Indian Political Thought: Themes and Thinkers | Third Edition | By Pearson

24

Swami Sahajanand Saraswati: Social Reforms and Democratic Praxis

—Pratyush Kumar

Introduction

Swami Sahajanand Saraswati (1889–1950), a sanyasi and a rebel, was a social reformer and kisan leader of Bihar who changed its politics and society radically in the first half of the 20th century. At the age of eighteen, he became a sanyasi but attached himself with the masses. His spirituality was not removed from the world for personal moksha; his moksha was connected to the moksha of the masses, which was their material advancement. His Gita was the Gita of lok sangraha. To him, the peasants were not mute spectators or mere objects of change. They were agents of change.

His only mission in life was the empowerment of the masses: first, it were ...