{"id":16992,"date":"2024-11-17T02:24:35","date_gmt":"2024-11-17T02:24:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gryoungscholarsmagazine.org\/?p=260"},"modified":"2024-11-17T02:24:35","modified_gmt":"2024-11-17T02:24:35","slug":"vivekanandas-india-and-we-the-indians","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/?p=16992","title":{"rendered":"Vivekananda\u2019s India and We, the Indians"},"content":{"rendered":"

Vivekananda\u2019s India and We, the Indians<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

It is said that when Swami Vivekananda was returning to India after his<\/p>\n

triumphal tour of Europe and America, somebody asked him, \u201cWell, Swami, you<\/p>\n

have been so long in the midst of the pomp and glory of the Western civilisation<\/p>\n

and have come in close contact with the progressive thoughts and energetic life of<\/p>\n

the scientific age. But how do you feel now when you are going back to your land<\/p>\n

of chronic poverty and squalor, of illiteracy and ignorance, famine and<\/p>\n

pestilence ?\u201d Swamiji replied at once, his words burning with the fire of his soul :<\/p>\n

\u201cIndia has always been my darling ; my adored mother. But now that I return to<\/p>\n

her after a pretty long sojourn in foreign countries, I feel that her very dust is<\/p>\n

sacred to me.\u201d His words elucidated his fervent love for India\u2014his motherland,<\/p>\n

his own India.<\/p>\n

Swami Vivekananda had vividly brought ancient India before his eyes,<\/p>\n

eternal India\u2014India of the Vedas, with its race of heroes and gods, clothed in the<\/p>\n

glory of legends and history\u2014Aryans, Dravidians, Moghuls\u2014all one. He was the<\/p>\n

Parivrajaka. The Mogul grandeur at Agra brought tears to his eyes. At Ayodha, he<\/p>\n

relived the story of the Ramayana and at Vrindaban, the childhood of Krishna. In<\/p>\n

the retreats of the Himalayas, he meditated on the Vedas. At Ahmedabad, he<\/p>\n

completed his knowledge of Jain and Mohameddan culture.<\/p>\n

From north to south, the ancient land of India was full of gods ; yet the<\/p>\n

unbroken chain of their countless arms formed only one god. Vivekananda<\/p>\n

realised the unity of their flesh and spirit. He also realised it in communion with<\/p>\n

the living of all castes and all outside caste. And he made them realise it. He<\/p>\n

taught them all a religious love for mother India and a passion to dedicate<\/p>\n

themselves to her redemption. He assimilated all the rivers of thought scattered<\/p>\n

and buried in the soil of India. As far removed from the blind devotion of the<\/p>\n

orthodox, who were engulfed in the muddy stench of stagnant waters and as from<\/p>\n

the misguided rationalism of the reformers of the Brahmo Samaj, who with the<\/p>\n

best intentions busied themselves in drying up the mystic fountain of hidden<\/p>\n

energy, Swamiji wished to preserve and harmonise them all by draining the<\/p>\n

entangled reservoir of all the waters of the subcontinent possessed by a deeply<\/p>\n

religious soul.<\/p>\n

Everywhere Swami Vivekananda shared the insults and privations of the<\/p>\n

oppressed classes. Amid such lowly people who cower at the feet of the society,<\/p>\n

Swamiji found spiritual treasures, while their misery choked him. He sobbed, \u201cO<\/p>\n

my country ! O my country ! \u2026\u2026.\u201d It was the misery under his eyes, the misery<\/p>\n

of India that filled his mind to the exclusion of every other thought. It chased him<\/p>\n

like a tiger following his prey. It consumed him during sleepless nights. He<\/p>\n

recalled Ramakrishna\u2019s words, \u201cReligion is not for empty bellies.\u2019\u2019 Swamiji<\/p>\n

dedicated his life to the masses. But how could he help them ? He had no money<\/p>\n

and the princely gifts of one or two Maharajas and the offerings of several groups<\/p>\n

of well-wishers could only nourish a thousandth part of the most urgent needs.<\/p>\n

