INSPIRATIONAL
VALUES FROM SWAMI VIVEKANANDA
Swami
Vivekanada’s original name is Narendranath Dutta. He was born on 12th
January, 1863 in Calucutta to Vishwanath Dutta and Bhubaneswari Devi. He was
one of their nine siblings. Narendranath’s grandfather was a Sanskrit and
Persian scholar who has become a monk at an early age of 25. Vishwanath Dutta
was an attorney at Calcutta high court and had intense religious temperament.
At a very early age, Narendranath also exhibited interest in spirituality,
meditation and was fascinated by the life of monks and ascetics. He was an
active and restless child.
His
early schooling was done at Raipur, at Ishwar Chandra Vidhyasagar’s
Metropolitan Institution. By 1879 they moved to Calcutta. He was the only
student who secured first division marks in the Presidency college entrance
examination of his time. He was a voracious reader and has read wide range of
subject- philosophy, religion, history, social, sciences, art and literature.
He learnt Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharatha and Puranas,
and even was trained in classical music. He was active participant in physical
education, sports and even he organized activities. He has learnt Western
logic, Western philosophy and European history at General Assembly’s
Institution. He acquired his Bachelor’s degree in Fine arts by 1884. Narendranath
had studied works of many famous English authors. He was fascinated with the
Evolutionism of Herbert Spencer (mentions progressive development of the
physical world, organisms, our mind, culture and societies). He translated
Spencer’s Book Education into Bengali. Narendranath also learnt Sanskrit, and
Bengali literature. He was considered to a student genius and some records have
called him Narendra a Shrutidhara (a
person with a prodigious memory- extraordinary
memory).
Parallely
Narendranath was involved in other activities by joining into Keshab Chandra
Sen’s Nava Vidhan, and then Band of Hopes. One was aimed at
reconversion from Christianity to Hinduism while the other group discourage
youth from smoking and drinking. He also got acquitted with few of the western practices
and knowledge that very few can understand. He believed in Brahmo concept (That says God is shapeless and is one), and this
helped him to have a modernized way of dealing and understanding of Upanishads
and Vedatas. He attained the universalistic understanding of Hinduism from Raja
Ram Mohan Roy’s Brahma Samaj.
Narendranath was also influenced by the Reincarnation of Hinduism by
Debendranath Tagore and Neohinduism of Rabindranath Tagore. Narendranath was
not satisfied with the knowledge he had and went in there started his
intellectual quest for GOD. He asked many prominent people if they had seen
God, but the answer of Debendranath Tagore gave him the answer “Yes, I see Him as I see you”. Through
Sen, he met Sri Ramakrishna Pramahamsa. This he had to do to understand the
term trance (detachment from one’s physical surroundings) which was insisted by
William Hastie lecture on William Wordsworth. Though he visited Dakshineswar at
that first time, his second interaction created an impression of Narendra on
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and he was invited to Dakshneshwar. This was a turning point in his
life and Ramakrishna Paramahamsa personality attracted him. But he felt like
his preaching is hallucinations. Narendra even tested Ramakrishna Paramahamsa,
yet the divine guru faced it with patience and replied him stating, “Try to see the truth from all angles.”
Narendranath
acceptance of Ramakrishna Paramahamsa came only after his father’s death and
his family became bankrupt. Previously he was the wealthiest in his college and
now became the poorest student. They had to sell their ancestral property. At
this point of time his quest for God’s existence, made him to seek the
Ramakrishna Paramahamsa. He has been told to worship Goddess Kali and even that
dint give him peace and finally he decided to give up everything in his pursuit
of God. Ramakrishna taught him that service to men is most effective than
worshiping God. As Ramakrishna Paramahamsa departed, the responsibility of retaining
the Muth and holding the disciples was taken up by Narendranath and he
established the first Ramakrishna math. He raised fund to meet the necessities
by Holy Begging. He went deeply into religious practices. During this time he
wrote Bengali song named Sangeeth kalpataru. In December 1896, at Antpur
village, he accepted to become monk and then took the new name “Swami
Vivekananda.”
He led his life as a wondering monk
with his possessions as Kamandalu, staff and his two favorite books- Bhagavath
Gita and The Imitations of Christ. From 1888 to 1893, he kept visiting centers
of leaning to acquire knowledge and travelled extensively. During this time he
got exposure to diverse religions, traditions and social aspects. He has seen
the suffering of the poor and felt the necessity of uplifting the nation.
From
then he started his tours from western countries to eastern countries. Right
from Japan, China, Canada to United States he kept travelling and on 30th
July1893, he attended the “Parliament of
Religions”, that took place at Chicago. His address to the gathering has
received a huge applaud. Silence restored during his speech and he was youngest
of the speakers. He was invited to Harvard University too. Parliament President
John Henry Barrows said, "India, the
Mother of religions was represented by Swami Vivekananda, the Orange monk who
exercised the most wonderful influence over his auditors". Vivekananda
attracted widespread attention in the press, which called him the "cyclonic monk from India". The New York Critique wrote, "He is an orator by divine right, and his
strong, intelligent face in its picturesque setting of yellow and orange was
hardly less interesting than those earnest words, and the rich, rhythmical
utterance he gave them". The New York Herald noted, "Vivekananda is undoubtedly the greatest
figure in the Parliament of Religions.” He soon became known as a
"handsome oriental" and made a huge impression as an orator. From then
he has extensively traveled and gave lectures at several places in India and
abroad. He established many Mathas in the West.
