Let’s pledge to “rise, awake” for a new nation on Swami Vivekananda's 155th birth anniversary

NewsBharati    12-Jan-2018
Total Views |

Mumbai, January 12: Standing in a world where we are running for money, prosperity, fame forgetting social needs, moral values, we must seek inspiration from the leaders of the past. A selfish life is simultaneous to death, Swami Vivekananda told it about 200 years ago. The visionary who took Veda to West, reinterpreted Hinduism, set a philosophy which can be followed eternal after 155 years also, he stands as the icon for Indian you. On his 155th birthday let’s look back to his life to reset our morality, society.


The early life of Narendranath:

Swami Vivekananda, known in his pre-monastic life as Narendra Nath Datta, was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney. His mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with deep devotion, strong character, and other qualities. He was never a so-called “brilliant “student but what he learned at his early age is definitely much more than degrees. From his adolescence only, the adorable ‘Bile’ used to help neighbors in the problem, he used to practice yoga arts, he used to question everything. As we say morning shows the day, his adolescent life clearly us he was meant to be different from others. HE is a distinct star among thousand other stars who can guide us in darkness.

Foundation of Ramakrishna Mission:

Swamiji used to read an awful amount of books every day. Many scholars wrote, he had a strange ability to finish a book within a short span. The great soul used to travel a lot across India. During his travels all over India, Swami Vivekananda was deeply moved to see the appalling poverty and backwardness of the masses. After witnessing the century oppression among downtrodden masses, he felt the necessity to create an efficient organization. Out of this thought, he established the Ramakrishna Mission a few years later, which is serving our nation till now.

The journey from Narendranath to Swami Vivekananda:

From a young common boy to a great saint whom world remembers, the journey is not an easy one. From his childhood, he had questions in his mind about god, for a long time whose answers were not met. It was at that time he first heard about Sri Ramakrishna from one of his English professors at college. One day in November 1881, Narendra went to meet Sri Ramakrishna who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar. He straightaway asked the Master a question which he had put to several others but had received no satisfactory answer: “Sir, have you seen God?” Without a moment’s hesitation, Sri Ramakrishna replied: “Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intenser sense.” Apart from removing doubts from the mind of Narendra, Sri Ramakrishna won him over through his pure, unselfish love.

Swamiji’s writing:

We all know about Swamiji’s philosophical vision but little bit we know about his proses which are in high in literary quality. Every prose of Swamiji reflects the “structured thinking”, the basic foundation of good prose writing. Bartaman Bharat (Contemporary India), Paribrajok( Migrator), Prachyo O Praschatyo( East and West) come to the list, which we must read to fathom Swamji’s Philosophy. In Prachyo O Praschatyo( East and West), he raised an important question to Western Europe that what they did to other countries or continents. He condemned the western nature of colonizing everywhere and destroying native lifestyle. Such bold approach in prose writing is rare to find.

Reading only few stories or writing few words about Swamiji will not be a tribute to him. We should “arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.”