Sadhaks Don’t Retire — They Serve for Life

 

A curious wave of speculation has gripped political circles and WhatsApp groups alike — that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat may hang up their boots upon turning 75. But these murmurs, while tantalizing for drawing-room chatter, betray a fundamental misunderstanding of both Modi’s personal philosophy and the ethos of the Sangh Parivar.

First, consider the irony: the most animated discussions about internal RSS decisions often come from those farthest from its corridors. If you ask Mohan Bhagwat, he might sarcastically suggest checking with media commentators like Ajit Anjum or Ashutosh — people who are apparently more “in the know” than the RSS itself. It’s a dig at the speculative machinery that thrives on half-truths and loose interpretations.

Much of this recent retirement gossip stems from a speech in which Bhagwat reminisced about Moropant Pingale, an early RSS ideologue, who once said that people should step aside after 75. A historical anecdote suddenly became a forecast — selectively heard, eagerly twisted. But, quoting past musings out of context to predict current decisions is intellectually lazy. We tend to hear only what we want to believe.

Let’s not forget, Narendra Modi has already addressed the question of retirement — long before it became a fashionable topic. In a revealing anecdote from interviews before the 2014 or 2019 elections, Modi recalled a discussion at Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s residence. Veterans like Lal Krishna Advani, Arun Jaitley, Pramod Mahajan, and Murali Manohar Joshi mused about their post-retirement plans. When the youngest of them — Modi — was asked, he said something striking. “My life is dedicated to the Sangh, the nation, and Hindutva,” he said. “To retire from this work is to stop breathing. And I haven’t figured out how to stop breathing.”

This isn’t just a rhetorical flourish. It reveals Modi's self-conception: not as a career politician with a pension in mind, but as a lifelong ‘sadhak’, a seeker driven by purpose. The idea of retirement, so ingrained in the middle-class mindset — whether in business or government jobs — simply doesn’t apply to people who see their political life as tapasya, or disciplined spiritual service. That’s a crucial distinction, one that many overlook.

If anything, Modi’s ambitions are not winding down — they’re stretching out. In his India Today interview with Arun Puri, he scoffed at being boxed into 2029. “You’re stuck at 2029,” he told Puri. “I’m talking about 2047.” That isn’t a man contemplating retirement. That’s a man drafting a 25-year roadmap for India’s future.

Which brings us to the real issue: the desire, especially among Modi’s critics, to project a sunset onto what remains, at least for now, a blazing political sun. It's wishful thinking disguised as political analysis. But as long as Narendra Modi’s health holds and his political capital endures, there is no indication — not in word, tone, or body language — that he intends to step away.

To misunderstand Modi is to misread the Sangh's values. They do not revolve around institutional mandates like age limits but around continuity, purpose, and ideological immersion. Retirement, in that world, is not a date — it’s a detachment that comes only when the mission ends.

And in Modi’s eyes, that mission is far from over.