From the West,
Vivekananda revived his work in India. He regularly corresponded with his
followers and brother monks, offering advice and financial support. His letters
from this period reflect his campaign of social service, and were strongly
worded. He wrote to Swami Akhandananda, "Go from door to door amongst the poor and lower classes of the town of
Khetri and teach them religion. Also, let them have oral lessons on geography
and such other subjects. No good will come of sitting idle and having princely dishes,
and saying "Ramakrishna, O Lord!"—unless you can do some good to the
poor". Later Vivekananda returned to India, Calcutta and founded
Ramakrishna mission that offers social service. On July 4th , 1902
Vivekanada left his last breath. From early morning he observed his daily
routine of meditation and teaching. He attained mahasamadhi, and medically it was seen that it is due to rupture of
a blood vessel. His disciples say, rupture is due to opening of brahmarandhra (it is the soft spot seen
in kids and it is the spot through which soul escapes to reach God).
Values
that could be learnt from Swami Vivekanada:
Education:
He
is a well educated individual. As Narendranath he has learnt various field
which include social sciences to arts, languages, religion, philosophy as well
as literature. He is considered to be a student with extraordinary memory power
by all his teachers and is very well appreciated. In pursuit of God, he learnt
all the mythological books and teaching given by various philosophers. He
always felt the necessity for educating people around him. His strong belief is
that education is necessary to make an individual a perfect man. It is not mere
collection of information, but he says education should be man-making, life
giving and character building.
“Education
is not the amount of information that we put into your brain and runs riot
there, undigested, all your life. We must have life building, man making,
character making and assimilation of ideas. If you have assimilated five ideas
and made them your life and character, you have more education than any man who
has got by heart a whole library..”.
His
belief that Unity is divinity: For Vivekanada, religion
is simple realization. It is not just listening or becoming or simple acquiring
knowledge on that. Worship of God must make ones heart pure and it should make
them do good to others. He believed that every individuals himself divine by
himself. He believed that “Service to
man is service to God.” He says that there is religious intolerance that is
prevailing. People are becoming like that the frog in its well, who cannot
imagine anything bigger than well. He says “I
am a Hindu. I am sitting in my own little well and thinking that the whole
world is my little well. The Christian sits in his little well and thinks the
whole world is his well. The Mohammedan sits in his little well and thinks that
is the whole world.”
His
view on National integration and Nation Building: For
him integration is power. If all the people of our country integrate with each
other, this accumulation of power will make India a better nation. He was very
patriotic and proud of his mother country. And he also aware of the happenings
in the remote villages. All the wealth
in the world cannot help one little Indian village if the people are not taught
to help themselves. Our work should be mainly educational, both moral and
intellectual. He says that the legacy of the past must drive us ahead and
make India a much better country, “Out
of the past is built the future. Look back, therefore, as far as you can, drink
deep of the eternal fountains that are behind, and after that, look forward,
march forward and make India brighter, greater, much higher than she ever was.
Our ancestors were great. We must first recall that. We must learn the elements
of our being, the blood that courses in our veins; We must have faith in that
blood and what it did in the past; and out of that faith and consciousness of
past greatness, we must build an India yet greater than what she has been.”
Faith
and confidence: Swami Vivekananda is a self made man of
immense faith and right from his schooling had a good confidence levels. In his
short during of 40 years life, he achieved things that very few can. He is a
man of unimaginable faith in himself, He quotes, ”Have faith that you are all, my brave lads, born to do great things!
Let not the barks of puppies frighten you—no, not even the thunderbolts of
heaven – but standup and work! Ones hard work alone can give him result. He
believed that even if the beginning is small it doesn’t matter. One must have
the courage to move ahead and do his duties, as fear will drown even great ships
so what is a man. During this process of doing our duties, one has to make sure
that he remains unselfish, even unto his death.
Social
service: He considered himself a poor man and he states he
Loves the poor. He is aware of the fact that there are very few people in our
country who really care for the poor and feel for them. There are more than two
hundred million men and women living in poverty and ignorance. He states “Let these be your God, think for them, work
for them and pray for them.” He say one must not always think about himself
and render his services for the poor and this is one path through which an individual
can attain salvation. Serve the diseased, like lepers and even the services, it
is like serving God.
Obedience
and Hard work: He is a man with obedience and hard work.
He was obedient child to his parents and to his gurus. He insisted that one
must definitely carry this virtue of obedience but not at the cost of losing
his faith. He states,”No centralization
is possible unless there is obedience to superiors. No great work can be done
without this centralization of individual forces....Give up jealousy and
conceit. Learn to work unitedly for others. This is the great need of our
country. “He believes that the
secret of success is having infinite patience, infinite purity and infinite
perseverance.” One should bravely move ahead and take the leap without
expecting success. He says” Be steady.
Avoid jealousy and selfishness. Be obedient and eternally faithful to the cause
of truth, humanity, and your country, and you will move the world. Remember it
is the person, the life, which is the secret of power, nothing else.... Jealousy
is the bane of all slaves. It is the bane of our nation. Avoid that always.”
Message
to Youth: Swami Vivekanada is considered to be Youth icon and
his birthday is celebrated as National youth day.
Some quotes of his addressing the youth
of India.
Ø “Dare to be free, Dare to go as far
as your thought leads, and Dare to carry that out in your Life”.
Ø “Arise awake and stop not till the
Goal is reached.”
Ø “All Power is within You; You can
do Anything and Everything”.
Ø “Be a Hero. Always say, ‘I have no
fear’.
Ø “Strength is Life; Weakness is
Death.”
Ø His
3 golden rules: Who is helping
you, Don’t forget them
Who is loving you, Don’t hate them.
Who is trusting you, Don’t Cheat them..
Ø Practice virtue, Persevere in
Virtue!
Ø Become established in virtue.
Ø Shine as an embodiment of noblest
virtue and heroic adherence to goodness.
Ø Youth is meant for this grand
process.
Ø Youth life is the active
development and fulfillment of these processes.
YOUTH
IS THE FUTURE!
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