Introduction

Shri Aurobindo had once said that Bharat is a sacred land chosen by Paramatma (Brahman) for this Chaturyuga as His karmabhumi.

(Chaturyuga means four yugas viz. Satyuga, Tretayuga, Dwaparyuga and Kaliyuga.

Chaturyuga is one cycle and this universe is supposed to be eternally going through such cycles which has no beginning and which has no end, which is also the meaning of Sanatana)

No wonder this sacred land has produced hundreds of thousands of Mahamanavas (great illustrious men/Superhuman) in the last few thousand years for which we have the records and several thousands who have left their trails only in their work but we cannot find any names of those.

Bharat has produced Adikavi Valmiki (Ramayan), Maharshi Vedam Vyas (Mahabharat), Mahakavi Kalidas (Raghuvansha), Bhagwan Panini (Grammer), Maharshi Patanjali (Ashtangayoga), Aryabhatta (Mathematician/astronomer), Bhaskaracharya (Mathematician/astronomer), Varahamihira (Mathematician/Astronomer), Chanakya (Arthashastra), Vishnu Sharma (Panchatantra), Charaka (Ayurveda), Sushruta (Surgeon), Thiruvalluvar (Tamil saint), Sant Tukaram/Sant Gyaneshwar/Swami Ramdas (saints, Maratha region), Narsinha Mehta/Meerabai (saints, Gujarat), Agastya (Generated electricity), Kanaad (Atomic theory), Brahmagupta (Mathematician), Parashara (Father of botany), Madhava (Mathematics/Kerala), Nagarjuna (Chemistry), Bharadwaja (Vimana shastra) etc.

The list itself can run into several pages, so I am limiting it to only some. Most of the above have their imprint on their work who were spiritually highly advanced and also extremely illustrious scholars. The kind of work they produced can be considered as absolutely incredible.

Well-known Western scholar, L.Bloomfield described Panini’s grammar, Ashtadhyayi, as ‘one of the greatest monuments of human intelligence’. It is acclaimed by linguists all over the world as the most perfect model of a grammar.

There have been another lot of Mahamanavas (super humans) who had roles to play as rulers. There were again hundreds of thousands over a period of last two to three thousand years whose records are available to verify. Some of these rulers were even spiritually advanced, but many of them were scholars as well as followers of the true dharmik path. Dharmik path would mean to follow the core principles of dharma, about which we shall see a little later.

Here again, I would list some of them such as Chandragupta Maurya, Vikramaditya, Bappa Rawal/Rana Sanga/Maharana Pratap (Sisodiya dynasty), Raja Raja Chola and many others (Chola Dynasty), Krishnadevaraya (Vijaynagar Empire), Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj (Who established Maratha supremacy), Martand Varma (Travancore), Ahom Dynasty (Assam), Rani Laxmibai (Queen of Jhansi), Rani Ahalyabai Holkar (Queen of Indore), Rajarshi Bhagyachandra Jai Singh (Manipur), Lalitaditya (Kashmir), Chand Bibi (Ahmednagar), Lachit Burphukan (Assam), Begum Hazrat (Awadh), Rani Abbakka Chowta (Ullal), Rani Naiki Devi (Gujarat), Banda Singh Bahadur (Disciple of Guru Gobind Singh) etc. Here, I have deliberately chosen not to go beyond 2500 years back in time because the list would again run into several pages.

It is so tempting to write about the exploits and the dharmik ways of some of the above rulers but it is not possible here for obvious reasons. However, in the Itihas of Bharat, all of them have their seats on the golden throne and Bharat will remember them for thousands of years to come. In fact, we are indebted to them for our existence today as, if it was not for their sacrifice, we would have lost out to the invaders and the world would have lost the most profound and all-inclusive philosophy of life, the Sanatana dharma.

Core Principles of Dharma

There are ten core principles of dharma as outlined in ‘Yoga-Sutra’ of Patanjali. They are classified in two categories as ‘Yam-Restraints’ and ‘Niyam-Observances’ and are as follows:

Yam

  1. Ahimsa (Non-violence)
  2. Asteya (Non-stealing)
  3. Satya (Truthfulness)
  4. Aparigraha (Non-possession)
  5. Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Control over senses-Indriya Nigraha)

Niyam

  1. Sauch (Cleanliness)
  2. Swadhyaya (study)
  3. Santosha (Satisfaction)
  4. Ishwar Pranidhan (Surrender to Ishwar)
  5. Tapas (Penance)

Thus, there have been thousands of spiritually evolved people and rulers who lived by these principles that Sanatana dharma ecosystem has produced and keeps producing continuously.

