https://bhagatsinghstudy.blogspot.com/2019/04/the-bhagat-singh-reader.html
(BHAGAT SINGH WROTE THE ESSAY VISHAV PREM (UNIVERSAL LOVE UNDER THE ALIAS OF BALWANT SINGH, AND IT WAS PUBLISHED IN TWO ISSUES OF CALCUTTA’S WEEKLY, ‘MATWALA’ YEAR: 2 ISSUE NO. 13-14. CHRONOLOGICALLY THE DATES OF THESE ISSUES ARE: 15TH OF NOVEMBER, 1924 AND 22ND OF NOVEMBER, 1924.)
IT IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR HUMANITY TO DESCRIBE THE GREATNESS OF THE KING OF POETRY WHO ENVISIONED THE INVALUABLE IDEA OF “VASUDEV KUTUMBAKAM!”(THE WHOLE EARTH IS A FAMILY); IT IS THE ASPIRATION OF ONE WHO HAS EXPERIENCED SUCH UNIVERSAL LOVE.
“WORLD FRATERNITY!” I TAKE IT TO MEAN EQUALITY IN THE WORLD (COMMUNISM, WORLD WIDE EQUALITY IN THE TRUE SENSE*) (*THE WORDS ‘WORLD WIDE EQUALITY IN THE TRUE SENSE’ ARE ORIGINALLY IN ENGLISH)
HOW NOBLE IS THIS IDEAL! LET EVERYONE BE ONE’S OWN. NO ONE SHOULD BE A STRANGER. HOW BEAUTIFUL WOULD THAT TIME BE WHEN ALIENATION IN THE WORLD IS FOREVER DESTROYED; THE DAY THIS IDEAL IS BROUGHT INTO PRACTICE – THAT DAY ONE CAN CLAIM THAT THE WORLD HAS REACHED ITS ZENITH. HOW WILL THE DAY LOOK LIKE WHEN EACH INDIVIDUAL IS ABLE TO INTERNALIZE THIS IDEAL IN HIS HEART? JUST IMAGINE!
THAT DAY THERE WILL BE SO MUCH STRENGTH THAT EVEN SHOUTING ‘PEACE! PEACE!’ WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BREAK THE PEACE. THAT DAY NO HUNGRY SOUL WILL NEED TO SCREAM FOR FOOD. TRADE WILL BE AT THE ZENITH OF PROGRESS, BUT FRANCE AND GERMANY WILL NO LONGER GO TO HORRIBLE WAR IN THE NAME OF TRADE. BOTH AMERICA AND JAPAN WILL BE THERE, BUT THERE WILL BE NO EAST, NO WEST. BLACK AND WHITE RACES WILL BE THERE, BUT THE AMERICANS WILL NOT BE ABLE TO BURN THE NATIVE BLACK PEOPLE* (RED INDIANS*) ALIVE. THERE WILL BE PEACE BUT NO NEED FOR THE PENAL CODE. THERE WILL BE THE BRITISH AND THE INDIANS, BUT THERE WILL BE NO DIVISION INTO MASTER AND SLAVE. THAT DAY MAHATMA TOLSTOY’S PRINCIPLE OF ‘RESIST NOT THE EVIL’* (*THE WORDS ‘RESIST NOT THE EVIL’ ARE ORIGINALLY IN ENGLISH) WILL NOT NEED TO BE SHOUTED FROM THE ROOF-TOPS, BUT THERE WILL BE NO EVIL IN THE WORLD. THAT IS WHEN WE SHALL HAVE COMPLETE FREEDOM. WHAT WILL SUCH A TIME BE LIKE? JUST IMAGINE!
