12 January 2007

Synonym to knowledge, religion, sacrifice, courage and patriotism...Lets remember the great soul!!

I cannot write about Vivekananda without going into raptures. Few indeed could comprehend or fathom him even among those who had the privilege of becoming intimate with him. His personality was rich, profound and complex... Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activity, boundless in his love, profound and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions, merciless in his attacks but yet simple as a child, he was a rare personality in this world of ours... Subhash Chandra Bose

He was that great a man. An inspiration to billions throught the world, even after a century of demise. This fact itself speaks volumes about him.

Lets remember him on the day of his birth anniversary.

Incedentally this day is being celebrated by the Indian Govt as National Youth Day. And rightly so. He has been an inspiration and a great motivating factor for country's youth for the last century and will remain so for many centuries to come.

Following is an absorbing account about this great Patriotic saint India has found in the modern times.


For those who can not read Kannada, here I'm typing it in English.

Vivekananda..
Whole world is still not able to figure out this personality. Even today he is a mystery.
He wandered across the world like an emeror, conquered hearts and minds of people all thru the globe, commended respect from even the powerful.
He attained all the knowledge available. There was nothing in the world that was not reachable to him.
Eastern, western philosophies, musics, scientific invensions, vedic mannerisms, complete proficiency in Sanskrit, English, Latin, French languages and literature,
thoughts from Ravivarma, Spencer, Hegel, pre-inscriptions about the contemporary invensions....what not!!

He was all these when he was a student. Professors amazed "We don't get to see such brilliant pupil even in German Universities."

Porabandar's Deewan Panduranga Swamiji, a scholar who was translating Atharvana veda in to English exclaimed "A 30 minutes disucssion with you is like reading 10 books at once."

He was denied permission to take part in the world religion conference. At that moment he was traveling to Boston from Chicago in search of a support. Some Miss Catherine asked him to stay with her family for some time and enlighten them with his knowledge. For one of the discourses, she invited her neighbour, a Harward professor, Henrilite. Impressed with the abode of supreme knowledge in front of him, he asked Swamiji why didn't he attend the Conference of world religions. For which Swamiji replied by saying that he didnt have a reference.
He was surprised and said "You dont need a reference Swamiji!! If they ask you for reference, its as stupid as asking Sun why does he shone." Professor also wrote a reference note to the organisers which had these words "Here is a monk from India who is more learned than all American professors put together." Rest is history.

Gandhi, Nehru, Netaji, Rajaji, Radhakrishnan, Jemshedji Tata...everyone got their inspiration from this great soul. They also followed his righteous path.
Unfortunately post-independence, we are looking at American, English and Russian professors for guidance.

As Professor Henrilite said, Sun alone is comparable to Swamiji. Swamiji with his positive thoughts, just like Sun, is an ocean of energy.
- Swami Nirbhayananda Saraswati.


Beware of everything that is untrue. Stick to truth and we shall succeed.
Fifty centuries are looking on you, the future of India depends on you. Work on
.."
- Swami Vivekananda

16 comments:

Anonymous said...

"I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve. - Swami Vivekananda"

apt post for today. thanks.

Anonymous said...

My wife got me a gem of a tape which has Vivekananda's famous speech. Btw there's an kind of irony about the date :-)

Anonymous said...

My wife got me a gem of a tape which has Vivekananda's famous speech. Btw there's an kind of irony about the date :-)

Anonymous said...

This was from another Sanjay (colleague). Not something to be read in a hurry...

Cheers,
Sanjay

-----------------------------------

Was reading a small small part of "Complete works of Swami Vivekananda" last weekend. Some really inspiring quotes...Worth reading (just 2 pages) if you have time...

Regards
Sanjay.

Don't look back—forward, infinite energy, infinite enthusiasm, infinite daring, and infinite patience—then alone can great deeds be accomplished.

Tell the truth boldly, whether it hurts or not. Never pander to weakness. If truth is too much for intelligent people and sweeps them away, let them go; the sooner the better.

