Swami Vivekananda - Awakener of Modern India

By R Ramakrishnan

Youth cannot hope for a better friend, philosopher and guide than Swami Vivekananda, and this short sketch of his great biography is intended to be an introduction to his profundity. It is under his banner that Indian youth can safely march ahead. A perusal of it will be an impulsion to boys and girls to take to a more detailed study of his life and message.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: Jun 4, 2016
• ISBN: 9781365163784

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(1896)

SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

1. A NATION-BUILDER

Bharat, that is India, is our beloved motherland. To us India is not a mere geographical entity, not just a piece of land, but a real, living Mother India. India is a nation-soul, not mere soil and stone. We are literally India’s children. We are sisters and brothers, because India is our common mother. We are flesh of India’s flesh, bone of India’s bone. Our Indianness is the proudest thing about us.

India is an ancient land. Its history is very old, and its tradition goes back to periods much earlier than those recorded in history. Other ancient lands as old as India have passed out of existence or of importance. But India is old and yet young. In the words of Swami Vivekananda, the Indian nation cannot be killed; deathless it stands.

India is not only ancient, but holy. It is the punya bhumi (sacred land). Indians not only love India, but revere India. It is a country which is great in many ways. There is plenty of variety in India, but there is also a basic, fundamental unity. It is a vast land, almost a continent. Its features are of all kinds. High mountains and low plains, fertile areas and dry tracts, dense forests and open plains, thickly peopled territories and thinly populated regions, perennial rivers and rain-fed streams are all to be found in India. The people speak many languages and follow different customs. But with all these variations, India is one and the Indian people are one. The Indian spirit is one, from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin.

India has many many claims to distinction. Its literature is vast and rich. The pages of its history are shining records of many renowned monarchs and their heroic doings. Indian arts and crafts have for ages remained highly developed. The skill and the endurance of the Indian worker have won admiration. Indians have been noble people—noted for their piety and goodness, their patience and heroism, their industry and culture. In fact India’s contribution to the enrichment of the world has always been sizable and significant.

The immensity that is India is the product of the labours of many. Kings and statesmen, authors and poets, philanthropists and public workers, warriors and heroes, temple-builders and travellers, merchants and captains of industry, scientists and conquerors, and last but not least, the silent toiling masses have all helped the building up of the India of today. India is, however, essentially a land of philosophy and religion and spirituality, and the most notable of India’s builders have been its sages and seers and saints, its thinkers and men of God. To this brilliant galaxy of great-souled and enlightened supermen belongs Swami Vivekananda. In the nineteenth century India’s glory seemed to dim noticeably. The national pulse appeared to beat low. India had been brought under an unsympathetic and wooden alien rule. The land was being exploited on all sides. Indian culture did not continue to receive its due share of appreciation from foreigners and even from Indians. The common people were a sunken mass. It was feared by many that this giant tree of India would soon wither and perish. But in truth all this gloom on the Indian surface had not affected in the least the roots of its existence. The sap was still strong in India’s plant. A passing mist had just spread itself over its foliage, and to superficial eyes it seemed to be about to smother it to death. At such a time rose Vivekananda. He was a gifted soul. He sat at the feet of Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, and drank deep of Indian wisdom. He became heir to the spiritual wealth of India. With his keen eyes he studied the then condition of India. With a prophet’s vision he foresaw the future glory of the immortal motherland. He then set himself to the grand task of refreshing and reviving the Indian nation. He devoted all his time, talent and energy to this mighty work. He wore himself out in it, and he died young.

But Vivekananda’s mission knows no death. And he lives in his mission. He was an awakener of modern India. Vivekananda by his lion’s roar aroused a slumbering subcontinent. Boys and girls at school and college today have a sacred duty to perform; they must equip themselves to grow into awakened citizens. And they cannot do this better than by knowing what Vivekananda was and what he did. It must be their ambition to follow in the hallowed footsteps of this illustrious Indian.

2. BRIGHT BOYHOOD

The child is indeed father of the man. If Vivekananda as a man was striking and brilliant, Vivekananda as a boy was delightfully promising, clearly showing early marks of future greatness. He was lovely and lordly too. Many boyhood traits in him foreshadowed the coming glory. The Tamil proverb, ‘The growing plant reveals itself in the seedling’ found its verification in him. Vivekananda was the name he took after he became a monk and preacher. His early name was Narendranath. ‘Narendra’ signifies a prince, and if there was one quality in him which made him unique it was princely majesty. He was born in Calcutta in the year 1863. The Datta family to which he belonged was a noble aristocratic family. The sublimity about Vivekananda was almost a family inheritance. Narendra’s grandfather had turned monk after the birth of a son, and so monkhood was in the very blood of Narendra. His father, Vishwanatha Datta, was a lawyer, and Narendra owned much of his robust common sense, sympathy and rational outlook to his father. Narendra’s mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was a noble-minded lady of a pious disposition, and she believed that it was in answer to her prayers to Lord Siva that Narendra was born as her son. She was Narendra’s first teacher, and a deep attachment to his worthy mother marked Narendra to the end of his days.

The child Narendra was a dear darling. His sparkling look and winsome manners charmed everybody. He was naturally the pride of the family. He was vigorous and active even as a baby. He was restless for doing. Two nurses had to be engaged to take care of him, but they often found him uncontrollable. His pranks were endless, and again and again every one at home felt teased! But for all his mischief, he was fascinating. His mother used to say—in despair and in joyous satisfaction—‘I prayed to Siva for a son, and Siva has sent me one of His demons!’ And a Demon indeed was this child going to be—a beneficent Demon of superhuman toil and universal good. The mother sometimes poured cold water on him muttering Siva, Siva, in order to quiet down his exuberance, and even held out a frequent threat that Siva would not take a turbulent boy into His abode. And that threat used to act on the young rebel and bring him round to passivity for a while. For he was not born like other children. Trailing clouds of glory had he come, and the mother’s hint of a frown of Siva was enough to correct naughtiness.

Narendra was all play and frolic and fun. Indeed he played furiously. He would, when chased by his disturbed sisters, go so far as to take refuge in the street drain! His companions were not