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Swami Vivekananda's Vision on the Social- Religious Aspect Of [A First International Electronic Peer-reviewed Quarterly Refereed- Since UGC Approved (41039), SCOPUS Registered Sanskrit Tri-lingual Journal with Journal Factor] 2010 URL- www.jahnavisanskritejournal.in ISSN-0976-8645 ISSUE-44 , YEAR 11, VOL -I, DOI-30-01-2021 Swami Vivekananda’s Vision on The Social- Religious Aspect of Bharat: An Analysis Dr. Shlesha Sachindra DoE, Delhi. SID- 328162015 Received on-6/12/2020 15:49:47 Accepted on- 26th January, 2021 Keywords-Social, Religious, Spirituals, colonial India ABSTRACT Swami Vivekananda is the youngest seers of ancient Indian wisdom who mesmerized the whole world in 19th century. His audacity makes him harbinger of the invaluable Indian culture and philosophy. Vivekananda admired the impartation of technology but opposed the proselytizing. Introduction What Bharat needed, amidst the general disintegration of the modern era, was to rediscover her transformative identity. This identity is the rock where she could lie at anchor came as an authoritative utterance so she might recognize herself. This was given to her in these words and writings of Swami Vivekananda. Early Life Swami Vivekananda was born as Narendranath Datta in Kalkatta, the capital of British India, on 12th January 1863. He was the student of Presidency College of Calcutta. He was a voracious reader and was interested in a wide range of subjects such as Indian Scriptures the Vedas, the Upanisads, the Bhagvata Gita, the Ramayan, the Mahabharat and the Purana and its allied. He regularly participated in various forms of physical exercises, sports and organizational activities. Spiritual Apprenticeship Narendra became the member of Brahma Samaja during his college period being led by Keshabchandra Sen and Debendranath Tagore. His initial belief was shaped by concepts of ‘Brahma’. This included belief in a formless God and Deprecation of idolatry. Narendra’s first introduction to Sri Ramkrishna occurred in a literature class during General Assembly’s Institution. His Professor William Hastie was lecturing on William Wordsworth’s poem ‘The Excursion’. While explaining the word ‘trance’ in the poem at that time he was recommended to visit Sri Ramkrishna of Dakshineswer in order to know the real meaning of ‘trance’. Though at first Narendra could not accept Sri Ramkrishna and his vision completely, he could not neglect him either. Instead, he tested Sri Ramkrishna, who faced all of his arguments and examinations पृष्ठसङ्ख्या 105 कुलपृष्ठसङ्ख्या 165 CONTACT US- [email protected] WEBSITE-JAHNAVISANSKRITEJOURNAL.IN [A First International Electronic Peer-reviewed Quarterly Refereed- Since UGC Approved (41039), SCOPUS Registered Sanskrit Tri-lingual Journal with Journal Factor] 2010 URL- www.jahnavisanskritejournal.in ISSN-0976-8645 ISSUE-44 , YEAR 11, VOL -I, DOI-30-01-2021 with patience Try to see the truth from all angles206 was his reply. He taught him that service to men was the most effective worship of God. Sri Ramkrishna died in the early morning hours of 16th August 1886 in Cossipore. Socio-Religious Condition in Colonial - India When the British first gained a foothold on the Indian subcontinent in the 18th century their concern was far profit. The men who administered their territory for the East India Company were more inclined to profiteering than attempting to establish an effective government. By the beginning of the 19th century, this type of attitude had begun to change. A series of conquests expended the territory held by the British and idea of responsible trusteeship began to creep into the minds of the individuals charged with governing British India. The British believed that understanding the caste system was the key to understand the people of India. The caste system was seen as the essence of Indian social structure, the system through which it was possible to classify all of the various groups of indigenous people according to their ability as reflected by their caste to be of service to the British. Any change within a society requires the participation of all the groups if it is to have lasting effect.207 In the 19th century, certain social practices like female infanticide, child marriage, sati, polygamy, and rigid caste system became more prevalent. These practices were against human dignity and values. Women were discriminated against in all stages of life and were thus a disadvantaged section of the society. They did not have access to any development opportunities to improve their status. Education was limited to a handful of men belonging to the upper castes. The expensive rituals, sacrifices, and practices after birth or death were outlined by priestly class yet unaffordable by many people. In the meantime, there was the reformation movement and the various revolutions that took place in Europe. They brought new ideas such as liberty, equality, freedom, and human rights. These ideas appealed to some sections of our society and led to served