So how long do you think it will take us to achieve the true Swaraaj (self-governing) you mentioned earlier?

Question: So how long do you think it will take us to achieve the true Swaraaj (self-governing) you mentioned earlier?

Shri Shri Thakur: 20 years after we get reformed.

Question : And how long will it take us to get reformed?

Shri Shri Thakur:  That will depend on our activity. As long we are jealous about other people's success¹ – for example, C. R. Das has become a leader but I could not, such thoughts are there – till then nothing will happen. First, such mentality should be driven away. Then we are so many communities staying together in this country. Vaishnavites have Shri Krishna, Shri Gouranga, Christians have Jesus, Muslims have Mohammed – as long as we keep using abusive languages about them,  as long as we do not carry regard for them, any hope of progress will remain a far cry for us.

Question : So you are saying that to become reformed the mentality of the people  needs to be changed first and until this happens we need to refrain ourselves from trying to achieve Swaraaj. Is that right?

Shri Shri Thakur:  If we try to achieve Swaraaj bypassing our reform then it will not happen. To achieve something first we have to know how it can be achieved and then if we realise that the same cannot be achieved by any other means, then there remains no alternative other than the necessary reformation to happen first.²  That is why it is essential to do adjustment according to the need. Thus reformation becomes the very basis of achieving what we want to.³

Question : So it can be concluded that without developing our society, health, education and industry we cannot be reformed. But if this initiative is taken only by a couple of men here and there, then how long will it take to bring about this change within such a vast nation?

 Shri Shri Thakur: Certainly that makes our work slow to begin with, but once we are successful then it starts spreading rapidly – because the very nature of a human being is to hold on to success. For example, in Pabna once a textile mill ran successfully it paved way for many other textile mills simultaneously.⁴ However, to increase manpower, all the reformations should get centralised.

 Foot notes:

¹ – "our biggest drawbacks are – slandering and jealousy; the thought that I am  the best, no one should better me" – Swami Vivekananda

² – "I do not wish to suggest that revolutions are never necessary, but I do wish to suggest that they are not short cuts to the millennium.  There is no short cut to the good life, whether individual or social.  To build up the good life, we must build up intelligence, self-control, and sympathy. This is a quantitative matter, a matter of gradual improvement, of early training, of educational experiment. Only impatience prompts the belief in the possibility of sudden improvement. The gradual improvement that is possible and the methods by which it may be achieved are a matter for future science" – `What I believe' by Bertrand Russell

³ – "Growth is a matter of evolution. We must have patience like the patience of England – the patience of centuries. I realise that an empire is not a thing improvised in a hurry. We will grow if we keep in mind the English adage, ` God helps him who helps himself.' A nation will expand by the slow logic of history. However, we must never lose sight of our necessities. We must, wherever possible, expedite the natural tendencies of growth., a growth that I trust will be peaceful." – Signor Mussolini

³ – "To my mind there is a little difference between an international problem and a local one….it is just as easy to plough a thousand acres with a tractor as it is to plough a ten acre plot with a horse. And it takes no more time." – `My Philosophy of Industry' by Henry Ford

[Ref: Nana Prasange Vol.1, Ninth Edition, Dec-2001, Page 50-51]