Very few people have managed to inspire generations, fewer still could inculcate love for Motherland in the heart of citizens, and even fewer could shake the world spiritually. It had to be swami Vivekananda who showed the light of spirituality to the world and in the same breath ask his followers to hold the path for Liberation for the next life, and devote this life only to the service of Motherland.
It was Great Swamiji who said “You Will Be Nearer To Heaven through Football than through the Study of the Gita”
“Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson I have been taught in my life; strength, it says, strength, O man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? — says man. There are, say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them, would you try to wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness? Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong. Ay, it is the only literature in the world where you find the word “Abhih”, “fearless”, used again and again; in no other scripture in the world is this adjective applied either to God or to man. Abhih, fearless!”
Swami Vivekananda is lovingly called the “patriotic monk”. He was also a practical monk. Vedanta philosophy for 1000s of years, have stated that we should worship God in every being. It was swamiji who put this thought into reality by including Hospitals within Ramkrishna Mission, thereby serving God within humanity. What a wonderful way to live the religion!
The scientific temper with which Swami Vivekananda viewed religion, would ring with the most scientific and pragmatic minds today. He said:
“It is useless to talk about religion until one has felt it. Why is there so much disturbance, so much fighting and quarrelling in the name of God? There has been more bloodshed in the name of God than for any other cause, and the reason is that people never went to the fountain head; they were content only to give a mental assent to the customs of their forefathers, and wanted others to do the same. What right has a man to say he has a soul if he does not feel it, or that there is a God if he does not see Him? If there is a God we must see Him, if there is a soul we must perceive it; otherwise it is better not to believe. It is better to be an outspoken atheist than a hypocrite.
They are asked to live upon words; can they do it? If they could, I should not have the least regard for human nature. Man wants truth, wants to experience truth for himself, to grasp it, to realise it, to feel it within his heart of hearts; then alone, declare the Vedas^ will all doubts vanish, alt darkness be scattered, and all crooked ness be made straight. ” Ye children of immortality, even those who live in the highest sphere, the way is found ; there is a way out of all this darkness, and that is by perceiving Him Who is beyond all darkness, and there is no other way.”
It is no wonder thus, that today’s youth find their inspiration in Swami Vivekananda, that when our NSA chief Ajit Doval sets up a think tank on India’s strategic affairs in Delhi, with the collaborative efforts of India’s leading security experts, diplomats, industrialists and philanthropists, its named “Vivekananda International Foundation”.
