The Old Man was traveling the inclined hilly road in a Himalayan town. The strenuous upward road took a toll on his stamina. He stood silent on a nook when he noticed a young monk scaling the same road.
He asked the monk, “how can I scale this huge mountain? This journey seems impossible for me. Please show me the way.”
The monk replied, “Look down the roads that you have covered already. If you have traveled this far then the remaining path could also be achieved.”
The monk is Swami Vivekananda, the prime disciple of Indian mystic Ramakrishna Paramhansa and also the flag-bearer of Sanatan Hindu Dharma before the World.
Swamiji, born as Narendra Nath Dutta, was no ordinary monk as he broke free of all the preconceived notions about society. He didn’t shy away from questioning the loop-holes in the society as well as the religions.
Swamiji’s Vision of a Young India
Swamiji dreamt of an India, full of young and vibrant minds, free of fear and superstition, full of courage and compassion. He founded Belur Math as an institution to spread the message of humanity.
He has always been vocal about the physical implementation of the Sanatan Dharma rather than clinging to it superstitiously. Swamiji would rather prefer playing football than reading the Gita, the holy book of Hinduism. He had taken a pledge of eradicating poverty from society and he served his purpose throughout his life.
Chicago Speech
11th September 1893. The whole world watched in awe the gracious presence of a young Hindu monk at the First World’s Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He talked about tolerance and universal acceptance, accepting all the religions as true. His baritone voice added with his contemplative personality seemed to have done the wonders, creating an uproar in Western society to get under his omnipresence.
The Power of Perseverance
Swamiji was the epitome of perseverance. He had practiced meditation since his childhood. Swamiji always believed that the impossible could be achieved by observing Brahmacharya(continence) in its purest form. He would read an entire volume of Encyclopaedia Britannica in one day. Upon disbelief, he asked his disciple to ask anything from the book and the asker was awestruck by the accurate answers by Swamiji each time.
Swamiji left for his heavenly abode in 1902 at Belur Math at the age of 39 years, leaving a plethora of visions and enlightenment to guide us home.
