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Title: Letter to Shaheed Sukhdev
Author: Bhagat Singh
Date: 5th April, 1929
Language: en
Topics: love, letter, India
Source: http://www.shahidbhagatsingh.org/index.asp?linkid=6

Bhagat Singh

Letter to Shaheed Sukhdev

DEAR BROTHER

By the time you receive this letter I will be gone, going to a far off

destination. Let me assure that I am prepared for the voyage inspite of

all the sweet memory and inspite of all the charms of my life here. Upto

this day one thing pinched in my heart and it was this that my brother,

my own brother, misunderstood and accused me of a very serious charge —

the charge of weakness. Today I am quite satisfied, today more than ever

do I feel that was nothing, but a misunderstanding, a wrong calculation.

My overfrankness was interpreted as my talkativeness, and my confession

as my weakness. And now I feel it was misunderstanding and only is

understanding. I am not weak, not weaker than anyone amongest us,

brother. With a clear heart I go, will you clear too? It will be very

kind of you. But note that you are to take no hasty step, soberly and

calmly you are to carry on the work. Don’t try to take the chance at the

very outset. You have some duty towards the public, and that you can

fulfil by continuing this work. As a suggestion I would say that M.R.

Shastri* appeals to me more than ever. Try to bring him in the arena,

provided he himself may be willing, clearly knowing the dark future. Let

him mix with men and study their psychology. If he will work in the

right spirit, he will be the better judge. Arrange as you may deem fit.

Now, brother, let us be happy.

By the way, I am say that I cannot help arguing once again my case in

the matter under discussion. Again do I emphasise that I am full of

ambition and hope and of full charm of life. But I can renounce all at

the time of need, and that is the real sacrifice. These things can never

be hinderance in the way of man, provided he be a man. You will have the

practical proof in the near future. While discussing anybody’s character

you asked me one thing, whether love ever proved helpful to any man.

Yes, I answer that question today. To Mazzini it was. You must have read

that after the utter failure and crushing defeat of his first rising he

could no bear the misery and haunting ideas of his dead comrades. He

would have gone mad or committed suicide but for one letter of a girl he

loved. He would as strong as any one, nay stronger than all. As regards

the moral status of love I may say that it in itself is nothing BUT

PASSION, not an animal passion but a human one, and very sweet too. Love

in itself can never be an animal passion. Love always elevates the

character of man. It never lowers him, provided love be love. You can’t

call these girls — mad people, as we generally see in films — lovers.

They always play in the hands of animals passions. The true love cannot

be created. It comes of its own accord, nobody can say when. It is but

natural. And I may tell you that a young man and a young girl can love

each other, and with the aid of their love they can overcome the

passions themselves and can maintain their purity. I may clear one thing

here; when I said that love has human weakness, I did not say it for an

ordinary human being at this stage, where the people generally are. But

that is most idealistic stage when man would overcome all these

sentiments, the love, the hatred, and so on. When man will take reason

as the sole basis of his activity. But at present it is not bad, rather

good and useful to man. And moreove while rebuking the love. I rebuked

the love of one individual for one, and that too in idealistic stage.

And even then, man must have the strongest feelings of love which he may

not confine to one individual and may make it universal. Now I think I

have cleared my position. One thing I may tell you to mark; we inspite

of all radical ideas that we cherish, have not been able to do away with

the overidealistic Arya Samajist conception of morality. We may talk

glibly about all the radical things that can possible be conceived, but

in practical life we begin to tremble at the very outset. This I will

request you do away with. And may I, Without fear at all the

misapprehension in my mind, request you do kindly lower the standard of

your over-idealism a bit, not to be harsh to those who will live behind

and will be the victims of a disease as myself ? Don’t rebuke them and

thus add to their woes and miseries. They need your sympathy. May I

repeat that you, without bearing any sort of grudge against any

particular individual, will sympathise with those who needed the most ?

But you cannot realise these things unless and until you yourself fall a

victim to this. But, why I am writing all this? I wanted to be frank. I

have cleared my heart.

Wish you all success and happy life.

Yours.

B. S