Before India woke up from her ataraxy, her ruin would be consummated.<\/p>\n

Vivekananda lifted his eyes to the ocean, the lands beyond the seas. The whole<\/p>\n

world had the need of India\u2019s immense spiritual reserves. Her death would be its<\/p>\n

concern as well.<\/p>\n

Swami Vivekananda was like a general, calling everyone to the<\/p>\n

resurrection of the land of Shiva, Krishna, Rama. He wanted his countrymen to<\/p>\n

rise en masse. He said, \u201cMy India, arise ! Where is your vital force ?…….\u201d He<\/p>\n

said, \u201cWorship Shiva in the poor, the diseased and the weak.\u201d Imagine the<\/p>\n

thunderous reverberations of his words !<\/p>\n

Did the dead rise ? Did India, having got thrilled by the sound of his<\/p>\n

words, reply to the hope of her herald ? It is not possible to change in a few days<\/p>\n

the habits of people, enslaved by prejudices. But Swamiji\u2019s words made India turn<\/p>\n

for the first time in her slumber. She never forgot it. The following generations<\/p>\n

saw the Revolt of Bengal, the great movements of nationalist leaders like Tilak<\/p>\n

and Gandhi and most importantly, India\u2019s Independence. I believe that everyone<\/p>\n

has his words hidden somewhere in his heart that helps him to protest against the<\/p>\n

injustices of today.<\/p>\n

We are the Indians of today. Do we really think for our country ? Do we<\/p>\n

feel that still today, in this democratic country of ours, people starve ? Do we<\/p>\n

know that ignorance still looms over our country like a dark cloud ? All of us<\/p>\n

don\u2019t. The storm of misery has passed. But it has scattered its cataracts over our<\/p>\n

country. Had Swamiji been alive today, he would surely have urged us to rise up<\/p>\n

and help our fellow countrymen. We should rekindle the eternal messages of this<\/p>\n

great son of India.<\/p>\n

Swamiji is not alive today. But the flame of his pyre is alight still today.<\/p>\n

From his ashes, just like the legendary Phoenix bird, will spring anew the<\/p>\n

conscience of India. We are his voice today and we shall speak for our<\/p>\n

countrymen.<\/p>\n

I often ponder, \u201cWhat is the reason behind the debacles of today ? Who\u2019s<\/p>\n

responsible ?\u201d It\u2019s the corrupt bureaucracy. A corrupt bureaucracy can lead India<\/p>\n

to perpetual distress, despite the wealth we may possess. What we need now is<\/p>\n

proper administration. We need administrators who are the true lovers of India.<\/p>\n

Once Swamiji asked a certain General Strong as to why India was<\/p>\n

defeated during the Sepoy Mutiny. General Strong replied that its leaders, instead<\/p>\n

of advancing forward, kept on shouting from a distance. \u201cFight on brave lads\u201d and<\/p>\n

so forth. They never fought in the forefront. Swamiji added, \u201cIt is the same in<\/p>\n

every branch. If you can lay down your life for a cause, then only you can be a<\/p>\n

true leader.\u201d What we need of our leaders today are dedication and self-sacrifice.<\/p>\n

If Indian authorities develop some of these qualities and try to rise above<\/p>\n

personal and political ambitions, then India can surely be transformed and she can<\/p>\n

rule the world with the power of her spirit.<\/p>\n

Finally, what is Vivekananda\u2019s India ? Vivekananda\u2019s India is one\u2014<\/p>\n

eternal India\u2014a land of renunciations and self-sacrifices. If one gives up one\u2019s<\/p>\n

self-centredness and becomes compassionate to others, it will lead to the good of<\/p>\n

the nation only. In trains, buses, roads and classrooms, everyday we get ample<\/p>\n

opportunities to give up our little selves and serve others. Let\u2019s do it for the good<\/p>\n

of our motherland, who shall get illuminated by our noble deeds, and we<\/p>\n

ourselves shall get illuminated too due to the spiritual ecstasy in our little hearts.<\/p>\n

Sayani Porel<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Vivekananda\u2019s India and We, the Indians \u00a0 It is said that when Swami Vivekananda was returning to India<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16992","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16992"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16992\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/civilityculturecompass.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}