CHAPTER-V

VIVEKANANDA AS A PRACTICAL VEDANTIN

"We want to lead mankind to the place where there is neither the

Vedas, nor the Bible, nor the Koran; yet this has to be done by

Izarmonising the Vedas, the Bzble, and the Koran".

"Manhind ought to be taught the religions are but that varied

expressions of The Religion, which is oneness, so that each may

choose the path that suit him best".

- Swami Vivekananda

Vedanta, in view of some people is absolutely theoretical and

speculative and it canizol he ci\i.ried illto practice. But such ideas are untrue

to facts. Vedanta is the nlost pract,ical of all philosophies that exist in the

world. It has bee11 stated by Prof. Maxinuller, "Vedanta is the most sublime

of all philosophies, and the comforting of all religions".'

In India, philosophy has always been the theoretical side of religion

and religion has always been considered as the practical side of philosophy of

that tree of lcnowledge, philosophy is the flower, while religion is its fruit. If

we remember this idea, we shall be able to understand whether Vedanta is

practical or not.

The Vedanta philosophy, if it is not practical, has no other relevancy.

Before the Vedantic teaching of oneness, the fictitious difference between

religion and life of the world must vanish. The ideal of religion, according to

the Vedanta, must cover the whole field of life and must enter into all our

thoughts and find expression in all our action.

Generally, people have a curious notions to what is practical. Swami

Vivekananda Says, ' l ~ f any man come to preach to me a certain ideal, the first

step towards which is to give up selfishness, to give up self-enjoyment, I think

that is impradical. But when another man brings an ideal which can be

reconciled with my self interest, I am glad and at once I jump at it. That is

Abhedananda, Swami : Attitude of Vedanta Towards Religion, Ramakrishna Vedanta Math, Calcutta, p. 23.

the ideal for me"'. Vcdal~La is a higl~ ideal at the same time whieh is to be put

into practice witbout ; ~ n y conlpromise or dilution. There are persons who

promote us to make compromise with our wealtness and teach us how to

make special excuses lor all over foolish wants and foolish desires and we

think that such diluted ideals are the only ideals we need have. But it is not

so according to the Vedanta. The actual should conform to the ideal, the

present life should be inude to coincide with rife eternal and not vice-versa.

Vivekananda Views on Practical Vedanta

According to Vivekananda, Vedanta, therefore as a religion must be

intensely practical. We nlust he able to cany it out in every part of our lives.

And not only this, the 1ictii;jous dil'ferentiation between religion and the life

of the world must vanish, for the Vedanta teaches oneness - one life

throughout. The ideal religion must cover the whole field of life, they must

enter into all our thoughts and more and more into practice.

Divinity of Man, a Practical Gospel

The essence of Vedanta, according to Vivekananda is tho assertion of

the divinity o f man, as embodied in the cryptic saying, 'Thou art that'. The

spirit of man has always been pure and perfect, that it was never born and

will never die, that all power a d glory are lodged in it, and that if any one

says 'I am but little mortal being, he is giving out a great lie'.

The Vedmta teaches men to have faith in themselves first. AS certain

religions of the world says that a man who does not believe in a personal God

1. Tapasyananda, Swami : The Philosophical and Religioh lecturers, Advaita Ashrama, Calcutta, P.J..,

outside of himself in an atheist, so the Vedanta says that a man who does not

believe in himself is an atheist. Not believing in the glory of our soul is what

the Vedanta call atheism. To many this is, no doubt, a terrible idea and most

of us think that this idall can never be reached, but the Vedanta insists that

it can be realized by evmy one. There is neither man, nor woman, nor child,

nor difference for sex, nor anythmg that stands as a far to the realization this

ideal, because Vedanta shows that it is realized already that it is already

there. All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we put our

hands before our eyes and c ry that it is dark. Know that there is no darkness

around us. Darkness never existed and weakness never existed.

Thus the Vedanta not only insists that ideal is practical, but that it has

been so all the time and this ideal, this reality, is our own nature. Everything

else you see is false, untrue therefore, whoever thinks he is weak is wrong,

whoever think he is impure is wrong and is throwing a bad thought into the

world. This we must always fear in mind, that in the Vedanta there is no

attempt at reconciling the present life, hypnotised life, this false life, which

we have assumed with the ideal, but this false life must go and the real life,

which is always existing, must manifest itself, must shine out. No man

becomes purer and purer, it is a matter of greater manifestation. The veils

drop away and the native purity of the soul begins to manifest itself.

These positive teaching of Vedanta on the inherent power and purity

of the spirit in man should not be interpreted as lack of sympathy for man in

his weakness, All are going to the same goal. The difference between

weakness and strength or between vice and virtue is only one of degree.

According to Vivekananda, all differences in the world are only one of degree,

because oneness is the secret of everything. What Vedanta insists is that the

~ositive side of thing should be stressed and not the negative. For example,

take the doctrine that man is a sinner. It corresponds to the Vedantic idea of

ignorance, which obstructs the manifestation of the inherent nature of the

soul. But the Vedanta never allows an aspirant to harp on his being a sinner

or to glant on his ignorance. It advocates the positive idea that if there is sin

or ignorance, it is a greater truth that the soul of man is divine and that

nothing can destroy this inherent nature of the soul.

