapter 2

Swadhyayees of all the villages of Nivah come to one single village and

spend the day. I had the experience of participating in four Ekadashis in

1997, and one in 1999. Besides I had spoken at great length with Veshram

Bhai and Madhu Behen of Simar about it.

Let us begin our understanding of the vision and practice of Ekadashi

with a narration of my most recent participation in it. It was March 13,

1999 and the day of Ekadashi. That day the Ekadashi was to be done in the

village of Kindarva. Before Kindarva three Ekadashis have been

celebrated each in the villages of Sarasoa and Simar. As we have already

stated on the Ekadashi day, Swadhyayees from all the villages of a Nivah

assemble in a particular village. They all assemble in a particular

place—either in the village Amrutalayam or (where there is no

Amrutalayam) in the village temple or in the house of a particular person.

On that day, we had to assemble in the house of a Swadhyayee farmer, one

Virbhana Bapa. Virbhana Bapa must be in his fifties and is an enthusiastic

follower of Swadhyaya. When I reached Virbhana Bapa’s house, I was

happy to know that Madhu Behen had already arrived there. That was the

season for marriages; so people were busy. So, we only three people

started on our Ekadashi.

It was a great spiritual experience to walk under the scorching Sun.

The farming field was full of young, green groundnuts and water was

flowing. After crossing a few plots, we reached the wadi of one rich

farmer, Mashur Bhai. Nobody was inside the house except an old woman.

Madhu Behen went inside and talked to her, while we sat outside. Then a

young boy of the family who was busy in watering the groundnut field

came. Virbhan Bapa, the undeclared and unannointed leader of Ekadashi

yatra, asked the boy whether he would join us. He replied in the negative

stating that he has to give water in the groundnut field. After this, we came

to the neighboring house. There Hinu Behen, another elderly Swadhyayee

sister, joined us. Like Madhu Behen and Dudhi Behen, Hinu Behen is also

a regular participant in the Ekadashi yatra of Swadhyaya. If she is in the

village, then she makes sure that one of her daughters-in-laws (she has

two) joins the Ekadashi. Hinu Behen is from Kindarva, and her wadi is

quite far from Virbhan Bapa’s wadi where we had first assembled. She

had come running and on finding us in that farmer’s house she was happy.

Hinu Behen and Madhu Behen went inside the house and talked to women

folk. At that time, one of the male householders came home and we

exchanged pleasantries. After a while as we were to proceed to another

house and as both Hinu Behen and Madhu Behen came out, Birbhan Bapa

told Madhu Behen: “While we were sitting outside, you went and saw the

Active Devotion in a Local Context 73

TV.” Madhu Behen said: “No, just for a minute. I was talking to the sisters

inside.” While Madhu Behen and Hinu Behen were inside, Virbhan Bapa

told me about the destructive impact of TV.

From this way, we visited another house which is a Swadhyayee

family. Then we crossed the road and visited another family which

seemed not to be a Swadhyaya family. Of course, my mode of inference

was that there was no Swadhyaya photograph there. We spent sometime

in exchanging pleasantries and then came to the house of one Pitha Bhai.

He is a small farmer with ten bighas of land. Pitha Bhai has a small house.

Virbhan Bapa, myself and Pitha Bhai sat on the varandah. As per the

custom of Saurashtra, Pitha Bhai put the special rajai and pillow for us to

sit comfortably. In fact, visiting any house in Saurashtra is an ennobling

experience. One is provided a comfortable mat and pillow for sitting,

offered water, and then invariably tea. But during any bhaktipheri one is

expected not to take any tea. Pani, Prakash and Pathan—water, light and

the sleeping material—only these three things one can have. But Pitha

Bhai gave a new interpretation of why Swadhyayees do not take up food

while being on the Ekadashi yatra. Pitha Bhai said: “God has not asked

you not to take food on the Ekalashi day. There is no God’s injunction

here. You do not take food because tomara time big da he—if you start

taking food then your time is wasted.” With all these important thoughts

as a prelude, Pitha Bhai presented us a plate of roasted groundnuts. We

were all first in no mood to relent to his request because it goes against the

Swadhyaya Achara Samhita. But then all of us were hungry. It was

already two in the afternoon and we had taken our breakfast only around

8.30 AM. So, finally we started chewing the roasted groundnuts to our

satisfaction and to the spiritual wisdom of Pitha Bhai. Madhu Behen must

have been very hungry on that day otherwise a strict follower of

Swadhyaya Achara Samhita as she is, she certainly would not have agreed

to chewing even a few pieces of groundnuts.

We had to say goodbye to Pitha Bhai and through the lush green

banana fields, followed by dusty roads, came to the house of the neigh-

boring farmer. There the young householder offered us tea. Virbhana

Bapa said: “Tumko Saram Nehi Ati? [Don’t you feed ashamed?]. You go

to Swadhyaya Kendra and offer us tea.” After this, we came to the house

of Govind Bhai K. Mori. Govind Bhai has just built a new house. Most of

the farmers in the region are building new houses. Govind Bhai has been

with Swadhyaya for a long time. In fact, he has been the classmate of the

legendary Swadhyayee worker in the area, Dr Malabhai Dodiya. But

because of domestic obligations, farming responsibility and the demands

74 Chapter 2

of his work in the school, Govind Bhai has not been able to devote much

time in Swadhyaya. So, despite his long association with Swadhyaya, he

has not moved up on the ladder of Swadhyaya activism. In Swadhyaya

formal and nominal seniority does not count, what counts is one’s

continued involvement in the activities of Swadhyaya and one’s

continued sharing of time and labor for the oneself and for others. But it

remains to be further explored whether Swadhyayees shirk their responsi-

bility in the places where they are working in order to be able to share

their time and labor with Swadhyaya. Many of the followers of

Swadhyaya are teachers—from the primary school to the college. In my

interaction with teachers I have not found any concern in them for the

poor state of education in the public schools.

We continued in our journey of Ekadashi. On the way, sitting with a

village shopkeeper for a while, we came to Hinu Behen’s house. Hinu

Behen has a medium-sized farm. In Hinu Behen’s house Madhu Behen

felt headache and she lied down for a little while. She was not well. Hinu

Behen told us even when she did not have the additional hand of her two

daughter-in-laws, she was going on Ekadashi regularly. It was around

4.00 PM. and we concluded our Ekadashi.

On the way back, Govind Bhai told me that though he has not been

able to share much time with Swadhyaya, he has tried his best to stead-

fastly follow the principles of Swadhyaya. His has been the first land

given for the village Yogeshwara Krishi and he has refused to appropriate

forty bigha land lying across his field. But Govind Bhai was frank in

saying that Swadhyaya has not progressed much in Kindarva because

there have not been many selfless workers in the village. About one

particular worker in the village of Kindarva, Govind Bhai said: “Yes he

runs on the work of Swadhyaya but he uses this for his own interest—O

Karyameen Daudatehe, Magar Karyko Apne Swarthake liye Byabahara

Kartehe. He goes on Ekadashi/bhavpheri two to three times to one family

and after this he would ask them to send children to his school. This is not

good. This brings a lot of obstruction to the work of Swadhyaya.” So

Swadhyaya works differently in different villages and a major part

depends on the selfless work of individual Swadhyayees. As we shall see

subsequently, the qualities of the bearers of Swadhyaya play an important

role in the determination of the intensity and spread of Swadhyaya in a

particular village.

To come back to the Ekadashi Yatra in Swadhyaya, it must be

mentioned that Ekadashi does not always take place outside one’s village,

it also takes place in one’s own. Of course, in the Swadhyaya Nivah

Active Devotion in a Local Context 75

arrangement when Ekadashi falls within one’s own village, then one does

Ekadashi in one’s village. For example, on this particular Ekadashi, Hinu

Behen was doing Ekadashi in her village while in case of Madhu Behen, it

was another village. But sometimes Madhu Behen goes on in Ekadashi in

her own village when the Ekadashi has been fixed in another village. This

happens when she does not have anybody to accompany her. Madhu

Behen tells that when she goes on in Ekadashi to an outside village it is

called bhaktipheri while when he goes inside her own it is called

bhavpheri. Three months ago, she had gone to do Ekadashi in two

seris—neighborhoods—in her village. One is the seri of the Bagri

community. She asked them about their life. She says: “In Ekadashi and

other bhaktipheri we do not immediately discuss about Swadhyaya. It is

our Achara Samhita not to discuss about Swadhyaya Kendra. We discuss

about their own lives.” Of the Baghri family in her village she says that

they know about Swadhyaya but because of alasya (laziness) they do not

come to the village Amrutalayam.

But Madhu Behen says that even when doing Ekadashi in her own

village, she cannot come back home in the middle. She leaves instruction

with her daughters that they should not go and tell her to come home even

if an emergency arises. When she goes out on Ekadashi, her daughters

prepare roti for her but they cannot accompany her to other villages. Says

Madhu Behen: “The kuari ladki (unmarried girls) cannot go out in

Ekadashi. That way, other people in society would think that they are

moving from place to place.” Adds Madhu Behen: “We have to work

while being in society.”

Madhu Behen says that it is a great pleasure to visit the house of the

non-Swadhyayees: “They are interested in the work of Swadhyaya as we

are interested to listen from them their stories.”

While I was doing fieldwork in Simar in March April 1997 I had a

chance to participate in another Ekadashi. This was the Ekadashi Day of

April 3, 1997 and it was held at the village Lathi where people from the

seven villages of Sutrapara Nivah had come. 76 people had come for

Ekadashi on that day in which there were six couples. All the Ekadashi

Swadhyayees had assembled in a village temple at 8.30 AM and came

back around 2 PM. They were doing bhavpheri in the village about the

significance of shoshkhada—sockpits. Shoshkhada—sockpit—is one of

the technical prayogs in Swadhyaya in which people are encouraged to

dig sockpits in their backyards for the passage of used water. Enough

people had not built shoshkhada in their frontyards/backyards and the

Ekadashi people had tried to explain them further about it. The village

76 Chapter 2

being a farming village where many people stay in the village not in the

wadi, the visiting Bratadharees could not meet many in their own houses

since they had gone to their farms. But the visiting Ekadashi Bratadharees

were not deterred. They went to the nearby field where people were

working and told them about shoshkhada.

During the Ekadashi at Lathi we met with one sister in the village

named Bobby Behen. She comes from a village called Badodara Jwala,

twelve kilometers away from this place. She woke up at four in the

morning, prepared tiffin for herself and her husband. She tells that she has

been participating in each Ekadashi and has been doing so for the last

seven years. We met in the village temple at Lathi on that day another

brother, who works in the factory at Sutrapara. He is a wage earner and

has five children and is the only earning member in the family. He says

that he could have earned Rs 150 on that day but did not bother about it

and came to Ekadashi. It has not been easy for himself and his wife to

come together for Swadhyaya Ekadashi. Sometimes he comes and

sometimes his wife comes.

(f) Vriksha Mandir (Tree Temple)

From Ekadashi as an experiment in person-to-person fellowship and

intimacy now let us come to understand another experiment. This is called

Vriksha Mandir or tree temple. Of course, this temple is not inside Simar.

It is a supra-village experiment where Swadhyayees of the area come and

work as pujaris for 24 hours. In the Vriksha Mandir, the trees are

worshipped as embodiment of God. Swadhyaya believes that there is God

not only in human beings but also in trees and we must learn to worship

this godhead in the natural world and establish our spiritual kinship with

it. The Vriksha Mandir prayog, Swadhyayees tell, however is not a

prayog upon the trees; it is a prayog on the mana (mind) and buddhi

(intellect) of human beings. It is an experiment with human beings. In

fact, Swadhyayees are clear in their understanding that all the Swadhyaya

experiments are experiments on human beings and with human beings.

Valmiki Vriksha Mandir in Maljunjwa which is around fifteen

kilometers away from the village of Simar is the nearest Vriksha Mandir

and the one where villagers from Simar go to work as worshippers. The

Vriksha Mandir has a special place in the life of Simar because the

Swadhyaya motabhai of Simar is also in charge of this Vriksha Mandir.

Ranmalla Bhai is the motabhai of Vriksha Mandir. I had gone with

Active Devotion in a Local Context 77

Ranmalla Bhai to the Vriksha Mandir many a time. I have also stayed a

whole day and spent a night there as a pujari.

In the Vriksha Mandir, there are many kinds of trees—coconut,

mango etc. The pujaris come and do their shramabhakti. There is a prayer

hall in the Vriksha Mandir. The pujaris do their morning and evening

prayers there. The pujaris come with their own food—lunch and dinner.

They eat together in a small dining room. They also share food. There is a

separate room for the women pujaris to stay. It must be mentioned that

grown up women are permitted to come to the Vriksha Mandir as pujaris

only being accompanied by their husbands.

The Vriksha Mandir is a prayog of the neighboring twenty villages.

These twenty villages send pujaris everyday. The pujari on the first

instant every month is the motabhai of the pujaris in the village. He is

entrusted with the task of nurturing the pujaris. Everyday in the Vriksha

Mandir itself there is a motabhai among the pujaris. In the Vriksha

Mandir, the lead pujaris in each of the twenty villages meet once a month.

The tree temple is an experiment in establishing supra-village friendship,

intimacy and fellowship among the participating villages. The prayog is

akin to the agricultural experiment of Shridarshanam which is also a

prayog in establishing friendship among people in twenty villages.

In the Vriksha Mandir, everything is considered sacred. So, new

visitors are especially given instruction that they cannot urinate outside

the lavatories. But unfortunately, the lavatories are not well maintained

and there is no shop there. The tree temple has a special cottage for Dadaji

which has a couple of rooms. One room is for Dadaji and another is for

Didi. There is also a small cottage near the river where Dadaji sits and

meets with people. In fact, in all the experiments, there is a great desire to

build a special cottage for Dadaji. This building is done with the

sharrambhakti of the Swadhyayees but Dadaji does not spend much time

there. But in Vriksha Mandir and Shridarshanam, Swadhyayees are

always very anxious to build a separate cottage for Dadaji. It does not

occur to them that they can also build a library there and if Dadaji comes

he can rest there as well which can have an attached room with all

necessary facilities. Building a separate cottage for one’s spiritual pioneer

is part of creating a huge wall of separation between oneself and the other.

Unfortunately, spiritual masters themselves seem not to realize the trap

that such separation creates.

Two people from Simar go once a month to the Vriksha Mandir.

Bhana Bapa goes to Vriksha Mandir on every fullmoon day. Bhana

78 Chapter 2

Bapa’s face is full of a divine radiance when he goes to the Vriksha

Mandir and comes back. He takes pride in the fact that he is a pujari of the

full moon night—Purnima Ka Pujari. Similarly Govind Bhai, a senior

man in the village, goes to Vriksha Mandir once every month. While

Ranmalla Bhai appreciates this and says: “My salutation goes to Govinda

Bapa who goes to Vriksha Mandir every month keeping all his works

aside”, another dienchanted villager has a different reading of such

devotional trips. He says: “Oh! Look at Govinda Bhai. He has expanded

his coconut groove by appropriating the village gochara land and now he

goes to Vriksha Mandir every month to wash off his sin.” This is the

complex environment of gossip and many contradictory perceptions in

which Swadhyaya works in Simar.

(g) Technical Prayogs: Sockpits, Well-Recharging, Sarita Kup and

Nirmal Nir

(a) Sockpits and Well-Recharging

During the Holi celebrations of March 1997, a team of Swadhyaya volun-

teers led by Kalubhai, the head of the technical prayogs, visited houses of

some people in the wadi and explained them the significance of technical

prayogs such as sockpit and well-recharging. There was no sockpit,

soshkhada, in some of the houses in the wadi and since it was the day of

the Holi, it was an auspicious moment to start the bhavpheri for the accep-

tance of the prayog of shoshkhada in the village. Those who stay in the

wadi do not have much garbage but still they construct sockpits out of

devotion. Kalubhai, the head of the technical department of Swadhyaya in

the village took a survey of the sockpits in the locality. It must be

mentioned that during bhavpheri and sherikendra meeting, Swadhyayees

continously talk about their technical programs.

Well-recharging is an important technical prayog of Swadhyaya. In

well-recharging, farmers construct a small canal into the well which

brings rain water into the well. Because of well-recharging, water level

has gone up and farmers in the village have been able to take a higher

yield from the crop. This was clearly explained to us by Bhupat Bhai, a

young farmer in the village. For Bhupat Bhai, it is well-recharging which

is a major input of Swadhyaya into the agricultural development of the

village. During our bhavpheri that afternoon, another Swadhyayee farmer

Active Devotion in a Local Context 79

distinguished between the well-recharge program of the government and

Swadhyaya. The government has been having a well-recharging program

for years but it did not lead to much. But when Swadhyaya stepped in,

people immediately took part and started recharging their wells with a

spirit of devotion. Earlier the farmers of the village had shortage of water

only for four months and now they have it only for two months. Kalubhai

says that if all the farmers do well-recharging then, they will bring

Narmada to Saurashtra. “Now all the farmers do not realize the signifi-

cance of well-recharging and once they realize it, it would spread like

wild fire.”

In order to make sense of the wider effort of technical prayog of

Swadhyaya, it is helpful here to listen to the experience and perspective of

Thakarshi Bhai of Junagarh, a legendary Swadhyaya worker in the field of

technical prayogs of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya technical prayogs are

primarily related to the issue of conservation and regeneration of water.

The Saurashtra region has a special problem with water, especially in the

coastal area. This has led to drought or drought-like situation and the

misery which this creates has been a source of deep pain to Dadaji for

years. Dadaji, after much reflection, formulated that it is duty of

Swadhyayees to send all the water to the earth instead of letting it flow to

the ocean. Dadaji tells Swadhyayees: “God gives water to you for your

use, for replenishment of the earth.” This formulation of Dadaji was the

basis of water related technical prayogs of Swadhyaya such as

well-recharging, Nirmal Nir etc.

Thakarshi Bhai says that well-recharging started in 1992. In the same

year, there was a lot of rain and those who did well-recharging got a much

better yield compared to those who had not done the well-recharging. This

led to the spread of the experiment of well-recharging. Thakarshi Bhai

says that in 1993, the Swadhyayees of Junagarh had organized a demon-

stration camp for the whole of Saurashtra in which participants revolved

to recharge 28,000 wells in the region.

The prayog of sockpit began in 1992. In sockpit, the used water of the

household, indeed of flowing on the surface is led underneath. Thakarshi

Bhai explains its significance: “Every family uses, at least, 100 liters of

water everyday. Even in a small village which has just 100 families, the

water used is 10,000 liter of water and if all the houses have dug a

sockpit in their backyards then all this water would go underneath

everyday. Our study shows that, villages where there is hundred per cent

80 Chapter 2

sockpit, hand pumps run very well. Because of sockpit, there is less dirt in

the surrounding and the incidence of disease also comes down.”

(b) Nirmal Nir (The Pond of Pure Water)

Nirmal Nir is another of Swadhyaya experiment. Simar constructed its

Nirmal Nir in 1995. After the construction of Nirmal Nir, Swadhyayees of

Simar took the initiative to lay an underground pipeline to the nearby

river, the Brajma river. The pipeline had to come through the Harijan

basa. The high-caste Swadhyayees of Simar convinced the people of the

basa about it and with this consent the ground under the Harijan basa was

dug up. This pipeline was laid in order to bring water from the nearby

Brajma river to the Nirmal Nir especially during rainy season.

The establishment of the connecting pipeline was a costly affair. The

village panchayat approached the government for supporting this work

and the government also provided a grant. But instead of entrusting this

work to the outsiders, Kalubhai, the present acting sarpanch of the village

and Mansinghbhai—another Swadhyayee—took up this task. Kalubhai

and Mansinghbhai were working under the scorching Sun and the people

from the Harijan basa were working as laborers. Kalubhai and

Mansinghbhai put part of the money for this work in advance from their

pocket.

Swadhyaya does not expect any grant from either private philanthro-

pists nor from the government. For example the construction of the huge

Nirmal Nir in Simar was carried out partly on the basis of devotional

labor, shramabhakti. But the establishment of the connecting pipeline was

a matter of great financial expense and moreover it was not a Swadhyaya

prayog per se. It was a supplement to the constructed Nirmal Nir and was

part of contributing to the larger common good of not only the village but

also the entire locality. As Thakarshi Bhai says, “if you construct a Nirmal

Nir, you get a good well-recharging in the neighborhood of 10 to 15 km

surrounding it.” Swadhyaya took an initiative towards the making of

this common good but it wanted to carry the government as a

partner with it.

The relationship between Swadhyaya and government is a

multi-faceted one. When Swadhyayees construct huge ponds which

involve thousands of people offering shramabhakti, the visiting

governemnt officials are touched by such devotionally motivated work.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 81

We must note here that when Nirmal Nir was being constructed in Simar,

the participating Swadhyayees were offering their shramabhakti not only

during day time but also in the night. Light was arranged at the

consturction site. It is because during day time many Swadhyayees are

busy with their own work—either working in their own farm or working

as a laborer in other people’s farms. So, it is convenient for them to offer

their shramabhakti till the mid-night.

Such instances of work are not only instances of devotional labor but

also of co-operative labor. In modern society, labor and time have no

value unless sold in the media of money and market. But Swadhyaya

considers time and labor as sources of autonomous value generation and

that is how Swadhyayees base all their projects of generation of

well-being and prosperity on shramabhakti. Their offering of

shramabhakti reminds one of the way people in tribal areas come to be

engaged in cooperative labor. During my fieldwork in a tribal village in

Kashipur, Orissa I found that for the harvesting of paddy in one

household, people from the entire village had assembled. They had not

come as wage laborers but as partners of co-operative labor (see Nanda

1994). In Swadhyaya technical prayogs as well as in other platforms of

collective work, one finds instances of such co-operative labor. But this

co-operative labor takes place in a highly aesthetic environment with

singing of devotional songs. Participants listen not only to devotional

audio cassettes, they also themselves sing. For instance, in October 1996,

during my visit to one of the Swadhyayee villages in Una, I saw men,

women, boys and girls working for the thrashing of the harvested wheat

from the village Yogeshwara Krishi. It was 8 O’clock in the night and

Swadhyayees were to go till mid-night. The whole work of thrashing was

being carried out in the portico of one of the Swadhyayee farmers. The

participants that night were also singing songs. One such song is:

“Thikana Milato Prabhuko Kahna, Milna Hamese Binakoi Karan [If you

get the address then tell God that we have to meet without any reason,

without any purpose.”

Visiting government officials and political leaders are touched by the

devotional and co-operative labor at work. They often help the

Swadhyayees in their work and Swadhyayees say the only help they can

provide is to provide their fellowship and spiritual companionship. Once

the local MLA of Junagarh had come to visit the construction of Nirmal

Nir in another village. The participants of Swadhyaya shrambhakti there

offered him to speak. He politely told that he has come there not to speak

but to learn.

82 Chapter 2

But in some cases, the governmental programs do create impediments

in the work of Swadhyaya. Take, for instance, the Swadhyaya technical

prayog of well-recharge. It was going on well and the success of

Swadhyaya in the field also encouraged other religious groups such as the

Swaminarayans to encourage their followers to undertake well-

recharging. Swadhyayees welcomed this encouraged by the fact that one

of its prayogs had a collective learning effect. But, for Thakarshi Bhai,

then the government started announcing subsidy which distracted some

people. Instead of putting their time and labor, some people started

running after the government subsidy. In the words of Thakarshi Bhai,

“Government subsidy kills people’s motivation.”

(c) Sarita Kup (Well in the River)

Sarita Kup (well in the river) is a latest Swadhyaya innovation in the field

of technical prayog. During my work in Simar, I had not witnessed its

operation since it was operated only in 1999. But since we are discussing

the various technical prayogs of Swadhyaya, it is helpful to know a little

about this. Thakarshi Bhai, the motabhai of the technical section of the

Swadhyaya district of Junagarh and Birendra Bhai Bhatt had a key role in

the innovation of Sarita Kup—well in the river. In Sarita Kup, wells are

done in the rivulets in the village outskirt as well as in the farm. It is a few

feet deep, and then sand and porous stones are put into it. So when the

rivulet is full of water, the flowing water also percolates down the Sarita

Kup and this way goes underneath the surface rather than just flow out.

While visiting the village of Gundala in Junagarh, I saw Sarita Kups

continued in the beds of small canals and rivulets. Here it must be noted

that the first idea was to construct such wells in the beds of rivers. But a

visiting expert from the Ministry of Water Resource of Government of

India advised that constructing such wells in the river beds would be

expensive and may not be sustainable. According to Thakarshi Bhai, since

Swadhyaya always puts in place those prayogs which people themselves

can do, they finally decided to dig Sarita Kups (river wells) in the beds of

small nallas and rivulets.

Sartia Kup has not yet come to Simar but it has other environ-

ment-friendly prayogs of Swadhyaya such as Madhav Brund and ‘The

Village’. In Madhav Brund Prayog Swadhyayees plant trees in their court-

yards and frontyards. They water and nurture this tree with a sense of

Active Devotion in a Local Context 83

devotion. Meramanbhai has raised beautiful trees in front of his house as

part of the Swadhyaya prayog of Madhav Brund. For Meramanbhai,

“When you raise trees and plants in your field you do so with a profit

motive. But while planting Madhav Brund which literally means God’s

trees, you are not guided by any such profit motive.” It may be recalled

here that the Vriksha Mandir or Upavan is also based on the same

principle of devotional engagement with trees and nature. As the

Swadhyayees say, “Dadaji has also raised the trees on the basis of

Bhakti—Chodma Ranchodma Bhavna Atahe”. Some Swadhyayees with

technical imagination have connected their shoshkhada with Madhav

Brund so that the divine trees in front of their houses get a continuous

supply of water.

All these above experiments contribute to conservation of water. In

this context what Tushaar Shah writes deserves our careful attention:

Two aspects of the well-recharge movement are particularly

noteworthy. First, the movement is dynamic, especially with respect to

appropriate technological innovation in water harvesting, conservation

and recharge. Second, why did the movement succeed in attracting such

a broad popular participation? According to some observers, several

dozens of new methods have been designed since 1992 for capturing

rainwater, conserving it and using it for recharge. These methods are not

very complex, most of them entailing improvisation on old methods.

However, the methods have been devised by the farmers themselves by

experimenting, learning, improving, perfecting and finally these

methods have been propagated. . . . the Swadhyaya Parivara has an

indigenous ‘communication machine’ that disseminates information

widely and rapidly. . . . Athavale marketed the message of

well-recharge as an act of devotion to God. At no stage in the early

years did the Swadhyayees ask farmers to recharge their wells because

it was economically profitable. They untiringly cited Athavale’s

teachings that, “If you quench Mother Earth’s thirst, she will quench

yours.” This helped to underplay the economics of well recharge in the

individual’s mind. Early pioneers undertook recharge experiments as an

act of devotion to God and to follow the path shown to them by Dada.

Swadhyaya Parivara is thus amongst the first communities anywhere to

operationalize a new ethic of natural resource management (Shah

2000: 207 emphasis added).

84 Chapter 2

Different Supra-Village Swadhyaya Milans (Meetings) in Simar

Simar being one of the oldest Swadhyaya villages in the locality hosts

many supra-village milans every now and then as it takes part in such

milans in the neighboring villages. During the hosting of such milans,

Swadhyayees of the village are galvanized into action. During the course

of my engagement with Swadhyaya over the course of last years,

Swadhyaya had hosted one such huge milan. It was the district Yuva

Milan—the meeting of the Krutisheel (Swadhyaya active workers) and

Simar had hosted it in March 1997. Nearly five hundred active young

male workers of Swadhyaya covering the huge geographical distance

from Una on the one hand and Porbandar on the other had come. They

reached by 2 PM on March 29, 1997 and left around the same time on the

following day. They assembled in the coconut groove of an influential but

nominal Swadhyayee in the village. They had brought their food (in the

form of roti and sabji) both for the night dinner and also for the next day

morning breakfast. The hosting village provided only buttermilk to the

camping Swadhyaya youth. About this Pratap Bhai commented: “It is not

that we could not have afforded to take care of the entire meals of these

visiting brothers. But it is a question of following Swadhyaya code of

conduct that wherever we go, we must take our own meals with us and

must not create any inconvenience to those whom we visit.”6

I had taken part in one of the classes led by a Swadhyaya youth leader

who is an engineer. He tells us that what is important in Swadhyaya is to

logically understand the significance of Swadhyaya principles for the

beauty and prosperity of life rather than just to emotionally get excited.

For him, emotion, even excited emotion, does not last longer. He urged all

present to realize that Dadaji had not attracted “us by mere bhava

(emotion) but has convinced us intellectually about the foundations of

Swadhyaya”.

In this gathering Dadaji’s Pravachan was presented through video

both in the evening and the subsequent morning. In his Video Pravachan

under the title, “Salutation to the Youth”, Dadaji said that he has deep

faith in the following three—Shruti (The Immortal Texts of Tradition),

Juvan (Youth) and Bhagban (God). He said, youth is not an age-related

category; rather it is the capacity to dream and work differently. The

young should not be afraid of anybody. “You are born to be great. It is an

insult to your soul if you think of yourself as small and imitate small

people.” Continuing his evocative address to the young people, Dadaji

said:

Active Devotion in a Local Context 85

Tu kishike sunta nehi—o tujhpara mera sikayat. Magar tu eise

kattruttwa dekha jeishe viswa tujh ko sunenga. Ter jeevanka par koi

natak lekhenga. Hajaro ko jeevan rangin bana de tu. Tu rone ke liye

nehi paidahe—rona band karne ke liye paida he—[It is my complaint

oh young people that you do not listen to anybody. But you demonstrate

your work, achievement and leadership in such a manner that somebody

will write a drama on your life. You should bring new color to thousand

lives. You are not born to weep rather you are born to wipe the tears of

others.]

Dadaji’s Pravachan continuted in the next morning also. After this

Mudrika Behen presented the concluding oration what in Swadhyaya

parlance is called purnahuti. Mudrika Behen addressed the young: “Tara

karyana satattya dwara jouvani atehe, tu pramanik ban—Through the

constancy of your effort, you realize and demonstrate your youth.”

Mudrika Behen also raised some probing questions vis-a-vis the work of

Swadhyaya: “Your work [i.e., Swadhyaya] is so great then why is it that

only five to ten people are coming to your Amrutalayam. Does it not

disturb you? Why is that out of 627 villages of Veraval there are youth

centers only in 550 villages? Why there are no Yuvakendras in other

villages?”

In this meeting people participating were only listening. In the

classes, I found little critical discussion. They only reiterate the

Swadhyaya way of life, the Swadhyaya way of looking at self, society and

the world.

During my March 1997 fieldwork, I had taken part in another

supra-village Swadhyaya milan, the women’s meet in the neighboring

village of Supashi in which women of the village had joined. Some of

them were accompanied by the senior and veteran Swadhyayees of the

village such as Jivabhai Parmar. This was held on April 5, 1997 in a

mango groove in the village of Supashi. It was a one-day meet of the

Krutisheel sisters of Swadhyaya in Veraval Taluka. Swadhyayee sisters

from thirty-five villages had taken part in it. Women from the villages as

well as the district town of Veraval and semi-urban locations such as

Vidia plot had come. From Simar, forty-two Krutisheel Swadhyaya sisters

had taken part in this meet.

It is helpful here to stop a minute with some of the elements of

thought presented in this meeting. The participants were divided into

many groups and each of these were led by one speaker who was taking

the class. Though classes were exclusively for women I attended one of

86 Chapter 2

the classes with permission. It must be noted here that in Swadhyaya

meetings there is maintenance of a fair degree of distance between men

and women. Swadhyayees call it nurturing and maintaining a boundary of

dignity.

Chandrika Behen Patel is now an important woman leader of

Swadhyaya. She was taking one of the classes. As in the district Yuva

Milan, the participants were listening to Chandrika Behen but there was

no moment for discussion, no critical question raised. But what Chandrika

Behen spoke deserves our close attention as it sheds light on the

Swadhyaya approach to establishing a dignified relationship in the world

of gender. She spoke the following in Gujrati and let us listen to her in her

heart-touching Gujarati:

Bahya Saundarya ka Darpan Apke Pasche Magar Antasoundarya Apke

Pasche ki? Naree Narayani Banisake. Ahankara Nehi magar Asmita

Bananahe. [You have the mirror for your outward beauty, but do you

have your inner beauty with you? You have to build your asmita, not

your ego. Woman can be a Goddess.]

In the same speech, Chandrika Behen elaborated on the Swadhyaya

method of tackling women’s issues and exploitation. Women should

solve their problems with love and not through fighting. For Chandrika

Behen, through love and igniting their inner lamp women can change their

drunken husbands. A woman should establish good relationship. Though

these exhortations seem to be part of the familiar patriarchal resolution of

woman’s question what is unique here is Chandrika Behen’s emphasis on

building virtues in one’s life—“Mera Jeevan Andar Gun nirman Karna

He—I have to build virtues in my life.” Apart from building virtues in

their lives women should take a special interest in telling villagers about

the need for construction of sockpits—shoskhada—in their backyards and

carry out well-recharging in their fields.

Some Important Actors and Actresses of Swadhyaya in Simar

Veshram Bhai

Veshram Bhai stays near the village Amrutalayam. Infact he rents this

house from Meramanbhai who has moved to the wadi. Veshram Bhai

Active Devotion in a Local Context 87

migrated to this village. He has a hair cutting saloon in the neighboring

town of Guddu. Veshram Bhai has two sons and two daughters. Veshram

Bhai and his family are enthusiastic participants in Swadhyaya.

Veshram Bhai does not own any land. He and his family members

work hard and it seems now they have attained financial stability.

Veshram Bhai now does not have to be busy on his saloon as his sons have

now taken up the task from him. Veshram Bhai and his wife instead have

undertaken the Government contract to supply noon meal to the village

school.

Veshram Bhai is an enthusiastic participant in the work of Sawdhyaya

in the village. During one of the visits of Dadaji it was the turn for

Veshram Bhai to do Alati. After performing Alati of the deities he did

Alati of Dada. Dada in return took Alati of Dada. Despite difficulties in his

leg Veshram Bhai takes part in Swadhyaya Ekadashi. But he laments that

participation in Ekadashi on the part of the villagers has not been encour-

aging. This is because there is not enough bhavpheri in the village. He

feels that if people from other villages had come and done bhavpheri in

the village it could have carried more weight. He considers it unfortunate

that many people from other villages do not come to his village for this.

Veshram Bhai is a mine of insights and wisdom regarding

Swadhyaya. He says that people do not consider Swadhyaya; they first

look at a Swadhyayee. People say: “Oh this man is Swadhyayee. Still he is

abusive.” But they do not realize that Swadhyaya is a commitment in the

life of each individual. “Moreove this commitment is influenced by one’s

work in one’s prior life, one’s samskara.”

Veshram is a migrant to the village; he does not have land and he is a

barber. Despite all these traditional disadvantages, he is an esteemed

participant in Swadhyaya. Swadhyayees assemble on his verandah on the

way back from the Amrutalayam and carry out animating discussion.

Veshram Bhai’s younger brother has a hair cutting saloon in the

village. He and his wife seem not to be associated with Swadhyaya. They

seem not to be as prosperous as Veshram Bhai which might have to do

with the wider social network that Veshram Bhai and his family could

build through Swadhyaya. But it seems Swadhyaya has not only brought

an expanding social capital to Veshram Bhai it has provided him with a

far more deeper enrichment of life. Veshram Bhai believes in hard work

and dignity. Veshram Bhai was offered Swadhyaya prasad many a times

for building his house, repairing his roof, and most recently for his son’s

marriage. But he has politely said no to Swadhyaya motabhais that he

does not need this.

88 Chapter 2

Jivabhai

Jivabhai Parmar is one of the most respected and active Swadhyayees in

Simar. He has retired from the village school for two years. Jivabhai is

known as Jivabhai Master in the village and has been with the village

school for the last thirty-six years. Many of the current leaders of

Swadhyaya in the village have been groomed by him. He used to talk

about Swadhyaya to the children and also take the Bala Sanskara Kendra.

He was taking students out in to camps and taking swadhyaya vichara on

bullock carts to other villages. As women of Simar were initially not

ready to take the women’s center on their own, Jivabhai was leading their

meeting and villagers had no hesitation in sending their womenfolk to the

women’s meeting led by Jivabhai. Jivabhai currently takes the Manahar

Kendra of the village. He also goes to other far off villages to start the

Manahar Kendra. For example, Jivabhai goes regularly to Nabapara to

take the Manahar Kendra. After retirement, Jivabhai has taken it as his

mission to start a Manahar Kendra in each of the villages in Veraval

Taluka.

Jivabhai works with renewed energy and commitment with

Swadhyaya. During my fieldwork in March 1999, Jivabhai was moving

from house to house to bring the message of Swadhyaya Dampati

Milan—the meeting of the Swadhyaya couples. During one such Dampati

Milan bhavpheri I had accompanied Jivabhai. We first went to one

Shantibehen’s house. As we bade goodbye to her, she told with a sigh that

she would very much like to work like Jivabhai, but she is bound by her

children and many obligations towards her family. Then we came to

Ojrang Bhai’s house. Ojranj Bhai was not there and Jivabhai told Ojrang

Bhai’s wife about both the forthcoming Dampati Milan and the forth-

coming camp for the Swadhyayee activists. In order to take part in the

later, Jivabhai said, one must have taken part in three teerthayatras. On

the same day, after the evening prayer—Jivabhai did bhavpheri in many

houses about both these Swadhyaya events.

As has already been mentioned, Jivabhai is in charge of Bhagavan Ka

Bhag and Bhava samarpana in the village. Jivabhai has a deepr under-

standing of Swadhyaya. In his house there are many books of Swadhyaya.

Jivabhai is a deeply aesthetic person and he has put his books inside fine

cupboards and he does daily Swadhyaya—self-study—of these books.

What is important, he purchases extra copies of some of the Swadhyaya

books in order to present them to friends and relatives on important

Active Devotion in a Local Context 89

occasions such as marriage, birthday etc. On the issue of offering one’s

income for God’s work, Jivabhai says that one should follow the principle

laid down in Manu Samhita.

Age Money for God’s work Money for Oneself

9

9 � 2 1 8

9 � 3 2 7

9 � 4 3 6

9 � 9 8 1

This means when one is nine year old, it is understandable that onecannot contribute anything but when eighteen, one should keep eighthpart of one’s income for one’s use and one part ought to be contributed forGod’s work. When you are thirty-six, you keep sixth part of your incomefor your use and give three part to God, and when you are eighty-one, yougive eighth part of your income for God’s work and one part to yourself. Ido not know whether Swadhyayees follow this in terms of levels of age.However, the idea of vanaprastha is a dear idea and many Swadhyayeesin the locality have taken voluntary retirement in order to work withSwadhyaya.

For Jivabhai, a Swadhyayee must establish a harmonious relationship

with Jiva, Jagat, and Jagdish—soul, the world, and God. He also says that

after one receives Swadhyaya vichara and puts it into practice, all fear

vanishes—the fear of death, the fear of society and the fear of public

calumny.

Kalubhai Wada

Kalubhai is an active Krutisheel of Swadhyaya in Simar. He is a small

farmer staying with two of his brothers, their families and father as part of

a joint family. His brothers take care of most of the responsibilities of the

farm leaving time to Kalubhai for Swadhyaya. It seems there has been

some co-operative understanding among the brothers on this issue

otherwise being in a joint family and doing ‘God’s work’ may many times

be fraught with a lot of difficulties, tension and mutual bickering.

Kalubhai is in his late forties and his wife Shantibehen is illiterate.

Kalubhai himself has not studied much—he must not have crossed

90 Chapter 2

standard five. But he is a source of wisdom and life-elevating humor and it

is enriching to be with him and learn from. Kalubhai’s work has recently

expanded onto both the field of politics and business: he has been

nominated to be the working sarpanch of the village and has constructed a

groundnut processing factory in collaboration with Govind Bhai, the son

of Meramanbhai.

Kalubhai is a man of many parts. He has admirable expertise in the

technical field. He has also an admirable capacity for human relations. He

is known for his close and intimate relation with the Harijans and the

laboring wage-earning people. He has taken some of his laborers—those

who work in his field—to Bombay to visit Madhavbag Pathasala.

Whenever he goes to Bombay on Swadhyaya work he says that he brings

some gifts for his workers too.

Kalubhai goes to bed late and wakes up around 5.30 in the morning.

Before seeing anybody he would do the morning prayer with closed eyes

and folded hands: “Karagre Basate Laxmi Karamule Saraswati,

Karamadhye tu Govinda Prabhate Kara Darshanam.” Then he would

call the children of family and say: “Halo, Halo Pad Lagalo—come,

come and touch the feet.”

In our discussion, Kalubhai told me about the difficulties one faces in

carrying out the work and spreading the message of Swadhyaya. He told

me how in the neighboring village of Vishanvel and Jaluda, Swadhyaya

has not made much progress. Kalubhai had taken me to both the villages

to see for myself the situation on the ground. While in Vishanvel, there is

some work of Swadhyaya—there is a weekly Video Kendra, in Jaluda

there is none. The case of Jaluda is interesting because except one or two

individual Swadhyayees there is no Swadhyaya prayog there. On hearing

of Jaluda, I was eager to go there and Kalubhai reluctantly took me. The

majority people in the village belong to Kodi Adivasi and for some

villagers, their propensity to drink and habit of eating mutton has been a

hindrance in the spread of Swadhyaya. Years ago, there was a Brahmin

teacher in the village who “did Swadhyaya for some years”. But when he

was transferred, one Bhola Bhai Solanki ran the Kendra for three-four

years but he faced opposition from the drunkards and then the Swadhyaya

Kendra stopped. Govind Bhai and Bhikhabhai—active Swadhyayees

from the neighboring Amrutalayam village of Shantipare—were coming

but this did not alter the situation on the ground.

On return from Jaluda in that dark night Kalubhai told me that if there

are more byasanee people (those who want to enjoy their desire) in the

village it is difficult for Swadhyaya to take roots. In such a case the

Active Devotion in a Local Context 91

messenger of Swadhyay “has to have the purity and art to attract people.”

Says Kalubhai: “Hamko Deivi Bankar Deivi Bichar Lenahe—we have to

take divine ideas by being divine which would make these ideas attractive

to people. If I do not have purity then I won’t be able to attract. My

method of understanding is also important. The constancy, purity and

method of understanding of Swadhyaya worker—all this is important. For

this one has to be a true Brahmin and a Brahmin means to be pure and

divine. A Brahmin is one who does not go on any wrong track, one on

whose character and conduct there is not any doubt on the part of people.”

Speaking of his own experience Kalubhai says that earlier he was

going to his village Simar to quarrel with others and now he is going to

resolve other people’s quarrels. In his words: “When I was going earlier

everybody was asking: Why has this man come? But now when I go

everybody welcomes. Why? Because there is a change in me. Whenever I

go out people invite me into their houses. Even political leaders call me to

come to their houses with respect. This respect is not for me but for the

vichara of Dadaji.”

On his own financial life he says whatever money comes he spends

with purity and never spends on ‘easy ways’. Change has come in Simar

because the power of loose and easy thought has gone down. Kalubhai

lays a great deal of importance on ‘leaving easy thoughts’. In his words:

“Halka Vichara Bale Thode Hei Magar Bolna Isko Galat Lagtahe—

There are a few people with loose thoughts but they themselves feel

diffident to air these in public.”

Kalubhai also attributes a great deal of change in the village to the

enhancement of education. He makes a distinction between being

educated and literate. He says: “I am illiterate but I am educated because

Dadaji’s vichara is with me.” Kalubhai further says: “Now people in the

village have started learning from each other. The small farmers learn

advanced methods of agricultural farming from the big farmers. People

have now started doing agriculture well and instead of putting their

money on luxuries, they put it on their agriculture.” I was interested to

know from Kalubhai what is the impact of this on the laborer, the

non-agriculturist. Kalubhai says, “Whenever I give contract for

harvesting crops I give to people from my village. This leads to the

prosperity of the laborers. Whenever a laborer does work, he is a partner

with us. Alongside the development of the farmers there should be devel-

opment of the workers.”

Kalubhai poses a fundamental challenge to externalist (including

socio-anthropological study of) investigation into Swadhyaya. For

92 Chapter 2

Kalubhai, Swadhyaya is not for understanding and analyzing but for

doing: “If one does not do Swadhyaya how can one understand it?”

Kalubhai sends one of his sons Vijaya to a boarding school. Many

farmers of the village such as Pratap Bhai send their daughters and sons to

the boarding school.

Ranmalla Bhai

Ranmalla Bhai is the motabhai of Swadhyaya in Simar. He is also the

motabhai of the tree temple at Maljunjwa. He is a poetic person. He is

passionately involved with the work of Swadhyaya. He says that the

experience of Swadhyaya is indescribable—when your eye meets another

eye, its experience cannot be described. Born in 1945, Ranmalla Bhai has

studied upto high school and has been associated with Swadhyaya in the

village from its very beginning. As the motabhai of Swadhyaya, he is the

principal co-ordinator of Swadhyaya in the village. Ranmalla Bhai stays

in the wadi, has twenty-four bighas of land. He gets an income of nearly

2.5 lakhs per year from his farm. He has two sons and one daughter. His

daughter has been given in marriage in the neighboring village of Sukhpur

as his wife comes from the adjacent village of Kindarva. Most of his

relatives are Swadhyayees: kinship relations play an important role in the

spread of Swadhyaya.

Ranmalla Bhai has a seventy-five year old father and after morning

prayer Ranmalla Bhai touches his feet everyday. He wears a sacred thread

given to him by Dadaji and every fourth day he does a special puja for

this. In the village, another person to have received the sacred thread is

Pratap Bhai. Kalubhai has not been yet given the sacred thread. I asked

Ranmalla Bhai whether there is any discrimination here. Ranmalla Bhai

said no. For him, “Eventually, everybody would be given sacred thread.”

Ranmalla Bhai wants to be a Brahmin which for him means to be a

messenger of God. Brahmin is the one who moves from “house to house,

hut to hut, and from heart to heart.” Furthermore, for him, “Brahmin is the

one who teaches people values of life. For, Ranmalla Bhai, “Brahmin

kabhi Ghamandee Nehi Ban sakte—A Brahmin can never become a

ghamandee (a wayward person).” But I told him that even a Brahmin can

fall a prey to the temptation to acquire power and ego aggrandizement.

Ranmalla Bhai agreed and said: “Yes if he does not do trikala sandhya he

can become arrogant and power-hungry.”

Active Devotion in a Local Context 93

Ranmalla Bhai wants to give full time to Swadhyaya alongside his

agriculture. He says that he could have earned more by doing business but

he did not want to do any of this. In his life and the life of the

Swadhyayees he emphasizes purity of character. Artha Pabitra—(purity

in financial transaction) and Kama Pabitra—(purity in sexual relations)

are the two pillars of Swadhyaya for him. When he sees another woman

he looks at her as her mother. He says: “Jo Milli He O Ma, Aise Jo Mili He

O Patni—As your mother is what has been given to you your wife is also

what has been given to you.” He further says: “Whenever I go out and

take ‘note’ [money] from my pocket, I see the face of all my family

members in it. So, I can not misuse this money for the satisfaction of my

desire and for my pleasure.”

Ranmalla Bhai is the secretary of the local Sarvodaya Simar trust

which runs four schools in the locality including a high school in

Kodivau, at the outskirt of Simar. His elder son works in the school as a

teacher and his younger son works on the farm. He says: “I could have

engaged my younger son in the school also. But I wanted him to be a

farmer—Dharti Ka Lal.” But, as we shall shortly see, there has been

recently a controversy over appointment by the school board president

Utka Patel and one of the senior Swadhyayees in the village alleges that

“instead of embodying the spirit of being a Brahmin and protesting the

abuse of power by the school board, Ranmalla Bhai has sided with them.”

Pratap Bhai

Pratap Bhai is the son of Bhana Bapa, the important leader of the village.

Bhana Bapa is a senior man now in his late seventies but he is still very

active. Pratap Bhai’s family is a devoted Swadhyayee family and it has

already played a crucial role in bringing the message of Swadhyaya in

Simar. Pratap Bhai joined Swadhyaya when he was in late teens and now

his children are doing Swadhyaya.

Swadhyaya begins in Pratap Bhai’s house around five in the morning.

Bhana Bapa, his father, and Poonam Behen, his daughter—come to the

place in the common room where the Swadhyaya trinity are kept and offer

their prayer. They light a candle in front of the deity and recite the

Atmastakam of Sankaracharya. Sometimes other members of the family

such as his mother Ratan Ma and wife Manjula Behen also join. After this

everybody becomes busy in her/his work. Bhana Bapa in his ripe age of

seventy-seven goes out with his bullocks to his farm. There is always a

94 Chapter 2

divine radiance in his face and he lives by the spirit of his tatoo engraved

on his hand—Alalsni Jeevan Kabarche (A life of laziness is a life of

graveyard).”In the evening many more members of the family join the evening

family prayer what is called Kutumba Prarthana. Pratap Bhai’s house inthe wadi is nearly two kilometers from the village Amrutalyam so most ofthe days his family members do their evening prayer in their house.Again, Bhana Bapa leads the prayer. After the prayer they follow the newprayog of Mantradaha Pita which means the father who gives mantra andsukti—lines of noble thought. Swadhyaya regrets that in the family thereis no more the possibility of spiritual education and involves the head ofthe family to perform the traditional function of father as a rishi who givesmantra to the children. The lines of noble thought or suktis come asmantras in this new context. The suktis are copied by Swadhyayees fromDadaji’s many books. Then the volunteers make innumerable copies ofthe sukti and make these reach the houses of those Swadhyayees who haveasked for this prayog. In fact, the Kshetradhar of a locality also suggeststo the village Swadhyaya committee as well as to the Avar who willreceive sukti depending on the level of interest and aspiration forself-development. In Pratap Bhai’s house, sukti is read out after theevening prayer. This consists of five lines of thought and first Bhana Bapareads these lines and then everybody present recites these again. The sameline is read again by Bapa and the recitation continued once again by theparticipants of prayer.

Pratap Bhai is a graduate and narrowly missed being a policeinspector. He was running an agro-business for a while. When theLokabhogya Utsava was operational he was going to a far off village totake this festival meeting—the Utsava Kendra. Sometimes he bringsManjula Behen along with him to attend the Kendra.

Pratapa Bhai is now much interested in the education of his children.

His son Viswanath was staying in a boarding school in Rajkot. His

daughter Poonam, after passing out her tenth standard from the village

school, is now studying in a women’s college. His youngest daughter

Urvasi, after taking coaching classes, succeeded in getting a place in the

Nabodyama school at Porbander and the youngest boy Raghuvir goes to a

private school in the village. The attention that Pratap Bhai gives to the

education of his children is a reflection of the generalised interest in

education in the village, especially among the farmers and the middle

class. Most of the farmers have a reasonably good standard of living. A

farmer with five bighas of land, I am told, can save Rs 1 lakh every year.

In Simar, farmers are putting their money into two activities—education

Active Devotion in a Local Context 95

of their children by sending them to the boarding school and constructing

beautiful houses. Investment of resources in both these activities enhances

their symbolic capital. In fact, Pratap Bhai has just constructed a beautiful

house in his wadi and has given it the name Ishavayam—The Abode of

God. Swadhyaya gives importance to building aesthetically pleasing

houses with proper sanitary facilities in the village.

Pratap Bhai comments on those who expects Swadhyayees to change

overnight—“those who wonder how can one being a Swadhyayee do such

and such thing.” For Pratap Bhai, Swadhyaya is a process—change comes

shortly and slowly. Regular participation in Swadhyaya Kendra

contributes to this process but Swadhyaya is not a jadu—a magic.

Swadhyaya also works in the life of an individual at deeper and subtle

level. For Pratap Bhai, it is true only at one level to call an entire family

Swadhyayee. An individual is a Swadhyayee; a family may or not be a

Swadhyayee. Moreover, even if an entire family may be Swadhyayee,

different members may be at different stages of development. And

sometimes, they may inspire each other and many times not when all the

members do not have the same understanding of Swadhyaya. This leads to

conflict particularly when one brother would like to spend much time in

Swadhyaya work while the other brother would want him to spend it on

domestic labor. In many a case a wife may not prepare food for the

outgoing participant of Swadhyaya bhaktipheri and still he has to join it

with a pack of tiffin purchased from the market.

On the Swadhyaya prayog of prasad and Bhagavan Ka Bhag, Pratap

Bhai says that the Swadhyaya prayog is based on our age-old practice and

wisdom. People were taking Bhagavan Ka Bhag earlier and they are

taking it now also. “Even today when our mothers and sisters go to the

temple, they take an ounce of rice with them. This is the last form of

Bhagavan Ka Bhag. What is due to God is a prasad and in this individual

has no control.”

Dudhi Behen

Dudhi Behen is the sister of Pratap Bhai. She has been doing God’s work

from her childhood. Dudhi Behen is an embodiment of quiet action and

her face shows a serenity which reflects her hard work and deep spiritual

realization. She is one of the most active women participants of

Swadhyaya in the village and takes the Mahila Kendra (women’s center)

in the wadi.

96 Chapter 2

Dudhi Behen was given in marriage to Natha Bhai of the same

village. Natha Bhai’s father was a resourceful person and he died young.

Natha Bhai had to build his life at a young age and Dudhi Behen gave him

unstinted co-operation. One characteristic feature of village life in

Saurashtra is that women in all the households—whether rich households

or poor peasants or wage earners go to work in the field. They have their

cup of tea in the morning, take the prepared lunch to the field, putting

most of the carrying materials including instruments of farm labor on their

head. They come home in the evening, take care of the cattle, children and

prepare for dinner. In the traditional Saurashtra village life, it is

said—there are two cows in the house, one is chained in the cattleshed and

the other in the house. It is to this life of hardwork and bondage of women

that Swadhyaya has brought a change. The new space of mutual meeting

and going out generate a new space and time of being with oneself and

being with fellow women. And Dudhi Behen has quietly played an

important role in initiating this change in the village.

Most of the time I have visited Dudhi Behen’s house, I have not found

her inside the house. In order to meet her I had to go to her farm land.

Many a time Natha Bhai, her husband, works by her side. During spring

they raise banana crops. During one such field-conversation, I told Natha

Bhai: “Natha Bhai! Dudhi Behen is working very hard.” Natha Bhai says

with a heart of compassion and characteristic humor: “What to do! We

have to do this for our house.” During one of my visits to them, both

Dudhi Behen and Natha Bhai had gone out to attend a marriage in a

distant village. I stayed in their newly constructed house with their

children. When they came back next day morning I asked Natha Bhai:

“Did you do any Swadhyaya work, any Bhaktipheri during the marriage?”

Nathan Bhai said, “Not really, we had gone to have a fun time and not to

do God’s work.”

Dudhi Behen and Natha Bhai had a difficult time during their early

days of marriage. They even did not have money to get essential

medicines when their children fall ill. But now they have constructed a

beautiful house. This new house is in their wadi. Natha Bhai is busy in his

farm and spend time with Swadhyaya though probably not as much as

some Swadhyayee Krutisheels of Simar do. But he goes on parapranta

bhaktipheri to other states like Maharashtra and Haryana and during such

visits prepares food for the group. Dudhi behen goes to Ekadashi

regularly.

Active Devotion in a Local Context 97

Madhu Behen

Madhu Behen goes to work in other people’s field as a wage earner; she

has also a cow and buffalo and goes to other people’s houses to collect

grass. They have three daughters and one son. The daughter and the

mother are eager, enthuasistic and devoted participants of Swadhyaya.

During harvest of wheat she also keeps contract for harvesting work, for

carrying out harvesting work in sixteen bighas of land, she gets Rs 11,000.

Madhu Behen had migrated to Simar years ago along with her

husband Kanti Bhai. They do not have any land in the village. Kanti Bhai

drives a motorized rickshaw and has a good business in transportation.

Madhu Behen, as has already been mentioned, is a regular participant

in Swadhyaya Ekadashi. She is also in charge of the Mahila Kendra in the

village. Madhu Behen tells that because of well-recharge, a lot of change

has taken place in the village. In her words, “Fifteen years ago there was

nothing in this village. A lot of change has taken place in our lives.”

Jaisinghbhai Chawda

Jaisinghbhai Chawda is a young man in the village and teaches in the local

high school. He was much more active four years ago. But an illness with

him has slowed down his work a little bit. But he identifies with and feels

about Swadhyaya poetically. Few of his much stated lines about

Swadhyaya are: “Jo Log Ramke Samaya me Banar Ho sakthe he, Krishna

ke Samaya me Gopi ho sakete, Kevala Yohi Log Swadhyaya Me

Krutisheel Ho sakte he—Those who could become monkeys during the

time of Ram, Gopis during the time of Krishna, only those people could

become the active workers of Swadhyaya.” He says that when he was in

the village, he had an emotional attachment to Swadhyaya but it was not

intellectually founded. But now he is intellectually convinced that

‘Swdhyaya is the solution’ and convince the same to others.

Jaisinghbhai has some acquaintance with the management way of

expressing the indices of change. For Jaisinghbhai, Swadhyaya brings a

change in 5B: Bibek (conscience), Bichar (Idea/Thought), Bani (words/

utterances), Bartan (behavior/conduct) and Bikar (Instincts). He expands

on this: “Dadaji has taught me the way I am talking to you. Now I can stay

well with my parents and love my wife. I am not moved by any girl I see. I

look at other women as my sister and mother while earlier I used to look at

any beautiful lady as someone whom I should bring to my bed.”

98 Chapter 2

Mansinghbhai

Mansinghbhai is another fiery young man of Swadhyaya in the village and

he comes from an influential family. He says that if anybody insults him

personally then he would not react at all but if somebody speaks anything

loose about Swadhyaya or makes false allegation then he would certainly

jump on him and teach him a lesson. Mansinghbhai says that first he was

quarreling and fighting with others for his own interest; now he under-

takes sattwik fights—spiritual fights. Earlier he was going to other

villages to campaign in election but there was not much true love there.

Earlier he was also making fun of the Harijans in the village and was not

giving regular wage to his workers. But now he understands the

Swadhyaya prayog of sambhabana which requires an employee to go to

the house of the workers and give them their wage there. He says that he

now practices this. Reflecting on himself he says: “First I was a frog in the

well. Then I saw the world. I felt: I am nothing, I am God’s.”

Mansinghbhai says that Kalubhai has given him much love and his love

has helped him to transform him.

The Dynamics of a Recent Conflict and the

Foundations of Swadhyaya

During the first day of March-April 1999 field visit to Simar, Jivabhai told

me: “Are you planning to meet Meramanbhai. Even if you meet him you

will not hear anything good from him. His heart is full of anger towards

Swadhyaya. A Swadhyayee brother has beaten him.” This points to a

serious conflict in the village of Simar. This revolves around the control

of the school governing body. Ukka Bhai Patel has been its president for

long and Ranmalla Bhai its secretary. There have been allegations of

financial improperty leveled at the school board president Ukka Patel. In

the meantime, the school board vice-president Jaisinghbhai got more

votes and got himself elected as president. Meramanbhai supported

Jaisinghbhai. In order to substantiate the allegation of financial impro-

priety against Ukka Patel, Jaisinghbhai, and Meramanbhai had gone to the

society-run school in Amrapura. While they were coming back on a

motorcycle they were attacked at the neighboring junction Goddu by the

supporters of the outsted president Ukka Patel. This included two

prominent Swadhyayee youths in the village. In the meantime, Ukka Patel

Active Devotion in a Local Context 99

appealed to the court for injunction against the recent board election and

the court granted it.

The conflict in the village involves the issues of accountable

functioning of a collective institution. Both the president and the secretary

of the school are Swadhyayees but this public institution is not run any

differently compared to other such public institutions.

It is difficult to find out truth in this contested field and an anthropo-

logical engagement is not one of police investigation. It provides us a

portrait of a discursive field for a deeper understanding of the issues

involved and here I beg a spirit of understanding both from my

Swadhyaya friends and the general readers.

The discursive field is as follows. Meramanbhai is a senior man in the

village and must be reaching seventy. He was beaten by a prominent

Swadhyayee youth who is not just any mere Swadhyayee; he is a

Vidyapeeth-graduate i.e., he has completed seven years of study in

Dadaji’s system of alternative education. These graduates are supposed to

be ambassadors of Swadhyaya in villages and as such they have a lot of

esteem. It must be recalled here that not long after beating Meramanbhai,

this young man was telling in a village Yuvakendra meeting that now

bhaktipheri means not only going out to meet the others in the villages; it

means manifesting and cultivating appropriate virtues in one’s life. A year

after my visit to Simar I was visiting the Swadhyaya school—

Jeevanpragnya Vidyayala—in Vandei, Kutch. I discussed with a student

this incident of a Vidyapeeth-graduate beating an old man. This student

told me that he cannot even imagine that a Vidyapeeth graduate could do

this. If he were in such a position, he says, he would have made all

partners understand and even if it involved his father’s or uncle’s interest,

he himself would not have taken part in this conflict.

On this issue, Meramanbhai says that Swadhyayees must protest

against corruption and financial misappropriation in public institutions. In

his words: “We do not have any responsibility to save those who are

looting public property.” Pointing his fingers at the Swadhyayees who

keep silence on this issue, Meramanbhai says: “If there is any difference

should I beat? Swadhyayees speak of Dada’s birthday and awards but they

do not talk about what is happening in Simar.” After being beaten up he

told his son Govind Bhai not to initiate any counter-attack on the attackers

because it would bring a bad name to Swadhyaya.

I had a discussion with another senior Swadhyayee about the beating

incident. First, he wanted to deny this: “I have not seen in my own eyes

whether Swadhyayee brothers beat Meramanbhai or not.” But then he

100 Chapter 2

acknowledged and said: “If your father is in trouble then whether you are

in Swadhyaya or not you try to save him.” But is the school board the

personal property of some people in the village? Do not Swadhyayees

have a moral responsibility to safeguard the integrity of public institu-

tions? Then this brother commented: “Meramanbhai had not gone to

safeguard the interest of a collective institution. He had gone there for his

own selfish interest. He had thought that if he sits with the contending

party then his son would get employment in the school. If he had to fight

for collective cause then he should not have gone alone; he should have

taken others with him. Because he had gone on his own, nobody went to

him after he was beaten.” He told about Krishna killing Shankasura—

Sankashura who had stolen Sandipani Rishi’s son. Pointing at the

supposed mistake of Meramanbhai going to the other party for his own

personal gain, the senior Swadhyayaee of Simar says: “Then you have to

suffer.”

On this issue Kalubhai says that the beating of Meramanbhai was

wrong and the attacker has committed a grave mistake. He should

apologize to Meramanbhai and the entire village before God. Kalubhai

further says that he has also brought the matter to the attention of the

leaders of Jaayas and Avar and they are thinking of ways of dealing with

this conflict. He says that at present there does not exist a proper

environment for this. But he is silently working towards creating a proper

environment for reconciliation.

In this context, Kalubhai tells us about a similar conflict in the neigh-

boring village of Sarasoa which threatened life in the village and the

foundations of Swadhyaya. The conflict revolved around the dispute over

land on the part of two families. One family had the connecting road to its

field through the field of another family. But use of this connecting land

was customary and this family had no legal right to it. So, the other family

one day closed this connecting road. Then the two families rose in arms

against each other. They were always with daggers pointed at each other’s

head and neck and the entire village was divided by the conflict.

Kalubhai worked with both these families for years. He says: “I would

go in the middle of the night to one family and the next night to the other.

Sometimes, Mansinghbhai would accompany me and when I come back

home at four in the morning my wife would look at me with a bit of

surprise.” After working for years with both families, Kalubhai created a

ground for mutual reconciliation. He offered them the following proposal

of resolution. The family through whose farmland the connecting road to

Active Devotion in a Local Context 101

the other family goes would give legal entitlement to the use of this road.

Since this family did not have legal entitlement to the use of this road and

only customary right, and since as a Swadhyayee he cannot accept this

land for free, he would put at the feet of God whatever money he deems fit

as the price of land from the other family. Both the families accepted this.

This led to resolution of conflict in Sarasoa and after this Swadhyayees of

the village are getting ready to invite God to their village and build the

long-awaited Amrutalayam.

The Communicational Pathways of Swadhyaya

Swadhyayees say that they believe in “person-to-person” and

“heart-to-heart” communication. It is not dominated by communication

technologies though Swadhyayees make extensives use of telephones.

But telepheone never substitutes person-to-person transmission of

message. There are different units of communication and management—

from the village to the headquarter in Bombay, from the sherikendra

(neighborhood center) to the highest decision-making and deliberative

body which sits at Bombay called Samhouti. At the root is the

sherikendra, then the Amrutalayam, then Nivah which is a group of seven

villages, the Avarshankul which is the decision-making body at the level

of block or taluka, then Jaayas which is at the level of district (but this

may not coincide with the revenue district. For instance, the district of

Junagarh has two districts from the Swadhyaya point of view—Junagarh

and Veraval. This is because Swadhyaya work has expanded much in this

district), then Sanghat (which is the unit for a few districts. For instance,

Rajkot and Baroda are Sanghat), and then Samhouti which is the deliber-

ative body for the entire work of Swadhyaya.

