Swami Vivekananda’s Message to the Youth
Swami Vivekananda has inspired countless generations of Indians since he made his famous speech on 11 September 1893 at Chicago at the Parliament of World’s Religions. He exposed the western world to the spiritual aspects of Hindu religion and Indian civilisation. He was also delved upon the capacity and capabilities of the youth; he wanted the youth to train itself in order to give service to humanity.
Sacrifice and Selfless Service
It is useful to review what Swami Vivekananda had to say to the youth. He said that the goal of life is unselfishness and living for others. Life is all about sacrifice.
“This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.”
“Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth’s bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity.” .
He wanted the youth to give up jealousy and conceit:
“Give up jealousy and conceit. Learn to work unitedly for others. This is the great need of our country.” (SV, Letters, p. 224).
For him, working for the poor was the highest form of work. Youth must be sensitive to the poor and work for them. This is particularly today when the inequalities in the society are increasing. He said,
“Feel, my children, feel; feel for the poor, the ignorant, the downtrodden, feel till the heart stops and the brain reels and you think you will go mad…” .
Nishkam Karma
For him, the ideal way of work was to have no expectation in return. He said,
“Those that want to help mankind must take their own pleasure and pain, name and fame, and all sorts of interests, and make a bundle of them and throw them into the sea…” (SV).
Unity as Basis of Ethics
Unity is the basis of ethics. He said,
“If we believe that the other person is my brother and same as me, there’ll be no basis for violence. He said, “There is but one basis of well-being, social, political, or spiritual-to know that I and my brother are one.” (SV, Letters, p. 248).
This is the basis of ethics.
Take Responsibility
He exhorted the youth to take responsibility for their actions. He said,
“…stand up, be bold, be strong. Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders, and know that you are the creators of your own destiny.” (SV).
Eschew Trivialities
Swamiji wanted the youth to be united and move away from trivialities. Only this way they would build a future for India. He said,
“Being of one mind is the secret of society. And the more you go on fighting and quarrelling about all trivialities such as "Dravidian" and "Aryan", and the question of Brahmins and non-Brahmins and all that, the further you are off from that accumulation of energy and power which is going to make the future India.”
Determination and Strength of Character
Unless the youth builds its character, their energy will be wasted in unproductive channels. Vivekananda said,
“What the world wants is character. The world is in need for those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like thunderbolt.” (SV, Letters, p. 295).
Health
The youth must have sound health. They must work for it. They should, play, exercise and take to physical activity. Otherwise they would not be able to work for their ideals. Healthy mind resides in healthy body. He said,
“My child, what I want is muscles of iron and nerves of steel, inside which dwells a mind of the same material as that of which the thunderbolt is made.” (SV)
And,
“Let each one of us pray day and night for the downtrodden millions in India who are held fast by poverty, priestcarft, and tyranny-pray day and night for them…Who feels…for the two hundred millions of men and women sunken for ever in poverty and ignorance? Where is the way out? Who feels for them. They cannot find light or education. Who will bring the light to them-who will travel from door to door bringing education to them? Let these people be your God-think of them, work for them, pray for them incessantly.”
And finally, Care for Environment, Respect Heritage and Learn from History
Environmental degradation is emerging as an existential threat to the mankind. The need of the hour is to save our forests, biodiversity, conserve water, conserve energy and so on. The young have a great role to play here;
“A nation that has no history of its own has nothing in this world. Do you believe that one who has such faith and pride as to feel, "I come of noble descent", can ever turn out to be bad? How could that be? That faith in himself would curb his actions and feelings, so much so that he would rather die than commit wrong. So a national history keeps a nation well-restrained and does not allow it to sink so low.” (SV).
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