Iconographic representations of renunciation and activism in the Ramakrishna math and mission and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh

Svāmī Vivekānanda’s Iconic Presence and Conventions of Nineteenth-Century Photographic Portraiture

“…Almost as popular as the "Chicago Pose" has been the photograph of Vivekånanda in seated meditation, which I have referred to previously as the "Contemplative Pose" (Beckerlegge 2004b: 53) (Illustration 11). This was part of a set taken professionally in London in 1896 at the instigation of Miss Emmeline Souter, an admirer, which comprised other standing portraits.…”

“…Råmak®‚~a is represented more uniformly and narrowly as the ultimate spiritual source of the movement that took his name (see Beckerlegge 2004b). Vivekånanda, moreover, had to respond to the needs of a greater number of competing interest groups, not least those of his influential supporters in the United States and London, and to represent himself in more varied cultural settings.…”

“…I have examined the nature of the use made of Vivekånanda within the sa gh parivår in a series of studies (Beckerlegge 2003(Beckerlegge , 2004b(Beckerlegge , 2006b.…”

Hindutva as Praxis

“…A commitment to seva has long been core to hindutva praxis, particularly in rural areas. Beckerlegge reports that the RSS’ interest in social welfare development derives from the philosophy of service developed in the context of Indian nationalism, by Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda, for whom seva was a “means to achieve an ultimate goal”, whether “spiritual fulfilment or nation building” (2006, p. 130; 2003, 2004). Social welfare is key to hindutva’s post‐independence organizational diversification and a means by which to recover respectability lost in the wake of Gandhi’s assassination, adds Hansen (1999, p. 96).…”

“…By design or default, however, nationalist ideological objectives also appear shot through with more basic, practically oriented development goals-a fact which locates hindutva seva less its own, and more amidst the social service work of other neo-Hindu groups who either eschew or strategically select their political commitments (cf. Beckerlegge 2006;Toffin 2011;Warrier 2003). For instance, Jaffrelot notes that Seva Bharati's purpose is to simultaneously inculcate values of ''national awareness and a sense of hygiene,'' ''what is good for society and how [one] can be useful to society''-and thereby to ''assimilate marginal populations which are naturally appreciative of charitable work into a Hindu nation' ' (2005, pp.…”