‘SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’ IS AN ICON OF UNIVERSAL INSPIRATION FOR THE YOUTH

‘SWAMI VIVEKANANDA’ IS AN ICON OF UNIVERSAL INSPIRATION

FOR THE YOUTH

Dr. Biswajit Basu , Member of Bongaon Sri Ramakrishna Vivekananda Sangha

The name „Swami Vivekananda‟ is a great inspiration for the youth not

only confined to any country or time but for ever that is why he is the icon for the

youth and an universal inspiration. Swamiji himself told „I am voice without a

form‟ virtually it used to happen everyday every where and it is always showering

universal and inspiring message for the youth. Swami-ji himself was the

embodiment of youth, dynamism and vibrancy. The life and ideals of Swami ji are

the greatest inspiration for the youth of our nation. In a short life of 39 years, 5

months and 22 days, this great man conquered the entire world with his message.

The writings of Swami ji can ignite the minds of the reader. Someone rightly

pointed out that if you are lying down and reading Swami ji‟s work you will

instantly sit upright. If you are sitting and reading his writings then you will

stand up and if you read him standing, you will at once set out towards your

mission. This is nothing but the influence of Swami Vivekananda‟s lively

message.

“My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will

come my workers. They all work out with the whole problems like lions.” –

These were the words of Swami Vivekananda which shows how he expects for the

younger generation and inspires us to do our best until death. “My Faith is in the

Younger Generation, the Modern Generation; out of them will be my workers.

They will work out the whole problem, like Lions.”

More than hundred years ago Vivekananda achieved world fame by his historic

address at the Parliament of Religious at Chicago which began from 11 September,

1893. The youth in particular, would be happy to know that in the

afternoon of 11 September 1893, when the Chairman of the Parliament invited

him to present his views and when he started his address with “Sisters and

Brothers of America,” it overtook the entire Parliament by a great storm of

enthusiasm. He could not believe that it was he they were applauding. Swamiji

attempted to speak for over two minutes but the great enthusiasm of the audience

prevented him and when silence was restored. Swamiji said, “Holiness, purity

and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any Church in the world, and that

every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character”. Thus,

Swamiji gave the message of universal religion of Vedanta as the universal religion

by giving the slogan: “Harmony and peace and not dissension”.

Respect

Swamiji believed that the youth should have great respect for their parents

and elders. He wanted the youth to show special regard to their mothers. In fact,

he felt that the position of the mother is highest in the world as it is the one place

in which one can learn to exercise the greatest unselfishness. His views on

parents are particularly to be noted by the youth who unfortunately, are

increasingly disobeying their parents. This is what Swamiji said:

“Before parents one must not utter jokes, must not show restlessness, must

not show anger or temper. Before mother or father, a child must bow down low,

and stand up in their presence, and must not take a seat until they order him to

sit”. (CW-l, 43)

Non-violence and tolerance

It is often seen that youth in particular become violent at times. Toleration

and the practice of the principles of Ahimsa or non-injury to others. Swamiji‟s

message to youth on Ahimsa is:

“Never producing pain by thought, word, and deed, in any living being, is

that is called Ahimsa, non-injury. There is no happiness higher than what a man

obtains by this attitude of non-offensiveness, to all creation”. (CW-l, 189).

He wanted that all people should respect other religions because these are

different paths to God-realisation. He believed in universal religion, of seeing

God in everyone and not having a narrow - minded approach.

Purity and Character building

It cannot be gainsaid that purity of character is one of the greatest virtues

to be imbibed by all in general and the youth in particular. We should not see evil

in others. It is said that we cannot see evil unless we see ourselves with an evil

mind. Swamiji wanted the people to be chaste and pure and to do noble things.

Here is the message of Swamiji:

“Nothing is gained except by sacrifice...The holiest function of our human

consciousness, the noblest, do not make it unclean! Do not degrade it to the level

of the brutes ... Make yourselves decent men! Be chaste and pure!” (CW-1, 520).

Strength and potentiality: The youth must pay attention to health and

having strength of body, mind and character. In fact, religion comes afterwards.

Swamiji always felt that the Gita can be understood with our biceps and our

muscles, a little stronger. He also said that the mighty genius and the mighty

strength of Krishna can be understood by us better with a little of strong blood in

us. Therefore, he wanted the youth in particular to be strong.

Quoting the Upanisads, he said that it was the only literature in the world where

we could find the word “Abhih” (fearlessness) used again and again. The

following message of Swamiji must be imbibed by every young person in the

country:

“Make your nerves strong. What we want is muscles of iron and nerves of

steel, we have wept long enough. No more weeping, but stand on your feet and be

men. It is a man, making religion that we want. It is man-making theories that we

want. It is man-making education all round that we want.” (CW-3, 224)

Moreover he also advised about food . It is often found that increasingly more

and more youth are turning away from pure and sattvic food to impure food.

