The Spirit of Varanasi

Varanasi has become the most important address in India. Only a few days ago all roads were leading to Varanasi as the most eligible candidate for the sixteenth Lok Sabha was seeking elections from this holy city. Ancient city Kashi, as Varanasi was earlier called, has been the seat of Hindu religio-cultural activities ranging from dharma to moksha. It was also known for thugs and nautch girls, ghats and temples, mystic saints like Kabir and kings like ascetic Raja Harishchandra. And of course the famous shrine of Lord Shiva – Kashi Vishwanath.  The list is endless. But it is for a different reason that Varanasi is being talked about today. It is the constituency from where BJP Prime Ministerial nominee Narendra Modi stormed the Hindi heart land. Varanasi has a acquired strategic importance today. From cultural to political, the metamorphosis of this pilgrim town seems to be complete. The campaign that started in style, with salutations to Ganga and garlanding of the Malviya statue outside the Banaras Hindu University (BHU) gate at Lanka has reached its logical end.

As this half awake, half asleep mix of a part rural, part urban populous conglomerate became hot stuff for national and international media stories, a new class of Banaras watcher suddenly cropped up, more to thrive on the global popular curiosity rather than to tell something meaningful.

But amid this cacophony there is need to throw light on the spirit of Kashi. Kashi itself means shining light, pure divine light. The city has been a seat of spiritual awakening. A city that liberates, a city that removes ignorance. To understand the true nature of Varanasi one must know what it stands for. While there may be many sources, one very lucid and authentic source is the BHU song, the kulgeet of the university composed by famous scientist Dr. Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar. This song describes the real nature of Varanasi. It says that Varanasi is pleasant and beautiful and is the capital of all knowledge. The city is better than the three loka’s that comprise this universe. Situated on the banks of holy and scenic Ganga this seat of learning is full of delightful creations of Vishwakarma, the God of construction in the Hindu pantheon. The beauty of the city lies in the fact that truth prevails here over everything and for this truth Raja Harishchandra sold himself. It was here that sage Vyas created the source of supreme knowledge the Vedas. The great sages and liberators of this world like Buddha and Shankar flourished here and this city is the capital of such supreme masters. The city is a unique combination of ancient and the modern and it is here that Malaviyaji created the great seat of learning Banaras Hindu University through the sheer dint of courage. A word about  the philosophy of the founder of this great institution BHU is also important and is enshrined in the following words –

I do not for a royal realm aspire,

For liberation or for paradise.

To serve those bent with grief I desire,

And calm their sorrows and help them rise.

This, then, is the true spirit of Varanasi and must pave way for reinventing India.