Politics is a strange game in India. A few personalities have gone on to occupy the collective political consciousness of the people and acquire a larger than life image. One is frequently reminded of the remark made by Congress president Dev Kant Barooah back in the days of Emergency in 1976 when he said, “India is Indira and Indira is India”. By equating the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi to the whole nation, Barooah had not only given her a larger than life image, but also justified every act of oppression exercised by her. On Wednesday, when Yoga guru Ramdev Baba declared Prime Minister Narendra Modi as ‘Rashtra Rishi’ while addressing an event, he did not just honour him with the epithet that roughly translates as ‘saint dedicated to the country’, but also gave him a God-like status.
If one were to analyse the concept of a rishi in historical context, one would realise that it goes beyond the popular definition of him being a saint, to occupy the status of a demigod with a rather supernatural air about him. The celebrated work of historian, A L Basham, “The wonder that was India” lists the concept of a rishi in ancient India under the heading, “Demigods and spirits,” along with other supernature phenomenon like Gandharvas, apsaras and snake spirits. Basham defined rishis as “composers of the Vedic hymns, and other legendary wise men of olden times who had been translated to heaven, where they enjoyed a status comparable to that of Gods.” Some examples of legendary rishis according to him were Narada, the patron saint of music, Vishvamitra, who is credited to have authored the Gayatri mantra and Brihaspati, the Vedic era saint who counseled the Gods.
However, when teamed with the term ‘rashtra’ or nation, the concept of a rishi acquires a political connotation, in the sense of referring to a religious personality involved in administrative matters. In historical context, the closest we come to such an entity is that of a purohit or court chaplain who was intricately involved in devising strategies for the king, apart from taking care of spiritual matters in the court.
In case of PM Narendra Modi, however, both the concept of a ‘rishi’ and that of a religious court strategist is quite strange to use as epithet, since he is a democratically elected political personality, who is entrusted with the duty of leading the people, without any spiritual or supernatural connotations being attached to the responsibility.
