न कर्मणा न प्रजया धनेन त्यागेनैके अमृतत्वमानशुः । परेण नाकं निहितं गुहायां विभ्राजते तद्यतयो विशन्ति ॥ ३॥ वेदान्तविज्ञानसुनिश्चितार्थाः संन्यासयोगाद् यतयः शुद्धसत्त्वाः। ते ब्रह्मलोकेषु परान्तकाले परामृताः परिमुच्यन्ति सर्वे ॥ ४॥ na karmaṇā na prajayā dhanena tyāgenaike amṛtatvamānaśuḥ | pareṇa nākaṃ nihitaṃ guhāyāṃ vibhrājate yadyatayo viśanti || 3 || vedāntavijñānasuniśrcitārthāḥ saṃnyāsayogādyatayaḥ śuddhasattvāḥ | te brahmalokeṣu parāntakāle parāmṛtāḥ parimucyanti sarve || 4 ||
Swami Vivekananda fetches the first line here and sprinkles it strongly in a lecture named “The Vedanta in all its phases”, delivered in Calcutta.
Neither by deeds nor by subjects and wealth does one attain Nirvana; it is by sacrifice alone! They wander in the cave of their minds, higher than the heavens, where they are one with the Brahman. They are grounded firmly in Science and Vedanta, their souls shining with pure essence. In the end, they are freed, and they dissolve in the ultimate truth, becoming one with the Parabrahman! It is as though the rishis time travelled to the years where Swami Vivekananda was at the pinnacle of a Sannyaasa, went back to ancient times, and noted down this extraordinary verse in the Upanishad!A tremendous force changing the direction of the swirly waters of the vast west blue sea, with ancient philosophical lamps glowing in one hand and clear-as-sky maps in the other, standing in serenity, in a ship made of pious wood overflowing with the sweet odor of devotion to the motherland, rowing it with the paddles shaped by revered ancestors, undeterredly heading towards the banks where glorious future awaited. Swami Vivekananda set out on a voyage to break the weak shackles of Western minds and to rebuild strong belief centers in the hearts of our nation. When the very earth India lived on was slowly drying up, with no under-flowing Sindhu streams of self-knowledge, he emerged. He rose. Like the sun rising in the east, just after the darkest skies, he rose. He broke down the false ideological brick walls, prepared the richest land to build upon, sowed the seeds of India’s glory, which sprouted, spread itself to all crooks, and finally wrapped the entire world with warm thoughts of universal truth.
India, suffering in the horrifying claws of the English, lost her glimmering shine, exposed to the industries’ smoke. The people living like orphans wandering around had forgotten their motherly nation’s nurturing goal of life – Moksha, the salvation. Clueless and lost, the residents believed in negative projections of India’s style of living and thinking. The cunning minds working relentlessly as missionaries narrated unbelievably naïve stories about India and her children. The world thought India needed help. Until Swami Vivekananda entered their hollow lives and minds. He made them entirely realize how void life was without the roaring shlokas of Gita! He opened their lightless eyes to the brightest of lights- Aatman! He paved paths with his bare hands in the deepest of Advaita forests, just so the people could walk in and witness its unimaginable greens.
In his first public lecture after coming to India, in the Floral Hall of Colombo, he says-
“To many, Indian thought, Indian manners; Indian customs, Indian philosophy, Indian literature are repulsive at the first sight; but let them persevere, let them read, let them become familiar with the great principles underlying these ideas, and it is ninety-nine to one that the charm will come over them, and fascination will be the result. Slow and silent, as the gentle dew that falls in the morning, unseen and unheard yet producing a most tremendous result, has been the work of the calm, patient, all-suffering spiritual race upon the world of thought.”He was so confident of India, its grandeur, and its re-emergence, that he never doubted its self-luminescence, not even once. He believed firmly that India could stand on her lotus feet firmly again, this time, so tall, that the whole world could see her divinity in grace. Commencing the speech in Chicago, he re-wrote India’s historically influenced future. Following the iconic speech, he spoke in so many other prestigious gatherings, quoting Upanishads with unexplainable pride, announcing India’s all pervading philosophies. His speech was laced with a sharp tang of taunt to the convertors, sprinkled with scientifically logical explanations, and completely dipped in the nectarine of Advaita. The West was bewildered by this young voice’s sound waves reaching the shore of their intellect and hearts, surprisingly, full of confident representation of his homeland. They were shocked to hear the extreme discrepancy in the other side of the story, the one which was utterly opposite to what they had heard from the strategically false-telling preachers. They felt their inner eyes opening so wide, they saw Swami Vivekananda so clearly. His way of living in accordance with the most ancient order of monks in the world, as he himself calls it, attracted the worldly aware, but internally asleep people of those “developing” countries. They started to develop a thirst for his thunderbolt thoughts, just to listen to him speak in extreme trans, his body and soul in tune with India and its eternal essence.
Vedashree's Message to India's Youth
Youth is a gift. Unwrap it ! Gift it to someone else!Swami Vivekananda, although spreading branches in the West, was always deeply rooted in India. Her soil was his breath. The land craved for her son, and his leaves and fruits to be shed inside the fences of home too. He came back to India, did not sit back, and started a revolution of service and nationalistic thoughts. As he himself reveals many times, his Gurudeva, Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa lighted the lamp of change in his heart. All he did was glow and burn and melt and finally evaporate, all for the glory of India. All for her and her offspring. Everything for ancient ideals.
Swami Vivekananda stands as the highest peak of Indian re-surgent glory, for he was the
architect of the re-found nation we are today.
About the author
Vedashree, a dedicated B.Ed. student, made a remarkable impact with his article titled 'Swami Vivekanand: The architect of India's resurgent glory.' This exceptional piece of writing was recognized as the appreciable effort in 'The Trailblazers 2023,' a prestigious national-level article writing competition organized by the Youthisthan Foundation. In his article, Vedashree undoubtedly sheds light on the pivotal role played by Swami Vivekananda in shaping India's resurgent glory, paying tribute to the visionary leader's enduring influence on the nation's trajectory.