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Swami Vivekananda in India's Supreme Court Judgements Swami Vivekananda in India’s Supreme Court Judgements Mohana Suryanarayanan wami Vivekananda belonged to a published by the National Council for Educa- family of legal professionals. His great- tional Research and Training, was contended to Sgrandfather, Rammohan Datta was a be illegal by the petitioners since it was created ‘managing clerk and associate of an English without consulting the Central Advisory Board solicitor’.1 His grandfather Durgaprasad was of Education (cabe). In the judgement holding ‘so skilled in law that his father [Rammohan the ncfse to be legal in spite of being created Datta] made him a partner in his legal pro- without consultation with cabe, the Supreme fession’ (ibid.). Swami Vivekananda’s father Court lauded the ancient gurukula system of Vishwanath Datta was an attorney ‘in partner- education. The court said: ship with Ashutosh Dhar, under the firm name Our educational system aims at only informa- of “Dhar and Datta”. After some time he set- tion-based knowledge and the holistic views tled in the legal profession independently and turning the student into a perfect human being was enrolled as an attorney-at-law in the High and a useful member of society has been com- Court of Calcutta’ (1.5). Swami Vivekananda, pletely set aside. Swami Vivekananda aptly said: as Narendranath, ‘entered the firm of Nimai- ‘Education is not the amount of information chandra Basu, attorney-at-law, as an articled- that is put in your brain and runs riot there, clerk, in order to qualify himself as an attorney. undigested, all your life. We must have life- … He had gained admission to the three-year building, Man-making, character-making, as- similation of ideas. If education is identical with Law course in the Metropolitan Institution information, libraries are the greatest sages of (now Vidyasagar College)’ (1.117). the world and encyclopaedias are rishis.’ 2 This influence of law on Swamiji, apart from him using it at times during his talks and lec- In another case the apex court held that the tures, has amazingly influenced the judiciary as state cannot impose its policies on reservation, well. He is quoted profusely in the judgements of fees, and other regulations on non-aided minor- many Indian courts, notably the Supreme Court ity and non-minority private colleges, includ- of India. An attempt is made here to trace some ing professional colleges. Stressing the quality of the judgements of the Supreme Court in of education needed the court quoted Swami which he is quoted within relevant contexts. Vivekananda and Swami Ranganathananda, the thirteenth president of the Ramakrishna Order: On Education and Enlightened Citizenship Education is ‘continual growth of personality, There was a case in which the National Curricu- steady development of character, and the quali- lum Framework for School Education (ncfse), tative improvement of life. A trained mind has 446 PB June 2011 Swami Vivekananda in India’s Supreme Court Judgements 35 the capacity to draw spiritual nourishment from Vedantic truth was first discovered, the solidar- every experience, be it defeat or victory, sorrow ity of all life. One atom in the universe cannot or joy. Education is training the mind and not move without dragging the whole world along stuffing the brain.’ with it. There cannot be any progress without ‘We want that education by which character the whole world following in the wake, and it is formed, strength of mind is increased, the in- is becoming every day clearer that the solution tellect is expanded, and by which one can stand of any problem can never be attained on racial, on one’s own feet.’ ‘The end of all education, all or national, or narrow grounds. Every idea has training, should be man-making. The end and to become broad till it covers the whole of this aim of all training is to make the man grow. The world, every aspiration must go on increasing training by which the current and expression till it has engulfed the whole of humanity, nay of will are brought under control and become the whole of life, within its scope. This will ex- fruitful is called education.’ 3 plain why our country for the last two [sic] cen- A teacher whose services were terminated due turies has not been what she was in the past. We find that one of the causes which led to this to misconduct towards his student had challenged degeneration was the narrowing of our view, the termination. Delineating the characteristics narrowing the scope of our actions.’ 