There is the meeting of Samhouti in Bombay once a week. Then there

is the meeting of Sanghat. The member from Rajkot Samhat who had

taken part in the earlier meeting at Bombay shares the message from the

highest body to this inter-district coordination body. But this is not just a

top-down communication; it is also communication both ways. For

instance, there is a member from Rajkot Samhat who goes and takes part

in the Samhouti meeting at Bombay. Then takes place a meeting of the

Jaayas where the message of the Samhat is personally delivered by the

representative of Jaayas who is there. Then the meeting of the Avar takes

place at the block or the taluka level. The communicational pathway

between Jaayas and Avar is also two-way here. Both the Jaayas and Avar

102 Chapter 2

meetings in so far as Simar is concerend takes place in Veraval. Then

whatever deliberations take place in the Avar is personally brought to

Simar by a messenger from the Avar. This messenger comes every

Thursday. The message comes to Simar because it is Nivah village. Nivah

village means it is the lead village in the group of six to seven villages in

the region. The messenger comes before the prayer meeting and then after

the evening prayer, there is a meeting with the members of the Nivah from

the village of Simar.

Nivah means the group which takes leadership and initiative for

God’s work. There are now five villages with the Simar Nivah—Simar,

Kindarva, Sarasoa, Chamoda and Paldi. To each of these villages goes

one brother from Simar carrying the weekly message of Swadhyaya, as

they have been personally delivered to them in the village Amrutalayam

by the messenger from the Avar. Now, Dhirubhai Mori who works as a

clerk in the local high school is the motabhai of the Nivah. He is in the

overall charge of the Nivah. He also monitors the activities of Swadhyaya

in these villages and transmits it to the Avarshankul which has its weekly

sitting at Veraval.

Among the Nivah villages of Swadhyaya Simar, I have a brief

acquaintance with the village of Sarasoa. Now, Jaisinghbhai Chawda, the

enthusiastic young man of Simar, looks after this village. Earlier Kalubhai

was looking after this village. In March 1997, I had gone with Kalubhai to

Sarasoa. We first reached the house of one Natha Bhai as we were going

to the village. Natha Bhai stays in the wadi. He has a small plot of land.

Natha Bhai’s daughter takes the Yuva Mahila Kendra in the village.

Then we reached Ranmalla Bhai’s house who is the motabhai of

Sarasoa with whom we had a feast in the evening. In Ranmalla Bhai’s

house we met a sister from the village Lathi. She is a divine sister of

Ranmalla Bhai. Ranmalla Bhai goes to this village once every month and

spends time there as a Devdutta. Now this sister from Ranmalla Bhai’s

Devdutta village has come to Ranmalla Bhai’s house. In the context of

gender distance in Saurashtra such sister-brother relationship creates an

opportunity for a divine intimacy.

After our dinner, we came to the village Swadhyaya Kendra. The

village yet does not have an Amrutalayam. We began the meeting that

evening with prayer. Then Kalubhai shared the message of the Nivah to

the village. The message was: build shoskhada (sockpits), organize a

meeting in the village for the Krutttisheel Behena (active women workers

of Swadhyaya), and organize the Lokabhogya Utsava in the village. In the

meeting Kalubhai took data about relevant Swadhyaya activities (i.e.,

Active Devotion in a Local Context 103

about participation in different Swadhyaya activities) and also took the

attendance of the Kshetradhars present. Then Kalubhai circulated a

four-page cyclostyled note among all the Kshetadharas of the village who

take the sherikendra. This cyclostyled note was a study material and a

reference guide for them during their sherikendra meeting. They had to

discuss on Shankaracharya. In Sarasoa there is one sherikendra among the

Harijans. Like Simar, the Kshetradhar who takes the sherikendra there is

from the Rajput caste while the Kshetradhar mitra is from the Harijan

caste. During our meeting, a person from the village who had gone to the

Pattotsava at the Vidyapeeth taking the Sankalpa of the village told how in

Bombay he crossed the road during the red signal and paid a fine for this.

In the Simar Nivah, there are forty to fifty Muslim households in the

village of Chamoda but there no sherikendra in the Muslim locality.

The Nivah arrangement is an innovation in the Swadhyaya

management style and process. This has been innovated in the Swadhyaya

district of Veraval. Nivah is the lead village in a group of Swadhyaya

villages. As has been mentioned, Swadhyayees go from the lead Nivah

village to other Swadhyayee villages bringing the message of Swadhyaya.

This system is not yet followed in the neighboring district of Junagarh.

Recently, there have been some changes in the Swadhyaya

management style. First, the members of the Jaayas (the district

co-ordinating network/committee) and Avar (the taluka co-ordianting

network/committee) come from either the district headquarter town or

from the taluka headquarter town. Earlier they used to come from both the

towns as well as the villages. For example, Ranmalla Bhai, Pratap Bhai,

Kalubhai were members of the Avar, i.e., the Veraval Taluka Swadhyaya

Committee. But they are no longer. Now, they have been replaced by

Swadhyayees from the Veraval town. Same has been the nature of recon-

struction of Swadhyaya co-ordinating committee in the neighboring

Talukas of Una and Maliya. I asked Swadhyayees of Simar what is the

reason behind this change. For them, the Avar meeting as well as the

meeting of Jaayas takes place at 9 o’clock in the night. It takes half an

hour from Simar to reach there and half an hour to be back. As such

villagers are busy with their own work, they also spend time with

Swadhyaya on various activities in the village as well as from a Nivah

village such as Simar go to other villages such as Sarasoa. So, they are

spared the additional work of travelling to Veraval again once a week and

spend two hours in the Avar meeting. If the members of the Avar are from

the taluka headquarters there it is more convenient for them. Moreover, if

104 Chapter 2

there is any need for an emergency meeting then it is easier to convene

such a meeting if members are from one place.

Kalubhai who was a member of the Avar in the earlier committee also

says in this regard that being a member of the Avar or Jaayas is not

occupying a post; rather it is to work as a tapali or a postman. So he is not

at all concerned that he is no longer the member of Avar. He is rather

happy that he has now more time to work in the village. Though he is not a

formal member of the Avar because of his expertise in the technical

prayogs of Swadhyaya such as well-recharging, sockpit and Nirmal Nir,

he works as a consultant to the current member of Avar in charge of the

technical prayog.

I was interested to know if the current restructuring of Jaayas and

Avar represents an urban bias and a consolidation of the top-down

communicational pathways of Swadhyaya. None of the Swadhyayees I

had discussed with not only in the village of Simar but also in the taluka

headquarters of Veraval and Maliya agreed with me on this point. For

them, this restructuring reflects nothing but a search for more operational

convenience, it also reflects a desire on the part of the Swadhyaya

motabhais at the district and taluka towns not to burden the villagers with

additional task. But it does reflect a pressure of compression of time on

the part of the Swadhyayees. Participation in Swadhyaya demands a lot of

time on the part of the Swadhyayees and average Swadhyayees as they are

in the midst of varieties of farming, occupational, and household obliga-

tions are not able to find more time for this.

This compression of time is the greatest challenge before Swadhyaya.

This was narrated to me with a passionate concern by Jadavji Bapa, a

father figure of Swadhyaya in the locality about whose experience and

perspective we shall listen more subsequently. For Jadavji Bapa, in these

days of inflation and rising cost, eking out an honest standard of living has

become more difficult. Swadhyayees, like many others, would have to

give a lot of time to their work in order to survive, take care of their

multi-dimensional obligations and grow. This pressure of time affects the

work of Swadhyaya. This pressure is felt more, especially, when the

number of active workers does not grow commensurately with the

increase in the number of general Swadhyayees (who are not Krutisheels)

and increase in the number of tasks and responsibilities). As to the later,

take for instance the further increase in the task of Swadhyaya at the

village level and the Nivah level. The new plan is that for all the activities

of Swadhyaya, and there are now thirty-two departments of Swadhyaya

such as Bala Sanskara Kendra, Swadhyaya Kendra, Amrutalayam etc.,

Active Devotion in a Local Context 105

there should be a Swadhyayee entrusted with the task of monitoring and

taking responsibility for such activities in each village. If that village is a

lead village in the Nivah system which has been entrusted with the

additional responsibility of taking care of other villages for the

enhancement of God’s work, then it has also to find a similar number of

persons who takes care of thirty-two different activities, in other villages

of Nivah. But at the ground level there are not many Swadhyayees who

can give so much of their time and labor unconditionally without care for

their family, business, farming and occupation. In the village of Simar,

there are no more than ten Swadhyayees who can give so much time. In

fact, Jadavjee Bapa tells of one middle-aged Swadhyayee of Simar who is

usually considered as a pioneer of Swadhyaya in the village: “He is a

merry go lucky man. He has much potentiality and resource. But he does

not devote as much time to Swadhyaya as he should.”

It must be said of the same Swadhyayee that he was going to a distant

village every month to take the Lokabhogya Utsava, the people’s festival

discussed earlier. But during my fieldwork in the Veraval in March-July

1999 I was told that the Lokabhogya Utsava has stopped. As may be

recalled, Lokabhogya Utsava was one of the occasions where

Swadhyayees held their meeting not inside the Amrutalayam but in the

village public place. It was an opportunity for Swadhyayees to share the

Swadhyaya approach to a current festival with the non-Swadhyayee

people at large. But now this festival has stopped. What is to be noted is

that many Swadhyayees who earlier led Lokabhogya Utsava lament this

cessation but do not know who stopped this and why. Another change in

this regard is the circulation of cyclostyled written materials to the

Kshetradhars for taking classes in the sherikendra. But now so such

cyclostyled written materials on individual topics are not circulated. The

Kshetradhars have to take classes from the books.

The change in the earlier method of circulation of cyclostyled written

materials raises a number of issues. First, the preparation of such

materials, making cyclostyled copies, and making it available to all the

Kshetradhars of the locality requires a great deal of investment of time,

energy and resource and even in the devotional movement of Swadhyaya

the volunteers feel the pinch of it. The other issue it involved was the issue

of centralization. For one eminent social scientist of Gujarat, who has

been a sympathetic observer of Swadhyaya for the last many years:

“Swadhyaya is a highly scripted activity. What you speak in the

Viswanatha temple locality in Ahmedabad has been scripted by the

people in Bombay.”

106 Chapter 2

This last comment raises the issue of top-down management approach

in Swadhyaya. Bombay is the co-ordinating headquarter of Swadhyaya

and it is also the seat of Madhavbag Pathasala where Dadaji gives his

weekly discourse. Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth, another main source of inspi-

ration in Swadhyaya, is located in Thane, closer to Bombay. Moreover, it

is the Swadhyayee followers from Bombay who had come to Simar as to

all the Swadhyayee villages of Saurashtra thirty to forty years ago. So,

Bombay has a special place in Swadhyaya scheme of things akin to the

place of Pondicherry in the spiritual effort of Sri Aurobindo and The

Mother, Puttapathy in the Sai Baba Movement, and Vallikavu (near

Quillon, Kerala) in the socio-spiritual movement of Mata

Amritanandamayee Devee. For example, Swadhyayees from Simar go to

Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth during the prakattostava carrying the

nivedanam—spiritual offering and information about the prayogs of

Swadhyaya in the villages of Simar. They come to Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth

to first submit to Lord Yogeshwara in the Yogeshwara temple the infor-

mation about all the prayogs of Swadhyaya. They tell first what they have

been doing and carry out a personal conversation with Lord Yogeshwara.

They also review their commitment to the prayogs of Swadhyaya in front

of the Lord.

But Swadhyayees from Simar not only go there to offer the

nivedanam about Yogeshwara Krishi, they also go there to do varieties of

decoration. For example, in 1996 Ranmalla Bhai and Kallu Bhai had gone

to the Vidyapeeth to offer the nivedanam of the village. During the visit,

Kalubhai had made a beautiful decoration of light. Kalubhai considered it

a great blessing that everybody including Dada was struck by it and appre-

ciated it.

But to come back to our main question, is what happens in Simar, or

in the Viswanatha temple locality in Ahmedabad scripted in Bombay? Is

the Swadhyaya communicational and management pathway top-down?

For Swadhyayees it is not really top-down, rather it is a two-way process.

Ramnik Bhai Patel, an important leader of Swadhyaya in Veraval, urges

us to understand the nuances involved in the Swadhyaya decision-making

process which despite the overwhelming significance of Bombay or

Nirmal Niketan does not make it Bombay centric or Nirmal Niketan

dominated.

Ramnik Bhai in this context says that no arrangement is made at the

top: “As we keep doing our work, our arrangement and management style

gets fine tuned. The revenue district of Junagarh has altogether four

hundred and fifteen villages. If there is any good work or model of

Active Devotion in a Local Context 107

management in one village it would be implemented in other villages.”

Says Ramnik Bhai, “If there is a group visiting us from another locality in

prayog darshana and if we have a new model of arrangement and

management then we pick it up.”

Continues Ramnik Bhai: “On some important issues we seek advice

from Bombay. For example on the day of the Id, we would have to go to

Masjid but what we would speak there. In Kajli village [it is a village

where harijans, high-castes, and Muslims are almost in equal numbers],

the Muslims requested us to open a Bala Sanskara Kendra in their

locality. The Swadhyayees in the village did not know what to speak in

this Bala Sanskara Kendra as carrying out the Bala Sanskara Kendra in

the usual manner may offend their faith. They asked the Avar, the Jaayas

and we asked Bombay and got reply within a day. For Bombay, i.e.,

Nirmal Niketan, it is not the question of only one village; it has a much

wider relevance. On this the response from Bombay was whenever such

occasion comes, we would concentrate very broadly what it means to be

human, what is man, what is his dignity. This suggestion comes from the

top to the bottom but this is not a top-down management approach. The

code of conduct of Swadhyaya comes from top to the bottom but all the

process go from bottom to the top. Karna heto puchte he—If we have to

do something, we ask about it. If we have done something then we share it

as nivedanam.”To make clear the two-way process of consultation, Ramnik Bhai

gave the example of the Teertharaj Milan at Allahabad, held in 1986 andthe significance of this mega event for Swadhyayees in villages like Simardiscussed earlier in the text. Lakhs of participants had assembled inAllahabad and Swadhyaya had constructed a huge tent costing Rs 50lakhs. Dadaji was worried about what to do with the tent cloth. Then afarmer from a village suggested that whenever we go on pilgrimage webring back something. Why not each of the farmers bring two and a halfmeter cloth as prasad from Allahabad, the great center of pilgrimage. Thedecision to build the tent was a decision taken at the top but the suggestionto sell two and a half meter tent cloth to the farmers came from the bottom.

In the same huge gathering, another perplexing issue was about

preparation for food for lakhs of people who were attending this mega

Swadhyaya meet. There were many suggestions—prepare the food at a

central place and then distribute it all across; the participating

Swadhyayees can be divided into members of ten and prepare their own

food. But for the later they need kerosene, along with kitchen utensils,

stoves and groceries. But one cannot bring kerosene in the railways. Then

the suggestion came, let the participating Swdhyayees bring their own

108 Chapter 2

stove and utensils and we shall supply groceries and kerosene at the

Milan. It must be mentioned here that Swadhyayees are very fine econo-

mists and in their management, their native Gujarati sense of business and

commerce comes to their aid. In such huge meetings Swadhyayees

purchase the essentials such as groceries in huge quantities and because of

the huge quantity and operation of economies of scale, they are able to sell

this on a no-profit, no-loss basis at a much cheaper price compared to the

market price to the participants.

Ramnik Bhai gives another example. In one village, villagers wanted

to meet on the full moon nights in the field of Yogeshwara Krishi in order

to do some program together and discuss and sing about Swadhyaya. This

proposal was put to Avar and then to Jaayas. Says Ramnik Bhai: “At the

Jaayas we thought that since brothers and sisters are meeting in the night

Swadhyayees have to be careful and cautious about carrying out this with

purity. This suggestion came from top to the bottom.”

To come back from the managerial pathways to communicational

pathways, it is helpful here to discuss the movement of Swadhyayees

from one village to another as vratee and Devdutta. Vratee is a person

who gives one day a month in God’s work. He goes to another village and

spends a night. He may go alone or with members of his family. For

instance, while Bino Bhai Barod of Una goes with his family to the village

Sankhada as a vratee, Ranmalla Bhai of village Simar goes to the village

Lathi. While a vratee goes out for one night to another village, a Devdutta

comes to a village for three days and three nights. Kalubhai of Simar goes

to the village Mattana as a Devdutta once a month. About this Kalubhai

says: “Devdutta is a true Brahmin. He goes to another village for no

personal gain. He is a selfless worker of God.” Kalubhai is himself not

Brahmin by caste and here he is telling about the Swadhyaya ideal of

Brahmin as someone who is a worker of God or a messenger of God. On

his own experience as a Devdutta, Kalubhai says that he goes to

anybody’s house in the village and stays. Upon hearing of his arrival,

people of the village come to greet him.

But such movements still operate with some boundaries, namely the

boundaries of caste. This becomes clear from the following experiential

narrations. Like Kalubhai of Simar going to Mattana, Debendra Bhai

Pandya, a Brahmin by caste and not only in terms of the Swadhyaya ideal-

istic ideal of Brahminhood comes to Simar only a few times a year to

spend night as a vratee. It must be noted here that Debendra Bhai is also

the member of Avar and he is the messenger of Avar to Simar. But with

Active Devotion in a Local Context 109

whom does he stay when he visits Simar as a vratee? He stays with one of

the high caste households of the village.

What happens when Harijan Swadhyayees go out to other villages in

bhavpheri, bhaktipheri and where do they stay? Eighteen active

Swadhyayees from the Harijan colony in Veraval go regularly to other

villages as vratee but they were staying with other high-caste

Swadhyayees. But then they thought even if they have no problem and are

cordially welcomed into the families of high-caste Swadhyayees, the

other high-caste people in the locality who are not Swadhyayees may not

like this. They thought that it is good if during their bhaktipheri as a

practice they stay in the house of Harijans only.

The question of caste and class is a complex issue in understanding

any social movement in Indian society and now we must understand its

configuration in the dynamics of Swadhyaya in the village of Simar.

The Configuration of Caste and Class

As has been already mentioned, the dominast caste in Simar is Karadiya

Rajput. It is also the land-owning caste. There are other castes such as the

Baghris and the Nais (barbers) who are less in number. The predominant

other caste in Simar is Harijan. Harijans are termed as Bhavalaxis in

Swadhyaya. In the subsequent pages we shall use both the terms Harijan

and Bhavalaxi to describe the experience of and approach to Harijans in

Simar as well as elsewhere in the Swadhyaya world.

Before coming to the Harijans and the Harijan basa and its partici-

pation with the activiites of Swadhyayees in the village, let us take a tour

of the village and meet the members of other castes. The Baghris, a

backward caste, which traditionally used to pick up tooth sticks from the

trees and now predominantly work as vegetable vendors stay in the back

of Amrutalayam. In fact, five brothers of one father and his five family are

the only Baghris in the village. The members of this Baghri family do not

come to the village Amrutalayam. One of the brothers in the family works

as the village postmaster.

In front of the Baghri family is the house of one Biswanath Baba. He

is a priest of the Goddess Chamunda, who is the family deity of five

families here. Biswanath Bapa does worship of the Goddess Chamunda in

these five families and goes everyday to bring Ramroti (offering) from

these families. Biswanath Baba has come from another village. He did not

110 Chapter 2

come to the Amrutalayam. Nor anybody in the village has ever gone in

bhavpheri and bhaktipheri to his house.

Not very far from Biswanath Baba’s house is the house of Kanti Bhai.

Kanti Bhai is the younger brother of Veshram Bhai, and is one of the few

barber families in the village. While Veshram Bhai is an active participant

and thoughtful leader of Swadhyaya whose views and experience we shall

shortly encounter, Kanti Bhai and his wife have very little participation,

almost none, in the activities of Swadhyaya. His wife says that she is very

busy with her own household work and is unable to join Swadhyaya.

Adjacent to Kanti Bhai’s house is a small locality which holds ten

families of kumbhars—the pot makers. I had an extensive discussion with

Raoji Bhai from this kumbharasahi. Raoji Bhai says that he and the ten

kumbhar families of the locality believe in Sanatana Dharma. Though he

offers the visiting Swadhyayees seat, he does not take part in the work of

Swadhyaya in the village. In his words: “Ham Swadhyaya ke Sath Nehi

Judte he Ki Kabhi Nehi Judenge—we do not involve ourselves with the

work of Swadhyaya nor shall we ever be.” Raoji Bhai says that he has to

do a variety of works—wage labor, pot making, and preparation of

food—in order to live with dignity. His following comments point to the

dynamics of class relationships and perception of class in the village:

“The farmers of the village want that we should continue to live as

kangalas—as the paupers. The farmers call for labors from outside the

village but do not call us. There has been no change in the village after

Swadhyaya has come. You see the sign board at the Santipara bus stop

that there is an Amrutalayam in the village. But when you come down the

road you yourself can see how developed the road is.”

When I shared with an important leader of Swadhyaya in the village

about the above perception of Raoji Bhai, he said: “Oh! Raoji Bhai. He

has a flat in Veraval.” Despite this relativity of mutual perceptions which

is inevitable in such a contested field of caste, class and power or power-

lessness, it is clear that the locality which holds the kumbhar families is a

delaplated site and the stream of Swadhyaya has not flown to this site. The

kumbhars like the Harijans do not own much land, in most cases, almost

nothing. To present a glimpse of the cross-cutting perceptions, a senior

Swadhyayee of the village who is a middle-sized landowner has the

following comments about the problem of landlessness among the

Harijans. “Oh, they were given some land years ago as part of the land

reform program. But they sold these lands. Now they do not need land.

They do wage labor and lead a very fine life. Many of these keep land,

Active Devotion in a Local Context 111

gardens and the task of harvesting on lease and gain a handsome earning

from this.”

Now we must come to the Harijan basa which is behind the two

temples of the village—the Swadhyaya temple and the village Shiva

temple. The most active Swadhyayee from the Harijan basa of Simar is

Megha Bhai. He has been with Swadhyaya since its inception. He and his

wife Munghi Behen are seen sometimes in the village Amrutalayam and

they almost regularly attend the Video Kendra. I first met Megha Bhai and

Mungibehen near the site of Yogeshwara Krishi in the village of Simar.

They were harvesting a plot of land then—the plot of land they had taken

on lease from Dudhi Behen and Natha Bhai. Megha Bhai, like many other

of his village, besides doing share cropping, does take mango grooves in

the Talala area on lease. One sentence of Megha Bhai I remember from

my first meeting with him in October 1996 in his leased land and under a

cloudy and pensive sky: “Badha Bhagavan ka Dikra—all of us are

children of God.”

During my work, I got to know Megha Bhai’s family. Dhanji Bhai,

one of his sons, works as a peon in the local high school which is run by

the Sarvodaya Trust of Simar. Another son of Megha Bhai has a BEd

(Bachelor of Education) degree and works as a teacher in a school in the

neighboring district of Porbander. Megha Bhai’s one son could get only a

peon’s job in the local school, and his teacher-son could not get a place. It

is probable that the Trust of the local school had its own candidates and it

would be too much to expect of spirituality of these members to give a

teacher’s job to a person from a low-caster even if his father is an ardent

Swadhyayee. Many of them who are members of high caste and the

landed gentry of the village have their own sons and daughters to be

employed in the local school. Years ago a high caste educated youth of the

village has been appointed to the local school and he tells about his

appointment: “I did not have to pay any donation to the school [It must be

noted that most of the schools and colleges in Gujarat are run by private

trusts even though the Government pays salaries to the members of the

staff. I was told that in order to get an appointment to these schools and

colleges one has to give a minimum donation of Rs l lakh]. The motabhai

of Swadhyaya of the village kept the position of the teacher waiting for

me.” On his appointment without donation to the school, an influential

member of Swadhyaya in the village, who is also a member of the school

trust board says: “We wanted to have him on the school so that our village

gets a good worker.” But there are a few trained graduates in the Harijan

basa and none of them works in the school as a teacher. One wonders

112 Chapter 2

whether the same kind of consideration has been given to these trained

graduates from the Harijan community as well.

Dhanji Bhai who works as a peon in the local school says that 50 per

cent of the couples from the Harijan basa go to offer Alati in the

Amrutalayam when their turn comes. This is all attested by my conver-

sation with a fish-selling woman in the basa in the same evening that I met

Dhanji Bhai. She has two children. She tells of her interest in Swadhyaya

and says that she comes to Amrutalayam to offer Alati when her turn

comes. In her words: “To offer Alati in other temples one has to pay. But

here one does not to have to pay any money.”

Premji Bhai is the youngest son of Mehga Bhai and the younger

brother of Dhanji Bhai. Premji Bhai is completing his studies in a college

of fine arts near Ahmedabad. That evening I met him for the second time.

He had just arrived from his college. Immediately the word spread that

Premji Bhai has come and there was an assembly of joyous faces to greet

Premji Bhai, the pride of not only the family but also the entire

community. Premji Bhai had come with picture posters he had made in

the arts school. He put it in front of his house and many people in the basa

came to see the posters. I asked Premji Bhai why there are not many

Swadhyayees in the basa. For him, most of them do not understand

Swadhyaya. Regarding education in the basa, Premji Bhai says that only a

few families like his are interested in it. In other families, when a child

reaches eighth or ninth standard, the parents take him out of the school.

Continuing his studies is not only more expensive, it is full of despair

since in order to get a job one has to give a hefty amount of donation.

Chinna Bhai is Megha Bhai’s younger brother and is one of the few

active participants in Swadhyaya. He is a spirited human being and has

much improved in his standard of living in the last ten years. He has got a

well-built house, a little high on the scale compared to the other houses of

the Harijan basa. Initially, he was not much involved in the work of

Swadhyaya but he says that he became more involved in the work of

Swadhyaya as more and more people from outside the village kept

visiting him. His participation in the Deepavali Prayog of the village

which brought him to a Rajput house while a Lohana (a high caste next to

the Brahmins, claiming their ancestry to the Raghuvansha of Rama) came

and stayed with, has encouraged him to be more interested in Swadhyaya.

Chinna Bhai says that though many go to sherikendra held once a

week in the basa, few go to the Amrutalayam because they come back

home late from work and they have to prepare food. He has also taken part

in Swadhyaya teerthayatra: “First I was standing little bit at a distance but

Active Devotion in a Local Context 113

now I get enough bhava and prema.” He has taken part in the Swadhyaya

Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha in the first two steps—Gyata and

Jignasu (more about it later) and has failed.

About changes taking place in his own life and the community, he

says: “In the past we had poverty and there was byasana (addiction to

alcohol, etc) but now we have left byasana and we are moving out of

poverty. This is in contrast to the neighboring villages where people

continue to drink liquor.”

Swadhyaya has its own approach to election of sarpanch for the Gram

Panchayat. The core of this approach is: instead of election for the

position of sarpanch there should be selection as election divides the

village and brings a lot of fracture to the community of Swadhyayees.

Swadhyaya considers its approach as an initiative in political revolution.

But a close look at the working of the selected sarpanch gives us a

different picture of political development of Simar. During the last

sarpanch election-selection, one who was nominated was a landed elite of

the village. He is also an employee of a school but his school is at a far off

place. For the last many years he has been staying with his family in the

school. Because of the continuous absence of the sarpanch of the village,

the routine developmental work of the village was impeded. For instance,

the village school needed to be renovated for all these years but this work

could not be undertaken because of the absence of the sarpanch from the

village. As a result, there was a decision on the part of Swadhyaya

Parivara to appoint a working sarpanch and Kalubhai was chosen for this.

The sarpanch transferred power to the acting sarpanch and Kalubhai, the

new acting sarpanch of the village, is now working closely with

Mansinghbhai, the younger brother of the sarpanch.

It must be noted here that not only in Simar but also in all the villages

of Veraval and Una Taluka where the Swadhyaya revolutionary method

of political consensus and selection works, nowhere a Harijan has been

nominated to the post of the sarpanch. I asked Chinna Bhai whether he

would like to take part in the election for the post of the village sarpanch

or like to be nominated. Chinna Bhai says: “We do not fight in this. If you

fight then there arises a distance between brother and brother. We do not

fight with Swadhyaya vichara. There should be a peaceful environment in

the village.” I asked Chinna Bhai, if from the Bhavalaxi community

somebody would go and file his nomination in the contest for the

sanpanch election, what would happen? Chinna Bhai says: “Hamjakar

Samjhayenge. Ham Puchenge Ap Sarpanch Like He Ki Nehi—we would

go and make him understand. We will ask him if he is worthy of being a

114 Chapter 2

sarpanch.” Chinna Bhai further says: “if there is a good and active

Bhavalaxi (Harijan) then the Swadhyayees would nominate him to

different village committees.”

Vegetarianism is at the core of the Swadhyaya way of life. This is

similar to many other Hindu religious movements in India such as the

Radha Soami movement (Juergensmeyer 1991). This core value of

Swadhyaya is based on traditional Gujarati way of life at the core of

which exists vegetarianism. But many people from the sub-caste commu-

nities such as the Harijan and the Bhavalaxi/Harijan are not vegetarians.

But Chinna Bhai recognizes that the non-vegetarian food habit of the

Harijans can create a problem in the interaction between vegetarian

Swadhyayees and the non-vegetarian people. Though Swdhyayees

reiterate time and again that they do not bother about the external markers

of a person and community and never preach the non-vegetarian persons

and communities to stop taking mutton, the issue of food habit still

remains a concern, though at an unconscious and implicit level. It is no

wonder than that Chinna Bhai says: “They come to us. If we eat mutton

then how can they have faith in us.” Says Dalpat Bhai Gohil, himself a

Harijan and an important leader of Swadhyaya in Veraval Taluka,

“Harijans eat beef and for their participation in Swadhyaya, they have to

come a step forward, i.e., they should leave their eating of mutton/beef.

Dono Partimein Development hona chaiye—there should be development

in both the parties. Cleanliness—cleanliness of house, water, and

food—is important.” But such a negotiation still privileges a vegetarian

mode and taste. Here Kancha Ilaiah may point this out as an aspect of

imposition of a Brahminical taste. Writes Ilaiah: “To this day I have not

seen in any urban center a ‘Mala hotel’; or a ‘Maadiga hotel’ that serves

all the non-vegetarian foods— including beef—cooked to suit their own

tastes. I have not seen a Kuruma hotel or a Gauda hotel that serves the

food that suits our tastes. It seemed as though Brahmin and Khatriya tastes

were the universal tastes” (Ilaiah 1996: 56-57).

The place of the Harijans in Swadhyaya and Swadhyaya’s approach

to them as Bhavalaxi is a nuanced issue and we shall encounter many

dimensions of this issue in the course of this monograph. To stay in the

course of our engagement with Harijans/Bhavalaxi of Simar, it is now

helpful to return to the issue of land. Most of the Harijans as members of

the other low-caste communities of Swadhyaya are landless. The land

prices in the locality have gone up so much that they can hardly even

dream to buy land—one acre of land now costs three to four lakhs of

rupees. But if they cannot buy land, can they cultivate/appropriate the

Active Devotion in a Local Context 115

gochara land of the village—the land which was traditionally left

untouched for the grazing of cattles in the village?

But now almost none of the gochara land is available for cultivation

by the Harijans. The landed farmers of the village have appropriated it all.

What is left is now being appropriated by the influential and landed

people of the village including some Swadhyayee farmers. Sometimes,

some Swadhyayees appropriate gochara land out of compulsion. If the

connecting road to their farm land happens to be a gochara land then, if

they do not appropriate this land, then it is likely that somebody else

would appropriate this land and if he closes this appropriated land to use

by the farmer whose land lies besides then the farmer would be in trouble.

While the compulsion for such appropriation is understandable, in many a

case appropriation of gochara land has taken place out of sheer greed or

from a desire to demonstrate one’s power. Take for instance, the case of

Pravodh Bhai (a pseudonym). His house is just besides the village

Amrutalayam and photos of Dadaji and the Swadhyaya trinity hang in the

walls of his drawing room. During one of my visits to Jaisinghbhai’s

house, he took me to his farm land and coconut groove just besides his

house. Jaisinghbhai’s family is one of the biggest land-owning families in

the village. This family has fifty-five acres of land. During the tour of the

family farm land and the coconut groove, I asked Jaisinghbhai if all is his

own property. He replied without any remorse and hesitation that nearly

half an acre of his farm land consists of appropriated gochara land.

In Simar, there is no hesitation, no feeling of guilt on the part of the

farmers to appropriate gochara land. This includes Swadhyayee farmers

as well. None of them realizes that appropriating gochara land goes

against the basic principle of Swadhyaya Achara Samhita—do not take

anything for free. For Dadaji, this is a form of theft. But Swadhyayee

farmers of Simar as also in the neighboring village Sukhpur and others do

not realize that appropriating gochara land is a form of theft and goes

against the basic teachings of Swadhyaya. Moreover, nowhere

Swadhyayees or the Swadhyaya-nominated sarpanches out of their own

even say that the gochara land should be given to the landless.

Meramanbhai says that even up to very recent past Simar had thirteen

hundred acres of gochara land. But now most of this is gone. Gochara

land was kept untouched in the locality for ages because this was part of

the Muslim rule of Junagarh. For another Swadhyayee in Simar who is

critical of the encroachment of gochara land, Humayun had made this

rule that much of the land in the village must be for cows and other. But,

116 Chapter 2

now according to this villager, “They (the villagers) encroach gochara

land, they sell the soil from the gochara land, they build gardens and

grooves out of the gochara land.” Some people have also built houses on

gochara land obstructing the common path but there is no resistance to

this in the village. For Meramanbhai, the village sarpanch and the

law-abiding authorities have not bothered to look into this at all.

During one of my conversations a senior Swadhyayee of this village

was narrating one of his experiences to me. He had gone to another village

in bhaktipheri to talk about the philosophy of Swadhyaya. In that village

he was asked, as he himself told me, why is that Swadhyayees appropriate

gochara land. His reply was, again, in his own words: “The gochara land

is there. If we do not appropriate this somebody else will. Moreover, the

Harijans give us a lot of troubles. They misuse the anti-atrocity law and

put the farmers into difficulty.”

During my stay in Simar, one day a young boy took me around the

river Meghal and showed me a huge area of land encroached upon by a

person, one who is selling sand to the farmers of the village. Near this

place I met with one worker and asked him if he would like to encroach

some land for himself and his reply was: “Oh: If we do it, we shall be

mercilessly beaten.”In the neighboring village of Sukhpur, it must be noted, people have

not been violent towards the use of gochara land by the Harijans. This isan Amrutalayam village. The Swadhyayee elder brother of the village toldme that while in other villages, farmers are against the use of gochara landby Harijans in Sukhpur farmers on their own have made availabletwenty-five bighas of land for use by Harijan families. Given the numberof Harijans families, each must have got two bighas of land. In one of theHarijan colonies I saw only two small plots of land carved out of thegochara land for the use of Harijans families. But near these two smallplots of land, I was shown a plot of ten bigha of land which has beenconverted from the gochara land to farm land. In the words of this brotherwho had taken me there: “We have the gochara land into the farmlands inthe village. If we do not do this and if there is a lot of converted unusedland here then government may open a factory here. Everybody in thevillage has his own land. Why not the God of the village LordYogeshwara also have His land?” This ten bigha of land has beenconverted from gochara land for the purpose of having a permanent landto carry out Yogeshwara Krishi—Lord’s farming. But having apermanent piece of land that too encroached from gochara land isdifferent from Swadhyaya’s vision of Yogeshwara Krishi—InYogeshwara Krishi, the land to be cultivated must be taken on lease and

Active Devotion in a Local Context 117

the rent for it should be paid back even if it belongs to Swadhyayeefarmers. In fact, this is what takes place in all the Yogeshwara Krishis Ihave visited. But in Sukhpur, the gochara land has been appropriated forLord’s farming and one wonders whether Swadhyayees would considerthis a violation of the cardinal Gita Sandesh—do not take anything forfree—and recognize this as a form of theft.

The above narration that two small plots of land were carved out near

the Harijan colony in Sukhpur pertained to what I saw and heard during

my visit and discussion in March-April 1997. But during my visit and

work two years later, i.e. in March-April 1999, I found no such land for

the Harijans. These two plots of lands which were meant for Hairjans

have been added to the converted and appropriated gochara land and has

become the new expansive plot for Yogeshwara Krishi where God has His

own land expanded by the addition of small plots originally meant for the

Harijans.

At this point, a supplement needs to be introduced to the above

narration. But, at least, there is one Swadhyayee during my entire

fieldwork who recognizes such appropriation of gochara land as a

violation of the cardinal Gita Sandesh of Swadhyaya. He is Govind Bhai

K. Mori of the neighboring village of Supashi. Govind Bhai joined

Swadhyaya nearly thirty years ago along with the legendary Swadhyayee

activist of the locality, the late Dr Malabhai Dodiya. But because of

family compulsion and constraint, he has not been able to devote much

time to Swadhyaya work and is not a public leader of Swadhyaya. But in

his own life, he has striven to follow the Swadhyaya principles. At the

outskirt of the village, Govind Bhai has six bighas of land and around this

has forty bigha of gochara land. But he did not appropriate this gochara

land. He had a compulsion to appropriate as the connecting road to his

farm land passed through the gochara land. But because of the

Swadhyaya principle of Gita Sandesh—do not take anything for free—

Govind Bhai did not appropriate this. Now, two other farmers have appro-

priated this piece of land. As a result, Govind Bhai does not have his

previous easily accessible connecting road to his farm. He has to walk an

additional one kilometer, and in rainy season, cross streams of water, to

come to his land. But he does not mind this difficulty. In his words,

“Because of Swadhyaya thought one is able to bear all these pain.”

I had a discussion with Ramnik Bhai, the Swadhyayee motabhai of

Veraval about this issue of appropriation of gochara land and the respon-

sibility of Swadhyayees on the face of such challenges. I was eager to

know from him whether Swadhyayees should protest such

118 Chapter 2

encroachments. Says Ramnik Bhai: “As I am a Swadhyayee, I am also the

citizen of the village and as a citizen of the village I have also civil rights.

Main Citizen Hone Ke Naate Awaaz Uthaunga—as a civilian I must

surely raise my voice. But it is not that because I am a Swadhyayee I have

to wage this fight.” Here Ramnik Bhai makes a distinction between

oneself being a Swadhyayee and oneself being a citizen. At the same time,

Ramnik Bhai says, “First I would like to make the encroacher understand.

But when as a Swadhyayee I say this, the person concerned would realize

that I am not alone; the whole Parivara is standing behind me. So,

Swadhyayees must take up such challenges as Dadaji says: Nayam Atma

Balahinena Lavya—this Atman can not be obtained/realized by those who

are weak.”

Now let us come back to Simar and the issue of participation of

Harijans/Bhavalaxi in the dynamics of Swadhyaya. Chinna Bhai works as

a Kshetradhar-mitra in the Harijan basa. I asked Chinna Bhai why does

not he work as a Kshetradhar of Swadhyaya and he tells that he does not

have time as he is busy with his ration shop. In the evening he is busy with

his shop as people of the basa coming back from work come to take

provision from his ration shop. But Chinna Bhai himself says: “I have

become lazy.” Almost similar was the explanation given to me why

Harijans of other villages do not participate in the work of Swadhyaya by

a senior Swadhyayee of Simar. In one noon time, I had accompanied this

Swadhyaya brother to his farm land where he was constructing a new

house. Some Harijan youths of Nabapara village, a village located at

somewhat distance from Simar, were coming to work on his house

construction. When I asked them whether they take part in the work of

Swadhyaya in their village, they replied in the negative. The Swadhyayee

brother present immediately commented: “Oh! they do not come because

they are lazy. They do not have time.” Not having time and stung by the

virus of laziness is also given as the reason for the low attendance of

villagers in the activities of Swadhyaya in general and the prayer meetings

and other functions in the Amrutalayam in particular.

Time is an important factor and let the above narration of the not so

enthuasitic participation of the Harijans and other low-caste people of

Simar give an impression that there is a deliberate attempt on the part of

the middle-caste and high-caste Swadhyayees to exclude the Harijans.

There is no deliberate exclusion, no conspiracy against the low-caste. If

the Harijan Chinna Bhai does not come to Amrutalayam because he has a

ration shop, so does another Brahmin in the village who is never seen in

the Amrutalayam. If Chinna Bhai of the Harijan basa has a ration shop

Active Devotion in a Local Context 119

this Brahmin has a sweet shop in the nearby town of Goddu. I have met

many resourceful farmers in the village who also tell that they like the

work of Swadhyaya, send their children to the Bala Sanskara Kendra so

that they can have culture, but, they themselves do not come to

Amrutalayam because they do not have time. But in case of the rich and

the middle class, while there is a greater ability to find time out of one’s

occupation and profession for Swadhyaya, in case of the poor and the

working class there is a far more constraint of time. If one is a

wage-earner as most of the people in the Harijan basa are, then to go in

bhaktipheri one day means to lose a day’s wage. And since, Swadhyaya

work is a self-inspired and self-chosen one, in which there is no provision

for compensating the loss of pay incurred on the part of a wage earner for

his participation in Swadhyaya bhaktipheri, we can appreciate the limita-

tions for greater participation in Swadhyaya on the part of the working

class. To take part in Swadhyaya means to arrange for the expenses

involved in one’s travel and this is trying for many poor people. Compara-

tively speaking this is a difficulty with the poor and the working class in

taking part in voluntary activities of participation. As John Burdick

(1993) writes about the Christian Base Communities (CEBs) in Brazil, the

premium on participation placed by liberation theology in these commu-

nities disable the poor from taking part in it. Those who do not have

“flexible work schedule” become automatically excluded from the

process.

Thus poverty as it determines one’s time, labor, and resource is a

constraint in participating in Swadhyaya. But poverty is not a destiny here

as structure is never a destiny once there is a decision to take part in a

life-elevating process of creativity on the part of the self. It must be noted

that Swadhyaya itself began its work in many down-trodden communities

such as the fishermen etc. Many poor people do take part in Swadhyaya.

For example I have met a young carpenter in Bombay who does not have a

permanent job and comes every month in bhaktipheri to Gujarat. Apart

from loss of pay for four to five days every month, this Swadhyayee

brother must be spending, at least, Rs 600 every month to undertake this

journey. At the same time, the constraint of time, labor, and resource in

the part of many poor people needs to be recognized before attributing any

conspiratorial motive to the predominance or the middle class in the

dynamism of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya believes that the middle class is the

harbinger of a new cultural revolution because it can spare time for the

work of culture. There is a truth to this as borne out in the experience and

experiment of Swadhyaya but after a while this becomes a bondage, a

120 Chapter 2

binding chain. I know an engaged activist of Swadhyaya in the Dahisar

area of Bombay who gives so much of his time and labor to Swadhyaya.

In fact, he goes once every two months in bhaktipheri to Swadhyaya. He

has also a deeper understanding of Swadhyaya but he is not given any

leadership role in the local Swadhyaya activity. As another senior

Swadhyayee brother from Dahisar, Bombay himself told me, “Bhikha

Bhai is not given any role in the leadership because he is a carpenter, he

does not belong to the rich and the middle-class.”

There is a class-dimension at work in Swadhyaya. In order to under-

stand the complexity of the work of class, it is helpful to take a jump from

Simar to Ahmedabad for a while and meet with Dr Rajesh Parikh, a

motabhai of Swadhyaya and member of the Ahmedabad Jaayas with

whom I had continued my discussion on class and leadership in

Swadhyaya after my fieldwork in Simar in March-April 1997. I shared

with Rajesh Bhai my perception that the leaders of Swadhyaya in Simar

are from rich socio-economic background and it constrains their ability to

formulate life-enhancing socio-economic programs for the upliftment of

the poor. I also told him that Simar has so much money lying in its

account—money cumulated over years of Mahalaxmi coming from the

Yogeshwara Krishi and Bhava samparpana—and if some of the poor

Swadhyayees would have been in the decision-making process it might

have made some differences in the life chances of the poor people. It must

be noted here that many Swadhyayees have told me that Dadaji continu-

ously urges Swadhyayee motabhais not to keep money unspent and to

spend it for enhancing the capacity of “the last man” in the village—

“unto the last” is his slogan. But Rajesh Bhai thinks that it is not a

constraint and incapacity that the leaders of Swadhyaya are rich and

middle-class. For Rajesh Bhai, even if one is not poor, one can sympa-

thize and identify with the poor. Rajesh Bhai emphatically stresses that

there is a structural need for the leader of Swadhyaya to be rich and

resourceful. They should also have better communicative skills.

For Rajesh Bhai, a rich person can devote more time to the activities

of Swadhyaya. But participation in the activities of Swadhyaya opens up

opportunities and possibilities for the poor and they become rich in the

process and once rich they can become the leaders of Swadhyaya. Rajesh

Bhai says that after five years when there would be more resourceful

people who were earlier poor then there would be an automatic change in

leadership—“even at present, if one is poor and a good academician then

he/she would be accommodated in the leadership.” Under the issue of

members of the Jaayas and Avar coming from district headquarters and

Active Devotion in a Local Context 121

taluka headquarters respectively, an issue which we have discussed before

Rajesh Bhai says: “If the quality to become a member of the Jaayas exists

at the town place then Dada won’t mind giving that responsibility to the

deserving person. The quality to become a member of the Jaayas is

usually not much outside the cities and the quality to become a member of

the Avar is not much outside the taluka place. If these qualities are outside

these places, then they will be accommodated.”

It is time to come back to Simar. Here time is both part of an objective

constraint and subjective determination. Veshram Bhai and Madhu Behen

are poor but they offer their time to Swadhyaya. Veshram Bhai is much

more part of the leadership structure of Swadhyaya to the extent Megha

Bhai from the Harijan basa is not. Veshram Bhai is a barber; he lives in a

rented house in the village, the house that originally belongs to

Meramanbhai and which fell vacant after Meramanbhai constructed his

house in his wadi. But Megha Bhai stays in the Harijan basa, still the other

space of the village. As a barber, Veshram Bhai comes in contact with

many Swadhyayees of the village and outside and since his house is near

the Amrutalayam, many Swadhyayees assemble in his house after the

evening prayer at Amrutalayam for discussion and chit-chat. So Veshram

Bhai is part of a much more wider network and has more social and

cultural networks compared to Megha Bhai who as a wage earner and

share cropper is mostly confined to his field and has very little interaction

with others. Moreover, as a former untouchable and a much aged man

Megha Bhai suffers more from the burden of the past.

The contrasting position of Veshram Bhai and Megha Bhai, both of

them being non-rich and landless, points to the crucial significance of

social network in overcoming distances in Swadhyaya. In fact,

Swadhyaya does transcend caste and class barriers and creates social

networks across boundaries which as we shall see, in the subsequent

chapters, becomes a source of enrichment to many. But despite this, the

pervasive influence of old structures of caste and class does have an

impact.

Notes

1. But during subsequent fieldwork in March 1999, I saw Bira Bhai attending

the Manahan Kendra—the Centre for the old people taken by Jivabhai.

2. Part of this sloka mentions: Narinam Smruti Medha Dhruti Khama in which

Lord Krishna is telling us: “of the feminine qualities (I am) Fame, Prosperity (or

122 Chapter 2

beauty), Inspiration, Memory, Intelligence, Constancy and Forbearance.” Dudhi

Behen building upon Dadaji’s discourse on this seem to suggest that women should

cultivate these virtues in their lives.

3. The decision about this change was taken at the highest decision-making

body at Swadhyaya in Bombay and was passed down to Swadhyayees at all levels.

4. This can be interpreted as: Go on working and help is always ready.

5. This is a perspective nurtured in Bhagawad Gita which means welfare and

growing together of people.

6. It may be noted that many social and cultural movements in the past

followed such a practice. The Khudai Khidmatgar movement led by Khan Abdul

Gaffar Khan practices such a principle of carrying their own food during their travel

to different villages in the region (see Banerjee 2000).

Active Devotion in a Local Context 123

3

Understanding Expanding Universes and

Experiments: The Dynamics of Swadhyaya in

Veraval and Beyond

God’s dream envisions more than mere equality. An equal you can

acknowlege once and then forever thereafter ignore. God’s dream wants

us to be brothers and sisters, wants us to be family.

—Deshmond Tutu (2005), God Has a Dream, p. 21

Shiv Sena’s ostensible egalitarianism pertains only to caste and to the

abandoning of the old habits—and embracing the new—so urgent

among young men and women in the Bombay region. But in terms of

class and authority, there is nothing egalitarian about Shiv Sena. Most

Sainiks dream of moving upward . . . wielding power and respect in the

party’s highly authoritarian system.

—Thomas B. Hansen (2001), Violence in Urban India:

Identity Politics, ‘Mumbai’, and the Postcolonial City, p. 116

. . . in an open society, however imperfect the openness, politics can be

an instrument of collective creativity. For politics is nothing less than a

means of redefining a society’s selfhood by renegotiating the distri-

bution of power and the legitimacy of existing centers of power in

different domains of life. This connection with the redefinition of self

explains why political choices at the ground level, contrary to the belief

of hard-nosed political analysts, tend to be moral choices.

—Ashis Nandy (2002), The Romance of the State and

the Fate of Dissent in the Tropics, p. ix

— 124 —

Veraval is the headquarters of the Swadhyaya district of Veraval and

is the taluka (block) headquarter of Veraval taluka of the much wider

district of Junagarh. The revenue district of Junagarh is divided into two

Swadhyaya districts—Veraval and Junagarh. Veraval is a coastal town

near the Arabian sea and is only five kilometers away from the famous

Somanath temple. Veraval is the co-ordinating headquarters of

Swadhyaya. The meetings of the Swadhyaya Avar and Jaayas are held

here. Vidia plot and Kharwavad are two fishermen communities of

Veraval which exist almost as autonomous locales. The work of

Swadhyaya in Vidia plot and Kharwavad is significant because it has the

Swadhyaya prayog of Matsyagandha—the community fishing boat run

on the basis of Bhakti. Swadhyaya has many of its inspiring leaders here

such as Ramnik Bhai Patel, Mudrika Behen Trivedi, Jadavji Bapa,

Giridhar Bhai Kanporia, Dr G.B. Buha, Dr Santwani and in this chapter

we shall hear some of their voices. Veraval has also a substantial Muslim

population and in this chapter we shall also have a glimpse of how some

of the Muslims look at the work of Swadhyaya.

The Work of Swadhyaya in Veraval Town

The Veraval town is divided into seven zones for Swadhyaya work and

these are: S.T. zone, New Veraval society zone (opposite the railway

station), Daulat Press zone, Krishnanagar zone which includes the Harijan

colony, Kharwavad (The community of the Kharwar—one community of

fishermen and women), Vidia plot, Valuka zone, and Patan zone. There is

one Video Cassette Kendra in each zone and one Hindi Video Casette

Pravachan once a week, which brings all the participants together. Each

zone is divided into six areas and each zone has all the usual Swadhyaya

Kendras—the Yuvakendra, Mahila Kendra, etc. But in no place there is a

Kendra for the elderly or the Manahar Kendra. There are Chintanika

Kendra also and there are the more basic sherikendra for 20 families

where participants meet for half an hour.

Every zone works as a village and the responsibility for Swadhyaya

work lies with a twelve member committee. Each of the twelve member is

given two to three departmental responsibility and some of them also

represent the town of Veraval in Veraval Avar. All these co-ordinating

meetings take place in the newly constructed Swadhyaya center of the

town. Earlier these were taking place in the house of Mudrika Behen, the

pioneer of Swadhyaya in Veraval.

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 125

There is continuous bhavpheri and different meetings are held in

different areas. Veraval being a city has different professional and many

doctors are involved in this work which include the very thoughtful and

inspiring Dr Santwani and Dr Buha and we shall listen to their experience

and perspective in greater details during the course of our narration. The

doctors divided into different groups go on bhavpheri at 9 o’clock in the

night once a week. They sometimes go to the colony of Indian Rayon

employees. Indian Rayon is a big chemical factory in the town and there

are employees in it almost from all parts of India. Swadhyayees are eager

that people coming from outside Gujarat should also take an interest in

Swadhyaya and take part in it. But they do not succeed in this. Many

people in the Indian Rayon colony tell the visiting Swadhyayees: “It is a

good work, you do it.” But they themselves do not get involved in this.

I had taken part in several bhavpheri meetings, Utsavas and Video

Kendras in Veraval apart from talking to many Swadhyayee brothers and

sisters. One of the earliest relates to my joining sisters of Krishnanagar

zone joining in their weekly bhavpheri. Behens go once a week to meet

with people of one particular locality. I had joined Chandrika Behen (the

moti Behen of Veraval Swadhyaya district and wife of Ramnik Bhai),

Harsha Behen and two sisters from the Krishnanagar zone go in their

bhavpheri to the police colony. Harsha Behen is the wife of Kahnu Bhai

Jhagda, a gold merchant of the locality. She has quite a palatial house;

when she comes to bhavpheri she always sits on the floor. We came to the

police colony and met one sister. She has a small one bed-room apartment

and we all sat on the floor. She told her how she eagerly looks forward to

the arrival of the Swadhyayee sisters on their bhavpheri. Before

Swadhyaya, she was quite antagonistic to her mother-in-law wishing

many a time that she should die. But Swadhyaya has taught her to under-

stand and respect everybody and now she regrets that her mother-in-law is

not with her (she is not living with them and because they have a small

one-bed room apartment they are not able to invite her). Chandrika Behen

offered her thoughts on this: “The same people are there but Swadhyaya

has changed their mind, their way of looking at things.” There is a Mahila

Kendra in the police colony as well as Bala Sanskara Kendra. One

woman in the police colony says: “our husbands do not mind if we come

to the Mahila Kendra in the neighborhood but it will be so easy for us to

go in bhaktipheri ourselves if our husbands also become Swadhyayees.”

She was expressing her desire that Swadhyayees should try to bring their

policemen husbands also to the Swadhyaya fold. At present there is no

126 Chapter 3

Swadhyaya bhavpheri among the policemen, they touch the business

people and professionals in the city only.

Bhavpheri is an integral part of Krutisheel behens of Veraval such as

Chandrika Behen. In fact, they do bhavpheri, at least, twice a week—once

with the other Swadhyayee sisters, and another time with their husbands

especially in the night as they are back from work. As to the first

bhavpheri, each Swadhyayee sister in friendship with other two do

bhavpheri in three seris—neighborhoods. They are to make seven friends

in each seri—they are called sakhis. Each Swadhyayee sister is to take

care of her sakhis and be with them on various normal routines of life as

well as in their desire for a little outing—to accompany them to the

purchase of vegetables and to see movies if they want.

I had once accompanied Chandrika Behen to her bhavpheri visit to

another woman. Harsha Behen who stays in her own flat. Chandrika

Behen spent time with her and requested her to join her in the continued

bhavpheri. Harsha Behen said that she wants to come but she does not get

adequate support from her husband as she is not much interested in

Swadhyaya. Her husband’s lack of interest in Swadhyaya owes to a

difficult experience he had once with a Swadhyayee. But on this

Chandrika Behen urged her to reflect: “We should reflect the level of

self-development of people, each person is not the same.”

I have another unforgettable experience of taking part in a Swadhyaya

bhavpheri in Veraval. This time it was in the Harijan neighborhood. I was

sitting in the house of Dinesh Bhai, the motabhai of Swadhyaya work

among the Harijans. Mansukhbhai and his wife came to his house. They

had come on that Sunday to talk to the husband of another woman in the

locality who is interested to attend Swadhyaya Kendra but cannot because

of her many constraints, including a bit of resistance from her husband.

This woman lives in a small, dingy place and even she did not have any

mat on which the visitors could sit. All of us sat on the floor. It was half an

hour of being together in a spirit of fellowship and delight. Then

Mansukhbhai discussed with both the woman and her husband how they

can both attend the Chintanika Kendra in the locality. Mansukhbhai

suggested that in one Kendra day the husband can look after the child

while on the other the wife.

Before joining Mansukhbhai and his wife in this bhavpheri, I had met

them in the community Swadhyaya Dampati Milan (the meeting of the

couples) in Mohabatpara. Mohabatpara is a slum area to where Dr Buha,

advocate Chandnani and other members of the elite of Veraval come for

bhavpheri. This meeting of the couples was organized on the eve of

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 127

Ramnavami and in this not only the Swadhyaya couples had taken part but

also the non-Swadhyayees. It was a community meeting resembling the

Lokabhogya Utsava described before. In this both Mansukhbhai and his

wife were seating on two chairs and both of them spoke though

Mansukhbhai spoke first. Mansukhbhai said, “We are now experiencing a

bhavkhalash—our emotional enthusiasm is dying—in all walks of life.

The distance between man and man is increasing but why?”

The Work of Swadhyaya in the Harijan-Bhavalaxi Neighborhood

of Veraval

Swadhyaya works in the Bhangi colony of Veraval. There is a weekly

Chintanika Kendra in the community. Advocate Chandnani and eye

doctor Amit Thakkar come to take the Kendra here but Chandnani makes

it clear: “We are not obliging them by going to them.”

122 families stay in the Harijan colony of Veraval. All the Swadhyaya

Kendras are at work in this Harijan basa—there are four Bala Sanskara

Kendras and one Manahar Kendra. Sherikendras or neighborhood

Kendras are also active in the Harijan colony. I took part in one vibrant

Swadhyaya Sherikendra meeting in front of Dinesh Bhai’s house one

evening.

Dinesh Bhai is the motabhai of Swadhyaya in the colony. He was

earlier working in a ration shop. He now works as a watchman in the local

agricultural college. He also had a term as the chief or Patel of the local

community. When he was Patel, Dinesh Bhai says, politicians would

come and court him. But Swadhyayees have not come to him for any

political motive.

As a Harijan, Dinesh Bhai has a weeping heart. During the course of

our conversation he once broke down and told me: “Hindu Ke Naam Par

Hamare Par Jo pratap hua o Bahut Dukh ki Baat Hai—It is a matter of

great tragedy the oppression that has been let loose on us in the name of

Hinduism. People from Visva Hindu Parishad also came to us but we tell

them, “You tell that you are Hindu but in reality you are not. Only a

Harijan is a real Hindu. For generations to generations no Hindu pundit

came to us, no kathakar (storyteller) came to us to tell us about Rama and

Krishna but still we are worshipping them. People did not come to our

house nor did they make us enter theirs. When somebody dies in our

family no caste Hindu comes and pays us respect and offers solace. But

128 Chapter 3

now when death occurs Swadhyayees come and meet us. In Swadhyaya

you do not get any grant, any subsidy, nevertheless you get love.”

For Dinesh Bhai, because of Swadhyaya a lot of changes are taking

place in individual and collective life. Earlier people were using bad

words but now there have taken place some changes in this. Now people

recite Trikal Sandhya. On his part, Dinesh Bhai has been much enchanted

by the slogans and prayers. In his words: “People do kutumb prarthana

and utter Trikala Sandhya together and the Dhwani is quite attractive.”

Some changes have taken place in the community habits as well. Earlier

during marriage ceremonies, people were eating from the same plate. But

now this is changing. Each is having one’s own plate during community

meals which is more hygienic says Dinesh Bhai. The community leaders

are telling us that we should recite slokas before we eat even in

community celebrations and festivals.

Swadhyaya’s work in the Harijan basa is supported by a band of

active workers, both men and women. There is continuous link between

work in the Harijan colony and work in other neighborhoods of Veraval.

During Guru Purnima festival in 1999, a brother from the Harijans basa

was going for rehearsal to the house of Natu Bhai Joshi, a Brahmin

follower of Swadhyaya. They would rehearse songs to be sung at the Guru

Purnima festival.

Sumatibehen is one of the active women workers of Swadhyaya in the

Harijan colony. Being with Swadhyaya has been a life-transforming

experience with her. She lives in a trying environment—having grown up

in Bombay, she is used to an autonomous life of her own. But after

marriage she had to adhere to her husband’s will for her not to work. That

itself would not have been a shattering experience for Sumati had her

husband not been a drunkard. In this situation, compounded by poverty,

Sumati derives strength from Swadhyaya prayers and by doing regular

Trikala Sandhya. But her husband is opposed to her prayers. Many a times

she would pray when her husband is in deep sleep. She would pray God to

bring a turn around in her husband’s life. Sumatibehen once told:

“Sometimes, I will be praying in the middle of the night my husband

would wake up and say, Oh! you are doing magic on me.”

But during my last visit to the Harijan Colony in Veraval,

Sumatibehen was in a far more broken state. Her husband had been

gravely ill. She was nurturing him. But even at this critical juncture, she

has not stopped dreaming. She showed me a postcard that Jagdish Bhai,

an important leader of Swadhyaya from Bombay, had written.

Sumatibehen had written to Jagdish Bhai that he would like to send her

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 129

son to the Swadhyaya educational stream. Jagdish Bhai in his

hand-written postcard had briefly outlined the process entailed in this. He

had began his reply with the complement: “Tum Devi Maa Ho. You are a

Goddess Mother. In these days when everybody is interested in a secured

career for their children you want to send your son to the Swadhyaya

educational stream which does not provide any certificate.”1 On this issue

of economic security Sumati Bhen however says: “Even birds manage

their food. What I want to give my son is true education, an education in

culture. He would not starve in his life.”

The aspirations and dreams of persons such as Sumatibehen urge us to

proceed with caution and not to pass quick judgment that Swadhyaya is an

imposition of Brahminical hegemony on the lower caste. Swadhyaya

means continued striving for self-development and it is this idea of a

higher cultural and self-realization that animates poor Harijan women

such as Sumatibehen. It is this same ideal of a more authentic

self-cultivation which has moved Natha Bhai in the neighboring village of

Verala. Natha Bhai is a Harijan but has been active in Swadhyaya

Parivara for long and is the motabhai of the entire Swadhyaya Parivara in

the village. His son has completed one-year postgraduate course at the

Tatwagyan Vidhyapeetha. According to a Swadhyayee from a high caste

background: “Natha Bhai specifically provided BA education to his son

so that he fulfils the educational requirement for doing one-year diploma

course at the Vidyapeeth.”

To come back to the Harijan colony, Dinesh Bhai and some of his

active Swadhyaya colleagues from the Harijan colony go in bhaktipheri

as a vratee to the neighboring block headquarters of Talala. But Dinesh

Bhai says that when they go as a vratee they mainly visit the house of

Harijans. In his words, “Ham Harijan Bhai Ke Gharme Jayaenge To Acha

Rahta Hai [It is good for us to stay in the houses of our Harijan brothers].

It is alright to visit high caste Swadhyaya brothers but other members of

the caste may not like this.” So when Harijans go in Bhatktipheri they

mostly visit Harijan families, not to mention that they stay in Harijan

families and when Brahmins come to Simar as a vratee they stay in high

caste families.

Veraval town has many active Harijan Swadhyaya leaders and Pakhia

Bhai is one of the most enthusiastic ones. He comes from a very

down-trodden stratum called Hadi Harijan. Pakhia Bhai had taken part in

the crucial Bhavamilan Samaroha in Ahmedabad. About himself and his

community identity Pakhia Bhai says: “First I was feeling guilty to

identify myself as a Harijan. But after the meeting I took a solemn

130 Chapter 3

resolve—a Bhisma Pratignya—as long as I am alive I shall go from door

to door in my Samaj carrying the message of Gita.” Pakhia Bhai’s

resolution has not remained only an empty rhetoric. He has moved from

door to door not only in his locality, he has also brought the message of

Gita to the shoe-polishing boys of Veraval town. He has moved and

worked with these young boys and taught them Trikala Sandhya. The

boys have also started saving. The local Swadhyaya leadership has taken

note of Pakhia Bhai’s work among shoe-polishing boys and want him to

intensify such works.

Pakhia Bhai laments that in his Hadi Harijan community the work of

Swadhyaya is much slow compared to what is in the Harijan basa. He

wishes: “Oh Dadaji should only once utter the name of Hadi Harijan. This

would elevate our depressed community.” It must be noted here that

Dadaji has instilled pride in communities by providing them a positive

aspect of their identity. The fishermen have been rechristened as

Sagaraputras and Harijans as Bhavalaxis. But Pakhia Bhai’s desire that

Dadaji should utter the name of the depressed subcaste within Harijan

shows how this work of positive identity attribution and formation should

go still deeper.

During my last fieldwork visit to Veraval in August 1999 there had

taken place a meet of active Swadhyaya Bhavalaxi workers at the district

level. It had brought nearly hundred active Swadhyaya workers who

either work with Harijans or are themselves active Swadhyaya Harijan

workers. For instance, in this Detroja Bhai, the Patel, who is in charge of

the work among the Harijans in Veraval district was there as were Dinesh

Bhai and Rama Bhai, Harijans themselves. In this meeting, it was told that

Swadhyaya works in 25 out of 102 villages of Veraval Taluka. One

Harijan participant in this Milan said: “Dadaka karya Viswa Badal Deta

Hai Magar Or Kya Bhavalaxika Bhagya Nahi Badalega [Dada’s work

changes the world but would not it change the fate of the Harijans?]”