This I have seen in life—those who are overcautious about themselves fall into dangers at every step; those who are afraid of losing honor and respect, get only disgrace; and those who are always afraid of loss, always lose.


I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from anyone anything they really deserve.


Fear is death, fear is sin, fear is hell, fear is unrighteousness, fear is wrong life. All the negative thoughts and ideas that are in the world have proceeded from this evil spirit of fear.

Why are people so afraid? The answer is that they have made themselves helpless and dependent on others. We are so lazy, we do not want to do anything ourselves. We want a Personal God, a Savior or a Prophet to do everything for us.

What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like a thunderbolt.


Fill the brain with high thoughts, highest ideals, place them day and night before you, and out of that will come great work.

Who makes us ignorant? We ourselves. We put our hands over our eyes and weep that it is dark.

Desire, ignorance, and inequality—this is the trinity of bondage.

Great work requires great and persistent effort for a long time. … Character has to be established through a thousand stumbles.

Even the greatest fool can accomplish a task if it were after his or her heart. But the intelligent ones are those who can convert every work into one that suits their taste.

Those who grumble at the little thing that has fallen to their lot to do will grumble at everything. Always grumbling they will lead a miserable life…. But those who do their duty putting their shoulder to the wheel will see the light, and higher and higher duties will fall to their share.


Each work has to pass through these stages—ridicule, opposition, and then acceptance. Those who think ahead of their time are sure to be misunderstood.

Watch people do their most common actions; these are indeed the things that will tell you the real character of a great person.

“Comfort” is no test of truth; on the contrary, truth is often far from being “comfortable”.

We came to enjoy; we are being enjoyed. We came to rule; we are being ruled. We came to work; we are being worked. All the time, we find that. And this comes into every detail of our life.

Stand upon the Self, only then can we truly love the world. Take a very high stand; knowing our universal nature, we must look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world.


Stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creator of your own destiny. All the strength and succor you want is within yourselves. Therefore, make your own future.


If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bombshell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word “fearlessness.”

Be a hero. Always say, “I have no fear.” Tell this to everyone—“Have no fear.”

The world is ready to give up its secrets if we only know how to knock, how to give it the necessary blow. The strength and force of the blow come through concentration.


It is the cheerful mind that is persevering. It is the strong mind that hews its way through a thousand difficulties.



Strength is the sign of vigor, the sign of life, the sign of hope, the sign of health, and the sign of everything that is good. As long as the body lives, there must be strength in the body, strength in the mind, strength in the hand.

Srik said...

Sanjay,
Thanks for the collection.
Brilliant ones. Each a gem. Thanks to your colleague Sanjay.

You said, not urgent. But u know one thing? These are medicines to be imbibed by the Indian youth immediately to be succesful. Dont you think so?

Srik said...

Bellur,
Thanks for that inspiring quotation.

Anonymous said...

One thing I always wonder!!
Why don't these people get married & pass their genes to the next generation!! Now don't laugh at me :-)
Thanks for the write up, Nice !!!

Srik said...

Veena,

Please understand that passing on the gene is not the soul purpose of life. I have e-mailed you a beautiful article on Brahmacharya. Please read it to get to know more about my statement. :)

Anonymous said...

Srik, my point was that we receive a lot of information now in the internet age, so much that we're starting to get immune to it. So that line was to indicate that this isn't something that someone can just skim through, maybe get inspired or something and then forget about it. Rather its something that one must read slowly, reflect on each of them, and see how they can be applied to oneself.

Yes such messages definitely have to reach the current age, but remember that they're competing with very attractive violent or romantic movies, video games, etc so if they are presented to the youth, they should be presented in unique ways - maybe club it with attractive photographs and put it in email forwards, etc. Your blog too is one of the ways :-)

Anonymous said...

