Arise, awake, and stop not until the goal is reached. – Swami Vivekananda
The youth of a nation is a sign of its progress. They are the future, the tomorrow of the nation and with them at the helm of affairs, the nation may suffer or prosper. This is why it is so crucial that we shape young minds into constructive, positive, and productive ones. The youth needs to be hard- working with a vision, such that they may work towards the right goals. A visionary who always believed in these ideals, and the power of youth, was Swami Vivekananda. His life and his thoughts are an inspiration to our nation to this date. His philosophies and ideals aimed at encouraging the youth to work towards the good of the nation. This is also why India celebrates his birth anniversary (12th January 2017) as the National Youth Day or Yuva Diwas every year, since 1985.
A Brief on His Life
Swami Vivekananda ji was born on January 12th, 1863 in (then known as) Calcutta. He was son to Vishwanath Dutta, an attorney at the Calcutta High Court, and Bhubaneswari Devi who was a devout housewife. His father’s progressive outlook and his mother’s spiritual inclinations provided him with the most optimal set of values. He grew up to be the prime disciple of 19th century Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa, and he reintroduced the Indian philosophies of Vedanta and Yoga to the Western world. Academically too, he was in the top league. He was the first student ever to have attained first- division marks in the Presidency College entrance examination. He was fond of various theoretic subjects such as religion, history, social science, art and literature. Moreover, he also had profound interest in Puranas, Vedas and Upanishads. He took on spiritual apprenticeship and chose to live a life of a wandering monk. He travelled extensively within India, and then later to the America and United Kingdom; here he gained knowledge of religions and the world, and also spread his philosophies.
Inspiration for the Youth
Swami Vivekananda ji’s life is an inspiration to all; his ideals and his teachings encourage us to rise above trivialities of life and think beyond materialism. In today’s world, where everyone is self- involved and becoming cynical, Swamiji’s thoughts prove to be a beacon of light for all of us. There is a lot to learn from his life. Swami Vivekananda (or Narendra, as he was fondly called), did not live a very long life; he died when he was only 39 years of age. However, he achieved a lot within this short span of time. As a youth, he was instrumental in reaching out to the world and influencing millions of people. His determination and strength of ideals led to great development of the nation and expansion of his spiritual school of thought. He had a thirst for knowledge and understanding, which set him apart from the crowd.
Narendra Ji had sympathy for the poor and the oppressed and he vowed to uplift them. Living primarily on alms, Narendra ji travelled a lot and during his travels he would meet and stay with Indians from all religions and walks of life and government officials. He grew in maturity and wisdom through this phase, as a young man. Later in life, he travelled the world in order to encourage youth to embrace spirituality and work for the greater good. People around the world admired him and aspired to follow the path he followed.
Such a personality deserves to be known as the youth icon. The youth needs to imbibe the values he preached to understand how they can shape our nation’s future. He always believed in the youth and their capacity to change the world for the better. He regarded hard work, sincerity, discipline, and energy as virtues. He felt that the youth can become the heroes of the nation. It is now time for us to have faith in that belief and embrace the motivation provided by this phenomenal man. His hope in the youth for the nation’s brighter future shall keep pushing us to achieve greater heights.
