The Legend of Vivekananda
The life of Vivekananda was the life of ideal
youth. He possessed all sterling qualities. He had multi-faceted talents; he
was a great orator, a great poet, a saint, social reformer and above all
spiritual leader of the world. For this reason, Swami Vivekananda is the only
personality who can become the true leader or a youth icon. After all, youths
are the real dynamic and vibrant segment of the population in any country.
Youths are the real assets of the country in the sense that progress of any
country depends on them.
What is National Youth Day?
Taking the inspiration from Vivekananda in
India National Youth Day is celebrated with great joy and enthusiasm on 12th
of January every year on the birthday of Swami Vivekananda. It was first
declared by the Government of India in the year 1984 to celebrate the birthday
of Swami Vivekananda as the National Youth Day. Since then, our country began
to celebrate the National Youth Day with the mission to encourage all the
youths of the country towards the philosophy of Swami Vivekananda and his
ideas.
Swami Vivekananda’s message of internal Strength
After Swami Vivekananda addressed the
Parliament of Religions at Chicago, he stayed in America and Europe for 4-5
years. During these years in America he was walking on the streets with his
peculiar dress –the ochre robe and the ochre turban on his head. Some American
passerby saw this person with peculiar dress with surprise. Therefore they
began to think that this person seems to be much uncivilized and seem to have
come from an uncivilized and a backward country. On being asked by Americans,
Vivekananda replied that I am from India and I am an Indian.
They told him that you are looking
uncivilized with a peculiar dress. Vivekananda gave a beautiful reply that look
at your country, the dress and tailor make a person great and civilized. But in
my country India, dress and tailor do not make a person great and civilizes;
but character makes the person great and civilized.
According to Swami Vivekananda, inner
strength lets us control and overcome mental and emotional reactions.In turn,
we are able to realise our full potential. Vedanta teaches us that man’s true nature is divine,
eternally blissful, and ever free. Vivekananda said that it is because of our
weakness that we have not realized our full potential. The underlying source of
human weakness is dual experience of attraction and aversion. We, human beings all
fall prey to attraction and aversion in one form or another. This is where our
weakness lies. Therefore, inner strength lies in the ability to recognise and
overcome weakness. This strength can only come by tapping the indefinite source
of strength within.
Swami Vivekananda’s message on Purpose of Life.
Swami Vivekananda always held that the real
birth of individual takes place when the purpose of his life germinates. He
believed that a person who does not have a purpose is nothing but a walking and
taking corpse. These people can not make their life successful as they don’t
have any objective in their life. Till their objective is not recognised their
life is absolutely meaningless.
According to Vivekananda, our youngsters
should be left free to decide what they want to do in their lives. Right from the childhood, it is utmost
important not to decide the purpose of life with the narrow objective to be
something or the other.
Swami Vivekananda’s Message on Character Building
According to Swami Vivekananda, character is
the foundation for self development.
Vivekananda emphasised on character building particularly on
particularly on human-making and character building education. He not only
wanted money making education, but man making and character building education
along with.
Swami Vivekananda realised that there are
three things, which are necessary to make every man and every nation great:---
1)
Conviction of the powers of goodness,
2)
Absence of jealousy and suspicion,
3)
Helping all who are trying to be and do well.
Swami Vivekananda suggested to leave jealousy
and treachery; and to learn to work untimely for others. He told that purity,
patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. He suggested to take courage
and work on. Vivekananda believed that patience and steady work are the only
way to success.
Character formation is possible only through
hard work. While living in all kinds of comfort and avoiding all types of
labour, by living a life of inactivity and laziness no one can build up good
character.
Swami Vivekananda’s Message of
Self-Confidence
Self confidence in the self is the necessary
pre-condition to do any work in human life. He attached more importance to the
self confidence. But unfortunately, we have limited ourselves without knowing
our capabilities. Vivekananda believed that everything that is happening around
us, be it small, big positive or negative, gives us the opportunities to
manifest the potential within.
Swami Vivekananda’s message on
Nationalism
Though the growth of nationalism is
attributed to the western world, Vivekananda’s nationalism is deeply rooted in
Indian spirituality and morality. He contributed immensely to the concept of
nationalism in colonial India and played an important role in guinging the
Indian youths into 20th century.
Vivekananda’s views on nationalism is closely
related to spiritualism. He related India’s regeneration to her age-old
tradition of spiritual goal. He said, “each nation has a destiny to fulfil,
each nation has message to deliver, each nation has a mission to accomplish.
Therefore we must have to understand the mission of our own race, the destiny
it has to fulfil, the place it has to occupy in the march of nations, and the
role which it has to contribute to the harmony of races”.
His nationalism is
based on humanism and universalism, the two cardinal features of Indian
spiritual culture. He taught people to get rid first of self inflicted bondages
and resultant miseries.
Unlike western nationalism which is secular
in nature, swami Vivekananda’s nationalism is based on religion which is life blood
of the Indian people. Deep concern of masses, freedom and equality through
which one expresses self, spiritual integration of the world on the basis of
universal brotherhood and ‘Karmayoga’, a system of ethics to attain freedom
both political and spiritual through selfless service make the basis of his
nationalism.
