On November 10, 1920, Shri Dattopant Thengadi was born in the Maharashtra village of Arvi in the Wardha district. He completed his LLB at Nagpur’s Law College and his post-graduation studies at Morris College. When M.S. Golwalkar Guruji was appointed as the second Sarsanghchalak in 1940, he strongly encouraged young people to serve full-time as RSS pracharaks in order to broaden the organization’s scope. In response to the invitation, Thengadi ji joined the RSS Pracharak in 1942 and stayed there till his death on October 14, 2004, at the age of 84. He had no desire for positions of authority. For this reason, he turned down the NDA Government’s bestow of the Padma Bhushan award. Thengadi ji was often described as a “silent strategist.” He was a long-sighted architect rather than an overly reactive speaker. He believed that strong institutions, discipline, and clear thinking are necessary for long-term change.

Rather than regulating leadership, he worked in the background to promote it. Those who knew him recall his modesty, his unwavering faith in nationalist thought, and his understanding of philosophy, economics, and history. His work demonstrates a unique blend of cultural ties and economic practicality. He was influenced by the global philosophy of Ekatma Manavdarshan, which was propagated by Deendayal Upadhyaya, as well as the civilizational ethos of Bharat.

Global Economic issues Vs Hindu Economic System

Globalization, which has escalated inequality and human rights breaches globally, was created by the western world. The rich are getting richer, and the poor are getting poorer. Most of the world’s wealth is held by 1% of the people. The eight richest people in the world have the same fortune as the 4 billion people who make up the poorest half of the world’s population, according to the OXFAM Report, which was presented at the Davos Economic Forum. In addition, hunger claims the lives of 8 million people annually, while both treatable and untreated diseases claim the lives of an equal number.

Dattopant Thengadi ji has expressed serious concerns about the possibility of advanced countries taking advantage of smaller countries. “Some of the advanced countries (perhaps the developed nations or ideological leaders) do not want to cooperate with the efforts for ecological balance but only dump their pollution in the courtyard of developing countries,” he said. However, this approach won’t be able to prevent the worldwide environmental disaster for very long, and the western nations themselves won’t be spared. Adversity will ultimately ruin prosperity everywhere because there is only one world. The economic situation serves as the foundation, but the various superstructure rudiments—the political and legal forms of class conflicts and their outcomes, the constitution, and the legal forms—as well as the reflexes of these real conflicts in the participants’ minds—the political-legal, philosophical theories, and their religious beliefs—all have an impact on the evolution of the historical struggles and, in many cases, determine their forms.

In his book Global Economic System: The Hindu View, Thengadiji argued that “it is inevitable to abandon the current version of Eurocentric history, which is devoid of a sense of proportion, and initiate a new phase of historical investigation, a new framework, new terms of reference, a new scale of values, which would facilitate globalization.” Additionally, he emphasized that the Hindu concept of Dharma could be the finest framework for creating an economy that prioritizes the ideal of societal happiness rather than merely the unrelenting, competitive pursuit of material riches.

The laws outlined in Hindu religious texts like Shastras and Smritis serve as the foundation for Thengadi’s Hindu economic system. In contrast to the “wage-employment” promoted by Western economic ideology, he described the Hindu model of progress and development as having “self-employment” as one of its key characteristics. Such a large number of people joining the workforce cannot be employed by the government. In contrast to “the ever-increasing army of the proletariat” that characterizes the western economic strategy, the objective is to establish a “ever-growing self-employment sector.”

Hindu economic philosophy promotes “free competition without manipulated markets where nature is milked not raped” and “movement is towards equitability and equality.” “Total harmony between the individual, the society, and the nature” is what it encourages. However, the western perspective results in “constant conflict between the individual, the society, and nature” and “ever-widening disparities in the society.”

According to our traditions, society works best when all parties carry out their responsibilities with respect for one another and a feeling of shared accountability. The idea of “Saha-karya”—cooperation—reflects this. Employees are co-creators in the economic process rather than tools of production. The ancient Indian concepts of “Shramik ko samman” (dignity of labor) and “Lok Kalyan” (welfare of all) are in line with the notion that employees should actively participate in management and profit-sharing.

Why Self Reliance is important?