LOOKING AT THE PRESENT SITUATION, WHO CAN BELIEVE THAT SUCH A DAY WILL DAWN WHEN NO ONE WILL BE AFRAID OF ANYONE; IN FACT, PEOPLE WILL DESIST FROM COMMITTING SINS BECAUSE OF THE VOICE OF THEIR OWN CONSCIENCE. IF EVEN ON SUCH A DAY WE YEARN FOR SOME IMAGINARY HEAVEN, THEN WE SHALL SAY THAT SUCH A HEAVEN DOES NOT EXIST. CAN SUCH A DAY DAWN? THIS IS A PROBLEM – A BIG PROBLEM. IT IS NOT EASY. BUT WHAT I WISH TO KNOW IS IF PEOPLE ARE REALLY INTERESTED IN BRINGING ABOUT SUCH A DAY. ARE THE PEOPLE WHO TALK SO STRIDENTLY ABOUT ‘UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD’* OR ‘COSMOPOLITANISM’*, (*BOTH WORDS ORIGINALLY IN ENGLISH) REALLY CONCERNED ABOUT THIS? IT IS NOT ENOUGH TO SAY ‘YES’. THIS IS NOT THE PROPOSAL THAT CONGRESS HAS. THIS ISSUE NEEDS SERIOUS CONSIDERATION. ARE PEOPLE PREPARED TO OFFER A SACRIFICE FOR IT? FOR SUCH AN IMAGINED FUTURE, WE WILL HAVE TO HAVE AN EXTREME PRESENT. FOR SUCH IMAGINED PEACE, WE WILL HAVE TO SPREAD DISCORD. WE WILL HAVE TO SACRIFICE EVERYTHING FOR SUCH CASTLES IN THE AIR. WE WILL HAVE TO SPREAD TOTAL ANARCHY TO ESTABLISH SUCH A PEACEFUL RULE. TO DRAW THAT BLISSFUL WORLD TOWARDS US, WE WILL HAVE TO INFLICT TYRANNY. FOR THAT HAPPY TIME; NO, NO, FOR THE MERE HOPE OF IT, WE WILL HAVE TO LAY DOWN OUR LIVES. ARE PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THAT?
WE WILL HAVE TO SPREAD THE WORD OF EQUALITY AND EGALITARIANISM. WE WILL HAVE TO INFLICT OPPRESSION ON THOSE WHO OPPOSE THIS. WE WILL HAVE TO SPREAD ANARCHY IN THOSE PLACES WHERE RULES AND EMPIRES HAVE BEEN BLINDED BY POWER AND ARE CAUSING MISERY TO CRORES OF PEOPLE. ARE PEOPLE PREPARED FOR THAT?
WE WILL HAVE TO PREPARE THE ENTIRE WORLD TO BE READY TO WELCOME THIS IDEAL. TO REAP SUCH A PROMISING HARVEST, WE SHALL HAVE TO WEED OUT EVERYTHING FROM THE FIELDS. THE THORNY BUSHES WILL HAVE TO BE CONSIGNED TO THE PYRE OF PEACE. STONES, PEBBLES WILL HAVE TO BE CRUSHED. WE WILL HAVE TO TOIL VERY HARD. WE WILL HAVE TO HELP THE POOR TO RISE. THE CRUSHED WILL NEED TO BE SHOWN THE PATH OF PROGRESS. THESE FALSE POWERS WILL HAVE TO BE DRAGGED AND COMPELLED TO STAND WITH US. THE ARROGANCE OF THE ARROGANT WILL HAVE TO BE CRUSHED AND THEY WILL HAVE TO BE TAUGHT THE LESSON OF HUMILITY. WE WILL HAVE TO GIVE STRENGTH TO THE WEAK, FREEDOM TO THE SLAVES, EDUCATION TO THE ILLITERATE, A RAY OF HOPE TO THE DESPAIRING, FOOD TO THE HUNGRY, HOMES TO THE HOMELESS, FAITH TO THE UNBELIEVERS, VISION TO THE SUPERSTITIOUS. WILL PEOPLE BE WILLING TO DO ALL THIS? O VOTARIES OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD! ARE YOU PREPARED TO DO THIS? IF NOT, THEN STOP YOUR PRETENCE. WE WILL HAVE TO OFFER YOU AS SACRIFICE AT THE FEET OF THE GODDESS OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, BECAUSE YOU ARE DECEIVERS. IF YOU ARE PREPARED, THEN STEP INTO THE ‘KARMKSHETRA’, THE FIELD OF ACTION, AND YOU SHALL BE TESTED. DON’T HIDE BEHIND THIS NOBLE PRINCIPLE SITTING AT HOME, CROUCHING IN CORNERS, TREMBLING AT THE MERE THOUGHT OF THE TERRIBLE IMAGES OF THE BATTLEFIELD, AVOIDING THE LIGHT OF THE TRUTH. IF YOU TRULY DESIRE TO BRING ABOUT THIS IMAGINED TIME, THEN COME FORWARD. THE FIRST TASK WILL BE TO RAISE THIS FALLEN BHARAT. THE SHACKLES OF SLAVERY WILL HAVE TO BE SHATTERED. TYRANNY WILL HAVE TO BE DESTROYED. LACK OF FREEDOM WILL HAVE TO BE TRAMPLED INTO THE DUST BECAUSE IT LURES HUMANITY THAT THE ALMIGHTY MOULDED IN HIS OWN IMAGE, AWAY FROM THE PATH OF JUSTICE BECAUSE OF ITS OWN WEAKNESS.
