Swami Vivekanand wanted our youths to be lions. He himself was a courageous and divine personality to follow. His ideology and thoughts inspired many to jump into freedom movement of Bharat mata, to name few..Subhash Chandra Bose, Lokmanya Tilak and many more till date are inspired by his thoughts, guidance.
The world recognized him as great personality when he appeared as a delegate in famous parliament of religion at Chicago in 1893. We celebrate his birthday on January 12 as “National Youth Day”. Swamiji used to carry ganga and Gita, whenever he went to the West.
Swami Vivekanand is an architect of modern India; he was shocked to see emaciated and physically weak youth during his wondering days. He said, “ First and foremost young men should be strong, Religion will come afterwards. You will be nearer to the heaven by playing football than reading Gita.”
What are we doing to make our youth strong? It’s not just food and luxuries, prepare them to take up life challenges through positive outlook and practical wisdom. The modern and lethargic lifestyle is causing health hazards to many of our youth.
Swamiji has said;” neither money pays, not fame, mor learning; it is character that can cleave through adamantine walls of difficulties.” But money is playing very dominant role in the present society. People are ready to get to any extent to earn money, they are least bothered about the means. This is making mankind greedier and more selfish.
Swamiji figured out this and he said, “Bring light to the ignorant and bring more light to the educated.” He wanted India to be great nation but not at the cost of cherished moral values and culture. He wanted western science coupled with Vedanta. Every year India is manufacturing thousands of doctors, engineers, administrators but not sure how many are real human beings with high values.
Swamiji said, “My hope of the future lies in the youths of character – intelligent, renouncing all for the service of others, and obedient – who can sacrifice their lives in working out my ideas and thereby do good to themselves and to the country at large.”
We read in the Bhagavad-Gita again and again that we must all work incessantly.
All work is by nature composed of good and evil. We cannot do any work which will not do some good somewhere; there cannot be any work which will not cause some harm somewhere. Every work must necessarily be a mixture of good and evil; yet we are commanded to work incessantly. Good and evil will both have their results, will produce their Karma. Good action will entail upon us good effect, bad action, bad. But good and bad are both bondages of the soul. The solution reached in the Gita in regard to this bondage-producing nature of work is that, if we do not attach ourselves to the work we do, it will not have any binding effect on our soul. We shall try to understand what is meant by this “non-attachment to” to work.
(Swami Vivekananda’s book Karma Yoga, Chapter III The secret of Work)
Swamiji has said; One of the greatest lessons I have learnt in my life is to pay as much attention to the means of work as to its end. He was a great man from whom I learnt it, and his own life was a practical demonstration of this great principle I have been always learning great lessons from that one principle, and it appears to me that all the secret of success is there: to pay as much attention to the means as to the end.
Our great defect in life is that we are so much drawn to the ideal, the goal is so much more enchanting, so much more alluring, so much bigger in our mental horizon, that we lose sight of the details altogether.
But whenever failure comes, if we analyze it critically, in ninety-nine per cent of cases we shall find that it was because we did not pay attention to the means. Proper attention to the finishing, strengthening, of the means is what we need, If we examine our own lives, we find that the greatest cause of sorrow is this: we take up something, and put our whole energy on it — perhaps it is a failure and yet we cannot give it up.
We know that it is hurting us, that any further clinging to it is simply bringing misery on us; still, we cannot tear ourselves away from it. That is the one cause of misery: we are attached, we are being caught.
Gita teaches Karma-Yoga. We should work through Yoga (concentration). In such concentration in action (Karma-Yoga), there is no consciousness of the lower ego present. The consciousness that I am doing this and that is never present when one works through Yoga. इदं-न-मम is the divine concept for real pleasure and satisfaction.
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