Relevance of Savarkar Today
About the book
Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966) was a multidimensional personality - a freedom fighter, social reformer, writer, poet, historian, political leader and philosopher all combined into one. Savarkar's ideas of modernity, social and religious reforms, cultivation of scientific temper and embracing technological tools continue to be relevant in the 21st century. "Relevance of Savarkar Today", 25 pearls of visionary wisdom by Veer Sawarkar, is the product of deep study and research by Dr Ashok Modak. Savarkar's quotations, the author's expert comments and nearly 60 supportive comments by senior political leaders, social reformers, and intellectuals in 25 chapters illustrate the relevance of following the visionary messages of Savarkar for a new India of the 21st century. Bring out a solid, cohesive social fabric through unity Hindutva embraces the whole being of the Hindu race Brave foreign policies for the total defence of India Strong India for the real happiness of humanity.
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About the Book
Swatantryaveer Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883-1966) was a multidimensional personality - a freedom fighter, social reformer, writer, poet, historian, political leader and philosopher all combined into one. Savarkar's ideas of modernity, social and religious reforms, cultivation of scientific temper and embracing technological tools continue to be relevant in the 21st century.
"Relevance of Savarkar Today", 25 pearls of visionary wisdom by Veer Sawarkar, is the product of deep study and research by Dr Ashok Modak.
Savarkar's quotations, the author's expert comments and nearly 60 supportive comments by senior political leaders, social reformers, and intellectuals in 25 chapters illustrate the relevance of following the visionary messages of Savarkar for a new India of the 21st century.
Bring out a solid, cohesive social fabric through unity
Hindutva embraces the whole being of the Hindu race
Brave foreign policies for the total defence of India
Strong India for the real happiness of humanity.
Book details
- Format
- Paperback
- Publisher
- Prabhat Prakashan
- Weight
- 350 grams
- ISBN-13
- 9789390923564
- Pages
- 200
- Reading time
- ~7 hrs
- Age
- 18+
- Country of origin
- India
- Dimensions
- 15 ร 22 cm
- Language
- English
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Relevance of Savarkar Today distills the thought of Vinayak Damodar Savarkar (1883โ1966) โ freedom fighter, historian, poet, and social reformer โ into 25 ideas that address contemporary India's struggle with modernity, rationalism, and social cohesion. While Savarkar remains a polarizing figure, this book sidesteps hagiography to examine his calls for scientific temper, rejection of caste hierarchies, advocacy for women's rights, and embrace of technological progress as engines of national strength. Each "pearl" is contextualized within the intellectual climate of early 20th-century India and measured against the concerns of the 21st โ from communal politics to the global resurgence of nativism. The book is less an apologia than a selective reader, assembling pronouncements on reform, secularism, and rationality that sit uneasily alongside Savarkar's later political legacy. For readers willing to hold contradictions, it offers a window into the mind of a thinker whose reformist impulses coexisted with exclusionary nationalism.
What kind of reading experience does Relevance of Savarkar Today offer?
Relevance of Savarkar Today offers a compartmentalized, idea-by-idea reading experience rather than a narrative arc. Each of the 25 "pearls" is presented as a standalone argument or observation, making it easy to dip in and out. The tone is expository and reverent, framing Savarkar's pronouncements as prescient rather than contested. Readers expecting critical engagement or counterarguments will find the book one-sided; it rewards those interested in understanding what Savarkar said about reform, science, and modernity, not in understanding why his legacy remains divisive. The emotional register is admiring; the intellectual register is selective.
Who is this book best suited for, and what does it expect of its reader?
Relevance of Savarkar Today is best suited for readers already curious about Savarkar's intellectual contributions beyond his association with Hindutva politics, or those studying the intersection of Indian nationalism and social reform movements. It expects familiarity with early 20th-century Indian history โ the book does not contextualize Savarkar's imprisonment, his role in the independence movement, or his later political activities. Readers seeking a balanced biography or critical appraisal will be disappointed; this is a curated anthology for those willing to extract reformist threads from a complex, contested figure.
What is the cultural significance of Savarkar's ideas on modernity and scientific temper in India today?
Savarkar's advocacy for scientific temper, rationalism, and the rejection of caste-based superstition remains culturally significant because these battles are still being fought in 21st-century India. His calls for technological adoption and modernization echo in contemporary debates over science education, space exploration, and digital infrastructure. Yet his reformist impulses coexist with a legacy of exclusionary nationalism that complicates his reception. For some, he represents a lost strand of Hindu modernism; for others, his ideas are inseparable from communal politics. The book's relevance lies in asking: can reformist ideas survive their author's politics?
What makes this book's treatment of Savarkar's ideas distinctive?
Relevance of Savarkar Today distinguishes itself by isolating 25 specific ideas โ on social reform, women's rights, scientific thinking, and technological progress โ and arguing for their independent value apart from Savarkar's later political identity. It treats him as a reformist philosopher rather than a political ideologue, sidestepping controversies over Hindutva to focus on pronouncements that align with secular modernization. This selective framing is both the book's strength and its limitation: it offers clarity at the cost of context, presenting a sanitized Savarkar that may not satisfy readers seeking to understand the whole figure.
What does this book leave the reader with long after they finish it?
Relevance of Savarkar Today leaves readers with a puzzle: how to reconcile progressive ideas on social reform, women's education, and rationalism with the exclusionary nationalism that defined Savarkar's later career. Intellectually, it challenges the binary framing of Indian thinkers as purely progressive or reactionary, suggesting that reformist zeal and communal politics can coexist in the same mind. Emotionally, it may stir discomfort โ admiration for specific insights coupled with unease about their source. Culturally, it invites reflection on which historical legacies India chooses to foreground and which it prefers to forget.


