Ram Swarup (

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been de ...

: राम स्वरूप ; – ), born Ram Swarup Agarwal, was an Indian author and one of the most important thought leaders of the Hindu revivalist movement.Adelheid Herrmann-Pfandt: Hindutva zwischen „Dekolonisierung“ und Nationalismus. Zur westlichen Mitwirkung an der Entwicklung neuen hinduistischen Selbstbewußtseins in Indien In: Manfred Hutter (Hrsg.): Religionswissenschaft im Kontext der Asienwissenschaften. 99 Jahre religionswissenschaftliche Lehre und Forschung in Bonn. Lit, Münster 2009, S. 233–248. p. 240

Life

Ram Swarup was born in 1920 to a banker father in

Sonipat Sonipat is a city, municipal corporation and administrative headquarter in Sonipat district of Haryana state of India. It comes under the National Capital Region and is around from New Delhi. It is also around 214 km (128 miles) southwest o ...

, now a part of the state of

Haryana Haryana (; ) is an Indian state located in the northern part of the country. It was carved out of the former state of East Punjab on 1 Nov 1966 on a linguistic basis. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with less than 1.4% () of India's land ar ...

in the Garg gotra of the merchant Agrawal caste. He graduated with a degree in Economics from

Delhi University Delhi University (DU), formally the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate Central university (India), central university located in New Delhi, India. It was founded in 1922 by an Act of the Central Legislative Assembly and ...

in 1941. He started the Changer's Club in 1944, members of which included

Lakshmi Chand Jain Lakshmi Chand Jain (1925–2010) was a political activist and writer. Later, he served at various times as a member of the Planning Commission, as Indian High commissioner to South Africa, as a member of the World Commission on Dams (WCD) an ...

Raj Krishna Raj Krishna was an Indian economist who taught at the Delhi School of Economics. He is most famous for the phrase " Hindu rate of growth" which he coined for India's low rate of GDP Gross domestic product (GDP) is a monetary measure of ...

, Girilal Jain and

Sita Ram Goel Sita Ram Goel (16 October 1921 – 3 December 2003) was an Indian historian, religious and political activist, writer, and publisher in the late twentieth century. He had Marxist leanings during the 1940s, but later became an outspoken anti-co ...

. In 1948-49, he worked for

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

's disciple Mira Behn (Madeleine Slade). Swarup wrote a book on the Communist party that was published under an assumed name. In 1949, he founded the Society for the Defence of Freedom in Asia. The Society published books, reviewed in the West, that criticised both the

Presidium of the Supreme Soviet The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in 1917, it was a newspaper of record in the Soviet Union until the Soviet Union's dissolution in 1991, and describes ...

'' as well as ''

Pravda ''Pravda'' ( rus, Правда, p=ˈpravdə, a=Ru-правда.ogg, "Truth") is a Russian broadsheet newspaper, and was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most influential papers in the co ...

'', another mouthpiece for that same foreign power's

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

.Sita Ram Goel Genesis and Growth of Nehruism (1993) The Society for the Defence of Freedom in Asia ceased operations in 1955. His early book ''Gandhism and Communism'' from around this time had some influence among American policymakers and members of

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

. Swarup also wrote for mainstream Indian weeklies and dailies, like the ''Telegraph'', ''

The Times of India ''The Times of India'', also known by its abbreviation ''TOI'', is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by The Times Group. It is the third-largest newspaper in India by circulation and largest ...

'', ''Indian Express'', ''Observer of Business and Politics'', ''

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media, an entity controlled by the KK Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia. It was founded by Sunder Singh Lyall ...

'' and ''

Hinduism Today ''Hinduism Today'' is a quarterly magazine published by the Himalayan Academy, a nonprofit educational institution, in Kapaʻa, Hawaiʻi, USA. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally, currently in 60 nations. Founded by ...

''. In 1982, Swarup founded the Hindutva publishing house

Voice of India Voice of India (VOI) is a publishing house based in New Delhi, India, that specialises in Hindu nationalist books and serves as one of the most important tools in the development of Hindutva ideologies. History Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel tr ...

, which has published works by Harsh Narain, A. K. Chatterjee,

K.S. Lal Kishori Saran Lal (1920–2002), better known as K. S. Lal, was an Indian historian. He is the author of several works, mainly on the medieval history of India. Career He obtained his master's degree in 1941 at the University of Allahabad. In ...

