Great indian personalities thoughtrs on swami vivekananda

Great Indians on

Swami Vivekananda

Just as only an athlete understands another

athlete, so also, only great men truly

understand other great men.

Let us have a look at what some of the great

men of India have had to say of

Swami Vivekananda

Rabindranath Tagore

If you want to know

India, study

Vivekananda. In him

everything is positive

and nothing negative.

Sri Aurobindo

We perceive Vivekananda’s

influence still working

gigantically, we know not well

how, we know not well where, in

something that is not yet formed,

something leonine, grand,

intuitive, upheaving that has

entered the soul of India and we

say, ‘Behold, Vivekananda still

lives in the soul of his Mother and

in the souls of her children.’

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

Twelve centuries ago Sankaracharya

was the only great personality, who

not only spoke of the purity of our

religion, not only uttered in words

that this religion was our strength

and wealth, not only said that it was

our sacred duty to preach this

religion in the length and breadth of

the world—but also brought all this

into action. Swami Vivekananda is a

person of that stature—who

appeared towards the last half of the

19th century.

Mahatma Gandhi

I have gone through

Vivekananda’s works

very thoroughly, and

after having gone through

them, the love that I had

for my country became a

thousand-fold.

Jawaharlal Nehru

Rooted in the past and full of pride in

India’s prestige, Viveka-nanda was

yet modern in his approach to life’s

problems and was a kind of bridge

between the past of India and her

present. . . He was a fine figure of a

man, imposing, full of poise and

dignity, sure of himself and his

mission, and at the same time full of

a dynamic and fiery energy and a

passion to push India forward

Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose

Swamiji was a full-blooded

masculine personality —and a

fighter to the core of his

being. I can go on for hours

and yet fail to do the slightest

justice to that great man. He

was so great, so profound, so

complex. If he had been

alive, I would have been at his

feet.

Vinoba Bhave

Vivekananda not only made us

conscious of our strength, he also

pointed out our defects and

drawbacks. . He taught us: ‘The same

Soul resides in each and all. If you

are convinced of this, it is your duty

to treat all as brothers and serve

mankind.’ . . . The word ‘Daridra-

narayana’ (God manifested in the

hungry, destitute millions) was

coined by Vivekananda and

popularized by Gandhiji.

C. Rajagopalachari

Swami Vivekananda saved

Hinduism and saved India. But

for him we would have lost our

religion and would not have

gained our freedom. We

therefore owe everything to

Swami Vivekananda. May his

faith, his courage and his

wisdom ever inspire us so that

we may keep safe the treasure

we have received from him.

R.C. Majumdar

Though an ascetic,

Vivekananda was a patriot

of patriots. The thought of

restoring the pristine glory

of India by resuscitating

among her people the

spiritual vitality which was

dormant, but not dead, was

always the uppermost

thought in his mind. . .

Dr. S. Radhakrishnan If there is any call which

Vivekananda made to us, it is to

rely on our own spiritual resources.

. . Man has inexhaustible spiritual

resources. His spirit is supreme,

man is unique. . . . He told us: ‘Do

not be led away by the appearances.

Deep down there is a providential

will, there is a purpose in this

universe. You must try to co-

operate with that purpose and try to

achieve it.

Before closing this presentation, let us

recall that every year 12th January, Swami

Vivekananda’s birthday (according to English

calendar), is celebrated as the National Youth

Day all over the country. In 1985, while

declaring this, the Government of India

affirmed ‘the philosophy of Swamiji and the

ideal for which he lived could be a great

source of inspiration for the Indian youth.’

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‘My faith is in younger generation, the modern

generation. They will work out the whole

problem like lions. . .’

Are the youth listening? Listening to

Swamiji’s eternal call reverberating through

more than hundred years? He said:

‘Arise, awake and

stop not till the goal

is reached!’