Swamiji's Jayanthi! A day to pause and contemplate on HIS message!

Jai Sai Master!

Arise, Awake and Stop not till the Goal is reached!

These words ring in our ears the moment we think of Swamiji, as Swami Vivekananda was called fondly by many. He was like a Lion and walked with his head held high and spoke highly of Mother India. He said he never realised the greatness of this nation till he went to the west. 

Swami Vivekananda's statue at Dakshineshwar

His love for the nation and faith in his GURU were hallmarks of his life. His innumerable writings and speeches on how to live right are guiding beacons to youth of India. In the formative ages of life, these messages and writings make a lot of difference to any person's outlook and will help strengthen the base for the life ahead. While he is being given a place of pride across the nation and this day is being celebrated as Youth day, he faced lot of criticism in the days when he set about spreading the message across the nation.

His messages on the woman of India and the kind of education needed for the youth are some of the teachings that are very useful in the current situation. 

To me the very essence of education is  concentration of mind, not the collecting of facts. This is a very profound statement and something that every student needs to remind himself of. While talking on the responsibilities, he said:

1) it should help a person build a healthy and dynamic frame of mind to enable him to meet the challenges of life

2) it should try to prevent, through proper training of its present students, any future evils in people and society which are likely to further complicate the problems of human beings

While talking about the anamolies of our country, he said - we must learn to give the right place to our women. The place where woman is respected and prayed as a form of Shakthi, there only peace and prosperity will prevail, otherwise it will lead to a downfall. Today, in a country, which celebrates durga puja with pomp and gaiety, by putting pandals across the street and praying to a God in woman form, does not care for the same woman. 

On this day, it is our responsibility to spread the message far and wide to bring in the necessary change to create situations for our next generation to learn and contemplate on those messages to create the Amara Bharatam that Swamiji dreamt about.

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Jai Sai Master!!