One person who would jump to offer an affirmative reply to this

question is Lalji Bhai. He seems to be a Brahmin by caste and is in charge

of Bhavalaxis in the entire Rajkot Samhat. In his address to the district

Bhavalaxi Milan in Veraval, Lalji Bhai said: “The whole world is now

looking at Dadaji and Dadaji is now looking at the Bhavalaxis. From his

childhood Dadaji has been pained about the problem of untouchability,

the same pain that Baba Saheb had. Baba Saheb had urged the

untouchables to be educated, to be organized and to struggle for

awakening. There is only one way of realizing Baba Saheb’s dreams and

that is Swadhyaya. [In this context we can note what an elderly

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 131

Swadhyayee had said in the village Untwala: Pandurang Baba and

Ambedkar Baba are two great men who are genuinely interested in

uplifting the condition of the Dalits. But in his village Swadhyayees do

not involve themselves much with the life of the untouchables] In his

speech Lalji Bhai lamented that instead of varna vyavastha, the varna

system has come to stay and it has in turn brought about varna discrimi-

nation. He also narrated an incident during his work among the Harijans.

Once he was leading a Swadhyaya prayer among the Harijans, and he was

asked by a Harijan: “Why in the Swadhyaya meeting with Harijans, there

is no photo of Ambedkar?” Lalji Bhai asked him back: “When you

worship Ram Dev Pir do you have the photos of Ambedkar? In your

occasions of worship do you keep the photos of Ambedkar? Likewise

there is no photo of Ambedkar at the Swadhyaya meetings.”

Education, organization and struggle—on this point Lalji Bhai says

that both Dadaji and Ambedkar converge, but, in what way Swadhyayees

react when they mobilize themselves for improvements in local commu-

nities. For this we need to visit the village of Untwala and the surrounding

villages of Gangda and Poshuwala.

Swadhyaya, Bhavalaxis and Social Struggles

The village Untwala is a village in the Una taluka of Veraval Swadhyaya

district has a sizeable section of Harijans. They stay in both the basa and

the wadi. (This is unlike Simar where Harijans stay mostly in the basa and

rarely in the wadi). The Harijans of the village have a dual life—many of

them go to Bombay for six months a year when there is no agricultural

work in the village. They are mostly landless and they work as agricul-

tural laborers in the village. When they come to work as agricultural

laborers they bring their own ‘tumblers’, their own plates and pots in

which they can receive the food offered.

The Swadhyaya bhaktipheri in Untwala has been at work since 1970.

Rama Bhai Mehr, the legendary worker of Swadhyaya brought the

message of Swadhyaya thirty years ago. He would come in the evening,

spend the night and would return to his village Sankhada early in the

morning. But when Rama Bhai was coming in bhaktipheri whom was he

meeting? Very rarely the Harijans. If he would have visited the Harijans

and spend night with them then he might not have been accepted by the

caste villagers.

132 Chapter 3

If Rama Bhai was coming regularly for bhaktipheri thirty years ago

now Jai Bhai Saita from Bombay comes once a month. He comes to give

emotional love—Bhavapushti—to Shridarshanam pujaris. During his

stay in the village he sometimes visits the Harijan neighborhood. During

one of his visits, Narayana Bhai—a caste Swadhyayee of this village, had

followed him. Narayana Bhai said that he has started a Bala Sanskara

Kendra in the Harijan neighborhood in the plot vistara. But when I asked

another Harijan leader whether in fact there is any Bala Sanskara Kendra

he said that no such Kendra existed. “All this is for show. When people

from Bombay come they bring them to our community as a superficial

gesture.”

During my work in Untwala, I had gone to the Harijan hamlets both

inside and at the outskirt of the village. In this Harijan basa inside the

village Untwala, just a minute walk from the village mainstream, we—

Joshu Bhai, Raju Bhai and myself—sat on the veranda of the newly built

temple of Chamunda with Narayan Bhai, a well-to-do person in the

Harijan neighborhood and somehow one of its leaders. Narayan Bhai said

that the old tradition of the village persists and they do not want to hurt

anybody’s sentiments by going inside the main village temple. Nor would

they be allowed inside if they enter. Swadhyayees of the village come and

distribute prasad of festivals as well as of celebrations among the

Harijans. But they have never thought of coming to Amrutalayam. Thus

the Harijans look at the Swadhyaya temple in the same way as they look at

other temples in the village. Dadaji is once reported to have said to an

elderly man of Junagarh tree temple: “Daya Bapa I have built

Amrutalayam especially for the Bhavalaxis as they do not have any place

to go.” But in Untwala, Swadhyayees have not done enough to bring this

message of Dadaji to the Harijan colony.

There was a Bala Sanskara running in the Harijan basa some years

ago. Harijans of the village do not have their milk animals and mainly for

them the Swadhyaaya prayog of Goras was started in the village. But a

recent murderous conflict between the high-caste and the low-caste led

Swadhyayees to close this milk co-operative.

What is this conflict? This conflict revolves around cultivation of

gochara (cattle grazing) land. During Deepavali, 1996 the high-caste

people in the village destroyed this crop by letting in buffaloes and other

animals into it. There are nearly 250 acres of gochara land. But while the

situation has improved in Untwala, it has continued to be tense in neigh-

boring villages such as Gangda which, like Untwala, is an Amrualayam

village. After the destruction of crops during Deepavali 1996, the Harijans

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 133

have cultivated in Untwala in subsequent years but they have not faced

any recurrence of such aggression.

On this conflict and the appropriation of gochara land, an important

leader of Swadhyaya in the village says: “The gochara land of the villages

is for the cows and goats of the village and also especially for the cowherd

castes like the Rabbaris. We told the Harijans not to cultivate the gochara

land as this is for the grazing of animals. But they did not listen to us.” In

the words of this leader: “The Harijans use abusive language, they misuse

the constitutional provision of Article 310 and the atrocity law.” But the

Harijans of the village and the locality have a radically different view. For

them, the farmers have been appropriating gochara land all these years

but when they—the low-caste and the landless—cultivate gochara land

they are brutally attacked and their crops destroyed. In fact, near the

village Amrutalayam in Untwala a patch of land has been demarcated by

the Swaminarayanees of the village. The followers of Swaminarayan felt

that they are powerful farmers in the village so nobody would dare to

attack them. On the allegation that Harijans are implicating caste villagers

and farmers of the village in false cases, Madhu Bhai, a resurgent Dalit

leader of the village told me in a meeting I had with him in Tehsil office in

Una: “Why should we harass the high-caste people and the farmers.

Rather our whole life is spent in protecting us from their atrocity and

aggression. In the village everybody gets together to kill the Dalits. We

are being forced to take recourse to atrocity laws which forces the police

to record complaints of atrocity perpetuated on Dalits otherwise the police

becomes an accomplice in this crime.”

On this issue and the destruction of crop, Madhu Bhai says:

“Everybody has encroached on the gochara land. On Oct 19, 1996 the

villagers came and destroyed our crops. They also beat us mercilessly.

One of us was murderously attacked and on this day they had deliberately

stopped all transport communication to the city; so we took him on a

bullock cart and luckily he survived.” We lodged our protest in the police

station but the police did not record the case. Then we filed a case in the

court and the court asked the police to prepare a report. The second time

we went to till our land, the entire village came with all its cattle to attack

us.”

Giving a historical backdrop to this conflict, Madhu Bhai says: “We

had first cultivated ten years ago and had also raised crops on it for three

years. In 1996, the newly elected sarpanch who belongs to BJP convened

a meeting of the gram sabha and gave us a notice to vacate the land in

fifteen days otherwise our crops will be destroyed. And they carried out

134 Chapter 3

their threat.” Madhu Bhai further says: “If you have to save cows, you

farmers first vacate the gochara land that you have appropriated. We will

not vacate the gochara land, let the kheduts (farmers) do it first.” The

sarpanch who led the aggression has been suspended and now lives in

Una. Jiku Bhai, the deputy sarpanch, is not following the aggressive path.

He says: “I cannot directly attack the Dalits. Let all those who have

encroached gochara land give back the appropriated land. The Dalits are

also our brothers.”Madhu Bhai has said that he has heard about Swadhyay and he

himself has done some study. In his view, “It is good but people who arein it are not.” He gets inspiration from reading Baba Saheb Ambedkar. Hesays: “It is written in the books of Baba Saheb: you cannot live as citizensof this country. So, you be organized, be educated. Government has land,you take this land. You do anything you want to do to realize yourrights—even if you die in the process, it is better.” Relating this to thesituation in his village Untwala Madhu Bhai says: “Our fight is not withthe villagers, it is with government. We were prepared to die for the sakeof our land. The government had given the gochara land to the GramPanchayat but it did not prevent it from being appropriated by richfarmers. Now our demand is whatever land is left over should be handedover to us.”

The Harijans of Untwala have been working hard on the gochara landfor the last ten years and have invested a lot in it. In this the Harijans ofboth the basa and the wadi have worked together and pooled theirresources together. This land has not yet been partitioned into individualplots so all the Harijan families have been cultivating this in a collectiveway. On this Madhu Bhai says: “We do not know what will happen. Wetook our crops in 1997 and 1998. In 1998 they came to destroy our crops.But we resisted. We also asked them politely: Why should you destroyour crops?”

On the role of Swadhyaya leaders in this conflict, Madhu Bhai says:

“They are good! The leaders tell the villagers: why harass the poor? Let

them also eat. But they cannot directly go against the collective will of the

villagers as the villagers can also harass them.” But Madhu Bhai himself

told that because of interventions of such leaders, “this violence has not

happened again.” The Harijans of the village have been taking the crops

since 1997 and when I was in the village in 1999 I saw the beautiful green

crops blooming and playing in the field. Madhu Bhai was right: “You

cannot distinguish whether this is real farm land or gochara land.” But

there is continued tension around the land issue in other villages,

especially Gangda. In the same tehsil office of Una when I was talking to

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 135

Madhu Bhai I met with two other Harijans from Gangda. I asked them

whether they have cultivated again in the gochara land. He said: “Oh No!

We will not dare to do this again. They would kill us.”

As Madhu Bhai himself said, after the destruction of crop in 1997 in

Untwala and the ensuring conflict, Swadhyaya leaders of the village have

striven for peace and reconciliation. They have played a role in facilitating

a rethinking in the minds of the aggressive villagers: “They are our

brothers: let them also eat” have been their approach. A Swadhyaya leader

who has played a creative role in this process is Magan Bhai. Magan Bhai

was the former sarpanch of the village. He has brought both the sides to a

negotiating table and as a result the court cases have been withdrawn from

both sides. Says Mukesh Bhai, the enthusiastic young son of Magan Bhai:

“My father has made it clear to the villagers that if they attack again or

destroy crops on the gochara land he could not help them by running to

the court.”

I had a discussion with Mukesh Bhai about the responsibility of

Swadhyaya to the Harijans of the village. He said: “The first thing is to

bring the message of Swadhyaya and we must bring this to the young

children. We must start a Bala Sanskara Kendra in the Harijan basa.” But

there are already Bala Sanskara Kendras in the village, could not they

come there? Says Mukesh Bhai: “People still have caste feeling. What is

the gain if you ask Bhavalaxi children to come to your centre and make

them sit at a distance, or you cannot wholeheartedly accept them? Instead

of doing this we should have a Bala Sanskara Kendra in the Bhavalaxi

colony.” Mukesh Bhai told me that what is important is to make a new

beginning in this contentious situation rather than repeating the cycle of

violence of the past. He has already spoken to the elders in the Harijan

basa in the village about it and has received enthusiastic support. Mukesh

Bhai further says: “I tell my Harijan workers: Baba Saheb worked so

much for the eradication of untouchability but did it go? We would have

to work with caution.”

But awakened Harijan leaders do not feel attracted to such a cautious

approach. For them it is continuing the discriminatory practice of caste

which is offensive and repulsive. Madhu Bhai says that some years ago

Swadhyayees were leading the villagers in the construction of a common

road to the village. “They asked us to come and take part in this. We went.

During tea break one person brought tea and told us to bring our bartan—

our own utensils. When we go to Amrutalayam they tell us to sit at a

distance. We feel offended, therefore we do not go.”

136 Chapter 3

As it must be evident from now, in many of its locales of its work,

Swadhyaya has begun its work with the Bhavalaxis. During discussion,

Swadhyayees point to the exemplary work of Swadhyaya in the Harijan

chawls (neighborhood) of Ahmedabad. Says one distinguished intel-

lectual of Ahmedabad who is a sympathetic participant in Swadhyaya:

“There are one or two chawls in Ahmedabad which have been influenced

by Swadhyaya. But the entire low-caste population of Ahmadabad have

not benefited a great deal from this.” He further says: “I have several

times proposed the local Swadhyayees to expand Swadhyaya work into

other neighborhoods of Harijans and Baghri but they have not been enthu-

siastic about it. The local organizers use the chawls as show pieces. Every

time visitors come in prayog darshana they would be taken to the same

places. The same people use the same anecdotes every time you are there.

It is the same Mango Behen from the Baghri community who speaks

anytime there is a visitor.”

This sympathetic and critical observer of Swadhyaya in Ahmedabad

says: “During Dada’s visit, Swadhyayees of different class-caste

backgrounds perform their tasks differently. While the high caste-class

followers supply cars, people from low caste background are entrusted

with menial tasks such as making seat arrangement, or taking care of

defense of the place. Swadhyaya does not dissolve old distinctions, rather

it reinforces these.”

I had a discussion with a woman doctor of Ahmedabad who is from

the Harijan background and is a Swadhyayee about the incident in

Ramayana which says that Rama killed Shambuka, a Shudra, for having

read the Vedas. This sister who is herself a Harijan says: “What is there if

Rama killed a shudra. We do not know why this shudra was reading

Vedas. The man could have used it for a destructive purpose. The critics

say that Rama killed a shudra but nobody says that Rama also killed a

Brahmin. Ravana was a Brahmin.” We can here take note of recent

celebrations of Shambuka Muni by the Bahujan Samaj Party and other

Dalit cultural organizations in North India who are celebrating Shambuka

for his seeking and struggles for learning (Narayan 2000).

Swadhyaya and the Muslims

There are very few Muslims who actually take part in Swadhyaya but

unlike some other fundamentalist Hindu organizations, Swadhyaya says

that it is not anti-Muslim. When Swadhyayees go in bhaktipheri they visit

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 137

Muslim villages. During discussion on such matters they take pride in the

fact they stay in mosques during their annual piligrimage, teerthayatra.

While leaders of RSS such as Bhrarath Bhai of Vijayanagar would like to

exclusively claim Swdhyaya as a Hindu movement, the followers of

Swadhyaya do not have such exclusive and exclusionary claims and

representations. For them, it is a universal movement which is for

everybody interested in self-development, no matter what religion one

belongs to. Though there are no active followers of Swadhyaya from the

Muslim communities, it is helpful to understand the mutual interactions

and perceptions between Swadhyaya and Muslims in different local

settings.

Sukhpur is an Amrutalayam village where there are a few Muslim

households. Nearly eight Muslim families live in the village and eight in

the wadi. In the village Muslims stay near the Amrutalayam. The land on

which Amrutalayam had been built belonged to one Muslim—Asam

Bapa—and Swadhyayayee are ever ready to give this reference as a mark

of good relationship between Swadhyayees and Muslims. Laxman Bhai,

the Swadhyaya motabhai of Sukhpur, tells us that in the village they are

alert to preserve communal amity. This, of course, has a long tradition.

During the partition of the country when Hindus had risen in revolt

against the Muslim ruler of Junagarh, the Hindus were after Muslims in

the village. But says Laxman Bhai, “One of my uncles saved the life of a

Muslim during Partition riots.” He also says: “During the Ramajanma

bhoomi movement2 when they came with Ramshila,3 we told them: You

please go away. Because of this there would be pain in our village.”

I had spoken to some of the Muslims of Sukhpur. Sudhir Fakir is one

such. He visits Amrutalayam sometimes. Kedar Bhai is another Muslim of

the village who says that he participates in the Swadhyaya-sponsored

sports activities called Dhananjaya Kreeda. In the wadi, Assam Bapa’s

son Abdullah stays. While most of Muslims are small land holders,

Abdullah seems to have a bit more land. He stays in the wadi and has two

wells. During the discussion he told, “When Dadaji comes we go. We do

not go for bhaktipheri because we have work on our farmland.” He also

says: “Swadhyaya teaches that we should treat everybody equally. When I

was young and studying in the primary school I used to go and clean the

Amrualayam. In the past our village was very dirty. But with Swadhyaya,

this has become clean, the fighting also has stopped.”

Laxmi Bhai, the Swadyaya motabhai of Sukhpur says: “Muslims of

the village face no problem because of us. Most of the small Muslim

farmers do not have their own wells. We supply water to them for their

138 Chapter 3

agriculture. Because of this they do not feel compelled to sell their small

plots of lands to the neighboring big farmers.”

When we talk of Hindu-Muslim relations Swadhyayees always tell

about the village of Kajli. In the wider Swadhyaya discourse and repre-

sentation this village has a very special place. During the “Krutagnata

Samaroha” in 1996 the leading Islamic scholar Mualana Wahiuddin had

also made a reference to the village. In his speech he had said: “If all the

villages were Kajli then there would not be any problem between the

Hindus and Muslims.” There is an Amrutalayam in Kajli and

Swadhyayees say that Muslims can come and read their Namaj in the

Amrutalayam. The Harijans, Muslim and Rajputs are in equal number in

this village. But Muslims and Harijans do not come regularly to

Amrutalayam. During my visit to this village, Swadhyayees told that

Harijans come only during festival. The Maulana also comes during

festival. I asked if any Swadhyayee reads Quran but there was almost a

total silence on this. But Swadhyayees say, “We go to Masjid during

festival and offer them greetings.”

I met with Umar Bapa, an elderly Muslim man, in the village. He

says: “We had no riot here for the last many generations. Veraval sporadi-

cally witnesses communal riots but it has no impact on Kajli.” He further

says: “Majahab Sabko Manana Hai—Everybody has to keep one’s

religion. But we do not give any difficulty. We eat meat but we do not

throw bones out in the streets.”

No Swadhyayee in the village has read Quran and I wanted to know if

Umar Bapa has read Gita. Says Umar Bapa: “Musalman Bhai Quran Nahi

Padh Pate Hain, Wo Gita Kya Padhenge—Muslims are not able to read

Quran, what to speak of their reading Gita.”

Veraval, the co-ordinating headquarters of the Swadhyaya work in the

area, has a noticeable presence of Swadhyaya in the town. But locales in it

like Kharwawad have witnessed Hindu-Muslim riots. Muslims of the

town are not physically involved in the activities of Swadhyaya here. I

had a conversation with Abdul Rehman Patel, the leader of the Muslim

community in the town and it is helpful to listen to him. He says that he

knows about the work of Pandurangji (referring to Dadaji). He was

touched to hear Dada calling Muslims of the village to come to the

Amrutalayam. In his words, “This had had an impact. Now it has been

seven-eight years since Dadaji had come to the village but the atmosphere

of amity between Hindus and Muslims still stays in Kajli.” Kharwas are a

locally dominant group here among the fishermen. There have been

frequent riots between Kharwas and Muslims. Abdul Rehman Patel says

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 139

that two big riots took place in 1968 and 1986. He was critical of the

Rathayatra started by Advani from Somnath, very close to his home town.

I asked Patel whether there is any space in the town where people

even learn about each other’s religions. Said Patel, “Nor there is any such

institution nor there is any interest on the part of anybody to know. I do

not see any effort on the part of the Swadhyayees to know more about

Islam. My God is best and your God is best. People accept each other,

that’s all.”

Patel expressed his anguish, “In India twenty crore Muslims stay but

in the television there is no program for the Muslims. We will watch

Ramayana but would anybody listen to our stories? Among the Muslims

of Gujarat only sixty per cent can read Gujarati but there is no Urdu school

in Gujurat.”

Swadhyaya says that it is interested in the well-being of all persons.

For Patel, Paigambar—Prophet Mohammed had also prayed and striven

for well-being of all people. For the Prophet, Qafir is the one who drinks,

keeps one’s wife and children in miserable condition and is an enemy of

society. Prophet Mohammed, for Abdul Rehman Patel, had prayed for

everybody and not only for the Muslims. Swadhyayees also aim at

universal well-being and could learn a lot from Prophet Mohammed.

Swadhyayees would not deny this. In fact, on the subjects of

inter-religious amity, Swadhyayees quote Dada’s oft-quoted statement,

“Hindus should have no hesitation in accepting Jesus as the eleventh and

Mohammed as the twelfth incarnation of God.” But what are the implica-

tions of such an acceptance? Clever Swadhyayees can interpret it

differently. In this connection I was having a discussion with a young

activist of Swdhyaya. He is an intellectually vibrant young man and has

completed his one-year course in Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth. He told me:

“This is confidential. Please do not tell it to anybody. Hinduism can

absorb Islam by accepting Mohammed as an incarnation of God as it

could do with Buddhism by making him an Avatar.”

Muslims I have spoken to distinguish between RSS and Swadhyaya

and do not feel any threat from Swadhyaya. But do Swadhyayees interact

more with Muslims or try to learn more about Quran, Mohammed or

Islam? Have they taken any leading role in initiating inter-religious

dialogue in the local communities? Swadhyayees give so much impor-

tance to study—self-study and mutual study. In fact every Swadhyaya

locale has a regular intellectual meet but none of these study circles

include study of other people’s scriptures.

140 Chapter 3

The humane side of this was made clear to me in a touching manner

when I was taking to Dr G.B. Buha. Dr Buha is a prominent intellectual of

Swadhyaya in Veraval. I asked Dr Buha: “Veraval has a sizable

proportion of Muslims. You Swadhyayees take pride in telling us about

Kajli but have you read Quran?” He told with a sigh: “But where is the

place I can read Quran?”

Matsyagandha, Sagaraputras and Shridarshanam:

The Work of Swadhyaya in Vidia Plot, Kharwawad and Una

Swadhyaya is a multi-dimensional initiative and works in many commu-

nities and has community-specific projects. Swadhyayees tell us that there

are thirty-five Swadhyaya prayogs from Bala Sanskara Kendra to

Shridarshanam. A thick description of all these projects would probably

be an impossible task. I myself have visited at last thirty places where

Swadhyaya is at work. What I attempt in this chapter is the working of

some important Swadhyaya prayogs in their specific community and local

contexts. Here description of actors and activities of Swadhyaya in local

communities is as much my objective as description of specific prayogs.

The prayogs of concern here are Matsyagandha and Shridarshanam. But I

use these prayogs as an entry point to describe the manifold work of

Swadhyaya in three places—Vidia Plot, Kharwawad, and Untwala. Vidia

plot and Kharwawad are two neighborhoods of Veraval and here mostly

the fishermen stay. Swadhyaya began its work among the fishermen.

Matsyagandha refers to the legendary Matsyagandha in Mahabarata. It is

the community fishing boat project. It is a prayog for self-development

and community well-being in the same way as Yogeshwara Krishi is

among the farmers. I had my first encounter with Matsyagandha when

there was a “holi” worship of Matsyagandha in the shore of Vidia in the

Arabian sea. The same day we went into the sea on Matsyagandha. I had

spent a brief period in another fishermen neighborhood of the locality—

Kharwawad—and experiments there such as Samuha Lagna (collective

marriage and marriage reform) will be the object of my discussion.

Like my long and intimate association with Vidia plot and Veraval I

have had a long association with the village Untwala and also the Taluka

of Una. Una is famous in the Swadhyaya universe for having many

Shridarshanams. In fact in the sole Taluka of Una, now there are three

Shridarshanams. As we shall see, Shridarshanam, even much more than

Vriksha Mandir, is a more intense prayog of Swadhyaya. It is a prayog

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 141

requiring intense participation of Swadhyayees from twenty villages.

Kandhi is the first Shridarshanam in the Swadhyaya universe and

Untwala is one of the villages of Kandhi Shridarshanam. Every day two

pujaris of Swadhyaya go from Untwala to offer their shramabhakti at

Kandhi Shridarshanam. In this chapter we will have a glimpse of the

work of Swadhyaya in Untwala as it offers us glimpses into the broader

working of Swdhyaya as well as to the specificity of Shridarshanam

prayog. For example, Swadhyayee brothers from Bombay still come in

bhaktipheri for three days a month in order to spend time with pujaris and

nurture their devotion to give bhavapusti as it is called in Swadhyaya

circle. In this chapter we shall get to know this specific experiment as well

as to meet with Jai Bhai Saita. We shall also have a glimpse of some other

specific projects such as Goras, Parivara Store, Phatkada Store and Hira

Mandir.

Matsyagandha and the Work of Swadhyaya in Vidia

The Matsyagandha as a community-specific project of self-development

and generative social well-being started in 1987 in Jamnagar. In Vidia it

started in 1986. As of August 1999, from Goa to Okha, seventy-one

Matsyagandhas had been built and the target was to build 100. In Veraval

and the neighboring areas there are twelve Matsyagandhas—in

Porbandar, Mangrol, Veraval, Vidia, Sutrapara, Dhamraj, Muldwarka,

Malwad, Vanakpara, Diu, Ghogla, Naba Bandar, and Jaffrabad. In

Matsyaganda, Swadhyayee activists go out to the sea as fishermen. What

is to be noted is that many of the Swadhyayee young activists in Vidia plot

such as Mansukhbhai, Babu Bhai and Bithal Bhai have their own boat,

some a number of boats. So in their boat they do not go as workers. But in

Matsyagandha they go as a worker i.e., as a pujari to put it in the language

of Swadhyaya.

The pujaris of Matsyagandha assemble in the morning near the shore,

the place of parking of the boat. There is a puja and then they go out to the

sea. Usually they spend a night in the sea and come back next day

morning around eight. On their arrival they are greeted warmly by the

sisters of the Swadhyaya Parivara. They do bandapana of the

Matsyagandha pujaris. Then they sort out the fishes.

In the Matsysandha work, pujaris and pujarinees—the brothers and

sisters—play an important role. In Vidia plot, the community fishing boat

itself was built on voluntary labor and with the resource generated from

142 Chapter 3

the community. They had to make a bit of borrowing but could repay it

within the first year. Because of voluntary labor deployed in the building

of the boat, it could be built almost at half the cost. But what is important

to note is that voluntary offering and voluntary labor continuously play a

role in the ongoing maintenance and working of the community fishing

boat. Swadhyayees are quite ingenuous in improving ways of reducing

costs of maintaining public institutions with a sprit of Bhakti.

In the Matsyagandha the sisters or pujarinees do Jalavisheka—

bathing the deity with water. When one comes to temple one brings milk

to bathe the deity with milk. In case of Matsyagandha when pujarinees

come in the morning they bring some diesel as part of their worship of

Matsyagandha. What is important when women from other places—not

only coastal places but also from other agricultural villages—come in

Ekadashi to Vidia plot they bring with them diesel for giving

Matsyagandha a holy bath. On the Ekadashi day, the community fishing

boat project stay at the shore, is not out in the sea.

Though Matsyagandha is specific to the fishermen and women of the

locality, it is part of the wider activity of Swadhyaya work in the area. In

Vidia though both men and women from fishermen as well as

non-fishermen work with Matsyagandha, the fishermen and women are

predominant in number. In Vidia, among the pujarinees of Matsyagandha

there is a Brahmin. Her name is Rajashree Behen. She comes to

Matsygandha on the day of her worshipping turn with other women most

of whom are fisherwomen. She joins them on sorting out fish.

Whatever fish is caught in Matsyagandha is sold out. Two-third of it

like all Swadhyaya Mahalaxmi, is sent to the concerned trust in Bombay.

One-third stays in the community and from this prasad is given to the

needy people of the community. Usually in the fishermen communities it

is given thrice a year: on Dadaji’s birthday which falls in October, clothes

are given; on the day of Tai’s birthday (Tai is Dadaji’s wife), rice, wheat

and cooking oil are given to needy people; and on the day of Datta Jayanti

which falls in December, warm clothes are given. During natural calam-

ities such as cyclones which are a recurrent phenomena in coastal areas,

prasad is also given. One Swadhyaya activist told me that after the recent

cyclone prasad was given to ninety people.

In Vidia, there is an eleven member team looking at different aspects

of the work of Matsyagandha—the pujari byabastha, accounts, ration,

diesel, engine and maintenance. While the daily workers are volunteers,

Matsyagandha has a paid driver. In Vidia one does not find only

Matsyagandha but also the cargo ship Jaayasree Sagar. Jaayasree Sagar

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 143

is a cargo ship named after the adopted daughter of Dadaji Jaayasree

Behen who has been the chosen successor to Dadaji. Jaayasree Sagar

takes cargoes to different parts of the world but it also runs on the same

principle of Sharmbahakti and pujaris. Those who work in Jaayasree

Sagar work as spiritual volunteers. Vidia has been hosting Jaayasree

Sagar for the last three years. When Jaayasree Sagar is on the shore

Swadhyayees from villages in the entire district and sometimes from quite

far off places come and visit Jaayasree Sagar. For them it is prayog

Darshana.

Jaayasree Sagar provides an opportunity to fishermen to do

bhaktipheri in the sea and also on the otherside of the ocean. Says

Mansukhbhai, an inspiring young Swadhyayee: “Kaundolya Rishi had

gone on a wooden boat to Malaysia and had distributed Vichara. With

Jaayasree Sagar we want to do this across the world.” The fishermen want

to put into practice the word that Mahadev Bhai Mangela, the leader of the

Sagaraputras, had given to Dadaji. “Jaha Jaha Pani Honge, Dadaji Apka

Bani Honge—Wherever there is water, Dadaji we will bring your words

there.”

Mansukhbhai, the inspiring young Swadhyayee is now planning to go

to Dubai to do bhaktipheri. Last year, Maji Bhai, the uncle of Bithal Bhai

had gone to Dubai in Jaayasree Sagar. He was accompanied by another

Swadhyayee in the community. They had gone as a pujari. It was a trip for

twenty-three days. They did bhaktipheri in Dubai, Sarjah and Abu Dhabi.

There he was struck by the fact that Swadhyaya is not done by Gujaratis

alone. He found people from Bangladesh doing Swadhyaya.

Swadhyaya is quite active in Vidia plot. It seems different Swadhyaya

locales are at different stages of mobilization. When one comes to Simar,

one feels as if the phase of continued mobilization is over but in Vidia,

Swadhyaya is at a stage of youthful mobilization. Most of its active

workers are young and they have caught up with the Swadhyaya fever.

Young people after a hard day’s work here do door to door bhavpheri. I

was once with Mansukhbhai as he was visiting families. He would stop

with a family for 5-10 minutes, do the Swadhyaya prayer and move on to

another family. This was an innovative method of continued spiritual

mobilization. There are many Swadhyaya Kendras in Vidia: in fact

twenty-one sherikendras, three Chintanika Kendras, one Video Kendra.

But, the activistic workers of Swadhyaya in Vidia have realized that along

with expecting people to come to the places of community prayer and

discourse, it is important to go to their houses. Family prayer as a part of

144 Chapter 3

mobilization is an innovative strategy. Here one comes to the house of a

family which is open to the ideas of Swadhyaya but is not a Swadhyayee

and offers one’s prayer.Mansukhbhai says: “Fishermen are going to sea with death on their

fist. Such courage is required for God’s work.” He laments that fishermenhave been given the name Machimar—killer of fish—by the widersociety. He appreciates the new name Sagaraputra (sons of sea) thatDadaji has given the entire community. In Dadaji’s words “Tame PapkaDhanda Nehi, Bapko Dhanda Karocha (you are not doing any work of sinbut doing the work of your father) has given a new sense of pride and hasprovided a deeper frame of positive identity formation. This is manifestedin varieties of Bhabgeetas which are specific to the Sagaraputras. “HatMe Jal and Muhame Sandhya Trikal. We have nets in our hands andTrikala Sandhya in our mouth.” During our walking together in thatevening, Mansukhbhai told me: “The sons of fishermen are brave. Wewill do the work of culture in society with the bravery of fishermen”. In asubsequent meeting with the young people of the locality, Mansukhbhaisaid: “Vyasadeva is your forefather but Gita and Mahabarata have beenkept away from the fishermen.” Brahmins are not the contractors of thesastras. We now have to learn Gita and Mahabarata.”

This meeting was the meeting of the Youth Kendra of Vidia plot. It

started at 9 O’clock. The whole discussion that evening was on

bhaktipheri and it was in a question-answer mode. The Yuvakendra began

with a Bhavgeet on bhaktipheri. Mansukhbhai began by saying that there

is no word bhaktipheri in the history of idea. One of the questions was:

“Why should you do bhaktipheri when you are young?” A young man

answered: “In our society there is a firm opinion that Bhakti is for old

people only. But young people have a lot of energy, with this they can do

God’s work.” Another question was “What do you get by going in

bhaktipheri?” Another replied: “If you go in bhaktipheri the quality of

Tyaga—sacrifice is built in you.”

Such discussions give clarity to the workers of Swadhyaya. As

mobilization has intensified in this locale of 18,000 people the

Swadhyayees have intensified their Bhakipheri in near and far off places.

There are five Devaduttas in Vidia—those who spend three nights in

bhaktipheri once a month and ten vratees—those who spend a night in

bhaktipheri. Bithal Bhai, one of the main leaders of Swadhyaya in the plot

and a young man of thirty-five says: “We do bhaktipheri in the entire

sagarapathi. The people of Kutch do not have many Swadhyaya Prayogs

so we are going there” (Kutch is at least four hundred kilometers away

from Veraval).

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 145

Varsha Milan—festival of rain—is an important celebration of

Swadhyaya in the fishermen community. It is celebrated with joy and

warmth in Vidia plot. During Varsha Milan people from the farming

villages come and celebrate with Swadhyayees in the fishermen commu-

nities. Sometimes Swadhyayees of the coastal belt have a mega

celebration at one place.

The intense and continued mobilization of the Swadhyaya work in

Vidia has been facilitated by the training and clarity of thought that the

young Swadhyayees of Vidia have received from Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth.

Ten young men of Vidia have done a short term course at Vidyapeeth

ranging from one and a half months to two and a half months. Both Bithal

Bhai and Mansukhbhai have done the course Mansukhbhai has learnt the

slokas of Sanskrit and he wants to learn more Sanskrit now. Bithal Bhai is

considered a Brahmin in this fishermen community. He can perform

marriage puja in a simple Vedic way.

Being in the Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth gave the Swadhyayee fishermen

of Vidia another space, another time and another window into self and the

world. Mansukhbhai said when he was in Vidyapeeth he was writing

emotionally tinged letters to his friends in Vidia. One of the persons to

whom he was writing emotionally was a young man ‘with a record of

horrible crimes.’ Mansukbhai’s letters influenced this young criminal

and, says Mansukbhai, now he is not found in jail but is active in the

Swadhyaya Kendras of Vidia.

The Swadhyaya prayer house in fishermen communities are called

Prarthana Mandir in Porbandar. The Prarthana Mandir in Vidia is built

in a beautiful place near the sea. Earlier it was a deserted land, full of sand.

The Swadhyayees of Vidia have done shramabhakti. They raised a prayer

hall but the roof are thatched. A Swadhyayee said: “Putting roof every

year we will reinforce our commitment.”

Actors and Actresses of Swadhyaya in Vidia

Bithal Bhai is one of the main leaders of Swadhyaya in Vidia. He is part of

a big joint family with thirty-five people. Bithal Bhai has boats and a

vibrant fish business. He was married at a young age and many of his

uncles now do active Swadhyaya work. One of the uncles of Bithal Bhai

introduced him to Swadhyaya. He has taken the short-term course at the

Vidyapeeth. There he learnt about conducting marriage. He was also

given Janoi (the sacred thread) but he did not take this because when “I go

146 Chapter 3

out on fishing, fish water comes and touches my face. I do not eat fish on

the day of the Swadhyaya Kendra and also on the day I go out in

bhaktipheri.”

Vidia has many women activists of Swadhyaya. Jaivayanti Behen is

one such. Her husband works as a laborer in the boat and they with their

two children live in a tiny rented place. Jaivayanti Behen dances with the

ideas of Swadhyaya. This small town of Vidia has many migrant workers.

Jaivayanti Behen’s husband is one, and so is Rajashree Behen, the

Brahmin woman. Jaivayanti Behen comes from Surat but when she came

to Vidia, Swadhyayee sisters came and told her to attend the Kendra.

Jaivayanti Behen has studied only upto third standard. She now gives

discourses not only in her locality but also in Swadhyaya gatherings. She

says that she understands the pain of Dadaji and wants to spread the

message of Swadhyaya. She wants to learn more, and particularly learn

English. Because of the work Swadhyaya, she has witnessed much change

in the community. Earlier, there was heavy drinking among males and

both males and females were using filthy words. With the work of

Swadhyaya there have been changes in both.

As has been mentioned when Matsyagandha comes women come and

collect fish. Initially some women were not allowed to go out of their

house. Rami Behen is one such woman. Her husband works in the factory.

When Matsyagandha comes, she would join the group of pujarinee

stealthily—she would take a separate saree to wear during the work of

collection and sorting out of fish.

Rajashree Behen, the Brahmin woman from U.P., has been going to

Mahila Kendra since 1994. She says: “There is a feeling of family in

Swadhyaya. I am a Brahmin but the fisherwomen have taught me slokas.”

Now she puts the basket of fish on her head on the day of her worship turn

at Matsyagandha.

Suresh Bhai is another Krutisheel Swadhyayee young man at Vidia.

He is presented as an example of somebody who had changed because of

the influence of Swadhyaya. Earlier he was disfiguring the meaning of

Bhavgeet but once he came in touch with Mansukhbhai he was attracted

to the way Mansukhbhai uttered slokas. Then Mansukhbhai went to

Vidyapeeth. He wrote him his characteristically emotionally charged

letters. It seems these letters played a key role in Suresh Bhai’s coming to

Swadhyaya.

Babu Bhai Panjari is another leader of Swadhyaya. Like Vithal Bhai

and Mansukhbhai he has a fish business. He has also taken the short-term

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 147

course in the Vidyapeeth where he has read about the life of Dadaji, Gita,

Veda, Upanishads and Ramayan, and philosophers of the world such as

Socrates and Kant.

During our discussion Babu Bhai narrated one incident from his

bhavpheri in Vidia plot. He was doing door-to-do prayer meeting and on

one house he met only a single adult man. He asked him whether he has

wife and children. This man Raoji Bhai who works as a laborer in the

fishing boat said: “I have a wife and four children. But my wife stays

separately.” On being asked why, he said: “There was quarrel between us.

My wife complained to the Patel (the local chief). He sent his security

man. He put me in jail and the Patel (the community chief) beat me.” The

Patel also asked the husband and wife to stay separately. Babu Bhai

continued meeting Raoji Bhai. He and his friends also met his wife. They

prayed with both husband and wife. During my work, I once met Raoji

Bhai in the morning prayer at the Prarthana Mandir. After the prayer I

accompanied Raoji Bhai to his house. He, his wife and children now stay

together. Like Jaivayanti Behen, Raoji Bhai and his wife stay in a tiny

room. There was a feeling of hurt in Raoji Bhai’s heart and he commented

without directly addressing his wife: “Why bring the family matter to the

outside world?” His wife presented an indifferent look expressing her

own hurt.

Changes in Vidia Plot

But Raoji Bhai and his wife are now staying together and praying

together. Their children are playing around them. This family union has

been possible because of bhavpheri in the locality. A great change in this

community as already suggested has been on interpersonal relations:

People greet each other with respect and do not use abusive words.

Alcholism and spouse abuse has come down. The young people now do

Swadhyaya work.

Mansukhbhai says that in the last ten years there has been economic

development in Vidia. This he attributes to the good and benevolent

glance God casts upon Vidia now. Swadhyayees prosper economically

because of the hard work and the time management they do.

I asked Mansukbhai and Babu Bhai what has been the impact of

Swadhyaya on the local system and the local power structure? There are

two kinds of fishermen communities here—the Kolis and the Kharwar.

There is some fighting between these two communities but people from

148 Chapter 3

both work together in Swadhyaya. There is a Patel of Vidia who repre-

sents community authority. The Patel feels threatened by the work of

Swadhyaya. Sometimes the Patel sends his young men to pick up quarrel

with the Swadhyaya boys. But the Patel does not directly oppose the

Swadhyayee youths as he is afraid of gaining a bad name in the

community.

In this context what is the prospect for systemic change and change in

the traditional power structure? Mansukhi Bhai frankly makes this clear:

“No change is going to come if the leaders of society—Samaj ka

Karyakar—do not involve themselves with the work of Swadhyaya.

Those who participate in Swadhyaya and the Patel and his kith and kin

keep away from Swadhyaya. They believe in “eat, drink and be merry”. If

they come and sit with us on this baithak (platform) they will change

otherwise they will not change. If the Patel comes he would have new

Vichara and he would change, otherwise he will not.”

But despite this Swadhyayees of the fishermen community in Vidia

and Kharwawad have initiated a major reform in marriage called

Sanskara Lagna. In marriage in the fishermen community, there is flood

of drink, alcohol and many people come. It was an expensive affair.

Swadhyayees wanted to bring about a reform in this. But instead of

putting Swadhyaya name as pioneer, it used Kharwa Samaj arranged

Sanskara Lagna. This Sanskara Lagna was quite active in Kharwawad—

another area of Kharwawad. I had a discussion with Hari Bhai, a retired

Sanskrit teacher of Kharwawad. The idea behind the Swadhyaya Lagna

Sanskara (marriage reform) is that the couple should know the meaning

of lagna, i.e., it is a spiritual reunion for the whole of life. It should be

conducted in a Vedic way and it should be creative. The spiritual signifi-

cance of marriage should not be lost in extraneous extravagance. In

Sanskara Lagna, bride and bride together give Rs 5,000 to the local

Swadhyaya marriage committee out of which the community gives

clothes to couples, one gold ring and golden necklace. In this reformed

marriage, non-Swadhyayees also join. This saved people from borrowing

huge amount of money. But Hari Bhai makes it clear that Swadhyayees

did not replace the traditional Brahmins: “We did not present any axe to

the livelihood of these people.”

But from the narration of Hari Bhai, it became clear that after

conducting Lagna Sanskara for three years, Swadhyaya Parivara is not

holding it any longer. Hari Bhai said: “We have shown society a way, the

way of conducting marriage in a different way. It is for society now to

continue this.” What Hari Bhai seems to be suggesting is that Swadhyaya

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 149

is not an organization for social reform and its role is to show society the

example of an alternative arrangement. Hari Bhai also said that

Swadhyaya believes in a relational revolution. It organizes Debrani-

Jethani, Sashu-Bahu, and Nanand-Bhabhi (brother’s sister and brother’s

wife) Milan. Usually in families the relationship between these two sets of

people is not cordial. Swadhyaya wants to create a divine relationship

among all these relational pairs.

Kharwawad has thirty thousand people and it has fifty-eight

sherikendras. It has a Matsyagandha. Some people from Kharwawad

were in touch with Swadhyaya since 1972. But Swadhyaya’s work in the

locality got a new momentum when Mudrika Behen—the legendary

Swadhyaya worker from neighboring Veravaval—started visiting

Kharwawad. She used to come with her mother. Because of her extensive

bhavpheri, sisters got associated with Swadhyaya first. The kind of enthu-

siasm young activists have in Vidia is shown by Behens in Kharwawad.

Says Keshar Behen, the sister of Hari Bhai and the Motibehen of

Swadhyaya in Kharwawad: “First we had a lot of pain. We were praying

that our male members should join us in this work. We were uttering

slokas in the ear of our husbands when they were deep in sleep. We used

to tell our husbands: Oh we do not need saree, give us money for doing

God’s work.”

The Shridarshanam Prayog: Una, Untwala and Beyond

Shridarshanam is an experiment in supra village, divine agriculture and it

started at Kandhi. Una is considered the prayog kunda—the laboratory of

prayogs of Swadhyaya. Shridarshanam—a radical experiemnt in

co-ordination between twenty villages—started in Una in Kandhi. As

already mentioned, in this pujaris from twenty villages come. Now there

are Shridarshanam not only in Gujarat but also in Andhra Pradesh. But

the first Shridarshanam started in Kandhi.

Let us begin our brief introduction to Kandhi Shridarshanam. It was

built in 1989. Before it became a Shridarshanam, it was called

Mahakrishi—“a big agriculture.” In fact this is an agricultural firm for

people of twenty villages consisting of villages such as Sankhada,

Gangda, Poshuwala, Untwala etc. These are each day there are two

pujaris who come to Shridarshanam from each of these villages. They are

also encouraged to come with their wives. The pujaris come to

Shridarshanam around ten in the morning.

150 Chapter 3

The pujaris bring their lunch and dinner. Then they go out as a group

to work in the field. I had once gone to Shridarshanam with Magan Bhai

from Untwala. After reaching Shridarshanam, the assembled pujaris of

the day went out to the field. There was some work of weeding to be done.

I was working in the field with the pujaris. I asked a person working close

to me about his experience of coming to Shridarshanam. He said, “I am a

small farmer when I come here, I meet people from different

backgrounds. I learn new methods of agriculture from the more experi-

enced farmers. I also do not know anything about business.” Here I meet

people who do business, and farmers with agribusiness.” That people

from farming background are starting business and agribusiness becomes

clear when we talk to Babu Bhai of Sukhpur. Babu Bhai has a factory for

making ground nut oil from groundnuts. He says: “I was born into a

farmer’s family. I did not know how to do business. But in Swadhyaya I

met with business people from whom I learnt the art of business and also

the confidence.” Similarly Kalubhai of Simar has also started a groundnut

factory in Godu along with another Swadhyayee. However, the acqui-

sition of skills of business and agribusiness seems to have a class

dimension. I asked a Harijan from Untwala why is he still poor, why can’t

he start a business. He told me: “Oh it is the Patels who know the art of

business.” I said: “But why cannot you ask the Patels to teach you the

skills of starting a business.” He replied: “Oh the Patels won’t teach

numbers.” Thus while learning and sharing of skills across caste and class

boundaries is difficult in the wider society Shridarshanam facilitates such

learning.

After the morning work it is time for lunch and also rest. During rest,

the pujaris sleep or sit close to each other and share their experience. This

is the monthly date of all the pujaris from twenty villages. So there

develops an intimacy between them. The intimacy also extends to their

spouses. This is the idea of Dadaji that people from twenty-villages

should know each other so intimately that they can take part in each

other’s life—in their happiness and sorrow. To many Swadhyayee

villages should not be totally enclosed within themselves. There should be

paths of multiple interactions between people of different villages. The

intellectual foundation of Shridarshanam lies in Dadaji’s view of spiritual

and emotional unity between people of twenty villages. In explaining this

Dadaji says that Shridarshanam as an instrument of nurturing loving

relationship between people of twenty villages is different from Lao-Tse’s

model of village self-sufficiency and also the Kibbutz model in Israel. In

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 151

the Kibbutz model, individuals work for a co-operative farm and they do

not have their own plots of land. For Dadaji and Swadhyayees,

individuals should have their own farm as well as a place where they can

work without any remuneration or profit but for one’s own development.

Shridarshanam provides such an opportunity in a supra-village context as

we have seen Yogeshwara Krishi provides such an opportunity in the

context of a village.

Shridarshanam for the pujaris is not a farm but a home, a spiritual

home. Both the pujaris and their spouses get an opportunity to come out

of the routines of their life. When the pujaris complete their post-lunch

rest, the spouses provide them tea. The women also work in the field as

members of a group.

In the afternoon, sometimes there are meetings of the pujaris with the

Swadhyaya motabhais. Pappot Bhai is the motabhai of Veraval Jaayas.

He has played a great role in the building up of Shri Darhanam in the area.

In the beginning there was only one Shridarshanam, now there are three

Shridarshanams. Pappot Bhai comes and meets the lead pujaris from each

village on the first day of the month. It must be noted that the pujaris of

the first day of the month are the leader of the pujari byabastha in the

village. For instance, Ramesh Bhai Dudhat is the leader of the pujari

byabastha of Untwala. He comes to Shridarshanam on the first day.

Similarly leading pujaris of all the twenty villages come on the first day.

Pappot Bhai meets with them. On the sixteenth instant of the month he

meets with the motabhais of all the twenty villages of Shridarshanam.

Through such meetings continued nurturance for the vision and practice

of Shridarshanam is provided.During this meeting Pappot Bhai meets the pujaris. He takes data

about Swadhyaya work in the villages. He collects information on each ofthe Swadhyaya work in the villages. He takes information on each of theSwadhyaya activities. He also asks whether the specific Swadhyayaprograms were done and how many people had taken part in it. After this,one of the leading pujaris from one of the villages gives the discourse. OnAugust 1, 1997 the day I was present in Shridarshanam, Rama Bhai ofAmbada gave the chintanika. He said, “First thing is Is-Biswas (faith inGod) and then self-confidence.” He said that pujaris should be examplesof Swadhyaya work in the village: people look at the life of pujaris in thevillage. To this Rama Bhai added: “Thirty-one Shridarshanam pujariscan change the village.” This presentation then was followed by adiscussion. Khemji Bhai from Bajdi said: “In the Shridarshanam weshould not take only groundnut and cotton we should also plant fruit trees

152 Chapter 3

here. This would give a lot of inspiration to the pujaris.” To this PappotBhai replied that he would ask Veraval Jaayas (the district co-ordinatingbody) about it. After this Pappot Bhai shared the message from the Jaayas.Since the leading pujaris from twenty villages were there, they couldbring this message to the people. After Pappot Bhai, Rama Bhai gave adiscourse, a chintanika. Rama Bhai has just retired from the primaryeducational system and now he accompanies Pappot Bhai in his monthlyvisit of Shridarshanam. The day I was present in Kandhi Shridarshanamon 1st August 1999, Rama Bhai gave a discourse on the sloka fromBhagawad Gita about anxiety in which it is stated that neither one shouldbe anxious from anybody nor one should create anxiety in anybody. It issuch a model of divine worker that Swadhyayees should try to be. Aftervisiting the Shridarshanam at Una, Pappot Bhai had similar interactionwith the pujaris and Rama Bhai presented the same lecture. It must benoted that Pappot Bhai and Rama Bhai together visit all theShridarshanam of Veraval Swadhyaya district—from Una to Keshood toMataravania—on the first week of every month.

Such meeting with Swadhyaya motabhais or other visitors do takeplace every now and then. Evening time is particularly an enriching timefor the pujaris as they sit together and share their experiences in the lightof Dada and Swadhyaya.

There is an Achara Samhita (code of conduct) for the pujaris. Duringthe pujari Milan at Kandhi Shridarshanam the following were discussed:

1. Pujari is not a laborer but a Bhakta. He comes to Shridarshanam tooffer his Bhakti and for this night halt is essential;

2. In the life of pujaris, regularity is very important;3. The pujaris should come to Shridarshanam wearing clean, not dirty,

dress. Inner beauty—anta saundarya—is very essential. One shouldkeep one’s Shridarshanam clean as one keeps one’s home andvillage;

4. Shridarshanam is a teertha or a place of pilgrimage and here oneshould not smoke or engage in any such consumption. One shouldalso not discuss politics in Shridarshanam. Instead of talking politicsthey should talk about sages. They should share bhava prasangaswith each other rather than talk about cricket;

5. No one else except the pujaris can stay in the Shridarshanam. The

pujaris cannot prepare food at Shridarshanam;

6. The pujaris should come with their wives to Shridarshanam. As they

do religious work as a couple they should do pujari’s work as a

couple. These festivals are held during Janmastami and Deepavali. In

Kandhi Shridarshanam Sarada Utsava—autumn festival—is an

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 153

important festival. During this, Swadhyayees celebrate Saraswati

Puja;

In Shridarshanam, Swadhyaya also celebrates important festivals

such as Janmastamee, Navaratri etc. Many people from the villages, not

only the Swadhyayees, come to these festivals.

Bhaktipheri in Shridarshanam Villages

As we have already mentioned, Untwala is a Shridarshanam village as are

the neighboring villages of Gangda, Poshuwala, and Nandrekh etc.

Swadhyayees from Bombay come to Shridarshanam village for three

days every month and spend time with the pujaris. They come to give

bhavapusti—emotional care—to the Shridarshanam pujaris. Going to

Shridarshanam to offer one’s worship as a pujari once a month requires a

lot of commitment. But people everywhere including the Swadhyayees

from Bombay come and spend time with the pujaris and their families.

Jai Bhai Saita stays in Ghatkopar in Bombay. He has been coming to

Untwala for the last many years. He stays with Swadhyayee families in

turn. In August 1999 Jai Bhai was staying with Narayan Bhai and Kanti

Bhai in Untwala. I joined him in his bhaktipheri to the pujari families as

well as with some not so active families. When I met him in the evening of

July 31, 1999 he had just returned from his tour of wadis. He had gone to

meet with Dullu Bhai. Dullu Bhai was one of the earlier leading workers

of Swadhyaya in Untwala.

The next morning we began with a person who was not a

Swadhyayee. Then we met with families of Shridarshanam pujaris. In

one family, two brothers are Shridarshanam pujaris. There, the father of

these two commented that people today are becoming glued to TV and

they do not have time for God’s work. In the afternoon, we went to the

Harijan colony in the outskirt of the village. Some of the Shridarshanam

pujaris have family problems, they either do not get co-operation from

their parents or their spouses. Jaivanti Bhai is an enthusiastic worker. He

stays in a joint family and for his work he does not receive cooperation

from his brothers. When Jai Bhai goes to such families “family members

can sometimes see when one comes from Bombay and spend three days in

a village cannot one go and spend a day in Shridarshanam once a month?”

As is known, bhaktipheri has been with Swadhyaya since 1958. In

bhaktipheri, initially Swadhyayees from Bombay were coming to the

villages of Gujarat as part of a group. Says Jai Bhai Saita: “From 1950 to

154 Chapter 3

1996, Dadaji did not send anybody alone to the village. If one goes to a

village and if there is any development in the village then one would like

to take the credit for it. Dadaji always says one should do things with a

spirit of jagnya—not by me but by us.” Says Jai Bhai: “Individual

survives and sustains in a group.” But by the end of 1996, Dadaji stopped

the group bhaktipheri to villages of Gujarat and they were instead sent to

Shridarshanam villages—one Swadhyayee from Bombay to one

Shridarshanam village. Says Jai Bhai about the rationale behind this:

“Dadaji felt that those who are coming as pujari to Shridarshanam should

have proper understanding. Each of the participating twenty villages in a

Shridarshanam should have thirty-one pujaris. But some villages have

only ten to fifteen pujaris.” The bhaktipheri Swadhyayees from Bombay

could help in creating more pujaris from the village and sustaining the

commitment of those who come to Shridarshanam. Reflecting on his

experience of coming to Untwala for the last three years, Jai Bhai says:

“You become associated with a village, nurture and develop your

relationship with everybody in the village. Initially with the pujaris, and

then with everybody. If one individual comes to a village once a month for

years then the contact is more.”

He further says, “When we come in bhaktipheri the expectation in the

village is that I would speak something. But during our last meeting

Dadaji has told us: you do not have to give any Chintanika, you have only

to meet people.” So he skips the request of the villagers of Untwala to give

a spiritual discourse in the Amrutalayam. “If I have something to say then

I tell it to Swadhyaya motabhais of the village but they tell: this should

also be told to all and I agree.”

Jai Bhai says that in the villages there is a feeling that the bhaktipheri

Swadhyayee who come from Bombay is perfect. “But he is not; he also

develops himself here”. Jai Bhai gives an example of his being enriched in

specific ways in Untwala. In Untwala, every morning there is

suryanamaskar after the prayer. “Initially I was not doing suryanamaskar

everyday but coming here I have learnt to do suryanamaskar regularly.”

It is time that we should get to know Jai Bhai a bit more personally.

Jai Bhai has a share business in Bombay. It is his own business. He started

this in 1993 to be able to do bhaktipheri ‘without any tension’. Prior to

this he was working in a firm and doing bhaktipheri from there. When the

locus of his bhaktipheri shifted from Surat to Mehsana it was a bit more

tension-tinged for him. He says: “When I was doing my office job one of

my colleagues was coming to bhaktipheri and asked us if I would like to

come along also. I accompanied him. They were going to Palanpur. Then

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 155

this group was relocated to Surat. Share market is closed on Saturday so I

could come in bhaktipheri every month since 1993. Then we were asked

to come to Mehsana. This requires long hours of travel. If I have to leave

on Friday I would have to make sure that everything is done right. I was

also having tension on Monday. I did bhaktipheri for a year but I was

having tension but Dadaji says that nobody should have any tension while

going for bhaktipheri. I started my own business in 1994. For the last five

years I have not missed a single bhaktipheri.”

Jai Bhai was born into a lower-middle class family in Bombay. His

parents were already Swadhyayees, so he came in touch with Swadhyayee

in Bala Sanskara Kendra. But even while studying in college, Jai Bhai

says that he could not come to attend Dadaji’s Pravachana at Madhavbag

Pathasala. He says. “My father was just getting Rs 1400 as salary, we

could not ask him to give us ticket money. We thought whenever we

would make our own earnings we would go to Madhavbag Patasala every

Sunday. When I joined the job in 1984, I started going to the Pathasala.”

So Jai Bhai started attending Pathasala in 1984 and started his bhaktipheri

in 1989. Initially, Jai Bhai did not know how to do bhaktipheri. But he

says that slowly he learnt two things from the leader of the group—“how

to talk to somebody you do not know and how to bring the conversation to

God.” He observed the way the motabhai was explaining the basic

Swadhyaya concepts to people. This technique of persuasion and the art

of confident presentation was of help to him in both his Bhakhipheri and

business life. Jai Bhai says, “While doing bhaktipheri I get confidence

and the confidence helps me in my work. In my office I was once asked to

give a presentation to the dealers and the confidence gained in my

Bhakhthperi helped.”

Bhaktipheri to Shridarshanam villages has also helped in developing

a spiritual bond with his family, especially with his wife. It has also

helped Jai Bhai how to talk to his wife. Says Jai Bhai: “In a city like

Bombay there is very little nourishment. From Swadhyaya I learnt that my

family also needs my time and commitment. Among the Gujaratis, the

general feeling is you earn and give it to your wife. In Swadhyaya you

learn that it is not enough to give money to your wife, you have also to

learn how to talk to your wife. When we go out in bhaktipheri taking our

holidays we feel that we are giving less attention to our family. But then

all other weekends—Saturday afternoon and Sunday—are booked for my

family. I do not want any disturbance.”

There is also a vibrant link between his family and the villages. Jai

Bhai has not yet brought his family to Untwala but Pankaj Bhai Thakkar

156 Chapter 3

of Kandivelli who is also a devoted Shridarshanam bhaktipheri partic-

ipant from Bombay brings his family to his Shridarshanam village in

Kodinar during school holidays. Jai Bhai says that back from the

Shridarshanam village he does not speak about spirituality in abstract at

home. He says: “In the family I discuss about my real-life experiences,

about the pujaris of Shridarshanam from Untwala. I talk about Bhikha

Bhai who foregoes his wage for a day while coming to Shridarshanam as

a pujari.”

Mangal Vivah: A New Experiment in Human Intimacy

There is a new prayog in the Shridarshanam villages of Kandhi. This is

called Mangal Vivah or auspicious marriage. In Mangal Vivah whenever

marriage takes place in a village the entire village, particularly

Swadhyayees of a village cutting across class and caste lines, come

together and conduct this marriage as a collective responsibility. Such

pooling of resources and strength is particularly important in marriage of

one’s daughter as it is expensive. In Swadhyaya, a daughter does not

belong to a family; she is the daughter of the entire village. During my last

fieldwork in Untwala, I was told that during Mangal Vivah for the entire

period of marriage, food is not prepared in individual households: it is

prepared collectively. What is more, Swadhyayees together bear the

expenses of such a marriage. For this they make a contribution for the

fellow man taking out what is called Insan Ka Bhag—share of man—

from their earning. Earlier in Simar, we have seen how in Amrutalayam,

Swadhyayees take out Bhagavan Ka Bhag—share of God. In

Shridarshanam villages where Mangal Vivah works, Swadhyayees take

fellow man’s share—Insan ka Bhag from their earning in addition to

taking Bhagavan Ka Bhag.

Nurturing Shridarshanam: The Case of an Exemplary Dedication

But to ground all these in the minds of the Swadhyayees and the people at

large requires continued bhavpheri. A person who has recently taken

voluntary retirement from a coveted position in a bank is Mahesh Bhai

Dhruv of Junagarh. Mahesh Bhai is a long-time follower of Swadhyaya.

He was active in Swadhyaya in Bombay. But in order to be able to work

close to the villages he moved with his family to Junagarh. He was

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 157

working in the bank there. Junagarh is an active Swadhyaya area. Then a

Shridarshanam was planned to be built in Jamka around fifteen kilometer

from the city of Junagarh. I was with Mahesh Bhai and around 300 other

Swadhyayees as they were laying the roof of the house in Shridarshanam

in 1998.

Mahesh Bhai then told me clearly that he would soon get retirement

from the bank in order to stay fulltime as a pujari in Shridarshanam. He

would stay with the visiting pujaris in Shridarshanam in the morning and

afternoon and would visit Shridarshanam villages in the evening. He is

awaiting Dadaji’s approval for this. Dadaji does not permit Swadhyayees

resigning from their jobs for doing Swadhyaya work. Mahesh Bhai says

that before giving his approval, Dadaji had two sittings with him and his

wife and asked his wife Jaayasree Behen whether she approved of her

husband’s plan of resignation. Dadaji also asked whether the family

would be economically secured without a regular income. After a long

process of discussion Mahesh Bhai got Dada’s approval for resigning

from his job and staying at the Shridarshanam in Jamka.

For Mahesh Bhai, “In case of Shridarshanam, it requires more

commitment as pujaris have to be prepared in twenty villages who would

be able to come daily.” Many Swadhyayees have told that getting the

approval for building a Shridarshanam in one’s area is difficult because

Swadhyaya Parivara wants to make sure that the pujari Byabastha is at

place and can be nurtured in twenty villages. It is probably a part of the

turn of life that with so much of dedication Mahesh Bhai had to be out of

the present Swadhyaya Parivara after the recent leadership change in it.

Mahesh Bhai was visiting the Shridarshanam villages every evening.

For Mahesh Bhai: “The idea that God is with me helps in this fuller

realization of one’s potentiality. Dadaji tells us: you give all your energy

only for your family but you have much more power within you. You

have so much love and potentiality that you can give your love to the

whole village. In Shridarshanam, the pujaris feel that they have the power

to love people in twenty villages. I have seen the flash of this confidence

among the pujaris and this makes me realize the significance of Eikya—

unity. I feel the utmost need of Shridarshanam is being here in

Shridarshanam. In Lao-Tse’s model of village self-sufficiency my love

and strength becomes confined within the border of my village but Dadaji

expands this love and kartruttwa—potency—to twenty villages. I realize

this when I stay here.”

158 Chapter 3

Mahesh Bhai used to be in Shridarshanam alone. He came home in

the neighboring town of Junagarh only on Sunday. His wife Jaayasree

Behen stayed at home with their two sons. Dadaji had expressed his desire

to Mahesh Bhai when he was planning to leave his job that he should stay

with his wife at Shridarshanam. But because of family compulsion

Mahesh Bhai and Jaayasree Behen had not been able to do it though

Jaayasree Behen also came to Shridarshanam and spent some night there.

I asked Mahesh Bhai whether it has been difficult for him to stay in

Shridarshanam. I also asked Jaayasree Behen about this. There is a smile

of divine satisfaction in Jaayasree Behen’s face, a joy of belonging to an

experiment for divine mutuality. The only difficulty that they face is that

Mahesh Bhai is not able to spend much time with their children. Says

Mahesh Bhai, “In my family life I do not have much problem but I am not

able to give as much time to my children as I would like to. A little effect

is of course there. I am concerned about their education. For education

and mental development we should always be with them. This is also

what the children want.”

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 159

Mahesh Bhai taking part in the shramabhakti (devotional labor)

in Jamka, Junagarh

At this belated stage, it is helpful to know that Mahesh Bhai is in his

early fifties and his elder son has passed B.Com while his younger son has

completed his +2. After his Bachelor studies, Neerav, his elder son has

joined Tattwyatyana Vidyapeeth—for one year course. His younger son

Madhur is at home and attached to his father and it is certainly much

difficult for him when his father stays away at the Jamka Shridarshanam.

Continuing the sharing of the experience of leaving the job and

working with Swadhyaya, Mahesh Bhai says: “You may be a person of

good heart but if you do not have time, you cannot really do anything.

With time I can now concentrate. When I was working in the bank I did

not have enough time to meet with people. Earlier I did not have enough

time to understand other people’s sorrow as my sorrow and their

happiness as my happiness. With time I am able to do this and get

people’s love. With time in my hand I am also getting the love of my

people and I should do justice to it.” But while he enjoyed free sharing of

time with people in his Shridarshanam village he found it difficult the

lack of proper understanding of the value of his time on the part of his

relatives. He says: “The relatives say: you are free now, why do not you

come? You are free therefore, you are coming, so this coming does not

have any special significance. If you talk of Swadhyaya in such relatives’

meeting, they think—you are free and can talk of Swadhdyaya. I have

difficulty in changing this mindset.”

Mahesh Bhai stayed full time at Jamka Shridarshanam. Other

Shridarshanams are not so lucky to have a permanent inmate. But all the

Shridarshanams have a main pujari who spends three days there. He is

called the Jajamana pujari of Shridarshanam. Shridarshanams have also

cows revered as cow mother. The Jajamana pujari takes care of cows

including providing a more stable and nurturant point of reference to the

daily pujaris.

During my work in Veraval area, I had visited some other

Shridarshanams, other than Kandhi. There was a Shridarshanam getting

newly built in Mataravania. Ramdev Bhai Jora, a high school teacher and

Rajni Bhai, a landlord, were in charge of construction work in the village.

