Ram Swarup (

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

: 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 planned industrial city 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 lies 214 km (128 miles) southwest of Chandigar ...

, now a part of the state of

Haryana Haryana () is a States and union territories of India, state located in the northern part of India. It was carved out after the linguistic reorganisation of Punjab, India, Punjab on 1 November 1966. It is ranked 21st in terms of area, with les ...

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

Delhi University The Delhi University (DU, ISO 15919, ISO: ), also and officially known as the University of Delhi, is a collegiate university, collegiate research university, research Central university (India), central university located in Delhi, India. It ...

in 1941. He started the Changer's Club in 1944, members of which included Lakshmi Chand Jain, Raj Krishna, Girilal Jain and Sita Ram Goel. In 1948–49, he worked for

Mahatma Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2October 186930January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalism, anti-colonial nationalist, and political ethics, political ethicist who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful Indian ...

'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 () was the standing body of the highest organ of state power, highest body of state authority in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).The Presidium of the Soviet Union is, in short, the legislativ ...

-mouthpiece ''

Izvestia ''Izvestia'' ( rus, Известия, r=Izvestiya, p=ɪzˈvʲesʲtʲɪjə, "The News") is a daily broadsheet newspaper in Russia. Founded in February 1917, ''Izvestia'', which covered foreign relations, was the organ of the Supreme Soviet of th ...

'' 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 Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, when it was one of the most in ...

'', another mouthpiece for that same foreign power's Communist Party.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 ...

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

The Times of India ''The Times of India'' (''TOI'') is an Indian English-language daily newspaper and digital news media owned and managed by the Times Group. It is the List of newspapers in India by circulation, third-largest newspaper in India by circulation an ...

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

Hindustan Times ''Hindustan Times'' is an Indian English language, English-language daily newspaper based in Delhi. It is the flagship publication of HT Media Limited, an entity controlled by the Birla family, and is owned by Shobhana Bhartia, the daughter o ...

'' and '' Hinduism Today''. In 1982, Swarup founded the publishing house Voice of India, which has published works by Harsh Narain, A. K. Chatterjee, K.S. Lal, Koenraad Elst, Rajendra Singh, Sant R.S. Nirala and Shrikant Talageri, among others.Goel, Sita Ram
"How I became a Hindu"
Chapter 9

Views

Hinduism

Ram Swarup upheld the polytheistic interpretation of the

Vedas FIle:Atharva-Veda samhita page 471 illustration.png, upright=1.2, The Vedas are ancient Sanskrit texts of Hinduism. Above: A page from the ''Atharvaveda''. The Vedas ( or ; ), sometimes collectively called the Veda, are a large body of relig ...

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 Modern yoga gurus, yogi, maharishi, and Indian nationalist. He also edited the newspaper Bande Mataram (publication), ''Bande Mataram''. Aurobindo st ...

, 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 (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

'critique' of Christian missionary 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. 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, spans a range of new religious movements variously influenced by the Paganism, beliefs of pre-modern peoples across Europe, North Africa, and the Near East. Despite some comm ...

, and corresponded with Prudence Jones (chairperson of

Pagan Federation The Pagan Federation is a UK-based religious advocacy group. Formed in 1971 as the Pagan Front, the group campaigns for the religious rights of Neo-pagans with the aim of educating both civic bodies and the general public. The Pagan Federati ...

) and the Pagan author Guðrún Kristín Magnúsdóttir. Under the influence of Ram Swarup, other Hindu revivalists also took an interest in European paganism. Christopher Gérard (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 *''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 US 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
Onlineother 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'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 oriental studies, Orientalist, and colonial administrator, Principal of the University of Edinburgh and Lieutenant Governor of the North-Western Provinces of British Raj, Brit ...

'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 Sita Ram Goel) * Chapters Five and Six in '' Hindu Temples - What Happened to Them'' (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 Time ...

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: 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.

References

External links

Ram Swarup (1920-1998) – Outline of a Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Swarup, Ram 1920 births 1998 deaths Indian male writers 20th-century Indian philosophers Indian male essayists Indian spiritual writers 20th-century Indian writers Hindu revivalists Hindu revivalist writers Indian anti-communists Indian critics of Christianity Indian critics of Islam Hindu critics of Islam Anti-Christian sentiment in India Voice of India writers Indian political writers 20th-century essayists Indian publishers (people) Book publishing company founders People from Sonipat Delhi University alumni