20 / March 2018 / Yuva Bharati
is followed by the Section titled Foreword
-- Forewords to books by other authors,
and to a few Kendra publications. These
comprise the first half of Volume III,
and the last Section – Other Publications
follows. ‘Gita’s Vision of an Ideal Society’
is followed by Shri Parameswaranji’s
another monumental work titled ‘Marx
and Vivekananda – a Comparative Study’.
This takes practically the whole of the
second half of the Volume. The booklet
titled ‘Gita’s Vision of an Ideal Society’
takes one’s attention back to the Editorial
on ‘Swadhyaya’ (in Volume II) in two parts
which is mainly about a great social worker.
His name is Pandurang Vajinath Shastri
Athawale (1920-2003). His was a life
devoted to the uplift of the poor villagers,
the fishermen and the tribal people. Drawing
inspiration from the Bhagavad Gita, one
can say he practically lived the Gita, not
merely taught or preached it. Pandurang
Athawale founded the Swadhyaya
Movement in 1954. The movement that
was started in Maharashtra spread to
Gujarat, and later on even to distant lands.
His concept of Vrikshamandirs, that is,
temples with no walls and domes, temples
of trees alone, caught on well among the
tribal villagers for whom planting trees and
nourishing them were skills in their blood.
Following the path of least resistance,
Pandurang Athawale turned their skills to
good purpose, at the same time, inculcating
in them the spirit of community life and
living by helping one another. The tree is
symbolic of selfless life – Thyaga -- always
giving away to others. Multifarious are theuses of a tree. Shastriji’s another remarkable
feat was the setting up of Amrutalayam
Mandirs in the tribal areas. These are not
walled temples. To describe in the words
of Shri Arun Shourie, “These are two or
three-foot high brick pillars – from these
rise arches of bamboo, and over them and
across them stretches a canopy of creepers.
Each couple – husband and wife – in the
village are pujaris by turn, each couple for
a week...All families contribute plants
and creepers, all work together to tend
them...” Thus, Shastriji breathed new life
into the village and tribal communities. He
transformed their lives. They, in thousands,
became a happy, peaceful and contented
lot. Similarly, the skill of the fishermen
was used in channelizing their work more
nobly, into dharmic work. The concept
of Mathsyagandha, i.e. Floating Ships was
set on sail. A community interest was
promoted to take care of the ships and
they were employed to help the needy.
Effective programmes were implemented
to sink differences or hostile feelings
among certain fishermen communities
like Mers and Kharwas. All this, because
of one propelling power inspired by the
practicability of the Gita. That power
sought expression through Shri Pandurang
Athawale. Honours and awards came
in recognition of his exceptional work.
Padma Bhushan, Magsaysay Award, and
Templeton Award were conferred on him.
All said and done, to Shastriji, the one
perennial source of inspiration was the
Gita. Internalizing the Gita doctrines, he
became totally transformed and worked
incessantly for the good of others.