Koenraad Elst Koenraad Elst (; born 7 August 1959) is a Flemish right wing Hindutva author, known primarily for his support of the Out of India theory and the Hindutva movement. Schola ...

Rajendra Singh Rajendra Singh (born 6 August 1959) is an Indian water conservationist and environmentalist from Alwar district, Rajasthan in India. Also known as "waterman of India", he won the Magsaysay Award in 2001 and Stockholm Water Prize in 2015. He ...

, Sant R.S. Nirala and

Shrikant Talageri Indigenous Aryanism, also known as the Indigenous Aryans theory (IAT) and the Out of India theory (OIT), is the Belief, conviction that the Aryans are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent, and that the Indo-European languages radiated out from ...

, among others.Goel, Sita Ram
"How I became a Hindu"
Chapter 9

Views

Hinduism

Ram Swarup upheld the polytheistic interpretation of the

Vedas upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the '' Atharvaveda''. The Vedas (, , ) are a large body of religious texts originating in ancient India. Composed in Vedic Sanskrit, the texts constitute the ...

by rejecting the concept of one God, and states that, "only some form of polytheism alone can do justice to this variety and richness." Swarup was influenced by

Sri Aurobindo Sri Aurobindo (born Aurobindo Ghose; 15 August 1872 – 5 December 1950) was an Indian philosopher, yogi, maharishi, poet, and Indian nationalist. He was also a journalist, editing newspapers such as ''Vande Mataram''. He joined the ...

, whom he held to be the greatest exponent of the Vedic vision in our times.Goel:How I became a Hindu. ch.8 Ram Swarup was "most responsible for reviving and re-popularizing" the

Hindu Hindus (; ) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism.Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pages 35–37 Historically, the term has also been used as a geographical, cultural, and later religious identifier for ...

'critique' of

Christian missionary A Christian mission is an organized effort for the propagation of the Christian faith. Missions involve sending individuals and groups across boundaries, most commonly geographical boundaries, to carry on evangelism or other activities, such as ...

practices in the 1980s, according to Chad Bauman. He insisted that monotheistic religions like Christianity "nurtured among their adherents a lack of respect for other religions".Pentecostals, Proselytization, and Anti-Christian Violence in Contemporary India by Chad M. Bauman, Oxford University Press, 2015 In the 1980s, he and Goel were involved in a "vigorous debate" with the Christian Ashram movement represented by

Bede Griffiths Bede Griffiths OSB Cam (17 December 1906 – 13 May 1993), born Alan Richard Griffiths and also known by the end of his life as Swami Dayananda ("bliss of compassion"), was a British-born priest and Benedictine monk who lived in ashrams in Sou ...

. Swarup has been named one of the most important thought leaders of the Hindu revivalist movement.

European paganism

Swarup also had an interest in European

Neopaganism Modern paganism, also known as contemporary paganism and neopaganism, is a term for a religion or family of religions influenced by the various Paganism, historical pre-Christian beliefs of pre-modern peoples in Europe and adjacent areas of No ...

, and corresponded with Prudence Jones (chairperson of

Pagan Federation The Pagan Federation is a UK-based voluntary organisation, founded as the Pagan Front, that provides information and counters misconceptions about Neopaganism. It was formed in 1971, and campaigns for the religious rights of Neo-pagans and ed ...

) and the Pagan author

Guðrún Kristín Magnúsdóttir Guðrún Kristín Magnúsdóttir (born 27 September 1939 in Reykjavík) is an Icelandic author and artist. She has received a number of awards as an artist and author of more than 130 books, including children's books, books on nature, and the � ...

. Under the influence of Ram Swarup, other Hindu revivalists also took an interest in European paganism.

Christopher Gérard Christopher Gérard (born 7 July 1962) is a Belgian novelist, publisher and literary critic. He is known as a promoter of modern Paganism, drawing much inspiration from Hinduism, and published the journal ''Antaios'' from 1992 to 2001. He has wr ...

