Shri Guruji personally took interest in the formation of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP). The idea behind forming this forum was to awaken the much needed feeling of true Dharma among the Hindus. Its auspicious founding was in the Sandipani Ashram of Swami Chinmayananda at Mumbai. The meeting was attended by eminent personalities like the Sikh leader Master Tara Singh, the Dalai Lama, Jain Acharya, Kanhayalal Munshi and Pejawar Swami amongst others. In the Kumbh Mela of 1966 at Prayag, the all-world Hindu Conference saw its formal establishment. The three day conference (22-24 January, 1966) was attended by participants from all over the world and everybody felt an up surging enthusiasm and unity of the Hindus. In Prayag, Shri Guruji put forth some important guidelines also for the VHP.

The 1966 meet at Prayag during the Kumbh Mela was of great historical significance in yet another aspect also. For centuries there was this misconception in the Hindu society that once a person leaves the Hindu Dharma and embraces Christianity or Islam, he cannot come back to the Hindu fold. The misconception proved to be a breach in the dam of Hindu society, resulting in a one-sided exodus of the Hindus from Hinduism with no way to return. The Hindu population was getting thinner and that of non-Hindus bigger. From the platform of VHP, all the religious leaders including Shankaracharya pronounced, unequivocally. “It is the sacred religious duty of all the Hindus to bring back all the converts to their original Hindu Dharma.”

At that time, the word coming back (Paravartan) replaced the word purification (Shuddhi). Later Shri Pejawar gave it as a mantra ‘na Hindu patito bhavet’ i.e. the Hindus can never become fallen. The main objective of this mantra was to dispel the false notion that ‘converted Hindu is fallen forever and cannot be accepted back as a Hindu.’

On the occasion of Shri Guruji’s 51st birthday, in 1956, public functions were held all over the country to rouse the spirit of true nationalism in the people and offering of Shraddha vidhi to him. At these public functions he appealed to all the Hindu brethren who had converted to other faiths to merge back into the Hindu mainstream. He had also suggested respected Pejawar Swami to work in this direction in 1955.

 

On that occasion, Swamiji had asked Guruji, “Would our Bharat be united again?” Shri Guruji had replied, “We chant ‘Gange cha, Yamune cha... etc. while taking bath daily and do utter ‘Sindhu’ also in it. It means that all the regions on the other side of Sindhu are also our own.” Swamiji asked, “When would this happen.” Shri Guruji said, “The country was divided because of the disorganized state of Hindus. When Hindus stand organized and united again, time will not be far before Bharat becomes united once again.”

In north-eastern Bharat, the Christian missionaries have propagated amongst the Janajatis there that they were non-Hindus as they ate beef. In the Assam convention of VHP in 1967 Shri Guruji held discussions with Shri Shankaracharya of Dwarkapeeth and the Vaishnav Satra-adhikari from Assam, and convinced them that the Janajatis have always been Hindus. They got disconnected with the mainstream Hinduism because their links and communications were hampered, some time in history. Hence, they are not at fault.”

The same day, in the evening, Shri Shankaracharya of Dwarkapeeth announced in a public meeting, “All of you, Janajati brethren are very much Hindus. You had to consume beef as a sheer necessity because there was no other alternative nutritious food for you in this region. Hence you are not a fault.” This speech heartened the Janajati leaders and representatives and they felt proud and confident enough to counter the ill-motivated propaganda of the Christian missionaries.

Shri Guruji played an important role in the establishment and propagation of ‘Vanavasi Kalyan Ashram’ for the welfare of the people living in the forests. This was aimed at awakening their sense of pride about their age-old culture, traditions and their heritage, their protection and preservation. Along with this, the all-round development of the Vanavasis and their homogenization with the rest of the country were the objectives of this move. Shri Guruji played a prominent role in the forming and progress of this organization.

 

The 1969 Udupi (Karnataka) convention of the VHP proved to be a historic occasion for the revitalization of the Hindu society. Leaders of all the religions including those from Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Veer-Shaivas, Dharmacharyas and Shakaracharyas (along with the Peethadhish of the Harijans) were on the dais. In the presence of 15,000 delegates from all over Karnataka, with the unanimous direction of all the religious leaders, a far-reaching resolution was passed a declaration that ‘There is no place for untouchability in Hinduism.’ The president of Pejawar Math Sri Vishveshteertha Swami gave a new mantra ‘Hindavah Sahodara Sarve’ (All Hindus are brothers). After the resolution was passed Shri Guruji was ecstatic and on his call, the audience thunderously hailed and applauded all the religious leaders. Shri Guruji also lent his voice to this haling. Shri Yadavaraoji Joshi states that it was the moment of greatest joy in Shri Guruji’s life.

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