VKP CONTENTS PAGE - Vivekananda Kendra Prakashan

SECTION - 1SWAMI PRANAVANANDA AND THE BHARATSEVASHRAM SANGHBrahmachari Vinod (b 1897 d 1941)turned Swami PranavanandajiMaharaj, the founder of BharatSevashram Sangha was an unusual person.He was variously described by his learnedcontemporaries as an epoch maker,possessor of limitless powers, seer, supermanand omniscient, a creator unusually strong,divine personality of the age, seer of gloriousIndia, a farsighted seer, a missionary forHindu Regeneration, rebuilder of modernHinduism, a great man of peerless talent andspiritual power, a beacon light, a person withthe strength of the spirit, a true servant ofIndia, a man with solution for the Nationalproblems, a Nation builder, a missionary inhuman service, a preceptor of the age, andthe great apostle of selfless service.To guard India from impending communaldangers, Swamiji founded Bharat SevashramSangha and planned to build Hindu MilanMandirs and Rakshi Dals.The organization did great service to Hinduswho have been victims of communal riotsbefore and on the eve of independence.He was born in the village of Bajitpur in thedistrict of Faridpur in present Bangladesh.Reconstruction of dormant Hindu Society onthe basis of ancient Indian heritage becamethe life’s aim of this young saint. In the fieldof National reconstruction, Swamiji followeda method of his own. He did not approve ofa political movement bereft of religion. Herealised that real awakening of a Nationwould easily come through selfless service,celibacy and practice of one’s own religion.He built up the character of his disciples onsound moral foundation. He was a livingexample before them. He inspired them topay special stress upon the reconstructionof the Hindu Society. They were topropagate the lofty ideals of Hinduism tohumanity at large. He realised the necessityof building up a systematic organisationthroughout the length and breadth of thecountry, in order to remove age-old defectsin the Hindu Society. These units became thecommon platform for all Hindus.The ultimate object of the Sangha is thereorganisation of the vast heterogeneousIndian masses into a homogeneous one, acompact and powerful Nation, rebuilt on thebasis of its ancient spiritual and culturalideals and traditions, skilfully readjusted andreadapted to suit the changed circumstancesof the present scientific age.With this object in view, the Sanghaundertook a comprehensive plan of work.The multifarious activities of the Sangha thatgradually run through the entire rank and fileof the society can be classified into somedistinct lines.a) Propagation of the Traditionalspiritual and cultural ideals in Indiaand outside, through individualsannyasin preachers and also throughSAMARTHA BHARATA 18