Talk about India, from India with you: National Youth Day

Good morning/Good afternoon/Good evening my friends out there! This is 12^th January, 2020, Sunday in India. At first,

Happy New Year to All of You my friends!

This is my first post of this year and I have chosen this day to be with you! Because, this is the ‘National Youth Day’! In India, Swami Vivekananda is regarded as a patriotic saint of modern India and his birthday is celebrated as National Youth Day. Let me allow sharing some thoughts and facts about him………

Swami Vivekanand's name was Narendra Nath Dutta in his pre-monastic life. He was born in an affluent family in Kolkata on 12th January, 1863. His father, Vishwanath Datta, was a successful attorney with interest in varied subjects, and his mother, Bhuvaneshwari Devi, was endowed with qualities like deep devotion, strong character etc. The precocious boy, Narendra mastered music, gymnastics and studies. By the time he completed his graduation from Calcutta University, he had acquired a vast knowledge of different subjects, especially Western philosophy and history. He had a yogic temperament and used to practice meditation even from his boyhood, and was also involved in 'Brahmo Movement' for time being.

He was a key figure in the introduction of Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the western world and was credited with raising interfaith awareness, bringing Hinduism to the status of a major world religion in the late 19th century. He was a major force in the revival of Hinduism in India and contributed to the notion of nationalism in colonial India. He was the chief disciple of the 19th century saint Ramakrishna and the founder of the Ramakrishna Math and the Ramakrishna Mission. Shri Ramakrishna instilled the spirit of renunciation and brotherhood in these youngsters. He is perhaps best known for his inspiring speech beginning with "Sisters and Brothers of America," through which he introduced Hinduism at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. In the last two centuries, no other individual has captured the hearts of the youth of Bharat, the way Swami Vivekananda did. He blew energy into the Hindu race which was indulging in self-loathe. He exhorted people of Bharat with his words - 

“This is the ancient land, where wisdom made its home before it went into any other country… Here is the same India whose soil has been trodden by the feet of the greatest sages that ever lived… Look back, therefore, as far as you can, drink deep of the eternal fountains that are behind, and after that look forward, march forward, and make India brighter, greater, much higher, than she ever was.”  

Swami Vivekananda Jayanti or National Youth Day is a great occasion to remind ourselves of his thoughts and vision for Bharat and dedicate ourselves to the cause of dedicating ourselves to the glory of our motherland and Dharma.

 

Well, that’s all for today. Hope you all have joined the Giveaway, running in this blog! New posts coming very soon; please stay tuned with me and take care of your family and yourself. Have a good day/ afternoon/evening/night! Namaskar!

 

Where are the men? That is the question. Young men, my hope in you. Will you respond to the call of your nation? Each one of you has a glorious future if you dare believe me. Have a tremendous faith in yourselves. Ay, we will then go to every country under the sun, and our ideas will before long be a component of the many forces that are working to make up every nation in the world. We much enter into the life of every race in India and abroad; shall have to work to bring this about. Now for that I want young men. “It is that young, the strong, and healthy, of sharp intellect that will reach the Lord”, say the Vedas.CW: VOL 3: Lectures from Colombo to almora: The future of India p: 303 – 304.