Relevance of Swami Vivekananda as an icon of youth in modern times

 (First Part of the article)

Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902) is best known for his brilliant speech at the 1893 World Parliament of Religions in the United States, in which he introduced Hinduism to the United States and is called upon to end religious tolerance and fanaticism.

Narendra Nath Dutta, was the primary disciple of the 19th century mystic Ram Krishna and was the founder of the  “Rama Krishna mission”.

Swami Vivekananda is considered an important figure in the introduction of Vedanta and Yoga to the West, which is credited with raising the profile of Hinduism as a world religion.

On September 11, 1893, Swami Vivekananda delivered a speech to the Parliament of the First World Religions on the site of the present Art Institute.

He started his speech with a wonderful way of communication.

He began by saying,

Swami Vivekananda

“Sisters and Brothers of America”, (Opening line of his speech)

“It fills my heart with unspeakable joy to wake up in response to the warm and friendly welcome you have extended to us.

I thank you on behalf of the oldest order of monks in the world, I thank you on behalf of the mother of religions and

I thank you on behalf of millions and millions of Hindus of all classes and sects.

My thanks also to some of the speakers in this rostrum who, referring to the delegates from the East, told them that these men from distant nations might well claim the honor of bringing the idea of ​​tolerance to different lands.

I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance.

We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true.

I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth.

I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelite's, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny.

I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: “As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee.”

The present convention, one of the most expensive assemblies ever held, is in itself ratification, a proclamation to the world of the wonderful doctrine of the Gita: "Whoever comes to me, even with the shape, I reach for it. All men are struggling with the paths that eventually lead to me. Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible race, fanaticism, have long occupied this beautiful land. They have filled the earth with violence, often soaked it in human blood, destroyed civilization and plunged entire nations into despair has sent If it weren't for these terrible devils, would human society be much more advanced than it is now? But their time has come. And I sincerely hope that the bell that rings in honor of this convention this morning may be the death of all fanaticism, all the persecution of the sword or the pen, and all the insincere sentiments among those who go that way.

The speech is powerful because of the positive expression that it was the first time that someone had to present an unacceptable thought to the whole world. But, it depends on a person's faith how he believes in himself. 

(Second Part of the article)

                  Now here I wish to discuss about his contribution that will prove that:

        Swami Vivekananda as an icon of youth in modern times

“Get up, wake up and don't stop until you have reached the goal”, “Swami Vivekananda”.

These lines of Swami Vivekananda, bearer of the strong tradition of the Indian Renaissance, speak of his thought and his social thought. Vivekananda did not take social change just superficially, but called for social restructuring in its own way and worked her entire life to achieve it. In the process of social reform, Vivekananda said: “I ask humanity to believe that nothing should be destroyed. Destructive reformers cannot do the world a favor. Don't break anything and mix it with the powder, just do it. Help yourself if you can; if not, just calmly get up with your hands up and see how far it goes. It is clear from his thoughts that Swami Vivekananda was in favor of a creative social reformer, not a destroyer, and this makes him a great social reformer of his time. Swami Vivekananda believed strongly in India's central power, spirituality. His spirituality is the realization of the total and omnipresent soul, therefore his social reform is not superficial, but rests on the solid foundation of spirituality. He believed that first of all it is necessary to make spiritual reforms. Without it, there can be no further improvement. It was seen as an invaluable reform. He considered social reform to be very important, but he believed that social reform should not be just a pretext and it should not be incomplete. Only when there is a complete improvement will it be significant and its effect will last for a long time. He also considered the unwillingness of those responsible for the difficult situation and conditions in Indian society. He said that if people don't come forward to solve their problems on their own, there will be no improvement, nothing will happen just by yelling.

Vivekananda used to insist that a social reformer must have sympathy for society, only then could he experience the veneration of millions of people immersed in poverty and poverty. Along with this, he also used to say that when the youth of this country sacrificed their happiness and facilities for the benefit of their poverty and their poor compatriots, then only India could recover. Swami Vivekananda believed that social change did not come from outside but from within. To achieve this, it is necessary to strengthen society not from the outside but from the inside. He believed that class division was the reason for the inequalities present in Indian society. Vivekananda said that the main reason for the annihilation of India is that the entire education, the intellect and the state government of the country have remained the monopoly of a handful of people. To change this situation, he considered it necessary to spread education among ordinary people. Swami Vivekananda considered that an ideological change was necessary before any social change. I used to see social emancipation with self-liberation; in fact, Vivekananda wanted to bring about global change in India by accelerating the pace of social change.

In this he considered important the role of the physical, the mind and the soul, but he trusted more in the soul and this is what differentiates him from the others. According to Swami Vivekananda, the change of a one-class community will not lead to the complete transformation of India. Unless everyone works in this direction, this change will remain incomplete, which is why they tried to awaken the youth, the women, the poor, the working peasants.

• Tweet
• Share
• Share
• Share
• Share

About Admin MC3

This is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Accordingly, it is difficult to figure out when to end it. But then, this is dummy text. It is not meant to be read. Period.

Related Post