By: Dr. Ratan Bhattacharjee
Social service was an essential aspect of his ideas, and an innovation which deviated from both Advaita Vedanta and Ramakrishna. He nevertheless attributed these ideas to both, trying to reconcile them with his own ideas. This man was Swami Vivekananda the Hindu monk from India who got an important teaching he received from Ramakrishna was that Jiva is Shiva (each individual is divinity itself). So he stressed on Shiva Jnane Jiva Seva, (to serve common people considering them as manifestation of God). According to Vivekananda, man is potentially Divine, so, service to man is indeed service to God. Swami Vivekananda is a name that does not require any sort of introduction. He is an influential personality who is credited with enlightening the western world about Hinduism. He represented Hinduism in the Parliament of Religions in 1893 in Chicago and due to this an unknown monk of India suddenly leaped into fame. To Vivekananda, religion was not mere theory, but an actual practice to be applied in life, raising the brute into man, and man into God, stating “it is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging; it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes.” He hated the religious rituals that were in practice during that time.
Vivekananda also noted that meditation in isolation won’t suffice”: According to Swami Vivekananda, “faith in ourselves and faith in God – this is the secret of greatness”. Swami Vivekananda observed the history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves, and it is faith which calls out divinity within. So he told, if people have faith in three hundred and thirty millions of Hindu mythological gods, and in all the gods which foreigners have now and still have no faith in themselves, there will be no salvation Vivekananda stressed the importance of individual development. Swami Vivekananda realized three things are necessary to make every man great, every nation great, namely conviction of the powers of goodness; absence of jealousy and suspicion; and helping all who are trying to be and do good. Swami Vivekananda suggested trying to give up jealousy and conceit and learn to work unitedly for others. He told that purity, patience and perseverance overcome all obstacles. He suggested taking courage and work on. Patience and steady work, according to Swami Vivekananda, this is the only way to get success.
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Vivekananda founded Ramakrishna Mission on 1 May 1897 for one’s own salvation and for the welfare of the world. His lectures, writings, letters, and poems are published as The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. He always focuses on teaching universal principles rather than personalities. He had tremendous intellect. His unique contributions always enlighten and awaken us. He was a spiritual leader and social reformer. ” All the powers in the universe are already our. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.”- Swami Vivekananda If anyone wants to study the origin of the Vedanta movement in America then he may study Swami Vivekananda who travels across the US to spread the message all over the world. He was a great thinker, great orator, and passionate patriot. Vivekananda’s thought, and he joined the Brahmo Samaj (Society of Brahma), dedicated to eliminating child marriage and illiteracy and determined to spread education among women and the lower castes. He later became the most-notable disciple of Ramakrishna, who demonstrated the essential unity of all religions. Always stressing the universal and humanistic side of the Vedas, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism, as well as belief in service rather than dogma, Vivekananda attempted to infuse vigour into Hindu thought, placing less emphasis on the prevailing pacifism and presenting Hindu spirituality to the West. He was an activating force in the movement to promote Vedanta philosophy (one of the six schools of Indian philosophy) in the United States and England.
He was born into an upper-middle-class family of the Kayastha (scribes) caste in Bengal, he was educated at a Western-style university where he was exposed to Western philosophy, Christianity, and science. Social reform became a prominent element of his thinking and speeches all over the globe. He adapted and made relevant to the 20th century the very highest ideals of the Vedantic religion, and, although he lived only two years into that century, he left the mark of his personality on East and West alike. Martin Luther King, Jr., the preeminent leader of the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. Today the world knows that he was more than just a spiritual mind. Vivekananda felt, in India, there are two great evils – trampling on the women, and grinding through the poor through caste restrictions. As a Hindu spiritual leader and reformer in India he attempted to combine Indian spirituality with Western material progress, maintaining that the two supplemented and complemented one another. His Absolute was a person’s own higher self; to labour for the benefit of humanity was the noblest endeavour.
Swami Vivekananda noticed almost everywhere women are treated as playthings. In modern countries like America, women have more independence, still, Vivekananda had noticed, men bow low, offer a woman a chair and in another breath they offer compliments like “Oh, how beautiful your eyes..” and other such compliments which are only a kind of subjugating lures for women in a male dominated society. Vivekananda felt, a man does not have any right to do this or venture so far, and any woman should not permit this as well. According to Swami Vivekananda, such things develop the less noble side of humanity. They do not tend to noble ideals. Vivekananda felt, the best thermometer to the progress of a nation is its treatment of its women and it is impossible to get back India’s lost pride and honor unless they try to better the condition of women.