Agriculture was yet to start in this Shridarshanam and groundwork was

being done there for construction of a residence for the pujaris as well as

digging a well. The pujaris were also constructing a residence for Dadaji.

But Dadaji may come here only on rare occasions. But Swadhyayees are

working with zeal and enthusiasm in building this. I asked Rajni Bhai, the

young, enthusiastic and wealthy follower of Swadhyaya whether he has

any plan to build a library here. He said: “We will build if Dadaji tells us.”

160 Chapter 3

In my visit to several Shridarshanams and Vrikha Mandirs, I have not

seen any library in these places. But as these are spaces of mutual learning

they can be developed further as centers of learning and resource centers.

It seems no Swadhyayee has thought about this possibility though the

more intelligent ones say: “We shall build if Dadaji tells us.” This shows

us the limit within which the creative imagination of Swadhyayees works

on certain matters. On this issue of building libraries in Shridarshanam

and Vrikha Mandirs, Kalubhai told me as I was coming back to Simar

seated on his motorbike in 1997: “Libraries are important but there are so

many books. What is important is to develop your heart.”

Untwala—a Shridarshanam Village and the Work of Swadhyaya in

Una

As must have been clear by now, Untwala was an entry point for me to the

activistic horizons of the Swadhyaya work in Una. It is from Untwala that

I have tried to understand the working of Shridarshanam. Untwala has an

interesting social geography: the village has not yet moved to the wadi so

much. The village still holds a core; influential farmers stay in the village.

Some people have moved to the wadis but they are less in number

compared to those who stay inside. Untwala is a multi-caste village but it

would be safe to say that the followers of Swadhyaya in Untwala are

mainly from Darbar’s caste and the Patels. Yoshu Bhai, the village

motabhai, is a Darbar and Magan Bhai, another important Swadhyaya

leader, is a Patel. People from other castes—Rajputs, Rabaris, and those

neighborhoods who are looked at a distance from the village center—are

not seen in the work of Swadhyaya.

In terms of socio-religious composition, Untwala has a bit of diversity

as there are a few families of Swaminarayan. Swaminarayan is an

important sect in Gujarat. It had started as a movement fighting against

land and caste hierarchy in society. But now it seems to have lost its

anti-hierarchal mobilizational thrust and is a sect. In Untwala, the few

Swaminarayanees that are there assemble in prayer meetings. They do

Bhajans together. Pragjibhai Nada who is a Patel and stays in a neigh-

borhood where there are Swaminarayanees, says that there are around

sixty Swaminarayan families in Untwala. They all assemble for a prayer

in one of the families on Sunday for two hours.

Pragjibhai does not go to Swadhyaya because he is already a

Swaminarayanee. But he appreciates the changes that has come about in

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 161

the village because of Swadhyaya. He says: “First a lot of drunken people

were assembling at the village jhap but not any more. He also told me how

the neighboring village of Nandrekh which was a dacoit village changed

because of Swadhyaya. Even though he does not go to Amrutalayam he

raises his hand in respect when he passes by his side. He is touched by the

fact that the big landlords like Joshu Bhai who do not do any work in their

farm raise big stones on their shoulders in the Amrutalayam.”

I had a discussion with Babu Bhai, Pragjibhai’s son, and his wife. I

asked Babu Bhai’s wife whether he sends his daughters to the Swadhyaya

Kendra, especially to the young Swadhyayee girls’ meet. She said: “We

have already accepted Swaminarayan. How can we have it and accept

another pantha (sect).” She also said: “If everybody goes to Swadhyaya

Kendra then the cows will remain unfed.” Though Swadhyayees have

some people with initial Swaminarayan background, for the

Swaminarayanees of Untwala, Swadhyaya is a pantha—a sect, like

Swaminarayan.

I had a meeting with Bhagat Bhai Solanki, the secretary of

Swaminarayan sect of the village. Bhagat Bhai is an emotional man. He

says: “Two people are important in the world now: Pandurang Maharaj

and Pramukh Swami Maharaj.” [Pramukh Swami Maharaj is a prominent

leader of one of the Swaminarayan sects]. But while he was open to

accepting the significance of Swadhyaya, an influential leader of

Swadhyaya in Untwala, was raising a lot of comparative and embar-

rassing questions to Bhagat Bhai: “But Bhagat Bhai, please tell me how

much money is spent in the functions of the Swaminarayanees.” After

coming from meeting with this Swaminarayanee, the said Swadhyayee

leader commented: “Swaminarayanees only do Bhajans. They do not

know that Bhakti should have a combination of bhava bhakti and

Krutibhakti. And Dada works at a world level.”

So in Untwala Swadhyayees have a sense of pride of belonging to a

spiritual movement with a difference. This pride comes from the fact that

Swadhyayees just do not pray and sing, they also do varieties of

Krutibhaktis—active devotion. As already seen in Simar, well-recharging

is an instance of active devotion in Swadhyaya. Once I had visited a few

Swaminarayanee families located on the other side of the village. I asked

them whether they do well-recharging in their farms. They said yes. On

the way back the Swadhyayee accompanying me commented: “Oh they

have learnt this from us. According to them Pramukh Swami had advised

Swaminarayans to do well-recharging in their fields. But the fact of the

162 Chapter 3

matter is that they come to the local Swadhyaya sherikendra and the

Swadhyaya Kshetadhara have done extense bhavpheri with them about

well-recharging.”

Swadhyayee’s sense of pride and a new frame of identity formation is

written on the walls of the village. While many of public spaces in the

world are full of messages of market and multinational companies in

Untwala one finds the ideals of Swadhyaya written on its walls. Some of

these lines are:

1. Jubani Ma Jagija, Prabhu Kanya Me Lagja (Oh Young Rise up and

immerse yourselves in God’s work).

2. Lena Dena Band He, Phirvi Anand He (Giving and taking is not here

but there is still joy).

3. Bhva Ane Kruthi No Samanyayee Etle Bhakti

(Emotion combined with action is Bhakti).

4. Krushnam Bande Jagad Guru (Salutations to Krishna who is the

teacher of the world).

5. Mar Jayenge Mit Jayenge—Vedic Dharma Bachayenge

(We may die, may be razed to ground but we shall protect Vedic

religion).

6. Dil Me He Ab Ek Lagan

Prabhu KaryaMe Rahi Magan (Now we have one thing dear to our

heart, we should concentrate on God’s work).

Untwala is a Shridarshanam village. There is the meeting of pujaris

in the village as there is the meeting of pujaris in Shridarshanam. Like

most of the Swadhyaya meetings it takes place after nine in the night. The

pujari meeting takes place on the fourth instant of every month. In the

village pujari millan meeting I was present in Untwala on August 4 1997.

Ramesh Bhai began with a stock taking of the pujaris present. He said that

in the pujari Milan all the pujaris should be present. He urged all present

to realize that in Swadhyaya what is important is Samaya Dana (gift of

time) and Vichara Dana (gift of thought). “Srabana is a sacred month and

in this month we should go to God (meaning Amrutalayam) everyday.

And pujaris should spend the night in Shridarshanam.”

Ramesh Bhai is the main pujari of Shridarshanam in Untwala. He

tells us that by going to Shridarshanam, he has been able to know about

other villages. In Shridarshanam there is no caste or clan feeling, there is

a feeling of unity and I get joy from this.” He further says that by going to

Shridarshanam the crop of his life gets ripened. About changes in his life

Ramesh Bhai says that working as a pujari as well as going in

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 163

teerthayatra he has learnt the meaning of Ayachaka Brat—the habit of not

asking favor and material gain to anybody. It had also an impact on the

conduct of his life. He says: “First I did not know what is the significance

of father and mother. From Swadhyaya I also got the meaning of my wife

as Ardhanginee (the other half).” Furthermore, first I was not able to recite

slokas but now I know many slokas.” In the Nivah system Untwala being

the leading Nivah village Ramesh Bhai goes to the neighboring village of

Gangda. He says: “After going to Gangda a lot of changes took place in

me. I learnt the art of providing information in a systematic manner.”

Jayanti Bhai is another pujari of Untwala. When he started his work

as a pujari in Shridarshanam he faced a lot of difficulties from his other

brothers. He got separated from his brother. This difficulty may have to

deal with the time that Jayantilal gives to Swadhyaya. His elder brother

Vithal Bhai is a Shridarshanam pujari but not all the other brothers. In

such cases, especially, when other brothers are not Swadhyayees they

think that in going to Shridarshanam as a pujari one neglects one’s own

farm work. Now that Jayanti Bhai has got separated from his other

brothers he is happy that he is now able to give time to Shridarshanam.

The number of pujaris in village has also increased. And he is happy to

contribute to the process of generation of impersonal wealth in

Shridarshanam. “Yogeshwara Krishi me Jate he, Is me Thoda Swartha

Atahe (If we go in Jogeswara Krishi we have at least some interest). But

nobody has any share in the Mahalaxmi produced at Shridarshanam. O

Insan Khade Karnekeliye Jate he—This goes for preparing man.”

Going to Shridarshanam as a pujari has enabled Hemant Bhai, a

Rabari, to learn how to read. Earlier he was illiterate but in

Shridarshanam he became interested in reading. Now when he goes to

work in his farm he takes Dadaji’s books with him to the wadi and reads

there as he spends the night there. Some other pujaris take the Swadhyaya

examination of Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha and this creates in them

an additional interest in reading.

In the pujari system of Untwala what is interesting is that two daily

wage earners go as pujaris to Shridarshanam. As has been mentioned

Bhikha Bhai is a daily wage earner and he not only goes to

Shridarshanam he also takes responsibility for many activities in the

village, particularly Bala Sanskara Kendra. Another wage earner who is a

Shridarshanam pujari here is Dhiru Bhai who works as a laborer with

Yoshu Bhai. He has got inspiration from Yoshu Bhai. Yoshu Bhai is the

motabhai of Swadhyaya in the village and is an inspired actor. Swadhyaya

164 Chapter 3

is the breath of his life. He could have become the sarpanch of the village

but nothing now attracts him except the divine work of Swadhyaya.

Yoshu Bhai over the years has learnt that the work of Swadhyaya cannot

be done by approaching influential people but now he realizes the signifi-

cance of involving laborers and workers in this work of Swadhyaya.

Slowly some laborers are becoming involved with Swadhyaya. First they

were telling that they do not have time but as they become involved they

try to find time.

In the initiation and spread of the Swadhyaya work in Untwala three

people had played a crucial role—Yoshu Bhai, Dollu Bhai, and Raju

Bhai. Yoshu Bhai is one of the big land owners of the village and he is

also educated up to high school. Dollu Bhai has some lands and is a little

educated. Raju Bhai is landless and he is a bit educated. Raju Bhai is not

from Untwala. He is from a far off village but stays in a rented house in

the village. He has a ration shop; in fact this is the only source of his

income. Despite his marginal position in the village and not so secured

financial basis, Raju Bhai is an important actor of Swadhyaya in the

village.

From the Nivah village of Untwala Raju Bhai goes to Motimuli.

Motimuli is around ten kilometers from Untwala. It is an interesting case.

Though Swadhyaya came to this village the same time as it came to

Untwala, only four to five males became involved in the work of

Swadhyaya. This village is similar to the case of Jaluda in the Simar

universe. But here Swadhyaya has not grown because of lack of partici-

pation of menflok of the village. There are only four to five males in

Swadhyaya as compared to twenty-five to thirty women participants. The

Swadhyaya Kendra here takes place in the village temple. Here women do

not have much voice. Even Sabita Behen, the Moti Behen of the village,

does not speak in front of the village elders. But Sabita Behen as well as

three fourth other women of the village have brought the message of

Swadhyaya from their father’s house. It is these women who were doing

Swadhyaya in their father’s village who have been instrumental in

spreading the message Swadhyaya. But they feel that they cannot progress

much if the male folks of the village do not join. Even they cannot start

one Bala Sanskara Kendra. For this they would have to go to Una for

training and they cannot go alone without being accompanied by male

members from the village.

I had a discussion with Didi about this situation. Didi said: “I do not

know about this case but in Swadhyaya we would have to follow the

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 165

principle women attending external meetings must be accompanied by a

male relative. This is part of our heritage and culture.”This is briefly the work of Swadhyaya in Untwala. This work is a

moving work. Bhagaban Bhai is the son of Magan Bhai and has done thecourse in Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth. He is a graduate of Gujarat AgriculturalUniversity, Junagah. After his studies he got settled in his village for a fewyears. He was a source of enrichment to the entire village. He would giveChintanika every evening after the prayer. He also used to teach therecitation of important slokas such as Shankaracharya’s sadhanapanchakam.4 He provides clarity to many of the intellectual andconceptual foundations of Swadhyaya. During our discussion BhagbanBhai told me if Kant had combined Bhakti in his work then he would havebeen another Shankaracharya. But when I met Bhagaban Bhai two yearslater in August 1999 he had shifted with his wife to Una and was active onthe construction business in the region.

A Glimpse into the Work of Swadhyaya in Una

Una is probably the most active Taluka of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya here

works in all the villages except one village named Choraimuli which is

close to Motimuli.

In the villages of Una I have visited, it would be helpful to provide

very brief salient features of some of these villages. Ambavadi is a

Swadhyaya village, Swadhyaya having started there in 1969. This is a

Patel village. Out of the 110 households of the village, there are only five

to seven households from other castes. There are two Muslim families in

this village and one family comes to Amrutalayam. There is one

Amrutalayam in this village. Pujari Kalubhai who takes Pirubhai

Dasubhai Jakhana, a Muslim, as a pujari with him to the Shridarshanam.

Piru Bhai comes and does the work of a pujari in Amrutalayam for fifteen

days once a year. He says that in being an Amrutalayam pujari he faces no

difficulty from the Maulavi. Swadhyayees are happy about it but when I

asked them whether they go to pray in the mosque they replied in the

negative.

Bajdi is one of the villages in Una. I visited it in October 1996 when

the village did not yet have an Amrutalayam. We came to the village

around nine in the night and at that time, women, and young boys and girls

of the village, numbering around seventy had assembled in the porticos of

a farmer. They were all singing songs and doing the work of harvesting of

recently cut groundnuts. It was an unique experience of witnessing people

166 Chapter 3

working together and singing. As we were about to leave I was asked to

share some thoughts and I told that I was reminded of collective labor I

had witnessed in a tribal village in Orissa. Just before coming to Una I had

gone to the tribal village of Chiliguda in Kashipur, Rayagara, Orissa. As

we were entering the village we saw men, women, of the village assem-

bling at the outskirt of a village and getting paddy out of the harvested rice

crops. This harvest belongs to one family but members from all the

families of the village have contributed labor. They would not be paid in

cash but would get a share. Of course in the harvest that was being worked

on in that moonlit night in Bajdi, the harvest did not belong to anybody,

nor the participants offering labor were to be paid. But this act of

collective labor is a recovery of tribal mode of being together which is so

essential to overcoming the alienation of modern man (Das 1984; Nanda

1994).

Bino Bhai Barod is an enthusiastic worker of Swadhyaya in Una. We

have met him before in the coconut groove of Uka Patel of Simar where

he had come to take part in the district Yuva Milan. Bino Bhai is an

engineer and works with Gujarat Electricity Board. He moves from

village to village and comes once a month with his wife to spend three

days in Sankhada. He is concerned about lack of participation of

Bhavalaxis in the work of Swadhyaya and is eager to work towards their

greater participation.

Ballav Bhai Gajera is another charismatic leader of Swadhyaya in

Una. During our meeting, we had discussion on a wide range of issues out

of which the following three stand out in terms of their uniqueness.

1. Though he moves from village to village, no person from villages

makes undue request to him in his workplace or at home;

2. On the size of the land cultivated in Yogeshwara Krishi, I had raised

my concern to Ballav Bhai that this is quite small and if it is so small

then in what way Yogeshwara Krishi can alleviate poverty and

suffering in the village. Ballav Bhai says that Swdhayaya does not

want to build a welfare state. “Duryodhana had a welfare state and

building a welfare state is not the work of Swadhyaya. Cultivating in

large tracts of land would lead to only a welfare state where people are

concerned with economic needs alone;

3. On the Swadhyaya idea of prayog I had asked Ballav Bhai whether it

is the same thing as Gandhian experiments with truth. He told that:

“No, it is not.” For him, as it is for Ramnik Bhai, Swadhyaya’s prayog

is a scientific experiment. It does not have the groping dimension of

Gandhian experiment. Swadhyaya’s prayog suggests that if you

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 167

follow the Swadhyaya way of life then definitely you will have

self-development.

Different Co-ordinating Meetings of Swadhyaya in Veraval

Veraval: Statistical information about different prayogs and activities of

Swadhyaya (as of August 1999)

Prayog Nos

1. Yogeshwara Krishi 394

2. Shridarshanam 6

3. Vriksha Mandir 1

4. Ghar Mandir —

5. Lokanath Amrutalayam 60

6. Matsyagandha 12

7. Prarthana Mandir 6

8. Patanjali Chikistalaya —

9. Well-Recharged 29502

10. Nirmal Nir 162

11. Hira Mandir —

12. Goras 78

13. Manav Pratistha Kendra —

14. Yantra Mandir —

15. Ekweera Truck —

16. Parivara Kalarang —

Swadhyaya Activities:

1. Video Kendra 301

2. Utsava Kendra 475

3. Yuvakendra 568

4. Bala Sankara Kendra 1864

5. Chintanika Kendra 399

6. Divine Brain Trust 2

168 Chapter 3

7. Prarthan/Parayan Kendra —

8. Mahila Kendra 842

9. Yuva Mahila Kendra 342

10. Vrati —

11. Krutin —

12. Ekadashi bhaktipheri —

13. Geeta Trayas —

14. Paraprant bhaktipheri —

The Swadhyaya prayogs in the Swadhyaya district of Veraval are also

many. As is clear from the above table, there are sixty Lokanath

Amrutalayam from Porbander to Veraval. Activists of Swadhyaya come

to meet the activists in this co-ordinating place from many villages and

small towns but this is not a one-way movement. Swadhyayees from

villages come to meet the Swadhyaya co-ordinators in the Veraval town

and these Swadhyaya co-ordinators also go out regularly to meet people

in different villages and towns. It is a movement across many lines, spaces

where exists not only a unifying center but several transversal points of

co-ordinating meetings and contacts (cf. Schrag 1997).

Different Swadhyayee milans such as the milans of the Vidyapeeth

graduates as well as the District bhavpheri Milan takes place in Veraval.

There are important co-ordinating meetings of Veraval Swadhyaya

district—the body of the Jaayas as well as the the Taluka Avar meeting—

held at Veraval. There are sixteen members of Jaayas at Veraval. All of

them are from Veraval town excepting a few from Una. The motabhai of

Jaayas now is Pappot Bhai who comes from Una.

I was present in one of the Jaayas meetings. The meeting started at

9.30 PM and ended at 12.45 AM. The first dicussion was on the work of

the Sagaraputras i.e. Swadhyaya work among the fishermen. The

Swadhyayee leader among the fishermen in Porbander had prepared a

detailed note. It was presented that 6 lac 4000 worth of Mahalaxmi has

been generated out of the work of twelve Matsyagandha in the area.

Vithal Bhai from Vidia gave the nivedanam that he and his friends from

Vidia are going regularly in bhaktipheri to Kutch. There was also

discussion about shraban pujari. Then people from all the talukas

presented about the work of Swadhyaya.

Mangal Vivah or auspicious marriage is a new prayog or experiment

of Swadhyaya. It is an experiment in Samuha Lagna or collective

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 169

marriage in which the daughters of a village hailing from the same caste

get married together. There were ten Mangal Vivah or auspicious

marriages in Kandhi Shridarshanam. About this one leader of Veraval

Jaayas had written a script. A participant in the meeting commented that

this script ‘is full of Dada’ and he should have written this on his own. He

suggested some changes. This shows that in Swadhyaya discussions it is

not just “go ahead” talk. In the Swadhyaya coordination meetings

sometimes quite heated discussion takes place. For instance, the very next

night there was the Avar meeting. There was a heated discussion between

Swadhyaya leaders from Sutrapara. One of them said, “Tame Khotubat

Matkara—you please stop talking not so sensible thing.”

In the Avar meeting like the Jaayas meeting, there was report on

Swadhyaya work from the Nivah villages. But there was no critical

discussion in these meetings but everybody was religiously taking note. In

the Jaayas meeting the night before there was ice-creams but in the Avar

meeting there was no such treat. In this meeting it was discussed that

Pappot Bhai would visit the village Buha Tumi next Saturday. Pappot

Bhai requested Rama Bhai who is a school teacher from the neighboring

village and now stays in Veraval to accompany him to his village. He said

that he does not have leave but he would join Pappot Bhai in this by taking

leave for this purpose.

Pappot Bhai goes to visit a Shridarshanam the next day of the Jaayas

meeting. He sometimes also goes to visit villages.

Leaders of Swadhyaya in Veraval

Pappot Bhai

Pappot Bhai is the motabhai of Veraval Jaayas. He has reecently taken

this from Ramnik Bhai who performed this role of coordination for many

years. Pappot Bhai is a legendary Swadhyaya worker and we shall get to

know more of him during the course of this study. He is known in the

entire Swadhyaya Parivara as Pappot Lal and the saying goes in the

locality, parodying the famous lines in the Hindi film Sholay—whenever

Pappot Lal comes to villages the children keep smiling. To put it briefly,

Pappot Bhai has studied up to standard seven. He joined Swadhyaya in

1968 and since then he has been with Swadhyaya with no turning back.

Pappot Bhai has a cloth business and during early days of his business, he

170 Chapter 3

used to commute from his his village to Una—the taluka headquarters

where Pappot Bhai currently lives. Pappot Bhai did not have bus fare to

undertake his bhaktipheri during his early days, as many Swadhyayees

have told me in awe and admiration. But Pappot Bhai has purcahsed a car

three years ago and with this support he travels extensively the nook and

corner of Veraval Swadhyaya district from Keshod to Porbandar and

beyond.

Pappot Bhai comes to the Swadhyaya district co-ordinating meeting

once every week. He comes and stays with Jadavjee Bapa and Laxmi Ma.

The next day he comes to one of the Swadhyayee villages in Veraval

Taluka and in the evening he joins the taluka meeting. On July 24, 1999 I

had joined Pappot Bhai in his motivational bhavpheri in the village of

Supashi. We came to Supashi in the morning. Lakha Bhai who had taken

voluntary retirement to be able to devote more time to Swahdyaya also

joins Pappot Bhai in his weekly visit of villages in Veraval county. Lakha

Bhai comes from the village Vidodar; he was working as a school teacher

and has taken voluntary retirement one and a half years ago. There is plan

of a new Amrutalayam in his village and Lakha Bhai thought that it is

essential to stay full time in the village for the starting of the work of

Amrutalayam. Lakha Bhai had joined Pappot Bhai in the bhavpheri that

day. We were also joined by another brother from Mohabatpara—Banju

Bhai. So three Swadhyayees from outside the village were there in this

bhavpheri.

It was a motivational bhavpheri, it could be called. The purpose was

to meet with the parents of the Krutisheels or the active workers of

Swadhyaya. We went to the house of one farmer. There we had a

discussion in a lighter vein. Then we came to the house of Rana Bhai.

Rana Bhai’s mother was instrumental in bringing Swadhyaya to the seri.

His father is deaf and unable to speak. We had coconut-water in their

house. Usually in bhavpheris Swadhyayees do not take anything, but,

Pappot Bhai as creatively flexible as he is, could accommodate a bit of

diversion. While going to the house of another farmer in the village street

Pappot Bhai initiated a very moving discussion on the meaning of

rachanatmaka karya or constructive work. Does constructive work mean

only acquisition of power and distibution of property or does it also mean

developing one’s mind and intellect? Pappot Bhai lamented that nobody is

interested in constructive work as development of one’s mind and

intellect. After this we came to the house of Karsan Mama. Karshan

Mama is a young man but is called Mama—uncle—by everybody in the

village as well in the wider Swadhyaya circles. We had lunch in Karshan

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 171

Mama’s house—all the three outside Swadhyayees had brought their own

lunch.

Then in the afternoon we came to the house of one young worker

named Bhikhalal. In fact, Bhikhalal was with us from the morning. As we

were discussing with Bhikhalal’s father, Bhikha Lal’s mother came. She

scolded Bhikha: “You told that you will be back in five minutes and now

you are coming after five hours. If you do like this who is to do the work

of cultivation.” There was angry tear in her eyes. After this Banju Bhai

said: “Ma! Please come here. Yes Bhikha should have got your

permission.” Then Banju Bhai told Bhikha and all of us the significance

of treating one’s parents as God. While coming from Bhikha Bhai’s house

Pappot Bhai also hinted at the instrumental significance of touching one’s

parents feet: “If you touch your parent’s feet they would be happy.” “Pao

chuna, phir nikal jana—You touch your parent’s feet and then be on the

road again.”

Then there was the evening meeting for the Krutisheel men and

women of the village. In the meeting Pappot Bhai said: “Krutisheel Bhai

Viswaka Gharena He, Inka Patnee Souvhagyabatee he—An active

worker is the jewel of the world, his wife is truly a blessed person.” In this

meeting Pappot Bhai stressed the need for nurturing Swadhyaya experi-

ments with right motivation.

Pappot Bhai’s motivational bhavpheri in villages helps to reenergize

many of Swadhyaya prayogs around. A case in point here is Yogeshwara

Krishi in the village of Bosan. Krishi had started in this village some years

ago but then it stopped. Pappot Bhai visited this village with some other

Swadhyayees and held a discussion with the Swadhyayees of the village.

He said: “Most of you belong to Ahir caste. Ahir or Yadava is the caste in

which Krishna was born. For the sake of Krishna shouldn’t you come

together to Yogeshwara Krishna?”

Giridhar Bhai Kanporia

Giridharbhai Kanporia is an active worker of Swadhyaya. He works in

State Bank of Saurashtra having joined it after graduation from Gujarat

Agricultural University, Junagarh. One day a fellow banker asked him

how does he spend his time. He further commented that just going to the

Bank is not enough. He gave him a book Sanskruti Chintan—“Thoughts

on Culture”. In that book he found a lot of information and was deeply

touched about the discussion of genetics there (more on this later). He got

172 Chapter 3

interested in this book and came to a Swadhyaya Kendra. There on the

very first day of his Kendra he purchased all the books which were

available.

Says Kanporia Bhai: “When I started coming to the Kendra I found

that many Swadhyaya brothers were working. So I could not feel easy

with myself just being a listener. I thought I have a duty to share in some

of the work. At the same time many new departments were getting opened

in Swadhyaya and I could feel that they needed more Krutisheel. Slowly

and slowly I started accetping more responsibility—meine responsibility

sambhala, (I accepted responsibility) this was not imposed upon me.”

He learnt the art of working in Swadhyaya from Mudrika Behen

Trivedi, a legendary worker of Swadhyaya in the locality. She has brought

Swadhyaya to Veraval. Says Kanporia Bhai: “Behenjee does not impose

any responsibility. She herself works and observing her I have learnt how

to work.” He further says, now keeping his own role in motivating other

young people to become Krutisheel workers: “A person has taken up

Swadhyaya vichara and now the task is how to make him take up

Swadhyaya responsibility: we have to make the work dear to the person

concerned then he would accept it with love. For example when I came to

Veraval, Mudrika Behen did not ask me how much work I did in

Swadhyaya in my previous place of work. On a Saturday morning

Mudrika Behen would ring up my office and ask: ‘Kanporia Bhai! What

are you doing tomorrow? I am going to Porbandar and Dwaraka. I have

my vehicle. If you are free, it would be good if you can join.’” Kanporia

Bhai tells that he was very much touched by the fact that Mudrika Behen

never told him that he had to come. The language always was if he would

come.”

While working with Mudrika Behen he realized that “only a good

vichara or thought is not enough; for the diffusion of thought what is

needed is intimacy. Without intimacy one would not accept thought.

Everybody would say good but for someone to say this is mine, my

thought—a thought I hold dear, one has to receive intimacy.” The method

of Dadaji and Mudrika Behen, says Kanporia Bhai, is “nirmal prem [pure

love].” “If you are not able to do an assigned work Mudrika Behen would

never make you feel guilty nor would she ask for an explanation—Apko

Nehi Lagega O Apko Dant Rahehe—You would not feel that she is

getting angry with you. She knows the special capability of a person as

well as his limitation. If one is good in village work and is not confident to

speak in the public then he would share the work accordingly.” Kanporia

Bhai says: “Once I asked Mudrika Behen about those who do not do their

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 173

work properly in Swadhyaya. Mudrika Behen said: Those who join

Swadhyay do so because of their love for God or Dadaji. So we do

not have any right to scold these people—Dantne ke liye Koi Adhikar

Nehi he.”Though there is no system of punishment in Swadhyaya, it does not

mean that anything can go. Swadhyayees are strict about AcharaSamhita—code of conduct. Every Swadhyay activity has an AcharaSamhita. “If we do not obey Achara Samhita then there would be kachera[dirt] in our relationship”. Kuda and kachera are familiar terms thatSwadhyayees use particularly in the rural areas of Swadhyaya. “Thereshould be no Kuda and kachera in the work of Swadhyaya.” SaysKanporia Bhai: “Every worker knows that he has to work in accordancewith the Vichara of Dadaji and we can not do substraction or addition tothis.”

We can listen to Kanporia Bhai at great length about code of conductwith regard to various activities and prayogs of Swadhyaya. The code ofconduct of Swadhyaya Kendra is: it should start at 9 PM; it should be forone hour and there should be no dhoop stick there. “Now we do not feelthat we are following the code of conduct; it has entered inside our life.”

Bhaktipheri and teerthayatras have their codes of conduct. Inteerthayatra, one code of conduct is: “stay in a village for three days andafter this go to another village. You do not go as a pracharaka, you gothere to enhance your intimacy.” During teerthayatra people stay in groupand discuss in groups but during discussion they should not talk aboutelection, politics or films. “Then one has to sleep at 10 in the night. This isa spiritual pilgrimage. So during this time we do not read newspaper nordo we look at television.”

During our long discussion one night after we came from a sisters’meet at Kharwawad, Kanporia Bhai spoke at great length about thefollowing general codes of conduct of Swadhyaya.

1. In Swadhyaya Parivara there is no monetary transanction between

members of the Parivara. Says Kanporia Bhai: “My relationship with

you is because of Swadhyaya and not for any self-interest so I should

not have any transanction of money with you. If there is a monetary

transanction, it is a responsibility between you two and Swadhyaya

does not enter inside this.” In Swadhyaya Parivara one should

undertake self-interested financial transanction—lending or

borrowing—as it destroys human relationship.

To understand the significance of this code of conduct it would be

helpful here to listen to a related episode. Shenoyji is an active worker

of Swadhyaya in Bombay. He has joined Swadhyaya after returning

174 Chapter 3

from Baharin. In Baharin he was in touch with a worker from Andhra

Pradesh named Harihara (a pseduonym). Harihara was a devoted

worker in his locality. After returning from Baharin he started a

business and for its expansion he was in need of money. He discussed

his problems with Shenoyji. Shenoyji thought that as a Swadhyayee

he should help a fellow Swadhyayee in his need. If his financial

problem is solved he would be able to devote himself much more fully

to Swadhyaya Shenoyji thought. So Shejoinjee without letting his

wife and son know lent him Rs 50,000. He was so keen to help

Harihara that he was asking other Swadhyayees to help him. Harihara

had promised him that he would pay back the money within a year

with a bank’s interest. But years have passed by and Harihara has not

returned the money to Shenoijee. This has made him realize the

significance of Swadhyaya Achara Samhita that one should not lend

nor borrow in the name of Swadhyaya.

2. In Swadhyaya Parivara one calls the wife of another person as

Behenjee not Bhavi. This follows from the more basic Swadhyaya

principle of Kama pabitrata—purity in relationship and sexual desire.

3. In Swadhyaya Parivara Krutisheels do sharamabhakti but one should

not misuse them for one’s sake. “I can not have Swadhyayees to do

personal work for me. In marriage, ladies make pappadam. But in the

marriage I am doing in my family and I should not have the help of

Swadhyayees. Because it is a Parivara, many people would offer to

help me but, it is my duty not to accept such offers.”

4. When we go to prayogs like Vriksha Mandir and Shridarshanam we

can do night halt there only on the day when we are a pujari. “On

otherdays I cannot eat inside Vriksha Mandir even if I go there with

my tiffin [lest this place should turn out to be a picnic spot].

5. While being on teerthayatra we should not eat in other person’s

house. When we go on LTC (leave travel concession given by one’s

office) and visit other places, we should not misuse our contact in

another city and stay with a Swadhyayee family. One should

definitely go to meet a Swadhyayee family one knows, but not stay

with it.

6. When one goes in sibirs—camps—one should go with one’s utensils.

One might think why not one rent these utensils. In our society it is

only Dalits, who, while coming to eat in another family bring their

own utensils. To attend a Swadhyaya sibira where one stays for a

longer period one has to bring one’s utensils.

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 175

While sharing with me these codes of conducts Kanporia Bhai was

particular to stress that these are not disciplines imposed from outside but

frames of coordination meant to facilitiate smooth conduct. “If it is a

family we have to stay as a family.”

Kanporia Bhai also told me that if you are in Swadhyaya you get

social prestige. “In marriage transanctions Swadhyayee families are given

preferences.”

Ramnik Bhai Patel

Ramnik Bhai Patel is an important leader of Swadhyaya in Veraval. He

joined Swadhyaya in the late 1970s introduced to it from his wife’s

uncles. Before getting to know Swadhyaya Ramnik Bhai was in

Sarvodaya. But as soon as he got inside Swadhyaya he developed a

critique of his earlier Sarvodaya self: “Oh, we used to go to the slums but

came back home with a sense of pride that we have helped others. We

used to come back with our collar tight.” His wife Chandrika Behen who

has become a woman leader of Swadhyaya in her own rights was too

happy to see this transition as she did not find any justification to repress

one’s desire for wearing nice sarees or wearing other golden ornaments.

In her words: “When we were in Sarvodaya we used to wear Khadad. But

this separates yourself from others. But in Swadhyaya we did not have to

wear any special dress. We were one of the many others. Furthermore, if

we wanted to wear something nice, or wear ornaments, then we did not

have any sense of guilt.”

Ramnik Bhai began his working life as an engineer with the state

PWD department. He soon realized that it would be difficult for him to

remain pure and escape the clutches of corruption. So he resigned from

his job and started his own contractor business. But here again, he soon

found his limits to carry out his business without offering bribes to the

government officials. So he finally started a business in wood in Veraval.

Some of his workers were Muslims. In his own farm, Ramnik Bhai says,

he wanted to put into practice Dadaji’s ideal of sambhabana (i.e. helping

one’s workers to realize their full potentiality). He proposed his workers

that he would save some money in their name. But his Muslims workers

said to him that they would not like to ‘eat the interest’. Ramnik Bhai says

that he finally helped one of his Muslims workers to set us his

independent wood business.

176 Chapter 3

I had a discussion with Ramnik Bhai many a time about the vision and

method of Swadhyaya. I was keen to know from him the challenge of

keeping up the spirit of Swadhyaya and maintaining all the institutions

that Swadhyaya has created. Ramnik Bhai tells that to maintain a

Swadhyaya institution is not to maintain a building but to nurture the spirit

behind the concerned prayog. “To maintain a building is no big thing.” He

gives the example of Amrutalayam to explain this: “When an

Amrutalayam is built ninety per cent of people5 of a village went to God

and said “God! We would come here everyday and ask you: how are

you?” To nurture in Swadhyay means to nurture the feeling and reason

behind Amrtulayam, not the structure.” “If you have to take care of the

prayog, you would have to nurture the sincerity and understanding behind

these prayogs. If there is an Amrutalayam in my village I should go there

every night because it is the time which I have given to God. Coming to

Amrutalayam everyday is my duty not only to meet God but to continue

my intimacy with other children of God in the village. In order to maintain

one’s nistha it is important to meet others, other children of God in the

village and discover new ways of continuing one’s practice of

self-development. Otherwise tattwagyna khada ho jatahe—a sophisti-

cated philsophical justification emerges—what is the point in going to

Amrutalayam everyday? Is God also not in my heart? But I should realize

that when the Amrutalayam was built I had given the word to God: “Oh

God!I would come here everyday and register my presence.” Sambhalna

means to take care of and nurture the motivation behind the experiments

of Swadhyaya.

For Ramnik Bhai, every work in Swadhyaya is a prayog, an exper-

iment. “In October it is time for collective subscription for the Swadhyaya

journal Tatwagyan. As long as a person does not have the hunger for

Tatwagyan there is no point in just collecting membership drive for this. If

my neighbor wants to read Tatwagyan he can borrow it from me but if he

has to subscribe he has to come to the Kendra regularly. Tatwagyan is not

just Rs 25—its value is not just this is. It has a higher value. It has

sanskruti punj—sources of culture. One who is entrusted with the work of

Tatwagyan subscription has to make sure that the person who takes the

subscription reads it.”

Responsibility should be at the core of a Swadhyaya activist, Ramnik

Bhai reiterates. In previous chapter, we have discussed the Nivah

system—one leading village in a locality which takes the lead role among

the five villages. Ramnik Bhai says that in the beginning there were only

five people entrusted with the Nivah work, i.e. five people who go out to

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 177

five villages from the core village. Now Ramnik Bhai and other senior

Swadhyayees have thought that there should be at least twelve people.

Furthermore, in each village there should be twelve people ready who are

entrusted with the work of Swadhyaya.

For Ramnik Bhai, Swadhyaya is a field of mutual learning and this is

at work in styles of management and co-ordination as well. The Nivah

system was first started in Veraval. Then people from Rajkot adapted it

and then it was adopted in eight other districts. The same thing is with the

Ghar Mandir prayog—the experiment of house temple. During Ghar

Mandir in a house there is an atmosphere of festivity. “During

Ramnavami we are also trying to bring the atmosphere of Ramnavami

here. In fact in Bhavnagar one upholder of the field [khetradhara] applied

this. If God comes to your house then at least all the members of the

family become involved with this. I may do Swadhyaya but my son may

not be interested in this but like a tribal village when we do Ghar Mandir

here in our villages during this period the whole house gets involved.”

Jadavjee Bapa

Jadavjee Bapa is a senior Swadhyayee in Veraval. He and his wife Laxmi

Ma are in the seventies. Both of them are parents to thousands of

Swadhyayees in Veraval. Bapa knows all the karyakars (workers) of

Swadhyaya in person and he also knows their depth of involvement and

levels of understanding. So just for the joy of meeting Ba and Ma, most of

the Swadhyayees from the villages would be dropping in their house.

Their living room is not so busy but Swadhyayees meet Bapa there.

Bapa has many stories and his life experience to share with us. Bapa

had once gone in bhaktipheri to the Porbander area. There people in the

villages listen to Katha about the life of Rama and Sita. During discussion

villagers asked him: “Oh! can you tell us what happened to Rama as he

was crossing the mountains.” Says Bapa: “I know but since I do not listen

to the Kathas I do not know in great details.”

Bapa and Ma are people of good humor and cheers but they have

struggled quite a lot for their work in Swadhyaya. They have not received

adequate support from their family. Bapa was a banker and at that time he

had more social prestige in the higher up circles of society. But when he

left the bank and also his business and worked full time with Swadhyaya

his relatives such as the father-in-law of his son would not keep in touch

with the same keenness. Bapa and Ma are now in their seventies and their

178 Chapter 3

relatives would tell them: “You are going in Swadhyaya, travelling so

much but if you fall ill we cannot take care of you.” Says Laxmi Ma: “The

same people who expresses their worries to us by saying that by under-

taking so much travel in Swadhyaya, we are endangering ourselves would

urge us to come to family functions and marriages.”

But much more than such uncooperative attitude from the relatives

was the great challenge from their eldest son. Bapa and Ma have two sons,

the younger one stays with his wife in Canada and his elder son was

staying with him in Veraval. But he was continuously objecting to their

involvement in Swadhyaya. At some point things would come to a sorry

pass and Ma would cry silently. She would cry before God. Says Ma: “We

were going in Swadhyaya and what hurt us most that our son was not at all

interested in this. He finally left us and he now stays with his children in

Bombay. When he left us we were deeply shocked.”

But despite all these difficulties Bapa and Ma have been steadfast in

their commitment to Swadhyaya. Reflecting on her earlier days, her days

of first involvement in Swadhyaya, Ma says: “During those days thirty

years ago we were all staying in a joint family. Our mother-in-law was

there. At that time I was young and much more beautiful to look at. I had

to work hard. I would finish all the works of my house before time and

then go in bhavpheri.” And reflecting upon her feelings after her son

moved out of the household Ma says: “God! How much difficulty you

want to give us it is for you to decide, but, we have made our decision: We

shall never leave you.”

Ma goes regularly to bhavpheri in the locality and to the women’s

center. Ma also visits many villages and wherever there is a women’s

meet Ma would definitely be there. Ma is a mother to Swadhyayees of

Veraval. She in her ripe age prepares food for many visitors and she also

prepares tiffin for other Swadhyayees like Pappot Bhai who stay in their

house once a week for one or two nights as he comes to take part in the

Jaayas and Avar meetings.

Jadavjee Bapa is a devoted participant in Swadhyaya but he is also a

careful observer. He knows who is involved with sincerity in Swadhyaya

and who is not. He also understands the problems that activists now face

to commit their times fully with Swadhyaya. During my last discussion

with him in 1999 Jadavjee Bapa told me: “That now everybody has to

spend so much time to make one’s both ends meet survival has become

difficult. This poses a great challenge to Swadhyaya.”

Jadavjee Bapa is a father figure to all the Swadhyayees of the district.

Bapa was a successful businessman and a banker and for the last many

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 179

years has given himself totally to Swadhyaya. He especially keeps the

account of Swadhyaya mega-prayogs such as Shridarshanam and Vriksha

Mandir. Whatever is provided from these is sold and the cash is brought to

Bapa. Bapa then deposits it in the respective bank accounts. Whenever

there is anything to be purchased or expense to be incurred, the

Swadhyayee motabhai in charge would have to send a letter of request to

Bapa detailing the expenses and also including justifications and only

after Bapa’s sanction, these expenses are to be undertaken and money

released. Bapa makes it clear that such a process of communication is not

authorisation; it is a matter of responsibility and maintaining purity and

trust on financial matters.

Jadavjee Bapa is one of the seniormost Swadhyayees of the town but

he considers Mudrika Behen a pioneer. Mudrika Behen was first to bring

the message of Swadhyaya to Veraval. She is also close to Dadaji.

Swadhyayees, especially Swadhyayee sisters, come to meet Mudrika

Behen. Until the construction of the Yogeshwara centre a year ago in

Veraval all the co-ordinating meetings of Swadhyaya were held in the

house of Mudrika Behen. During one of my earliest visits to Veraval, I

met with Muktha Behen Amrutaya, a Swadhyayee motibehen, from

Keshod. Keshod is around thirty kilometer from Veraval. During my early

days, all these places were seeming quite mysterious to me. But then I also

visited Muktha Behen in Keshod and spend a day with enthusiastic

Swadhyaya brothers concluding this with a visit to the Shridarshanam in

Keshod.

Dr G.B. Buha is an inspiring follower of Swadhyaya. He has his own

hospital in Veraval. Despite his busy schedule in the hospital he is keen to

spend time in Swadhyaya. This he considers it as his duty. Swadhyaya has

taught him that one should give ten per cent of one’s time to God: “. . . in

fact this is the time which belongs to God. This is nobody’s property.” He

says: “You can take two hours everyday or take out one Sunday a week.

But he says that he can devote twelve hrs every month—three hrs on the

taluka, three hour in the village, three hour in the city and three hour in

bhaktipheri. Dr Buha is a part of the intellectual group of Veraval and he

has to go to another county headquarter to take part in the meeting of the

intellectuals of Swadhyaya there once a month. For the last two years Dr

Buha has been going to Una. Dr Buha says, “In bhaktipheri night halt is a

must but because we are doctors we have had some concession. We used

to go in the morning and come back in the night. We used to meet the

intellectual group till the noon time. Sometimes we used to go to meet the

pujaris of Shridarshanam, sometimes visit a few Amrutalayam.”

180 Chapter 3

Buha tells us that he goes on bhaktipheri the day which is meant for

rest but he does not feel that he is working on his day of rest. Tapa for him

is not sitting cross-legged. “The meaning of Tapa is you could have

enjoyed this day with your family but instead you take your tiffin and go

in bhaktipheri. The meaning of Tapa is you have the prospect of being

humiliated in the street but you don’t care for it and go on any way for

God.

Going out for God is a dear activity in the life of Dr Buha. Dr Buha

goes out regularly in teerthayatra. During my discussion with him Dr

Buha was telling me about his teerthayatra to Porbandar. He stayed with

people from all social backgrounds and it helped him to sublimate his ego.

He was also able to focus on himself and his follow brothers as they had

kept themselves away from the media steered world—no newspaper, no

television.

What has been the impact of Swadhyaya on his development? He says

that the most important development has been discovering the life of

Bhava—emotion. When the general social collective and individual life is

characterized by a widespread Bhavakhalash (emptying of emotion), he is

able to lead a life in which there is a dance of Bhava, emotion. Devel-

opment of emotional life has meant an appropriate transformation of his

desire for sexual enjoyment, especially from his women clients. This

aspect of his self-development Dr Buha urges us to also to take note of. Dr

Buha says, “Each and everybody has some sexual perversion. In medical

profession there is a lot of temptation. While dealing with private parts

you want to enjoy. If you do not have the Swadhyaya background then the

thought of sex-enjoyments comes.” He gives the example: “I am going to

the village Simar. If some sister comes from that village then I look at her

as my daughter, sister, and mother. On the other hand, as a Swadhyaya

sister she would have restriction on her too.”

For Dr Buha, Swadhyaya encourages the development of Bhava

rather than gratification of sexual desire. In his words: “The problem is

that most of us are interested in enjoyment and our emotional life is

destroyed in the process. If we do practice, we do not get concentration, if

we do Bhakti we do not get tallenat—the feeling of immersion. In such a

way our bhavajibana becomes dry. For the play of Bhava one has to

prepare one’s heart, prepare the antakarana—inner instruments. If we

clear our garbage then only we can touch our pure self. For this we have to

purify our mind. Everyday we flagellate our mind so much that its

essential beauty gets destroyed.”

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 181

In Dr Buha’s interpretation, Bhava is central to Swadhyaya. Theprefix Bhava is there in all the themes and activities of Swadhyaya—Bhavgeet, Bhavpheri, Bhava Bandana. Bhava is nurtured and grow whenone goes out of one’s narrow self and establishes intimacy with the world.Psychotherapist Victor Frankl has written: “Self-transcendence is theforemost and paramount trait and feature of human experience insofar asman’s life always points to something beyond himself.” Bhava inSwadhyaya goes in such activities and moments of going beyond. Says DrBuha: “My child becomes only my child, I feel dear only to my childtherefore Bhava does not increase nor does it deepen. Atmiyata BadhetoBhava Badhta He—when your intimacy increases, your Bhavaenhances.”6

Swadhyayee Professionals of Veraval and the Calling of

Social Responsibility

In Veraval many professionals, especially doctors, are involved with the

work of Swadhyaya. In Veraval, there are many private clinics and practi-

tioners. There was a municipal hospital which some years ago must have

been a flourishing institution. But now cows and dogs are having a full

day in its compound. Around the space of the civil hospital have

mushroomed many private clinics and hospitals. Some doctors of these

private hospitals are active followers of Swadhyaya. They go in

bhaktipheri to the neighboring villages. But do they go in Swadhyaya

bhaktipheri to the neighboring villages so that people of the villages, or at

least, those who follow Swdhyaya would come to them? Do they join

Swadhyaya so that they can have a flourishing business? Dr Buha, an

inspiring follower of Swadhyaya, tells us that even if such an interested

motivation might have been there with some professionals in the

beginning, but in the process of participation with Swadhyaya this is

getting transformed. As a result of participation in Swadhyaya profes-

sional rivalry gets reduced as well. There also takes place a subtle change

in oneself which one cannot quantity. Says one doctor: “Suppose I am a

professional. A client comes to me. I become nice to him. But when in

your thoughts you have the other person as your brother there is the

difference. You can feel that when as a Swadhyayee you touch that child

there is difference in the treatment itself. The healing would be better.

This can only be experienced not narrated.” Another doctor says: “Before

Swadhyaya came to my life if one patient did not respond properly then I

used to be angry. But not any more. However, spirituality has no

182 Chapter 3

parameter. It is I who only know what change I have within myself. Other

people can know about it only slowly.”

In April 1997 I had a discussion with around thirty well-placed

professionals, teachers, business people and other highly placed activists

of Swadhyaya. This included lawyers, doctors, business people and also

people like Mansukhbhai Datroja who works in the telephone department.

In our discussion I was particularly interested to understand what is the

impact of Swdhyaya on the professionals. Many of them told me that

Swadhyaya encourage them to have a more humanistic relationship.

Mr Chandnani is an advocate. What is the impact of Swadhyaya on

him? Says Mr Chandnani: “In our profession producing false witness is

quite common. Sometimes the advocates instigate the clients at a

pre-litigation stage. As a Swadhyayee you do not go for either of these.

The judicial profession has an integrity and to protect it one needs to have

fearlessness. Swadhyaya creates fearlessness within you. I am polite but

we do not succumb to pressure.”

In my discussion with the professionals I was interested in the issue of

poverty and social responsibility of the professionals to those who do not

have money to obtain professional service. Speaking of the legal scene

Chandnani says: There are governmental ways of helping. In extreme

cases I offer my service as a Bhakti without any expectation.” For him,

“giving free service to all the poor people is not the only evidence of one’s

vocation of responsibility. As a senior advocate many younger advocates

work with him and he considers it his duty to give two advocates of whom

society can be proud.”

On the issue of free service to be imparted to poor people, there were

interesting discussions. One doctor says, “If for eradicating poverty you

want to open annachatras we are not definitely for it. In Swadhyaya we

give but we do so without beating the drum.” Other doctors raised the

issue of ultimate motif. Says Dr Amit Thakkar, the enthusiastic young

Swadhyaya opthalmologist, “In Veraval I have seen three-four doctors

who are seeing patients free of charge. They at least see ten patients free

of charge everyday. They are doing it but they do not know why they are

doing it. They are doing it to serve the poor but we are doing it as our

Bhakti.” Dr Thakkar has an implicit sense of superiority than it is

Swadhyayees who have better self-knowledge. The all-pervasive

distinction between social service and Bhakti appears in this narration as

well. For Dr Thakkar, the desire for name and fame is there behind those

who offer free service. He says: “If I do free operation for fifty people, the

next day my name would come in the newspaper. But does it solve the

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 183

problem?” Another Doctor who is a pediatrician says: “Other doctors give

free service but they do this to keep a particular group in good humor. The

person who is poor is nowhere in the picture. They give free service to

keep the recommender happy and create a clientele. But I am not going to

do this. We try to see that the particular case is genuine.”

Swadhyaya has the experiment of Patanjali Chikitsalaya in the tribal

areas. It gives the service of the medical consultation. I was curious to

learn why there is no Patanjali Chikitsalaya in Veraval. One participant

said: “Dadaji gives Patanjali Chikitsalaya only in rural areas. We have to

see that this does not create mophatiabrutti (a free riding attitude).” What

he is suggesting is that if Patanjali Chikitsalaya is opened in a city like

Veraval it would stimulate the desire to get things free on the part of the

people. But it might, as well have been the case that opening a Patanjali

Chikitsalaya in Veraval might involve a conflict of interest on the part of

the doctors.

How do the Swadhyaya professionals look at the problem of poverty?

Mr Chandrani, the advocate, says that poverty is the product of your

prabardha karma (prior karma, or work). All the professionals present

reiterated that poverty can not be solved by just giving away money: “We

have to create self-confidence in the poor.” Another doctor said: “If for

eradication of poverty you want to open free soup kitchen then

Swadhyaya is not for it. For the Swadhyayee professionals, as for a

majority of Swadhyayees, eradicating poverty is not the goal of

Swadhyaya. If people come out of poverty as a result of the work of

Swadhyaya or their participation in it then it is a ‘bye product’.

But I told them whether there is scope for further critical thinking in

this field. In facing poverty, what we are dealing with is not only relative

poverty which constitutes the frame of reference for a majority of

Swadhyayees but also absolute poverty. In such case, “poverty is not a

matter of one’s fault; one is born into it. If you consider poverty eradi-

cation as the bye product of your work then obviously you do not want to

tackle poverty. You do not want to take moral responsibility for the poor

around you. Does your approach not unconsciously reiterate that “poverty

will not go, it is the attitude to poverty that has to go?”

This was enough to provoke the Swadhyayees who are usually

sthitapragnyas (people of equanimity). Says Dr Santwani: “We give but

we do not beat the drum.” On the way back Jadavjee Bapa told me that by

question on poverty was an awkward question. Neither Swadhyaya nor

Dadaji has a magic wand to solve the problem of poverty.

184 Chapter 3

Some Other Important Swadhyaya Prayogs

(a) Goras

Goras is an important prayog of Swadhyaya. It is active in many villages

of Veraval and Ajotha and Sukhpur stand out as leading villages in terms

of this milk project. In Goras those who have milch animals bring their

milk and sell to Goras. In the village those who do not have milch animals

come and purchase this.

Another reason behind starting Goras is that in Gujarati villages milk

is given to the outside dairy who come and take all the good milk of the

village even to the point, that milk producing families themselves do not

have creamy milk left for themselves, what to speak of those who do not

have milch animals. Goras is a spiritiual alternative to such commercial-

ization. Like all Swadhyaya socio-economic prayogs, it is run on the basis

of shramabhakti and with an objective to generate Mahalaxmi. Those who

have milk bring it to Goras and then it is sold at a margin of one rupee.

This margin leads to the generation of impersonal wealth. This milk is

pure unadulterated milk. In villages usually when one sells milk one adds

two liters of water to one liter of milk.

Ajotha is known for its constancy of the Goras prayog and in this 20

to 25 families are constantly associated with for the last eight years.

Karshan Bhai is the motabhai of Goras in Ajotha. He works in a neigh-

boring mine. He told me that in Goras they collect milk early in the

morning and then send it to Veraval as there is not much demand for milk

in the village. To do work Swadhyayee brothers come in the morning.

Sisters come in the evening to clean the utensils. Karshan Bhai told me

that from the Mahalaxmi of Goras they have given prasad to two people

for purchasing buffaloes.

I had first seen the Goras prayog in Sukhpur. Here the Swadhyayees

were bringing milk and they themselves were taking it as prasad as there

was no further demand in the village. Swadhyayees were doing this as

part of their spiritual commitment but this has now stopped in Sukhpur.

Ajotha has a beautiful Amrutalayam near the village river and their

Amrutalayam has beautiful garden. Building both must have taken a lot of

labor from the villagers. But Swadhyaya activists of Ajotha are a deter-

mined lot. What is distinctive is that Ajotha is the only village in Veraval

where they take two crops, and even sometimes three crops from their

Yogeshwara Krishi.

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 185

I had gone to Ajotha on July 29, 1997. As I was leaving the village, I

asked friends about Sutrapara. Sutrapara is a coastal town like Veraval.

On being told that it is not far, I went to Sutrapara from Ajotha. The

purpose of my going there was to meet with Harish Bhai Patel. Harish

Bhai works in a factory in Sutrapara and I had met him in Veraval a few

days ago. The purpose of my bringing the narration of Harish Bhai is to

introduce the notion of sattwik jhagda (spiritual quarrel) that Harsha

Behen, Harish Bhai’s wife, had told me. Says Harsha Behen, “When we

got married, I continued my reading of Hindi novels. We used to go to

pictures. But after joining Swadhyaya the money we were spending on

pictures is now being spent on busfare and bhaktipheri. Previously our

quarrel was materialistic, now it is spiritual.” Harsha Behen further says,

“We now have spiritual jealousy. When we see another person doing

more of God’s work we would like to do more work. We now want to be

better persons and to be able to do more prabhukarya [God’s work] than

others.”7

(b) Parivara Store and Phatkada Store

Parivara Store is a prayog for the business people. It is a store where

Swadhyayees come and run the store on the basis of Bhakti. It is where

Swadhyayees learn how to do business in a spiritual way. I had seen two

Parivara Store—one in the fisherman’s village in Valsad and other in

Junagarh. One Swadhyayee in Junagarh commented while explainning

the philosophy of Parivar Store: “People in religion have made temple

into business place, now Swadhyaya want to make business place a place

of worship.”

Could we say that there is a spiritual work of intervening in the

market? This is so only to a limited extent, but, in case of the Phatakada

store or the cracker store prayog of Swadhyaya—the spiritual intervention

becomes much more sharp and clear. In Phatakada store, Swadhyayees

keep fire crackers during Deepavali and sell it with nominal margin. As

can be well appreciated Deepavali is an important festival in Gujarat and

it has a special significance in Swadhyaya as during Deepavali

Swadhyayees go from one village to another and come back en masse. But

during Deepavali businessmen selling crackers sell with an astronomical

margin. Some Swadhyayee businessmen in Baroda thought that this is

quite unjust. So they started selling crackers on the Swadhyaya principle.

186 Chapter 3

Phatkada Store and the Spiritual Mode of Intervention in the Market

Swadhyaya brings an alternative mode of engagement to business people.

There are many Swadhyaya prayogs such as Parivara Stores which gives

an alternative mode of engagement to the business people. In Baroda there

is a Swadhyaya experiment called Phatkada Stores. This sells fire

crackers to interested people during Deepavali at a reasonable rate with

only a nominal margin. Pradeep Bhai Parekh, a chartered accountant of

Baroda, is one of the main protagonists of this prayog. Pradeep Bhai says

that fire cracker business is one in which business people just loot the

customers. “There is no principle in this business; they charge 300 to 400

per cent interest.” But in Parivara Phatkada Stores, says Pradeep Bhai:

“We sell firecrackers at a cheaper price. In Baroda we have 400 people

doing selfless work during this period. Hundreds of people stand in a que

to get this cracker.”

Pradip Bhai says that there are now hundred Phatkada Stores run by

Swadhyaya Parivara in Gujarat. This figure was in 1997 and since then

this number must have increased manifold. In the words of Pradip Bhai:

“As a result of our work for the last ten years, a regulation has come to the

market. Now the Fire Cracker Association of Gujarat has decided that

they would sell firecrackers at the rate at which the Parivara Store sells.

This is because of the Phatkada store movement in Gujarat. This would

not have been possible even Swadhyayees had appealed other

Swadhyayee firecracker sellers to sell at a reasonable price. But a

sustained movement/effort in changing the terms of the market has made

this possible.” This has been possible for Pradeep Bhai by the application

of the Swadhyaya principle of ‘Bhakti is a social force’. In his words:

“This is [i.e., Bhakti is a social force] is the master key with which you can

open any lock.” Bringing Bhakti to business is meant to transform

business. In such a practice customer is treated not only worthy of more

respect but also as a God. In Pradeep Bhai’s words: “The customer is

treated as a human being. Moreover there is God within the customer.

This is one step ahead of Gandhi’s notion. God is within the customer and

you cannot cheat God.”

(c) Hira Mandir

There are many diamond crushing factories in Ahmedabad, Surat,

Bombay and Baroda. What is interesting that these factories are seen also

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 187

in villages now. For instance in the village Ambavadi in Una I had seen

one diamond factory. The town of Una has many diamond factories. The

laborers of these factories also come to Swadhyaya. They constitute quite

a huge number and Dadaji has given a new name to them: Ratna

Kalakaras—the artistics makers of diamonds. He has also given the

prayog of Hira Mandir or the temple of Diamond to them.

(d) Teerthayatra

Teerthayatra is an important prayog of Swadhyaya. Pilgrimage is central

to many religions and it is also important in Hinduism, especially under-

taking pilgrimage to those places such as Kashi, Rameswaram and

Somnath which have a ritual significance. But in Swadhyaya, the

pilgrimage is becoming decentred. There are two kinds of pilgrimages in

Swadhyaya—the local pilgrimage, and pilgrimage to far off places such

as Kurukhestra, Nanded etc. Swadhyaya organizes parapranta

bhaktipheri—bhaktipheri in outside regions—in historically, mythically,

and spiritually significant places such as Nanded in Maharashtra and

Kurukhestra in Haryana. The parapranta bhaktipheri gives an oppor-

tunity to Swadhyayees to visit different places. In the local bhaktipheri

Swadhyayees do pilgrimage in a local area. During this they are away

from their normal routine work. Says Dr Buha of Veraval about his

experience in local pilgrimages. “I had gone to Porbandar. For one week

we did not read newspapers. The group to which I belonged had people

from different backgrounds.”

(e) Patrapheri

The experiments we have discussed so far have been given by Dadaji. Of

course, these prayogs have emerged out of continuous interaction of

Swadhyayees on the ground. But there is one prayog which emerged out

of an individual’s creative innovation and has not yet received the official

nomenclature. This is patrapheri—the movement of letters. This rhymes

well and corresponds to the foundational Swadhyaya practices of

bhavpheri and Bhaktipheri. Mr. U.P. Shenoi, a senior Swadhyayee of

Dahisar, Bombay is the creative innovator of this Swadhyaya experiment

of spreading the message of Swadhyayaa and touching human heart by

writing passonate letters.

188 Chapter 3

Shenoyji writes passonate letters to many people. He comes to

important Swadhyaya meetings, meets new people and then writes to

them. He writes about his experience of Swadhyaya work. For example

since 1997, Shenoyji has been going on bhaktiperi to Kanipura

Shridarshanam near Ahmedabad. He is accompanied by other

Swadhyayees from Dahisar and comes to a remote village called Siapura.

In one of his letters Shenoyji describes his experience of bhaktipheri: “I

sing Maratha Bhavgeet there even though people there did not know

Marathi. People in the village asked me to speak to them in Kannada.

People were touched by the fact that despite myself being 76, I am

active.”

Mr G.T. Ratnagrahee is a senior Swadhyayee and stays in Calcutta.

There is Swadhyaya work in Calcutta and West Bengal. Ratnagrahee and

Swadhyayees of Calcutta assemble every morning in a park and do

morning prayer together. Shenoyji told me that it is Ratnagrahee which

has given the term Patrapheri to Shenoyji’s passionate engagement with

others through writing letters.

Students of social movements now tell us of the significance of music

and songs in the mobilization of self and society (Eyerman & Jamison

1998). But alongside the significance of music is the vital role of personal

relationships. This personal relationship is cultivated and nurtured

through both face-to-face meeting and writing of letters. In Swadhyaya’s

parlance, patrapheri and bhaktipheri supplement each other. Though

Swadhyayees have not yet become self-conscious about it but the

passonate experiment of Shenoyji points us to the role of heart touching

communication through letters in the mobilization of Swadhyaya. This

becomes clear in the following narration of Arvind Bhai Narsana, an

important leader of Swadhyaya in Junagarh: “When I joined Swadhyaya,

Gokuldas Bhai was coming regularly to Junagarh. We used to meet but

after going back to Bombay he would write me long, long letters. These

letters were very helpful. I used to share with him my doubts and

experience and he would write me back. If I had saved all these letters it

would have been many books”.

To come back to Shenoyji, Shenoyji joined Swadhyaya quite late. In

fact, he came to know it only in Baharin where he had gone on a banking

assignment after his retirement from a bank in Bombay. In bringing him

to Swadhyaya a young man in Baharin—Dayanand Bhai—played an

important role. Dayanand Bhai was at that time teaching yoga in Baharin.

Both of them now stay in the same Dahisar area of Bombay. Shenoyji

spends his time in writing and talking about Swadhyaya.

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 189

This innovator of the new Swadhyaya prayog is an emotionally

intense man. But at the same time he is a critical observer. He is critical of

anything that comes in the way of purity of selfless participation. Shenoyji

had introduced me to a devoted Swadhyayee in Dahisar. He is Bhikha

Bhai Mistry. Bhikha Bhai is a carpenter. Shenoyji told me that even

though Bhikha Bhai is a devoted participant of Swadhyaya and he and his

wife do Bhakhipheri in Rajasthan against the background of great

personal odds, Bhikha Bhai is not given any leadership responsibility in

the local Swadhyaya work. The other critical observation that Shenoyji

makes relates to those people who would like to talk about themselves

endlessly and bolster their egos during bhaktipheri. While talking about

bhaktipheri oneday Shenoyji brought me to the house of a fellow

Swadhyayee. On coming back from meeting with him Shenoyji said:

“You see he told you that he has a fax machine at home by God’s grace.

He tells about his fax machine to the villagers in Siapura.” Shenoyji tells

that to talk about fax machine to villagers who have not seen telephone is

a way of bolstering one’s ego and since the core goal of Swadhyaya is

transcending one’s ego, one should be always on the guard about it.

But it has not been all easy for Shenoyji even after coming to

Swadhyaya. In recent years, Shenoyji has suffered bouts of mental

depression. He sometimes feels, as his son Arvind told me, that he is not a

perfect Swadhyayee. When I met him a year ago he expressed his regret

that because of mental depression he could not attend the inauguration of

Amrutalayam in his dear village Siapura—the Shridarshanam village

where he had been going on bhaktipheri for the last many years. Even

after depression he had gone to this Shridarshanam village once but he

was not his usual self there and he was almost totally silent.