Even today, there are hundreds of thousands of renunciates who live in the Himalayas who have completely detached themselves from the worldly lives but whose lives are completely dedicated to protecting, preserving and nurturing Sanatana dharma. There are also hundreds of  thousands of people who live in the material world, still following the dharmik way, whom one cannot identify by the way they appear to be living but they are there everywhere in Bharat.

Some examples are Pracharaka-s of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) whom one cannot recognize as they appear like ordinary civilians but who have given up their material lives only for the cause of Bharatiya Sabhyata (civilization) and sanskruti (culture).

One such Pracharak is Narendra Modi.

All the illustrious great men that Bharat has produced and has been producing is due to the teachings by our rishis, which guided these men and women to follow the dharmik path. Bharat has hundreds of thousands of sacred texts and millions of knowledge texts created several millennia ago. As per the estimate of National Mission for Manuscripts, an arm of the Government of Bharat, Bharat has so far a listing of 3 million manuscripts while the estimated stock is to the order of 35 millions.*

(A manuscript is a handwritten composition on paper, bark, cloth, metal, palm leaf or any other material dating back to at least seventy-five years that has significant scientific, historical or aesthetic value)

* (https://all-about-sanskrit.blogspot.com/2016/03/bibek-debroy-speaks-at-unesco-about.html)

I would like to state here that this article is focused on Bharat’s current Prime Minister Narendra Modi and we would see how he has embodied all these core principles in his life which has made him what he is.

He is considered by hundreds of world leaders as a true global leader. I am sure that all the readers know that he is extremely popular not only in Bharat but in the entire world.

The world has not seen any such leader in power in the last several hundred years on the political landscape of any nation.

Let us try to understand why he is what he is.

I would mainly focus on the ten principles of dharma, as outlined in Yoga Sutra, to address the above quest.

  1. Ahimsa (Non-violence) 

We need to understand here that ‘ahimsa’ in the true sense does not literally mean non-violence. In Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, Bhagwan Shri Krishna exhorts Arjuna to fight the war which he earlier refused. Was Bhagwan asking Arjuna to use violence? Obviously the answer has to be ‘no’. The core meaning is that for protecting dharma from non-dharmik people, one has to use all the power at his command to destroy such elements and that is certainly not violence. However, when the issue is of ego, greed or benefit that is limited to oneself, the killing or harming others is violence. Narendra Modi obviously is following this ‘yam’. No one can point a finger to him that he has done any harm to anyone to fulfill any of his own personal agenda.

  1. Asteya (Non-stealing)

He lives like an ascetic even with all the power and money at his command. He has many family members, including his mother who passed away last year, and yet none of they ever received any benefits from him. In fact, he did not bring any family member to his residence to live in his opulent house. Just before filing his registration for fighting election from Varanasi, he declared his savings to be of only about Rs. three crores, most of that being in fixed deposits. That is all he has as of now and he has been in power for the last 23 years. Does this not show he is following this principle of ‘asteya’?

  1. Satya (Truthfulness)

Here being a ruler, he has the sanction of the sacred texts to talk truth as per his perspective, in the interest of protecting dharma. In Mahabharat, Yudhishthir was asked by Bhagwan Krishna to do so when he was asked by his guru Dronacharya if Aswatthama died or not. As the life of Narendra Modi is like an open book for the last 23 years, everyone may be able to acknowledge that he lives all for the nation, being completely devoted in its service. Every single moment of his life is spent only playing his role as the ruler. With his extraordinary leadership skill that has the highest level of personal integrity, and the truth by his side, he has brought Bharat to a level-playing field from where he can stand up to any power and deal with them at an even keel, for the sake of protecting the interest of Bharata. That power could be the USA, China or any European country. Would we agree then, that he does embody this principle of ‘Satya’?

  1. Aparigraha (Non-possession)

As we saw earlier that even after staying in power for 23 years, his total savings are only about Rs. three crores. This obviously shows he follows this principle of ‘Aparigraha’. Being in the most exalted position of power for such a long period of time also has not affected him shows the immense power of detachment that he has. In fact, during one of his speeches, he even mentioned that he did not care for the power or the chair and if it comes to that stage, he may pick up his ‘zola (shoulder bag)’ and just leave.

  1. Brahmacharya (Celibacy/Control over senses-Indriya Nigraha)

Narendra Modi got married at a very young age of 18 but he left home a short while after the marriage and never united with his wife ever again. He joined RSS at the age of 21 as a full-time swayamsevak and soon he became Pracharak. Being Prachark involved traveling across the length and breadth of the whole country. According to Narendra Modi, when he was Pracharak, he covered almost 90 % of the country where he had at least one overnight stay. He was always on the move having no home of his own. In RSS, there are many Pracharaks who are bachelors, or who are renunciates.

