The character of Dr. Hedgewar and
the RSSare inextricably linked to the tur-
bulent years immediately after World
War I, and the profound dislocation in
Indian society that came with the strug-
gle for independence. In his youth,
Hedgewar had been involved in the
independence movement, and for some
time even supported Mohandas
Gandhi’s Congress Party. But by the
early 1920s, he had become disillu-
sioned with Gandhi’s methods. He had
also been deeply influenced by the
Hindu nationalist Vinayak Damodar
Savarkar, whose central thesis was that
the Hindus were a nation, despite their
profound regional, social, linguistic, and
religious differences.
On the festival of Vijaya Dashami
(Dussehra) in 1925, Hedgewar formed
the RSSto help create this Hindu nation
by unifying Hindus previously separated
by divisions of casteand class. This date
is highly significant, since according to
popular Hindu belief any endeavor
begun on Vijaya Dashami will invariably
succeed. Hedgewar led the RSSuntil his
death, fifteen years after the organiza-
tion was founded.
Aside from training a leadership
corps, the RSSwas also formed to protect
Hindu interests. On one level, it endeav-
ored to do this by developing more
assertive, tough members, and by train-
ing them to use traditional weapons
such as the wooden staff. On quite
another level, the RSShas a long history
of charitable work with refugees and vic-
tims of natural disasters, and one of its
missions is service to the Hindu com-
munity.
In either case the RSShas often been
perceived as anti-Muslim—until 1977,
non-Hindus were barred from being
members—and many of its members
view the Muslim community as aliens in
India, if not actual enemies. Throughout
his life, Hedgewar kept the RSSstrictly
aloof from politics, and his insistence
that it was a cultural and character-
building organization helped keep it
from being banned by the British. Under
its banner as a cultural organization, the
RSS spread from the state of
Maharashtrato other parts of India,
aided in part by deteriorating Hindu-
Muslim relations in the years prior to
independence in 1947. For further
information see Walter K. Andersen
and Shridhar D. Damle, The
Brotherhood in Saffron, 1987; Tapan
Basu et al., Khaki Shorts and Saffron
Flags, 1993; and Christophe Jaffrelot,
The Hindu Nationalist Movement in
India, 1996.Hells
In Hinduism there are believed to be
many additional planes of existence
besides the visible earthly realm. These
alternate planes of existence include the
hells, which are conceived of as places of
punishment for one’s past misdeeds.
Traditional Hindu accounts describe
the hells in great detail, often linking
particular sorts of punishments to
particular sinful actions. Just as with
heavens, life in a hell is ultimately
an impermanent state, although the
time of punishment is usually described
as enormously long and incredibly
painful. Still, when the time of punish-
ment is done and one’s bad deeds
have been expiated, one will be reborn
in a higher form.
Needless to say, birth in any of
the hells is something to be avoided if
at all possible, and for this reason people
are urged to perform penances
(prayashchitta) for their sins while they
are still living, so that the consequences
of these sins may not burden them in
their next lives.Hemp
Colloquial name for Cannibus indica,
more commonly known as marijuana.
In earlier times the plant’s long fibers
were used in the manufacture of rope
and cloth. In contemporary times it is
mainly used for its narcotic properties,
either by crushing and processing the
leaves to make bhangor by collecting
the plant’s resins as hashish (charas).Hemp