5 of an ideal teacher and stressing the importance of the impeccable character a teacher must have, It is worth noting that this judgement the court quoted Swami Vivekananda: ‘Swami profusely quoted the writings of Swami Vivekananda has stated that “the student should Ranganathananda as well. live from his very boyhood with one whose char- acter is [like] a blazing fire and should have be- On Religion fore him a living example of the highest teaching. In the infamous case regarding the demolition In our country, the imparting of knowledge has of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya the court relied on always been through men of renunciation. The Swami Vivekananda’s definition of religion: charge of imparting knowledge should again fall ‘Swami Vivekananda said: “Religion is not in upon the shoulders of Tyagis.” ’ 4 doctrines, in dogmas, nor in intellectual argu- There was a case in which the petitioners con- mentation; it is being and becoming, it is real- tended that promotions to some employees of isation.” This thought comes to mind as we the department of health of the government of contemplate the roots of this controversy. Gen- Uttar Pradesh were withheld and arbitrary ap- esis of this dispute is traceable to erosion of some pointments and promotions made instead. Talk- fundamental values of the plural commitments ing about enlightened citizenship in the course of our polity.’ 6 of judgement the court said: While explaining Hindu faith and practice in a case against the state of Andhra Pradesh the Swami Vivekanand [sic] in his lecture entitled court said: ‘The Work Before Us’ (1897) published in ‘The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda’ [Vol.3, The concept of Hindu religious faith and prac- p. 269 (1979 edn.)] has stated the scope of en- tice referred to in the judgements in the narra- lightened citizenship thus: ‘The problem of life tion of the facts needs preface with inner depth is becoming deeper and broader every day as the of religion as revealed by (1) Swami Vivekanan- world moves on. The watchword and the essence da’s scholastic concepts in his The Complete have been preached in the days of yore when the Works, Vol I, at p. 124; and (2) broad spectrum PB June 2011 447 36 Prabuddha Bharata of self-realisation by Shri Aurobindo. Swami same truth. This is the real science of religion. Vivekananda had stated that: ‘Each soul is po- As mathematics in every part of the world does tentially divine. The goal is to manifest this Di- not differ, so the mystics do not differ. They are vinity within by controlling nature, external all similarly constituted and similarly situated. and internal. Do this either by work, or wor- Their experience is the same; and this becomes ship, or psychic control, or philosophy—by law.’ one, or more, or all of these—and be free. In Vol. II, 9th Edn. at p. 432, Swamiji This is the whole of religion. Doctrines, said that: ‘There are two worlds: the or dogmas, or rituals, or books, or microcosm and the macrocosm, the temples, or forms, are but internal and the external. We secondary details.’ Religion get truth from both [of] … is based upon faith and these by means of experi- belief, and, in most cases, ence. The truth gathered consists only of different from internal experience sets of theories, and that is psychology, meta- is the reason why there is physics, and religion; difference in form. from external experi- Thereafter, at p. 341 he ence, the physical sciences. had stated that: ‘Get Now a perfect truth rid, in the first place, should be in harmony of all these limited with experience[s] in ideas of God and see both these worlds. The him in every person— microcosm must bear working through all testimony to the macro- hands, walking through cosm and the macrocosm all feet, and eating to the microcosm; phys- through every mouth. ical truth must have its In every being He lives, counterpart in the in- through all minds He ternal world, and in- thinks. He is self-evi- ternal world must have dent, nearer unto us than its verification outside.’ Swami Vivekananda in ourselves. To know this is reli- E mb dia lem of In his The Complete Works, Vol.1, 11th gion, is faith, and may it please of the Supreme Court the Lord to give us this faith.’ … Edn. at p. 366 said that: ‘The founda- Swami Vivekananda in his lecture on Reli- tions have all been undermined; and the mod- gion and Science incorporated in The Complete ern man, whatever he may say in public, knows Works [Vol.VI, 6th Edn.] had stated at p. 81 in the privacy of his heart that he can no more thus: ‘Experience is the only source of know- “believe”, … believing because it is written in ledge. In the world, religion is the only science certain books, believing because [his] people where there is no surety, because it is not taught like him to believe, the modern man knows it as a science of experience. This should not be. to be impossible for him.
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