IF THE FEAR OF BEING JAILED OR HANGED STILL PREVENTS YOU FROM FOLLOWING THIS PATH DESPITE ACKNOWLEDGING THE TRUTH OF IT, THEN GIVE UP THIS PRETENCE HENCEFORTH.
IF THE FEAR THAT THIS REVOLUTION WILL LEAD TO GREAT ANARCHY AND GREAT BLOODSHED, AND TOTAL STRIFE PREVENTS YOU FROM TAKING THIS PATH, EVEN THEN YOU ARE CRAVEN, WEAK, AND COWARDLY. ABANDON THIS PRETENCE.
IF DISCORD SPREADS SO BE IT; AT LEAST THERE WON’T BE ANY SUBJUGATION. IF ANARCHY SPREADS SO BE IT, AT LEAST SLAVERY WILL BE ABOLISHED. AH! THIS CONFLICT WILL CRUSH THE WEAK. THE DAILY WHINING WILL COME TO AN END. NO WEAK SHALL REMAIN, THE MIGHTY WILL BECOME FRIENDS. THERE WILL BE AMITY AMONG THE STRONG PEOPLE. THEY WILL FEEL LOVE FOR EACH OTHER AND THE MESSAGE OF UNIVERSAL LOVE WILL BE CARRIED FORWARD.
YES! YES! THE WEAK WILL HAVE TO BE CRUSHED IN ONE BLOW. THEY ARE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE ENTIRE WORLD. THEY ARE THE ONES WHO ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SPREAD OF CONFLICT. LET EVERYONE BE STRONG, OR ELSE THEY WILL BE GRINDED IN THE MILLSTONE.
OH! WHO IS THE TRUE SON OF THE SOIL WHO WANTS UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD WITH HIS WHOLE HEART? WHO IS WILLING TO GIVE UP HIS HAPPINESS FOR THE SAKE OF THE ENTIRE WORLD?
NO SLAVE RACE HAS THE RIGHT EVEN TO MENTION THIS NOBLE IDEAL. THESE WORDS LOSE THEIR SIGNIFICANCE THE MOMENT THEY ARE UTTERED BY THE LIPS OF A SLAVE. IF A DISGRACED MAN, A CRUSHED UNDER FEET, GROUNDED IN THE DUST, SAYS ‘I AM A FOLLOWER OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, A BELIEVER IN THIS IDEAL, SO I DO NOT AVENGE THESE TYRANNIES’, WHAT VALUE CAN HIS WORDS HAVE? WHO WILL HEED HIS COWARDLY WORDS? YES – IF YOU HAVE STRENGTH, IF YOU HAVE ENERGY, IF YOU HAVE THE POWER TO TRAMPLE THE GREAT AND MIGHTY UNDERFOOT, IF YOU ARE ABLE TO LIFT A FINGER AND GRIND THE ARROGANCE OF PEOPLE TO DUST, CAN PUT TO SLEEP GREAT RULING POWERS, CAN CRUSH THEM INTO THE DUST, AND THEN YOU SAY, ‘WE BELIEVE IN UNIVERSAL LOVE SO PLEASE DON’T DO THIS’, THEN YOUR WORDS WILL HOLD WEIGHT – THEN EACH SENTENCE THAT YOU UTTER WILL HAVE VALUE. THEN THE WORDS ‘VASUDEV KUTUMBAKAM’ (THE WHOLE EARTH IS A FAMILY) WILL ALSO BECOME SIGNIFICANT.