According to Thengadi ji, the founder of Swadeshi Economics, Swadeshi is concerned with more than just products and services. It has to do with the determination to attain national self-sufficiency, maintain national independence and sovereignty, and engage in equal international cooperation. “Swadeshi is the practical, external expression of patriotic sentiments. Isolationist thinking is not the same as a sense of nationality. Globalization is not opposed by patriots. As long as international collaboration is treated equally, their argument for national self-reliance is not incompatible with it. He stated that unemployment had to be addressed on a war footing.

One of his writings, “Third Way,” served as the foundation for “Swadeshi” economics. The only option to replace capitalism and communism is through a Hindu approach to economy and society founded on the principles of Dharma. In his ideal society and economy, self-employment, free competition, equality, and total harmony between the person, the community, and the natural world would all flourish.

Western thought is problematic because it is constantly fragmented and segregated. Ours is always comprehensive and integrated. They believe that studying economics can help solve economic issues, studying political science can help solve political issues, and so on. This is a skewed way of thinking. It is hard to accurately diagnose any economic illness and come up with the best corrective actions without simultaneously taking into account the different non-economic elements. This applies to all other domains, including social, political, and cultural. It is impossible to downplay the significance of non-economic factors when analyzing economic issues.

It is impossible to overlook the non-economic materialistic aspects of human welfare. For instance, the country’s geographic location, temperature, rivers, mountains, natural harbors, peace, and security, or its natural resources, which include land, water, forests, mineral resources, agricultural potential, and general development in other nations, Therefore, non-economic materialistic footers that cannot be measured in terms of money also play a part in this.

However, that’s not all. David Macrod Wright said the same thing in his 1957 book “The open secret of economic growth” that “the fundamental factors making for economic growth are non-economic and non-materialistic in character.” The body is constructed by the spirit itself.

The stark contrasts between the Hindu and Western views must be taken into account.

WESTERN v/s HINDU DEVELOPMENT PARADIGMS

1. Compartmentalized thinking versus integrated thinking,
2. Man – a mere material being vs. Man–a physical, mental, intellectual, and spiritual being,
3. Subservience to Artha-Kama vs. Purushartha Chathushtayam.
4. Society, a club of self-centered individuals vs. Society, a body with all of its members as limbs
5. Happiness for Oneself vs. Happiness for All
6. Acquisitiveness v/s. ‘Aparigraha’ (Non-possession)
7. Profit-motive v/s service motive
8. Consumerism v/s Restrained consumption
9. Exploitation v/s Antoydaya, wellbeing of last man
10. Rights-Oriented consciousness of outers duties v/s. Duty-oriented consciousness of others rights
11. Contrived scarcities v/s Abundance of production
12. Monopoly capitalism through various devices v/s Free competition without manipulated markets
13. Economic theories centred round wage-employment v/s Economic theories centred round self- employment
14. An ever increasing army of proletariat Versus The ever increasing sector of Vishwa karma (Self-employment)
15. Ever widening disparities v/s Movement towards equitability and equality with quality
16. The Rape of Nature v/s. The milking of Mother Nature
17. Constant conflict between individual, society and the Nature v/s The complete harmony between an individual, society and nature.

Every culture has a model of its own. The development model imposed by foreign vested interests or imported from another cultural context might be harmful. The renowned author of “Towards a history of needs” is Ivan Illicit. His Mexican experience with the development myth is described in “Medical nemeses,” “Tools for conviviality and De-schooling Society.” He examines the effects of development on the lives of the impoverished in rural areas and slums, the erosion of traditional skills and means of subsistence, the loss of community self-reliance, dignity, and solidarity, the spoliation of nature, the displacement from traditional environments, unemployment, the bull-dozing of nature, the displacement from traditional self-reliant communities into the cash economy, cultural rootlessness, and political corruption.

Although religion and Dharma are not the same, the world must recognize the power of Dharma rather than religion, which is recognized in the Communist analysis as opium. However, Thengadi ji went beyond the concepts of capitalism and communism by delving farther into the intellectual foundations of “dharma.” Thus, realizing the true philosophical significance of PM Modi’s appeal for “Aatm Nirbhar Bharat” and combating this global crisis and its negative effects could be accomplished by comprehending Thengadiji’s vision.