Bringing his ideals into our actions - tributes to Swami Vivekananda on his Nirvan Divas!
Dear Friends,
It was this day, the 4th of July when the great son of India Swami Vivekananda left us 110 years ago in 1902. Today as we observe the ‘Nirvan Divas’ of Swami ji, his words echo in our hearts, “I may leave this mortal body, but I will continue to work for next 1500 years.” In his short life of 39 years and 5 months he truly conquered the entire world with his life and message.
Swamiji’s message was such that it influenced virtually every movement that has shaped the destiny of our country in the past and will likely continue to do so in the future. During the freedom struggle, both the armed and nonviolent freedom fighters were deeply influenced by Swamiji’s thoughts. Over the decades Individuals may have differed in the ideology they professed and also in their means to achieve the ends but they all found a source of inspiration in Swami Vivekananda.
Mahatma Gandhi wrote, "I have gone through Swami Vivekananda's works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country became a thousand-fold.”
On the other hand, Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose opined, “I cannot write about Vivekananda without going into raptures. Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activity, boundless in his love, profound and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions... I can go on for hours and yet fail to do the slightest justice to that great man.”
In Sri Aurobindo’s words, “We perceive his influence still working gigantically, we know not well how, we know not well where, in something that is not yet formed, something leonine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that has entered the soul of India and we say, “Behold, Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Mother and in the souls of her children.”
He is indeed an inspiration for everybody who has and is working for the upliftment of our nation and especially the poor and the downtrodden. Similarly, while he himself may have set up the Ramakrishna Mission, he became the life-force behind all other organizations immersed in nation building.
In today’s times, Swamiji has been immortalized by his ideals as well as by the determined efforts of many extremely dedicated individuals to live those ideals by example in their own lives based on principles laid by Swami ji.
During one of his famous interactions ‘My Plan of Campaign’ at the Victoria Hall in Madras, Swamiji said, “I have come to you, my children, to tell you all my plans. If you hear them I am ready to work with you. But if you will not listen to them, and even kick me out, I will come back again and again in your midst!” The best tribute to Swami ji is to bring his ideals into action in our own day-to-day lives. Swami ji has always been a great source of inspiration for me personally and it has been my endeavor to live up to his ideals every single day.
“India must conquer the World and nothing less than that is my ideal”, Swamiji famously said. Hehad a very strong vision for our nation and it is incumbent upon us to realize those dreams of Swamiji by making his Vision for India a reality!
It is only through these endeavors that strive towards his Vision for India that we would be truly living the ideals of Swamiji.
He envisioned a ‘Samarth’ and ‘Samradha’ Bharat (strong and developed India), a ‘Samras Bharat’ (an India characterized by social harmony) as well as ‘Jagad Guru Bharat’ (India as a world leader.)
Our Nation’s Harmony is once again being tested by cynical forces from within and inimical forces from the outside. In these testing times we must recall that famous speech in Chicago where Swami ji spoke on the need to fight Bigotry and Intolerance.
“…. Sectarianism, bigotry and its horrible descendant fanaticism have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human gore, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations into despair. Had it not been for this horrible demon, society would have been much farther advanced than it is today …… this parliament that is assembled is the death knell to all fanaticism, death knell to all persecution with the sword or the pen and to all uncharitable feelings between brethren wending their way to the same goal but through different ways…..”
Even back then, he gave tremendous importance to the Youth of the Nation and importance to arming them with relevant skills so that they can go on to build their lives, realize their aspirations while strengthening the roots of our Nation.
He said, “My Faith is in the Younger Generation, the Modern Generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like Lions.”
On this day, we pay our heartfelt tributes to Swami Vivekananda.
Yours
Narendra Modi