But before his depression in 1999 Shenoyji had become a bit disen-

chanted with his practice of writing long letters. He tended to agree with

his wife’s admonition: “You are writing long letters but who reads these?”

On his experience of patrapheri, Shenoyji says: “I want to give but people

are not there to receive it. I have been writing to an industrialist. I wonder

whether I should give my bhaktipheri report to him. My wife is honest

that I am wasting my energy, money and time. But I have the unshakeable

faith.”

I myself have been one of the beneficiaries of Shenoyji’s patrapheri.

We met at a Swadhyaya meet for intellectuals in Trichy, Tamil Nadu, in

March 1997. While leaving the place we accidentally ran into each other.

Then I was surprised to get a very touching, and of course, a big letter

from Sheroyji. Over the years Shenoyji has sent many letters to me.

190 Chapter 3

Shenoyji has been carrying out a long correspondence with Mr Balu of

Chennai. Balu believes in Gyana Yoga, Shenoyji believes on the

integration between Gyana and Karma through Bhakti. Through practice

of patrapheri Shenoyji carried out an intense conversation with him on

this and Shenoyji sometimes thinks of publishing this correspondence as a

book.

A Glimpse into the Work of Swadhyaya in Junagarh:

Arvind Bhai Narasana and Birendra Bhai Patel

Arvind Bhai Narasana is a pioneer of Swadhyaya in Junagarh which is an

autonomous Swadhyaya district like Veraval. Junagarh Swadhyaya

district has 450 villages and Arvind Bhai says that he has live contact with

people in all these villages. Arvind Bhai believes in live human contact.

He says: “These days when relatives come to your house you feel allergy

but Dadaji has taught us how to generate energy.”

Arvind Bhai has a very interesting life-trajectory. He comes from a

village where there was not much scope for education. He came to

Veraval for his college education and stayed there for six years with a

relative. This relative introduced him to local RSS Sakha “that is how he

became part of RSS. But in 1962 he came in touch with Gokul Das Bapa,

a Swadhyayee from Bombay. He was writing him long letters. Says

Arvind Bhai, “These letters were big; on a four page letter three pages

were devoted to Swadhyaya. But the minute I came to the page of

Swadhyaya I used to tear off the letter.” But after ten years Arvind Bhai

joined Swadhyaya.

Arvind Bhai was then working in the sales tax department in

Junagarh. After seven years with Swadhyaya he realized that he needs to

devote full time with Swadhyaya. It seems he had two considerations

here: first the propensity for corruption in a government department like

sales tax and the need to have unrestricted free time. With these in mind

and being intoxicated with the love of Swadhyaya he decided to resign.

As can be appreciated all these acts are acts for heroic narration both

with the self as well as the community. His fellow officers as well as his

relatives warned him “Oh you are leaving your job. If you do not have

money even if you do God’s work then nobody would care for you.

Moreover how are you going to marry off your children.” But Arvind

Bhai was not deterred by these. His wife not having any strong objection

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 191

was a help. Says Arvind Bhai, “My officer kept my resignation for twenty

days. Then I went to the higher authority in Rajkot to press him to accept

my resignation. Even during my farewell ceremony my superior asked me

if I would like to change my mind.”

At that time a Vriksha Mandir (tree temple) was being built near

Rajkot. He came to work with the Vriksha Mandir and lived in six

surrounding villages for a year. “Staying for a week in a village and then

going to another.” He had brought his stove and lived with roti (bread)

and milk. This was a helpful preparation for him to grow in the discipline

of Swadhyaya

Arvind Bhai makes it clear, “We do not do any favor to Swadhyaya

rather it is Swadhyaya which does favor to us. There has been no stop in

my work”. From the beginning Arvind Bhai has been in direct contact

with Dadaji and Dadaji has taken a personal interest in him. He asked me

to get my daughter married when she is eighteen and not to wait till she

becomes a graduate. “If she has to be a graduate then she can do so in her

sasural [father-in-law’s house].”

Arvind Bhai was staying in a rented house which belonged to his

married sister’s family. After years they wanted to sell off his house. One

Swadhyayee from abroad purchased this house and Arvind Bhai is now

renting this from him.

In our discussion I requested Arvind Bhai to reflect upon his

experience with RSS and Swadhyaya. For him, ten to twenty per cent of

Swadhyayees are from RSS background. In the beginning he had ‘allergy’

while meeting with Muslims but now he feels the need for inclusion of the

other. He says “with anti-Muslim stance we cannot keep our country

secured.” Arvind Bhai was earlier thinking a bit in the RSS mode. He told

me that once he was given a memo by his superior from being absent from

work. This was in early seventies when he had just joined Swadhyaya. He

had told his boss: “You should have asked me before issuing me a memo.

A Muslim can absent himself from work on a Friday but do not we Hindus

have any need for religious activity? . . . a Muslim can get the leave for

Him but cannot we get any leave?” But now he feels the need for love and

constructive work. He says: “If we accept Muslims as our brothers than

the problem would be solved. The key issue for Dadajee is what are we

doing for the thing on which we have our love. In RSS also cultural work

takes place but it is more sangharsha (confrontation), less rachanatmaka

(constructive).”

Birendra Bhai Bhatt is a co-worker of Arvind Bhai in Swadhyaya in

Junagarh. Birendra Bhai is a young assistant professor in Gujarat

192 Chapter 3

Agricultural University in Junagah but while talking to him one cannot

but appreciate his depth and wisdom. During our conversation I was

particularly interested to hear from him his views on the issue of the

decline of public institutions and responses of Swadhyayees to it. He said:

“The teachers of a village school usually do not stay there and he does not

have any relationship with the village. But wherever there is a

Swadhyayee teacher he would think that he is not coming there to collect

the salary only. One of the Swadhyayee teachers has got the state and

national award for excellence in teaching. Furthermore, thirty to

thrity-five teachers of primary school assemble once a year and meet with

students.”

Birendra Bhai suggests that Swadhyayees are not completely uncon-

cerned about the fate of public institutions.

The Work of Swadhyaya in Other Parts of India:

Devi Dayal Bhai of Kurukhestra

Devi Dayal Bhai is a devoted follower of Dadaji. Devi Dayal Bhai stays in

Jyotishar, Kurukhestra. He comes from a village near Karnal. From the

beginning, Devi Dayal Bhai has been looking for a life of divinity. He

visited many religious groups and organizations. But he was not satisfied.

Other religions promised him a better life in the other world but he was

interested in a good life in this world. Devi Dayal Bhai came to

Swadhyaya after his forty-sixth encounters with other new religious

groups. He was working as a Deputy Director in the State Department of

Agriculture. He wanted to earn but at the same time he was in search of

good thought. In his wanderings, Devi Dayal Bhai realized that the

leaders of religions do not give the love to people which they should give.

Devi Dayaljee first met Dadaji in 1979. There was a big meeting in

Kurukhestra where Dadaji had come. In 1983, Devi Dayaljee had

resigned from his position in the government. He came to Jyotishar near

Kurukhestra. He and his family were staying on a rented house near

Jyotishar. His children must have been quite young then. His elder son

works as a clerk in the court at Ambala. He also had taken a short course at

the Vidyapeeth. His younger son now helps him in the farm. He works

hard. He is appearing in private for his M.A. in Economics. Then the

Yogeshwara Education Trust was formed. This is basically farming

center. It seems that Swadhyaya purchased this piece of land and has

entrusted Devi Dayal Bhai with the task of taking care of this from which

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 193

Devi Dayal Bhai also seems to draw his livelihood. There is a house inside

this farm in which Devi Dayaljee and his family stay. This farm is run on

the basis of shramabhakti. I asked Devi Dayaljee how does he manage

without a regular salary. Devi Dayaljee replied: “If your needs are

minimum then you can manage this.” Devi Dayaljee had gone the other

day to sell the produces of the farm and he faced an accident. For him, it

could have been worse but for the grace of God.

I asked Devi Dayaljee about his resignation from the government. He

said, “It is difficult to combine government work with Swadhyaya work.

In governmental work, one cannot avoid corruption and pressure from

politicians.” He tells us the following about himself and Swadhyaya:

(a) He likes to be a Krutisheel. “I took the view to visit villages. Even if

there is storm on the way, I would.” Even though he works very hard,

he feels that it is not easy to spread the message of Swadhyaya in

Haryana as most of the people are prosperous. “When there is

prosperity, people forget God. With prosperity comes proliferation of

different religious denominations whose leaders come to take

donation from people.”

(b) While going to villages, he has to wait for people. He cannot follow a

strict time schedule. People do not know the value of time. In his

words: “They do not understand the significance of time but I cannot

tell them.” He thinks that the Swadhyaya work is deep and this work

should not be done in a hurry. In his words: “They do not understand

the significance of time but I cannot tell them. Swadhyaya work is

deep and it should not be done in a hurry.”

(c) Devi Dayaljee stresses that the work of Swadhyaya in Haryana is

going on in accordance with Swadhyaya, the Swadhyaya code of

conduct. It is also going on with purity. He takes special pride in the

fact that the whole family is involved in the work of Swadhyaya

(d) The work of Swadhyay in Haryana started in 1983. The work of

Swadhyaya goes on in the following districts: Kurukhestra, Karnal,

Jamuna Nagar, Ambala, Kathol and the neighboring district of Patiala

in Punjab. There are 280 Swadhya Kendras in Haryana.

(e) For Devi Dayadjee, Bhakti can solve every problem but for this one

must have a correct understanding of Bhakti. Devi Dayaljee thinks

that in the present day world there has been a bit of “unnecessary

spirituality. It is not necessary to know whether the person with whom

you are talking is a Hindu or not”.

194 Chapter 3

(f) Many people think that if they had not joined Swadhyaya then they

would have reached a bottomless pit but Devi Dayaljee thinks

otherwise. He thinks: “It is not that if you are not a Swadhyayee, you

can not be good but if you are a Swadhyayee, your capacity to be good

is facilitated and enhanced.”

Manushya Gaurav Din and a Brief Glimpse into the Work of

Swadhyaya in Bombay

Bombay is the headquarters of Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya is active in

different neighborhoods of Bombay. It is also the site of mega Swadhyay

activities such as Manushya Gaurav Din—day for the celebration of

human dignity—on the birth anniversary of Dadaji. I had taken part in the

Manushya Gaurav Din in 1996. It is helpful to get a glimpse of the work of

Swadhyaya in Bombay through this special activity. Different locales of

Bombay where Swadhyaya is active was ago with many activities.

Swadhyayees from Gujarat as well as from all parts of the world had come

to take part in it. There was also Swadhyaya street play in different neigh-

borhoods of Bombay. This street play was enacted by a youth group from

Bombay.

It is helpful here to know a bit about the content of the street play. I

had seen this street play thrice in Kandivelli, once in a slum, during

Manushya Gaurav Din in October 1996. The lead actor came and began:

“Oh distinguished guests please come, put your feet on this soil and put

your hands on your stomach. And tell me what do you need? Everybody

needs something.” The street play offered a critique of welfarism and the

penchant to offer relief. In one of the scenes, another boy says: “Oh why

do not anything happen here, why there is no drought, no flood.” Through

various such scenes in which penchant for need generation as well the

desire to get relief and the futility of all these are shown, finally one

person in the village says: “Oh, now I remember somebody had come to

me. Somebody had come to me. He had not come to solve any problem,

offer any help, provide any relief. He had come only to say that he is our

brother. He did not come to give me anything or take anything from me.

Sirif Bhai Charka Rasta Lekar Ayatha—He had come only with the path

of brotherhood.” Then another villager asked in exclamation. “The path of

brotherhood?” Then the actor said: “Yes! Only brotherhood. From this a

bigger family would emerge.” Then he said: “Oh! This man was saying

that the only thing we need is God. But God does not stay in heaven or the

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 195

temple. God is in our heart, God is not big and man small! There is a need

to enhance the glory of both God and man”. Then the villagers recalled

that the person who had told this was in Swadhyaya bhaktipheri. Then

many people in the village in the last scene of the street threatre said:

“Hame Jarurat He Swadhyaya Vicharo ke, Hame Jarurat He Is

Swadhyaya Vichara ke—We have the need for Swadhyaya thought, we

have the need for this Swadhyaya thought.”

Swadhyayees try to transmit their core messages through street play at

the core of which lies a critique of superficial welfarism, beggary and an

emphasis on self-realization and god realization in varieties of ways.

These street plays are now important part of mobilization at the local level

as well as in supra-regional and global Swadhyaya activities such as

Krutagnyata Samaroha and Manushya Gaurav Din. I had a discussion

with the participants of this street play. Nimesh was one of the players. He

said: “We do not feel tired while enacting the drama; we are also not

affected by the response of the people, our purpose is not to create an

impact. This is only the side effect.”

In Kandavelli, the street theatre was enacted in different housing

societies and slums. Pankaj Bhai then an important leader of Swadhyaya

in Kandavelli said: “I had a blanket permission to conduct the theatre in

any of the housing society in the area.”

There was the Manushya Gaurav celebration on the Chaupathi

Bombay on October 19, 1996. There was a huge celebration with Dadaji

and Didi on the dais. The dais was shared by some leading intellectuals,

journalists, politicians and religious leaders of the country such as L.K.

Advani, Gopinath Munde, N.R. Sheth, J.P.S. Uberoi, and Maulana

Wahauddin. There was a long procession to the venue before the program

in Chaupathi began. Different groups within Swadhyaya Parivara with

their own distinct identities and prayogs had taken part in it. For example,

the Sagaraputras had their prayog of Matsyagandha seated on a moving

cart while the Yuva Behenas had their own procession. Different commu-

nities had their representations in the rally. The rally was so big that it

took nearly an hour to pass by at a particular juncture.

Differrent people on the dias showered their praise on Dadaji. Some

were quite lavish, one journalist said if all the eleven noble prize owners

of the year are put on one side, they would not still equal to the weight of

Dadaji. In his speech Dadaji spoke about the necessity for steadfastness in

character what he called sheela. He said that sheela is a chemical

compound consisting of gratefulness, radiance, asmita (dignity and

196 Chapter 3

affirmativeness) and namrata (humility). He said everybody should strive

for “Atma Gaurav and Parsamman”—“dignity of self and respect for

others”.

In his discourse, the meeting being held in 1996, Dadaji had an

indirect hit at Sankar Singh Waghela, then BJP Chief Minister of Gujarat,

for failing in political morality and engineering large-scale defection. This

had led to the downfall of the—then BJP Government in Gujarat. But his

speech had no critique of political immorality involved in the

communalization of politics. While L.K. Advani and Vijaya Raje Scindia

were on the dais, there were no communist leader present nor any political

leader from the Dalit community.

Swadhyaya works in different parts of Bombay such as Kandivelli,

Borivelli, Mulund, Dahisar, etc. In all these places there are some key

Swadhyaya actors. Pankaj Bhai Thakkar was an active worker with

Swadhyaya in Kandivelli until his expulsion from Swadhyaya in 2001.

Pankaj Bhai was breathing with Swadhyaya. Pankaj Bhai prepared scripts

for the drama that the local Swadhyaya youth had to enact. For example

during Ramnavami in 1999 Pankaj Bhai prepared a script on “Katha

Ramki Byatha Manavki [The story of Rama, and the pain of Humanity].”

The title itself suggests the need to understand the pathos and pain

generated from the political use of Rama. The night we visited Pankaj

Bhai, Pankaj Bhai received four of his co-Swadhyaya activists at 10 in the

night. They all including Pankaj Bhai had worked hard all through out the

day and they would continue till 1 AM to finalize this script. They would

also meet the next night to give this a finishing touch. It is this aspect of

creative life of Swadhyayees which we need to understand.

In his study of the Swaminarayan Hinduism, Williams (2001) tells us

about the creative role played by Swaminarayanees in enriching Gujarati

language and literature. Swadhyayees similarly are engaged in a creative

enrichment of their languages and literature. They write Bhavageets,

dramas, etc. Shenoyji who had accompanied me was struck by the

commitment and devotion to create transformation on the part of Pankaj

Bhai and his co-workers. He commented: “One excels the other”. On this

dimension of creativity of Swadhyaya work, Shenoyji however urges us

to think further. Shenoyji is a senior Swadhyaee in Bombay. He intro-

duces himself. “I am seventy-six year young.” Shenoyji is a voracious

reader. He has a deep interest in literature, especially the Kannada liter-

ature. Shenoyji looks at this study of literature as complementary to

Swadhyaya. But for Shenoyji, “many other Swadhyayees do not realize

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 197

this complementarity. They also do not write much.” This may be,

Shenoijee feels, due to Swadhyaya’s emphasis on travel and bhaktipheri.

With Shenoyji we can have a glimpse into the work of Swadhyaya in

Dahisar. There are several Swadhyaya Kendras in Dahisar. There are both

Swadhyaya Kendras in Gujarati and Marathi but there is no Video Kendra

in Marathi. There are some Gujarati Video Kendras to which Marathis go,

but, there is no Swadhyaya Kendra where Gujaratis and Marathis go

together.

There are three Marathi Kendras in Dahisar. There is a Marathi

Swadhyaya Kendra in Gao Devi Mandir. People of the neighboring

Gautham village come here and join it. Mr Tapade takes the Kendra here.

He is a devoted Swadhyaee. He is quite active in Swadhyaya. He has sent

his younger son to study in the Swadhyaya school in Nasik. He is not a

farmer, he is a salaried employee in Bombay. So in order to be eligible for

sending his son, he purchased a few acres of land. Oripara is one of the

locales of the greater Dahisar area. There lives an exemplary Swadhyaya

couple in Oripara. They are Bhikha Bhai Mistry and Rama Behen. Bhikha

Bhai works as a mason. They do not have a secured place to live. They

have been squatting in an abandoned house on the police colony for years.

Every now and then the police would come and throw away their

belongings and they would come again after a few days. In spite of this

difficulty they continue with their Swadhyaya work. They not only work

in their area, they go in bhaktipheri to Rajasthan once every two months

along with 135 other such Swadhyayees from Bombay.

During our meeting Rama Behen and Bhikha Bhai narrated their

experience of bhaktipheri in Rajasthan. They go to a village of Rabbaris,

shepherds. The people in this village at first were surprised at their regular

visit. They used to wonder: “Why are you coming? If you have some ideas

why do not you put it in the newspaper?” Bhika Bhai was first going alone

to Rajasthan but when Rama Behen joined him it became easier to

establish intimacy in the village.

Bhikha Bhai is a devoted worker of Swadhyaya but he does not have a

higher position in the leadership structure. Based upon his experience it is

easy to surmise that Swadhyaya is dominated by rich people but Shenoyji

adds a new perspective: “My son-in-law is an industrialist. He never

comes to Swadhyaya because he thinks it is the fate of the poor people to

be in Swadhyaya.”

Dayananda Bhai had started the Swadhyaya Kendra in Oripara.

Dayananda Bhai is an active worker. He had gone to Baharin that is where

he had met Shenoyji and introduced him to Swadhyaya. Upon return to

198 Chapter 3

India he settled down in Dahisar and has been working with the local

Swadhyaya Kendras since 1988. He had saved some money from his

overseas work and has not taken up any other job. He is not married and

gives full time to Swadhyaya He has started the Swadhyaya Kendra in

Oripara. There is the Marathi Kendra here and now it has become

self-dynamic. The premise where the Swadhyaya Kendra is held belongs

to the local chapter of Shiv Sena. After establishing the Kendra in Oripara

Dayananda Bhai goes to another place called Pankarapara.

A Visit to Madhavbag Pathasala

Madhavbag Pathasala is the place where Dadaji gives his weeklydiscourse on Gita. He has been giving this discourse since 1942. What isinteresting is that Swadhyaya does not own this place, it rents the premisefrom a Trust and temple which originally owns it. Every Sunday morningSwadhyayees from all over Bombay descend on the Pathasala to hearDadaji which they consider as nectar. It is a period in the week which allSwadhyayees look forward to. Sometimes people from outside Bombayalso plan their schedule and visit to Bombay in such a manner to be able toattend to Dadaji’s talk. I had taken part in Dadaji’s Pravachana on March8, 1999. My note on that day may be of interest to the readers:

March 8, 1999

Yesterday myself and Shenoyji went to Madhavbag Pathasala. Shenoyji

has purchased a 1st class quarter year pass in order to be able to visit

Madhavbag Pathasala. On this train station, we met one Ratnakalakar,

one Mr. Dimbar. We also met with a senior handicapped person. He sat

besides Shenoyji. Then we got down at the railway station. One indus-

trialist Mr. Prakash Nayak was waiting for Shenoyji at the train station.

Then we walked up to Madhavbag Pathasala.

Madhavbag Pathasala had a beautiful atmosphere yesterday. People

wanting to sit on the 1st floor had come by 8 AM and had been waiting

there for two hours. Some of the visiting Swadhyayees from Rajasthan

had reached the Pathasala by 6 to 7 AM. I had met with them at one

Swadhyaya brother’s place. Some of the Swadhyayees were sitting on

the ground. They were sitting on the ground to be able to have a

Darshan of Dada. We sat in one of the big halls on the ground floor.

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 199

Dadaji did not give the Pravachan but one of his earlier Pravachans

was shown on video. It was a moving pravachan—Dadaji spoke about

the need for having dheya (goal) in our lives.

Prakash Bhai, Shejojee and myself were sitting together. Prakash Bhai

stayed on till 1.30 PM. He was moved by the fact that there was no

exchange of visiting cards for selling business orders there. After the

Pravachan, senior Swadhyayees such as Jagdish bhai and Hemraj Bhai

were busy meeting with people. They were taking care of several

Swadhyayee transactions. Hemraj Bhai had chocolates and

peanut-sweets with him and he was sharing this with some visitors.

When I saw this, I first thought that it is a sign of giving gift from a

pedestal. But the way Hemraj Bhai gave it to me did not make me feel

that way. At around 2 PM some channas (grams) were being circulated

and Hemraj Bhai and Jagdish Bhai were taking a little bit of these. They

were listening to people with patience and busy with Swadhyaya

without taking food. This aspect of the work and devotion of

Swadhyayees caught the attention of Shenoyji. Shenoyji commented on

this a number of times.

While I was discussing with Jagdish bhai, Dadaji came. Dadaji spoke to

a visiting group from Rajasthan: “You have chosen to work with God. I

am very happy and I wish you well.” Before that Tai and Didi had come

and spoken to some visitors. While talking to me, Jagdishbhai spoke to

another Swadhyayee sitting there: “E Arvind Jyada Dadaji ka Pao

Dabana—Oh Arvind would you please press Dadaji’s feet?” But

Arvind Bhai said: “There are people around.” Arvind Bhai did not

immediately rush nor did Jagdish Bhai feel offended.

On another of my visit to Madhavbag Pathasala I saw something

different. After the Pravachan Dadaji was in his wheel chair and was

moving among the eager disciples sitting on the first floor. As he was

moving there some people with bundles of currency notes on a plate in

their hand were offering this to Dadaji and giving it to him and he was

giving a few notes from that bundle to the person concerned. So far I had

believed in the Swadhyaya self-representation that Swadhyayees do not

transact much with money that too as a public display. When I asked in

amazement I was told by a Swadhyayee that it is a kind of guru dakhina

and Dadaji giving back some notes from the bundle is a prasad.

200 Chapter 3

Notes

1. This was written before Jagdish Bhai’s explusion from Swadhyaya in 2001.

2. This refers to the movement for building the Ram temple in Ayodhya in

early 1990s.

3. The bricks come for the construction of Ram temple.

4. I remember the exchanting voices of the utterance of Sadhana Panchakam

during my stay in Untwala. The first lines of this are:

Veda Nitaymadhiyatam Tadhutitam Krama Swanusthiyatam

Tene shashya Bidhiyatam Mapachiti Kamya Matisrajyatam

Papoudha Paridhiyatam Bhavasukha Dosahnusandhiyatam

Matmeicham Vyavasiyatam Nijaguhamrutam nirgamyatat

5. My fieldwork shows that it is not 90 per cent of people who are followers of

Swadhyaya in a village.

6. This reminds us of Kahlil Gibran’s famous lines in his Prophet: “Your

children are not your children they come through you but belong to the world.”

7. This reminds us of the following lines of Nietzsche from Thus Spake

Zarathustra: “Thus, steadfast and beautiful, let us also be enemies, my friends!

Divinely will we strive against one another” (Nietzsche 1997: 99).

Understanding Expanding Universes and Experiments 201

4

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir:

The Work of Swadhyaya in Tribal Areas

An agent has an active role in pursuing valuable goals, and while these

goals would typically include, among other objects, the person’s own

well-being, they can be, at the same time, far more spacious and

extensive in their coverage. The agency can, thus, be much broader,

than promotion of self-welfare.

—Amartya Sen (2005), The Argumentative Indian:

Writings on Indian History, Culture and Identity, p. 223

To be a social activist is meaningless unless the activist undergoes a

spiritual transformation, a reducing of anger and greed and an

awakening of the personality.

—A.T. Ariyaratne (1988), “A New Social Order,” p. 96

Probably the wisdom of life consists in being able to enjoy a festival,

even when everything else looks dark.

—Mikhail Gorbachev (2005),

Moral Lessons of the Twentieth Century, p. 9

The tribals have constituted an ‘other’ in Indian society. While the caste

Hindus have taken for granted that the tribals are Hindus but they

themselves have not made much effort to reach out to the tribals in a spirit

of fellowship. In recent times, tribal areas have witnessed a lot of

contestations and violence. The Hindu fundamentalist forces are saying

that Christian missionaries are converting all tribals which poses a threat

to Hinduism (see Beteille 2003; Giri 2001). Beteille (2003) shows us how

— 202 —

the fear of conversion is exaggerated. It is against this backdrop that we

can follow the work of Swadhyaya in the tribal areas of Gujarat, mainly

Sabarkantha and Banaskantha.

In fact, Sabarkantha is one of the most active tribal districts of

Swadhyaya. It houses both the famous Yogeshwara temple as well as

Patanjali Chikitsalaya. The Yogeshwara temple has been a platform of

meeting between tribals of the locality and the visiting Swadhyayees.

Patanjali Chikitsalaya is based on the shramabhakti—the devotional

labor—of the doctor followers of Swadhyaya. Both the Yogeshwara

temple and Patanjali Chikitsalaya are located in Adepur in the Idar

Taluka. Both of these have been the nuclei of Swadhyaya activities in this

area. All the Swadhyayees meetings are held here. The building of this

temple itself was an act of inner and outer mobilization. Karshan Bapa, a

Vanaprasthee from another far off place, camped here. He learnt the art of

doing Swadhyaya puja as well as construction of the Swadhyaya temple.

Some other Vanaprasthees were staying with him. Early morning they

would start their bhavpheri to the tribal hamlets near and far. Says

Karshan Bapa: “I used to go to distant villages like Badri. I have prepared

Swadhyayees like Bachu Bhai [Bachu Bhai whom we would shortly meet

in these pages is an important leader of Swadhyaya].”

Yogeshwara temple was established in December 1995. There was a

vayastha sanchalan—leadership training camp—in Modasa in 1982. This

was a turning point as it prepared many leaders from the tribal areas. In

1984, Dadaji came and did another vayastha sanchalan in Adepur. In this

Dadaji said: “If you do not sit with Vanavasis then who would sit with

them?” This inspired people and they started meeting with the tribals. As

the work among the tribals progressed, the emerging Swadhyaya activists

took a short-term course on Swadhyaya—its philosophical, social, and

ritual foundations—at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth, Thane. This short-term

course provided clarity to the local Adivasi leaders and it added to their

momentum. It must be noted that Swadhyaya leaders from other

marginalized communities such as the fishermen had taken this short-term

course and through this the tribals and the fishermen learnt the Vedic

ways of worship and carrying out functions such as marriages.

Swadhyayees staying in Yogeshwara temple as well as visiting from

outside worked with the Kutchi Patel farmers staying in the settlements

called kampas or camps. Prabhudas Bhai Patel whose name means servant

of God is true to his name and is the motabhai of Swadhyaya in the entire

locality. Prabhudas Bhai in the very first conversation I had with him in

July-August 1999 shares with us the changes that took place in their

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 203

attitude to and relationship with Adivasis. Says Prabhudas Bhai: “First we

were thinking that tribal people do not have any value except as a laborer.

But Swadhyaya has taught us: Wo Adivasi Nahi Hai, Wo Hamara Bhai

Hai—he is not a tribal he is my brother. The tribal and we are brothers.

First we were uttering this dramatically but slowly these words became a

reality in our lives.”

Prabhudas Bhai says that they were raising good crops in their fields

but they were never thinking that the tribal should also have a good crop.

“It was because we had no relationship with them. We were thinking it is

their fate that they have been born Adivasis. They have been born to

undergo all these sufferings. Leave them to their fate, if they drink, let

them drink. We were never eager to address these whatever gaps they had

in their lives. First we were doing advanced agriculture: doing the seed

plots of cotton and castor, and raising seeds. But Adivasis were only

sowing makka. Inside we were thinking: if they do good agriculture and

prosper then who would come to work in our agricultural farms. But

slowly our attitude changed: There was a drought in 1987. The tribals did

not have seeds and the yield was quite high. We gave them hybrid seeds.

After this the approach of the tribals to agriculture changed. They also

felt: “Oh we shall also do good agriculture and raise seed plots.” As the

relationship got established, “We were not just telling we were all

brothers. We used to think about their agriculture, their animal

husbandry.”

But Prabhudas Bhai says that establishing a divine but materialisti-

cally uplifting relationship with the Adivasis has not been without

resistance. The power elite in the tribal villages consisting of the village

headman, the leader of the Panchayat and ex-service men—have a vested

interest to keep the tribals underdeveloped. They want to control them:

“They are not much in touch with Swadhyaya. They think that this work is

good but it is not for them.” The Adivasis have also been used to subsidy

culture and receiving grants from the government. Now with Swadhyaya,

Adivasis are realizing that with their hard work they can prosper and do

not have to stand with begging bowls in front of the government.”

Ghar Mandir

Ghar Mandir prayog is a prayog unique to the tribal areas. In villages

Swadhyaya has the prayer-house cum temple called Amrutalayam. But in

dispersed tribal settlements where houses are scattered quite wide apart

204 Chapter 4

bringing tribal together to one place for prayer could be a problem. So

Swadhyaya thought of an alternative prayog and there was born the

prayog of Ghar Mandir or the house temple. In Ghar Mandir the temple

consists of the photographs of Swadhyaya trinity and Dadaji and it moves

from house to house. In one house it stays for one week. Since God is in

their house, it is expected that the hosting tribal family would have a life

of modest spiritual discipline during this period. The male members

would abstain from drinking, they should not also scold, abuse and beat

their women and all concerned are expected to abstain from sex. The host

family is expected to have vegetarian food and abstain from eating meat.

The Ghar Mandir prayog has been an important experiment in tribal

areas both for inner as well as outer mobilization. In visible terms it has

helped in overcoming spouse abuse and also decline and in many cases

total renunciation of alcoholism. Here the testimony of Kalidasa Bhai of

Bhajepur is a typical one. Kalidasa Bhai works as a secretary to the

Panchayat office near Bandol, on the way to Vijayanagar. He says: “I was

a heavy drunkard. But when Ghar Mandir comes to my house I told

myself: Oh, God is in my house, should I drink inside my house. I went

and drank outside. I was also hiding lest others should know that I am

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 205

The Ghar Mandir Prayog in Badri

drinking when God is in my house. Then I thought let me try not to drink

at all the period God is in my house. Now I do not drink.” Ghar Mandir

prayog came to twenty-two villages on a single day in 1985. What is to be

noted is that Ghar Mandir prayog now is not confined only into tribal

villages. In some villages Ghar Mandir moves from tribal to Patel houses

and in some Patel villages they have Ghar Mandir moving among

themselves as well.Before coming to the tribal areas of Adepur, I had heard a lot about

Ghar Mandir. But my first encounter with it was when I was in the tribalvillage of Badri high up in the hills of Sabarkantha. There was the day ofmovement of God from one house to another. The entire SwadhyayaParivara of Badri had assembled in the house of the departing GharMandir family. All present sat down in prayer. Then slowly the movinghouse temple was taken in procession from this house to another. Therewere thirty-one men, women, and children present in this procession.They raised slogans—Hamari Shakti Krishna Ki Bhakti—our strength isdevotion to Krishna. The deity was received by Babu Bhai, a neighbor ofBachu Bhai, and his wife. The Swadhyayees sat down in his house andagain prayed. Then there was a chintanika.

Ghar Mandir helps in both inner and social mobilization. The daywhen Ghar Mandir moves from one house to another Swadhyayeesassemble in the departing house. During the time Ghar Mandir is there inone’s house other Swadhyayees also visit the family. In the family thethree times Swadhyaya prayers—in the morning, during lunch and in theevening—are done regularly. To whose house Ghar Mandir goes isdecided by the Krutisheel Swadhyayees of the tribal village. Duringbhavpheri they come to know who is interested to invite God to theirhouse. When God comes to one’s house it reinforces one’s faith inSwadhyaya.

Patanjali Chikitsalaya

Patanjali Chikitsalaya is another experiment active in the tribal areas. It isnamed after Patanjali—the legendary doctor from ancient India. It is acentre for elementary consultation and health care in tribal areas.

For the Swadhyayees, Patanjali Chikitsalaya is not a hospital, it is an

Upasana Kendra, a place of worship. As one doctor says, this is not a

center for free drug distribution, this is also not a center to offer mere

social service. Dadaji wanted the doctors to use Patanjali Chikitsalaya as

a place where they offer their bhakti and practice self-development. The

doctors usually have free samples of medicines with them and while

206 Chapter 4

coming to Patanjali Chikitsalaya they are not supposed to bring these and

freely distribute it among the tribals.

The doctors come to Patanjali Chikitsalaya in the morning around ten

and work in this hospital. The key of the hospital lies with the

Vanaprasthees in Yogeshwara temple. There is no permanent doctor or

medical assistant in this hospital. There is a register which records the

case history of patients and the medicine given and even if a different

doctor comes he is able to follow the instruction.

The doctors usually come to this hospital with their spouses. It

provides them a different experience of place, togetherness and

fellowship not only between themselves but also among themselves—

other doctors, and doctor-couple, and with Swadhyayees of the locality.

But the highlight of their stay here is the visit to the tribal villages they

undertake in the evening. They come prepared with stories from Puranas,

Ramayana and Bhagavata and share this in their meeting with the tribals.

In the Adepur tribal area, I had the experience of participating twice

with two groups of doctors in Patanjali Chikitsalaya. It is an experiment

where doctors come and offer their nipunata (efficiency) at the feet of

God. It is a place of worship for doctors where they come and see the

patients in tribal areas without any fees. Patanjali Chikitsalaya exists only

in tribal areas such as Sabarkantha and Banaskantha.

In the evening, the doctors of Patanjali Chikitsalaya undertake

bhavpheri in the surrounding tribal villages. The doctors of a particular

day are assigned a particular village and they come to this for a continued

period of time. In my first such travel participation, we went to a village

named Katoudi. Because of an accident on the road the vehicle carrying

us could not reach the village and we parked it on the way in a farmer’s

house. As it happened, the farmer had orthopaedic problems and the

doctor leading the bhavpheri was an orthopaedic doctor. Dr Piyush

Shukla, an orthopaedic doctor from Ahmedabad, provided him consul-

tation. By the time we reached the village it was already night. We went to

only a few Swadhyayee houses. I joined the doctors in the same village

eight months later in April 2000. This time the doctors visited a few more

villages. They had already reached by 5 PM. They moved from house to

house and at 7 PM, the Swadhyayees of the village assembled in the house

of a tribal who had Ghar Mandir prayog. After the prayer Paresh Bhai, the

doctor, gave a discourse on Dadhichi Rishi. He said: “In the bones of

Dadhichi weapons would be made and in this, the giant would die. For the

protection of culture the power of the demon has to be subdued. This is the

task before Brahmins. The Brahmin is one who loves God, works for

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 207

culture, gives thought to young people, sanskara to children and help the

old.” We shall recall here the way Kalubhai was presenting the ideal of a

Brahmin life to the Harijans of Simar. In the interaction with Vanavasis

Swadhyayees are also upholding the ideal of a Brahmin as a lover of God

and doer of God’s work here on earth.

The doctor of Patanjali Chikitsalaya enjoy their evening bhavpheri.

One doctor told me: “If for some reason the evening bhavpheri to tribal

village is cancelled then I feel depressed. To meet the Vanavasi is a great

pleasure.” Coming to Patanjali Chickitsalaya also enables doctors to

embody the spirit of critical self-reflection and also a space for

compassion. This is how doctors narrate their own experience of being in

Patanjali Chikitsalaya. About changes taking place in the participating

doctors one doctor told me: “One doctor was taking commission from his

referral cases. He realized that he should not do this and stopped this. He

returned the commission to patients.” Says Rajesh Bhai Parekh, the

coordinator of the Patanjali Chikitsalaya programme in Ahmedabad: “If I

see God in other then definitely I start practicing it in my own work. I also

relate to my own patients differently. My own life is monotonous, I move

around within my own profession. It definitely gives me a break to go

away from my routine life. When I meet tribal people, I realize how

blessed I am. It reminds me that I should be grateful to God and definitely

share my knowledge with these people. When I go and tell stories of

Bhagavata to the tribal people, I myself realize how much I don’t know. I

realize the great challenge of cultural work. Even if I have read these

stories before going to the villages while telling the stories, I realize that I

cannot explain to them in their own words, in their own dialect. At that

time I realize how much inadequate I am, while I was feeling so much

good about myself.”

Patanjali Chikitsalaya provides an opportunity for self-development

to doctors. How do tribals look at it? In what way they access these

services? One Swadhyayee doctor told me that he is worried about the

continued decline of number of local people who come to Patanjali

Chikitsalaya. Now it has come to only a few from earlier numbers of

seventy to eighty patients per day. The reason behind this is that for every

ailment tribals would like to get injections and since in Patanjali

Chikitsalaya they do not give injections, tribals do not come. But for some

self-critical Swadhyayee doctors, they should look beneath and beyond.

One of them is not satisfied with the follow up procedure here and lack of

constant supervision of the patients. He is frank enough to say: “We are

not here to do the treatment of patients: We are here to do bhavpheri and

208 Chapter 4

bhaktipheri. The evening session gives me a lot of satisfaction. But I am

not being occupied properly in the morning hours. Something must be

done to do a better utilization of our abilities in the morning hour.”

But a leader of Patanjali Chikitsalaya who is also based in

Ahmedabad is not in full agreement with the frank perspectives of the

above doctor though he himself says: “Whatever we may be doing in the

Patanjali Chikitsalaya, definitely we are going there for ourselves. Tribal

people survived before we went there and they will survive even if we do

not go there.” But at the same time he is not prepared to concede that

Patanjali Chikitsalaya is just a show piece. For him, it does not do blood

test nor does it give injection because it is not necessary. There are

twenty-two basic medicines available in the Swadhyaya hospital and most

of the doctors who are general practitioners are also able to provide

consultation services. The tribals may be clinically attached to blood test

and injection but there is a need to help them overcome this and Patanjali

Chikitsalaya can do this act of conscientisation.” For this doctor, “Blood

test is a luxury of the urban people. For most ailments, you do not need

blood test.”

Swadhyaya in Badri

The work of Swadhyaya in the Adepur area is a multi-dimensional work

and let us have a sense of it through its work in a remote tribal village

named Badri. It is really a remote village. There are around thirty tribal

families staying in this village. Out of this nearly thirty per cent of

families are involved with the Ghar Mandir prayog. Initially interested

Swadhyayees from the neighboring village Golwada were also taking

Ghar Mandir from Badri.

There are nearly ten Krutisheel workers of Swadhyaya in Badri.

Bachu Bhai is the pioneer of Swadhyaya in Badri. Bachu Bhai came in

touch with Swadhyaya in 1982-83. Then another neighbor Sukha Bhai

joined. There are interesting stories in the way Swadhyaya has moved

people in this village. One such story relates to Marta Bhai. Marta Bhai is

an able archer. He likes to hunt deer. Marta Bhai had once gone to the

forest to hunt. He was sitting on the tree and a deer had come to drink

water. He heard the sound of the deer drinking water: he pulled his gun

but could not trigger the button. He remembered his wife telling him in the

morning to utter the Swadhyaya protection sloka—Vivade, Vishade—in

case he was in danger. He thought at that moment if as a man he needs

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 209

protection from God does not the helpless deer need protection? He did

not pull his trigger at the deer.

Now there are Bala Sanskara Kendra, Mahila Kendra and

Yuvakendra working in the village. But what is distinctive about Badri is

its Yogeshwara Krishi. In this tribal hamlet most of the people have

meager amounts of land. Bachu Bhai has two acres of land. From this two

acre, he gives one acre for Yogeshwara Krishi. Swadhyayees of the

village do shramabhakti here. While the prosperous Swadhyayees of

Simar take only one crop from Yogeshwara Krishi, the Adivasi

Swadhyayees of Badri take two crops from Yogeshwara Krishi.

Because of Swadhyaya, the condition of life in Badri has changed.

The change could be illustrated by the following example. One evening as

we were returning from the neighboring village of Golwada to Badri we

saw Lala Bhai brewing alcohol. There was a fire pot. His wife and

children were standing beside him. It was dusk time and Lala Bhai was

brewing alcohol secretly. On seeing us, he felt a little sigh and nervous.

But as we reassured him, he told us that he is doing this out of his diffi-

culty. There are fifteen people in the village who drink and he supplies

alcohol to them. The Swadhyayee brother told me, “What you are seeing

now, was much more widespread in the village before Swadhyaya came.”

But he made it clear financial difficulty is not the only reason for people

like Lala Bhai to continue to brew alcohol. He suggested that it is lack of

commitment to a life-elevating ideal that makes people addictive to

alcohol and alcohol production.

Alcoholism has come down and those who drink now do so stealthily.

Earlier tribals were doing shifting cultivation and only taking the crop of

maize. Now in Badri, Adivasis are doing cultivation of paddy and wheat.

Some have their own borewells, some also do seed cultivation which is

quite profitable. The development in agriculture has been facilitated by

the sharing of knowledge and skills between the farmers—the Kutchi

Patels—and the tribals.

Badri has also a Shiva temple built by one Bapuji Bhai. His son Amra

Bhai was once taking Ghar Mandir but he does not take it now. Now his

faith has changed and so his enthusiasm. Commenting on this, Bachu

Bhai says: “Initially people join Swadhyaya out of enthusiasm but they

lack understanding. Those who do not have understanding do not sustain

themselves in Swadhyaya.”

In order to nurture and sustain people in Swadhyaya faith, Bachu Bhai

and his wife Savita Behen do bhavpheri both in their village as well as in

210 Chapter 4

the neighboring villages. They go out to other villages in the evening and

come back late night. In the hilly terrain it is not very safe but they

undertake the task.

Bachu Bhai came in touch with Swadhyaya when he was thirty in

1982. He has seven daughters and one son. His son Arjun has studied in

Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth and graduated in 1996. He now takes care of the

agricultural work of the family stream like Swadhyaya that is responsible

for the continued misery of people like Lala Bhai leaving more time for

Bachu Bhai to do bhavpheri and other Swadhyaya works. Arjun Bhai is

an active youth worker of Swadhyaya in the entire locality. He like other

Swadhyayees of the village, travel long distances on foot as the nearest

road is five kilometer away.

Bachu Bhai goes as a vratee to the tribal village of Bandol which is at

a distance of fifteen kilometers from Badri. In his bhaktipheri to the

village Bachu Bhai is accompanied not only by Savita Behen but also by

Nima Bhai, a devoted Swadhyayee in the neighboring village of Golwada,

and Raju Behen, his wife. This village has both tribal and Scheduled Caste

population as well as a primitive tribal population named Kathoudi.

Because of continuous bhavpheri; now there are three Ghar Mandir

prayogs in Bandol; Swadhyaya is also practised among the primitive

tribal group of the Kathoudis. Swadhyayees tell with pride that even if the

Christian missionaries give material benefits to the Kathoudis, they do not

convert. One noticeable change among the Kathoudis has been the change

in consumption of alcohol. According to Bachu Bhai: “When a Kathoudi

is born, he is treated to a bit of alcohol. They also offer liquor to dead

persons.” In this traditional addiction to drinking, Swadhyaya has brought

about change.

Tribal Development

The socio-economic development that villages narrate in Badri is attested

to by visiting other tribal hamlets. This has been documented in case of

the tribal village of Khedason (Shah et al. 1995). Ratna Bhai is the

motabhai of Swadhyaya in this tribal hamlet. Though he is the motabhai,

he is in fact very young, in his thirties. Ratna Bhai and myself were going

to the block headquarters of Khedason. We were on our way to meet the

tribal development officer in Khedbrahma. As we were approaching this

small town in the midst of jungles, we saw people running in the field to

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 211

catch mice. Some tribals were sitting on the road. Commented Ratna

Bhai: “This was also our condition fifteen years ago.” His following

narration provides us a glimpse into socio-economic development taking

place in the tribal villages: “Now I have a vehicle, I have a shop and it is

running well. But I did not have a pair of sleepers to wear in 1982. It was

not only my condition nor the condition of my village, it was the condition

of the entire Tehsil. But now in this Tehsil, there are approximately sixty

tractors among the tribals.”

About the adoption of new agriculture among the tribals, Ratna Bhai

says: “The Adivasis started cotton seeds seven years ago and the Patels

have been doing it for the past twenty-five years. Adivasis were going to

work with the Patels as farm laborers and the later were reluctant to part

with this new agricultural techonolgy, especially the technology of seed

production lest they should lose them as their cheap laborers for ever. But

Swadhyayees brought change to this. They not only taught us how to do

this, but also introduced us to both the agricultural companies and the

banks. Initially the officer of the seed company was not willing to take the

risk as people from the Kampa had also told him that if he gives money to

the Adivasis then they would sell the seed to somebody else rather than

return it to him. But Prabhudas Bhai told him to give the seed and money

to us and told him to take the money from him if we do not return.”

The advancement in agriculture in Khedason has been made possible

by the digging of a well and supply of water to the members of the cooper-

ative water society that was formed. The adivasis of Khedason could soon

realize that instead of digging individual borewells, if they dug a

collective well it would be more economical and effective. With this they

formed Kashyap Piyat Mandali—Kashyap Irrigation Society. But in

order to complete this irrigation project they needed nearly four lakhs of

rupees. They did not have so much money. So they collected jewels from

the womenfolk of the village and were going to the neighboring town of

Idar to mortgage in the bank. In the bus a Swadhyayee brother met them

and on finding that they were going to mortgage the jewels he offered to

arrange a loan for them for this. Says Ratna Bhai: “In the first year what

ever we earned in the field we sold it all and paid back the entire loan.”

Kashyap Irrigation Society has worked well mainly because all its

members are Swadhyayees. To run a collective institution requires trust

and fellow-feeling and for actors such as Ratna Bhai Swadhyaya provides

this. And for Ratna Bhai, what is important is depth of involvement in

Swadhyaya itself. Says Ratna Bhai: “It is not that one who joins

212 Chapter 4

Swadhyaya today becomes changed tomorrow. This process of change is

a long one. I told my own brother that we cannot include him as a member

of our Piyat Mandali as he is not a Swadhyayee. Whenever we come on

our cooperative’s work outside we do not claim any expenses for this. A

non-Swadhyayee would not do this nor he would be able to appreciate it.”

Ratna Bhai now wants to start irrigation co-operative societies in

tribal villages on the foundation of Swadhyaya. He and other activist

associates are planning to start eleven other irrigation societies by

building wells and canals for water supply to the members of the society.

During discussion with the tribal development officer in Khedbrahma it

became clear to me how government subsidy is not enough. Subsidized

borewells—neither individual nor collective—works well in the tribal

areas as concerned people do not take care of these. The tribal devel-

opment officer himself contrasted Kashyap Piyat Mandali in Khedason

with the Piyat Mandali in the neighboring village of Dungri. In his words:

“Dungri Piyat Mandali was good but it collapsed. The leadership was not

good. Many irrigation wells became dysfunctional because of cutting

down of electricity connection. When the light bill comes they do not

deposit the due and hence electricity gets disconnected. Sometimes

arrears can go up to lakhs. We can help once or twice from the

government but we cannot do it time and again.” But for Ratna Bhai, such

mismanagement and the eventual collapse comes because the partici-

pating people lack mutual trust and the spirit to selfless work for the

collective good which one gets in Swadhyaya.

Ratna Bhai and other Adivasi Swadhyaya activists are striving for

transformation of the condition of misery and helplessness on the part of

the Adivasis. Along with spreading the message of Swadhyaya they are

working with both the leaders of the Adivasi Samaj as well as the local

Panchayat leaders. Now Bachu Bhai of Badri has started a discussion with

all the sarpanches of the locality who have had a Swadhyaya touch. Bachu

Bhai and Ratna Bhai also work with the leaders of the Dungri Garasia

Adivasi Samaj.

I had a meeting with Mokshi Bhai, the President of Dungri Garasia

Adivasi Samaj. The samaj has representative in each of the villages and

they meet once a month. Mokshi Bhai wants to spread the message of

Swadhyaya through the traditional network of the tribal association. In his

words: “Twenty-five per cent of the people in this area follow Swadhyaya

and have been part of a change. The thirst for education has also started. In

the Samaj, we are also formulating new laws: If you do not educate your

daughter nobody will take your daughter; if you do not educate your son

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 213

nobody will give your son a daughter.” Mokshi Bhai now wants to spread

the message of education and culture in traditional congregations as well

congregations such as funeral ceremonies. The samaj has recently banned

consumption of alcohol. He says “As the President of Gharasia Samaj I

try to bring Dadaji’s vichara to everybody. Let the whole samaj know of

it.”

But Mokshi Bhai himself does not undertake bhavpheri and

bhaktipheri. He thinks that he would first reform his family and village

and then shall go in and bhaktipheri to other villages. But in his village

many people follow Kabir Panth. The followers of Kabir Panth or the

Kabirpanthees do prayer and satsanga at home. They think that they are

already part of Kabir Bhajana Mandalis and why should they join

Swadhyaya again where they would do the same thing. Because of lack of

interest and particularly lack of a motivated Swadhyaya leader there is no

Ghar Mandir in this village. Swadhyayees also involve themselves on

kruthibhakti—active devotion—where people build dams and dig wells.

Mokshi Bhai and the villagers have not got a glimpse of this activisitc

dimension of Swadhyaya. The village needs a check-dam and on behalf of

the village Mokshi Bhai has applied to the government for a grant.

Because of lack of Swadhyaya mobilization in this village as well as in the

neighboring villages, people have not thought about the possibility that

they themselves can build this through sharambhakti. Swadhyaya is

planning to build a Nirmal Nir in another area but Mokshi Bhai did not

know about it. He also does not know about the Swadhyaya program of

well-recharging. So Mokshi Bhai knows about Swadhyaya only in broad

terms i.e. it helps in stopping of alcohol consumption, education and work

in culture but he is not familiar with other prayogs of Swadhyaya.

While this is the interaction between Swadhyaya and traditional tribal

leaders what is the interaction between Swadhyaya and the political

leaders who are either members or president of Gram Panchayats? At this

point, it must be mentioned that while in other areas Swadhyayees do not

contest elections for posts in any political office, Sabarkantha tribal

Swadhyayees contest in elections mainly in the elections for Gram

Panchayat and Panchayat Samiti. There is a Swadhyaya sarpanch now in

the village of Bakhra, a member of Panchayat Samiti in the village

Antarsuba and Swadhyaya sarpanch in the village of Bandol. Mohan

Bhai, the sarpanch of Bandol is a young man in his early thirties. He has

been raised in Swadhyaya in the hands of Bachu Bhai. I requested Mohan

Bhai to share with me his thought on the Swadhyaya code of conduct that

a Swadhyayee should not take part in election. He says that in order to

214 Chapter 4

accelerate the development work in the village he felt the need to take part

in politics and have political power. He says that the village needs a

pipeline for water supply and as a sarpanch he can do this. In his words:

“In Swadhyaya Parivara we can do our spiritual work but not the work of

development.” But Mohan Bhai makes clear that he has learnt the idea of

development from Swadhyaya itself though he seems to be suggesting

that Swadhyaya method alone would not able to achieve this. During our

discussion on politics, Swadhyaya and the broader task of development

Bachu Bhai was present. Bachu Bhai who is having a regular meeting

with Swadhyaya elected leaders of the block such as Panchayat Sarpanch

with a Swadhyaya background says: “Even though Dadaji says that

Swadhyayees should not take part in politics, in future in order to bring

about Ram Rajya there would be a need for it.”

But interestingly while tribal leaders want to take part in politics and

contest election, non-tribal leaders in this area are critical of it. When I

told Dhiru Bhai that in Saurashtra, it is a code of conduct that a

Swadhyayee would not contest election and if he violates it, then he

would not be given any further Swadhyaya responsibility, he was very

enthusiastic about such a code of conduct. He wished that they were able

to put in place such a code of conduct in their areas.

At this point let us get to know albeit briefly a Swadhyayee in the

tribal village of Antarsuba who is also a delegate to the Panchayat Samiti.

During my discussion with him in one evening he said: “Swadhyaya Satya

He Magar Rajkaran Gandhahe—Swadhyaya is truth and politics is dirty.

But politics is required for fighting for your rights.” I asked him whether

in this fight he derives inspiration from Swadhyaya. He said taking the

discussion into another height: “Yes inspiration is alright but you can also

get love. If I take a stance on a matter, they give me support—people give

it and so do Swadhyayees.”

Swadhyaya in Patel Kampas

There is a symbiotic relationship between Swadhyaya in Patel Kampas

and Swadhyaya in tribal villages. Each of the Patel Kampas has a corre-

sponding tribal hamlet. Dungri Kampa and Khedason Kampa have both

tribal hamlets. Life in these two settlements even now present a striking

contrast. While in the Patel Kampas you see well-built houses, in tribal

hamlets you find mostly dilapidated and thatched roofs. But those tribal

villages which have followed the Swadhyaya method of collective

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 215

spiritual mobilization for better agriculture and irrigation look different.

In Khedason one does not see many thatched roofs as one sees in Dungri.

Dungri Kampa is the village of Prabhudas Bhai Patel, the leader of

Swadhyaya in this area. Prabhudas Bhai’s son has done his studies in the

Swadhyaya educational process like Bachu Bhai’s son. In fact these

Adivasi and Patel Vidyapeeth graduates are working together for the

spread of Swadhyaya in the area.

An Amrutalayam has been built in Dungri Kampa. This has been built

under the footsteps of a small hillock facing the settlement. Vimala

Behen, a woman of the Kampa says “Now God has come to our village

and therefore we are good in health and in every aspect.” But tribals from

the Dungri village do not come to this Amrutalayam.

Swadhyayees from Patel Kampas go to take Kendra in the tribal

village. Of course, Adivasis like Ratna Bhai also go to take Kendra in

tribal villages. But I have not seen any tribal to take Kendra in Patel

Kampas. This does not mean that there is an overt discrimination but this

is just a statement of fact.

Hari Bhai from Dungri Kampa goes to the tribal village Antarsuba. In

fact, he has been going regularly there for the last three years. Raman Bhai

216 Chapter 4

Amrtualayam in the Patel Kampa of Ukhri, Sabarkantha, Gujarat

and Manjula Behen from the neighboring Khedason together go to take

Kendra in Bhakra. Dhiru Bhai and Sushila Behen come to take Kendra in

the distant village of Badri. Raman Bhai says: “First we were going alone.

But then in the village Behenas (sisters) asked to bring our spouses as

well. And then we took our spouses with us and we enjoyed this much

more. So there is continuous meeting between the tribal and non-tribals.

For going in bhaktipheri, Swadhyayees need tiffin. According to Raman

Bhai: “When our wives joined us in Bhakpheri they themselves realized

what we are doing. They prepared tiffin for us with much more interest.

For them, when we go out in bhaktipheri, they do not prepare tiffin for

Pati but for Pati Deva—not for husband but for husband-God. If we stay

inside in the house on our day of bhaktipheri they send us out, they urge us

to continue the journey.”

Raman Bhai has to take care of his agricultural field besides doing

Swadhyaya work. All the farmers of the Kampa have a servant quarters

where laborers and their families stay. They are from other parts of

Gujarat and sometimes from Rajasthan. But these laborers and their

children are not invited to pray together in these houses. As Ramana Bhai

and Manjula Behen go to distant tribal villages to take part in Swadhyaya

Kendra one wonders whether they can also start a Bala Sanskara Kendra

among the children of their farm laborers.

For their Swadhyaya work both the tribal and non-tribal participants

say that they have to do a lot of time management. Raman Bhai says that

before Swadhyaya they used to sit near the village center and gossip. Now

they devote this time for ‘God’s work’. Says Raman Bhai: “Every

morning I rise up, I have a scheme before my eyes what I have to do. I

have also a weekly calendar. Saturday and Sunday are devoted to God’s

work. Whatever time was earlier wasted is now given to God’s work.”

This is in tune with the experiential perspectives of most of the

Swadhyayees. As Arvind Bhai Narsana, the legendary worker of

Swadhyaya in Junagarh tells: “You make the best of your waste time.”

Raman Bhai’s elder brother Kanti Bhai was one of the earliest

workers of Swadhyaya in Khedason Kampa. In fact Prabhudas Bhai of

Ukhli Dungri Kampa and Kanti Bhai of Khedason Kampa have been the

messengers of Swadhyaya in this locality. Hari Bhai says that it has been

difficult for him to spread the message of Swadhyaya among the tribals.

Contrary to the presuppositions in a recent sociological study of

Swadhyaya not all the people of the tribal village have not accepted

Swadhyaya (see Shah et al. 1998). The stumbling block has been what he

calls muphatia brutti (the desire to get things freely) created by

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 217

government. Ratna Bhai, the Swadhyaya motabhai of the tribal village of

Khedason also says the same thing: “Government Sab Muphat me dete he,

Is bat par Swadhyaya vichara khada karna Kaphi Kathin he—

Government gives everything for free and in this context it is extremely

difficult to establish the work of Swadhyaya.”

How do the Patels look at the tribals? Dhiru Bhai says even after

getting Swadhyaya Vichara tribals do not know how to live properly.

“Their houses are dirty, their children do not wear good dress, they do not

make a garden in front of their houses. In Mahila Kendras, the Patel

Behens are initiating discussion along these lines.” While Dhiru Bhai

thinks that tribals need to develop themselves in terms of cleanliness and

their environment, Nattu Bhai thinks he lags behind tribals in terms of the

warmth and the vastness of human heart. He says, “I am so rich. The

tribals are working on my land as laborer. They also stay in my servant’s

quarters. But when I eat I do not invite them to eat with me. I do not give

them good food. But when I go to their house, they give me the very best

food that they have. They spend so much money on us. They have a much

bigger heart.”

Teerthayatra in Tribal Areas

I had taken part in the mini teerthayatra in Adepur area in April 2000.

Usually the local teerthayatra is for seven days but this year because of

drought Swadhyayees had a mini teerthayatra for three days. We started

from Ukhli Dungi Patel Kampa. From this Kampa, one Swadhyayee

activist went on teerthayatra to Antarsuba, another couple to Bhakra. In

fact, Swadhyaee couples went to teerthayatra to the same villages where

they have been working in a constant manner in the last year. Dhiru Bhai

and his wife Susheela Behen were on their way to their teerthayatra in the

remote village of Badri. I accompanied them as I was to go with Bachu

Bhai and the teerthayatra team from Badri to Bandol. The jeep carrying

all the Swadhyayee teerthayatras to several tribal villages stopped at the

nearby bus stop of Tolo Dungri at 11 AM. We all started walking under

the scorching sun. Sushila Behen put the load of ration and rice on her

head and Dhiru Bhai carried the kerosene bottle. On the way as we were

passing a singing and flowing stream, Dhiru Bhai said “People in the area

now know that once you see people with kerosene bottles on the one hand

and stove on the other they know that they are Swadhyaya

teerthayatrees.” But from this humorous statement, Dhiru Bhai soon

218 Chapter 4

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 219

Teerthayatra from a Patel Kampa to a tribal village

moved to a philosophical plane of reflection: “Many people now join in

bhaktipheri and teerthayatra because there is a tejaswita (radiance) in the

thought. Once you are in bhaktipheri, you should leave your ego.”

On the way to Badri we sat at the Shiva temple lying at the outskirt of

the village. Sushila Behen was happy to come out of her usual routine.

Then we reached Bachu Bhai’s house and shared the tiffin we had brought

(my tiffin was prepared by Vimala Behen who had also provided me a bag

full of rice and dal). Then we went to Nagji Bhai’s house who is an active

co-worker of Bachu Bhai in Badri and host of Ghar Mandir during this

period.

In the afternoon we the Badri teerthayatra team proceeded to Bandol,

a village lying at a distance of nearly fifteen kilometers. It consisted of

Bachu Bhai, Sabita Behen (Bachu Bhai’s wife), Mohan Bhai, Suruma

Bhai, Nima Bhai of Golwada and myself. On getting down at the bus stop

at Samtel on the way to Badri we first purchased vegetables. Then we

went to Laxman Bhai’s house and stayed in his house for our

teerthayatra. He is a young man but he is the motabhai of Swadhyaya in

the village. He has a separate house and his younger brother, parents, and

younger brother’s wife stay in another house. Both the brothers and their

families are involved in the work of Swadhyaya.

220 Chapter 4

Teerthayatra in Village Bandol from Badri

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 221

Teerthayatra in Bandol under the Scorching Sun

The next morning we visited five to six houses. Bandol is a fairly

widespread village and being a tribal village it has a dispersed settlement.

The only Swadhyaya Kendra active in the village is Ghar Mandir and it

moves between limited families. During our home travel we met an old

woman who was earlier taking Ghar Mandir to her house but no more.

Ghar Mandir has also stopped here among the Harijans.

As we were visiting different homes, we gave the message that in the

evening there would be the video show of the Prakatotsva cassette in

Rama Bhai’s house. In the evening around thirty people from the village

had come.Next day we went to the hillside of the village and the Meghla dam. A

dam has been constructed here which floods this area in the rainy reasonbut during winter and summer this becomes dry. On inside of the canalnear the foothill, there is a huge track of land collectively cleared andmade ready by the families of Harijan basa. On the other side is the landfor the tribals. There we visited some working couples. There we met aSwadhyayee worker from the Kathoudi tribal group. Kathoudi is one ofthe most backward tribal groups. Bachu Bhai and others told him tonarrate again his experience. He said that Christian missionaries weretrying to convert him and even instigating to throw the photos of God buthe did not listen to them and he has stuck to worship the photo of LordYogeshwara. At that time Suruma Bhai our co-teerthayatree from Badritold that he himself was going to a Christian prayer group earlier but aftertwo months he joined Swadhyaya. But it seems to me that struggling withChristian missionaries attempts at conversion is a heroic way of tellingone’s story of coming to and sticking to Swadhyaya. There is a familiartrope to it.

I wish now to share my field note on the third day of Swadhyaya

teerthayartra in the tribal village of Bandol.

Bandol: April 3, 2000

This is the third day of our bhaktipheri in the village. During

teerthayatra, people with a group of 5 assemble in a village. Now it is

2 o’clock in the afternoon. After lunch we took rest. Bachu Bhai and

Suruma Bhai are reciting slokas. Nina Kaka and Sabita Behen are still in

sleep. Mohan Bhai and Nima Kaka are sharing one cot, while Suruma

Bhai and Bachu Bhai another. I do not think Suruma Bhai took any rest

at all. He is singing, praying and talking about God all the time. It is a

hot afternoon now.

222 Chapter 4

Laxman Bhai and his wife Jaya Behen in whose house we are staying

have gone to the field. There is the wheat crop to be harvested in their

field at the foot of the hill. Laxman Bhai’s brother-in-law has a tractor.

He has sent the tractor. Jaya Behen took her food quickly. I do not think

she had any vegetable in her share. Jaya Behen is a divine person. She

has left all her children with her mother-in-law. Laxman Bhai is

completing his M.A. in Gujarati through correspondence course with

Gujarat Vidyapeeth. He wants to spend much time with Swadhyaya but

I do not think he gets enough time. He manages his household with

much difficulty. On the way back from the dam, Laxman Bhai told me

about his difficulties. People in the village do not know about Rama and

Krishna. “They have not seen about Ramayana and Mahabarata. Only

one or two people in the village have TV.” I asked him whether before

Rama and Krishna they had any God. He did not know.

Boys get married quite early but it seems they marry girls of their own

age. So their spouses look more aged compared to what they are.

This morning, we woke up early. Then we prayed. Everybody in the

family joined us in the prayers. Then we went towards the dam. This is

near the foothill and nearly 3 kms from our house. People have built

houses on small hillocks on the way and the whole village is a very

dispersed settlement. On the way I asked Bachu Bhai whether

Swadhyaya Ghar Mandir comes to the village. Bachu Bhai says: “It

depends on their understanding.” Then we came to the foothill. There is

a huge stretch of land. 70 families in the Harijan basa had collectively

cleared this many years ago. They still collectively till this land. If they

have good irrigation facility then they can take 3 crops a year. Mohan

Bhai, the Sarpanch, is now trying to build a house near the foothill. On

the other side of the river lies the land of the Adivasis. They have all

been distributed among the individual farmers. I met Ramesh Bhai who

has 6 acres of land shared among four of his brothers. I also met Bachu

Bhai who has land on the foot of the hill. In fact, they have constructed a

small cottage.

Bachu Bhai of Bandol is now taking the Ghar Mandir. Bachu Bhai of

Badri who is harbinger of Swadhyaya in the locality says that it has been

in working among the Kathoudi tribals who are backward. He also

suggested the Swadhyaya leader among the Kathoudis that he should

not go directly and tell people to do trikala sandhya. Instead he should

do some drama among them.

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 223

In the discourse of Swadhyaya here byasanamukti (freedom from

additction) is considered a mark of self-development. But it is a very

cultural specific example of self-development. Basanamukti (freedom

from desire) not byasanamukti is a universal example of

self-development. But then it would again have a culturally specific

manifestation.

Mobilization is a movement between heightened festivity and slow and

silent work. It is the same thing as love. Swadhyaya maintains a creative

link between silent work and heightened activity.

The above is what I had written after my post-lunch rest on April 3,

2000 in the village of Bandol. In the afternoon we went to Harijan basa, in

the evening to the Patel basa where there was to be the video show. As

Laxman Bhai had not come back from the field, some of our

co-teertayatrees went to the hillside to look for him. Bachu Bhai, myself

and Sabita Behen after the video show spent the night in the Patel neigh-

borhood, we reached Jaya Behen’s house only early next morning. It was

time for us to depart. As I was looking into Jaya Behen’s eyes there were

tears in our eyes. Jaya Behen had beautifully clothed her two children; she

had even put a kajal in her son’s eye. She said: “Because you are leaving,

our children refused go to the school and stayed at home.”

What is the impact of such teerthayatra on tribal people? It provides

an opportunity for meeting across worlds and horizons cutting across

familiar boundaries and identities. Earlier tribals did not have a notion of

teerthayatra. While for RSS and Bajrang Dal, it is a mark of religious

development for tribals to undertake teerthayatra to Ambaji, a deity who

is located high up in the hills and to reach her one has to climb thousand of

steps, for Swadhyaya to undertake teerthayatra is to move from one tribal

village to another, from Patel Campa to a tribal hamlet. For both the Patels

and the tribals, it provides an opportunity to experience homelessness, a

homelessness which can enable them to return home with a transformed

consciousness.

The Work of Swadhyaya in Tribal Areas and the Wider Religious

and Political Environment

During our teerthayatra visits to families in Bandol we met young people

who are active in both RSS and Bajrang Dal. We met Magan Bhai, a

224 Chapter 4

neighbor of our host Laxman Bhai, who is an active worker of Bajrang

Dal. He has joined Bajrang Dal three years ago. He has received a trishul.

There are 10-12 boys of Bajrang Dal in the village which include 3-4

Swadhyaya boys. The meeting of Bajrang Dal takes place in Vijayanagar.

He says: “Musalmanka Samne Katas Hota he I feel angry before Muslims

and that is how I have joined Bajrang Dal.”

When I asked him what is the difference between Swadhyaya and

Bagrang Dal he asked me back: “Is Swadhyaya’s work different?” But

another Swadhyayee sister sitting besides us said in a subtle voice: “There

is a difference in vichara—thought and ideology.” But she could only

speak in whisper and the men folk sitting around there told her not to

make any further comment on this.

Both Bajrang Dal and Visva Hindu Parishad have presence in the

village. A Christian missionary institution Adivasi Sevalaya—Center for

Service to Tribals, is also very close to the village. Adivasi Sevalaya runs

a balwadi in the village. Mohan Bhai, the Swadhyaya-inspired sarpanch

in the village is also active in RSS, VHP and also BJP, and is cautious

about the work of the missionaries. He says “We have told them [the

missionaries running the school] we do not have any problem when you

run the balwadi but if you want to change our religion we cannot tolerate

this.” I asked Mahan Bhai whether he should consider that any person has

the right to change one’s religion but Mohan Bhai said, “What is the need

for conversion?” Christianity, conversion and missionary work are hot

issues for some people in the locality especially people active in and

sympathetic to the work of Sangha Parivara. Some Swadhyayees

especially those from a RSS background such as Dhiru Bhai of Khedason

whom we shall meet shortly also feel strongly and passionately about it.

Mohan Bhai says that he is inspired by Swadhyaya but is active in

Sangha Parivara, especially in its political wing. But it seems that he

continues his active association with Sangha Parivara for his political

objective, not for ideological conviction. Ideologically he does not have

the virulent anti-Muslim and anti-Christian orientation of some of the

RSS workers of the locality whom we shall meet shortly. As against

Brahminbad—Brahminism he feels pain at the plight of Ekalavya.1

Ekalavya is not just a historical tragedy for him. In his words, “There is

tear in the eyes of Ekalavya even now as education is very less developed

here.” When I asked whether Brahminbad is coming back again with

Swadhyaya’s preaching of the ideals of a Brahmin he said “not really.”

Mohan Bhai may be active in Sangha Parivara but he is also reflective

about its limits and possibilities. He also reflects on the difference

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 225

between Swadhyaya and Visva Hindu Parishad. In his own words:

“Whenever a Swadhyayee goes people identify themselves with him.

They are not able to understand them and say: O Jogeswara Bale Ayehe—

The followers of Jogeswara—have come. But ordinary people are not able

to identify themselves with VHP. Swadhyayas vichara is for ordinary

people and help them to come up but the Vichara of VHP is for getting

organized.” Mohan Bhai who has legs in both the organizations suggests

that while Swadhyaya is for self-development VHP is for organization.

About his own introduction to VHP Mahan Bhai says: “In 1992 I started

Garba of Matajee here in my village during Durga Puja. Till then there

was no Garba in this remote village of ours. It became so successful that

people came here to attend the Garba rather than going to Vijayanagar—

the taluka headquarter. This caught the notice of local leaders of VHP.

VHP people came to me from Vijayanagar and told me to work for them. I

actively stayed with them for four years. I have attended VHP camps in

Khedbrahma, Modasa and other places. Their only statement is Hindus

unite—Be one and be organized.”

Sangha Parivara has a branch called Vanavasi Kalyana Parisada and

there are two Balwadis run by this—one in Bandol and the other in the

neighboring village of Saroli. But Mohan Bhai himself feels that there is

not much development work done in tribal areas by Vanavasi Kalyana

Parisada.

I asked Mohan Bhai whether he discusses the Swadhyaya approach to

tribal development in front of the leaders of Sangha Parivara especially in

RSS camps. He says: “In one camp run by RSS 50 per cent of the partici-

pants were the Yogeshwara—Krutisheels (active followers of

Swadhyaya). We discussed the Swadhyaya approach among ourselves but

did not put it before the organizers. I have some limitation as I am

associated with politics. I am the President of the Vijayanagar Taluka

Sarpanch Association consisting of 31 sarpanches.”

Thus Mohan Bhai understands the distinction between Swadhyaya

and VHP and though for the sake of political mobilization he is with

Sangha Parivara, for his inner spiritual mobilization he is with

Swadhyaya. But many of the Swadhyaya actors have made a much more

radical break with their RSS past. And here we can discuss at great length

the experience and perspectives of two Swadhyaya workers. One is

Ramesh Bhai who works as a clerk in a high school at Vijayanagar and the

other is Dhiru Bhai of Khedasan Kampa referred many times in the text

earlier. Ramesh Bhai came to Vijayanagar a few years ago from another

where he was going to Swadhyaya Kendra. But during the time of this

226 Chapter 4

arrival in Vijayanagar there was no Swadhyaya Kendra He felt lonely and

joined the Sangha. Apart from social interaction he was also interested to

know about the Sangha for himself. But after being with Swadhyaya he

became disillusioned. He found that what is done in Sangha is only for the

upper castes. It is not for the lower classes. Moreover he found that, unlike

Swadhyaya, those who come to Sangha are mostly for their own self

interest and for gaining power and social prestige in the local community.

He tells us of his perception of Swadhyaya and RSS: “Swadhyaya

Prabrutti Ek Samjhan Yapeche, Ek Vichara Yapeche Manas Mansako

Jodbanu Kam Saru Lage—Swadhyaya Prabrutti gives an understanding,

a thought, a way of looking at things. I like the act of bringing together

man and man.” For Ramesh Bhai, the Sangha people do not come to

Swadhyaya in Vijayanagar.

Like Ramesh Bhai, Dhiru Bhai had also once been actively associated

with RSS. But unlike Ramesh Bhai he was in RSS prior to his partici-

pation in Swadhyaya. In 1992 he was also with Ramsila at Ayodhya, and

present during the demolition of Babri Masjid. He worked with RSS for

ten years: 1985 to 1995 and in fact was the head of RSS youth wing in

Vijayanagar Taluka. Dhiru Bhai says: “My brothers were going to

Swadhyaya but I was telling them. You do not come to me, I will not do

the work of Swadhyaya.” But they told me. “You just look after Dadaji’s

security during his visit”. There was a meeting of Dadaji at Yogeshwara

temple, Adepur. While working in the team of Dadaji’s security he

listened to the narrations of self change offered by the Swadhyayees. In

his words: “These Bhavaprasangas changed me. Seeing the Swadhyayees

I thought I should utilize my strength from God’s work. If you want to

change man, you cannot do this by force, pressure or law, you can change

man by changing their Vichara—thought and understanding.” After this

when RSS leaders came he told them that he cannot take any responsi-

bility on behalf of them and continue his work with the Sangha.

While moving from Bandol to Vijayanagar as I was sitting on the

back of his motorbike, Dhiru Bhai said: ‘The Sangha’s idea is that

individual should be nationalist but in Swadhyaya if there is development

of individual then he can be a nationalist. The work of Swadhyaya is

God’s work.” I asked him how it is. Dhiru Bhai in his characteristic style

of wisdom and meditative contemplation said: “It is the subject of

Garvopanishad, the upanishad of the womb. From the womb when a

person comes to earth there is a separation between Jiva and Shiva, the

soul and God. Swadhyaya’s work is to help them unite.” Eight months ago

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 227

when I first met Dhiru Bhai in his house in Khadason Kampa he had told

me as we were standing on his backyard overlooking the beautiful green

field in the midst of mountains: “RSS Ek Santhan he, Isme Bhaktika.

Baithak Nehihe—RSS is an organization; it does not have its ground in

bhakti. I was feeling egoistic in RSS; Oh I have done this. But in

Swadhyaya I do not feel I have done it. I feel we all have done a work in a

spirit of Jajnya. God is our creative partner. I am only an instrument. Ego

can make anybody fall down.”

Dhiru Bhai had told me in his first meeting with him: “When I tell

people to join in the name of RSS, people do not join. I was then thinking

that these tribal people are not coming to RSS because they do not get

anything from it. But now I realize the deeper dimension behind this. I

feel there is a divine energy working behind Swadhyaya. On the

Hindu-Muslim question and anti-Muslim stance, he says I was against the

Muslims and Christians. Once I and Ratna Bhai threatened the priest of

the local Church that if he goes by our road again we would murder him.

But after coming to Swadhyaya I heard Swadhyayees saying: Just think

about how much love the missionaries would have given to tribal people

so that they can reposit their trust on them. About relationship with

Muslims, Dhiru Bhai says “We should go to Muslims. For this we should

read what is written in Quran.” Dhiru Bhai has a Gujarati Quran but he

has not yet studied it. There has also not been any collective discussion in

the Swadhyaya circle for reading Quran. Instead of fighting with Muslims

on their alleged lack of development and participation, Dhiru Bhai says

“If anybody does not have development, we are responsible for it.” He

told me the experience of a teerthyatra where he had gone to a Muslim

village and met with the Maulavi there. He told the Maulavi that he has

just come to meet him. The Maulavi told him: “Oh I have known about

Swadhyaya. I have read all the books of Dadaji.” Dhiru Bhai said: “Oh

these Muslims are very alert. They study how Hindu movements look at

them.”

It is interesting that in this tribal area there are many Swadhyaya

workers with all sorts of previous backgrounds. Dhiru Bhai and myself

were having dinner with Jayanti Bhai Sutar, the carpenter in his newly

built Ashram house in a junction place of the locality called Ashram.

When I asked Jayanti Bhai about his joining Swadhyaya Dhiru Bhai in his

characteristic style said: “Oh his case is different. He was with Shiv Sena

when he was staying in the village.” After coming to this semi-urban

location Jayanti Bhai has joined Swadhyaya. According to Dhiru Bhai,

“as he is a late comer he runs with much speed in order to catch up.”

228 Chapter 4

I asked Dhiru Bhai if there is any place in the locality where RSS

sakhas are run. He said: “Oh for this you have to go to Panchavati

Kampa”. So we were in his bike again in the midst of jungles and hills.

We reached the Patel village of Panchavati and were lucky to find the

young Arvind Bhai, the leader of the RSS Sakha in this Kampa. His

parents and the entire joint family are Swadhyaees. But Arvind Bhai, the

young man, has been associated with Swadhyaya, RSS and the Bharatiya

Kishan Sabha—the farmers organization of Sanga Parivara. On his

experience of running the RSS Sakha and Swadhyaya Kendra, Arvind

Bhai says: “In the cities where there are hostels it is easy to run the RSS

Sakha. But in a village you run a Sakha for a year and then close it because

of lack of numbers. But you do not have to close a Swadhyaya Kendra

because of lack of numbers. It goes on. Unlike the RSS Sakha where only

the youth can take part, in Swadhyaya Kendra everybody—from child to

the old—can join.”

On his differential experience with Swadhyaya and RSS, Arvind Bhai

says: “When I go to RSS camp I like to make friends with strangers. The

same happens when I go in for Swadhyaya bhaktipheri. In RSS there is

much more emphasis on rastrabhakti (nationalist devotion) and in

Swadhyaya it is spiritual self-development.” On the Muslim question he

says, “Earlier I was thinking of destroying Muslims but now I think there

is a God inside them and I get this thought from Swadhyaya.” He further

says that now there is less anti-Muslim talk in the RSS camps. In his

words: “RSS also says that it does not oppose Musalmans, it opposes their

thought.” I asked Arvind Bhai if he has ever presented the Swadhyaya

idea of indwelling God to the RSS followers and he said that he has not

done this so far.

It is time that we meet a full-fledged RSS activist and for this we

would have to come to Vijayanagar and meet with Bharath Bhai. Bharath

Bhai teaches in a high school in Vijayanagar, in fact in the same school in

which Ramesh Bhai works as a clerk. He has been a long time activist

with RSS, having joined the organization in 1972. Of the work of Sangha

Parivara in this tribal block of Vijayanagar Bharath Bhai says. “The work

of Hindu Jagrana has been quite old. Forty years ago there was no

Navaratri here. But now in eighty-five villages there are Garbas. What is

more tribals are undertaking teerthayatras to Ambaji on the hills.” For

Bharath Bhai, having Navaratri and taking teerthayatra to Ambaji’s

temple is a sign of the development of tribals.

For Bharath Bhai, Vanavasi Kalyana Parisada has a center in every

village and it is running Balwadis. But this may not be true. During my

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 229

intense visit of five-six tribal villages I have been told about the Vanavasi

Parisada run balwadis only in two villages. The Parisada is running a

hostel for tribal students. He contrasted this hostel with the hostel run by

Adivasi Sevalaya. Some of the inmates of this Christian missionary run

hostel come to study in his high school and he told that some of these

inmates are involved in robbery. Bharath Bhai says: “Christians and

Christian missionaries have nothing to do with our culture and country.

When Swadhyayees from Bombay came, Christian missionaries told the

tribals not go to them as they would take their daughters and sell them.

But the Adivasis realized the signficance of Swadhyaya.” But no

Swadhyayee has told me that Christians and Christian missionaries spread

such alleged canards about them.

For Bharath Bhai, “Seventy-five per cent of people of India are

Hindus and whatever change in this society is going to come is going to

come from Hindus.” Swadhyaya for him is a Hindu organization. He says:

“If Swadhyaya works in a village and then one Musalman comes and sits

it does not mean that Swadhyaya is for everybody. Swadhyaya is for

Hindus only.” Thus while Swadhyayees stress the universality of their

path, for the actors of RSS Swadhyaya is particularstic, like RSS—it is

particular to the Hindus.

For Bharath Bhai, the remarkable achievement of Swadhyaya in tribal

areas is that now tribals chant slokas from Bhagawad Gita “from their

own mouths”. Swadhyaya also brought about great byasanamukti (liber-

ation from addictions such as alcohol) in the tribal areas.

For Bharath Bhai, Swadhyaya and Sangha are two aspects of the

mobilization of Hinduism. In his words: “Bat Hi Ek Hi Hei: Sangha

Parivara Jo Karta He O Sakhike Swarup Me Karta Hei. Aur Swadhyaya

Jo Karta He O Bhakti ke Swarup Me Karta Hei. Hinduisme Ke Liye

Donahi Abashyak He. Bhakti Bi Abashyak He, Shakti Bi Abashyak

He—the matter is same. Sangha Parivara works on the basis of strength

and Swadhyaya does it on the basis of devotion. Both are essential for

Hindusthan.” The same is the approach of BJP to Swadhyaya. This

becomes clear when we talk to Paresh Bhai Joshi, (a pseudonym), an

important leader of BJP in Vijayanagar Taluka. He is an influential

landlord in the area and many of the Swadhyayees from Bombay in their

initial days of coming to tribal area were landing in his house. He has

known Swadhyaya since 1982 but became active only since 1995. He like

Dhiru Bhai was an activist in the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. To

coincide with the demolition of Babri Masjid he wanted to do a

“mini-Babri Masjid demolition” in Vijayanagar but he was late for it as

230 Chapter 4

the police became vigilant and tightened security around the concerned

mosque in Vijayanagar. I asked Paresh Bhai had he been a Krutisheel in

Swadhyaya in 1992 would it have made a difference in his stance on Babri

Masjid demolition. He said: “No! Sometimes it is necessary to demon-

strate your strength. If Sivaji had not fought then there would not have

been any Hinduism.” While supporting the demolition of Babri Masjid,

Paresh Bhai said that the post-demolition riots were wrong.

We have already listened to Dhiru Bhai’s critique of anti-Muslim and

anti-Christian stance in RSS. Dhiru Bhai himself made a profound

statement that would gladden the heart of Habermas who talks about

inclusion of the other: “If you go deeper in any work then the “anti” ness

that is there would be transformed.” But on attacks on Christians in the

tribal district of Dang he says that news of all these attacks are

exaggerated. “In Dang, Christians are in a majority. It has created

problems for the Hindus. All over India whenever Christians become a

majority it becomes a problem for the Hindus. Dadaji did not send

Swadhyayees to stop the growing influence of missionaries. But if

Swadhyaya had not arrived it would have created a lot of problems. The

problem that exists in Nagaland could have arisen here.”

There is an Adivasi Sevalaya near Vijayanagar. I had met Fr

Lurumba, the leader of this institution who is originally from Italy. He

says: “It is Adivasi Sevalaya which has played an important role in the

agricultural and economic development of the tribals. It has got funding

from both Catholic Relief Source (CRS) and the governmental office of

tribal development at Khedbrahma and built irrigation wells, tube wells

and houses.” In his words: “We have dug 2000 wells and built 2000

houses. We have built twelve tube wells in Tola Dongri, we have done

plenty of irrigation. We have also brought about agricultural break-

through. With the help of the tribals we have started doing cotton and

other high-yielding seed plots. We help them to build through food for

work program.”

When I told him that many Swadhyayees think that it is through

Swadhyaya that irrigation and agricultural development in tribal area has

taken place, Fr Lurumba said: “This is pure nonsense. The only thing

Swadhyaya has done is making a marginal difference to tribal people’s

additiction to drinking. Here again, rise in income and living standard has

been much more responsible for tribals leaving drinking.”

Both Bachu Bhai and myself had visited Fr Lurumba and he invited us

for lunch. But not for a single minute did he talk to Bachu Bhai nor did he

look at his eyes. The only point he indirectly referred to him is when he

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 231

said: “There is one catechist in Badri. But he does not come to the mission

anymore.”

I discussed with the Swadhyaya leaders about Fr. Lurumba’s views

on factors responsible for tribal development. They told me government

provides subsidy for digging wells but many of these wells are individual

wells and government provides support only for digging well under forty

feet. But soon water dries up on the shallow wells. Many of these wells

have become dysfunctional.”

Manav Kalyan Pratisthana, Thuavi

Discussing on Swadhyaya and tribal development is incomplete without

discussing the work of Manav Kalyan Pratisthana (Center for Human

Welfare). This is an institute of vocational training specifically for the

tribals. It is at a distance of ten kilometers from Baroda. A Vanaprasthee is

in charge of this. This Institute provides vocational training in several

trades—carpentry, electricity and tailoring. With this training, tribal

youths go back to their tribal villages. They use it as the primary source of

earning or as supplementary source of livelihood, supplementing the

income from the land. The principal of this institute in Thuavi, Baroda

told me that this way the young people stay in the village. Their parents do

not have to undergo the pangs of their children leaving them. Apart from

earning their livelihood, they can also do God’s work in the village. In

Khedason I met a tribal young man Babu Bhai who had taken training in

this centre.

The Vanaprasthee Asram

There was the Ashrama system in ancient India where life had four

stages—childhood, adulthood, the stage of the householder, and that of

the renouncer. In the earlier Ashram Byabastha the elderly people used to

retire to the forest. But in Swadhyaya, the Vanaprastha system has been

reformulated where elderly people stay in different Swadhyaya institu-

tions. They nurture the young activists. In Simar we have already met with

Jivabhai in his Manahar Kendra. In Swadhyaya reverence is a foundation

for inter-generational solidarity and well-being.

The Yogeshwara temple in Adepur which is the centre of all

Swadhyaya activities has a Vanaprasthee Ashram. Four senior citizens

232 Chapter 4

stay there. Karshan Bapa was the seniormost. He was the main pujari in

the Yogeshwara temple. Everyday a pujari couple from the neighboring

tribal village also joined him in prayer. He taught tribals how to do puja in

a Vedic way.2

The Vanaprasthees prepare their own food. They rise up in the

morning and everyday after breakfast go to a nearby tribal village. They

inquire in to the condition of people in the village. They also ask the

tribals about their Swadhyaya practices such as going on in Ekadashi.

Such meetings give inspiration to the tribals.

Kahnu Bhai is an inmate of this Vanaprasthee Ashram. He is from

Bombay. He says: “We are doing the work of the Rishis. In earlier times,

Rishis used to do Jajnya; they used to go to the villages telling people

about Jajnya. We are doing the same thing here.” “Like Rishis we stay in

mud house here and prepare our own foods.” But he makes it clear that the

Ashram is not a holiday home: “to come here one has also to stand in the

line. In Prabhu Kanya also you have to stand in the queue.”

Reflecting on the significance of such a place for the elderly, Kahnu

Bhai says: “Dadaji wants the Vanaprasthees to mix with society. They

feel good in staying at home so they should come out of home.” When we

come out of home, we learn how to relate to members of our family in a

dignified way. “I have everything in my house in Bombay but here I

prepare our own food. I realize how difficult it is to cook food. So, I do not

make unnecessary demand on my daughter-in-law. I learn how to appre-

ciate the hard work of my daughter-in-law.”

Kahnu Bhai further says that when he returns home he also sweeps the

floor. He says: “Why not sweep the room? Is it only women’s work? If we

do this then our daughters-in-law like this. The Bahu thinks that the old

man is good because he mingles with her, understands her. Dadaji teaches

us here how the Vanaprasthees have to love.”

Apart from his own self-development, Kahnu Bhai also feels that he is

playing a role in the Swadhyaya work, in the spiritual and economic

development of tribals. In the morning Adivasis from the surrounding

villages come out to pray. The temple is teaching the significance of idol

worship to the tribals. Apart from meeting the local tribals, the senior

citizens or the Vanaprasthees also sit with the doctors. “Inka bhavaprema

Badhta he—this contributes to the enhancement of their emotion and

love.”

Karshan Bapa is the seniormost Swadhyayee in the Ashram. He has

been at Adepur since 1985, the beginning of the establishment of the

temple. Karshan Bhai says: “I was illiterate. The co-ordinator of the place

From Matsyagandha to Ghar Mandir 233

asked me to come and take charge. My daughter-in-law said: This is for

your self-development.” In those years Karshan Bapa was travelling in

these villages. Now he is in his mid-eighties and unable to move in the

villages. He does the puja in the Yogeshwara temple and interacts with the

doctors. In his words: “The keys to Patanjali Chikitsalaya is with us. The

doctors would come as well as sit down with us for us for five-ten

minutes. If the doctors need something, say a little extra milk, we supply

them. But when they come back they return whatever they take.”

As has already been mentioned Yogeshwara temple is the nucleus of

Swadhyaya activities in the area. During my stay—August 1999—there

was a meeting of the young men of the locality. “Both the Patels and

Adivasis were taking part in the street drama in the villages on the occasion

of Janmastami.” The theme of the street play was Daivi Mitrata—divine

friendship.3

The message in this street play was: “One who becomes an instrument

in one’s development is a friend”. Mr. Jayendra Bhai Soni, a pharmacist

in Ahmedabad and participant in the Patanjali Chikitsalaya, had come to

provide orientation to the actors of the street play. Jayendra Bhai said:

“We are not professional actors; we are not dramatists. In your meeting do

not be worried if there are only ten people. The street play, the neighbored

play is a way of reaching out to the young. Through you Swadhyaya

Vichara is going to society but you are doing your Bhakti. Today negative

thoughts are on the rise in society and are also becoming attractive and in

this context we have a special role to bring positive thought.”

Notes

1. Ekalavya is the tribal boy who wanted to learn archery from the famous

teacher Dronacharya but was denied. When he learnt this on his own keeping an

idol of the teacher in front of him, Dronachararya asked him to give his finger as an

offering to him.

2. In the meantime Karshan Bapa has passed away.

3. A script of this street play was circulated. But this was not for free.

234 Chapter 4

5

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya

The evolution of religion has reversed the proportions and the final

result is the limitation of group activity. For the most part, religious

practices have become truly individual. . . . As individuals act more or

less as they please, so they likewise become, so far as possible, creators

of their own faith.

These two processes are particularly marked in the case of prayer,

which has in fact been one of the main agents of this double evolution.

—Marcel Mauss (2003), On Prayer, p. 24

. . . in the present situation a politics of the imagination, a politics of

religion, may be the only sane politics. There is no hope in any of the

competing absolutisms. If the forces at war are locked in their own

death-like scenarios perhaps the only responsible politics is to unmask

the pretensions of all the contending parties and give witness to the

enormous possibilities in human experience, in a word, to waken the

actors out of their trance. To this end a human science can perhaps can

join with a human religion to help create a human politics.

—Robert N. Bellah (1970), Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in

a Post-Traditional World, p. xviii

One of the most important contributions of artists in any society is

creating narratives and images of wholeness in the face of undeniable

brokenness.

This is one of the most important spiritual questions of our time. If spiri-

tuality relates us to God, it must relate all of us—our whole being—to

— 235 —

God. There must be healing and integration. What artists struggle with

in this respect is similar to the experience of most of us. We live with

broken expectations and fragmented communities. Creating some

semblance of wholeness in our lives becomes a prevailing spiritual

problem.

—Robert Wuthnow (2001),

Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist, p. 75

Today, what our world requires most is a vast, collaborative effort by all

those who share a commitment to empower children and young people

with the inner means for a lifetime of growth, happiness and creation of

value.

—Daisaku Ikeda (2001), Soka Education:

A Buddhist Vision for Teachers, Students and Parents, p. 32

As a self-study movement Swadhyaya says that it gives emphasis on

education, education as self-cultivation and development of subjectivity.

In fact in Srimad Bhagawad Gita there is an intimate connection between

Swadhyaya and Gynajajnya and there is a term called Swadhyaya Gyana

jajnya which urges us to understand and look at gyana as a yajnya. There

are multidimensional processes of learning at work in Swadhyaya. First of

all the Swadhyaya Kendras are centers of learning. Then Dadaji’s Video

Pravachan Kendras are also centers of learning. In Video Kendras

Swadhyayees take meticulous notes of Dadaji’s Pravachan. They keep

their notebooks safely and read their notebooks at other times during the

week. In fact, the whole Swadhya project can be looked at as an educa-

tional project as Swadhyaya started with education. One of its first

activity was starting the children’s center, Bala Sanskara Kendra.

As has been hinted at, there is a general climate of learning and

reading in the Swadhyaya homes. In a study of Ahmednagar District of

Maharashtra it is found that 100 per cent families have at least five books

in their library; 63.70 per cent families have at least 11-15 books in their

library, and 8 per cent families have at least 31-35 books in their library.1

The same study shows that “Each Swadhyayee reads literature regularly.

75.60 per cent Swadhyayees reads one hour in a day regularly.”

Furthermore, “Each Swadhyayee purchases at least Rs 50 literature

during the year. 9.16 per cent Swadhyayees purchase more than 200

rupees of Swadhyaya literature per year.”

236 Chapter 5

Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha

It is an educational experiment of Swadhyaya. In this Swadhyayees take

examinations at various levels. This is open to every body. There are the

following levels in this examination process—Jigyasu, Gyata,

Vichakshana, Praveshak, Parangata and Anugyata. The first three levels

of examinations are open to anybody including the illiterate people who

have not completed their Bachelor degrees. Those who have their

Bachelor degrees can directly sit in the Praveshak examinations. Now a

new level of research and thesis writing has been added to this called

Vidya Manishi—this is equivalent to a PhD. In Jigyasu and Gyata the

examination is for hundred marks and the duration of the examination is

for three hours. Any one who has passed Praveshak can check these

examination papers. After the examination the voluntary evaluators stay

for three days in the evaluation center and check these papers.

Vichakshana has two papers, each seventy-five marks, and for the

duration of two and a half hours. The answer papers of the last three

examinations are sent to Bombay. For passing the examinations, one has

to secure 45 per cent and for gaining distinction, one has to secure 70 per

cent. In the last levels of examinations—Praveshak, Parangata, and

Anugyata—those who are within the fifth ranks are invited to Bombay

and Dadaji used to give them a special certificate.

These examinations involve many aspirations and activities.

Swadhyayees take part in this in order to learn about the thoughts of

Swadhyaya and the writings of Dadaji in great details. It is also an oppor-

tunity for them to show their commitment to the vocation of continued

learning for which Swadhyaya stands for. This becomes clear when we

listen to Swadhyayees who are eager to take part in this examination

process. Dr Santwani is a doctor in Veraval. When I visited him one late

afternoon years ago I saw him with his books. He told me: “I am now

preparing for my examination. Usually in examinations we read for marks

and degrees but here we are learning for our own self-development.

Swadhyaya has divinized the examination system.” But the same Dr

Santwani tells us: “Because you take part in an examination you are

forced to read. If one does not take part in this examination then one does

not have any motivation to read all the books of Swadhyaya. I read

Swadhyaya books in my free time.” Therefore Swadhyaya keeps the

terminology of examination but seeks to transform it into a mechanism for

enhancing the love for study on the part of the participants. That is why

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 237

this process is called Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha—an examination

which enhances your love for learning and knowledge.

Different Swadhyayees take part in this from their own unique

backgrounds. Laxmi Ma is in her seventies, we have met her in the second

chapter. She has taken the first level of examination. Now she wants to

prepare for the second level. She has been meaning to sit for this second

level for the last many years. She says: “I am becoming a bit lazy.

Whenever I come to study sleep comes to visit me.” But she is quite

cheerful and to support her enthusiasm I had once brought a couple of

notebooks for her.

Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha has created a deep thirst for

knowledge and learning on the part of many people and lakhs of people

take part in this process of learning and evaluation. What is striking is the

interest with which illiterate people take part in this. They request neither

literate members of the family or followed Swadhyayees to read

Swadhyaya books to them such as Sradha, Rishi Smaran etc. They sit in

the examination and take a writer with them to write their answers. Vidya

Prema Vardhana Pareeksha is an activity of multi-dimensional mobili-

zation. Swadhyaya volunteers both at home and the world mobilize

themselves for this task.

Mangu Bhai’s daughter is married to Bimal Bhai who is also a

Swadhyayee. All of them stay in London. When I was visiting them in

December 1999 she was busy preparing for her examination. Mangu Bhai

was very happy that his daughter had topped in the examination for her

level. She is not able to read Gujarati. Mangubhai reads Dadaji’s Gujarati

books to her. She is quite enthusiastic to take part in this learning. Her

father-in-law Raman Bhai is also appearing for the Parangat level of

examination. He says: “We are taking examination not to pass but to have

affection for examination. I am sitting in examination so that we can

understand more our culture.”

Recently Swadhyayayees are also taking coaching classes for taking

part in this examination. I had taken part in one such coaching class in

Ahmedabad on July 18, 1999. This was a Sunday. There was the usual

Dada’s Video Pravachan at Bhavanirjar in the morning. In the afternoon

at four, there was a coaching class for the participants of the Vidya Prema

Vardhana Pareeksha. Rajesh Bhai and Shailesh Bhai were taking the

classes. They are two senior Swadhyayees of Ahmedabad. It is helpful to

note the discussion that was held there.

In the coaching class Shailesh Bhai, a senior Swadhyayee of

Ahmedabad, began by stating the significance of Vidya Prema Vardhana

238 Chapter 5

Pareeksha. “This year 70,000 people are sitting in this examination.” Our

examination system, Sailesh Bhai said, is not jeevana laxi but jeevika

laxmi—it is not oriented to life but only oriented to earning a livelihood.

Swadhyaya prayogs are unique efforts in loka shikshana—people’s

education. Rajesh Bhai said that it is important to have a clarity of the

foundational principles of Swadhyaya and to write answers correctly

otherwise one will not get adequate marks. Rajesh Bhai is a doctor and he

began with the example of the prayog of the doctors. He said: “Prayog is a

place where you offer your efficiency. Dada has introduced the notion of

subjective change in place of objective change. Offering one’s efficiency

is a subtle change, is a subjective change. Patanjali Chikitsalaya is neither

for the doctors nor for the tribals but for one’s mana and buddhi—devel-

oping one’s mind and intellect.” Rajesh Bhai also told them that they

should know the aggregate figures about different Swadhyaya activities:

1.5 lac people take part in bhaktipheri regularly, there are 21 Vriksha

Mandir, 11 Shridarshanam, 4 Patanjali Chikitsalaya, 136 Amrutlayam,

3500 Yogeshwara Krishi and 72 Matsyagandha.

In the coaching class Sailesh Bhai said: “You must read your

questions carefully.” Suppose you have a question: “Our bhaktipheri is a

unique way of establishing human dignity.” “In answering this question if

you do not write about ‘unique’ then it would be incomplete. He further

said: if you have a question Swadhyaya is a process of five-fold revolution

how are you going to write the answer?” He said “the five revolutions

refer to economic, social, political, emotional and spiritual.” He began by

saying that revolution means change of values. In Swadhyaya economic

revolution takes place by the generation of impersonal wealth where none

is a majdur nor a malik. Swadhyaya’s principle of not taking anything for

free, Sailesh Bhai told the participants of the coaching examination to

write, also constitutes an economic revolution. And then he asked what is

social revolution? Social revolution means to eliminate discriminations in

society. And political revolution is created by Swadhyaya when people

realize that they have a dignity and they cannot be purchased by the politi-

cians. And spiritual revolution is inaugurated by the daily practice of

Trikala Sandhya.

Rajesh Bhai said that they may expect some questions on Awards that

Dadaji has received. While writing about Magasassy Awards if they do

not write a line about ‘community development’ then the answer is

incomplete.

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 239

The Swadhyaya Process of Alternative Learning:

The Pathways of Rishi Krishi

There is an alternative pathway of learning in Swadhyaya. This is called

Rishi Krishi, i.e. an educational process which helps one to be a Rishi as

well as to be a good farmer. After seventh standard those students whose

parents have either enough land or own business and who are qualified to

study having passed in the entrance examination study in the Swadhyaya

school for three years. There are two such first level of schools—one in

Bhandei, Kutch (Gujarat) and the other in Nasik (Maharashtra). Here they

study for three years—the first year is called Valmiki, the second Panini

and the third Patanjali. After this, the students come to study for their

higher level of study at Bhavanirjhar, Ahmedabad and study for three

years—Debal, Archan and Atri. After completing this they come to study

at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth. Here another batch of students join them. They

are the ones who come to do a year of special graduate course on Indian

philosophy and culture after completing their Bachelor studies.2

For the first level of study earlier there was another school at Rajula in

Saurashtra. In fact Rajula in Saurashtra was the first school. But it closed

in 1998 and students there were shifted to the school in Bhandei, Kutch.

This school called Jeevan Pragnya Vidyalaya, Iswara Bhavna was started

by Sanskruti Gyana Vistaraka Sangha in 1968.

Jeevan Pragnya Vidyalaya, Iswara Bhavna:

The Swadhyaya School in Bhandei, Kutch

Devji Bhai is now the coordinator of the school in Bhandei, Kutch. He

told me that Dadaji has been from the beginning very interested in

education. He was running two schools then—one, the Tattwabhavna

School in Rebabar, Kutch and the other, the Gyana Sarita School in

Mulund. But these were supported by government though the

management lay in the hands of Dadaji. But soon Dadaji realized the

limits of doing experiments in education within the limits of the

government system. These two schools started in 1954.

The seeds for a new initiative in education were planted when Dadaji

was traveling in the villages. He noticed that farmers were reluctant to

send their children to school because they were afraid that after studies

they would not come back home. Farmers wanted their children to stay in

the farm and take care of them. Dadaji then asked them: “What if you

240 Chapter 5

have an education in which you get the education but not the degree.”

Farmers realized that this way their children were not going to leave them

and work elsewhere.

The idea behind the Swadhyaya process of education is that education

is not for getting an outside job but for earning one’s livelihood from

either one’s farm or business and for getting the training to live a spiri-

tually meaningful life—in fact the life of Rishis.

Now there is an increasing demand for this education. Those who are

devoted Swadhyayees consider it as an evidence of their commitment to

send their children to this education. Sometimes those who stay in cities

and are salaried people having neither family business nor farm purchase

land to be eligible to send their boys to the Swadhyaya school. There are

thirty seats at Iswara Bhavna, Bhandei but there is now a great deal of

competition for getting a seat. Says Devjee Bhai, the coordinator of the

school: “The quota is only 30. Yet 130 to 140 students come for entrance

examination every year.”

Devji Bhai says that the method of education here is Tapovana

Paddhati Sikya—to teach as it was in the tapovanas of ancient India. The

primary task here is to help students be human beings and not to stuff their

mind with different contents. The syllabus here is simple—there is a great

deal of emphasis on language. Students study Hindi, English and

Gujarati/Marathi and they learn arithmetic. They do not study history nor

geography nor science. The pedagogues of this system of education

believe that if students are good in languages they can study all subjects

which interest them on their own. Besides language and arithmetic, they

also study the subject of Indian culture. This helps the students to take the

examination of Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha. The Panini students

(equivalent to eighth standard) have to appear for Jigyanshu and the

Patanjali students for Gyata. The last year students have to prepare for

Bichakhyana and take the examination when they are in Bhavanirjhara.

In this educational process a minimum of 45 to 50 per cent is required

for pass and 70 per cent gives one distinction. If one does not pass then

one is given another chance to repeat oneself.

Iswara Bhavna has three interconnected campuses. The first is called

Atri Chaya. This is the place which has Dadaji’s residence. Dadaji used to

come here only rarely but the whole building reserved for his residence.

The middle campus is called Jeevan Pragnya. This is where students stay

and have their classes. There are seven rooms in which 81 students were

staying. The rooms are used for both class rooms as well as for sleeping.

Students use folded beds and have a box to keep their belongings. The

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 241

next campus is called Rishi Smaran. It is where teachers stay and it also

contains the dining hall of the school.

I had spent three days in this school in April 2000. During my stay

teachers told me that they are keen to provide here a Tapovana method of

education. Students stay with minimum facilities. All students no matter

whether their parents are rich or poor have the same facilities. According

to Devji Bhai: “We have kept the facilities minimum because if there is a

son of a poor person here he would not ask for more comfortable

amenities of life after returning home after one’s studies.” Says Devji

Bhai: “Some may like to have potato curry everyday but here one would

not have it. They clean their own rooms and toilets. Physical work is an

important part of one’s being here. Students also grind the wheat and

make their breads—rotis. They also take care of their First Aid needs.”

Students wake up early in the morning. Then they keep the bedding in

the bedding room. They do not sleep during the day time. They go in

prabhatpheri at 5.30 in the morning, at 6.30 they do the morning prayer

and after it they do suryanamaskar. At 8.10 they have their classes and at

11.45 they have their lunch. Students are expected to go to bed at 9.30 PM

but they can keep themselves awake till 10.30 if they want to study. There

are seven teachers in the school and except one—Manish Bhai Trivedi—

all are retired. Manish Bhai is a young man from Bombay and he has

come with his wife and little daughter to stay here and to teach. He had

spent one year at the Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth, Thane. While studying at

Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth he realized that by giving him birth in the

Brahmin caste God has given him extra responsibility. He understood that

to be a Brahmin is to be a teacher. On return from the Vidyapeeth he

started working as a tuition master. Then in 1998 he got a phone call from

the Swadhyaya headquarters to come to this place to work. His parents

had second thoughts whether he would be able to adjust in this rural area.

But as Manish Bhai wanted to be a teacher he considered it a God-given

opportunity. Manish Bhai teaches Indian culture to students. He stays in

the school with his wife and they have a little girl. He likes to do

suryanamaskar many, many times and he is an enthusiastic proponent of

the Tapovana system of education.

Rashik Bhai Vaishnav is another senior teacher of the school. He

came to know Dadaji in 1974. He has taken Dadaji’s advice “bichitra vesa

makuru” (Do not wear strange dress) seriously. He says that when he was

principal of a high school he did not keep any distance between himself

and the local population. He follows a similar approach in his dealing with

his students. His students come to study with him during his leisure time.

242 Chapter 5

Nagji Bhai Patel is another teacher of the school. He is a retired

teacher. He says: “I come from Baroda district and my village is 500

kilometers away from this place. After retirement and getting the pension

I wanted to work in the Swadhyaya school. But Dadaji told me that

without the permission of my family I cannot just come. This way Dadaji

wanted to make sure that I do not have any major obligation.”

“Once the motabhai here told me—in our institution you are like a

diamond. There was once a circular in the school where it was written

‘proud for’ and I told that no it would be proud of. Then I was told to teach

English. However I did not teach English before. So I learnt how to teach

this. This made me realize that a teacher has always to be a student.”

Nagji Bhai says that he interacts closely with the students. In his

words: “I do not consider my students as students rather I consider them

as my younger brothers. Whatever sanskara—culture—should be given

to my brother I try to give it to my students. My additional commitment

comes from the fact that this is a divine work. We encourage our students

to follow accepted bindings—swikara hua bandhan. Our prayer is at 6.30

AM and we do not have bells and our children come and join it. When

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 243

Students doing suryanamaskar at the Iswara Bhavna School in Kutch

children leave for home in the summer vacation their parents come and we

have a cultural festival.”

Nagji Bhai as well as all the teachers of the school say that they

deeply love the students. But sometimes such love is put to test in critical

situations. During my stay at the school one day after the morning prayer

Nagji Bhai told the prayer class: “For Gajendra it is not important to

appear in the examination. He should first take care of his health.” Then

Devji Bhai, the headmaster, added: “If anything wrong happens then who

is going to be responsible?” Gajendra is a final year student at Iswara

Bhavna and there were only five days left for the examination. He had a

problem in his legs. He had difficulty in walking. The school had

consulted its physician and had inferred that it may be too risky to keep

Gajendra because if he becomes bed ridden who is going to take care of

him in the school as all the students would be busy in examination. But

Gajendra was shocked to hear this decision of the school in the prayer

class. He helplessly pleaded that he is alright and he very much wants to

take the examination. But this was of no avail. As I was sitting there I was

pondering whether this is the rishi (sage) way of treating a child: “A

student has already completed three years of study and because he is ill

you throw him out of the school. Where is the heart in this system to

understand the dreams of a student? He must have dreamt of going to

Bhavanirjhar in Ahmedabad? What he is going to do now? Moreover the

school could have considered to keep him in a nursing home and he could

have come and sit in his examination.”

I had discussion with some of the students of Iswara Bhavna. One

student says: “I did not know much about this place but after coming here

I enjoy being here. The teachers here do not beat us but make us under-

stand. They also make us understand if we do some mischief then it would

be a slur on the good reputation of our families. But if Guruji (the teacher)

does not give punishment those who commit mistakes give themselves

self-punishment. Once Bhagirath had cracked a humiliating joke with a

classmate and the teacher told him that he did not expect this from him.

He realized his mistake and took a vow that he would memorize Shiva

Mahimna Stotra (stanzas from Shiva Mahima). It is a big stotra. It consists

of forty-five slokas. Here punishment is like this—we do not get beating,

we are told to memorize the slokas.”

About his future plans he says: “I here realize that Dada has kept me

here as a Nachiketa3 and after completing my study I will go and work in

my village. Swami Vivekananda had asked for one hundred Nachiketas

but Dadaji asks for only one Nachiketa. As a Nachiketa I shall work in my

244 Chapter 5

village and try to establish an Amrutalayam. In my village nobody does

suryanamaskar.”

I asked him in what ways he would like to tackle the problem of

poverty. He said that he would tackle poverty through the Swadhyaya

process of prasad and generation of impersonal wealth. “When the poor

come to Swadhyaya they would not feel that they are poor. He would

understand that God is with him and he is not helpless. He would not

accept anything for free. To help the poor overcome their difficulties I

shall create tejaswita (radiance) and asmita (sense of worth) among the

poor.”

With many students I had discussions about what they feel about the

curriculum. Gignesh, a student from Surat, who had joined this mainly to

fulfill the dream of this grandfather, says that he does not feel inadequate

that history, geography and science are not taught here. Whatever is

required to be known, he is confident that, it is taught here. For him, “here

languages—Gujarati, Hindi, and English—are taught with perfection and

with this one can read sciences and whatever one wants to learn.” All the

students of the school presented such a point of view which however

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 245

Students of Iswara Bhavna Working in the Kitchen

seemed to me as if they are parodying the whole ideology of such an

educational process instead of independently thinking about it. One

student says that he likes that “over and above the text books, they teach

us a grammar book in Sanskrit which is additional.” I asked a student what

about the fact that they do not teach computers here. He said: “Man has

made computer. Can computer surpass man? Swami Vivekananda has

said: if we develop our mind we can store the books of the entire world in

it.” In the same vein another student says: “If we do murtipuja (idol

worship) we would be able to use our conscious mind more and more and

we would not have much use of computers.”

What motivates parents to leave their children in such schools? One

student says: “We are two brothers and we have one sister. My father

decided that he would like to make one of his sons a true Brahmin. My

father takes the Swadhyaya Kendra in our locality and after the Kendra he

would tell everybody: ‘My elder son would study in Rajula.’ But I was

thinking: ‘Let my father speak to everybody. There are only fifteen seats

and I am not going to get it.’” He however got a seat. He says: “In all his

letters my father would write: you would have to here become a true

Nachiketa. You have to take part in the cultural work of the Vidyapeeth.”

After his studies he would dedicate himself to God’s work. He says:

“While doing my business I will spend more time for God’s work because

when I go to meet with Him, He would not ask: How much time you spent

on education, he would ask: How much time you gave to my work?”

There is also another school for the first level of Swadhyaya

education and it is near Nasik. I had also visited this school. The school

has a big campus and local Swadhyayees come and take care of the work

of the school on the basis of shramabhakti. Students from different parts

of the country—mainly from Gujarati and Maharastrian families settled

elsewhere such as in Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu—come and study

here. Teachers told me that sometimes the non-Maharastrian students are

told to sing the Marathi Bhavgeet while Maharastrian students are told to

sing the Bhavgeet in Hindi.

After completing their first level of education in Iswara Bhavna,

Kutch and Bhava Saurava, Nasik students come to study at Bhavanirjhar,

Ahemedabad. They here study for three years—Debal, Archan and Atri.

Altogether there are 130 students. There are three streams of learning

here—language, mathematics and Indian culture (in continuum with what

they had learnt earlier), agriculture and handicrafts. The later two, they

learn in a systematic manner here in Bhavanirjhar. They do not learn it

246 Chapter 5

either in the first level or in the third level of their study at the Tatwagyan

Vidyapeeth.

There is a huge agricultural field in the campus of Bhavanirjhar and

students here learn to plough and to use tractor. They also learn a bit of

theory and about soil sciences. The handicraft section here is quite

meaningfully called Sanket. One teacher Kirit Bhai Mehta who wears

Khadi and open to Gandhi’s basic education says: “If you take out

spinning and weaving then we are doing everything similar to basic

education. All the aspects of basic education are here. We have

compulsory work and prayer.”

There are ten teachers in the school and except two, all are retired

people. There is one lady teacher. One of the retired persons who teaches,

says: “We are not tired of our family and have come here. We have come

here to do our devotion. You have to give your efficiency for the common

good.” One of the young teachers says: “I had learnt spinning and

weaving. If you take out spinning and weaving then we are doing every-

thing similar to basic education. We are teaching our students handicrafts.

All the aspects of basic education are here. Compulsory work and prayer.”

In fact every morning students carry out a prabhapheri. They go on prayer

procession to the temple Yogeshwara inside the campus and do their

prayer.

Ganesh is a final year student at Bhavanirjhar. He comes from Nasik.

His father has fifty acres of land. He says: “My parents decided it so that

my future life becomes a happy one.” Ganesh laments that in these days

farmers’ wards, after their studies, do not come back to their villages.

Sanket is an unique experiment in providing entrepreneurial training.

We can recall here the experiences of Arjun Bhai from Badri. He is a

tribal youth who had gone through the Swadhyaya process of education.

He told me that during Raksha Bandhan day he is able to prepare Rakshi

and earn a substantial amount. Some Vidyapeeth graduates of the area

come together and prepare Rakhis on a co-operative basis.

Atri is the last stage in the study of Bhavirjhar. After this students go

to Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth for their final year study.

Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth

After completing their six years of studies participants in Rishi Krishi

come to study at Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth. Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth is the

center of Swadhyaya educational experiments. There are three streams of

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 247

students here—those who are part of the Swadhyaya educational process

of Rishi Krishi who come here for their final year’s study; those who

come to do their post-graduate course in Indian culture and philosophy

after completing their bachelor studies and studying at the Vidyapeeth for

two years; and a one year diploma program in Indian culture and

philosophy for students coming from abroad to study. The first year

students of the two year’s post-graduate program in Indian culture and

philosophy are called Atri and the second year students are called

Kashyap. The third category of boys are mainly from the Swadhyaya

families who are settled abroad, mainly in the U.S. and U.K. The syllabus

here consists of English, Ramayana, Mahabarata, and Gita. They also

study comparative religion and philosophy of religion. There are

altogether 185 students studying now in the Vidyapeeth. In the Fall of

2000, the following was the break up of students who had come to the

Vidyapeeth for their post-graduate and diploma courses from outside

Gujarat and Maharashtra:

Name of the State Atri Kashyap

Andhra Pradesh 7 2

Haryana 1 1

Uttar Pradesh 3 1

Madhya Pradesh 5 1

Tamil Nadu 3

Rajasthan 1

U.S.A. 16 and 1 from U.K. (p. 176/y7)

Students tell that they come here not merely for book learning but for

getting the experience of staying in a Tapovana. They take pride in the

fact that they do all the works of the Vidyapeeth. There is a work group of

thirty students which prepares roti and helps in the kitchen everyday.

There is also a work group for doing shramabhakti in the campus—

cleaning the campus, digging some holes and cleaning the garden.

There is the famous Yogeshwara temple inside the campus which is a

center of attraction for Swadhyayees from all over the world. But this is

manned and managed by the students who also take care of the task of

worshipping in turn. In fact, there are two groups—one in the morning

and the other in the evening—to take care of the worship at the temple.

They do the Puja and Alati. While working in the temple, as also while

248 Chapter 5

serving food, those who are in charge have to wear Khadi. It is hilarious to

see students from the U.S. and U.K. coming and trying to wear Khadi (the

traditional male dress which is woven around the waist). All these

practices provide an over-all orientation which includes orientation to the

body.

There are four professors here who stay on campus and two who come

to teach part-time. Jagdish Bhai Shah, a senior Swadhyayee and an

advocate in Bombay High Court used to come here to teach. He had been

associated with the Vidyapeeth from the very inception, in fact since

1957.4 The other part-time professor is Dr Bongale, a retired professor of

philosophy from Elphinstone College, Bombay. Dr Bongale teaches

comparative religion and philosophy of religion in the Vidyapeeth. He has

also been teacher of Didi. In a discussion I had with Dr Bongale in

September 2000 during my visit and one day stay in the Vidyapeeth Dr

Bongale told me that comparative religion which is a bit descriptive is

taught in the first year of the post-graduate program and philosophy of

religion which is metaphysical is taught in the second year. In this course

he confronts different metaphysical questions vis-à-vis God. This

prepares students intellectually to confront the question of God in their

own lives as well as talking about it to other people in society. In his

words: “We spend most of our time on the concept of God. The whole of

Swadhyaya is based on the idea that world is governed by God.”

During a class of him that I had taken part, Dr Bongale was discussing

the topic: ‘Deism, Theism, and Pantheism’. He began with the issue of

divine relativity, i.e. the social conception of God. He also talked about

William James’ The Pluralistic Universe in which there is discussion of a

finite God where God “is one of the eaches”. He also discussed the issue

of Transcendence and Immanence and commented that it would be

difficult to teach Swadhyaya to the members of Semitic religions. In

Semitic religions ‘God is in the Heaven’. But it seems Dr Bongale

encourages his students to discover the mid-points of conversations. He

gives the example of Dalai Lama’s visit to the Vidyapeeth in which he

told Dadaji: “I want to be a Swadhyayee but I do not believe in God.”

According to Dr Bongale, “Dadaji confessed that it is a fundamental

question. But you and I agree on one point that life should be elevated and

treated holy.” According to Dr Bongale, Dadaji was telling Dalai Lama

that on the issue of ‘purification of mind’ both of them agree and there is a

wider point of agreement between Buddhism and Swadhyaya.

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 249

Jagdish Bhai was another part-time teacher of Swadhyaya until his

expulsion from it in 2001. He had had long association with Swadhyaya

since 1957 from its very founding days. He recalls the earlier days when

Dadaji started the Vidyapeeth as an experiment. Elaborating this Jagdish

Bhai says: “Experiment indicates modesty on the part of the person. I

cannot boast that my faith in Almighty is unflinching therefore experi-

ment it.” Jagdish Bhai says that through the Vidyapeeth Dada wanted to

experiment with the idea that Gita is ‘a book for all time to come’.

In the beginning, the Vidyapeeth did not have the present

post-graduate program. At that time the institute had students who would

appear for degrees in philosophy as part-time students in Pune and

Bombay universities. To help them prepare for their examinations they

were given coaching classes. Apart from the university-centered coaching

and spending four years for the process, students staying at the

Vidyapeeth also had special training imparted to them on Indian culture

and it ran for two years. The present program of post-graduate studies in

Indian philosophy and culture only began in 1974. Taking a long-term

view of the educational process of Swadhyaya at the Vidyapeeth Jagdish

Bhai says: “Now this course has been further refined for NRI students.”

Jagdish Bhai also tells us that until recently there were short-term

three months courses at the Vidyapeeth. This was meant for the

Swadhyaay Krutisheels. For instance many of the active young workers of

Swadhyaya I have met in various places had had their short-term training

in the Vidyapeeth. For instance Vithal Bhai of Vidia Plot had done this

short-term course. So had Mansukhbhai. Vithal Bhai, the fisherman of

Vidia, learnt how to conduct marriage. Ratna Bhai, the tribal, had also

taken this course. It helped them to have a clear understanding of

Swadhyaya. But this short-term course is not continuing any longer.

In a discussion I had with him at the Vidyapeeth, Jagdish Bhai told

that Dadaji does not consider the participants in the conventional educa-

tional process Vidyarthees, they are rather “Vittarthee, Bhogarthee that

are after enjoyment and money.” Here the students learn not only

philosophy and education but also discipline. Here students have to take

cold water bath everyday early morning. “One may fall ill but one is not

going to die.” They have also to sit on the floor in both the classroom and

the dining hall. Jagdish Bhai draws our attention to body disciplines that

are at the core of this educational process. Students from abroad take time

to adjust to sitting in the floor. Jagdish Bhai urges here to understand that

students coming here to study are highly competent and salaried profes-

sionals—some of the students were getting Rs 26,000 per month; they

250 Chapter 5

have left their jobs and have joined the Swadhyaya post-graduate program

in Indian culture and philosophy.

But this orientation to the body is part of a broader process of giving a

new orientation and identity to oneself. Education at the Vidyapeeth for

Jagdish Bhai is meant to give students a new identity, a new “smruti”

[memory] about themselves. This identity is, “I am on a mission in the

world. Not only God is an Avatara I am also an Avatara. Main Ek Chhota

Gaon Utha Sakta Hu—I can uplift one small village.”

Gitanshu Bhai Pandya is a graduate of the Vidyapeeth. He now works

outside as a computer engineer. He is one of the four professors who stays

on campus. Like his other three colleagues he has full time job outside, he

stays on campus and offers his teaching as a service. Gitanshu Bhai says

that while going to teach in the morning, his first class starting at 7.30

sometimes he feels why should he go to teach? But once he is in the class

he feels involved but when the time to leave the class comes at 8.30 for

another class he does not want to leave. He suggests that his voluntary

work is not free from tension, ambiguity.

For him, “the main thing here is not syllabus but the environment—

the residential environment. Here you are observed by other people, those

who are not professionals. In our normal life we spend most of our times

in the professional environment.” Here “you learn how to interact. If you

are alienated then you develop a wrong sense of confidence that you are

fine and you have no quarrel with anybody because you have the safety of

choosing your own environment.”

In his class Gitanshu Bhai says that he encourages his students to

‘develop original thinking’. He asks them to write him their favorable

‘quotes’ and then tells them to speak about these extempore.

Dr Khalkar is another teacher of the Vidyapeeth. He comes from

Nasik. He was studying at the Vidyapeeth and completed his studies in

philosophy as a part-time student. After his studies he got a teaching

position in a college. His first college was very far from the Vidyapeeth.

His present college is somewhat nearer, he commutes to the college and

stays as a resident teacher at the Vidyapeeth. He has his classes in the

college in the morning and takes class in the Vidyapeeth in the afternoon.

I was present in one of the classes of Dr Khalkar on Ramayana. He

was teaching Rama’s conquest of the demons in Dandakaranya. He told

the class that Rama did not win by weapons: he won over them by

changing their lives. Rama stayed in the houses of people as he did not

stay on the Ashram of a Rishi for more than one night. Rama did cultural

work for ten years among the people of Dandakaranya and the ‘demons’.

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 251

He established relationship with people and thus worked for culture.

Rama changed people’s life by dint of his character. In his class Dr

Khalkar emphasised that Rama was a twenty-five year young man and he

worked for culture. He sacrificed for the sake of culture. The message is

undoubtedly clear: the students of the Vidyapeeth should do cultural work

like Rama. They should move from hut to hut for doing their work of

culture.

Students also share this mission of cultural work of the Vidyapeeth.

Gopu is an enthusiastic student of the Vidyapeeth. He is the son of

Ramnik Bhai Patel, the enthusiastic worker of Swadhyaya in Veraval.

Gopu’s younger brother Ankur is now in the final year of his B.A. and he

would also come to study in the Vidyapeeth next year. This way the

younger generation is preparing to take up the task of culture. Gopu says

that what the Vidyapeeth teaches is to understand the purpose and signifi-

cance of Swadhyaya with intellectual rigor. Many people are now doing

Swadhyaya out of Bhava, emotion [“Bhavse Log Daud Rahtehe—people

are now running with emotion] and the task is to bring intellect here. For

Gopu, an opportunity to sharpen and strengthen his intellect—this is what

he gets at the Vidyapeeth. The new generation believes more in intellect,

they do not accept anything as such and the training in Vidyapeeth

provides an intellectual basis to the vision and experiments of

Swadhyaya. Gopu says that coming here has enkindled an interest in him

to read many books, ‘even books other than Swadyyaya.’ Many of his

friends are caught by this interest, one now purchases hundreds of books

and plans to establish a library upon return in his village.

What does he plan to do after his studies in the Vidyapeeth? He has

already taken full responsibility for his father’s wood business. He also

wants to work with Swadhyaya with more speed than ever. He says: “We

would merge with those who have worked for twenty and thirty years. We

shall get guidance from them how to do more fieldwork. We shall

enhance our intellectual level while working with them.” With the spread

of Swadhyaya there is a growing demand for education and the

Vidyapeeth. As a result hundreds of students apply. Some of those who do

not make it in the first year apply again. I met a student from Karim

Nagar, Andhra Pradesh who had applied last year but did not get selected.

He has joined the institute this year.

I had discussion with several students both individually as well as in

the group. One student says, “Education here is not classroom education

alone. It is there in everything we do. Even when we take a walk in this

wadi—garden—it is education for us.” This student continues: “It is a

252 Chapter 5

life-oriented and character-building education. Character building is a

repetitive process. To get excellence in oneself one has to develop the

habit of doing good things.”

Ramayana and Mahabarata form part of the curriculum here. I asked

whether they are able to remember all the details mentioned in these epics.

A student says we may not remember all the details but we can have an

appreciation for details. We go through Mahabarata in details so that we

can have a glimpse of what society was like. It is not just a story. It gives

us geographical and historical knowledge as well. But the same student

emphatically suggested that the task is to understand the real significance

of these stories which is Dharmasasthapana—establishment of Dharma.

But in what way Dharma is established in these epics? Establishment

of Dharma—from whose point of view? Rama banished Sita to the forest

when she was pregnant. Is it Dharma? Ekalavya, the tribal boy who

wanted to learn the art of archery, was refused by Dronacharya. Finally

when Ekalavya learnt this on his own Dronacharya took away Ekalavya’s

finger as Guru Daksheena [tribute to one’s teacher]. Is it Dharma? Is it

moral? Does learning Indian culture and tradition in the Vidyapeeth give

the students a critical approach to one’s culture and tradition. In another

context, Jurgen Habermas has written: “In unobtrusive ways we are

constantly learning from major traditions, but the question is whether we

can learn from events that reflect the failure of traditions?” (Habermas

1998: 12). Habermas goes on to plead with us: “In order to learn from

history, we must not allow ourselves to finish unsolved problems aside or

repress them; we must remain open to critical experiences—otherwise we

will not even perceive historical events as counter-evidence, as proof of

shattered expectations” (ibid: 13; emphasis added). Are the teachers and

students of the Vidyapeeth open to critical experiences, to many failures

and shattering of expectations? The following discussion with a teacher

and students provide us a glimpse of their approach to tradition—past and

present.

I had a discussion with Dr Khalkar about the issue of Sita’s

banishment and the treatment meted out to Ekalavya. On the first issue, Dr

Khalkar, the teacher says: “People ask why Rama sent Sita to Valmiki

Ashram. Ceasar’s wife must be above suspicion and out of this concern

Rama sends Sita to Valmiki Ashram.” What about the being and dignity

of Sita? Is it fair what Rama did to Sita?” He said: “The question is

whether you give importance to individual or society.” Dr Khalkar

suggested that what Rama did was part of his role as a king and not as a

husband. And on the Eklavya issue the teacher says: “Drona refused to

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 253

impart knowledge to him because he knew that he would misuse it. His

father was already doing this. Drona was proved right because later he

became the commander-in-chief of Jarasandha. That means the

knowledge that Dronacharya would have given to him would have been

misused.” But I was tempted to ask whether there is evidence for all these

in Mahabarata. Furthermore, what about abuse of knowledge by

Dronacharya himself when he sided with the Kauravas and, above all,

kept silent when Draupadi was being denuded in the court of Duryadhana.

I had discussion with the students both from India and abroad on the

issue of Eklavya. Bhavesh Bhai, a student says: “On the basis of equality

it does not feel right. Why should such a thing happen? Definitely a

critical analysis is required; there is no doubt about that. But, we need to

find out why certain things happened in our culture.” The same student

tells us: “Initially I was considering this wrong. But now I do not say it is

right, say it is wrong. I leave it open.” He then links his current hesitation

to his greater awareness of the significance of Dharma in education. In his

words, “Education that was given earlier had some purpose. There was an

underlying Dharma sansthapana (building Dharma) motive to that. The

key question is who is for Dharma and who is against this. In the

Mahabarata it is written that Eklavya was the charioteer of Sishupala and

Sishupala was not for Dharma.”

I asked Bhavesh Bhai why does he hesitate to take a stance on certain

critical issues in Indian culture and tradition. Bhavesh Bhai says: “On

what basis do we take a stand. Just because I heard that someone

murdered somebody I cannot say that this is a bad thing to do. There must

have been some consideration for that. First I was thinking that what was

done to Eklavya was wrong but now when I get few more details I cannot

take a stance.” His hesitation in taking a stance vis-à-vis the issue of

problematic justice in Indian culture raised in the instance of Eklavya is

related to some wider issues. He is afraid that if he occupies himself with

such problematic cases he may not have a ‘total appreciation of the

holistic vision of Indian culture’. Obviously having Indian culture in

mind, this student tells us: “There may be some aspects which are contro-

versial, which are bad but the culture is definitely good culture. It takes

me closer to God. If that is what my culture is then why should I focus on

small details and make them inhibit my growth. We must not have a

reductionist approach.”

