Making Of The World’s Largest Voluntary Organisation RSS  

Arun Anand

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the largest voluntary organisation in the world entered its hundredth year on this Vijaydashami. The organisation was founded on festive day of ‘Vijyadashmi’, also known as ‘Dussehra’, in 1925.

This Hindu festival marks victory of good over evil. This is the day when Bhagawan Sri Rama who represented the ‘Good’ killed Ravana, who symbolized ‘Evil’. Since then, the Sarsanghchalak(Chief Mentor) of RSS  deliverded an annual address on  Vijaydashami.

This speech is watched with keen interest as it spells out the RSS’ stand on contemporary issues and provided clarity about its ideological moorings while indicating its future course of action in the year ahead.

RSS was founded with only 15-20 young men and teenagers. Those who were present on the day it was established  included Bhauji Kawre, Anna Sohni, Vishwanathrao Kelkar, Balaji Huddar and Bapurao Bhedi . These are the unsung heroes who played an important role in building pan-India organisational network of RSS.

 Dr. Hedgewar announced to this gathering, “We are inaugurating the Sangh today.” He elicited views of all of them regarding future activities of Sangh. “All of us must train ourselves physically, intellectually and in every way so as to be capable of achieving our cherished goal,” he declared.

First daily RSS Shakha

 Initially there were no formal preparations for the RSS. The only agenda was to train young men making them physically, mentally and intellectually strong to serve the country.The first daily ‘Shakha’ of RSS, basic building block of the organization actually began from May 28, 1926 with a regular schedule. The place where daily gathering of initial volunteers / swayamsevaks of the RSS took place was Mohitewada Ground in Nagpur, which is today part of the sprawling RSS headquarters complex.

An RSS shakha is a daily gathering of its volunteers at local level in a public place where its volunteers trained physically, mentally, intellectually to serve the society without expecting recognition in return.

Prayer, Commands, Saffron Flag

Initially, some commands to swayamsevaks (volunteers) were given in Sanskrit. There were some commands given in English also but they were gradually replaced in Sanskrit or in local Indian languages over some time as the RSS grew. There was conscious effort to repose and rekindle faith in the Indian culture with Sanskrit as its integral part.

Even today, this tradition of giving key commands in Sanskrit continues at thousands of daily Shakhas. A Saffron Flag used to be hoisted known as ‘Bhagwa Dhwaj’ in RSS terminology and first Shakha used to begin with a salutation to the Saffron Flag. This tradition continues even today with in the beginning and end of every daily Shakha with salutation to a Saffron Flag which is designed in such a fashion that it appears to have two flames of fire.

Initially, the first daily Shakha used to end after recitation of a concluding prayer which was a combination of Marathi and Hindi verses. Later on, it was replaced by a Sanskrit prayer. Both these prayers were focussed on promoting nationalistic fervour among the swayamsevaks. The initial prayer for the first Shakha could be translated as: “Salutations to the Motherland where I am born. Salutations to the Hindu Land where I have been brought up. Salutations to the Land of Dharma for which may my body fall. To Her, I salute again and again.” The current prayer in Sanskrit is also on similar lines.

How RSS got its name

It is interesting to note that the RSS got its present name almost six months after it was founded. On April 17, 1926, Dr. Hedgewar called a meeting at his house in which 26 swayamsevaks participated. A detailed discussion followed to decide the name of the organisation for which everyone contributed their ideas. None of them were aware that the name decided at the meeting would one day find huge resonance across the globe in the years to come. Several names were suggested and each of the names was discussed threadbare. Finally, three names were finalised after several rounds of elimination. They were: 1. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. 2. Jaripataka Mandal. 3. Bhedratoddharak Mandal. There were more deliberations on these three names and finally the name ‘Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’ was chosen.

(Arun Anand is a journalist based in New Delhi. He has worked at editorial positions in leading dailies and broadcast including The Statesman Dainik Jagran Midday IANS and TV Today. The writer is an author and columnist and has written several books)