Vivekananda considered men and women as two wings of a bird, and it is not possible for a bird to fly on only one wing. So, according to him, there is no chance for the welfare of the world unless the condition of woman is improved. Sita for Swamiji is typical of India – the idealized India. If world literature of the past and world literature of the future are thoroughly exhausted, yet, it will not be possible to find another Sita, because Sita is unique, the character was depicted once for all. Swami Vivekananda felt there may have been several Ramas, perhaps, but never more than one Sita. Sita was a true Indian by nature, Vivekananda concluded, one who never returned an injury .Swami Vivekananda warned it is completely unfair to discriminate between sexes, as there is not any sex distinction in Atman or Self. The soul has neither sex, nor caste nor imperfection. He suggested not to think that there are men and women, but only that there are human beings. According to Vivekananda, the ideal of womanhood in India is motherhood – that marvelous, unselfish, all-suffering, ever-forgiving mother Swami Vivekananda gave her the name Nivedita (meaning “Dedicated to God”) when he initiated her into the vow of Brahmacharya on 25 March 1898. In November 1898, she opened a girls’ school in the Bagbazar area of North Calcutta. She wanted to educate girls who were deprived of even basic education.
Vivekananda’s influence on her was very significant. Nivedita met Vivekananda when he visited England in 1895, and she was attracted to the universal principles of Vedanta and to Vivekananda’s humanistic teachings. Accepting him as her guru (spiritual teacher) before he left England in 1896, she worked for the Vedanta movement in England until she went to India in 1898. Her great level of devotion compelled Vivekananda to give her the name Nivedita (“Dedicated One”). She went to India primarily to help Vivekananda realize his plans to educate women, and she opened a small school at Kolkata here she tried to blend Indian traditions with Western ideas. She closed the school in 1899 to raise funds abroad before returning in 1902 and reopening it. The following year she added courses to train young women in arts and crafts in addition to basic academic subjects. Vivekananda’s humanization of Indian Sprituality impressed Nivedita. She too felt inspired to make notable efforts to serve the poor of Calcutta and Bengal during times of plague, famine, and floods there. Following Vivekananda’s death in 1902, Nivedita turned her attention more toward India’s political emancipation.
In 1893 he appeared in Chicago as a spokesman for Hinduism at the World’s Parliament of Religions and so captivated the assembly that a newspaper account described him as “an orator by divine right and undoubtedly the greatest figure at the Parliament.” Thereafter, he lectured throughout the United States and England, making converts to the Vedanta movement. On his return to India with a small group of Western disciples in 1897, Vivekananda founded the Ramakrishna Mission at the monastery of Belur Math on the Ganges (Ganga) River near Calcutta (now Kolkata). His works are still read by millions of followers even today. Some of his other books are Sangeet Kalpataru, Karma Yoga, and Lectures from Colombo to Almora, Raja Yoga and Vedanta Philosophy: An address before the Graduate Philosophical Society.
- Complete Works Of Swami Vivekananda (9 Vols.) It brings together his thoughts on Vedanta, philosophy, and human consciousness. His teachings in these volumes convey the core meaning of Vedanta philosophy in an easy-to-understand way.
- Raja-Yoga (1896) contains, for the most part, his interpretation of Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras. This book was written keeping his Western audience and reader in mind. The book begins with a brief introduction to Yoga. It explains various techniques for practising basic Yoga exercises like Prânâyâma, Pratyâhâra, Dhyâna, Samâdhi etc. The book also provides insights into developing concentration and the powers of practising Yoga.
- Karma Yoga: The Yoga Of Action (1896) is a book of lectures by Swami Vivekananda, as transcribed by Joseph Josiah Goodwin. The main subject of the book is Karma (Work) and Karma Yoga (The Yoga of Action). Vivekananda uses the concept of Karma as described in the Bhagavad Gita to explain his philosophy. The final message is that work is worship and a path to enlightenment.
- Meditation And Its Methods contains Vivekananda’s views on meditation are sprinkled throughout his “Complete Works”. These various views, thoughts, opinions, and lectures are compiled to make this book. Jnana Yogaor The Yoga of Knowledge is a book of lectures by Swami Vivekananda as transcribed by Joseph Josiah Goodwin. These lectures were delivered mostly in New York. In this book, Vivekananda explains the knowledge of the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita in a scientific manner. Teachings of Swami Vivekanandacomprise a choice collection of his speeches, quotes, and teachings. These are categorised into 44 suitable sections. According to him, knowledge is the ultimate goal. It is only knowledge which can give us freedom from Maya or illusion. The book also touches upon other important Hindu philosophies like the atman, cosmos, immortality etc. In a word Vivekananda’s books provide a concrete guideline to the youths of the country. He regarded playing football as more important for the youth than reading the Bhagavad Gita or such religious books by sitting idle at home. The reason behind this advice was to make the youth force involved and committed to the service of humanity.
National Youth Day 2024: It is celebrated on 12 January to commemorate the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda. He was a great thinker, a great orator, and a passionate patriot. (The author is currently Affiliate Faculty of English in Virginia Commonwealth University. He can be reached at bhattacharjr@vcu.edu)
