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Foreword
Thought-currents are the makers and unmakers of nations and peoples. Regenerating, invigorating, enabling and aspiring ones raise them while degenerating, emasculating and self-deluding ones bring ruination upon them.
In all walks of life, for a very long time, the Hindus have been fed on inertia-producing thoughts which disabled them to act energetically for any purpose, in life, other than “moksha,” that is to say escape from this world — where to? God knows. And this is one of the causes of the continuous enslavement of our Hindu Rashtra, for centuries altogether.
Inspite of this state of things, time and again the undying vitality of Hindu manhood has asserted itself so vigorously as to make the enemies of Hindudom tremble before its “Nrisingha” nature. But it was inspite of the extraordinarily heavy pressure of the most unhealthy mental apathy towards worldly things that this outburst of the manly spirit was witnessed.
This unworldly mental attitude of the Hindu mind kept the nation from being conscious of its Hindu nationhood.
In the meantime, circumstances forced the Hindus to think in terms of nationhood, but, unfortunately, instead of the right one, they conceived a perverted idea of
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nationality. They tried to forget their collective self in order to bring foreign elements within the orbit of what they considered to be the “nation” — a strange “nation” indeed, in which men of foreign culture and foreign interests are given the upper hand, while the true children of the soil (faithful to its civilisation), are being reduced to helotry. And thus the Hindus encouraged the foreign elements, namely the Moslems, to foster the anti-national ambition of establishing their supremacy in India, either allied to the British or of their own.
As a result, the very existence of the Hindus as a nation has been increasingly threatened. Day by day, the situation is becoming more and more serious, and a time is almost at hand when, it is feared, it will be quite an impossible thing to think of the Hindu nation being saved. Anyhow, an herculean effort is needed to, save it, and the first and most important step towards such an effort is to produce an extraordinarily forceful thought-current through the collective Hindu mind; a thought-current which will, inspite of their still apathetic mental condition, create, among the Hindus, the positively assertive attitude of Hindu nationalism.
With the knowledge of this diagnosis, a few people have come forth who are doing their best to enable the once glorious and now unfortunate Hindu nation to come out of these critical times victoriously. And the authoress of this little book may safely be given due credit for producing the most necessary thought-current and thus, for rendering the most urgent service to this Hindu nation of ours.
She has one advantage over the usual workers from within the Hindu fold. She was Greek by nationality. It is owing partly to her appreciation of Hindu art, thought
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and “dharma,” and partly to deeper reasons that she was drawn to our society and that she adopted what we call “Hindutwa” for the rest of her life. But naturally, being a European, she could, though from within, study the condition of the Hindus in a detached manner. And this book contains the mature and thoughtful conclusions drawn by her, conclusions which, in no case, can be taken as the outcome of that partial attitude which one of the born-Hindus may be said to possess.
This highly inspiring and thought-provoking book will make the Hindus realise where they stand, and what dangers are threatening their very existence as a nation; it will put them on the right turn of national thinking. And this new attitude, if whole-heartedly adopted throughout the length and breadth of this country, will raise them, and help them to assert their national existence which the world shall not be able to ignore.
After this much, I introduce this book to the Hindu readers, and take leave of them hoping to be excused for having stood in the way between them and its valuable contents.
G. D. Savarkar
Sree G. D. Savarkar has given a translation of this book in Marathi language.
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