'Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached', enumerating 156 years of His motivation..!

 

New Delhi, Jan 12: “The thoughts and ideals of #SwamiVivekananda inspire and energise crores of Indians, particularly our youth.

 

It is from him that we draw the motivation of building an India that is strong, vibrant, inclusive and an India that takes global leadership in several areas.” Tweeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi

Swami learnt that all living beings were an embodiment of the divine self; therefore, service to God could be rendered by service to mankind.

After Ramakrishna's death, Vivekananda toured the Indian subcontinent extensively and acquired first-hand knowledge of the conditions prevailing in British India. He later travelled to the United States, representing India at the 1893 Parliament of the World's Religions. Vivekananda conducted hundreds of public and private lectures and classes, disseminating tenets of Hindu philosophy in the United States, England and Europe. In India, Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint and his birthday is celebrated there as National Youth Day.

Swamiji a chief disciple of the 19th-century Indian mystic Ramakrishna. He was a key figure in the introduction of the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world and is credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion during the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the concept of nationalism in colonial India. Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. He is perhaps best known for his speech which began, "Sisters and brothers of America ...," in which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893.

Swami Vivekananda revealed to the world the true foundations of India's unity as a nation. He taught how a nation with such a vast diversity can be bound together by a feeling of humanity and brotherhood. Vivekananda emphasized the points of drawbacks of western culture and the contribution of India to overcome those. Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose once said: "Swamiji harmonized the East and the West, religion and science, past and present. And that is why he is great. Our countrymen have gained unprecedented self-respect, self-reliance and self-assertion from his teachings." Vivekananda was successful in constructing a virtual bridge between the culture of East and the West.