Swamiji said on the question of food habits: “All exciting food should be

avoided.”

Renunciation :He proved that love is a tonic to manifest instant confidence in a

single moment. Swamiji said, “Love opens the most impossible gates, love is the

gate to all the secrets of the world. Every step that has been gained in the world,

has been gained with love.”

Swamiji was of the view that the foundation of the society lay in renunciation.

Therefore, he wanted, the youth to renounce all temptations to take neighbour‟s

property, to put hands upon neighbour, and the pleasure of cheating others by

telling lies.

PURPOSE Or Goal of LIFE : Swami ji always held that the real birth of the

individual takes place when the purpose of his life germinates. He believed that

he who does not have a purpose is nothing but a walking-talking corpse. Till the

purpose is not recognized, life is absolutely useless.

Our youngsters should decide what they want to do in this life. Right from our

childhood, we are constantly chained by the thought of careers, or what we want

to be and in that process forget some of the finer aspects that life has to offer. It is

extremely important not to decide the purpose of life with the narrow objective to

be something or the other. Think of doing not becoming and in this process you

will certainly become something. Once the purpose of life is clear, all actions of

life become driven by that purpose.

SELF-CONFIDENCE : A precursor to do anything in life is to have confidence

in the self. Swami Vivekananda attached more importance to self-confidence than

even faith in God! “He is an atheist who does not believe in himself. The old

religions said that he was an atheist who did not believe in God. The new

religion says that he is an atheist who does not believe in himself,” he famously

stated. Unfortunately, we have limited ourselves without knowing our

capabilities. Many times we feel that we can do „only this much‟ despite being

blessed with tremendous capabilities. If our youth is determined, there can be

nothing impossible for them to achieve in the world! But, for this we must regain

our self-confidence.

DEDICATION : Swami Vivekananda once said, “To succeed, you must have

tremendous perseverance, tremendous will. „I will drink the ocean‟, says the

persevering soul; „at my will mountains will crumble up‟. Have that sort of

energy, that sort of will; work hard, and you will reach the goal.” Another

quality that Swami Vivekananda spoke of was patience. He said, “Be like the pearl

oyster. There is a pretty Indian fable to the effect that if it rains when the star

Svâti is in the ascendant, and a drop of rain falls into an oyster, that drop

becomes a pearl. The oysters know this, so they come to the surface when that

star shines, and wait to catch the precious raindrop. When a drop falls into

them, quickly the oysters close their shells and dive down to the bottom of the

sea, there to patiently develop the drop into the pearl. We should be like

that.” Very often, it so happens that we take on a task with immense enthusiasm

but as time passes by, the same enthusiasm fizzles out. Pursuing a challenge with

utmost dedication is indeed a road to success for our youth. For any endeavor to

attain the pinnacle of success, dedication to the cause is absolutely essential.

TEAMWORK : This era belongs to organization and teamwork. Be it any sector

from science, technology to business, teamwork constitutes a major cornerstone

to attaining the desired results. When he was in USA, Swami Vivekananda was

greatly impressed by the spirit of teamwork there and he thought of the need to

re-vitalize this spirit of teamwork in India. Leading by example, he founded the

Ramakrishna Mission and organized Sanyasis to work towards nation building.

Anybody who has come into either direct or indirect contact has witnessed an

ocean of change in his or her life. Today, the youth of this country faces various

challenges and Iit is sure that the message of Swami Vivekananda has the power

to wonderfully guide them into the future.

It is indeed high time that we resolve to follow these ideals of Swami

Vivekananda and take this youthful nation to greater heights as the leader of the

world.Thomas Alva Edison said, “Genius is one percent and ninety nine percent

perspiration.” RabindraNath Tagore asked Roma roland to know India You must

read Vivekananda there is nothing negative everything is positive.

If the present youth walks on the hallow path of Swami ji‟s ideals and beliefs it

will merely be a matter of time before India adorns the mantle as the leader of the

World. In any case, we are the most youthful nation in the world but simply that

is not enough. It is necessary to arm our youth with the relevant knowledge and

skill that will convert this mammoth potential to desired results.

I do like to conclude with one of the important message of Swamiji “Each soul is

potentially divine. The goal is to manifest this divinity within by controlling

nature, external and internal. Do this either by work, or worship or psychic

control or philosophy – by one or more or all of these and be free” .
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Copyright -- Ramakrishna Vivekananda Sangha