Narendra Modi spent his whole life working for dharma. I personally know a few Pracharaks who are not married by choice, who are highly qualified and who have devoted their lives for protecting, preserving and promoting dharma and dharmik values. RSS has thousands of such pracharaka-s.

I also know so many RSS swayamsevaka-s (members) who are completely devoted to the cause of dharma and many are bachelors or not married so that they could do justice to their work.

Brahmacharya does not mean only being celibate, but it also includes control of the senses, what is truly called as ‘indriya nigraha’.

Renowned yogi Dr. BKS Iyengar defines Brahmacharya as “Continence (self-restraint) of body, speech, and mind.”

Narendra Modi is a living and extremely shining example of this principle.

The whole world has seen that he fasts for 9 days during ‘navratri’ every year when he takes only fresh lime water for all 9 days. The world is witness to this control when he was having dinner with ex-president Obama, on the dining table, while everyone was eating dinner, he was sipping his lime water. Not only that, while on fast for 9 days, during his 5-day trip to the USA, he had more than 40 meetings, and several talks. This is ‘indriya nigraha’.

During all 23 years of staying in power, the world has seen that he has not taken even one day of vacation for recreation. He did meditation for 24 hours after voting was over in 2014, in 2019 and now in 2024 after voting is almost over, he is in Kanyakumari on the Rock Memorial, sitting in meditation, again, for 24 hours. This is ‘indriya nigraha’.

During his tenure of all these years, right from the Sabarmati Train incident till today, several opposition leaders have thrown abuses of all kinds but Modi seldom reacted to them. This is ‘indriya nigraha’.

While he has all the power, he has not abused it for the benefit of either himself or for family. While so many electronic media and media personnel are against him for whatever reason, none of them or none of the political parties have been able to charge him for any case of corruption.

He sleeps only for 4-5 hours and the remaining time is devoted to working for the nation.

In his book, Practice of Brahmacharya, Swami Sivanada says:

Ayustejo Balam Veeryam Prajna Sreescha Yashastatha !

Punyamcha Sat-Priyatvamcha Vardhate Brahmacharyaya !!

By the practice of brahmacharya, longevity, glory, strength, vigor, knowledge, wealth, undying fame, virtues and devotion to the truth increase.

Swami Sivananda writes in this book;

According to Dhanvantari, devata of Ayurveda, Brahmacharya is truly a precious jewel. It is like amrit, which destroys diseases, decay and death. By observing Brahmacharya, one can attain peace, brightness, knowledge, sound health and self-realization. Practicing it, bestows tremendous strength, vigor and vitality and develops the ability to conserve physical and mental energy and long life as also one gets inner strength, peace of mind, and can augment his memory.

When sadhaka is firmly established in Brahmacharya, knowledge, vigor, valor and shakti flow to him.

(Patanjali Yoga Sutra 2.38)

The man who practices Brahmacharya all his life, has nothing unattainable, O king.

(Bhishma to Yudhishthir, Mahabharat 13.74 36-37)

We do see the above qualities in Narendra Modi, right?

  1. Sauch (Cleanliness)

This aspect refers to the cleanliness of mind as well as body. Since he practices doing yoga regularly, I would guess, he obviously must be applying this principle.

  1. Swadhyaya (study)

Since the leadership quality that he has displayed over the last 23 years, and hundreds of speeches we have heard over this long period, the range of the subjects that he covers and the way he leads this nation, it becomes crystal clear that he is certainly doing ‘swadhyaya’ regularly.

  1. Santosha (Satisfaction)

Once again, let me reiterate that after being in the power, he has no fixed assets and has only Rs. three crores as savings in his bank, that shows he has embodied this principle in his life. And, even after being so busy working 18 hours a day, he always looks relaxed, showing this inherent quality. Santosha could also mean to do one’s job to the best of his ability without expecting the outcome, which is the message that Bhagwan Shree Krishna delivered to the mankind through Arjun. Putting one’s best efforts into anything that is needed to be done and staying detached from the outcome does bring a sense of satisfaction.

  1. Ishwar Pranidhan (Surrender to Ishwar)

After prolonged conversation and question-answer sessions that lasted for 687 shlokas, Bhagwan Shree Krishna tells Arjun;

sarva-dharmān parityajya mām ekaṁ śharaṇaṁ vraja !

ahaṁ tvāṁ sarva-pāpebhyo mokṣhayiṣhyāmi mā śhuchaḥ !!