TODAY YOU ARE ENSLAVED, UNDER FOREIGN RULE, NOT FREE, AND YOUR WORDS SEEM A SHAM, PRETENCE, RUBBISH. DO YOU WANT TO PROPAGATE THEM? IF YES, THEY YOU WILL HAVE TO FOLLOW THE ONE WHO SAID, – “HE WHO LOVETH HUMANITY LOVETH GOD”*, “GOD IS LOVE AND LOVE IS GOD”* (THESE WORDS ARE ORIGINALLY IN ENGLISH) – WHO EMBRACED THE GALLOWS UNDER CRIME OF SEDITION; ARE YOU PREPARED TO PROPAGATE UNIVERSAL LOVE AS COURAGEOUSLY AS HE DID? THE DAY YOU BECOME A TRUE PROPAGATOR OF THIS UNIQUE IDEAL, THEN YOU WILL HAVE TO STEP INTO THE BATTLEFIELD LIKE THE TRUE SON, GURU GOBIND SINGH. WHO LIKE A TRUE DEVOTEE OF UNIVERSAL LOVE; SAYING ‘ALL ARE THE SONS OF THE SAME FATHER’ LIKE THE GREAT SOUL WHO SACRIFICED ALL OF HIS FOUR BELOVED SONS FOR THE NATION, AND UPON BEING QUESTIONED BY THE MOTHER, REPLYING SIMPLY THIS; YOU WILL HAVE TO SHOW PATIENCE LIKE HIM. CAN YOU BEAR TO SEE SOMEONE SACRIFICE HIM OR HERSELF, OR ENDURE UNSPEAKABLE TORTURE, SOMEONE YOU HOLD THE DEAREST TO YOUR HEART, THINKING OF WHOM MAKES YOUR HEARTBEAT RACE, WHICH YOU WANT TO KEEP HIDDEN IN YOUR HEART? AND CAN YOU CLIMB ONTO A BURNING PYRE WITH A SMILE BEFORE SAME DEAR ONE, AND BE ABLE TO BID GOODBYE TO THE WORLD WITH A COMPASSIONATE LOOK? IF YES, THEN COME FORWARD FOR THE TEST; IT IS TIME. IF THERE IS THE SLIGHTEST HESITATION IN YOUR HEARTS, THEN FOR GOD’S SAKE, GIVE UP THIS PRETENCE.
HOW CAN UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD AND UNIVERSAL LOVE FLOURISH TILL THE TIME THIS VOCABULARY OF BLACK-WHITE, CIVILIZED-SAVAGE, RULER-RULED, RICH-POOR, HIGH CASTE-UNTOUCHABLE, ETC. CONTINUES TO BE USED? THIS MESSAGE CAN BE DELIVERED ONLY BY A FREE PEOPLE. AN ENSLAVED PEOPLE LIKE THE INDIANS CANNOT EVEN MENTION IT.
THEN HOW WILL THE MESSAGE SPREAD? YOU WILL HAVE TO MUSTER POWER. TO MUSTER POWER, YOU WILL HAVE TO SPEND ALL THE STRENGTH EARNED TILL NOW. YOU WILL HAVE TO ENDURE A LIFETIME OF OBSTACLES LIKE RANA PRATAP, ONLY THEN MAY YOU PASS THE EXAM. DON’T YOU SEE A TRUE PROPAGATOR OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, MAZZINI, WHO STAYS INCARCERATED AT ONE PLACE ON HIS OWN FOR TWENTY YEARS? LENIN WAS HIS SUPPORTER; HE ENDURED UNTOLD HARDSHIPS. GEORGE WASHINGTON – THE GIVER OF FREEDOM TO AMERICA – WAS A BELIEVER IN UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD; THE REVOLUTIONARIES OF FRANCE WERE STAUNCH BELIEVERS – HOW MUCH BLOOD THEY SHED! THE IDEALISTIC BRUTUS WAS A FOLLOWER OF UNIVERSAL BROTHERHOOD, WHO EVEN ASSASSINATED HIS BELOVED CAESAR BECAUSE OF HIS LOVE FOR HIS MOTHERLAND AND COMMITTED SUICIDE AFTERWARDS. HAPPILY AND SKILLFULLY FIGHTING WARS WAS GARIBALDI, WHO CAN ALSO GET CREDIT FOR A BELIEF IN UNIVERSAL LOVE.
