Monday, January 12, 2009

Today Remembered

Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached!

Swami Vivekananda

He needs no introduction. I'd rather say that I'm not qualified to introduce an eminence such as him!

In commemoration of the birth of Swami Vivekananda, India observes the National Youth Day, today. A renowned thinker, social reformer, educator and philosopher, Swami Vivekananda greatly influenced people from all sections of the society alike, not only in India but across many countries where he travelled during his lifetime.

His visit to Chicago to participate in the Parliament of World's Religions was particularly significant. On September 11, 1893, during the opening of the parliament he began his speech with "Sisters and brothers of America!" He immediately got a standing ovation from a crowd of seven thousand people which lasted for two minutes. The photograph below, shows Swami Vivekananda on the Platform of the Parliament



Subsequently, he met Professor John Henry Wright of Harvard University who invited him to speak at Harvard, to which the Swami replied that he had no credentials from any bona fide organization! Professor Wright is then reported to have said "To ask for your credentials is like asking the sun to state its right to shine in the heavens." Wright then wrote a letter to the Chairman in charge of delegates, writing, "Here is a man who is more learned than all of our learned professors put together."

During the course of his lecturing tours in the United States and England, he received two academic offers, the chair of Eastern Philosophy at Harvard University and a similar position at Columbia University. He politely declined both and continued his lecturing tours, stating that he was wandering monk, he could not settle down to work of this kind!

Back home in India, his lectures greatly influenced a posse of Indian leaders including Mahatma Gandhi, Bipin Chandra Pal, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari and Balgangadhar Tilak. Upon returning to India in 1897, he founded the Ramakrishna Math and Mission, which continues to promote his ideologue and works for the promotion of social service. He also impressed upon Sir Jamshetji Tata to set up a research and educational institution which resulted in the formation of the Research Institute of Science (now, Indian Institute of Science, IISc). Tata then invited the Swami to head the insitution, an offer that was politely declined stating a conflict with spiritual interests.
His string of remarkable accomplishments cannot certainly be chronicled in this post, which is intended to convey to the reader the underlying principles governing the Swami's school of thought and to particularly call out to the Indian youth to realize the potential within and strive for change, one that brings progress and excellence in spirit and system!

Of all the rich tributes and accolades that His Eminence received, perhaps the words of Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose comes closest to describing the person that Swami Vivekananda was.

About the Swami, Netaji Bose once remarked, "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."

Footnotes:

Image Courtesy: Vivekananda Vedanta Network
With inputs from Wikipedia

29 comments:

  1. Oh my Rak,

    A post on Vivekananda...our minds might have met last night :)

    this morning...I just felt like reading his 'Where is happiness' again,

    I have a collection of his workds...'I am a voice without a Form' is his thoughts...many interesting Vedantic thoughts...

    thanks dear...btw, have you started the photoblog...let me check the profile list :)

    love,
    devika

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  2. A very Interesting share of knowledge yaar. My mind is really fresh now after reading about this great eminent personality of yester years.

    I think i should be calling you a mobile libraray.....

    All the very best and thanks for your great effort.

    Cheers,
    Jayashree

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  3. what a great man!! no words can describe him completely!

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  4. he's an amazing man.. i read his biography once n was awe struck by him.. and i love those lines u began ur post with

    "Arise, awake and stop not till your goal is reached"

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  5. Thank you for reminding us about the great Swami Vivekananda. Truly a life that should inspire everyone, specially the youth, even today!

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  6. I learnt a lot from your very interesting post... which however made me curious to know a bit more, so I have now spent a small hour on studying Swami Vivekanada in different google articles. This proves to me that I, and we in Europe in general maybe, know too little about Indian (and other distant) cultures! Thanks Rakesh!

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  7. great post man..at a time when we are in need of a guiding force..

    His speech at Chicago is still unmatched for its brilliance ...remember listening to it somewhere in a broken recording..
    And those words from Bose, our forgotten hero just made the icing on the cake..

    thanks a lot for this post man

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  8. the last time i had read viveknand was ai guess was in my history leason...you just heped me remember one of the great personalities

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  9. Thanks for sharing this with us! The last time I read about him somewhere was in my 8th. we had a subject Malayalam 2 and it was all about him; an entire text book.

