OSWALD PEREIRA analyses the role of Swami Vivekananda and Lokmanya Tilak in India’s freedom struggle. Vivekananda laid the spiritual groundwork and Tilak translated it into political action. Together, they symbolise the indivisibility of India’s spiritual and national awakening
The dawn of modern India witnessed a confluence of spiritual renaissance and political awakening, with towering figures like Swami Vivekananda and Lokmanya Bal Gangadhar Tilak standing at the forefront. While Vivekananda stirred the soul of India through his Vedantic idealism and call for inner strength, Tilak awakened political consciousness through his defiant slogan, “Swaraj is my birthright, and I shall have it.”
Despite their different domains—spiritual and political—the meeting ground between the two was remarkably profound. Tilak once described Vivekananda as a “second Shankaracharya,” recognising in him not merely a religious preacher, but a force of national regeneration. Vivekananda’s life and teachings influenced Tilak, aided the freedom struggle, and formed a philosophical kinship rooted in a shared vision of India’s awakening.
Vivekananda as the ‘Second Shankaracharya’: Tilak’s Tribute
Lokmanya Tilak’s comparison of Vivekananda to Adi Shankaracharya was no casual praise. Shankaracharya, the 8th-century philosopher-saint, unified disparate strands of Hindu thought and rekindled spiritual pride in a time of decline. For Tilak, Vivekananda accomplished a parallel feat in the 19th century, reviving the idea of Hinduism as a dynamic, rational, and world-affirming philosophy.
Tilak remarked: “Swami Vivekananda was indeed a second Shankaracharya. He was a national saint who roused the sleeping soul of India.”
This admiration stemmed from Vivekananda’s ability to transform Vedanta from a monastic pursuit into a philosophy of action. By bringing spirituality into public discourse, and linking it with national regeneration, Vivekananda embodied the ideal of Karma Yoga—the path of action—which resonated deeply with Tilak’s political activism.
Spiritual Strength as National Strength
At the heart of Vivekananda’s influence on Tilak lay a shared conviction: the need to recover India’s self-respect through a return to its spiritual and cultural roots. Vivekananda famously declared, “We are not Hindu because we have temples, but because of our spirit of renunciation, our capacity for self-sacrifice, and our vision of the divine in man.”
Tilak, a devout Hindu and a bold nationalist, understood this message in political terms. For him, Vivekananda’s call for inner strength and fearlessness provided the psychological underpinning of Swaraj. The Indian freedom struggle was not merely against British political control but against a deeper spiritual paralysis born of centuries of colonisation.
Vivekananda’s exhortation—“Arise! Awake! And stop not till the goal is reached”—became a spiritual battle cry that aligned closely with Tilak’s vision of political Swaraj. The emphasis on fearlessness (abhaya) and dignity in both thinkers was not coincidental but pointed to a shared belief that true freedom begins with the mind.
The Meeting Ground: Dharma, Karma, and National Duty
Vivekananda and Tilak shared a common dharmic worldview. Both interpreted Hindu philosophy as inherently action-oriented and socially relevant. Vivekananda redefined Vedanta as a call to serve the poor, whom he called Daridra Narayana (God in the poor), and emphasised Karma Yoga as the ideal path for the modern age. Tilak, in turn, offered a political interpretation of the Bhagavad Gita, emphasising Nishkama Karma—selfless action—as the duty of every Indian.
Tilak’s Gita Rahasya, written during his incarceration in Mandalay, presents Krishna’s counsel to Arjuna not as a metaphysical sermon but as a call to action in the battlefield of life. Vivekananda, too, interpreted the Gita in a similar light: “The Gita is the best commentary we have on the Vedanta philosophy…It is both a spiritual and a practical guide.”
This shared reading of the Gita reflects the deeper philosophical meeting point between the two—one that synthesised dharma (righteousness), karma (action), and national obligation. While Vivekananda spiritualised nationalism, Tilak politicised spirituality. Both stood on the same ethical ground of lokasangraha—the welfare of the world.