A LOVER OF UNIVERSAL LOVE IS THE BRAVE INDIVIDUAL WHOM WE HAVE NO HESITATION IN CALLING AN AWESOME REBEL, AN UNCOMPROMISING ANARCHIST – THE SAME VEER SAVARKAR, WHO PACING IN HIS LAWN THINKING ABOUT UNIVERSAL LOVE, WOULD STOP WALKING ON THE GRASS, LEST HE CRUSHED THE TENDER GRASS UNDER HIS FEET.
THE BRAVE MACSWINEY WHO PASSED AWAY AFTER 75 DAYS OF FASTING CAN TAKE THE CREDIT FOR TREADING THIS PATH; WHO USED TO SAY:
“IT IS THE LOVE OF THE COUNTRY THAT INSPIRES US AND NOT THE HATE OF THE ENEMY AND THE DESIRE FOR FULL SATISFACTION FOR THE PAST.” (ORIGINALLY IN ENGLISH)
A DEVOTEE OF THE GODDESS OF UNIVERSAL LOVE WAS THE AUTHOR OF ‘GITA RAHASYA’ (THE SECRET OF THE GITA), THE REVERED LOKMANYA TILAK. DO YOU WANT MORE? THAT THIN, SCRAWNY MAN IN THE LOINCLOTH (GANDHI) WHO COULD GIVE A DELIGHTED CHUCKLE UPON BEING SENTENCED AND SAY, ‘THE PUNISHMENT GIVEN TO ME IS TOO MILD AND I CANNOT HOPE FOR MORE COURTEOUS BEHAVIOUR THAT I HAVE MET WITH’, WHOSE POIGNANT TALE WILL HAVE NO EFFECT ON YOUR STONY HEARTS – A BELIEVER IN THE IDEAL, HE IS A MAHATMA.
AND LORD RAMA, WHO DESTROYED RAVAN AND BALI, DEMONSTRATED UNIVERSAL LOVE BY EATING THE BERRIES WHICH WERE FIRST TASTED BY THE BHIL WOMAN, DEMONSTRATED UNIVERSAL LOVE. THE ONE WHO BROUGHT COUSINS TO FIGHT A WAR WITH EACH OTHER, WHO COMPLETELY ERASED THE INJUSTICE FROM THE WORLD– LORD KRISHNA – DEMONSTRATED HIS UNIVERSAL LOVE BY GOBBLING UP THE UNCOOKED RICE THAT SUDAMA HAD BROUGHT FOR HIM.
DO YOU ALSO ASSERT UNIVERSAL LOVE? FIRST LEARN TO STAND ON YOUR FEET. DEVELOP THE CAPABILITY TO STAND WITH YOUR HEAD HELD HIGH WITH PRIDE AMONG THE PEOPLE OF THE FREE NATIONS. TILL THE TIME UNFORTUNATE INCIDENTS LIKE THE KAMAGATAMARU SHIP KEEP ON HAPPENING, TILL THE TIME YOU CONTINUE TO BE CALLED ‘DAMN BLACK MAN’, TILL THE JALLIANWALA BAGH LIKE HORRIBLE TRAGEDIES KEEP HAPPENING IN YOUR COUNTRY, TILL THE TIME YOU DON’T REACT TO BRAVE WOMEN BEING DISHONOURED, TILL THEN THIS PRETENCE HAS NO MEANING. WHAT PEACE, WHAT HAPPINESS AND WHAT KIND OF UNIVERSAL LOVE IS IT?
IF YOU TRULY DESIRE TO PROPAGATE THE IDEAL OF PEACE AND HAPPINESS IN THE ENTIRE WORLD, THEN FIRST LEARN TO REACT TO THE INSULTS THROWN AT YOU. BE READY TO DIE IN ORDER TO CUT LOOSE THE SHACKLES OF YOUR MOTHERLAND. BE PREPARED TO SERVE A LIFE SENTENCE AT THE CELLULAR JAIL ACROSS THE BLACK SEAS, IF YOU WANT TO SET YOUR MOTHER FREE. BE READY TO DIE TO KEEP YOUR SOBBING MOTHER ALIVE. ONLY THEN OUR COUNTRY WILL BE FREE. WE SHALL BE STRONG. WE SHALL BE ABLE TO PROUDLY PROCLAIM THE IDEAL OF UNIVERSAL LOVE. WILL BE ABLE TO COMPEL THE WORLD TO FOLLOW THE PATH OF PEACE.
(NOVEMBER 1924)
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