Swami Vivekananda: A Great Role Model for India's Youth

As we paid our reverential tributes yesterday to one of the greatest sons of Bharat Mata, Swami Vivekananda, on his 160th Jayanti, it is imperative that we educate our youth on his life, mission and message, in order to build a New India of his dreams, anchored in the glory of our ancient cultural heritage.

Like Shankaracharya and other great masters of Indian thought, philosophy and culture, Swami Vivekananda's wisdom, as revealed in his speeches and writings, is steeped in knowledge of the Vedas and Upanishads. Swamiji reveals to us the greatness of diverse aspects of our ancient culture with great clarity and insight. In doing so, he peels the layers of obscurity that often shroud the understanding of complex issues related to the Shastras. Swamiji speaks of the need to embrace the true essence of our cultural heritage rooted in Sanatana Dharma, as well as propagate it.

To Swami Vivekananda, dedicating oneself to the service of man amounted to serving God. According to him, a true Karmayogi served his fellow-human with compassion and understanding. An exemplary Karma Yogi himself, Swami Vivekananda practised what he preached and worked tirelessly as he always advised people to do, in the spirit of the teachings of The Bhagavad Gita. Netaji Subash Chandra Bose rightly summarised the extraordinary contribution of Swami Vivekananda when he said that "Swamiji harmonized the East and the West, religion, and science, past and the present and that is why he is great." In an interpretation which simplified one's understanding of the essence of religion, Swami Vivekananda helped the modern world perceive religion as a universal experience of transcendent Reality, common to all humanity and he did so at great length by drawing parallels from various faiths. Swamiji pointed out that religion and science are not in a state of conflict, but are complementary to each other. He observed that religion is the 'science of consciousness'.

In his famous address at the World Parliament of Religions at Chicago in 1893, Swami Vivekananda sums up the essence of Sanatana Dharma and Bharatiya culture when he declared that, "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." Similarly, in one of his celebrated discourses, Swami Vivekananda described the fundamental ethos of tolerance which is germane to Indian civilization: "Some of you are surprised to think that India is the only country where there never has been a religious persecution, where never was any man disturbed for his religious faith. Theists or atheists, monists, dualists, monotheists are there and always liveunmolested."

Born in an affluent family on January 12, 1863, Narendranath Dutta was a precocious child endowed with a yogic temperament, a spiritual bent of mind. As a young man his mind was tormented by several doubts and he even questioned the existence of God. Swamiji found his mission in life revealed, as it were, when he met his Guru, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, who dispelled all doubts which he harboured. The perceptive mind of young Narendranath (before he became Vivekananda), was moulded by Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who invited him to Dakshineshwar. It was Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa who advised Swamiji to dedicate his life to the service of humanity. The guru-disciple relationship between Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and Swami Vivekanandais quite unique in the history of spiritual masters and students. After Sri Ramakrishna Parahamsa shed his mortal coil, Narendranath took the formal vows of sannyasa and became Vivekananda. It is rightly said that the three streams which converge to form Swami Vivekananda's body of work are – the Shastras, the Guru and Bharat Mata.

Swamiji travelled through the length and breadth of India, interacting with scholars, saints and the common folk, studying the various facets of Indian culture in all its rich diversity. During his travels all over India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the pathetic level of poverty to which the colonial rulers had reduced the masses. Swamiji observed that abject neglect of the masses led to India's downfall. Of foremost importance was a reset of their mind and an imperative need to infuse self-confidence. To suit this end, Swamiji preached the message behind the doctrine of the potential divinity of the soul, taught in Vedanta, the ancient system of religious philosophy of India. He saw that, in spite of dire poverty, the Indian masses clung to Sanatana Dharma. What they needed was a simple message through education, of how to apply the principles of Vedanta in practical life.

In 1897, Swamiji founded the Ramakrishna Mission, an organisation in which monks and others alike, would jointly undertake the propagation of Practical Vedanta, preached by him. They would also take up several otherforms of community service including running hospitals, educational institutions,undertake relief and rehabilitation work for victims of earthquakes, cyclones, among other things.

Swami Vivekananda's writings and the crux of his message is of great relevance to the youth of this generation. He taught us that, in serving others, we should see "divinity which is the real man behind every human being." Then alone we can attain the goal of universal brotherhood, he pointed out.It is my firm conviction that the youth of today must be taught to imbibe Swamiji's visionof 'spiritual humanism' and universal brotherhood.

In an increasingly globalised world, as we march forward in all spheres of activity, the younger generation should look up to Swami Vivekananda as their role model in taking Bharat forward and recall his famous words: "When our eyes are opened and the heart is purified, the work of the same divine influence, the unfolding of the same divinity in every human heart, will become manifest; and then alone we shall be in a position to claim the brotherhood of man." Stirred and awakened by this understanding, and treading the path shown by Swami Vivekananda, the youth of the nation should fight corruption, atrocities and exploitation of all kinds and strive to bridge socio-economic inequalities. The younger generation should be guided by Swamiji's mantra: "Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached."