Red Lines: Rashtra, Religion and Political Theology

⚔️ Sachin Nandha — Inside the RSS, Rashtra vs Raja & How Power Really Works in India 🇮🇳🧠 The RSS has never contested an election — yet it remains one of the most influential forces shaping modern India. So what exactly is the RSS? An ideology? An organisation? A movement? Or something far more complex? In this deep, nuanced, and often uncomfortable conversation, Sachin Nandha breaks down how the RSS actually functions — not as a conventional institution, but as a bottom-up social movement built around the daily shakha, psychological rootedness, and the long project of rebuilding the Rashtra. We explore how the RSS creates citizens rather than cadres, why it avoids direct control over the state, how it relates to the BJP and political power, and why tension between the Rashtra (people) and the Raja (state) is not a bug — but the point. From caste, religion, and civilisational identity — to seva, social capital, discipline, and decentralised power — this episode goes beyond slogans to examine the RSS as it understands itself. Not defence. Not propaganda. A serious attempt to understand one of the most misunderstood movements in India. ⸻ ⏱️ Chapters 00:00 – 00:55 • Introduction 00:55 – 04:20 • What the RSS Really Is — Organisation or Movement? 04:20 – 07:05 • The Shakha as an Engine That Creates Citizens 07:05 – 11:20 • Rootedness vs Ideology: The Psychological Core 11:20 – 18:05 • Rashtra, Raja & Why the State Exists to Be Disciplined 18:05 – 26:50 • Caste, Class & Equality Inside the Shakha 26:50 – 36:15 • Seva, Duty & Why the RSS Is Action-First 36:15 – 44:20 • How a Bottom-Up Movement Sustains Itself 44:20 – 53:30 • The RSS and Religion: Civilisation vs Belief 53:30 – 01:02:40 • RSS, BJP & the Limits of Political Power 01:02:40 – 01:13:20 • Power, Unease & Holding the Raja to Account 01:13:20 – 01:53:06 • India’s Formative Phase & What Comes Next ⸻ 🎧 Listen & Subscribe X → https://x.com/bharatvaarta Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/bharatvaarta/ ⸻ 👤 Guest — Sachin Nandha Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/thesachinnandha/ X → https://x.com/sachinnandha Author of Hedgewar | Researcher on the RSS, Civilisational Movements & Power Structures Get the book 'Hedgewar' https://www.amazon.in/Hedgewar-Founder-Rashtriya-Swayamsevak-Sangh/dp/0143467662 ⸻ 👤 Host — Roshan Cariappa Instagram → https://www.instagram.com/carygottheblues/ X → https://x.com/RoshanCariappa