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M.S. Golwalkar
म.स. गोळवलकर
Guruji — the second head of the RSS who made it a movement
Years
1906 – 1973
Known as
'Guruji' — the second Sarsanghchalak of the RSS
Birthplace
Ramtek, Maharashtra
Field
Freedom Fighters
“The nation is the soul of the land and its people together.”
— M.S. Golwalkar
The Story
Born in Ramtek, near Nagpur, Madhav Sadashiv Golwalkar was a brilliant student of zoology — he earned a master's degree with distinction and was appointed a professor at Banaras Hindu University. It was at BHU that he met K.B. Hedgewar, and in 1931 he left his academic career to join the RSS full-time, becoming its second Sarsanghchalak on Hedgewar's death in 1940.
Under his leadership the RSS expanded across Bhārat, establishing its network of shakhas, its schools, and its service wings. He steered the organisation through the difficult years of the freedom struggle and the aftermath of independence — when the movement faced hostility and its workers proved their discipline through relief work in times of disaster.
He wrote 'We, or Our Nationhood Defined' and later 'Bunch of Thoughts', the texts that gave the movement its philosophy — of national pride, discipline, and cultural rootedness. He died in 1973, having shaped the RSS into the institution it is today, and his name, Guruji, remains the movement's most honoured title.
Core Ideas
The Philosopher-Guide
He gave the movement its thought and its voice.
The Second Head
Three decades of leadership from 1940 to 1973.
The Scientist
He left academia for national service.
The Expansion
The RSS grew into a national network under him.
Bunch of Thoughts
His writings remain the movement's core texts.
Why it matters today
Golwalkar's name is honoured across the RSS and the wider movement he led. He is remembered as the man who turned a discipline of youth into a philosophy of national life — and whose quiet, austere life remains the movement's ideal of leadership.