Life of Swami Vivekananda:
Swami Vivekananda was born on 12th January, 1863 in Calcutta. His father was Vishwanath Datta. His childhood name was Narendranath Datta. Swami Vivekananda was very much attached to his mother Bhuvaneswari Devi. Besides Indian philosophy, he also studied foreign thoughts and languages. He had great interest in spirituality and self study since. In 1881, he met Ramakrishna Paramhansa in Dakshineshwar, Kolkata. Vivekananda felt the presence of almighty God through Ramakrishna Paramhansa. Since then, Swami Vivekananda became his disciple.
In 1893, he participated in the World Conference of Religions held in Chicago. For the publicity and expansion of his Guru’s teachings, he founded the Ramakirshna Mission at Belur near Calcutta in 1897. Swamiji extended valuable contribution in the service of mankind. He was a staunch critic of conservative outlook, superstitions, poverty, illiteracy, etc. He did not believe in untouchability and caste system. He always promoted the spirit of public welfare.
Swami Vivekananda never played an active role in politics. He was an ascetic and deeply attached with religion. He said, “I am neither a politician and nor one of the executors of political movement”. Even then, he inspired Indian people to have strength, and boldness in their actions. His inspiring motivation was valuable for Indian nationalism. His contribution in politics is given below:
1. Internationalist:
Swami Vivekananda was an internationalist. He expressed the message of Vedas that all the creatures and other living beings have the same spirit. In world conference of Religion held in Chicago, Vivekananda talked about all religions and praised them. Although he loved Indian religion very much, yet he had no ill – will for any other religion or country of this world. He was a supporter of mankind and an internationalist. So, he said that we had to learn a lot from the west. He considered that the man who does not want to learn from others, soon becomes a prey to death.
2. Sociologist:
Swami Vivekanand declared himself as a sociologist. He had immense affection for the poor and depressed and oppressed people. He was against the exploitation of capitalism. He made fun of the heartless rich. He considered poverty and illiteracy as a curse and believed that it was useless to teach a hungry person about religion. He had infinite trust in the power of people. He, by giving warning to the rich, said, “When a common man will get up from his sleep, he will understand your motive of suppression and a single blow from his mouth will make you fly away.”
3. His idea of an ideal state:
Swami Vivekananda wrote a letter to one of his pupils, in which he wrote that the rule of Brahmins comes very first, secondly of Kshatriyas and then the rule of Vaishyas, and the rule of lab-our-class comes at last for governance. During the rule of labor class, things of earthly pleasure would become divided among-st all equally. He expressed his belief in the rise of backward class.
He said, there will be an ideal governance of state in which the knowledge of Brahmin age, civilization of Kshatriya age, the publicity of the Vaishya age and the equality of Shudra age would form an ideal synthesis. These would be put together and their demerits would be overlooked, then there would be an ideal state.
4. Independence related thoughts:
Swami Vivekananda had said that the entire world is searching for its independence. Besides physical, mental and spiritual independence, there must be social, economic and political independence also in it, so that everyone could get an opportunity of all – round development of his personality. In this way, his theory related to development of the individual is more pervasive and more popular than those of western scholars.
5. Trust in the dignity of man:
According to Swami Vivekananda, a nation is formed by the assemblage of people. Swami Vivekananda trusted in the global human concept and considered man the best living being. He said, “It is unnecessary to hope for a prosperous nation until the individual personality is healthy, moral and kind. In this way, the base of unity and dignity of a nation is morality.”
6. Spiritual principle of nationalism:
There is a basic element in a nation’s life and all other elements are included in it. The chief element of India is its religion. He propounded the spiritual principle of nationalism. He said, “The making of future greatness of a country might be done on the foundation stone of its past.”
By his teachings related to the Indian religion and culture, Swami Vivekananda infused the feelings of moral unity and brotherhood in the country. Bipin Chandra Pal, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Aurobindo Ghosh were very much influenced by his thinking, and so they paved a path of unique nationalism.
7. The progress of all:
Swami Vivekananda believed that political progress cannot be possible without the progress of individual. His principle of strength and courage based on the Vedanta was an important contribution in the field of politics. Without strength, we can neither safeguard our rights nor can we keep our existence secured.
