Remembering Swami Vivekanand .....

Remembering  Swami Vivekanand .....

Several Indian leaders and philosophers of 20th Century have acknowledged Vivekanand's influence. The first governor general of independent India, Chakravarti Rajagopalachari, said "Vivekanand saved Hinduism, saved India." According to Subhash Chandra Bose, "Vivekanand is the maker of modern India" and for Mahatma Gandhi, "Vivekananda's influence increased my love for my country a thousand fold." In India, ‘National Youth Day’ is celebrated on 12th January, his birthday. Swami Vivekanand is considered to have greatly inspired India's freedom fight. His writings motivated a whole generation of freedom fighters including Subhash Chandra Bose, Aurobindo Ghose and Bagha Jatin.

Subhash Chandra Bose, one of the most prominent figures in Indian independence movement said
"I cannot write about Vivekanand without going into raptures. Few indeed could comprehend or fathom him even among those who had the privilege of becoming intimate with him. His personality was rich, profound and complex... Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activity, boundless in his love, profound and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions, merciless in his attacks but yet simple as a child, he was a rare personality in this world of ours "
Aurobindo Ghose regarded Vivekanand as his spiritual mentor.
"Vivekananda was a soul of puissance if ever there was one, a very lion among men, but the definitive work he has left behind is quite incommensurate with our impression of his creative might and energy. We perceive his influence still working gigantically, we know not well how, we know not well where, in something that is not yet formed, something leonine, grand, intuitive, upheaving that has entered the soul of India and we say, "Behold, Vivekananda still lives in the soul of his Mother and in the souls of her children."
At the Belur Math, Mahatma Gandhi was heard to say that his whole life was an effort to bring into actions the ideas of Vivekanand.
Many years after Vivekanand's death, Rabindranath Tagore told Romain Rolland, "If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative."
The French Nobel Laureate Romain Rolland writes,
"His words are great music, phrases in the style of Beethoven, stirring rhythms like the march of Händel choruses. I cannot touch these sayings of his, scattered as they are through the pages of books, at thirty years' distance, without receiving a thrill through my body like an electric shock. And what shocks, what transports, must have been produced when in burning words they issued from the lips of the hero..!"
Jamshedji Tata was reportedly influenced by Vivekananda to establish the Indian Institute of Science, India's well known research university, during their conversation as fellow travellers on a ship from Japan to Chicago in 1898. Abroad, Vivekananda had some interactions with Max Müller. Scientist Nikola Tesla was one of those influenced by the Vedic philosophy teachings of the Swami Vivekananda. On 11th November, 1995 a section of Michigan Avenue, one of the most prominent streets in Chicago, was formally renamed ‘Swami Vivekananda Way’.
In many institutes, students have come together and formed organizations meant for promoting discussion of spiritual ideas and the practice of such high principles. Many of such organizations have adopted his name. One such group also exists at IIT Madras and is popularly known as Vivekanand Study Circle. Another one exists at IIT Kanpur by the name Vivekanand Samiti. Additionally, Swami Vivekanand's ideas and teachings have carried on globally, being practiced in institutions all over the world.