Skip to content
  • Home
  • Talks
  • Author
Menu

Balu's musings

Stories from the grassroots | Thoughts on development

  • Home
  • Talks
  • Author
Home / Vivekananda and Vedanta / Great thinkers on Swami Vivekananda
Posted inVivekananda and Vedanta

Great thinkers on Swami Vivekananda

Posted By Balu Posted on November 25, 2012
Comments are off

The true greatness of a man is felt and understood years after the person’s death. Whether it is Gandhi or Swami Vivekananda or Ramana Maharshi or Martin Luther King, they leave behind indelible impressions in the minds of thousands of people for generations to come. These are people one not only likes to adore and admire but also to emulate and follow. Swami Vivekananda was such an exceptional and well-rounded personality that his thoughts and works are relevant even today. His ideas and ideals resonate with not just the youth but with people across all age groups. The greatness of such a person is further enhanced when they are idolized and spoken about by other great men and women.

The great statesman and first Governor General of India C. Rajagopalachari said, “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 him. May his faith, his courage and his wisdom ever inspire us so that we may keep safe the treasure we have received from him.”

Christopher Ishwerwood, the Anglo-American novelist and playwright had this to say of him. “Vivekananda was, as I said, profoundly moved by the realization of India’s poverty and the state of her oppression under the British colonial rule. And he proposed a revolution. The spirit of this revolution enormously influenced Gandhi and influences Indian political thought to this day. Vivekananda in this sense is a great figure in Indian history, one of the greatest historical figures that India has ever produced. But it must be noted that Vivekananda’s revolution, Vivekananda’s nationalism, were not like the kind of revolution, the kind of nationalism which we associate with other great leaders, admirable and noble as they may be. Vivekananda was far greater than that. In fact, when one sees the full range of his mind, one is astounded. Vivekananda looked to the West, not simply as a mass of tyrants exploiting various parts of Asia, and other undeveloped areas, but as future partners, people who had very, very much to offer. At the same time, without any false humility, he faced the West and said, ‘We have fully as much and more to offer you. We offer you this great tradition of spirituality, which can produce, even now, today, a supremely great figure such as Ramakrishna.'”

Will Durant, the great American historian and author of the famous book ‘The Story of Philosophy’ wrote this of Swami Vivekananda. “He preached to his countrymen a more virile creed than any Hindu had offered them since Vedic Days. He redefined God as ‘the totality of all souls’ and called upon his fellow-men to practice religion not through vain asceticism and meditation, but through absolute devotion to mankind.”

Our former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi wrote, “I had the good fortune to know about the life and teachings of Swami Vivekananda as well as about the activities of the Ramakrishna Mission. And I must say that the teachings of Vivekananda had inspired all the members of the Nehru family both in their political activities and day-to-day lives. Swamiji’s teachings, writings and speeches which appear on every page of his works, are indeed stimulant. Swamiji provides us courage, strength and faith and teaches us how to be self-sufficient. These are the basic tenets of life which India needed most and which would be relevant for all time to come. It was Swami Vivekananda who has given us the ways and means to reconstruct a new India. Swamiji preached the message of universal brotherhood. And a single word which echoed and reached in all his speeches was Abhih, i.e. fearlessness.”

Philosophers, academicians, historians, politicians, authors and people from different walks of life were inspired by Vivekananda and have had words of appreciation and admiration for him. Swamiji was one who has been written about by not just other great Indians, but people from different walks of life from around the world. This reflects his universal appeal and acceptance.

Kannada version in Prajavani (29-Nov-12)

– Balu

Share this post

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
Balu

A development activist, public policy advocate, social innovator and leadership trainer

Previous Article Hosa Kanasu – 45
Next Article The ‘Ruling Class’ of India

Related Posts

Posted inTravelogue Vivekananda and Vedanta

Pilgrimage to Ridgley Manor,USA

A few years ago, Vish a friend who had lived for a long period in the US and had come back to resettle in Mysuru and I were talking about Swami Vivekananda and how his message had inspired me. Our talk drifted to how Swamiji was a tireless worker and how so much was done by him in such a short time. We started talking how the Vedanta Society in New York was established by Swamiji in 1894 even before he set up the Ramakrishna Math in Belur. Vish suddenly asked me if I had visited the Ridgley Manor in

Share this post

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
Read More about Pilgrimage to Ridgley Manor,USA
Posted By Balu Posted on October 3, 2018
1
Posted inGeneral Musings Travelogue Vivekananda and Vedanta

From here and there…

Many a friend has asked me about my regular visits to the US and about the teaching I do here. One oft repeated question has been, ‘What are the major similarities & differences that you see between the two countries? ‘ And knowing my background, another question usually asked is about my continued commitment to the causes I espouse back home in India and how it relates to my visiting the US? India, as Swami Vivekananda put it is the Punyabhumi (holy land) and the Karmabhumi (land of one’s work) for me. The last 35 years has seen me live

Share this post

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
Read More about From here and there…
Posted By Balu Posted on September 23, 2018
3
Posted inMusings Vivekananda and Vedanta

Building a resurgent India

“There were many good things in the ancient times, but there were bad things too. The good things are to be retained, but the India that is to be, the future India, must be much greater than ancient India.” – Swami Vivekananda India is now going through a momentous phase of transition. While we race to catch up with a world being connected seamlessly through digital technology, we can find new ideas and new ideologies bombarding us from all sides. It is at times like this that we need to pause and ask ourselves whether we are going in the

Share this post

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
Read More about Building a resurgent India
Posted By Balu Posted on November 16, 2016
1

Popular

  • Living with Nature, learning from it...
  • (4) How the seeds were sown…
  • Governance & Democracy in India: speech given at the Tagore Center, Berlin
  • Vending leadership on the streets…
  • Business of Development
  • (5) Swami Achalanandaji…
  • Grassroots democracy in Action…beginning of a silent revolution!
  • From Engaged Citizenship to Enlightened Citizenship
  • Leading sustainability

Follow me

  • At Kings Cross in London after so many years. The feeling is still the same. Thankfully, somethings in life stay… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 8 hours ago
  • Proud & Happy to have spoken today at the Gandhi Hall in India House in London on n Governance and Democracy in India 1 day ago
  • Will be talking on the ‘Changing face of Democratic Governance through innovations and greater public participation… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 day ago
Follow @drrbalu

Email Subscription

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Please select facebook feed.

You can also order your copy over  phone. Call GRAAM @ 9686666313, 0821-2415412

Archives

Powered by Thinksonic.
loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.