SV: Neo-Sanskrit

[Madhav Deshpande]

Dear Folks,

I found certain typographical mistakes in my previous version of the RSS
Sanskrit prayer.  Here is the corected version.  Another historical note
about Pt. N.N. Bhide, the author of the poem.  While Pt. Bhide did compose
this poem, later he was not actively associated with the RSS.  He became a
dedicated follower of the yogic/devotional tradition of Narasimha
SarasvatI (believed to be an incarnation of DattAtreya) in ALandI near
Pune. Throughout my association with him, from 1961 onwards, I did not
detect any political interests in him till his passing a few years ago.
The religious texts which he insisted upon were the gaNeza-atharvazIrSa
and the viSNusahasranAma.  He was a great Sanskrit teacher, and both Ashok
Aklujkar and I loved him dearly.  We have now set up a Sanskrit
scholarship fund in Maharashtra in his name.
                                                Madhav Deshpande

On Sat, 14 Nov 1998, Madhav Deshpande wrote:

> Here is the daily prayer recited at the branches of RSS.  It was composed
> by Pt. N.N. Bhide who was, by the way, the highschool Sanskrit teacher for
> me and for Ashok Aklujkar:
>
>         namas te sadA vatsale mAtRbhUme
>         tvayA hindubhUme sukhaM vardhito 'ham |
>         mahAmangale puNyabhUme tvad-arthe
>         patatv eSa kAyo namas te namas te ||
>
>         prabho zaktiman hindurASTrAngabhUtA
>         ime sAdaraM tvAM namAmo vayam |
>         tvadIyAya kAryAya baddhA kaTIyam
>         zubhAm AziSaM dehi tatpUrtaye ||
>
>         ajayyAM ca vizvasya dehIza zaktim
>         suzIlaM jagad yena namraM bhavet |
>         zrutaM caiva yat kaNTakAkIrNamArgaM
>         svayaM svIkRtaM naH sugaM kArayet ||
>
>         samutkarSaniHzreyasasyaikam ugraM
>         paraM sAdhanaM nAma vIravratam |
>         tadantaH sphuratv akSayA dhyeyaniSThA
>         hRdantaH prajAgartu tIvrA 'nizam ||
>
>         vijetrI ca naH saMhatA kAryazaktir
>         vidhAyAsya dharmasya saMrakSaNaM |
>         paraM vaibhavaM netum etat svarASTram
>         samarthA bhavatv AziSA te bhRzaM ||
>
>         This was composed by Pt. Bhide in Nagpur at the request of Dr.
> Hedgewar, the founder of the RSS.
>         The vocabulary is very significant in its new Hindutva semantics.
> Not only do the words hindubhUmi and hindurASTra appear here as new
> coinages, the new meanings of the words rAStra "nation", dharma "Hindu
> religion", and vIravrata "vow of heroism" are significant.  This poem has
> become the anthem for RSS.
>                                         Madhav Deshpande