Integral Humanism of Deen Dayal Upadhyaya

Deen Dayal Upadhyaya (1916-68) was one of the founders of the Jana Sangh, which later became the Bhartiya Janta Party. He has been the source of ideological guidance and moral inspiration for the Bhartiya Janata Party since its inception.

He advocated the doctrine of Integral humanism, which was adopted by the Jana Sangh in 1965 and later by Bharatiya Janata Party as its official doctrine.

It aims to appeal to broad sections of Indian society by presenting an indigenous economic model that puts human being at center of development.

Background

Before independence all the movements and policies in the country had one principal ‘aim to drive out the foreign rulers and to achieve independence’. There was less thought or debate over the face of the new Bharat after independence. Although leaders like Gandhiji discussed the idea of independent India in his book ‘Hind Swaraj’ and Lokmanya tilak in ‘Gita Rahasya’ yet there was no coherent ideology. All ideological differences were kept aside in order to achieve the collective goal of independence and self-rule.

In the aftermath of the independence struggle, differences soon surfaced between political ideologies and groups. This phase soon followed by political opportunism with the sole purpose to gain power without any principles. Many in the political were of the viewpoint that one could adopt anything from extreme Marxism to capitalism just to remain in power. In this environment, Deen Dayal felt that the rise in opportunism in the political parties was detrimental to national interest. Lack of national identity has led to “confusion about our goal and the direction”. Further he felt that the present political establishment was getting suffocated by Western theories and ideologies and consequently there was a big roadblock on the growth and expansion of original Bharathiya thought. In this background gave the so called doctrine of integral humanism based on the values of Sanatana dharma, in the form of four lectures.

Basic Ideology

He was of the view that an independent nation cannot progress if it relies upon the Western concepts like individualism, democracy, socialism, communism, capitalism etc. It does not mean that he was critical of these concepts. According to him modern technology and western science should be welcomed but wanted it to be adapted to suit Indian requirements.

He explains that western science and the western way of life are two different things. Whereas western science is universal and must be absorbed by us if we wish to go forward, the same is not true about the western way of life and values. In fact he advocated that thoughtless imitation of the West must be discarded.

He even exhorts Indian leaders to shun away the superficial Western foundations which became the basis of Indian polity after independence and take inspiration from timeless traditions of our ancient culture.

He also envisaged the concept of Dharma Rajya for Indian state which is duty oriented unlike other concepts which are right-oriented. Dharma Rajya does not recognize any individual or body as sovereign. Every individual is subject to certain obligations and regulations. Rights of the executive, of the legislature, as well as of the people, are determined and regulated by Dharma. Naturally, therefore, there is no scope here for rights being trampled upon or for any hankering after unlimited rights. Also, there is no danger of dereliction of duty, of power-madness, or of any conflict of rights.

Therefore the purpose of Upadhyaya was to identify desirable goals for Indian society and the intellectual and spiritual basis for their attainment. But, his political philosophy has remained largely undebated and now in era of neo liberalism researchers should consider its broad agenda seriously so that we remain adhere to  our national identity.