(editor of ''Antaios'', Society for Polytheistic Studies) said: "Ram Swarup was the perfect link between Hindu Renaissance and renascent Paganism in the West and elsewhere." Swarup has also advocated a "Pagan renaissance" in Europe, saying He argued that the European Pagans "should compile a directory of Pagan temples destroyed, Pagan groves and sacred spots desecrated. European Pagans should also revive some of these sites as their places of pilgrimage."Hinduism Today. July 1999. Antaios 1996 (Interview with Ram Swarup and Sita Ram Goel)

Bibliography

*''Indictment'', Changer's Club *''Mahatma Gandhi and His Assassin'', 1948. Changer's Club *''Let us Fight the Communist Menace'' (1949) *''Russian Imperialism: How to Stop It'' (1950); *''Communism and Peasantry: Implications of Collectivist Agriculture for Asian Countries'' (1950,1954) *''Gandhism and Communism'' (1954) *''Foundations of Maoism'' (1956). with a foreword by

Kodandera M. Cariappa ' Field Marshal (India), Field Marshal Kodandera Madappa Cariappa (28 January 1899 – 15 May 1993) was the first Indian Chief of the Army Staff (India), Commander-in-Chief (C-in-C) of the Indian Army. He led Indian forces on the Western Fron ...

*''Gandhian Economics'' (1977) *''The Hindu View of Education'' (1971
Online (PDF)
*''The Word as Revelation: Names of Gods'' (1980), (1982, revised 1992
Online
*''Understanding Islam through Hadis'' (1983 in the USA by Arvind Ghosh, Houston; Indian reprint by Voice of India, 1984); The Hindi translation was banned in 1990, and the English original was banned in 1991 in India
Online

other source
*''Buddhism vis-à-vis Hinduism'' (1958, revised 1984). *''Hinduism vis-à-vis Christianity and Islam'' (1982, revised 1992) *''Woman in Islam'' (1994); *''Hindu View of Christianity and Islam'' (1993, contains also as an appendix Swarup's foreword to

D. S. Margoliouth David Samuel Margoliouth, Fellow of the British Academy, FBA (; 17 October 1858, in London – 22 March 1940, in London) was an English oriental studies, orientalist. He was briefly active as a priest in the Church of England. He was Laudian P ...

's '' Mohammed and the Rise of Islam'' (1985, original in 1905) and to

William Muir Sir William Muir (27 April 1819 – 11 July 1905) was a Scottish Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-West Provinces of British India. Life He was born at Gl ...

's The Life of Mahomet (1992, original in 1894
Online
*''Ramakrishna Mission: Search for a New Identity'' (1986
Online
*''Cultural Alienation and Some Problems Hinduism Faces'' (1987) *''Hindu-Sikh Relationship'' (1985
Online (PDF)
*''Hindu-Buddhist Rejoinder to Pope John-Paul II on Eastern Religions and Yoga'' (1995) * ''Hinduism and monotheistic religions. (2015).'' * ''On Hinduism: Reviews and reflections.'' New Delhi: Voice of India
Online
(2000). ;Writings as a contributor *''Christianity, an Imperialist Ideology'' (1983, with Major T.R. Vedantham and

) * Chapters Five and Six in ''

Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them ''Hindu Temples – What Happened to Them'' is a two-volume book by Sita Ram Goel, Arun Shourie, Harsh Narain, Jay Dubashi and Ram Swarup. The first volume was published in the Spring of 1990. Contents The first volume includes a list of 2,00 ...

'' (1990 vol.1, with

Arun Shourie Arun Shourie (born 2 November 1941) is an Indian economist, journalist, author and politician. He has worked as an economist with the World Bank, a consultant to the Planning Commission of India, editor of the ''Indian Express'' and ''The Times ...

and others,

* Foreword to a republication of D. S. Margoliouth, D.S. Margoliouth's Mohammed and the Rise of Islam (1985, original in 1905) *Foreword to a republication of

's The Life of Mahomet (1992, original in 1894) *''Foreword to

Anirvan Sri Anirvan (8 July 1896 – 31 May 1978), born Narendra Chandra Dhar, was an Indian Hindu monk, writer and philosopher.''Buddhiyoga of the Gita and other Essays''. by Anirvan. Samata Books, 1984 (paperback 1991). at Bagchee.com, accessed 1 ...

: Inner Yoga'' (1988, reprint 1995) ;Writings in other languages *''Hindu Dharma, Isaiat aur Islam'' (1985, Hindi: "Hindu Dharma, Christianity and Islam"); * ''Foi et intolérance: Un regard hindou sur le christianisme et l'Islam'' (2000). Paris: Le Labyrinthe.

Life

Views

Hinduism

European paganism

Bibliography

References

Further reading