Today, when the entire nation is plunged into a whirlwind of endless violence, Swami Vivekananda’s message of universal brotherhood of man has become more relevant than ever before.
While separatist forces are trying to tear the nation apart in the name of religion, over a century back Swami Vivekananda had preached that as the different streams, having their sources in different places, aim towards the same sea, so also the different religious services through different paths, lead to the same goal that is the Almighty.
Swami Vivekananda appeared at the time when India was in the darkness of ignorance and superstition. He infused a new life-force into the vital organs of the languishing society and awoke India from its ignorant slumber. His thunderous voice and soul-stirring eloquence — “Arise! Awake! Stop not till the goal is reached!” — instilled courage and confidence in the hearts of millions and infused new life into the nation.
Swami Vivekananda believed that “the ideal of all education and all religions should be man-making”. He interpreted religion as a science and laid stress on devotion backed by the spirit of nationalism. To him, religion was a weapon to fight against all evils, to live and to let other live. He believed that “religion is the manifestation of the divinity, already in man. The only God to worship is the human soul in the human body. Service to man is service to God”. His heart bled for the poor and the distressed and he vowed to cleanse the society of its inherent evils.
“There is no doubt about the fact that our philosophy is liberal; but in our pratical life there is an absolute selfishness in our society. The society for ages together has been polluted by discrimination of castes and rampant oppression of the poor by the rich. Sri Ramakrishna said, ‘Serve Jiva, knowing that he is Shiva’”. (Swami Bhuteshanandiji Diamond Jubilee Souvenir 1997, RKM Shillong).
Swamiji gave those words of Sri Ramakrishna a material shape by establishing the Ramakrishna Mission in 1897, now a global philonthropic organisation, rendering selfless services towards the poor.
On his return to India after foreign tour, Swamiji traversed the length and breadth of the country, propagating the gospel of his master, Sri Ramakrishna. He also spread the message of patriotism and appealed to the youths, “Thou brave one, be bold, take courage, be proud that thou art an Indian and proudly proclaim, ‘I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother!’
Rabindranath Tagore once told Romain Rolland, the French Nobel Laureate, “If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative.”
It was in April 1901 that Swamiji visited Shillong and stayed in the house of Roy Saheb Kailash Chandra Das in Laban. He delivered a speech in the Quinton Hall premises (presently known as Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Cultural Centre).
Swamiji’s invaluable speech was published in the local Khasi monthly journal U Khasi Mynta edited by Hormuroy Diengdoh, which was later translated by Swami Gokulananda, former Secretary of Cherrapunji Ramakrishna Mission and was published in different journals.
Swamiji’s historical speech inspired the then Shillongites, and made them realise what is real patriotism and what are the real activities of human life. It was his last public address; just after a year he died on July 4, 1902.
Babu Hormuroy Diengdoh, who was present during Swamiji’s speech, expressed his own feelings in the following way, “Swami Vivekananda addressed a mammoth gathering in Shillong talked about value of knowledge and education etc and called for setting of more schools for spreading of education. When he concluded his valuable speech with a Vedic verse, we, (the audience) were completely mesmerized; and could feel only that he is a man of ours. No one before him interacted with us so intimately and keenly. Our hearts were filled with an inexplicable joy and gratification. We were almost in a state of stupor.” (Ref: ‘Shillong-er Bangalee’ by Prof. Shyamadas Bhattcharjee)
Swami Vivekananda graced Shillong and loved the people of Shillong irrespective of caste, creed and religion. He left his reminiscences here which the Shillongites preserved with full sanctity and piety.
(Contributed by Uma Purkayastha)
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