Vivekananda on Youth Awakening: His call and dream

                                                                                                                   

January 12th is celebrated as National Youth Day in India, and the date that marks Swami Vivekananda’s birth date ( 153^rd  anniversary in 2016). Spreading the ideas and ideals of Swami Vivekananda among the youths of India is of great importance to India today. It is essential to wake up the eternal energy of the youth as well to spark the efforts to speed up the development process in our Nation.

To quote from the Government of India's communication with regard to the National Youth Day observance, 'it was felt that the philosophy of Swamiji and the ideals for which he lived and worked could be a great source of inspiration for the Indian Youth.”

Philosophies, teachings and ideas of Swami Vivekananda are  great cultural and traditional assets of India. Swami Vivekananda always believed it was necessary to harness the power of the youth to lead and nourish the historical culture of the country.

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, and live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success. The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously. Iron nerves with an intelligent brain — and the whole world is at your feet.”

Succeeding in life is a primary aim of the human race. Success is a board subject that will involve, personal and professional life. For many it would involve a spiritual upliftment that will also realize their materialistic needs.

Many of Swamiji’s messages talk about the needs of humanity keeping in mind not to destroy our culture or faith. His vision talk of unity and peace for the whole of humanity. He believes that by transforming the citizen of the nation will in turn make his home prosper. With this change comes prosperity in his village, country and ultimately the whole Nation. His philosophy has been eye opener for the Nation and many nationalist oriented organizations. It is the duty of all Indians to carry forward his message to the whole world, not in words alone but in deeds too.

The power which helped Mother India to withstand and overcome the obstacles and colonization was her rich culture and heritage which is strongly based on spirituality. Today, westernization has made the whole world a  commercial platform. People have become selfish and material gain attained priority even at the cost of other’s life. This has become the root cause for all the chaos.

Swamiji believed in the power of youth and the  enthusiasm he showed in propagating the cultural modernism of Indian Philosophy, the relevance of his teachings attains more importance in the current world scenario. The western culture which is easily creeping into the Indian psychic can cause destructions that we can’t even imagine. The ultimate solution for all the issues faced by the world is to understand the Indian Philosophy which is built upon the concept of universal brotherhood and world peace ‘Loka Samastha Sukhino Bhavanthu’. The intellects of western world who has recognized this, are closely watching India through its development. They try to understand that magic in Indian culture and traditions, that helps it withstand any turbulences that passes over her. A development based on spirituality can only survive this scenario. It is our duty to lead India beyond this materialistic world.

Swami Vivekananda aimed at the renaissance of whole mankind through the overall development of an individual. He asked us to quit laziness. He was the one who unveiled the value and strength of Indian culture and heritage to the western world. The spark of intellectual revolution that Swamiji gave to the world paved way for the overall renaissance. Let us hope for a world, where one believes that helping the fellow beings in need is the real worship of God, where individual, society and nations exist as complementary to each other, where man and nature exist in pure harmony.

Let us not mislead our youth. Let us make ourselves responsible to guide them through the path of Swami Vivekananda who believed in the power of Indian culture. Let us concentrate more on practice than on preaching. Let us develop a service oriented society among us.

And the most effective way of spreading his message would be by living it and giving the world an example to identify with. By imbibing Swami’s message in our life, we become ambassadors of our nation and its civilization. There is nothing more patriotic than living the ideals of our rishis and heroes. Swamiji called for every Indians to stand up and stand by the philosophy of our nation with pride.

During this National Youth day let us  spark the spirit amongst our youth for the quest of knowledge on our Bharat's vast spiritual, scientific and philosophical knowledge.

Vibheesh Tikkodi