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Younger Generation - Swami Vivekananda's Greatest Hope


 Say India and say Swami Vivekananda! Both are same. He lived the life of an Indian, in its complete sense.

He believed boys and girls at school and college have a sacred duty to perform for their nation; they must equip themselves to grow into awakened citizens. When he was a kid like you he respected and revered his mother. His love for his mother later translated as love towards his motherland when he grew older. He was as restless as a boy that his mother used to say – “I prayed to Shiva for a son, and Shiva has sent me one of His demons!”

Narendra was fond of stories like you all do. He heard many stories from his mother’s lips on Indian mythology. He started to love the nation as a young kid.

His love for the nation is driven by his high sense of duty, his ability to discriminate and enquire. He read about India and travelled across India to understand India better. He celebrated India wherever he travelled.

I will try to recount what India meant to Swami Vivekananda and later give his call to the nation particularly to the young ones. So that you can relate to Swamiji’s ideas and dreams.

On India he says, If India die, all spirituality of the world will be extinct, all moral perfection will be extinct, all sweet soled sympathy for religion will be extinct.

Here, I underline spirituality, moral perfection and sympathy for others as the cornerstone of Indianness. As Indians we all should strive to emulate these qualities.

Swamiji further says,

The world is immensely indebted to India, there is no other country in the world than India to which the entire world owes so much. Activities prevailed in India even before Greek, Roman and any other European civilization.

As he was proud, he also had his share of worry. He strongly felt lack of the attitude to lead from the front, disobedience and jealousy are the banes to Indians.

He feels leaders in India, be whatever field, they never advance forward. They only keep shouting from a safe position, ‘Fight on brave lads’. The captain must be ready to sacrifice his head and only if you can lead from the front and can lay down your life for a cause then only you can be a leader. But we all want to be leaders without making necessary sacrifice. And the result is zero – nobody listens to us. Nobody cares.

My dear fellow Indians, better late than never – I personally urge you to be leaders and leaders par excellence.

He further speaks about disobedience:

Vivekananda says,

Learn obedience first. Among the western nations, with such a high spirit of independence, the spirit of obedience is equally strong. We, Indians, all of us self-important, which never produces any great work.  Great enterprise, boundless courage, tremendous energy and above all perfect obedience are the only traits that lead to individual and national regeneration. These traits are altogether lacking in us.

Dear fellow friends- I again recount – it is enterprise, courage, energy and obedience is all we need to make India a truly great nation.

Swamiji speaks also about jealousy,

He says jealousy is the bane of our national character. It is natural to slaves not leaders. Even the God cannot achieve anything on account of this jealousy. We should probably think the whole work is upon our shoulders. Think that you, young men of our motherland, are destined to do this. Put yourselves to the task.

He feels there are many things to be done, but the means are wanting in India. We have brains, but no hands. We have doctrine of Vedanta, we don’t have the power to reduce it into practice. There is the doctrine of universal equality in our books, but in work we make great distinctions.

He also feels the one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor. The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality.

Having spoken about all that we lack and we need, Swami Vivekananda is a sheer optimist. He gives his call to the nation –

He says:

Let us all work hard, my brethren; this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future. She is there ready waiting. My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions.  They will spread from centre to centre, until we have covered the whole of India.

Have fire and spread all over. Work, work. Be the servant while leading. Be unselfish, and never listen to one friend in private accusing another. Have infinite patience and success is yours…. Take care!

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