What a void this makes! What great things wereaccomplished in these few years! How one man could havedone it all! And how all is stilled now. And yet, when one is tired and weary, it is best that he should rest. I seem to see him just as I saw him in Paris two years ago...the strong man with the large hope, everything large about him..............
Rooted in the past and full of pride in India’s prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problemsand was a kind of bridge between the past of India and her present. ... He was a fine figure of a man, imposing, full of poise and dignity, sure of himself and his mission, and at the same time full of a dynamic and fiery energy and a passion to push India forward............
I remember that in my student days I have read the speeches of the Swami and was deeply attracted to it. Its impact on my mind was so great that myperceptions were all changed, and I started to have a different idea about life...........
Religious nationalism of the orthodox as well as reformed school had begun to come into evidence in the province of Bengal since the first years of the twentieth century. Although its political philosopher and leader were found subsequently in thepersons of Aurobindo Ghosh and Bepin Chandra Pal respectively, its fundamental ideology was conceived by a young intellectual..........
It was Swamiji’s great principle that the service of daridra Nàràyaõa should be the real service of humanity. ...Swami Vivekananda’s great message was that all the low caste people should be taken as our brethren. Not only the right hand of the fellowship should be extended to them, but they should be embraced as a brother embraces his fellow-brother. ...Many things come out of Swami Vivekananda’s life............
Some time ago Vivekananda said that there was the power of Brahman in every man, that Nàràyana [i.e. God] wanted to have our service through the poor. This is what I call real gospel. This gospel showed the path of infinite freedom from man’s tiny egocentric self beyond the limits of all selfishness. This was no sermon relating to a particular ritual, nor was it a narrow injunction to be imposed upon one’s external life..........
Men who lead their fellow beings in any sphere of life are rare and those that lead their leaders are rarer still. These superguides come not very often upon this earth to uplift the sinking section of humanity. Swami Vivekananda was one of these super souls. It was he who could set the sceptic mind of the West at the rest in the spiritual arena. Ambassadors of spiritual missions had risen before him in the East, but none could speak to the West as he did with that voice of conviction, keeping audiences spellbound and enthralled...........
When I was a student in the early years of this century, a student in high school and college classes, we used to read Swami Vivekananda’s speeches and letters which were then passing from hand to hand in manuscript form, and they used to stir us a great deal and make us feel proud of our ancient culture. Though our externals were broken down, the spirit of our country is there and is everlastingly real-that was the message which we gathered from his speeches and writings when I was a young student......
The immesurable force having its source within him [Vivekananda], had ceaselessly strived to have emanation. Throughout his life this irrepressable force had moved him around the world. And wherever he went, people who had his contact could experience this life-force and were, consequently, rejuvenated...........
‘The awakening soul of India’ It was in religion first that the soul of India awoke and triumphed. There were always indications, always great forerunners, but it was when the flower of the educated youth of Calcutta bowed down at the feet of an illiterate Hindu ascetic, a self-illuminated ecstatic and ‘mystic’ without a single trace or touch of the alien thought or education upon him that the battle was won................
He [Vivekananda] raised India in the eyes of the world, gave Hinduism a new turn and put a new spirit in the hearts of his countrymen. ...He was destined to be a pioneer. He broke new ground and led his people across and sighted the Promised Land.......
