Bunch of

Thoughts:
Construction of the
Hindu Male Self and
Others in the works
of M. S. Golwalkar

Arpita chakraborty
Dublin City University
 Aim of this paper
• A feminist analysis of some of the central ideas of Golwalkar
• Focus on his book Bunch of Thoughts, a collection of his
speeches delivered over a period of 33 years
• Feminist standpoint and Bourdieu’s idea of symbolic capital
• Construction of the ‘Hindu male self ’ and the ‘other’ as a
vision of the future Indian society in Golwalkar’s works
• How that construction has found resonance in the
contemporary Indian society
 M. S. Golwalkar (1906-1973)
• Madhavrao Sadashivrao Golwalkar, the
second Sarsanghchalak (Chief) of RSS
(1940-1973). Co-founder of Viswa Hindu
Parishad in 1964.

• Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, or RSS, is

the largest voluntary organization of
Hindu men in India. BJP an affiliate of
RSS.

• Created in 1925, it is currently estimated

to have more than six million members
spread among 40,000-50,000 Shakhas
(branches) and more than a 100 affiliated
bodies (Gandhi 2014)

• It was under his leadership that RSS built

up its organizational framework.
Golwalkar’s vision has become the vision
of the RSS (Organiser, 26 March 2006)
 Hindu Male: Who is the
ideal?
• Contrast to the non violent image of peace that Gandhi drew.
• The Brahmin celibate male as the superior male form in Indian society; a firm
believer of the caste system and superiority of the upper castes.
• “Another still more courageous rule was that the first off-spring of a married woman of any
class must be fathered by a Namboodri Brahman and then she could beget children by her
husband. Today this experiment will be called adultery but it was not so, as it was limited to
the first child.” (1961)
• “Our ancestors saw these four broad divisions in the society. The Varna system means nothing
else but a proper co-ordination of these divisions and an enabling of the individual to serve
the society to the best of his ability through a hereditary development of the functions for
which he is best suited. If this system continues a means of livelihood is already reserved for
every individual from his birth.” (1961). Deleted from his complete works by RSS.
• Physical prowess, stress on martial qualities, led to the
physical trainings in RSS branches, many of which
are armed. This idea was influenced by Protestant
Christian ideas of masculinity as well as in response
to the conceived threat from virile Muslims.
• India and Hindu as synonyms; to be a true Indian,
thus, one has to be a true Hindu culturally. This
vague duality of culture-religion is used to create the
standards of acceptance for the ‘others’ - acceptance
of India as the Father-land as well as the Holy-land
(influenced by Savarkar). (Islam 2017)
The ‘other’ of the Hindu Male
• “Hindus, don’t waste your energy fighting the British. Save your energy to
fight our internal enemies that are Muslims, Christians, and
Communists.”
• The Muslim projected as the eternal ‘Other’ for the Hindu
Brahmin male ideal.
• Led to the eventual demand of India as Hindu rashtra, not
sickular.
• Eliciting the image of perpetual threat to the mother (nation)
and the women by the ‘other’. On partition: “How can a son
forget and sit idle when the sight of his mutilated mother stares him in the
face everyday? Forget? No true son can ever forget or rest till she becomes
once again her complete whole” (Bunch of Thoughts, 93)
 Resonance in
contemporary society
• Actively rewrite Indian history with the explicit intent of producing
“angry Hindus” who are prepared to act politically. (Chakraborty
2011)
• Martial Hindu nationalism or muscular nationalism
(Banerjee 2012) or porno-nationalism (Anand 2008)
• Regaining masculinity by violence against Muslims; erasing
the possibility of future emasculation necessitates complete
erasure of the threat
• Cow worship vs. beef-eating
The image of the ascetic:
Modi and Golwalkar
• The concept of the ideal Hindu man has focussed on asceticism
and control of sexuality, channelising one’s virya for the larger
good. Both Golwalkar and Modi (who has written about Guruji’s
influence on him) has been seen as an embodiment of this image.
• The image of PM Modi has been shaped around the idea of an
ascetic man (ironically he is married) given to social service, the
ultimate image of virile masculinity, the embodiment of the
adarsh purush (ideal man).
• His desertion of his wife is seen as a proof of his dedication to
the larger good.