Swami Vivekananda, The Role Model and The Revolutionary Inspiration

Friends, Jan 12th occupies an important place in our Indian calendar. If there is one date which has become as significant as Jan 26th or Aug 15th or Oct 2nd for the people of India, it's Jan 12th. Over the last few years, Jan 12th is being celebrated as the National Youth Day in a grand way across the country, not just in cities but even in in the interior parts of the country. As the youth population in this country is growing, Jan 12th is becoming more and more relevant and more prominent.

Jan 12th of this year becomes even more special as the country is celebrating the 150th Jayanthi of the greatest patriot of this country, the great philosopher, the revolutionary saint, the intellectual, the leader of leaders, a strong inspiration for many movements and for many achievers, and the role model of the Indian Youth , Swami Vivekananda. If the country remembers Swami Vivekananda so much and If the country talks so much about him, I am sure that there should be something great about his contribution and his message which makes the countrymen his ardent followers.

 As someone who is one such ardent follower of Swami Vivekananda, If I am asked to summarize his contributions and his message to youth, I would summarize it in the following way:

 1. Swami Vivekananda through his deep understanding of India, Indian values and ethics and India's contribution to the world and humanity conquered the whole world through his historical Chicago speech at world's Parliament of Religions and made the whole world know what India stands for and brought a great pride for our mother land.

2. Swami Vivekananda awakened the countrymen from the ignorance with his strong magical oratory and inspired them to fight for relieving the mother India from the colonial rule and gave birth to the extraordinary fighting spirit of great leaders like Subash Chandra Bose, Bhagat Singh etc.

3. Swamiji through his conviction and his imagination power asked Indians to put the 3 crore Gods whom we pray aside and asked them to start serving the Maa Bharath for 50th years and exactly after years India became Independent.

4. It's Swami Vivekananda for the first time in the history of colonial India who strongly opposed untouchability and slavery as a human crime and said one who practice untouchability is not a true Hindu.

5. Vivekananda gave a new definition to religion and spirituality. He said religion is nothing but being Good and doing Good. He asked us to see Lord Shiva in a poor man and asked us to serve the poor man rather than spending huge amounts and time in rituals.

 6. Swamiji simplified and brought back the teachings of Vendanta and Upanishads to the common people through his simpler wordings and interesting illustrations. His explanation of Advaita Philosophy, that God is present everywhere both in you, me and everyone else and that one can manifest the Godliness only through a principled life has become an eye opener for many.

7. Swami Vivekananda emphasized the importance of science and education for Indians and advised Tata to invest in science and scientific research and Tata followed his advised and built Indian Institute of Science (IISc), which later on became the No 1 Science Institution of India.

8. Vivekananda initiated Rama Krishna Mission at Calcutta and dedicated the mission for the service of humanity which later on became a Pan Indian organization with extra ordinary service for human excellence and inspired lakhs of people to dedicate their lives for the country through its teachings and through its service.

9. Swami Vivekananda extensively promoted the idea that God is one and he can reached by different paths and he strongly opposed the conversions in the name of God to prove the superiority of religions and advised the religious organizations to channelize their efforts in making a Christian a better Christian, a Muslim a better Muslim and a Hindu and better Hindu rather than converting people from one religion to other religion.

10. Swami Vivekananda openly opposed the materialistic elements of western culture and while touring in Europe, he warned Europeans of their materialistic aspirations and said the Europe would collapse because of their quest for materialistic aspirations and Europe collapsed with two world wars.

11. Swamiji emphasized the women empowerment for the empowerment of society and encouraged women education. He inspired and encouraged Sister Nivedita to work for the empowerment of women and their education.

12. Swamiji asked the youth to channelise their complete energy towards their goals and asked them to reject anything weak as poison and emphasized the point that strength is life and with strength, they can win the whole world.

The above mentioned are some of the major milestones of Swamijis Life, his invaluable contributions and deeds for the country. His life itself is a great massage for all of us, his contributions are great pointers for what as a country we need to do, his remembrance itself is a great source of energy for all Indians. And that is the reason why we all are celebrating Jan 12th, Swami Vivekananda Jayanthi across the country in a grand way. My blog is my personal tribute on the occasion of 150th Jayanthi for what this great saint has contributed to the country and to me personally. If I am what I am today, If my thoughts are what they are today, it’s primarily because of the massive influence of Swami Vivekananda's ideology on my personality which I am very proud of. And It is true for many of us. And that's the reason why we call him "The Real Role Model and a True Revolutionary Inspiration".