reform movements in different parts of the country. At the forefront of these movements were visionary. Indians such as Rajaram Mohan Roy, Swami Dayananda, and Sri Ramkrishna started movements that, to one degree or another, attempted to explore new paths that would allow them and their people to live more equitably with British India. The Meaning of the word ‘social’ and ‘Religions’---- All spheres of human activity are affected by the social structure. The traditional focuses of social life include-social stratification, social class, culture, race and ethnicity, gender and sexuality, social mobility, religion, secularization, law, and deviance. Social life has gradually expended its focus to further subjects, such as health, medical, environment, political-economy and the role of social activity in the development of scientific knowledge. In this way, we can say life is multi-dimensional and all dimensions are affected by social life. The word ‘social’ is derived from both Latin and Greek origins. The Latin word: ‘socius’ is the origin of the word social, it means- ‘Companion’. The word ‘Religion’ is sometimes used interchangeably with faith, belief, experience, system, sometimes set of duties. Religion is an 206 Wikipedia. (2013). Retrieved Jnuary 18, 2013 207 A History of British India, Vol.i, page no. 16 पृष्ठसङ्ख्या 106 कुलपृष्ठसङ्ख्या 165 CONTACT US- [email protected] WEBSITE-JAHNAVISANSKRITEJOURNAL.IN [A First International Electronic Peer-reviewed Quarterly Refereed- Since UGC Approved (41039), SCOPUS Registered Sanskrit Tri-lingual Journal with Journal Factor] 2010 URL- www.jahnavisanskritejournal.in ISSN-0976-8645 ISSUE-44 , YEAR 11, VOL -I, DOI-30-01-2021 organized collection of experiences, beliefs, cultural systems, and views that relate humanity to the supernatural and to spirituality. Many religions have narrative symbols and sacred histories that are intended to create meaning to life or traditionally to explain the origin of life or the universe. From their beliefs about the cosmos and human nature, they tend to derive morality, ethics, religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle. The practices of religion also include rituals, Sermons or the show respect of deity, Gods or Goddesses, Sacrifices, festival, feasts, trance, funerary services, matrimonial services, meditation, prayer, music, art, dance, public service or other aspects of human culture.208 Vivekananda’s vision about Socio-Religious aspect of Bharat: -- India with her thousands of years of national development in which she has sounded many things, proved many things and realized most all save only her perfect unanimity from end to end of her great expanse of time and space as to certain fundamental and essential truths held by all her people in common. The inspiration of this Indian wisdom whole ambition of Vivekanands’s life had made to set into motion social machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody and then men & women may settle their own fate. He said— “People should know what our fore-fathers well as other nations have thought on the most momentous questions of life. We are to put the chemicals together the crystallization will be done by nature according to her laws.”209 There was a society that was governed by superstitions. People were always prepared to do anything for the name of God. Natural Disaster, Foreign encroachment, and at every step of social life costly ritual veiled the mass in hellish poverty. To see the hedonistic desire of rich people and hell conditions of the masses Vivekananda followed the key teaching of his teacher- ‘Service of men was the most effective worship of God”.210 He said— “I base my teaching on the great Vedantic truth of the sameness and omnipresence of the soul of the Universe. First bread and then religion. We stuff them too much with religion, when poor fellows have been starving. No dogmas will satisfy the carryings of hunger. You may have sects by the hundreds of millions, age but it is nothing until you have the heart to feel; feel for them as your Veda teaches you, till you find they are parts of your own bodies, till you realize that you and they, the poor and the rich, the saint and the sinner are all Brahma. Feel for the miserable and look up for help-it shall come. I have travelled twelve years with this load in my heart and this idea in my brain. I have gone from door to door of the so-called rich and great. With a bleeding heart I have crossed half the world to this strange land seeking for help. I know he will help me- I am perishing of cold or hunger in this land, but I bequeath to you, young man this sympathy, this struggle for the poor, the ignorant, the oppressed. I do not belief in a religion or God which cannot wipe the widow’s tears or bring a piece of bread to the orphan’s mouth. I do not care for liberation or for devotion. I would rather go to a hundred thousand hells, “doing good to others like the spring.” This is my religion.”211 208 Wikipedia.
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