There are students from U.K. and the U.S. who also study at the

Vidyapeeth. Their approach to problematic issues in Indian culture and

tradition are a little more open. An American student I spoke to is less

254 Chapter 5

prone to defending the system compared to his Indian counterpart. He

says: “I cannot say that our history and heritage is totally glorious, every

act is defensible. I cannot say that history of India had no dark side.” At

the same time he says: “It would be wrong for me to say that what

happened was absolutely wrong. To condemn or defend history is both

narrow-minded. It is important for me to draw lessons from the past and

apply it to my life.” One realm of applying lessons from history to the

present is: “I am grateful to the U.S. but if the U.S. is engaged is an

oppressive war then I am not going to join it.”

This student was part of our group discussion on Eklavya. He says:

“My initial response to Dronacharya asking for Eklavya’s finger is that

this is wrong. Any one who is raised in equality would initially react like

this. We can say that the Rishi’s practice of education that some people

would be trained as warrior was unfair but who is to say that our concept

of fairness is better than theirs.” From this problem of relativism he then

presents us the impossibility of achieving total equality: “In an ideal

educational system everyone would have the same education but even in

the U.S. this equality does not exist. There is always a difference in

education that a person receives in a rich neighborhood and a poor neigh-

borhood.” But all these responses do not embody any effort to look up to

the face of Eklavya and understand his soul’s groaning of being denied

education and then having to offer his finger as dakheena for

Dronacharya.

With the students coming from the U.S. I had discussion on their

motives for being at the Vidyapeeth. Is it because of globalization? One

student says: “We accept globalization openly”. But globalization here

refers not to economic globalization alone but also cross-cultural under-

standing. He elaborates: “Traditionally there is boundary between

cultures but we have been lucky to realize that there is no difference

between us and other religions, between us and other people. To a large

extent we are the same as other people. In that sense this understanding do

aid in the process of globalization. But I cannot say that being here is a

product of globalization; rather it is a product of values we have grown up

with.”

This friend from the U.S. who is of Indian origin also tells us that in

the U.S. there is a generalized ignorance about India. He says: “In the

West there is a lot of prejudice about Indian culture. We cannot bridge this

gap but we can reinterpret our culture so that they have an appreciation of

our culture and respect. They look at superficial things, they do not under-

stand the depth of our true culture.”

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 255

In this context, I asked him whether he envisions his role as an inter-

preter and ambassador of Indian culture to the American people. He says:

“I would not say that we are ambassadors in the sense that we go back and

explain things to everyone. Our role is to understand it ourselves and then

to make sure that those we care about understand it. And then we pass it

onto our children, to make sure that they understand it, they get the values

our parents gave us—family values, our duty to society.” Making his

gratefulness to his parents clear he says: “I am thankful that I have parents

who explained to me most of the things we do—from ritual to belief to

most of the things we do. So I was blessed in that sense. But there is still a

lot I need to understand about Indian culture and philosophy. The first

thing to do is to make sure that I understand these things.” And being in

Vidyapeeth helps in this primary task of self-understanding.

In my discussion with the students from the U.S. I was eager to know

if they find any inadequate perception of the West here in India. He did

not respond me directly but said: “We can learn a lot from Western

culture. We can learn mannerism. They have great respect for mannerism.

Their legal system is laid out systematically. We can also learn adminis-

trative competence and hygienic sense. I am not saying that it is not in our

culture but at present it is not reflected in the way we live.” On this issue,

an Indian student says: “We should take good things and implement it in

our lives. We should have critical analysis of our own culture and also of

values we see in the West. We see mannerism but is it coming from the

heart: how deep-rooted is this value? Is it from within the heart or is it an

etiquette because we need to look good in society?” Then he said: “Values

and ethics cannot be on the basis of humanity in general. It has to be more

deep-rooted. Putting God at the center is more deep-rooted than values

which put humanity at the center. I would rather go for more deep-rooted

values than going for superficial values.”

Notes

1. I was given this study carried out by one Mr. Gagare by a Swadhyayee.

Unfortunately to my deep regrets I have not been able to recover the citations in the

course of time.

2. But there is, at least, one Swadhyayee who was given a special permission to

study at the Vidyapeeth even if he had neither gone through the Swadhyaya process

of Rishi Krishi nor had a Bachelor’s degree. He is Babu Bhai. Babu Bhai is a leader

of Swadhyaya in Veraval. He comes from the village of Sukhpur near Simar. He had

256 Chapter 5

just completed his high school. But he wanted to study at the Tatwagyan

Vidyapeeth. Dadaji relaxed the usual requirement of a bachelor’s degree in his

case. But he wanted him to study at Bhava Nirjara for a year before coming to do the

one year postgraduate diploma on Indian culture. Babu Bhai considers this as a

blessing of Dadaji.

On returning to his village Babu Bhai has been active with Swadhyaya. He

has also started a ground-nut processing oil plant. Born into a farmer’s family he

has learnt the art of business. Babu Bhai attributes all this to Dadaji and Swadhyaya.

He is grateful to Swadhyaya for his self-confidence. He says: “I am not usually

enamored with the so-called intellectuals and the learned people.”

3. Nachiketa is the legendary young boy in the Upanishads who left his father

and came to Yama—the Lord of Death—in search of truths of life.

4. But this came to an end in 2001 when Jagdish Bhai, along with many others,

was ousted from Swadhyaya.

The Educational Dynamics of Swadhyaya 257

6

Globalization of Swadhyaya

Enlightened Hindus in the 19th century felt free to attack the corruption

and decay in their own religion and among their religious leaders. Their

present day counterparts find it more convenient to train their guns on

secular intellectuals than on their religious leaders whose intolerant and

vengeful acts do far greater harm to Hinduism from within. If Hinduism

is in danger today, the main source of that danger may be within and not

outside it.

—Andre Beteille (2003), “Hinduism in Danger?”

But the real originality of Vivekananda lay in his social utopianism and

his covert political radicalism. It is open to debate whether his monas-

ticism and his commitment to work owes more to western influence or

to the Swaminarayan movement. But here was a vision of a caste-free

society, of a revolutionary Sudra movement, of the uplift of women, and

through mass education a raising of the whole society to a knowledge of

Vedanta.

—Antony Copley (2000), Introduction to Gurus and Their Followers:

New Religious Reform Movements in Colonial India, p. 16

‘Civil religion’ as implicitly invoked in Amedkar’s exposition is meant

in the sense of a fundamental, reasonable principle of ‘sociality,’ which

all men have to accept, and not in the narrow sense of collective ideas

and sentiments. . . . That is, Ambedkar seems to be looking for a

post-religious religion which transcends religious distinctions.

—Martin Fuchs (2001), “A Religion for Civil Society?

Ambedkar’s Buddhism, The Dalit Issue and the Imagination of

Emergent Possibilities,” pp. 260-261

— 258 —

Swadhyaya has become a part of transnational Hinduism. Swadhyayees

from Bombay have done pioneering bhaktipheri in different parts of the

world such as East Africa, England, Caribbean, U.S.A., and Canada. The

bhaktipheri brothers from Bombay came and spent a month in London

and Leicester. Dadaji had presented a big Pravachan (discourse) in Acton

in 1978-79, which gave momentum to the work of Swadhyaya in England.

1976 seems to be the period for the global spread of Swadhyaya. It is also

the time when Swadhyaya took a more socially engaged activistic turn in

Gujarat by undertaking many projects. So it was a period of both intensifi-

cation as well as outward spread of Swadhyaya. And Swadhyaya has

many Kendras in London and Leisceter as well as in different parts of

U.K. It has a few followers in every other city. For example, Glasgow has

a devoted Swadhyaya doctor, who, however does not come from Gujarat

but Maharashtra.

Some of the participants of Swadhyaya in England had also partici-

pated in the Bhajan mandalis (prayer meeting) of Satya Sai Baba in East

Africa, but, they found just attending Bhajans inadequate to fulfill their

desire for more concrete social action. Swadhyaya’s practice of

devotional labor or shramabhakti where participants join and share their

labor and time together with a spirit of devotion provided them an alter-

native. There are different projects for the offer of shramabhakti in India

as it is in England. But three unique projects of Swadhyaya in England

are—Sneha Care (A care of affection), Eikya Utpadan (Production of

unity), and Poonam Milan (Meeting on the full moon day).

Swadhyaya is active in different parts of London and has Video

Kendras in Wembley, Finchley Road, and East London—Bala Sanskara

Kendras are associated with Video Kendra. Children from the following

age groups are joined together in the Bala Sanskara Kendra—(a) 4-7,

(b) 8-10, (c) 11-14, (d) 15-18. There are Yuvakendras, Divine Brain Trust

(DBT) and Yogeshwara Krishi. The Wembley Kendra in London has a

Yogeshwara Krishi.

Different Prayogs and Kendras

Sneha Care is a day care center which is a prayog of Swadhyaya for the

Swadhyayees of London to offer their efficiency of taking care of the

elderly at the feet of God. They take part in this activity for their own

self-development. The whole day care center is run on the basis of the

shramabhakti of the participants. For instance, the care workers are

Globalization of Swadhyaya 259

devotional volunteers. The same is true of those who drive the van to pick

up and to drop the users. The Swadhyaya Sneha Care centre runs in East

London and is catering to five local authorities. Those who work in the

kitchen are also Swadhyaya volunteers. The volunteers are called pujaris

or worshippers. The day care centre needs ten pujaris everyday but there

are sixty to seventy people in London ready to render their shramabhakti.

Some of them have to drive for hours to join the day care centre. The

centre is managed by Hemanta Bhai and Bhiru Behen who are profes-

sional care workers working with the social welfare system of U.K. Since

other care workers are not professionally trained, they are given training

in hygiene and in the maintenance of client-confidentiality.

The day care center was earlier running three days a week but now it

is running two days a week as it has moved to a new community center.

There is a growing demand for this service of Sneha Care from the people

of Asian community as the mainstream social service system of U.K. is

not sensitive to the cultural world of the Asians. Says Hemanta Bhai: “The

center charges a fee of thirty-five pounds per person per day to the local

authorities which is much less compared to other private contractors. The

objective here is not to make money but to provide a model to the local

society and provide a platform to the Swadhyayees where they practice to

give their prime time.”

Eikya Utpadana or production of unity is another prayog of

Swadhyaya. In this the women participants of Swadhyaya meet around an

activity such as preparing food together. In the Hindu families in England

even if it is not an extended family, if there are more than one woman in

the house it becomes difficult for them to agree on the food item to

prepare. The Swadhyaya prayog of Eikya Utpadana helps them to

produce unity among women in the household as well as in the larger

society. Another prayog or experiment is the Poonam Milan or meeting

on the full moon day. In this women meet on the full moon day just to be

with themselves. Poonam Milan is different from Eikya Utpadana as it is

only a meeting among the sisters every full moon night.

Peter Beyer argues that in the globalized world pure religion is at a

discount and religion in order to be able to influence the believers as well

as have wider public influence has to be applied. In Swadhyaya we see

many applied activities of religion though unlike Beyer’s presupposition,

these activities are not only immanent, they also embody a vibrant link

with the Transcendent in the form of practical spirituality (cf. Beyer 1990,

1994; Giri 2002). Yogeshwara Krishi is another applied or practical

project of Swadhyaya in which Swadhyayees come and offer their

260 Chapter 6

devotional labor in the field of agriculture. Whatever is produced from

this becomes the impersonal wealth which is shared with the needy

members of the community as a gift from God though as we have seen in

the last chapter sometimes this vision of sharing wealth with all the

downtrodden in local communities is forgotten.

When Swadhyaya began in England there was a feeling of uncertainty

on the part of the participants whether they would be able to go to another

person’s house without prior appointment as part of bhaktipheri. But

encouraged by Dadaji, Swadhyayees started doing it. Now, they also

undertake bhaktipheri in distant towns. For example, Swadhyayees of

East London go in bhaktipheri to Nottingham and of Leicester, to

Cambridge. They go in bhaktipheri once a month for one weekend. For

them to leave their work and to join in bhaktipheri requires a great deal of

preparation but through this they learn to develop themselves and live for

others and God.

Swadhyaya provides the participants frames for creative

identity-formation. This is especially true of the younger generation.

Living in the English society both in the school as well as in the wider

society they are asked questions about their religion. Children are

subjected to such derisive comments in the school: “Oh your religion has

monkey God (referring to Hanuman) and elephant God (referring to

Ganesh).” Swadhyaya teaches the participants about the symbolic

meaning of such Gods as well as about the scientific basis of religious

rituals. In the context of a coming of a post-traditionalist rationality and

globalization, Giddens argues that followers of religion are required to

“justify their beliefs, in an implicit way at least, both to themselves and to

others” (Giddens 1999: 45). Swadhyaya is confronted with such a

question of justification but its response is not confined only to a rational

reconstruction of religious ritual but includes experiments in practical

spirituality and prayogs of self-development and holding the hands of the

other. Justification here is much more than Habermasian rational

argumentation and practice in these experiments while embodying a

critique of scholastic reason is much more than rational strategies of

Bourdieu (cf. Bourdieu 2000; Habermas 1993).

In both London and Leicester, RSS and VHP also work. While the

participants of Sakhas of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh appreciate the

role of Swadhyaya they complain that Swadhyaya does not fight with

those who attack Hindus and does not do enough to save culture. In a

discussion on this held in Nottingham during my visit, one Swadhyayee

activist told the Sakha activist: “While by culture Sakha means the culture

Globalization of Swadhyaya 261

of the land and has a territorial notion of culture, Swadhyaya has a much

more wider notion of culture which is Vedic. Protection and nurturing of

this culture requires silent cultural work.” Swadhyaya further argues that

Hindu culture cannot be saved by building temples. Hindus in England

seem to be taking satisfaction in the fact that they are buying churches to

build temples as many of the churches are suffering from the problem of

low attendance. Swadhyayees warn the builders of temples that if they do

not make religion a practical and spiritual quest in the life of the partici-

pants then temples would have the same fate as the mainline churches in

the West.

Sneha Care has now shifted from its earlier location to a new Kendra.

Hemanta Bhai Barkhania says that the whole significance of Swadhyaya

lies in preparing Swadhyayees to offer their prime time for God’s work.

Along with Sneha Care as an experimental ground for offering

devotional time and labor Swadhyayees want to build a library. During

my discussion with them, they told me about the need for a special library

room where people can study East-West comparative philosophy. It

seems Swadhyayees in England is trying to learn about current develop-

ments in social and philosophical thought to be able to present Swadhyaya

to the wider publics. During my last fieldwork in England I was given a

booklet on Swadhyaya for the wider public which had referred to the work

of sociologists and social theorists such as Alain Touraine and Anthony

Giddens and others.

During Bala Sanskara Kendra, children are taught about elementary

cultural practices such as why boys put tilak on their head or women

bindi.1 Swadhyaya teaches young girls that Bindi is not just a fashion but a

mark of respect and affirmation of one’s head.

DBT is the Kendra where young people—both males and females—

meet. I was present in a DBT discussion in the Wembley Kendra. Gita

Behen, one of the participants said, she finishes her home work soon to be

able to come to the Kendra. For many, the Swadhyaya Kendras provide

them a space for getting rooted in their own culture and protecting

themselves from dangerous influences such as drug. Seema Behen, a

young woman who goes to college, says: “In university you may be influ-

enced by other cultures. If you are not really rooted in your culture then

you get converted. People can change their faith.” When I sought clarifi-

cation on this, another elder person explained: “In the colleges there are

deliberate Muslim networks where Muslim boys conspire to have love

affair with Hindu girls with the sole purpose of converting them into Islam

in the pretext of marriage.” Another young man said: “They find hole in

262 Chapter 6

your knowledge. If you do not know what kind of religion you have it is a

mind’s game. They play on your level of knowledge.”

It seems the young participants in Swadhyaya DBT not only learn

about Hinduism, they make an effort to learn about other religions as well.

Says Amit: “Last year we had classes on five main religions of the world.

We compared it with Hinduism.” Jayou, another young man in the DBT

meeting said: “We can learn a lot from other cultures. I read a bit of

Bible.”

In the DBT, the young Swadhyayees discuss on several current topics

of concern. One of the topics they had discussed in a recent DBT meeting

was: “Genetic Engineering: Are we playing God?” Seema Behen said:

“My position on this is: there are some advantages of genetic engineering

insofar as medicine is concerned. But at the same time one should not play

God.” Bhavin Bhai, another young man, commented: “By taking such a

middle position, Seema Behen is playing safe.”

These young participants of Swadhyaya are second or

third-generation Indians having been born and brought up in England.

They do not have first-hand experience of India. Many of them are born to

parents who have migrated from East Africa. In such cases both the

children and their parents have difficulty in understanding the Gujarati

Dadaji uses in his Pravachan. One of them says: “Dadaji’s Gujarati is

sanskritized. It is difficult for us to understand. So we have another study

Kendra after the Video Pravachan to understand the meaning of the

lecture.”

Some Actors and Actresses of Swadhyaya in London

In the DBT Swadhyaya Kendra I had met with Rohan Bhai. We went to

his house and met with Bharath Bhai and Deepti Behen, his parents.

Bharath Bhai was earlier working with the social welfare system but in

order to have more flexibility he resigned from this job and now runs a

grocery shop. He comes from Gujarat while his wife Deepti Behen was

born to Gujarati parents in Kenya. Her father is still in Kenya and after

marrying Bharath Bhai she got relocated to London. She now works as a

nursery officer in a nursery. Says Deepti Behen: “First I was not able to

understand Dadaji’s Pravachan. But the way people talked to me in the

Kendra touched me. But in the course of time Swadhyaya has helped me

to learn the language as well. It has a literary effect. Dada has given a

Globalization of Swadhyaya 263

different flavor to Gujarati language.” Deepti Behen further says: “We

have experienced happiness in life. We are more aware of cultural activ-

ities. We have learnt to do cultural activities on the basis of devotion.”

Furthermore, “Our children can respond to Jehovah’s Witness and

Muslims. But young people in many other families are not interested in

Gita. At home they have no culture. The only culture they know is

material culture, the TV culture.”

Bharath Bhai loves India and he even writes patriotic story. But, his

love for India, it seems, does not suffer from a narrow chauvinism. He

believes in multiculturalism and draws inspiration from the Swadhyaya

philosophy of “Sarva Dharma Swikara—Accept all religions”. He say,

“Sarva Dharma Swikara is the right thing for our multicultural society.”

Here he has in mind the need for cultivating multiculturalism in both

England and India. Bharath Bhai is aware of the wider socio-political and

socio-religious environment in India in which Swadhyaya has grown. On

being asked about how does he look at Swadhyaya in the context of RSS,

he says: “RSS came out of need rather than philosophy. The main

emphasis is on physical training—make the body strong. Their patriotism

is mere fanaticism.” About the legacy of Gandhi he says: “Gandhi wrote a

lot of books—Navajeevan, Mangala Prabhat. I was reading Mangala

Prabhat. Gandhi wanted Congress workers to go from village to village.

Dadaji is putting into practice the dream that Gandhi saw. When we had

gone on Prayog Darshan in 1994 we were taken to Sabaramati Ashram in

Ahmedabad and there I purchased Mangala Prabhat.”

Our discussion slowly moved to understanding Gandhi and Dada

together. Bharat Bhai said: “I would not like to compare them. Any person

is great in his own way. Gandhi preferred Ashram but Dada your own

home. Gandhi wanted Congressman to go to the villages but they did not

have the motivation. Dadaji has given us motivation.”

Bharath Bhai goes in bhaktipheri to Amsterdam. He learns from

Swadhyaya to look at difficulties as stepping stones. But when he goes in

bhaktipheri to Amsterdam whom does he meet? He meets Gujaratis or

other people of Indian origin. For example, he is interested to work among

the people from Surrinam who live there.

Mango Bhai and Shantibehen are two senior members of Swadhyaya.

Mango Bhai had gone to Tanzania in 1955. He worked there but when the

banks were nationalized in 1968 he came to England. It was possible

because he had a British citizenship. In relocating himself to England he

had to work hard. He worked hard for twenty-five years and because of

indifferent health took an early retirement in 1993. His wife Shantibehen

264 Chapter 6

continues to work in a factory as an assembler. Shantibehen says that in

the initial days of Swadhyaya in England, the Swadhyaya Kendra was

held in his house.

Says Mango Bhai: “A friend of mine introduced me to Swadhyaya,

we were looking for some such activity.” Mango Bhai and Shantibehen,

as well as all the Swadhyayees one talks to, appreciates the significance of

Swadhyaya in helping them coming to terms with the problem of cultural

identity. In Mango Bhai’s words: “Our children are between two cultures.

At home they are under the influence of Indian culture. Outside they

would like to do it the Indian way. They are under pressure all the time.

They cannot make up their mind.” For Mango Bhai, Swadhyaya here

offers a frame for a positive identity formation to both the young and the

old. Shantibehen says that earlier they did not know about their own

religion. She says; “With Dada’s teachings we went more toward God.

Earlier we liked our culture but did not have a true sense of culture.”When they worked in Swadhyaya initially they did not attract many

people. They undertook bhavpheri and bhaktipheri only during importantcelebrations. But over the years they with other Swadhyayees of Londondo regular bhavpheri and bhaktipheri. As Mango Bhai says: “In thebeginning it was a small group. Now over 300 people are doing regularbhavpheri and bhaktipheri. Each center has its own town for bhaktipheriboth inside and outside U.K.”

Regarding changes in their lives as a result of their participation in

Swadhyaya Mango Bhai says:

1. There exists very good relationship within the family.

2. Family members have undertaken cultural values.

3. You can see the difference between Swadhyayee family and

non-Swadhyayee family. This is in their understanding of religion

that religion has an intellectual justification.

4. Swadhyaya has helped us to minimize the pressure of culture.

Children learn about our culture. They learn to respect their parents.

Earlier in school our children were asked about “monkey Gods and

elephant Gods” but now they can explain to them. And they have

confidence.

5. It brings about inner change. He should not think of money all the

time.

Mango Bhai had appeared in the Swadhyaya Vidya Prema Vardhana

Pareeksha. After the first examination he lost interest in it but he

enkindled interest in his daughter Bina. Bina was born in England and is

not able to read Gujarati. Mango Bhai translates Gujarati books for her.

Globalization of Swadhyaya 265

Mango Bhai is happy that her daughter and son-in-law are active workers

in Swadhyaya. Bina Behen is married to Bimal Bhai whose entire family

is involved with Swadhyaya. In fact, his father, Raman Bhai, like Mango

Bhai, had come to England from East Africa and picked up Swadhyaya

there. In Swadhyaya in England we find marriage alliances being created

within members of Swadhyaya Parivara. Dhiru Bhai is another active

worker of Swadhyaya in London. Dhiru Bhai is actively involved with the

work of Sneha Care. He has now taken retirement and spends all his time

with Swadhyaya. At Sneha Care, at the care center, he learns how to treat

the mentally disturbed people with love. He says with affirmation:

“Swadhyaya has helped me to realize that there is God in us. Earlier I

might have become a good man. If somebody would have approached me

then I would have given 50 pounds. That is all”. Now he has a feeling that

he is part of a larger process of self-development.

Dhiru Bhai’s son Atul Bhai is actively involved with Swadhyaya, so

is Preeti Behen, his daughter-in-law. Swadhyaees are happy to tell that

Atul Bhai went on bhaktipheri with his newly-wed wife instead of going

in honeymoon to Greece or the Bahamas. Atul Bhai runs a pharmacy here

and despite busy business life he goes on in regular bhaktipheri and has to

spend time with the local management of Swadhyaya. In this, he is

assisted by his wife. But whenever he has to go in bhaktipheri outside

town, he has to call a substitute pharmacist in order to be able to keep his

pharmacy running.

Dhiru Bhai is an eager learner. I had the good fortune to have the kind

hospitality of Dhru Bhai’s family as that of Mango Bhai and Shantibehen,

Damodara Bhai and Meena Behen, and Suresh Bhai and Jailesh Behen in

London. I had narrowly survived an electrocution accident in Edinburgh

two weeks before and was being looked after by these kind families. As I

was staying with Dhiru Bhai’s family, they took me to the Video Kendra

in Wembledon. In the Kendra, Dhiru Bhai took copious note in his long

notebooks. Dhiru Bhai is in charge of the Swadhyaya Video Cassettes, in

fact he keeps the cassette in his house. But he can not see it in his house

nor can he copy it. He says: “If you have to learn something you have to

come to a school. This creates discipline and helps you to concentrate. It

also creates the discipline of taking notes. If I were seeing the cassette in

my drawing room I may not concentrate.”

Hanshmukh Bhai and his wife Kumud Behen are another activist

couple of Swadhyaya in England. Hanshmukh Bhai, like Hemanta Bhai,

is part of the intellectual circle of Swadhyaya which mediates between

Swadhyayee vision and cross-currents of current social and political

266 Chapter 6

thought. Hanshmukh Bhai is a gentleman but he can be critical of his

fellow Swadhyayees if he feels that they are not giving proper respect to

each other. I was once coming back to Dhiru Bhai’s house with

Hanshmukh Bhai and Bhaskar Bhai (a pseudonym), another senior

member of Swadhyaya. Bhaskar Bhai is a retired civil engineer and has

been with Swadhyaya for the last eighteen years. Bhaskar Bhai said that

Swadhyayees are not particular about time. Hanshmukh Bhai said: “It was

not respectful on your part to have told Dushmant Bhai (a pseudonym) the

other day that he comes late to the Swadhyaya Kendra. I agree with you

that Swadhyayees should come to Kendra in time. But we cannot insult

those who come late in front of everybody. If one cannot come in time it is

his weakness and it is for him to take care of it. I have spoken to Dushmant

Bhai. He says that he is able to get ready in time but his wife and children

need more time to get ready and it is because of them that he becomes late.

He once told me: if I have to get in time then I would have to leave my

wife and children at home.”

But Bhaskar Bhai insisted that he did not make any mistake in telling

Dushmant Bhai in front of everybody that he comes late. He said: “We

cannot cover all these lacunae and we should not tolerate this.” But

Hanshmukh Bhai vehemently differed. There was a heated exchange of

points of view on this. This finally made Bhanu Bhai to at least feel happy

on one thing: “In Swadhyaya we can vehemently disagree with each

other. We are not ordinary Bhagats [worshippers].”

Swadhyaya in Leicester

Satish Bhai is an active Krutisheel of Swadhyaya in Leicester. He was

first active in the local temple. He was a treasurer. But then he came to

know of Swadhyaya. After Swadhyaya he has not delinked his association

with the temples. Rather, he is able to discover a new meaning of temple.

He discusses his new understanding of temple as a socio-economic center

with the trustees of the temple. It has not necessarily lessened his donation

for the temple. Earlier he was giving only a penny to the temple. But now

he takes out Bhagban ka Bhag—God’s share.

Suresh Bhai is another active Swadhyayee in Leicester. Suresh Bhai’s

father was instrumental in building the Swaminarayan temple in the

locality. Earlier, he and other people were praying in somebody’s house.

But then they constructed a temple. For this, Suresh Bhai’s father asked

him to give donation of 501 pounds. At that time, being a Swadhyayee,

Globalization of Swadhyaya 267

Suresh Bhai was in a dilemma whether to make this contribution or not.

But still he donated on the condition that his name should not be written in

the notebook. The entire contribution—his 501 plus his father’s 501—

should be made in the name of his father. Suresh Bhai knew that there are

many who would like to donate only eleven pounds and when such a

donor sees him, he would certainly feel inferior. But this donor may have

strong faith in the cult of the temple than Suresh Bhai. But now he has a

different understanding of the significance of temple—it provides space

to many people to come. Without the involvement in the temple and the

excitement it creates his father would have died ten years ago. Therefore

even though he does not belong to Swaminarayan, whenever his parents

ask him to join them in the temple, he gladly does this.

Suresh Bhai speaks about the need to cultivate a sense of gratitude to

life and go beyond considerations of money. In this context, he discusses a

fresh relationship with his father. His father came to Leicester from a

village in Gujarat and stayed alone for fifteen years before he could bring

his family. He stayed in a shared room (sharing this with a few other

immigrant workers like him and had no access to hot water during

winter). During his entire stay he could visit us only once. “Before

Swadhyaya, my outlook was he is my father and therefore it was his

duty—he had to do it. But now I put myself in his shoes. I feel a sense of

gratitude. Anything I do for him is nothing compared to what he has

done.” Recently Suresh Bhai’s father-in-law was not well in Gujarat. And

his wife Kusum Behen was sad. Suresh Bhai arranged for her visit to

Gujarat and looked after the children. His mother came to stay with him.

(Now the entire family of Suresh Bhai, his father, mother, brother stay in

Leicester. In fact, his parents stay with his younger brother.) Suresh Bhai

says: “Money is not the priority now. But during Kusum’s absence I felt

terrible even if my mother and children were with me. At that time, I could

understand the significance of the sacrifice my father had done when he

stayed alone.” Narrating this change of attitude in him, Suresh Bhai

pointed to the significance of such subtle subjective change that

Swadhyaya brings in its practitioners. Says Suresh Bhai: “When people

talk of Swadhyaya and social change they talk mostly of byasanamukti—

change from addiction to alcohol and drugs, etc. But what is important is

to understand such subtle changes. Such change is invisible.”

Suresh Bhai takes out Bhagban Ka Bhag regularly. He tells that he

had made some donation for the victims of Orissa cyclone. From the

narration of Suresh Bhai and Satish Bhai it becomes clear that they are not

268 Chapter 6

interested in just attending temples; their participation in Swadhyaya has

given them a refined understanding of temple and sometimes they tell it to

those who belong to the temple authorities. Satish Bhai is probably doing

this more since he has an active association with temple. Satish Bhai’s

father is the treasurer of a temple. He also goes to Swadhyaya. But he has

given up his position and transferred responsibilities to a young man. The

trustees of the temple are old and they are not preparing second line of

leadership. In fact, in the U.K. temples are facing a crisis—while temples

are becoming grander and bigger, the number of people attending temples

is becoming smaller and smaller. The temples are receiving grants which

enable them to expand but public attendance is meager. In fact Dadaji had

once warned the Swadhyayees that sooner temples would have the same

fate as churches if they do not transform them as spaces of spiritual regen-

eration. Now, many churches are getting closed and the Hindus are

buying these to make temple but they would have the same fate if they do

not involve their young people. In fact, Suresh Bhai’s father once told

him: “In our morning arati we have only three to four people. In your

Swdhyaya Kendra there are 600 people, yet you do not have a temple.”

Shanthi Bhai is one of the pioneers of Swadhyaya in Leicester. He

works in a factory in Leicester. He was staying in Bombay and was

attending Dadaji’s Pravachan in the Pathsala. He got married to a girl

from East Africa who had a British passport. So he came to work in

Leicester. The Swadhyaya Kendra was being held in his house. Every

Saturday, Swadhyayees, many of whom were unmarried like Suresh Bhai

used to get together in his house. His wife Hemalata Behen used to

prepare food for them. For all of them, coming to Hemalata Behen’s

house was like coming to their Maika (mother’s house). Hemalata Behen

would do all the work, prepare food and would be very happy to serve

food. For them, the space in the house of Shanthi Bhai and Hemalata

Behen was a space of nurturing. These newly married women like Kusum

Behen were also new to U.K., having left their parents in India. They had

also some problem of adjustment. Swadhyaya Parivara presented a

climate of love, nurturance and welcoming without which some of the

marriages may not have withstood the test of time, as Suresh Bhai says.

Shanti Bhai and Hemalata Behen are silent workers of Swadhyaya.

Their intimacy is writ on their face. It is in their house that we had the

following discussion. Let us begin with Mrudula Behen, the wife of

Ashok Bhai. She had grown up in a Swadhyayee family at Morby, near

Jamnagar. She wanted to marry a Swadhyayee only. But Sobhana Behen

had a different aspiration. She is from Baroda and attended Swadhyaya

Globalization of Swadhyaya 269

Kendra when she was twenty-two. But she was keen to put her

Swadhyaya commitment into test by marrying a non-Swadhyayee. Her

husband Jani Bhai was not at all interested in Swadhyaya. But he would

come and drop her in the Swadhyaya Kendra. Slowly the love and

affection of members of Swadhyaya Parivara drew him to Swadhyaya.

Shobana Behen works as a librarian in a school and she says that

because of Swadhyaya she has been able to accept a lot of non-Hindus as

her friends. She has some Muslim friends. Sobhana Behen says how in her

street there was an old English lady who would come to her whenever she

needed any help. When she moved to a new place, Sobhana Behen and her

husband Manoj Bhai went and saw her. He says that his wife never

imposed Swadhyaya on him and he joined Swadhyaya on his own. When

people from Bombay wanted to come here to do the initial bhaktipheri,

they needed sponsorship. I asked the trustees of the existing temples to

sponsor their trip but they were not helpful. So, I managed on my own.

When the Bombay bhaktipheri people were here, we used to have the

Kendra. But when it was time for them to leave we thought: “Oh! They

would go back now, what would happen! Then we started the Kendra here

in 1978 and local people started attending this.”

I had a discussion with the children present in that evening. They

come to Bala Sankara Kendra because it is a great deal of fun. They

would like to come to the Kendra even when there is no Bala Sankara

Kendra. On that Sunday they could sleep longer but they would not like to

sleep longer; rather, they would come to the Kendra.

Arun Bhai and Rita Mistry

Arun Bhai Mistry and his wife Rita Behen are active participants of

Swadhyaya in Leicester. Listening to their experience would help us to

understand the way Swadhyaya attracts young people of Indian origin in

an overseas country.

Both Arun Bhai Mistry and his wife Rita Behen were born in

Leicester. While going to college, they fell in love and got married after

several years of dating. They have not seen India but they would like to

belong to Indian culture as part of affirming their identity. Let us begin

with Arun Bhai.

The first thing Arun Bhai asks us to understand is: “Why should I

cling to my Indian roots? The Muslim children are very proud of their

Muslim identity in Britain. I am not born in India. My destiny here lies in

270 Chapter 6

U.K. But still to live with dignity, one must have one’s identity and this is

important to affirm and nurture one’s roots: “To realize who you are, you

have to know your ancestral tradition” and Arun Bhai has learnt this from

Swadhyaya.

But as a young man born in U.K., why should he search for Indian

roots in the first place? Says Arun Bhai: “The search for my Indian roots

and the search for India within myself came from my father and mother.

They would talk to me in Gujarati at home. My father believed in Gujarati

and was attracted to Indian Culture. I went for my early education to Sishu

Kunj—a children’s center—organized by a Hindu organization.” Before

getting married, Arun Bhai told Rita Behen: “Swadhyaya is no more just a

forty-five minute event in my life. I do not want you to be a Swadhyayee

but I want you to appreciate that Swadhyaya is a part of my life.” Arun

Bhai further asks: “Why should I take up Swadhyaya when it is alien to

me? Our socialization is in this country. You have got peer pressure here.

Saturday is the pub’s night but then you have the DBT Kendra. As a

youngster of this country you have to choose between pubs and the DBT

Kendra. But when we go to Swadhyaya Kendra or DBT, our peers do not

fully understand. For them, we are attending a talking shop—they do not

understand that we are here for self-development.”

Arun Bhai has a BA in Mathematics and he works as a research

officer for the local police. His wife Rita Behen is a psychologist, working

with the prison system. She is a behavioral psychologist but her attraction

to Swadhyaya did not strictly emanate from Arun. It has an autonomous

source. Once a number of years ago, she attended a wedding in a

Swadhyaya family. As a behavioral psychologist interested in observing

human behavior she was much moved by the interaction of Swadhyayees.

Then she started inquiries about Swadhyaya.

Swadhyaya has helped Rita Behen to change her temper. In her work

with the prison, she has developed the art of relationship. In her conjugal

life, she is interested to know more about Swadhyaya meetings from her

husband as because of pressure of work and her additional striving for

post-graduate degree she is not able to devote more time to attend to

Swadhyaya meetings. In her words: “When Arun is coming home I would

like to know who was present in that meeting. It is not because I am nosy

but because I want to know about my Swadhyayee brothers and sisters

whom I am unable to meet because of my busy schedule.” In her married

life, she also understands the significance of spending of quality time:

“You appreciate what you have because of the developed understanding.”

Globalization of Swadhyaya 271

Rita Behen attends the Swadhyaya Kendra, probably not every

Sunday though she finds it difficult to understand Dadaji’s Gujarati. Then

a major part of our discussion was focused on bhaktipheri among the

non-Gujarati Hindus. This was kicked off by Arun Bhai’s statement that

while going in Bhaktiheri to Bradford, he had accidentally gone into a

Muslim house thinking that since the surname is Patel then the person

concerned must have been a Hindu. But the person was a Muslim and

Arun Bhai was struck by the warm response he received from him. Then I

asked him if this is the case then why do not they do bhaktipheri among

the Muslims.

Suresh Bhai said: “We do not do bhaktipheri among the Muslims

because we have a conditional mind about them.” In the words of Suresh

Bhai: “When you have a conditional mind you cannot be pure to approach

people. Children can approach anybody and anybody can approach them.

If you have an unconditional mind it is easy to approach people. Dadaji

has spoken a lot about unconditional mind. Bhaktipheri is a preparation in

creating an unconditional mind. Once we had gone to a Gujarati woman’s

house and her husband was a white Englishman. Talking to him changed

my perception of white people.”

Arun Bhai says, “Not only we do not do bhaktipheri among the

Muslims we do not do bhaktipheri among the Punjabis either, we do not

have a Hindi Kendra here.” He further said: “You do not push your

culture, we are not Jehova’s Witness who move from door to door. That is

your socialization.” Rita Behen says: “Doing bhaktipheri may not be a

formal process, one does bhaktipheri even outside the formulaic form of

bhaktipheri. A lot of Christians ask me about my culture and the way I

interact with them, I am also doing bhaktipheri. I become a bearer of my

culture.” Like Arun Bhai, she said: “We have to distinguish between

Jehova’s Witness and Swadhyaya.”

Suresh Bhai had a similar point of view. For him, “Bhakhperi is a

process. This year, I went to some white person’s house and said halo to

them.” He also said: “bhaktipheri is not easy. Initially you go to your own

people. You have to enlighten your own people (Here he has in mind

mainly Gujarati Hindu people). But Dadaji may say—go to anybody’s

house—go to someone where there is no Indian. I do not feel uncom-

fortable in knocking the white man’s house. But for this, before going,

one should know why you are going.” But Suresh Bhai also locates this

problem at a much deeper level. He says that Swadhyayees do not do

bhaktipheri among the Muslims because of their conditional mind.

272 Chapter 6

Ashok Bhai Tang brought his own experience to the table. He said

that during their bhaktipheri in Blackburn, the place which they rented

belonged to a Pakistani Muslim. He says: “We cannot ask Muslims to

accept Swadhyaya. If I want to talk to Muslims, I should know about

Muslim culture, religion. Otherwise I could offend them. In this country,

Muslims have strong faith.” Ashok Bhai further said: “Swadhyaya

Parivara is very organized. I can do bhaktipheri with people of other

culture and other religion on a one-to-one basis but we cannot target

people of any particular culture and religion.” What Ashok Bhai means

that without the permission of the Swadhyayee motabhais, a Swadhyayee

cannot just start bhaktipheri anywhere and among any community he/she

likes. Ashok Bhai further said: “We are not yet ready.” He suggests that

he does not have time to know more about Islamic religion and culture

and the time and effort that is needed for this. In his words, “For one

person to take part in bhaktipheri it takes 5 years. Furthermore, we have a

lot of local work, we have to take care of co-ordination. This work (i.e.

Bhaktipheri among the Muslims) we cannot take up on our own. It is up to

the local Swadhyaya Parivara.”

Arun Bhai further presented some of his ground difficulties in

carrying out bhaktipheri among the Muslims in a place like Leicester.

Here Hindus and Muslims live in segregation. “I cannot just enter inside a

mosque. I need guts to enter inside a Muslim house.” For him, the Hindus

and Muslims do not have good relationship in U.K. and “one has to take

this account into reality before doing bhavpheri and bhaktipheri in the

country. “You are working with somebody’s sister, mother. I can not take

them to any house especially when there is possibility of danger. I have a

responsibility.” At this point, Rita Behen added a note of clarification:

“The danger comes not from Muslims houses only, it could come from

any house.”

Swadhyaya in Nottingham

There is continued meeting between Swadhyayees in different cities of

England—London, Leicester, and Nottingham. Swadhyayees of U.K.

meet once a year in a Sibir for a week or two. It gives them an opportunity

to know each other and to grow in intimacy. Some Swadhyayees prefer

this than taking a paid vacation. This is how Sandhya Behen, the wife of

Nitin Bhai, narrates her experience: “When I go to the Sibir I like it better

than taking a holiday. It is like going to one’s Maika—mother’s house. In

Globalization of Swadhyaya 273

Parivara Milan (meeting of the Swadhyaya Parivar), one gets an oppor-

tunity for both pleasure and study. I was earlier jealous of my Debar

(husband’s younger brother) and Debrani (husband’s younger brother’s

wife) going on a vacation but not now.”Sandhya Behen and Nitin Bhai are one of the six to eight core

Swadhyayee families who are part of the Swadhyaya work in Nottingham.Swadhyayees from London and Leicester came to do bhavpheri inNottingham in 1993 and out of this Swadhyaya has grown. The number issmall here but there is a growing devotional clarity and commitment in thefollowers of Swadhyaya.

Nitin Bhai and Sandhya Behen and the Work of Swadhyaya in

Nottingham

Nitin Bhai works as a chemist. He has his own drug store. So, in order to

take part in Swadhyaya he has to book another chemist in advance. He is

also taking more time in Swadhyaya from his shop. In his Swadhyaya

work he is assisted by his wife Sandhya Behen.

Narrating the impact of Swadhyaya in her life, Sandhya Behen says

that Swadhyaya has helped her to look at everyday in one eye.

Furthermore, she is engaged in self-study. She also goes to practice the art

of guna grahan. She is the co-ordinator of the Bala Sankara Kendra and it

is a challenge for her not to give undue priority/privilege to her own

children. It is not easy. There is a workshop on the Bala Sankara Kendra

once every four month. Sandhya Behen attends that. In Nottingham, there

are two groups for Bala Sanskara Kendra consisting of the age groups of

4-7/8-10.Sandhya Behen says that she gets answers to all the questions of her

life by listening to Dadaji. There is a transformation in the relationshipbetween herself and her husband. She had not known about Ramayana—she learnt about it in Swadhyaya.

During the pre-Swadhyaya days, they used to do bhajans (prayers) butthough they liked it they could not be nourished and sustained in it forlong. After Bhajan, they were reading interesting scriptures. This too theycould not go ahead with for a long time.

Regarding change as a result of Swadhyaya, Sandhya Behen says:

“Earlier whatever she wanted to have, she insisted to have it immediately.

But not now. Swadhyaya also gives her Atma Gaurav—self-dignity. She

as well as her other friends do not feel shy to wear Indian dress such as

saree and salwar kameez and feel no pressure to wear Western dress such

274 Chapter 6

as jeans. “One should not feel inferior: Indians not only feel inferior to

wear their dress, they also have an inferiority complex to take their food.”

Says another Swadhyayee sister: “During the graduation of my son

Bhavesh, he told me to come with my saree. Even your children do not

feel inferior to see us in Indian dress.”

Ashok Bhai of Nottingham is a wise follower of Swadhyaya. While

Nitin Bhai and his younger brother Kamalesh Bhai are members of the

Sakha and staunch in their opposition to the Whites and the Muslims,

Ashok Bhai is not. He does not look at the problems of discrimination

reactively anymore.” In his shop, earlier native white customers used to

throw money at him instead of giving this in hand. Ashok Bhai used to be

very engaged at this behavior and also throw back money at the

customers. But after Swadhyaya, he understands this discriminatory and

insulting behavior but does not heat back. He sees God inside customers.

At the same time he does not have inferiority complex.

Nitin Bhai is involved in both Swadhyaya and Sakha. I was interested

to know how his Swadhyaya participation affects his Sakha work. He did

not give a clear answer. He says that with Swadhyaya background he is

not overwhelmed to see the conspiracy done to the Indian community. He

can feel the hand of God and feel “I am not alone”. “Whatever work I do

in Sakha or other organizational work I put God in the middle of it—we

did many projects for the greater good of the Indian community such as

the one on media and vegetarianism but not for any personal benefit.”

Then we had a discussion on Swadhyaya and Sakha. Jayanti Bhai, a

long time Sakha worker and father of both Nitin Bhai and Kamal Bhai,

says: “The greatest benefit of Swadhyaya in this country is upon the

young generation. Whatever we could not teach them, Swadhyaya is

teaching them.” But Jayanti Bhai criticizes Swadhyaya for not being

reactive and defensive enough. In his words: “Gita Ka Prabachan Acha

He Magar Iska Matalab Nehi Mala Lekar Baith Jayenge. Krishna Sab

Thik Kar Denge [Discourse on Gita is alright but this does not mean that

we will sit with necklaces of meditation and Krishna would make every-

thing right]”. Kamalesh Bhai, his son, says: “My biggest criticism of

Swadhyaya is that it does not take a political stance; it does not oppose the

insult heaped on the Hindu community. Kamalesh Bhai goes to both the

Sakha and Swadhyaya but he is emphatic that you cannot just survive on

Swadhyaya.”

On the wider issue of religious minority, all the Sakha participants

had a similar approach to issues like Christian missionaries and the

Globalization of Swadhyaya 275

demolition of Babri Masjid. Nitin Bhai says: “The Masjid should have

been given to the Hindus as it is of historical significance to them.”

Kamalesh Bhai says: “Are the missionaries working from a level playing

field?” On Islam, he says “It is a dogma, and can anybody question the

Quran?” But none of the discussants present who do solely Swadhyaya

took such a stance. Ashok Bhai of Nottingham says on the Babri Masjid

issue: “We do not have any right to condemn another religion and destroy

its place of worship.” Ashok Bhai Tang of Leicester said: “Doing

constructive work is difficult: criticizing anybody is easy. I have gone in

bhaktipheri to nearly 15 to 20,000 houses in U.K. for the last 22 years.

Once I was visiting a sister’s house. On meeting us, she cried. She was

about to be converted.” On the question posed by Kamalesh Bhai on the

need to defend ‘our culture’, Ashok Bhai asked: “What is the meaning of

culture? How do you save culture? One does not save one’s culture by

going and fighting in Kargil only while by Sanskruti, Sakha means Desh

ka Sanskruti (the culture of the country) which is territorial, Swadhyaya

has a much wider notion of culture which is Vedic. Protection and nurture

of this culture requires silent, cultural work.” But Jayant Bhai, the Sakha

activist said, “We should be strong to protect our culture”.

Swadhyaya’s Work in Dubai

Seventy per cent of the population of Dubai, one Swadhyayee tells me, are

from India. Indians come here mostly for work and they have double

lives—in India as well as in Dubai. Some of them work in the profes-

sional, technical and business field but while others work in factories and

construction work. Both types of Indians are involved with Swadhyaya.

Madhu Bhai, Sandip Bhai, Prem Bhai and others are in the professional

side while people like Rati Bhai stay in labor camps. They have a 10-12

hour job schedule. It is these laborers who working in extremely difficult

circumstances have built Dubai. As a Swadhyayee leader says: “The

whole of Dubai is built on the blood of laborers from India. Their only

complaint is that they do not have time for doing Swadhyaya.”

Madhu Bhai is an important leader of Swadhyaya in Dubai. He is in

his mid-forties and wants to retire from active life within the next five

years. He wants to study more and do something useful. He says: “Here

because of our busy work schedule we do not get much time to read. So

far I have only read Swadhyaya books. I want to read others. I want to

276 Chapter 6

know more about the questions and how these have been dealt from

various perspectives.”

Madhu Bhai comes from Delhi. He has an engineering degree in light-

ening and is the head of a production division here. At this age of

twenty-three, he had gone to stay with a relative in Bombay. He came to

Baharin in 1988 and stayed there till 1993. In 1994 he came to Dubai. His

Swadhyaya has been matured and developed in Dubai.

Madhu Bhai says that it is difficult to start Swadhyaya projects in

Dubai even though there is no open hostility. He further says: “But we

also do not have a missionary zeal that because there is obstacle we have

to work with great speed. We do as much as we can. We do not have any

sense of carrying the burden.”

Madhu Bhai says that those who come here and get in touch with

Swadhyaya, go back and start Swadhyaya in their villages. Swadhyaya

has come to Gulf from India and Indians carry back Swadhyaya to their

villages in India. There are multiple ways of influence and interaction

here. People from many different regions stay in the Gulf and in

Swadhyaya people from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, and Gujarat meet.

According to the Swadhyaya motabhai in Dubai, “Swadhyaya becomes a

meeting point of all these ethnicities.” What is interesting is that to some

parts of India such as Andhra Pradesh and Rajasthan Swadhyaya has

come with the natives from these states returning from the Gulf. In a

recent interview a leader of Swadhyaya working in the Gulf countries

says: “30,000 people from Kuwait came to Rajasthan and spread the

message of Swadhyaya. In Andhra Pradesh the work of Swadhyaya has

been done by people returning from the Gulf.”

In the evening we went to Karama, a residential locality of Dubai, to

have a cup of tea. Apart from the Swadhyaya Kendra, there are Mahila

Kendra and Bala Sanskara Kendra also. Only ten per cent of the Indian

population here are associated with Swadhyaya. A major reason is that

most of the local people are Muslims. Even those who associate

themselves with Swadhyaya it is a bit more difficult to find time. Those

who work in private companies work two shifts: 7 AM to 2 PM and 4 PM

to 7 PM. But this work-schedule is on paper only. Unofficially each of

them has to work 10 to 12 hours each day. Thursday and Friday are

holidays here—so there is no Swadhyaya Kendra on these two days as

people reserve these two days for their families as they are overworked on

other days.

But laborers here come alone. Most of them have their own social

circle of drinking and gambling. Here Swadhyaya provides an alternative

Globalization of Swadhyaya 277

way of being with oneself and others. According to Madhu Bhai, “The

side effect of Swadhyaya is that at least one does not have to go to drink to

spend time. Kam se kam Swadhyaya to Inse Bacha lete he—at least,

Swadhyaya saves one from this.”

In the evening we went to Al-Faqir labor camp where laborers stay.

There we met Gurung Bhai. He is the boss of the camp. He does

bhavpheri and bhaktipheri among the Nepalese. He says: “When I go to

them the Nepalese say: Oh we are Buddhists. But I say, at least abide by

your own religion. Buddha speaks about non-violence but you eat meat.”

Gurung Bhai told us that he is now planning to start a Kendra for the

Nepalese in Dubai.

In Gurung Bhai’s labor camp I met people from Bihar as well as

Rajasthan. But the highlight of my meeting here was with Kamal Bhai.

Kamal Bhai is a Brahmin from Nepal and works as a cook in the neigh-

boring labor camp. He goes to Nepal and does bhavpheri in his native

village. There is a Harihara Kendra (the center of Lord Shiva) there. There

he hold that everybody should read Gita. Some villagers commented:

“You are a Brhamin and you say that everybody should read Gita. How

can the untouchables read Gita ?” Kamal Bhai said: “People made fun of

me but I said if anybody becomes mad after reading Gita please report to

this to me.” Kamal Bhai wants to plant the seed of Swadhyaya in Nepal.

From Al-faqir labor camp we came to the labor camp of Sonapur.

This is a big labor colony. There are many labor camps here. We entered

inside a labor camp in which there is a common kitchen and a common

bathroom. We met a laborer here named Rati Bhai. The small room in

which Rati Bhai stays has four beds. When we entered inside Rati Bhai’s

room, they were doing their evening prayer. Rati Bhai and another brother

were reading Sri Suktam (Dadaji’s reflections on wealth) and after we

came three other brothers also entered the room. They had come from a

distance of two kilometers from another labor camp. All of them come

from Valsad in Gujarat. Rati Bhai says that he was not much interested in

Swadhyaya in his village because “he did not find the man who led

Swadhyaya in his village to be an alright person.” There Pravin Bhai who

is an admired young man of Swadhyaya told us that he finds much inspi-

ration from participating in the Sibir. Then Madhu Bhai commented, apart

from encouragement and inspiration Sibiras provide an opportunity to

Swadhyayees not to fall into the trap of a ropewalker. Even spiritual life

requires continuous replenishment.

As we were leaving the camp, one brother said: “Oh there is no

prarthana preeti2 here in Tamil.” Madhu Bhai said: “Do not worry! God

278 Chapter 6

will send us. At this point it became clear that there are many people from

Andhra Pradesh taking part in Swadhyaya. It is because they come with a

clean state—they are also large in number here.”

As we were coming from Karama to Sonapur, Madhu Bhai said:

“Swadhyaya’s primary work lies in villages. After Gandhi this is a work

in developing these villages. The prayogs that take place in the villages

become a source of inspiration for people who are associated with

Swadhyaya in cities like Dubai.” In his words: “Because there are prayogs

in the villages there is a pramanikata (authenticity). This pramanikata

helps us to understand the meaning of Swadhyaya texts when we discuss

these in study circles. So we would like to go in Prayog Darshana. But we

tie this with visit to India in connection with big Swadhyaya programs like

Manushya Gaurav Din. There is no separate prayog darshan organized

from here as it requires a lot of planning on the part of people in the local

community who would receive us and organize the local trip.” Madhu

Bhai has gone in prayog darshan to Sabarkantha.

Sandeep Bhai and his wife Pratima Behen are a Swadhyaya couple

here. Pratima Behen’s parents were Swadyayees but Sandeep Bhai’s were

not. Pratima Behen is from a village near Nashik and her Swadhyaya

involvement got rekindled during her college days. After marriage and

following her husband to Dubai, she wanted to attend the Swadhyaya

Kendra. She told her husband: “If you do not want to come inside, then at

least seat in the varandah till I come.” It was not much difficult on the part

of Pratima Behen to bring Sandeep Bhai into Swadhyaya.

On this Madhu Bhai commented as we were finishing our dinner last

night: “Here everybody has the need for a social circle. As it turns out,

each family tends to form part of a network of six and seven families.

They meet and dance and dine together. Or you come home or watch

television. But how long can you derive satisfaction from watching

television?” So Swadhyaya provides an opportunity for creative social-

ization.

Nitin Bhai and Madhu Bhai are part of a seven member Swadhyaya

study circle here. They meet and read Swadhyaya books together.

Sandeep Bhai has a special interest in reading. Madhu Bhai says: “Though

all of us are in Swadhyaya we have our own different individual tastes.

Somebody has a taste for reading, somebody is interested in bhaktipheri.”

On work in Dubai, Madhu Bhai says: “It is a time of flexibility.

Nobody is a permanent resident here. People come here for work. They

work here in Swadhyaya and then go. Because of this continuous flux of

Globalization of Swadhyaya 279

place and people it is difficult to have a stable core Swadhyaya group

here.”

Madhu Bhai further says that Swadhyayees in labor camps work in

difficult situations. “Their devotion gives inspiration to us. We are

well-placed and when we go to them we get a lot of inspiration.”

There is a temple in Bhar Dubai but this temple is not an open space.

It is in a closed building. In this temple premise Swadhyayees have their

Video Kendra twice a week. Madhu Bhai had brought me to this Kendra.

On the way back, Madhu Bhai told me: “There is no question about the

future of Swadhyaya in so far as individual practice is concerned. But

what is at stake is the future of the prayogs. Much depends upon the

quality of the local leaders.”

Swadhyaya in Chicago and Some Other Cities in the U.S.

Like other places around the world Swadhyaya also started in Chicago

around 1978. Now there are around nineteen to twenty Swadhyaya

Kendras in Chicago. It has active involvement of some young people who

are nurtured by senior Swdhayayees such as Dwijendra Bhai. Dwijendra

Bhai who is a retired engineer meets with young people three evenings a

week.During my visit young people of Swadhyaya had organized the

Annual Yogeshwara Day on February 1, 2003. They had organizeddifferent exhibitions depicting the life of Dadaji as well as the thoughtsand projects of Swadhyaya. After visiting the exhibition halls,Swadhyayees were presented a live show. The live show began with fouryoung people standing on the stage. The first person on which the camerafocused was a young woman. As soon as light was put on her face, sheexpressed her doubt about God citing the reasons from modern Physicsand Biology. Then the camera was focused on a young man who wasdressed like Subash Chandra Bose and gave a Netajee speech about theneed for fight for Indian independence. Then light fell on a young manwho was dressed as the young boy Nachiketa and he was introduced asbelonging to 1500 BC. He spoke about the fire of knowledge. Then thecamera light fell on a young man who was standing for Arujna.

In the live show, among others, there was a section on Indian

womanhood. One woman dressed in a white saree said: “My heritage is

Indian, My sanskriti (culture) is on the verge of being extinguished and it

is my responsibility to uphold it.” She further said: “We are the daughters

of Sita Ma, Draupadi, and Savitri. We are the Purandharis. Indian women

280 Chapter 6

know how to sacrifice. Why do we sacrifice? This way we come closer to

God. We would like to live and die as an Indian woman.”

The exhibition and themes discussed in the live show touched upon

issues of identity that young people of Indian origin face in a country like

the U.S. For example, the emphasis on Vedic culture and determination to

live and die as an Indian woman embodying the principle of sacrifice

touch on issues of cultural identity. The skeptical attitude of the first girl

on the live show illustrates the questions of faith and reason that young

people face while going to school in a society such as American society.

There are some other themes in this presentation which were quite

striking. In providing the narration of Indian freedom struggle, Netajee

Subash Chandra Bose was given more voice compared to somebody like

Gandhi. This speech in the uniform of Azad Hind fitted well with the

theme of a new divine army needed for the Swadhyaya revolution. The

whole language was quite belligerent. In the brochure there was the

reference made to Panduranga Sena—the Army of Pandurang meaning

Dadaji. There was a predominance of the language of war, brutal fight and

military conquest in the whole discourse. I was a bit struck by it and

wondered whether it had something to do with the current valorization of

war on terrorism in a society such as American society. I asked Ajaya

Bhai and Bina Behen, my kind hosts, whether this language of war and

Army is new in Swadhyaya. Ajya Bhai said: “Yes.” I asked: “Why this

language?” Bina Behen said that this has to do with the theme of the

revolution. About the word “brutal battle” used in the exhibition Ajaya

Bhai said that “this was fierce and there is a danger if it is not taken in the

right direction.”

It is the young people of Chicago who had chosen the theme and had

made all necessary preparations for the whole celebration. It had involved

a lot of planning, effort, and coordination. Says Bina Behen: “We

celebrate Yogeshwara Day every year. We choose a cultural theme and do

research on it and prepare our script, exhibition and the show.” I was

present in the pre-final preparatory meeting for the Yogeshwara Day on

January 30, 2003. Around two hundred young and senior Swadhyayees

had taken part in it. The young people who had to play a role in exhibition

or live show were rehearsing their performance. The young people are

divided into different groups. I was sitting near a group of young people

and the leader of the group was giving a speech. Then came a bit older boy

and advised him how he should deliver his speech properly and speak in a

manner so that the audience can take note of it. Then this young man

Globalization of Swadhyaya 281

started visiting another group of still younger Swadhyayees and started

giving the same advice.

The Swadhyaya work in Chicago has an innovative project called

Subhaga. Subhaga is an entrepreneurial initiative of local Swadhyayees in

which participants give their time in running a small business such as

driving a taxi or running a computer farm. The resources generated out of

this is supposedly used for Swadhyaya and God’s work. Chicago

Swadhyaya has also eighty-acre agricultural plot for Yogeshwara Krishi

named Mahdava Kendra.

Swadhyaya has branches in many other cities in North America such

as Lexington (Kentucky), and Edison (New Jersey). During a recent visit

to the U.S. I took part in an innovative youth program in Lexington in

which students from different towns of Kentucky as well as Ohio had

taken part. They were spreading the message of Gita and Swadhyaya in

the form of an interesting television interview.

Edison, New Jersey is a town in New Jersey where predominantly

Indians live.

I had also visited some Swadhyayees in Edison. Swadhyaya has a

vibrant center here and conducts its Sunday Video Kendra in a Jewish

worship center. Nearly thirty to forty families are associated with this

center.

Bharat Bhai Jani is a motabhai of Swadhyaya in Edison. During our

discussion in the middle of night as he returned from a long weekend

bhaktipheri, Bharat Bhai said: “bhaktipheri is a meeting of one chaitanya

(psychic being) with another.” Bharat Bhai also spoke about the work of

Subhaga prayog in which Swadhyayees of the locality come together and

offer their efficiency. But its significance for Bharat Bhai lay in the fact

that it creates an opportunity for people to work together beyond

individual likes or dislikes. “When you come closer you do not see not so

good part of other people. Activity binds you together. When you pound

the nails [referring to the work of former U.S. President Jimmy Carter] it

is devoting time and understanding.”

Bharat Bhai and fellow Swadhyayees not only work in the U.S. they

also visit Swadhyaya programs in India as some of them also do

bhaktipheri in Caribbean and South America. Bharat Bhai had taken part

in the Dadaji’s Asthikalas Bisarjan in Puri in January 2005 in which

Dadaji’s holy ashes were immersed in the ocean near Puri, the center of

Lord Jagannatha. Bharath Bhai makes an important point about

Swadhyaya and diasporic identity when he says: “We are neither

Americans nor Indians. We are cultural ambassadors. We are cultural

282 Chapter 6

ambassadors of India here. It gives us identity as well as responsibility.

But we are also cultural ambassadors of the U.S. in India. While Indians

have good family values Americans are good in cleanliness.”

In Edison, I had detailed discussions with another enthusiastic leader

of Swadhyaya. He had come to the U.S. in early 1990s to work as a

computer professional and working in New York and living in Edison he

came in contact with Swadhyaya. Attending Dadaji’s Video Kendra and

taking part in different activities of Swadhyaya inspired him so much that

he quit his job and joined a Master’s program in religious studies. He tells

us about his experience: “When I joined Swadhyaya immediately I

became a missionary. All of us would be given bhaktipheri targets and

quota to fill and immediately I would try to cross the quota. I took the

initiative to contact scholars from all over the world and send them copies

of Vital Connections.3 Swadhyayees like Bharat Bhai would purchase

copies of this and I would send them at their own expense. I wanted the

scholars of the world to know about Dadaji. I also strove to start a Hindi

Video Kendra in Edison. By God’s grace another brother also came to our

locality during the same period. He is senior to me by ten years. He

brought maturity to our work.”

The younger brother of this leader has also been drawn into

Swadhyaya circle. But he emphasizes more on self-development. In the

words of the elder brother himself: “While he emphasizes more on

self-transformation, I on spreading the message.” For the younger brother,

“What is important to me is the quality of my relationship with other

people. I may go to Swadhyaya for years but if my relationship with my

wife does not change!” His wife comes from a background in Sri

Aurobindo and Mother. She feels that while in Aurobindo and Mother

everybody is invited to develop in one’s own way in Swadhyaya there is a

pressure to conformity.

Notes

1. Tilak is the sign put on the head of the boys and bindi, on the head of the girls.

2. Prarthan Preeti is the Swadhyaya book of prayers.

3. Vital Connections is a book on Swadhyaya edited by R.K. Srivastava (1998)

which is used in many Swadhyaya circles and outside to get a glimpse of the vision

and projects of Swadhyaya.

Globalization of Swadhyaya 283

7

Self-Development and Social Transformations?

Swadhyaya and Beyond

Exiting from the palaces and mansions of the powerful, faith—joined

by philosophical wisdom—is beginning to take shelter in inconspicuous

smallness, in those recesses of ordinary life unavailable to co-optation.

—Fred Dallmayr (2005), Small Wonder: Global Power and

Its Discontents, p. 4

How can religious institutions, with their prime purpose of preserving

and transmitting a tradition, reform their own system of authority. . . ?

—Daniele Hervieu-Leger (2000),

Religion as a Chain of Memory, p. 168

In human life, Suffering is the antitheses of Power, and it is also a more

characteristic, and more fundamental element in Life than Power is. . . .

Suffering is the essence of Life, because it is the inevitable product of an

unresolvable tension between a living creature’s essential impulse to try

to make itself into the center of the Universe and its essential

dependence on the rest of creation and on the Absolute Reality on which

all creatures live and move and have their being. On the other hand,

human power, in all its forms is limited and, in the last resort, illusory.

Therefore any attitude towards Life that idolizes human power is bound

to be a wrong attitude towards Suffering and, in consequence, a wrong

attitude towards Life itself.

—Arnold J. Toynbee (1956),

An Historian’s Approach to Religion, p. 74

— 284 —

Some Recent Changes

Founder of Swadhyaya Dadaji passed away in 2003, but, for the last many

years Dadaji was ill and all the attention of Swadhyaya was focused on his

health. From 2000 onwards, the leadership of Swadhyaya had fallen on

his chosen successor and adopted daughter Didi. This led to a leadership

struggle in Swadhyaya in which many of the old timers were expelled and

many of followers of Swadhyaya who had a different point of view on this

were harassed, beaten up and implicated in false cases. For example, cases

would be filed against dissident Swadhyaya leaders from remote corners

of Gujarat and they would be forced to come to local courts and while

appearing would be subjected to physical assault. The dissidents also

started raising questions to the very foundation of Swadhyaya stating how

it is built on ‘white lies’.1 I had a discussion with some of the present

leaders of Swadhyaya on the issue of violence and assault on those who

disagree with the present leadership of Swadhyaya. One leader says: “It is

the seniors who started legal cases against us. We have been subjected to

threatening phone calls. And now they would have to face the legal music.

