What Independence Means For India and Indians
स्वतंत्रता and स्वातन्त्र्य शक्ति: The True Meaning of Independence
On the 79th Independence Day of India, as the tricolor rises against the morning sky and millions sing Jana Gana Mana, we find ourselves once again celebrating स्वतंत्रता दिवस. But pause for a moment — what does स्वतंत्रता truly mean?
Does independence only mean that in 1947 the British left our shores and we began to rule ourselves? Or is independence something far deeper, something not merely political but existential?
In our shastras, tantras and philosophies, the word स्वतंत्रता is not just about political sovereignty. It points to the very core of being. In the tradition of Kashmir Shaivism, the word Svātantrya (स्वातन्त्र्य) refers to nothing less than the divine freedom of Shiva — the supreme consciousness.
Svātantrya is not the free will of a human being bound by conditioning and circumstance. It is the primal freedom, the original independence from which everything arises. It is the power by which Shiva creates, sustains, and dissolves the universe. It is not a freedom from something, but a freedom to — to create, to imagine, to be, to become.
If we want to understand what true independence means for India — and indeed for humanity — we must reframe our idea of स्वतंत्रता in the light of Svātantrya.
The way our ancients understood what it means to be a human being, what is a human being, what is his relationship with nature, what is nature, what is his nature and what is our role in the creation, what is our dharma, what can contribute to this beautiful creation and what we should and must contrubute – this is what makes us as Indians so different from the rest of the world.
The Divine Freedom of Consciousness
Kashmir Shaivism describes Svātantrya as the very essence of consciousness:
– Divine Sovereignty: The inherent power of Shiva to act freely, without constraint. The source of all manifestation.
– Energy of Consciousness: A dynamic vibration, Shakti, that brings forth the cosmos.
– Beyond Rules: Unlike human will, bound by law and limitation, Shiva’s freedom is absolute.
– Source of Illusion: It generates Maya, the veil of separation, yet also contains the seed of liberation.
– Grace and Liberation: Through Svātantrya, grace (Shaktipāt) awakens us to our divine nature.
– Beyond Duality: It holds together the manifest and the unmanifest, creation and dissolution, bondage and freedom.
The Śiva Sūtras proclaim:
“When universal energy is known in a correct way, it is simple svatantrya sakti. When it is known in the wrong way, it is energy of illusion and it is called maya sakti.”
This statement is revolutionary. It tells us that independence is not merely external. True freedom is the right understanding of universal energy. Misunderstand it, and we fall into bondage; understand it rightly, and we are free.
Independence Beyond 1947
Yes, India won political freedom in 1947. But are we truly free if we continue to live with borrowed identities, borrowed ideas, and borrowed ways of life?
“Svatantrya is your own will! If you bind yourself or if you free yourself, both are under your control.”
Political independence removed foreign chains, but spiritual ignorance still binds us. Our minds remain conditioned by alien categories. We are still trying to measure ourselves by someone else’s yardstick, forgetting that our own ancestors left us a map of freedom far more profound than any external liberation.
Udyamo Bhairavah: The Power of Active Effort
The Śiva Sūtras say:
“udyamo bhairavah // That effort — the flashing forth of active awareness — that instantaneously makes universal consciousness shine, is Bhairava.”
This is not passive effort. This is not waiting for history to change. It is udyama — a fierce, active, conscious effort that propels us into our own divine awareness.
This is what India needs today: the courage to ask fundamental questions — Who am I? What does it mean to be Indian? What does it mean to be a human being in harmony with nature and cosmos?
Without this inquiry, our independence will remain superficial. With it, स्वतंत्रता becomes Svātantrya.
The Yogic Vision of Freedom
The Svacchanda Tantra teaches:
“Oh Parvati, all mantras are successful for the one who contemplates on his own self as one with Bhairava, because he is always one with that awareness of consciousness (samavesa).”
The Spanda Kārikā adds:
“Take one thought. Contemplate on that one thought with unwavering concentration. Then, when another movement rises in your mind from that first thought, that is spanda and that is unmesa… and that will be spanda.”
Through such concentration, the yogi pierces ignorance and attains liberation. Independence, then, is not merely self-rule of a nation but self-mastery of the individual. A nation of self-realized individuals becomes a truly free nation.
Swacchanda and Swatantra: The Next Step for India
India must become both Swacchanda (self-willed) and Swatantra (self-defined). Only then can we shape our destiny not as an imitation of others but as an expression of our own genius.
“So, in the state of svatantrya sakti, there is no meditation… The play of creation, protection, and destruction is the recreation of svatantrya sakti.”
Our tradition envisioned Ardhanārīśvara — the union of opposites, the transcendence of duality. This is the vision India must hold before the world.
Nationalism based on conflict, on “us versus them,” is limited. But nationalism based on Svātantrya is expansive. It sees diversity not as a threat but as a flowering of unity. Our motto is clear: Lokāḥ Samastāḥ Sukhino Bhavantu — May all beings be happy.
Thus we need to destroy the ignorance that is keeping us in bondage. We have to develop the ability to contemplate on what we are, who we are, who we were, what it means to be Indian totally devoid of the impressions and influence of what is not us, what is not from us, free from borrowed ideas and borrowed identity.
We need to become Swachanda and Swantantra. India is now showing all the signs of heading in this direction. As Indians we need to support that effort.
One-Pointed Desire for the Good of All
The Svacchanda Tantra says:
“Lord Siva’s energy of will (svatantrya sakti) is one with devi (goddess)… concealed with the magic of yoga and, named Kumari, is desired by every being.”
Every being longs for this will — pure, undivided, one-pointed.
When we, as Indians, desire not only our own growth but loka sukha and loka hita — the happiness and welfare of all — no force in the universe can obstruct us.
“From svatantrya sakti arise the energy of will, the energy of knowledge, and the energy of action. And then all universal energies flow outward.”
This is the engine of destiny: will, knowledge, and action flowing from the center of freedom itself.
Toward a Higher Independence
So let us be clear: India will not be truly free until we rediscover Svātantrya. Political sovereignty was the first milestone. The final destination is spiritual sovereignty — mastery of the self.
This is India’s dharma. Not to dominate the world but to liberate it. Not to impose but to awaken. Not to conquer but to harmonize.
We are the natural born masters and inheritors of this knowledge that can help us understand Universal Energy in the correct way and for the benefit of the whole world. In that sense:
“Make India Great Again” = “Make the world great again” ; “Make the world peaceful again” ; “Make the world livable again.”
This is not a slogan of exclusion but of expansion — of taking our seat once again as the custodians of wisdom, as the natural-born masters of knowledge that can guide humanity toward balance.
No technology, no AI, no external power can prevent this. Because this freedom is not granted by others. It is awakened within.
Conclusion: The Call of Svātantrya
Independence Day is not just a reminder of past struggles. It is a call to present effort.
A call to remember that freedom is not simply freedom from oppression, but freedom for realization. A call to live not as shadows of others but as luminous beings in our own right. A call to contemplate deeply: Who am I? What does it mean to be Indian? What does it mean to be human?
Nationalistic thinking through dualistic constructs can only lead to conflicts. Our ancestors envisioned a world where diversity can exist and flourish. We do not see our prosperity in the poverty of other countries.
When India remembers her svātantrya, she will not only be free — she will make the world free. She will not only prosper — she will ensure prosperity for all.
That is the destiny of India. That is the promise of स्वतंत्रता दिवस.
True freedom begins in the mind, flowers in the spirit, and radiates into the world as peace and prosperity for all.
