“Hindutva is a Vīrabhadra Phenomenon”, cshc.substack.com, July 05, 2026
“We have been, since time immemorial, a land of storytellers. The stories of gods, seers, kings, animals and whatnot have been the most preferred medium for the transmission of knowledge in Indian traditions. We, as a culture, have always loved stories so much that the revered Satyanārāyaṇa Kathā/narrative (Revā Khaṅḍa, Skanda Purāṇa) comprises multiple stories that are eulogies of the meta-story, i.e., the Satyanārāyaṇa Kathā, which is not even narrated. Dr J. P. Singh points out, in his work Nāradīya Sañcāra Nīti, that it is a story whose components praise a story never told. The Purāṇas are one such corpus of Indian literature that has woven stories, rituals, peoples, geography, gods, flora and fauna, and transcendent realms into a single fabric of narratives and praxes.
The opening words are part of a Paurāṇika ākhyāna (narrative) – the Dakṣa Yajña Narrative – which defines many aspects of the lived cultural world of a billion Hindus. The sacred geography of Śaktipīṭha-s, festivals, iconography, performative traditions, and metaphysical implications, such as the continuation of Pravrtti Dharma into Nivrtti Dharma(1), are a few among many. It is a complex narrative to deal with. I may not be an adhikārī, but I will attempt to situate a cultural phenomenon that defines the current era of Indian politics within this ākhyāṇa for reasons discussed later.
Hindutva
Hindutva is a movement marked by the assertion of Indian cultural symbols, concepts, narratives, and interests in policy formulation and public discourse. It is informed by an idea of Bharat grounded in civilisational continuity rather than a purely statist conception. Hindutva politics involves aggressive rhetoric against the culturally alienating “secular” politics of India, which has been a dominant theme in Indian politics since Nehruvian times. However, it is noteworthy that despite the Hindutva political uprising, the vacuous construct of secularism(2) is part of the basic structure of the Indian Constitution (S. R. Bommai judgement, 1994). That is something to reflect upon……..”
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