What was Subhas Bose's views on religion? He was a devout Hindu but respected genuine secularism i.e.separation of "Church" from State.
On his way to Europe, from the ship called S S Gange, Bose wrote on 5 March, 1933, to his close friend Dilip Kumar Roy, "To be quite frank, I am torn this side and that - between my love for Shiva, Kali and Krishna. Though they are fundamentally one - one does prefer one symbolism to another. I have found that my moods vary - and according to my prevalent mood, I choose one of the three forms - Shiva, Kali and Krishna. Of these three again, the struggle is between Shiva and Shakti. Shiva, the ideal Yogi, has a fascination for me and Kali the Mother also makes an appeal to me. You see, of late (i.e., for the last four or five years) I have become a believer in Mantra Shakti by which I mean that certain Mantras have an inherent Shakti. Prior to that, I had the ordinary rationalistic view, namely that Mantras are like Symbols and they are aids to concentration. But my study of Tantra philosophy gradually convinced me that certain Mantras had an inherent Shakti - and that each mental constitution was fitted for a particular Mantra. Since then, I have tried my best to find out what my mental constitution is like and which Mantra I would be suited for. But so far I have failed to find that out because my moods vary and I am sometimes a Shaiva, sometimes a Shakta and sometimes a Vaishnava.‘’ Subhas Chandra Bose India's Spokesman Abroad, Subhas Chandra Bose, Letters, Articles, Speeches and Statements 1933-1937 Netaji Collected Works Volume VIII (Dilip Kumar Roy and Subhas Bose were born in the same year, one day apart)
Courtesy : Face book of Roopendra Narayan Roy