Religion as a Political Resource
Both Vivekananda and Tilak viewed religion not as a retreat from life but as a source of moral and cultural strength. This was revolutionary in the context of a colonised India, where the colonial narrative portrayed Hinduism as fatalistic, superstitious, and weak. Vivekananda rejected this outright. In his famous Chicago speech at the World Parliament of Religions (1893), he presented Hinduism as a tolerant, universal, and rational faith—dispelling the colonial caricature of India.
Tilak internalised this reassertion of Hindu dignity and used it to mobilise the masses. He transformed religious festivals like Ganesh Chaturthi and Shivaji Jayanti into public spectacles of political education and unity. This blend of religion and nationalism echoed Vivekananda’s idea that “Religion is not in doctrines, in dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation; it is being and becoming. It is realization.”
By reviving India’s spiritual pride, Vivekananda helped create the cultural and emotional ground on which Tilak built his political campaigns. Both were forging a modern Hindu identity—not narrow or communal, but rooted in strength, service, and action.
Nationalism Beyond the West
Another important convergence in their philosophies was the critique of Western materialism. Vivekananda warned against blind imitation of the West, advocating instead a synthesis of Western science and Indian spirituality. He wrote: “Material civilization, sheer blind materialism, is the death of the soul.”
Tilak similarly argued that Indian civilization must draw on its own resources rather than mimic Western political forms. His conception of Swaraj was not just home rule, but a self-rule anchored in India’s own traditions, institutions, and ethics.
This convergence gave Indian nationalism a unique character—rooted not in mimicry but in self-rediscovery. Tilak’s radical political voice found moral legitimacy in Vivekananda’s cultural and spiritual authority.
Shared Legacy in the Freedom Struggle
Though they came from different domains, the legacy of Vivekananda and Tilak deeply shaped the trajectory of the Indian freedom struggle. Figures like Aurobindo Ghosh, Subhas Chandra Bose, and even Mahatma Gandhi drew inspiration from both.
Aurobindo explicitly acknowledged Vivekananda’s influence on his political awakening, saying: “Vivekananda was the one soul who could have saved India by awakening the soul of religion and action.” Tilak’s political leadership, especially during the early phases of the Swadeshi movement and the founding of Kesari, was animated by a deep spiritual resolve that he shared with Vivekananda.
By placing spiritual regeneration at the heart of political freedom, both leaders laid the foundation for a uniquely Indian mode of nationalism—one that fused Atman (self) with Rashtra (nation), renunciation with action, and the temple with the battlefield.
The Yogi and the Nationalist
Swami Vivekananda and Lokmanya Tilak were revolutionaries in their own right—one through the awakening of the soul, the other through the assertion of political will. Tilak’s tribute to Vivekananda as a “second Shankaracharya” was not mere hyperbole, but an acknowledgment of a deeper unity. Both men sought to raise India from the ashes—not through violence or hate, but through strength, dignity, and a revival of dharma.
Their convergence was not only philosophical but practical. In the grand narrative of Indian freedom, Vivekananda laid the spiritual groundwork, and Tilak translated it into political action. Together, they symbolise the indivisibility of India’s spiritual and national awakening—a lesson as vital today as it was then.
References
- Bal Gangadhar Tilak, Speeches and Writings of Lokmanya Tilak, edited by D.V. Athalye and J.V. Bapat (Bombay: N.M. Tripathi & Co., 1919).
- Swami Vivekananda, Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda (Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama, 1947).
- B.G. Tilak, Gita Rahasya, translated by B.S. Sukthankar (Poona: Tilak Brothers, 1915).
- Sri Aurobindo, India’s Rebirth (Pondicherry: Sri Aurobindo Ashram, 2000).
Featured Image (AI generated): Swami Vivekananda and Lokmanya Tilak
Oswald Pereira, a senior journalist, has also written ten books, including Beyond Autobiography of a Yogi, The Newsroom Mafia, Chaddi Buddies, The Krishna-Christ Connexion, How to Create Miracles in Our Daily Life and Crime Patrol: The Most Thrilling Stories. Oswald is a disciple of Paramhansa Yogananda, and practises Kriya Yoga.
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