Swami Vivekananda: The Spirited Swami

Swami Vivekananda is one of the India’s most celebrated gurus and chief disciple of 19th century mystic Sri Ramakrishna. His thought-provoking lectures, sayings and works have been a great source of motivation for us to shape the future generations. Swami dedicated his life for the cause of humanity and upliftment of downtrodden. He was forthright and inspirational. To awaken India and let her know it's true potential he travelled across the country and all over the world.

We believe, for the youth of today, his philosophy and the exemplar he set is a great source of inspiration and pride. Everyone should go through his works to know his mindset. Youth needs to inhibit his positive energy. He preached equality at a time when India was in a deep riddle of caste system. He always advocated youth to be patriotic and take pride in their roots. This is the reason why his birth anniversary is proclaimed as National Youth Day to celebrate the wisdom and inspire the youth of the country about this beautiful soul who illuminated us with unconditional love during his short life.

Here’s what father of our nation, Mahatma Gandhi thought about him: “I have gone through Swami Vivekananda’s works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country became a thousand-fold. …His writings need no introduction from anybody. They make their own irresistible appeal.”

There are many insightful life incidents in the life of Swami Vivekananda, one such interesting incident is of Swami Vivekananda with an old man in the Himalayas. Swami Vivekananda was having a long trek in the Himalayas when he found an old man extremely exhausted standing hopelessly at the foot of an upward slope. The man said to Swamiji in frustration, ‘Oh, Sir, how to cross it; I cannot walk any more; my chest will break.’

Swamiji listened to the old man patiently and then said, ‘Look down at your feet. The road that is under your feet is the road that you have passed over and is the same road that you see before you; it will soon be under your feet.’ These words emboldened the old man to resume his onward trek.

On his 156th birth anniversary, let us ponder on some of his quotes and try to implement in our lives.

• Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.
• Whatever you think that you will be.If you think yourself weak, weak you will be; if you think yourself strong, you will be.
• Stand upon the Self, only then can we truly love the world. Take a very high stand; knowing our universal nature, we must look with perfect calmness upon all the panorama of the world.
• That man has reached immortality who is disturbed by nothing material.
• When you are doing any work, do not think of anything beyond. Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being.
• The moment I have realised God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him - that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.
• The essence of Vedanta is that there is but one Being and that every soul is that Being in full, not a part of that Being.
• Perfection does not come from belief or faith. Talk does not count for anything. Parrots can do that. Perfection comes through selfless work.