Srik, Thanks for the email with the document. May be I was not the targetted audience.
Your statement fears me...I agree Bramacharya is great to practice., but I don't agree that it should stop the knowledge to be passed on to the next generation! The document was very good, I learnt about all hi-fi things but I stopped reading the last 2 pages.. It spoke about how to cultivate that in ones' life.. It sounded so theory to me though, one point said.. One should not spend time along with a person with opposite sex, in bramhacharya its not allowed to be his own mother for more time. I couldn't digest this fact somehow.. I dropped the idea of reading the complete document. It was good document,I dont' deny that one too :-) May be I am not the targetted audience I repeat & I beg to differ!

Srik said...

Sanjay,

Thanks for all the clarifications.
Kuvempu in his "Swami Vivekananda" bio graphy writes that Swamiji had a unique desire, to consolidate Vedic knowledge and sprinkle it all over the nation, make it understandable to all the people living in India. It was such a unique thought. And your thoughts in the previous comments are in-line with it. So, lets all contribute towards it in our own little ways!!

Veena,
If we interpret it this way, Vivekananda, since he followed Brahmacharya, he could spend time in studies, gaining knowledge, spreading the aquired knowledge thru his discourses, teaching his students etc. But lets consider a scenario where he was married and was passing his genes to the next generation. He would be so lost in the materialistic world that he would get no time understanding the divine concepts of life.
As far as I see, producing children would definintely be a duty, until you become a Budha or a Sarvagna. Ramakrishna, Vivekananda followed this path. Even though he was married, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa observed the supreme Brahmacharya.

I know its a very abstract concept, and the document i sent to you was simply absorbing and technical. Thats how it is. We need to simplify such great thoughts so that everyone understands it easily.

Sanjay, Thanks for the link. I am yet to read it.

Shiv said...

Srik,

Vivekananda..
A name which we all grew up idolising.A thought which revoked the youth at one time.

Very good post.

But how much is Vivekananda being remembered these days.A National Youth day is all that we do on his b'day.

Regardless of time, his thoughts will keep guiding the generations to come..

Hey..thanks for visiting pataaragitti !

Srik said...

Shiv,
Thats very much true.

As discussed perviously here, Sanjay, me and others concluded, words of Swamiji are relevent even today, Indian youth must imbibe them as fast as possible to revive the country.
As I see, Ramakrishna mission is doing a marvellous job in spreading awareness among the country men about Swami Vivekananda. I see more and more Indians getting attracted towards the Vedic way of living, preached by Swamiji.
Slowly but steadily this crowd is increasing in numbers, and Im sure that day is not far when India will see light with the teachings of Swamiji reaching out to masses.

Moreover, Swamiji dreamt of an India free of hunger, where every one is learned, where everyone practicing his own Dharma....etc...
Im sure that day is not far.

Thanks fr the visit.

Unknown said...

"Unfortunately post-independence, we are looking at American, English and Russian professors for guidance."

Why is this unfortunate? why should wisdom be boxed by the notion of countries? Wisdom is wisdom, no matter where you find it, be it India or be it any other country.

Srik said...

sparsh,
First of all, welcome here.

Yes, as a Rigveda saying goes, "Aano Bhadraah kratavo yanthu vishwatah", We must inherit the thirst for knowledge.

And about ur point made, as mentioned above, we need to look at everyone and everything for inspiration, guidance and knowledge. Boundaries can not bind the wisdom as u say.

Let me alter the statement there, "Unfortunately post-independence, we are looking only at American, English and Russian professors for guidance"

Shark said...

@srik:I have always been a great fan of Swami Vivekananda's teachings.
They are very simple yet profound. That's the beauty of it!
Thanks for the wonderful post :)

@veena: To answer your question:
"Why don't these people get married & pass their genes to the next generation!!"

Passing genes biologically does not equal to passing his knowledge.
Who knows, if he had a child and his child was a failure for whatever reasons, it would bring more disgrace to him than anything else!

Also, if he had a family of his own, his time would go in looking after them. It's his duty too... then he wouldn't have been looking after the world :) And we would have lost our great swamiji in the same old wordly dramas :(