Abandon all varieties of dharmas and simply surrender unto Me alone. I shall liberate you from all bondages resulting from the actions which, according to you, could be righteous or not; do not fear.

(66:18)

However, this does not mean that Bhagwan asks Arjun to surrender blindly to Him. After answering all his questions and after Arjun running out of them, Bhagwan told him that He did His best to satisfy his concerns and questions and then it was his call to do what he thought was appropriate. Bhagwan also added, ‘However, if you surrender to Me, I will liberate you from those actions about which you do not have clarity.”

If we run through Narendra Modi’s journey of the last 23 years, without getting into all the details, we see that he does seem to be applying this principle in his life.

  1. Tapas (Penance)

Working 18 hours and sleeping only 4-5 hours a day, without taking any break for the last 23 years which is clear from his public life, what else can one say? Tapas means working hard with focus and diligence. He has not only worked hard all these years but he has achieved results. Today, post-covid, almost the entire world is fighting inflation, recession and having confusion about how to get out of this mess, Bharat, under his able leadership is having robust growth. His popularity in Bharat as well as all around the globe speaks volume about his extraordinary leadership quality and amazing understanding of dealing with the most complex challenges with uncanny ability.

Conclusion

It is our understanding that no one is born great. Of course, as per the darshan (philosophy) of Sanatana dharma, people are born with a baggage of their past lives’ karma but, in spite of that, they have the discretion to turn around by making choices and accordingly they can change some or all of the karmafala (fruits of past karma) into better or worse. Having said that, every individual has the opportunity to be superhuman if he can follow the core principles of dharma. Some are able to make such choices through their inner voices and some find Gurus to help them in this endeavor. A few examples of those whom Gurus helped are Adikavi Valmiki, Mahakavi Kalidas, Goswami Tulsidas, Swami Vivekananda and even the protagonist of our story Narendra Modi. Gurus show the path and our Sanatana sacred texts provide the toolkit to achieve one’s lakshya (goal).

According to my understanding, observation and analysis, Narendra Modi is the product of Embodied values that our sacred texts have prescribed. I also need to emphasize that the Yoga Sutra of Patanjali is not the only text that prescribes these ten core principles of dharma. There is a huge number of such texts which guide us, recommend us with the wisdom to shape our lives in the dharmik way. One can find thousands of such mantra-s and shloka-s that are full of enlightenment and erudition.

One of the most important and profound texts is Shrimad Bhagwad Gita, which is also the most popular and perhaps most quoted not only in Bharat or by Bharatiyas but by people all across the globe. The whole text is full of deep philosophical thoughts conveyed by Bhagwan Shri Krishna to Arjun for the benefit of the entire mankind.

Of course, the most important texts are Vedas and Upanishads, the Gangotri (Source) of all of our darshan (philosophy). We also have Puranas, itihasa-s (history texts) such as Ramayan and Mahabharat to guide us. The respect to all living forms, to all the creations of prakruti (nature) is the cornerstone of the philosophy of Vedic texts.

In fact, Rajiv Malhotra, the scholar par excellence and public intellectual on civilizational studies and world religions, says that Sanatan dharma has an ‘Open Architecture’.

As a mantra from Rig Veda says;

Aa no bhadraH kratavo yantu vishwataH !

Means ‘Let noble thoughts come from all sides’.

Ultimately, and by and large, what one reads, may believe what he reads and then may start following what he believes, and that makes him what the author intends. Our rishis wanted the Sanatanis to follow the above core principles so that they could live in harmony with all fellow-beings as well as all the creatures of prakruti (nature) and move towards liberating themselves from the cycle of birth and death.

Hindu texts do not command, only prescribe. There is no binding on anyone how to, or what to. It is a complete democratic dharma in the truest sense. It does not force anyone to ‘believe’, but rather it holds one’s hand with love and leads to ‘seek’.

This dharma has the potential to produce hundreds of thousands of such Modi, which it has been doing since time immemorial. Those who are objective, will find resonance in this statement.

Of course, the world has seen many such scholars, historians, scientists and philosophers who did understand these extremely profound aspects of Sanatan dharma and the contents of the sacred texts and who profusely eulogized them.

Before closing, I would quote one of the greatest historians of the nineteenth century Arnold Toynbee from Britain;

“It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history , the only way of salvation is the ancient Hindu way. Here we have the attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single family.”

Udit Shah

udit56@gmail.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: The author is solely responsible for the views expressed in this article. The author carries the responsibility for citing and/or licensing of images utilized within the text.