    Btw, how do you come up with these posts?? Great !

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  10. Read about him in school, I remember about the time, in Chicago when he took out the Geeta/or the Rig Veda from right at the bottom of a pile of all the other religious texts and said it was at the bottom because it was the very base, or the foundation of all learning ... (not sure how true that is)...
    I like, 'Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached!'

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  11. Today our country needs another Swami Vivekananda...

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  12. It’s great to remember this hero; he is such an inspiration ever. I sure myself to read more about Vivekananda and some more personalities I see enormous in progress. You brought the collected information so politely Rakesh! I wish you happy pongals :)

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  13. Devika Chechi

    Perhaps, we did have a consensus ad idem (a meeting of the minds)

    I am yet to read through the works of Swami Vivekananda and find him to be someone who was far ahead of his times.

    Perhaps we as a nation need a few dozen people like him to lead us!

    And yes, I have started the photoblog. It will not appear on my profile since I'm not using blogger!

    The link is http://almostsunday.aminus3.com

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  14. Jay

    Thanks for the wonderful words of encouragement there! I'm kinda flattered at your calling me a mobile library although I would quite disagree!

    The works of Swami Vivekananda appeal to the spirit!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  15. Satheesh

    Quite true! No one can describe this magnificent person! He cannot be limited by the description of words!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  16. Elith

    Yes, a splendid personality indeed! I am yet to read his biography!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  17. Manju

    Yes indeed, Swami Vivekananda, was a great inspiration, one who continues to be so even to this day.

    If only we'd all follow what he taught us, we'd be a libertated society today!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  18. Peter

    Many thanks for your kind words of encouragement!

    Swami Vivekanada was an immensely inspiring person, one who was driven by logic and purpose rather than the blatant misbeliefs of the day which he condemned via his teachings!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  19. Praveen

    True we are in need of someone like Swami Vivekanada who can take us to the path of enlightenment!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  20. Rakesh

    I'm glad and privileged that I evoked the memories of your learnings of Swami Vivekanada!

    What could be more of a gift?

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  21. Vimmuuu

    I'm glad you read Swami Vivekanada while in school!

    I hope to read his biography some day!

    And as far as these posts are concerned, most of them, as you may have already noticed are based on inspiration! I try to see in me the good I see in others!

    Cheers mate!

    Rakesh

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  22. Indian Home Maker

    The Gita / Veda part is news to me! I guess it must be true! Thanks for sharing this anecdote!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  23. Deepak

    Yes, India badly needs another Swami Vivekanada!

    Rakesh

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  24. Jeevan

    Yes, Swami Vivekanada was a motivator, thinker, inspirer and all par excellence. His wisdom if channelized in our every day lives will lead us to enlightenment!

    Thanks for your Pongal wishes! Wishing you and folks a very happy pongal!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  25. A timely post, I shud say! a great man ahead of time, Haven't read much of his works, except for a few series of books, Liked The Call to nation very much..

    And last to comment here, cos am home now,,, Been busily lazy for a while, an affordable luxury till 20th...

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  26. Arise Awake and Stop Not Till The Goal is Reached

    Is just one of of those inspiring rays of Light that he has left for the Youth. It is however, very sad that not many this day and age do remember him at all, except for his attire and this quote!

    We had done a play on him a couple of years back, scripted out from various sources of his life, including a recitation of his wondrous poetry. As a matter of fact till I got involved in working with the children on that play, I really did not know much. But during and after the performance I was taken aback very pleasantly, when I observed the way the audience on that Annual Day was attentive and appreciative. It had to be because it was Swamiji. :)

    As you say, he lived far beyond his times. Sometimes I wonder if he still does!

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  27. Usha Ma'am

    Sad that a lot of people do not know more than his attire and the quote! Shows how rapidly we have come to forget our glorious past!

    India needs a very strong thought leader such as Swami Vivekananda to lead it to become a more civilized nation!

    Cheers

    Rakesh

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  28. Seeker

    Many thanks for your comments!

    I hope you have a good time @ home!

    Cheers

    Raku

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  29. nice post! thats a lot of new information to me.

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