There is a group called Jagrut Parivara which has been circulating humili-

ating news about us but we did not sue them for defamation. Dada is our

father and Didi is our sister and we have intense feeling and love for them.

If you are hurting the sradhakendra (center of affection) of millions then

there is bound to be negative reaction.” The same leader also says: “Dada

and Didi have refrained Swadhyayees from violence and we have used

our anger for constructive work. If Dada and Didi had wanted to cause

harm then none of these people would have remained on the face of this

earth.”

I asked my kind interlocutor who was so kind in sharing with us these

issues what have been some of the recent changes in Swadhyaya. He said

that the basic principle remains the same but some outward changes have

been effected. One of this relates to organizational tightening and need for

convention and consolidation. Now Swadhyaya has “become so big, the

scale of operation so large that we need to consolidate and have proper

procedure. In this context a great challenge before us is how do we keep it

parivarik [family-like] and at the same time do it conventionally.” For

him, “This calls for a single leader. Some people during transition had

initiated the need for a collective leadership in Swadhyaya. But this is

idiotic. The leader is the one who drives. Collective leadership is not

tenable. Forget about politics, the same thing is not tenable in religion as

well.”2

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 285

The same leader also drew our attention to phenomenal growth of

Swadhyaya in recent years. For example, now there are 10,000

Yogeshwara Krishis. During my visit to both Sabarkantha and Kutch in

August-September 2003 I saw Swadhyayees working at far greater speed.

One Swadhyayee in Kutch told me: “Nowadays we do not get much sleep

because the women of our house have resolved that neither would they

sleep nor would they let their menfolk sleep. We always keep running in

the work of Swadhyaya.”3 But all these expansions may not be isolated

from the effort on the part of the present leadership to consolidate its

position and make the dissidents look discredited in the eyes of the silent

followers of Swadhyaya and the wider public.

In a different vein the same leader said: “Thirty years ago when we

joined Swadhyaya as youngsters the psyche of the youth was different.

But now it is different. We have to communicate our message to the youth

in a new way.” Yes, recently Swadhyaya has intensified its work among

the youth. 14.5 lakh youngsters took part in Gita Jayanti elocution compe-

titions in December 2004. For the present leaders of Swadhyaya this

increase in work among the young is due to the space of autonomy and

creativity that Didi has created for the youngsters. During a recent

discussion Didi tells us: “Everybody has decided that they need to spend

more time and Swadhyaya is their priority in life. In Swadhyaya

everybody is working, the young and the old but when the youth work, it

becomes the talk of the town. If boys spend each minute in Swadhyaya

instead of going to club then it becomes the talk of the town.” Another

leader present during the discussion stated: “Didi has captured the imagi-

nation of the youth. It is Didi’s personal touch.” Didi further said: “What

is important is to see that the youth get the space to do and do the kind of

work that they want to do. We plan with the youth on the program and

syllabus for the whole year in which representatives of the youths from all

over the world come.”

Along with work with the youth, Swadhyaya’s work with the women

has also intensified in recent years. On this Didi says: “What is important

is not the position women get in Swadhyaya nor the ability to make

speeches on the dais. What is important is the respect that they get. They

get the respect in Swadhyaya that they do not have in their own family.”

Didi further said: “If some lady is giving forty-five minute lecture and do

not do any work in the village what is the point?4 Providing reservation in

the Parliament does not give dignity to women.” For Didi, “The dignity of

women lies in the capacity to say no to one’s husband when he asks for

money for drinking. But women should also have the courage to have

286 Chapter 7

one’s own world without one’s husband. We need such courageous

women if not in thousands, at least, in hundreds.” Such courage is crucial

for transforming the condition of corruption in society. Didi also says:

“We need courageous women to tell their husbands that they do not want

money from bribes in their house. Then only corruption will stop! But for

this we need time. Any revolution takes time. You give us ten years.

Andarse Chaitanya Jagrut Hoga—the inner conscience would awaken!”

Kshatriya Milan [meeting of the Kshatriyas traditionally considered

as warrior castes] has been one of the recent mega events of Swadhyaya.

In August 2005 this brought Kshatriyas from all different divisions

together and there were meetings in Ahmedabad, Rajkot, and Baroda. All

together thirty lakh Kshatriyas had taken part in it. There was a prepa-

ration for two and half years for it in which Swadhyayees had visited

Kshatriyas and taught them how to recite Trikala Sandhya. For the leaders

this learning how to recite and then joining the mega meet was just the

beginning. Swadhyaya believes in developing positive qualities in each

caste. Kshatriyas are known for their strength and also for offering

protection. In post-independent India, according to a Swadhyaya leader,

everybody was after the Dalits and nobody focused on Brahmins and

Kshatriyas. According to another leader: “Earlier times when the Rishis

were carrying out jajnya the demons used to throw stones at them. There

are also people now who are throwing stones/bones at the Swadhyaya

gyana jajnya from outside and inside. If Kshatriyas are there, they would

offer Swadhyaya protection.”

Kshatriya Milan manifests an urge to consolidate strength on the part

of Swadhyaya. I asked the same leader if there is any move to also carry

out a Bhavalaxi Milan, i.e. a mega meet of the Dalits. The leader said:

“Working with untouchables is difficult as they have been touched by

everybody.”

The consolidation of strength as it is evidenced by the mega events

such as Kshatriya Milan with its own imagery of sword (taken together

with the imagery of war in the Chicago youth meet discussed earlier) is

accompanied by a new articulation of relationship between spirituality

and aggressiveness. A Swadhyayee leader says: “It is a misconception to

think that spirituality and aggression are opposed to each other. An

engineer drawing a hole in the mountain is aggressive but here aggression

is constructive. It is also usually taken for granted that all Bhaktas are

mild. But we want Bhaktas who are strong.” One aspect of this renewed

valor is to rewrite the history of Swadhyaya in such a way that the future

generations do not know about the recent counterpoints, internal struggles

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 287

and contestations. In the words of this leader: “We would have to wipe out

this history.”

This will to wipe out tragically became literal with the murder of a

critical Swadhyaya leader from the U.S. in Ahmedabad on June 15, 2006.

Pankaj Bhai Trivedi, the first martyr of Swadhyaya, had raised questions

about the nature of functioning and use of funds in Swadhyaya. Several

followers of the present leadership have been arrested in connection with

his murder. This is a culmination of an aggressive approach which has

been latent in Swadhyaya all along.5 But at the same time, some other

Swadhyayees strive for a different mode of spiritual striving. A follower

of Swdhyaya who has been with it from the very inception and now

expelled from it says: “If all these beatings had not started and if Dada had

taken the senior Swadhyayees with him this work could have become

international.” This follower of God and who is also a follower of Gandhi

speaks with a smiling but painful heart. He had spent all his years in doing

bhaktipheri not only in Gujarat but also in other parts of the country. Now

he devotes his time to writing books. He has written an introduction to

Vedas in Gujarati and now he is completing another treatise on Gita. I

asked him what are some of his approaches to the message of Gita. He

said: “What strikes me in Gita is that there are not only main yogas there

are also sub-yogas. For example to have karma yoga one has to have

buddhi yoga (the yoga of intelligence) which is a sub-yoga: karma is not

mere action; it requires intelligence. It implies knowledge, it also implies

love. These are not tight compartments.”

This seeker’s engagement with Gita points to a new logic of yoga

where gyana, karma and bhakti—knowledge, action and devotion—are

mutually implicated with each other and one cannot exist in isolation of

the other; they exist in a spirit of autonomy and interpenetration. If this is

the logic of autonomy and interpenetration then why should leadership be

vested in a single person and why this person should be a sovereign? Is it

not possible to think of a mode of co-ordination where the logic of singu-

larity which produces violence and bare life is transformationally

supplemented by a new logic of co-operative and creative multitude,

shared sovereignties and sacred non-sovereignty? (cf. Agamben 1998;

Dallmayr 2005; Hardt & Negri 2004).6 Reflecting on his recent

experience but without any personal rancor this seeker urges us to reflect:

“This has been our bane. Anything which has the potential to be universal

turns out to be a sect. It becomes a question of personality cult and

collection of funds.7 This has been our tragedy in India right from the

caste system to medieval feudalism. In this the only beacon of hope have

288 Chapter 7

been the Sants8—they have worked with people without any barrier and

ego but there have been no follow up of their works.”

Such reflections point to criticism of Hinduism and Indian tradition

that this reflective interlocutor makes. In another context, Beteille (2003)

has argued that Hinduism now needs more internal critique ‘which seems

to be drying up’ and in the vision and practice of such seekers we see

glimpses of a continued nurturing of a tradition of internal criticism, one

which points in the direction of a creative border-crossing and embrace of

a spiritual heritage of humanity.

Self-Development and Social Transformations?

Swadhyaya states that it is not just for political empowerment and

economic development; it works primarily for self-development enabling

the discovery and cultivation of a higher self. But we have seen how

difficult and complex this journey of realization of a higher self is.

Despite difficulties Swadhyaya continues to provide a space of learning.

Different Swadhyaya Kendras create a climate of self-development, civil

society and a rich associational life in their respective locales. These

create a public sphere of meeting and conversations. These Kendras also

provide opportunities for learning and they constitute the normative

horizon of the everyday terms of discourse. The most important source of

learning is the weekly Video Kendra where Dada’s Pravachan is shown.

In his Pravachan, Dada talks about the values of life such as gratitude,

self-development and responsibility and touches many issues in history,

philosophy, religion, and spirituality. Those who come to attend Dada’s

Video Pravachan come with their notebooks.

Swadhyaya has also instilled a habit of reading in some. Their number

may be less but its significance cannot be undermined. Because of

Swadhyaya some men and women spend their spare time in reading. The

books they read are, of course, Swadhyaya books but they contain seeds

of self-development. Even if they do not have spare time they create time

for this. The Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha of Swadhyaya also

creates a climate of reading and learning. The illiterate men and women

also take part in this.

This work of Swadhyaya in inculcating an aspiration for learning has

been particularly significant in case of the farmers. Here the Swadhyaya

alternative educational system of Rishi Krishi (being a farmer as well as

sage) culminating in education at the Tatwagyan Vidyapeeth where sons

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 289

of farmers as well as sons of other professionals study together create new

opportunities for learning for the farmers as well as other participants of

Swadhyaya. Swadhyaya is an initiative in people’s education which is

akin to many movements in society and history around the world such as

the Folk High School Movement in Denmark. Inspired by N.S.F.

Grundtving and Kristen Kold this movement created new schools of life

especially for the children of the farmers and strove for realization of

‘Enlightenment for Life’ and ‘People’s Enlightenment’ (cf. Borish 1991).

At the core of this striving for a new enlightenment was a realization that

enlightenment does not “come from rote study of class room texts” but

from life itself and this resonates with the strivings and aspirations of

many of the practitioners of Swadhyaya we have met in this journey of us.

For some Swadhyayees, because of Swadhyaya there has taken place

a lot of socio-economic development in villages. But other self-critical

Swadhyayees present us a more nuanced and sober picture of the role of

Swadhyaya in people’s socio-economic development. Says a young son

of a Swadhyayee, “The socio-economic development and agricultural

development of the villages are not solely due to Swadhyaya.” For him

increase in productivity in the field is not because of Swadhyaya. He says:

“Vichar Ayato Manav Badal Saktehe Magar Khetar Kaise—if Vichara

(referring to Swadhyaya thought) comes human beings can change but

how can the field?” I discussed with him the significance of well-recharge

for the increase in agricultural productivity. He agreed with me and said

that increase in productivity in his farm is a result of his well-recharging.

In his words: “I did well-recharge two years ago. It has given a lot of

benefit to me. Now my water pump runs for many hours, water level does

not come down. Previously before Holi, we could run the water pump

only for an hour.”

But the Swadhyaya well-recharging program is only part of the story.

The increase in agricultural productivity is part of the wider agricultural

development which is a generalized one, and it is not solely due to

Swadhyaya. Increase in water, enhanced methods of cultivation,

increased use of pesticide are part of the wider agricultural development.

Both the Swadhyayees and non-Swadhyayees have prospered as a result.

Some self-critical Swadhyayees admit: “As much change should have

come to villages has not come. There is not much difference in behavior in

the village between those who do Swadhyaya and those who do not.” But

they agree definitely on one change: “Before Swadhyaya came there was

a lot of theft in the village but this does not happen any longer. Whatever

things you leave in the field stays in the field. Earlier both the kheduts

290 Chapter 7

(farmers) and bin-kheduts (non-farmers) used to steal. But this is no

longer the case.”

Different actors in the discursive and social field of Swadhyaya have

a differential understanding of the meaning and challenge of devel-

opment. For Swadhyayees, development consists of developing the mind

and intellect of the individual and all the prayogs are initiatives in the

development of the individuals and the group. But the non-Swadhyayees

of the village have a different developmental expectation from the

Swadhyayees. For them, Swadhyaya should build road, cowsheds, give

help and credit to the needy in the village. Here we may recall the

comments of Raoji Bhai of Simar: “What development is there you can

see by looking at the condition of road of the village!” At the same time

Swadhyayees counter such charges by saying that “the goal of Swadhyaya

is not to build roads, help the poor, open orphanages and Annachatras.”

These are the work of the social workers. Swadhyayees never fail to assert

that they are not social workers but Bhaktas and Swadhyaya is neither a

social service organization nor a developmental agency. But is Bhakti as a

mode of engagement divorced from social commitments and responsi-

bility? There is need for a greater dialogue between the discourse of

Bhakti and social work, self-development and social development in

Swadhyaya.

Swadhyayees speak about pancharanga kranti—five-colored

revolution—emotional, social, economic, spiritual, and political.

Swadhyaya has initiated a relational revolution which has its impact in all

the fields, most notably the emotional and the social fields. Emotionally

Swadhyaya has inspired its participants to discover the soft and subtler

dimension of life and in the social field it has created manifold relation-

ships across boundaries of caste and gender. Swadhyaya has impacted

upon the economic life of people by creating new opportunities through

social networks, by instilling a respect for one’s labor and time, by culti-

vating the art of working together, by helping people realize their inherent

and God-given potentiality, and through such important initiatives such as

well-recharge and water harvesting which have contributed to enhanced

agricultural productivity and generalized well-being. In the political field

Swadhyaya states that it has initiated a revolution by replacing electoral

contest at the village level with selection. But in none of the multi-caste

villages I have worked not a single low-caste person has been nominated

as a sarpanch. “Selection not election, consensus not contest” has been

used as an ideological tool to continue traditional caste and leadership

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 291

structure in the villages. But another aspect of political revolution that

Swadhyaya states that it creates is that it urges citizens to realize their

dignity as a human person and citizen. As a Swadhyayee leader once told

me, “Once one realizes that one has dignity, one is not a purchasable

commodity. One would cast one’s vote according to one’s conscience.”

The significance of Swadhyaya lies in generating a relational

revolution. Swahdhyaya’s vision and practice of shramabhakti—

devotional labor—is an important part of it. Shramabhakti brings people

from different castes and socio-economic backgrounds together. It has

also the potential to overcome one of the annihilating dualisms in Indian

tradition, namely the dualism of labor and intellect. In the traditional caste

hierarchy, the low-caste have been burdened with the task of labor and

production while the Brahmins have been assigned the task of learning,

mental labor and abstraction. There is an epochal need for both Brahmins

and Dalits to learn from each other in a transgressive manner the habitus

and values of learning and labor. Dalits can learn the habitus of education

from Brahmins as Brahminical castes can learn the art of labor from the

Dalits. But this is not possible as long as protagonists of Dalit politics

stick to Dalitization as the sole route to emancipation and Brahminical

sociologists look at any effort at human betterment as an instance of

Sanskritization and offer it as the sole model of social and cultural devel-

opment (Giri 2002a; Ilaiah 1996). Because of Swadhyaya’s emphasis on

learning Sanskrit slokas and indirect stress on vegetarianism it is tempting

to look at Swadhyaya as an agent of Sanskritization. But Swadhyaya’s

vision and practice of shramabhakti has the potential9 of embodying a

simultaneous cultivation of labor and learning thus going beyond

one-sided Brahminization and Dalitization and nurturing a new dialectic

of self-realization. It has also a potential to transform the current disem-

bodied conception of civil society and public sphere by bringing to the

fore the significance of labor, a labor which at the same time is

devotional.10

Swadhyaya has also instilled in its participants an urge for

self-development. But self-development has a particular formulaic conno-

tation and manifestation in Swadhyaya. The discourse and narrative of

self-development is confined to particular tropes such as people leaving

gambling and drinking, husbands stopping beating their wives etc. But

self-development does not touch on structural issues such as some influ-

ential Swadhyaya followers encroaching the village common land. It also

does not address the structural roots of poverty. While Swadhyaya states

that tackling poverty requires a change in one’s mind and self-conception

292 Chapter 7

that one is neither poor nor helpless, as one already has within one’s heart

God as a co-presence realizing which one can overcome one’s sense of

powerlessness and always take creative action, it still does not

acknowledge the structural roots of poverty such as the present land distri-

bution system and class and caste structure.11

Swadhyaya and the Wider Challenges12

Self-development also means developing capacity for being responsible

for the other. In critical situations and events such capacities are tested. In

the last years Gujarat has gone through two calamities—the earthquake in

Kutch and other parts of Gujarat in January-February 2001 and the

communal carnage in 2002. The later shocked the conscience of not only

the nation but also the entire world as innocent people mostly belonging to

the minority Muslim communities were butchered and burnt alive when

the government at both the State and the Center not only stood silent but

also actively connived with the killers. While Swadhyaya provided some

relief to the victims of natural disaster in Kutch, it was silent in the face of

the man-made communal holocaust in Gujarat.

In September 2003 I had visited Bhuj, Kutch to understand the impact

of the earthquake and the work of organizations such as Swadhyaya.

During our discussion one Swadhyaya leader told: “Dadaji was much

pained. He had called a meeting of the Swadhyayee workers of Kutch. He

urged us to do something concretely about shelter. We said: Dadaji, it

would take time. But Dadaji stressed that it is important that people

should stand on their feet. They should also start working on their fields.

How long can I give?” He continued: “Swadhyaya started the work of

construction and repair of the damaged buildings. Swadhyayee engineers

undertook the survey. There were Swadhyayee masons from Aurangabad

working in the reconstruction sites at half the rate since they had also to

support their families. But during construction and repair the

shramabhakti of the concerned person was a must. Dadaji had also

insisted that everybody including the richest of the rich should build only

one room so that all the laborers are not busy with building only for the

rich.”

But for Swadhyayees the most important help that Swadhyaya

provided was not in providing relief. According to a young Swadhyayee

in Ahmedabad: “Other organizations sent truckloads of relief materials,

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 293

we sent some but we stood besides people. We gave Dadaji’s thoughts to

the people in these times of despair. Is it any less?”

But what was the response of Swadhyaya to the communal carnage in

Gujarat in 2002? During a discussion a leading intellectual of Ahmedabad

told me: “What is shocking is that most of the so-called spiritual organiza-

tions in Gujarat such as Swadhyaya and Swaminaryana which had

provided relief during the earthquake remained silent during the

communal carnage in Gujarat.”13 During my visit to the tribal village of

Bandol near Vijayanagar I had a discussion with the sarpanch of the

village who comes from Bajrang Dal. He said: “Some of the tribals from

the village had gone on rioting to Vijayanagar and one of them was killed.

Then the whole lot went from our village and burnt the houses of

Muslims.” I asked the Swadhyaya leader of the village whether

Swadhyayees had joined in the riot. He did not give a categorical answer

but said: “When the death drums were beaten, it gave a warning to

everybody. So all of them, it seems, had to go.”

While Swadhyaya did not provide any relief to the victims of

communal carnage, a majority of whom were Muslims, some individual

Swadhyayees had taken a courageous step in countering communal

violence. Notable here is the work of Ratna Bhai in Sabarkantha. In the

last anti-Muslim program in Gujarat many of the Dalits and tribals were

mobilized to become a part of the brigade of killing and looting. Ratna

Bhai, himself a tribal, considered it his moral responsibility to stop this in

his own area. In this he and his friends were inspired by the Swadhyaya

spirit of humanism. In fact, many of the Swadhyayees have articulated

their response in the face of communal carnage in terms of humanism:

“Ham Manavata Badi He [we are humanists.]” Says Ratna Bhai: “On the

first day all of us were terrified. We could not make any sense of it. But

afterwards we moved from village to village with some friends. We told

our Adivasi Samaj that we should not take part in this carnage.” Ratna

Bhai tells us about this with a painful heart: “The tribals were used in this

riot. They were used as laborers in this looting and killing a few but I told

the people of our tribe that we should not be a party to this killing.”

Since Swadhyaya Parivara had not publicly taken a stance against the

riots, I asked Ratna Bhai whether he was at all concerned or afraid about

what the Swadhyaya leadership might think about it. He said: “Yes I was a

bit concerned but realized that I have also my duty as a citizen and a

human being.”

Thus there are courageous and critical actors in Swadhyaya like

everywhere else. The silence of Swadhyaya Parivara in the face of the

294 Chapter 7

communal carnage needs to be understood in its inherent complexity

taking into account human fear and finitude. It also challenges us to

acknowledge that silent work for divinization is also one way of

addressing communal bigotry. As a senior Swadhyayee in Baroda told

me: “The whole climate was such that nobody was in a mood to listen.

The whole communal disturbance is perpetrated by the politicians and

why should Swadhyaya be responsible for this? It is not our sphere of

work. How can we convince those who are fighting for temples? Dogs are

sleeping in many temples and now these people are fighting for a temple.

In this farce we have to be a spectator and continue our work.”

Swadhyaya’s work in many people’s lives is significant in helping

them overcome any apriori hatred to other religions. Notable here is a

discussion I had with a young follower of Swadhyaya in Virle Parla,

Bombay. He says: “Swadhyaya brings hope to my life as a citizen. I have

a hope that people can come closer. Dadaji has made us understand that to

be a Hindu is not to be bound by geography. Whenever a Muslim visits

me I invite him to my table, sit down with him, and share a sweet with

him. It is my simple action. My behavior is humanly and it is an outcome

of Dadaji. I am grateful to Dadaji that I did not have to be limited by

communalism.”

The Calling of Transformations: Swadhyaya and Beyond

The limitation of Swadhyaya is not its sole creation; it is a human

limitation14 and also a limitation of a tradition, namely the Indian tradition

of self-cultivation. In Indian traditions of self-development despite all

sweet talks there is a fundamental inability of the self to understand the

aspirations and pains of other on her own terms. Daya Krishna (1996: 58)

suggests that Indian engagement with self fails to see “the other as a

subject in her own right and capable of being affected by one’s actions.”15

Bhakti is the foundation of Swadhyaya but in medieval India Bhakti

probably had to work within the structural limits of caste and gender

distinctions though in many places it transgressed these distinctions and

created new spaces of meeting, mutuality and circles of reading (cf.

Hawley 2005). But, with the democratic transformation in India at work

for the last many hundred years assisted by varieties of new movements in

religion, politics, the freedom struggle, onset of our constitutional

revolution, a modern day Bhakti movement has much more social

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 295

resources to overcome these traditional distinctions and contribute more

significantly to the realization of a radical democracy which emphasizes

simultaneously democratic public participation and creative

self-cultivation. Swadhyaya seems not to make the best of the available

social resources for creating such a multi-dimensional Bhakti movement.

It is helpful here to understand the vision and practice of Swadhyaya

along with some other contemporary movements from other religious

traditions, for example experiments in engaged Buddhism and liberation

theology. In the introduction we have already referred to the Sarvodaya

Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka as an aspect of creative movement

from a religious tradition which has interesting parallels with Swadhyaya.

Sarvodaya Shramadana strives for a double revolution—a revolution in

one’s thinking as well as transformation of the socio-economic chains

which causes exploitation and destroys human potential. Liberation

theology also shares such a double emphasis on salvation—individual

salvation as well as transformation of the structural causes of poverty,

deprivation and suffering. Liberation theology is an important movement

from Catholic tradition which has created Christian base communities

where people could meet together without the hierarchical gaze of the

Church and the priest. In liberation theology, “sins like adultery, prosti-

tution, murder and robbery must no longer be regarded merely at the

individual level, but must be placed in the context of larger social sins of

inequality, justice and class oppression” (Burdick 1993: 43). In his study

of base communities and liberation theology in Brazil, John Burdick

writes about one priest Cosme “who called upon his flock to cease asking

for forgiveness for individual sins, and to do penance instead, in public

confessionals during Mass, for sins such as failure to help abandoned

youths, forgetting those without land or bread, selfishness, and lack of

fraternity” (ibid).

Though Swadhyaya lacks the overt political struggle of liberation

theology there are interesting parallels between the communities founded

by both Swadhyaya as well as the Christian base communities of liber-

ation theology. Like liberation theology’s public confessional of sin

Swadhyaya public celebrations such as Manushya Gaurav Din

(celebration of human dignity) generate public discussion on themes such

as dignity (see Seth 1998). Swadhyaya has also generated social spaces

such as Amrutalayam, Yogeshwara Krishi, and Shridarshanam where

people can come together and realize their potential of love, mutuality,

and dignity. But there is also a structural limit to this realization, for

example limit to self-organizing collective action on the part of the poor

296 Chapter 7

which is similar to the situation even in an overtly political theology such

as liberation theology. In Brazilian Christian base communities that

Burdick (1993) has studied not only the poor but also the Blacks have less

visibility and power. In case of the poor in Brazil even though there may

not be any conspiracy against them they still get excluded from base

communities. These communities put a premium on participation and

since the poor do not have much free time and flexible work schedule they

get left out in the process. Similar is also partly the story in Swadhyaya.

Many poor people cannot afford time to take part in its activities. But what

is a matter of great concern is that even those poor and low-caste who

share their time and labor in Swadhyaya do not always make it into the

leadership positions in Swadhyaya.16

In his study of base communities Burdick makes an important obser-

vation: “. . . liberation priests seem to believe that getting people to recite

politically appropriate words and phrases has an automatic impact on their

socio-political vision” and on the part of the people, “. . . the best strategy

is simply to repeat whatever they hear, without worrying about its

meaning” (Burdick 1993: 196). Swadhyaya has created many new words

such as bhavpheri, bhaktipheri, etc. These new words have created a new

meaning and aspiration of life as well as a new discursive climate akin to

what Arjun Appadurai (2004) writes about significance of new words in

the struggle for a new space and dignity among the slum dwellers of

Bombay.17 But many a time like all of us, Swadhyayees use these words

not always working on the social transformation that would contribute to

a fuller realization of worlds aspired for in these words.

We can here take two Swadhyaya words Sambhabana and

Bhavalaxmi as a case in point. Sambhabana which means potentiality or

potential is a word given for the wage that an employer gives to the

employee. Sambhabana is the name of the prayog where Swadhyayee

employers are expected to go to the house of their laborers and present

with grace this wage to her and her family. The spirit of the word is that

one can not really pay the other for one’s labor since God is also a

co-worker in one’s labor. Whatever one pays is just an acknowledgment

of the potentiality of the contributor including potential for wealth and

solidarity that this labor creates. This word also suggests that acknowl-

edging potentiality in other is a great challenge of human development.

But in my fieldwork I have not found many examples where Swadhyayee

employers follow this prayog of sambhabana. Similar is also the case

with another word, Bhavalaxi which stands for the new name given to

Harijans or Scheduled Castes. Rechristening the downtrodden

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 297

communities with invitational new names, names which embody a new

aspiration, are only first steps. But realization of the potential of these

words also calls for structural transformation of bases of caste, class and

gender which produce caste deprivation. There is a limit to this in

Swadhyaya as we have seen even the Scheduled Caste people undertaking

bhaktipheri in Swadhyaya rarely stay in the houses of the upper caste.

Thus the new terms of recognition and self and collective aspiration are

important in Swadhyaya but they need to be accompanied by much more

transformative strivings.18

Prayog is another key word in Swadhyaya. Prayog has the conno-

tation of experiment suggesting not only the open-ended character of

truth-seeking and world making but also the seeking and experimental

character of self. The word prayog suggests the work of an experimental

subjectivity but Swadhyayees are not completely free to be experimental,

they would have to do Swadhyaya in the prescribed way. After the recent

leadership struggles those who do not belong to the present ruling camp

are not allowed to practice Swadhyaya publicly or take the Kendras. Even

before this the Swadhyaya word prayago did not have the Gandhian

connotation of experimentation with truth. As one Swadhyayee made

clear to me during my fieldwork: “In Gandhian experiment you do not

know what is going to be the result of your experiment. But in Swadhyaya

you follow the initial steps as in a scientific experiment and you are sure

of the result. For example, if you do Trikala Sandhya, it is bound to

change your personality. If a villager does Yogeshwara Krishi it is bound

to bring prosperity to the village. In Swadhyaya experiment there is no

groping in the dark.” But such a mode of certainty probably needs to be

supplemented by a quest so that subjects also can think of their mode of

engagement as an exploration rather than following a dictum.

But for Swadhyaya realization of the potential of words as well as the

world is also a journey, Swadhyaya key word bhaktipheri offering such a

connotation. This is akin to “one of the most versatile terms in the libera-

tionist lexicon: ‘Caminhada’.” “Literally, the term means a march or path.

The caminhada carries the connotation of pilgrimage: a hardship carried

out in the spirit of self-sacrifice and love. Thus the image of walking the

path applies simultaneously to individual spiritual growth, the

communidade’s collective development toward greater love and

solidarity, and the physical displacement of either in efforts to point out

contradictions and ambiguities in progressive practice: for the church, it is

said, is ‘still caminhado’ (Burdick 1993: 46).

298 Chapter 7

The Calling of Transformations: Swadhyaya and Beyond

Swadhyaya has created a new relational revolution and despite limitations

continues to inspire many to come together and share their time and labor

for self-development and meaningful intersubjective relations. It is in still

need of much more transformative strivings but as an organization there is

a limit to what it can do as it has already a well-trenched identity and its

leaders would like to cling to this identity.

Thus, the self-study mobilization of Swadhyaya could work on

further transformation of self which would contribute further to social and

cultural transformation. An important challenge here is transformation of

the logic of sovereignty. What is important is that in its various social and

cultural practices such as bhaktipheri Swadhyaya does work in a spirit of

yajna so that nothing is done only individually but also primarily

co-operatively. In Avar and Jayash meetings, decisions are not taken by

any single sovereign; they are taken together in mutual discussions and

deliberations. But such a creative process of being together and discussion

could also move upwards substantively. If Swadhyaya could have

adopted a framework of shared leadership instead of vesting supreme

authority in one leader this could have helped avoid the recent power

struggle in Swadhyaya and could have become a model for India and the

world. But the comment of a Swadhyaya leader that any talk of collective

leadership is idiotic points to the hold of a logic of sovereignty in not only

politics but also in religious thinking. Impersonal wealth is an important

contribution of Swadhyaya to the vision of human development. But there

is a structural limitation to the realization of its full potential. The

Swadhyaya rule on this is that only one-third of this money remains at the

local level, two-thirds go to the headquarters in Bombay. But why should

local resources, that too two-third of the entire Apouresheya Laxmi, go to

Bombay? Swadhyaya leaders tell: “Oh we tell villages to take the money

in their account but they do not take. We also tell the leaders to spend their

one-third by going out to the last person, unto the last, as Dadaji says.”

But the local leaders themselves do not come from the poorest of the poor

strata of society. Therefore they have their own limitation of experiencing

the pangs of poverty.19 Realization of the potential of impersonal wealth

calls for autonomous social, political, and spiritual organization in case of

the poor where the poor and the non-poor of the village together could

think of varieties of new experiments in human development of the

locality, starting from building road to establishing community learning

center and library. In fact, Amrutalayam in a village could be such a

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 299

significant center of mutual learning. But this is not possible as long as

those whose lives are at stake do not have the capacity to organize

themselves autonomously.20

But some Swadhyayees here challenge us to deepen and broaden the

vision and practice of development in terms of development of the quality

of our heart. Though like all movements the practice of Swadhyaya does

not always meet this vision of development as development of heart with

a more capacious love and sharing the vision and practice of Swadhyaya

nonetheless is a significant challenge for us to explore new horizons of

human development and struggle for more dignity and love in manifold

relationships of life and society.

Notes

1. In a newsletter circulating around entitled, “Second World Religion

Congress”, organized by Annai-Kyo in Japan from 23.10.1954 to 3.11.1954 Partic-

ipation and Contribution of Mr. P.V. Athavale (DADA) “A Critical Analysis-A

Case of True Lies?” some of these questions are raised. For example it questions the

oft-cited story of Athavale’s lecture about world teacher Krishna in the Congress in

Japan hearing which the Nobel prize winning scientist from the U.S. Arthur

Compton asked him to come to the U.S. and teach at Harvard. But Athavale refused

such lucrative offer stating that he has to start his work in Indian villages. The

newsletter states how Mr. Compton was not present in the Congress at all.

2. This points to the discussion in the transition period whether Swadhyaya

should be run by a single leader or a collective body.

3. Pankaj Jain (2004: 13), a participant and student of Swadhyaya, also writes:

“Dadaji never demanded any strict commitment by his followers. He merely

preached about Indian heritage based on his interpretations of various texts such as

Vedas, Upanishads and Gita. After his recent death, his daughter exhorted the

followers for stricter commitment. She acknowledges that Dadaji only asked to

devote time to Swadhyaya work in one’s leisure time but now the situation has

changed and one should devote more time to Swadhyaya work and only the

remaining time for one’s personal work.”

4. This is probably an unconscious reflection of lack of many women in

leadership positions of Swadhyaya.

5. As one of the Bhavgeets of Swadhyaya says (free translation): “We would

show our strength to anybody challenging the great work of Pandurang.” What is to

be noted that the conspiracy to kill was hatched in the Kshatriya Milan in

Ahmedabad in fall 2005, a meeting to demonstrate the strength of Swadhyaya.

300 Chapter 7

Please see, “Sitting in Top Police Man’s Office, Murder He Wrote,” Front Page,

Ahmedabad Newsline, July 11, 2006.

6. Dallmayr develops the notion of sacred non-sovereignty from the life and

teachings of Jesus which is relevant for transforming politics and spirituality every-

where:

Jesus at no point aimed to establish a counter regime to the prevailing

political regime, nor an alternative suprema protestas to the protetas

of the provincial governor or imperial Rome. This does not mean that

Jesus’ life and ministry did not represent a genuine alternative to

prevailing politics, but the alternative was predicated neither on

competition nor on negation or destruction, but on transfor-

mation. . . . In political terms his ministry inaugurated neither a

super-politics nor an anti-politics, but rather an “other” kind of

politics—what might be called a politics of sacred or non-sovereignty

. . .

One of the tragedies of Christianity is that Jesus’ teachings about

non-sovereignty have fallen for so many centuries mostly on deaf

years. Even today, the hankering for sovereignty has not

subsided—even among otherwise religious people (Dallmayr 2005:

203).

7. The following comments of David Smith are helpful here: “The comparison

with ‘secular monarchies’ is appropriate and significant: gurus do set up spiritual

kingdoms. It is natural for Indian ascetics to aspire to domination. . . . Many

ascetics are motivated by a will to power either now or later” (Smith 2003: 169).

8. Note here what T.N. Madan writes about the work of the Sants in Indian

spiritual traditions: “Although socially involved, the Sants advocated an inner

detachment from worldly ties. Seeking a true guru, keeping the company of

like-minded seekers, and dedicating themselves to the incessant remembrance of

God, they abandoned traditional rituals and rejected caste and religious barriers.

Their creed of love embraced humanity as well as abstract supreme being.

Rabindranath Tagore called this the religion of man” (Madan 2004: 400). Also

notable are the following lines of Chitta Ranjan Das, an inspiring scholar of Sant

traditions in India and around the world: “To go inside in the life of the spirit is also

to expand oneself in terms of consciousness, to breakdown the separating wall

between oneself and the all. Self-realization with the medieval saints of India was

not a running away from the world to what is called to save one’s soul; it is being

born egoless so that you re able to look at the world in a different eye. You become a

rebel because you want the relationships and arrangements of society to be deter-

mined anew” (Das 1982: 80).

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 301

9. A fuller realization of this potential still calls for more transformation in

Swadhyaya as in Swadhyaya’s division of labor the low-caste followers such as the

fishermen are assigned tasks such as security and the high-caste Brahmins, super-

vision.

10. Conceptions of civil society and public sphere in the West, for example that

of Habermas, are mostly discursive and do not have a component of embodied

participation. Swadhyaya’s shramabhakti helps us go beyond it and in this way

resonates with Gandhi’s (1954) conception of bread labor and Ulrich Beck’s (2000)

conception of civil labor.

11. One Swadhyayee brother says: “Why there is starvation? Poverty is a

product of maldistribution and maladministration. Manusmriti says you should not

keep money for fifteen years. Why should you blame Swadhyaya? Why are you

bringing somebody’s baby to my house?”

12. As we begin this section it is helpful to note what N.R. Seth had written

about Swadhyaya way back in 1998:

The greatest challenge in trekking along this path is how to sustain

balance between the constraints set by the Swadhyaya principle and

the limits of the splendor of public approbation. As time goes, the

dialogue with the outsider may become more complex and

demanding. More and more questions will be asked about whether

Swadhyaya is Hindu. Professional analysts and observers will look

around for islands comparable to Swadhyaya and return with unantic-

ipated questions. The response of the fraternity at various levels to

events in the environment may change and become diverse over time.

That may entail need for redefinition of what should be transacted in

a dialogue and how. But there is no escape from such transactions

(Seth 1998a: 138).

13. In this context what Harsh Mander writes deserves our careful consider-

ation: “Where also, amidst this savagery, injustice, and human suffering was the

‘civil society’, the Gandhians, the development workers, the NGOs, the fabled

spontaneous Gujarati philanthropy which was so much in evidence in the earth-

quake in Kutch and Ahmedabad? The newspapers reported that at the peak of the

program, the gates of Sabarmati Ashram were closed to protect its properties. It

should instead have been the city’s major sanctuary. . . . It is one more shame that

we as citizens of this country must carry on our already burdened backs, that the

camps for the Muslim riot victims in Ahmedabad and other parts of Gujarat were

run almost exclusively by Muslim organizations. It was as though the monumental

pain, loss, betrayal and injustice suffered by the Muslim people is the concern only

302 Chapter 7

of other Muslim people, and the rest of us have no share in the responsibility to

assuage, to heal and rebuild” (Mander 2004: 28).

14. Perhaps keeping this in mind Nietzsche (1997: 248) had written long ago:

“Agreat man I wanted to appear, and persuaded many; but the lie hath been beyond

my power. On it do I collapse.” Nietzsche further tells us:

The higher its type, always seldomer doth a thing succeed. Ye higher

men here, have ye not all-been failures.

Be of good cheer: what doth it matter? How much is still

possible! Learn to laugh at yourselves. . . . What wonder that many a

vessel shattereth! Learn to laugh at yourselves, as ye ought to laugh!

Ye higher men, oh, how much is still possible (ibid: 282).

Nietzsche’s pointer to laughter and possibility can suggest us a way out in

terms of looking at a social experiment such as Swadhyaya. Looking at changes in

Swadhyaya since 2000, some critical intellectuals have begun to term it as a case of

collective fraud. During a recent meeting with one such critical sociologist, I was

told: “Oh Swadhyaya ek collective fraud nikla he—Swadhyaya turned out be a

collective fraud.” But possibly the possibilities in this experiment have not yet been

totally exhausted and we are still invited to understand the aspirations and struggles

of millions who are still inspired by it going beyond the current power struggle and

a literal politics of annihilation.

15. For Daya Krishna (1996: 58), “Yajnavalkya’s atman-centric analysis of the

human situation and his contention that everything is dear for the sake of the self

would, then, seem to result from a one-sided analysis.”

16. I had a discussion with a young Swadhyayee activist on this issue. He told

that Dadaji has inspired everybody to be a leader. For him, a leader is not only one at

the central level, one who leads fifty people in a neighborhood Swadhyaya Kendra

is also a leader. But as we have seen in villages in Harijan neighborhoods

Swadhyaya Kendras are not taken by Harijan followers but by the high-caste. This

activist also makes the point that a leader is one who leads through love and

character. But all these seem not to address the core issue of lack of poor and

low-caste people in the visible leadership positions of Swadhyaya.

17. Appadurai writes: “. . . in these public and ceremonial moments, we can see

another remarkable way in which the capacity is built by changing the terms of

recognition. Time after time, in the speeches by the leaders of the Alliance at these

events, I have seen the importance of the languages of hope, aspiration, trust, and

desire come together in a variety of languages (English, Hindi, and Marathi

especially, in speeches built around a core of terms such as asha (hope), bharosa

(trust), yojana (plan), and chahat (desire), all deployed in speeches about the

importance of building more housing for the poor, for increasing their freedom

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 303

from harassment, and for expanding their spheres of self-governance. As politi-

cians and bureaucrats join these events, in which much speech making is

substantially spontaneous, they also find themselves drawn into the lexicon of

plans, commitments, hopes, and trust. While it is possible to view these events as

mere political charades, I would suggest that they are productive forms of political

negotiation, in which poor communities are able to draw politicians into public

commitments to expand the resources and recognition available to the poor. Not all

these promises may be kept (or even meant), but they change the climate of negoti-

ation, place certain commitments on public record, and produce a common terrain

of aspiration in which the politics of the poor and the politics of politicians are

brought into a common performative space. . . . Words, in such contexts, many not

exactly be performatives, which guarantee material outcomes. But they are potent

signals and occasions for building the capacity to aspire” (Appadurai 2004: 77-78).

In Swadhyaya meetings and celebrations there is a similar work of life-elevating

words and thoughts. But Swadhyaya public celebrations do not only use words they

also involve works. For example, Swadhyayees discuss life-elevating thoughts and

animating words while digging ponds. However, Government officials present on

such occasions are reluctant to make speeches, rather they say that they have come

to learn from Swadhyaya.

18. In this context, dramatist and Nobel laureate Harold Pinters (1991: xi)’

suggestion not to be carried away by words is a helpful one:

If I were to state any moral precept it might be: Beware of the writer

who puts forward his concern for you to embrace, who leaves you in

doubt of his worthiness, his altruism, who declares that his heart is in

the right place, and ensures that it can be seen in full view. . . . This

kind of writer clearly trusts words absolutely. I have mixed feelings

about words myself.

19. A pioneer of Swadhyaya who has been with Dadaji from the beginning and

now expelled says: “The motabahais from Bombay are responsible for this

accumulation of wealth and for the centralizing principle that the two-third of the

impersonal wealth should come to Bombay. From the beginning I was against

money coming from the local areas to Bombay. Dadaji may also not have liked it

but motabhais from Bombay who came from affluent sections were for central-

ization. They had no ideas about the miseries and pains of the common man. In

many villages people had difficulty buying a television for their Video Kendra. But

motabhais from Bombay made the rule that impersonal wealth from Yogeshwara

Krishi could not be used for buying TVs and they had to do a separate fund-raising

for this what is in Swadhyaya called shouldering. But even villagers purchase a TV

with such separate resource mobilization the Bombay leaders again make the rule

304 Chapter 7

that this TV could be used only for seeing Dadaji’s Video and not for any other use

since this is sacred. But villagers were very discontented with this.”

20. In this context, we can recall a comment of Jaya Prakash Narayan: “The

Sarvodaya attitude has been that the strongest sections should change their attitude

the strongest sections should change their attitude and take a more benevolent view

of their responsibilities and obligations to the weaker sections. I depended upon it

and preached it. I found that it had little effect on the situation. I, therefore, decided

that I should advise the weaker sections to organize themselves and should become

strong enough, not necessarily to fight against the stronger sections but certainly to

claim their rights, enjoy the privileges which law has given them in regard to the

land reform, the housing and similar other benefits” (Jayaprakash Narayan quoted

in Kantowski 1980: 104). We realize the significance of such a perspective when

we remember the struggle around gochara land in Untwala and the surrounding

villages.

Self-Development and Social Transformations? Swadhyaya and Beyond 305

References Cited

Agamben, Giorgio. 1998. Home Sacer: Sovereign Power and Bare Life.

Stanford: Stanford U. Press.

—— 1999. The Man Without Contents. Stanford: Stanford University Press.

Appadurai, Arjun. 2004. “Culture and the Capacity to Aspire”. In Culture and

Public Action, (eds.) Vijayendra Rao & Michael Walton. New Delhi:

Permanent Black.

Ariyaratne, A.T. 1998. “A New Social Order”. In Voices from the Heart: A

Compassionate Call for Responsibility (eds.), Eddie & Debbie Shapiro.

Ratnamala, Colombo: Sarvodaya Visvalekha.

Athavale, Pandurang Shastri. 1970. “Dadaji’s Article on Gita” in an edited book

on Bhagavad Gita. Bombay: Popular Prakashan.

—— 1975. Thoughts on Our Glorious Heritage. Bombay: Sat Vichara Darshan

Trust.

—— 1987. Templeton Prize Acceptance Speech. London: West Minister Abbey.

May 6.

Banerjee, Mukulika. 2000. The Pathan Unarmed: Opposition and Memory in the

North West Frontier.Oxford: James Curry.

Bellah, Robert N. 1970. Beyond Belief: Essays on Religion in a Post-Traditional

World. New York: Harper & Row.

Bhaskar, Roy. 2000. From East to West: The Odyssey of a Soul. London:

Routledge.

Beck, Urlich. 2002. “The Cosmopolitan Society and its Enemies”. Theory,

Culture & Society 19 (1-2): 17-44.

Benhabib, Seyla. 2002. “Citizens, Residents, and Aliens in a Changing World:

Political Membership in a Global Era”. In Postnational Self (eds.) Ulf

Hedetoft & Mette Hjort. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

— 306 —

Beyer, Peter F. 1994. Religion and Globalization. London: Sage Publications.

Borish, Steven M. 1991. The Land of the Living: The Danish Folk High Schools

and Denmark’s Non-violent Path to Modernization. Nevada, CA: Blue

Dolphin Publishers.

Bourdieu, Pierre. 2000. Pascalian Meditations. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Burdick, John. 1993. Looking for God in Brazil: The Progressive Catholic

Church in Urban Brazil’s Religious Arena. Berkeley: University of

California Press.

Chambers, Robert. 2004. “Ideas for Development: Reflecting Forwards”.

Institute of Development Studies, Sussex: Working Paper No. 238.

Chatterjee, Margaret. 2002. Hinterlands and Horizons: Excursions in Search of

Amity. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

Copley, Antony. 2000. (ed.) Gurus and Their Followers: New Religious Reform

Movements in Colonial India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Dallmayr, Fred. 2002. Dialogue Among Civilizations: Exemplary Voices. New

York: Palgrave Macmillan.

—— 2005. Small Wonder: Global Power and its Discontents. Lanham, MD:

Rowman & Littlefield.

De Bary, Wm. Theodore. 1991. The Trouble with Confucianism. Cambridge,

MA: Harvard U. Press.

Das, Chittaranjan. 1982. A Glimpse into Oriya Literature. Bhubaneswar: Sahitya

Akademi. 1984.

—— 1984. “Introduction”, Folk Culture and Literature edited by Chitta Ranjan

Das. Cuttack: The Universe.

Dharampal-Frick, Gita. 2001. “Swadhyaya and the ‘Stream’ of Religious

Revitalization”. In Charisma and Canon: Essays on the Religious History of

the Indian Subcontinent, (eds.), Vasudha Dalmia et al., pp. 274-292. Delhi:

Oxford U. Press.

Esteva, Gustavo and Madhusuri Prakash. 1998. Grassroots Postmodernism:

Remaking the Soil of Cultures. London: Zed Books.

Eyerman, Ron and Andrew Jamison. 1998. Music and Social Movements:

Mobilizing Tradition in the Twentieth Century. Cambridge: Cambridge U.

Press.

Foucault, Michel. 1986. Care of the Self. New York: Pantheon.

—— 2005. The Hermeneutics of the Subject: Lectures at College de France,

1981-82. NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

Fuchs, Martin. 2001. “A Religion for Civil Society? Ambedkar’s Buddhism, The

Dalit Issue and the Imagination of Emergent Possibilities”. In Charisma and

Canon: Essays on the Religious History of the Indian Subcontinent, (eds.),

Vasudha Dalmia et al., pp. 251-273. Delhi: Oxford U. Press.

References Cited 307

Gandhi, M.K. 1961. My Philosophy of Life. Bombay: Pearl Publications.

—— 1954. Sarvodaya: Welfare of All. Navjivan.

Giri, Ananta Kumar. 2001. “Love and Fire”. The Hindu. 8 July.

—— 2002a. Conversations and Transformations: Towards a New Ethics of Self

and Society. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books.

—— 2002b. Building in the Margins of Shacks: The Vision and Project of

Habitat for Humanity, New Delhi: Orient Longman.

Giri, Ananta Kumar and Philip Quarles van Ufford. 2004. “A Moral Critique of

Development: Ethics, Aesthetics and Responsibility”. Review of Devel-

opment and Change IX (1): 1-40.

Gold, Daniel. 1998. “The Swadhyaya Parivara: Contemporary Religious

Community in the Image of a Traditional Family”. In Vital Connections, ed.,

R.K. Srivastava. New York & Tokyo: Weatherhill, Inc.

Giddens, Anthony. 1999. A Runaway World: How Globalization is Reshaping

our Lives. London: Profile Books.

Gorbachev, Mikhail and Daisaku Ikeda. 2005. Moral Lessons of the Twentieth

Century: Gorbachev and Ikeda on Buddhism and Communism. London: I.B.

Tauris.

Habermas, Jurgen. 1993. Justification and Application: Remarks on Discourse

Ethics. Cambridge: Polity Press.

—— 1998. Inclusion of the Other. Cambridge: Polity Press.

—— 1998b. “Can We Learn from History?” Berlin Republic. Cambridge: Polity

Press.

Hardt, Michael and Antonio Negri. 2004. Multitude: War and Democracy in the

Age of Empire. New York: Penguin.

Hawley, John Stratton. 2005. “Bhakti, Democracy and the Study of Religion”. In

idem, Three Bhakti Voices: Mirabai, Sur Das, and Kabir in Their Times and

Ours. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Hervieu-Leger, Daniele. 2000. Religion as a Chain of Memory. Cambridge:

Polity Press.

Hansen, Thomas B. 1999. The Saffron Wave: Democracy and Hindu Nation-

alism in Modern India. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

—— 2001. Violence in Urban India: Identity Politics, ‘Mumbai’, and

Postcolonial City. Delhi: Permanent Black.

Illich, Ivan. 1973. Tools for Conviviality. New York: Harper & Row.

Ilaiha, Kancha. 1996. Why I am Not a Hindu: A Sudra Critique of Hindutva

Philosophy, Culture and Political Economy. Calcutta: Samya.

Jain, Pankaj. 2004. “Swadhyaya: A ‘New Religious Movement’ in Postcolonial

India”. Paper.

308 References Cited

Juergensmeyer, Mark. 1991. Radha Soami Reality: The Logic of a Modern Faith.

Princeton: Princeton University Press.

Kantowski, Detlef. 1980. Sarvodaya: The Other Development. Delhi: Vikash.

Krishna, Daya. 1996. The Problematic and Conceptual Structure of Classical

Indian Thought about Man, Society and Polity. Delhi: Oxford University

Press.

Little, John D. 1995. “Video Vachana: Swadhyaya and Sacred Tapes”. In Media

and Transformation of Religion in South Asia, (eds.), Lawrence A. Babb and

Susan S. Wadley, pp. 254-281. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania

Press.

Madan, T.N. (ed.) 2004. India’s Religions: Perspectives from Sociology and

History. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Maliekal, Jose D. 2002. Political Economy and Religion in the Encounter of

Dalit Madigas of Konaseema (East Godavari District, Andhra Pradesh) with

Catholicism. Dept. of Christian Studies, University of Madras: PhD Theses.

Mander, Harsh. 2004. Cry, My beloved Country: Reflections on the Gujarat

Carnage. New Delhi: Rainbow Publishers.

Mauss, Marcel. 2003 [1909]. On Prayer. Edited with an introduction by WSF

Pickering. Oxford and New York: Durkheim Press/Bergham Books.

Melucci, Alberto. 1996. The Playing Self: Person and Meaning in the Planetary

Society. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Metcalf, Barbara D. 2004. Islamic Contestations: Essays on Muslims in India

and Pakistan. Delhi: Oxford University Press.

Nanda, Bikram N. 1994. Contours of Continuity and Change: Bonda

Highlanders. New Delhi: Sage Publications.

Nandy, Ashis. 2001. An Ambiguous Journey to the City: The Village and Other

Odd Ruins of the Self in the Indian Imagination. Delhi: Oxford University

Press.

—— 2002. Romance of the State and the Fate of Dissent in the Tropics. Delhi:

Permanent Black.

Nederveen Pieterse, January 2001. Development Theory: Deconstructions/

Reconstructions. London: Sage Publishers.

Nietzsche, Frederick. 1997. Thus Spake Zarathustra. London: Wordsworth

Editions Ltd.

Obeysekere, Gananath and Richard Gombrich. 1998. Buddhism Transformed.

Princeton: Princeton U. Press.

Offe, Claus and R.G. Heinze. 1992. Beyond Employment. Cambridge: Polity

Press.

Oommen, T.K. 1972. Charisma, Stability and Change: An Analysis of

Bhoodan-Gramdan Movement in India. New Delhi: Thompson Press.

References Cited 309

Pinter, Harold. 1991. Plays. London: Faber and Faber.

Quarles van Ufford, Philip and Ananta Kumar Giri. (eds.) 2003. A Moral

Critique of Development: In Search of Global Responsibilities. London:

Routledge.

Rahenema, Majid. n.d. Swadhyaya: The Unknown, the Peaceful, the Silent yet

Singing Revolution of India.

—— 1997. “Towards Post-development: Searching for signposts, a new

language and a new paradigm”, in The Post-Development Reader, compiled

and edited by Majid Rahenema with Victoria Bawtree. London: Zed Books.

—— 1998. “Swadhyaya Revisited”. In Srivastava 1998.

Quarles van Ufford, Philip and Ananta Kumar Giri. 2003. (eds.) A Moral

Critique of Development: In Search of Global Responsibilities. London:

Routledge.

Rao, M.S.A. 1979. Social Movement and Social Transformation: A Study of Two

Backward Class Movements in India. Delhi: Macmillan.

Rawls, John. 1971. A Theory of Justice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University

Press.

Roy, Ramashray. MS (no date). Renewal and Reconstruction in Indian

Tradition: Swadhyaya and Sarvodaya.

—— 1999. Beyond Ego’s Domain: Being and Order in the Vedas. New Delhi:

Shipra Publications.

Sen, Amartya. 1999. Development as Freedom. NY: Alfred A. Knof.

—— 2005. The Argumentative Indian: Writings on Indian History, Culture and

Identity. London: Penguin.

Seth, N.R. 1998a. “Celebrating Swadhyaya”. In Vital Connections, (ed.) R.K.

Srivastava. New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill, Inc.

—— 1998b. Social Transformation as God’s Work (A Study of Swadhyaya).

Ahmedabad, Gujarat Institute of Development Research.

Shah, Bimal et al. 1998a. “Role of Swadhyaya Parivar in Socioeconomic

Changes Among the Tribals of Khedason: A Case Study”. Ahmedabad,

Gujarat Institute of Development Research: Working Paper No. 95.

Shah, Tushaar. “Mobilising Social Energy Against Environmental Challenge:

Understanding the Groundwater Recharge Movement in Western India.”

Natural Resources Forum 24(2000): 197-209.

Schrag, Calvin O. 1997. Self After Postmodernity. New Haven: Yale University

Press.

Smith, David. 2003. Hinduism and Modernity. Oxford: Blackwell.

Srivastava, R.K. 1986. “Transcending Ego.” Manuscript.

310 References Cited

—— 1998 (ed.). Vital Connections. Self, Society, Cosmos: Perspectives on

Swadhyaya. New York and Tokyo: Weatherhill.

Sunder Rajan, R. 1998. Beyond the Crises of European Sciences: New Begin-

nings. Shimla: Indian Institute of Advanced Studies.

Touraine, Alain. 2000. Can We Live Together? Equality and Difference.

Cambridge: Polity Press.

Toynbee, Arnold J. 1956. A Historian’s Approach to Religion. Oxford: Oxford

University Press.

Tutu, Deshmond. 2005. God Has a Dream: A New Vision of Hope for Our Times.

London et al: Rider.

Vattimo, Giani. 1999. Belief. Cambridge: Polity Press.

Wilfred, Felix. 2000. Asian Dreams and Christian Hopes. Delhi: ISPCK.

Williams, Raymond Brady. 2001. An Introduction to Swami Narayan Hinduism.

Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Wuthnow, Robert. 2001. Creative Spirituality: The Way of the Artist. Berkeley:

University of California Press.

References Cited 311

Glossary

Achara Samhita code of conduct

Amrutalaya Abode of Nectar, the Swadhyaya temple

Apouresheya Laxmi impersonal wealth

Avar leadership of Swadhyaya at the block level

Bala Sanskara Kendra center for the children

Banaprasthee senior citizens

Bhavabhakti emotional devotion

Bhavasampark Samaroha meeting for establishing emotional contact

Bhakti devotion

Bhaktipheri devotional travel

Bhavpheri traveling with emotions to meet people

Bhavalaxi is the name for Harijans or Scheduled

Castes

Byastha Sanchalan training for leadership

Banabasi forest dwellers or Adivasis

Bratee a devoted follower of Swadhyaya who goes to

another village once a month and spends a night

Brahmanavada Brahminism

Chintanika discourse

Dada Pandurang Sastri Athavale

— 312 —

Didi Jayashree Behen Talwalkar

Devdutta a devoted follower of Swadhyaya who goes to

another village

Dadhichi a sage who gave his own bone for making a weapon

to fight against the demons

Ekadashi 11th day in the calendar in a month; some Hindus

observe fast on this day

Gorasaa Swadhyaya experiment in milk business

Gharmandir the house temple

Hiramandir temple of diamond, Swadhyaya experiment for the

diamond cutters

Jayash the Swadhyaya leadership at the district level

Kampa camp

Kshetradhar the Swadhyaya follower in charge of a neigh-

borhood

Kutumba Prarthana family prayers

Krutibhakti active devotion

Krutisheel active follower of Swadhyaya

Krutagnyata Samaroha a celebration of gratitude observed on the birth

anniversary of Dadajee

Lokabhogya Utsav a festival in the village attended by both the

followers of Swadhyaya and other people

Matsyagandha the community fishing boat project

Mahila Kendra women’s center

Manahar Kendra center for the elderly

Motabhai the elder brother in charge of leadership in a locality

Nipunata efficiency

Glossary 313

Nirmal Nir pond of pure water

Pacharanga Kranti five-colored revolution—economic, political,

social, emotional and spiritual

Panth sect

Parapranta Bhaktipheri devotional travel outside one’s region

Parivara family

Parivara Store Swadhyaya shop

Prarthana Mandir Prayer Home

Pravachan sermon

Prayog project or experiment

Prayog Darshan visit of Swadhyaya experiments

Pujari worshipper

Rishi saint

Rishikrishi the name of the Swadhyaya educational process

especially for the sons of the farmers with a view to

make them rishi farmers

RSS Rastriya Swayam Sevaka Sangha

Sagaraputra sons of the sea, the Swadhyaya name for fishermen

Sarapanch the head of a panchayat or a village

Saritakup a Swadhyaya experiment in building a well in the

river bed

Sarva Dharma Swikara acceptance of all religions

Sadhus saints

Sherikendras center for the neighborhood

Shramabhakti devotional labor

Shoskhada sock pit

Shridarshanam the name of the agricultural project involving

twenty villages

Snehacare Center of Affection and Care for the Elderly in the

UK

Suryanamaskar salutations to the Sun

314 Glossary

Taluka county

Teerthayatra pilgrimage

Teertharaj Milan Swadhyaya pilgrimage meet in Allahabad

Trikala Sandhya meditation thrice a day

Tattwagyana Vidyapeetha the Swadhyaya learning center in Thane

Vriksha Mandir tree temple

Yogeshwara Krishi Yogeswara Krishi—Lord’s farming, an experiment

in cooperative agriculture in the village

Yuvakendra center for the young men

Glossary 315

Index

Agamben, Giorgio, 37, 288

Amrutalayam, 59

in Simar, 59-64

Apoureshaya Laxmi, 66

in Simar, 66-69

Appadurai, Arjun, 297

Ariyaratne, A.T., 17, 18, 202

alternative learning

Swadhyaya process of, 240-56

Athavale, Pandurang Shastri, 1, 4, 7,

10, 13, 17

Beck, Urlich, 30

Bellah, Robert N., 235

Benhabib, Seyla, 30

Beteille, Andre, 202, 258

bhakti, 2

types of, 3: Bhavabhakti, 3;

krutibhakti, 3

bhaktipheri, 4-5, 11

in Shridarshnam villages, 154-57

Bhaskar, Roy, 30, 31

Borish, Steven M., 290

Burdick, John, 120, 296, 297, 298

Chatterjee, Margaret, 37

Copley, Antony, 258

Dallmayr, Fred, 31, 284, 288

Ekadashi

practice of, in Simar, 72-77

Foucault, Michel, 2

Fuchs, Martin, 258

Gandhi, Mohandas Karamchand, 1, 17

Ghar Mandir

experiment of , 204-6

Giri, Ananta Kumar, 8, 27, 28, 30, 202,

292

Gold, Daniel, 13

Gorbachev, Mikhail, 202

Habermas, Jurgen, 28, 31

Hansen, Thomas B., 22, 124

Hardt, Michael and

Antonio Negri, 288

Hawley, John Stratton, 295

Hervieu-Leger, Daniele, 284

— 316 —

Ikeda, Daisaku, 236

Ilaiah, Kancha, 37, 115, 292

impersonal wealth, 9

Indian society

tribals in, 202-3

Juergensmeyer, Mark, 20-21, 29, 115

Kantowski, Detlef, 17, 18

Krishna, Daya, 295

Little, John D., 9, 11

Lokabhogya Utsava

in Simar, 69-72

Mangal Vivah

experiment of, 157

Matsyagandha project, 142-43

Mauss, Marcel, 235

Melucci, Alberto, 31

Nandy, Ashis, 5, 124

Obeyesekere, Gananth and

Richard Gombrich, 17

Offe, Claus and R.G. Heinze, 310

Oommen, T.K., 17

Radha Soami movement, 20

Rahenema, Majid, 3, 5-6, 14, 16, 28

Rao, M.S.A., 14

Roy, Ramashray, 2, 4, 15-16, 18

RSS, 22

Sarvodaya, 17

Sen, Amartya, 202

Shah, Bimal et al., 14, 24, 25

Shah, Tushaar, 84

Shramabhakti, 7, 8

Shridarshanam experiment, 150-54

Simar (a village in Gujarat), 38, 46-50

Swadhyaya in, 39-46:, work of,

50-59, 59-84;

Supra-village milans (meetings) in,

85-87

actors/actresses of, 87-99

caste/class in, configuration of,

110-22

Srivastava, R.K., 14, 15, 28

Sunder Rajan, R., 28

Swadhyaya, 2,

actors/actresses of, 87-99; work of,

50-59, 59-84

and human development, 29-31

and Radha Soami movement, 20-22

and RSS, 22-23

and Sarvodaya, 17-19

and self-development, 15-16, 289-93

and Swaminarayan movement, 19-20

and the wider challenges, 293-95

changes in, 285-89

communicational pathways of ,

102-10

conflict in, dynamics of, 99-102

educational dynamics of, 235-56

experiments of, 185-91

foundations of, 2-9

—in Dubai, 276-80

—in UK, 263-76

—in US, 280-83

globalization of, 259-83

history of, 9-15

in Simar, 39-46; supra-village

meetings of , 85-87; in tribal

areas, 203-34

role of, in social struggles, 132-37

—and Muslims, 137-41

work done by:

—in Bombay, 195-200;

Index 317

—in Junagarh, 191-93;

—in Kurukshetra, 193-94;

—in Una, 161-68;

—in Veeraval, 125-32;

—in Vidia, 142-50

Swaminarayan movement, 19

technical prayogs

in Simar, 79-85

tribal development

role played by Swadhyaya in,

211-15

Touraine, Alain, 31

Toyenbee, Arnold J., 284

Tutu, Deshmond, 124

Una (a town in Gujarat), 161

Swadhyaya in, work of, 161-68

Veeraval (a town in Gujarat), 125

Swadhyaya in: work of, 125-32;

leaders of, 170-82; professionals

of, 182-85

Vidia (a town in Gujarat)

Swadhyaya in, work of, 142-46,

146-50

Vidya Prema Vardhana Pareeksha,

237-39

Vriksha Mandir

in Simar, 77-79

Williams, Raymond Brady, 19

Wuthnow, Robert, 236

Yogeshwara Krishi, 64

in Simar, 64-66

318 Index