The one shows to man his strength and the other his weakness, the

one takes the positive side, the other the negative. There my be weakness,

says Vedanta never mind, we want to grow and being remainded always of

our weakness does not help much. Give strength, but strength does not come

by thinking of weakness all the time. The remedy for weakness is not

broadiilg over one's weakness, but thinking of strength. Teach men the

strength that is already within them. Instead of telling them they are

sinners, the Vedanta takes the opposites position and says, that the sinner is

also pure and perfect, and what you call sin does not belong to you. Sins are

very low degree of self-manifestation, manifest yourself in a high degree.

The Practical Nature of the Vedantic Idea of Salvation

All religions deal with the destiny of man, about the 'hereafter' that

awaits him. Some religions hold that they adopted to their dogma and to

whom their sacraments have been administered, go to heaven and live with

God, while the rest are condemned to eternal hell. In the Vedanta, according

to Vivekananda, a distinction is made between going to heaven and attaining

salvation. AU heavens are transitory and the periods of residenea there ere

bound to terminate. They are only temporary regions for enjoyment and

!suffering according to olle's milrits and demerits, alter wl~ich one comes back

to earth-consciousness t,o struggle there for further evolution.

According to Vivcl(ananda, the exception to these destinies, is that of

Persons who have realized the impersonal Absolute, the all-pervading

existence-knowledge -bliss absolute, to attain who one need not go anywhere

or even wait for the falling of the body. He maintained that recognising their

oneness with the all - encornpussing being, they transcend the bondages of

Karma and become one with all. It means recognising neither good nor bad,

but knowing all as coming from the self, self is everything. It means denying

the universe, seeing the Lord in hell as well as in heaven, seeing the Lord in

death as well as in life. The earth is symbol of the Lord, the sky is the Lord,

the place we fill is the Lord, everything is Brahman. As Its logical

consequence, when the soul has realized everything as Brahman, it will not

care whether it goes to heaven or hell or anywhere else, whether it be form

again on earth or in heaven. These things have ceased to have any meaning

to that soul, because every place is the same, every place is a temple of Lord,

every place has become holy and the presence of Lord is all that is seen @ v W

where. A person who has come to this perception becomes free while living

here and he has not got to go any far of redon to get salvation*

Individuality and Morality

It is fallacious to think that individuality is essential for morali\y, that

moral chaos will set ill if the sense of individuality is abandoned. The

opposite, however, is the truth, The history of the world shows that those

who never thought of their little individuality were the greatest benefactors

of the human race, that the more men and women think of themselves, less

are they able to do for uthcrs. One is unselfishness and the other selfishness.

Vivekananda wanted irj see a moral man like Gnutanla Buddha, who did not

believe in a personal God or a personal soul, never asked even about them.

But he was a perfect agnostic and yet was ready to lay down his life for any

one and worked all his life for the good of all.

In view of Vivekananda, stlpess 011 individuality leads to competition

and cruelty, whlle the 1.cnunciation of' individuality and establishment in the

sense of' unity leads to universal love and peace. We find it also in the

collective life of nations, races and religions, that those of them whose

concern is only themselves, have been the mast cruel and the most wicked in

the world. He says thtil exclusive religion have gone the extent of teaching

that the slauglztcr. of other religionists is the easiest way to heaven. In life we

find that adherence to individuality is the cause of all competition, strife and

evil among man. I t is strange that in the name of spirituality and religion,

man wants to extend this separate indiv~duality into salvation also.

The truth, according to Vivekananda, is highest metaphysics that you

get the highest ethics also, that for the sake of ethics, one need not

compromise the Vedantic ideal. The Vedantist says that the cause of all that

is apparently evil is the limiting of the unlimited. The cause o f all evil and

suffering is ourselves, and there is no meaning in any blanling supernatural

being,

Vivekananda ,.emphasized that man is perfect divinity by nature.

Forgetfulness of it, is the cause of 811 evil ignorance is its cause. Evil is not

overcome by brooding ovcr evil, Calling ourselves sinners and dwelling on

sinfulness will makes one worse only. Mlstakes have to be overcome and not

bemoaned.

Selfless Work

The idea of non-dual Brahman or one spirit as all, is the basic idea of

Swami Vivekananda's tcuchings, it is also his unique contribution that he has

tried lo harmonize the path of selfless service with the path of knowledge. He

has given us the idea that bolli spirituality and service are complementary

ideals of the Vedanta and that Lokasangraha is an excellent form of

worship of the supremcl

According l o the Gita, no hullzan being can live without work. To live,

one has to breathe and even tliat is a kind of work, In fact, no man can enjoy

anything unless he earns it by his own effort. All huinan achievements such

as ships, railways, machines, tools etc., are the effect of labour. Philosophy

and religion cannot teach us to give up all actions. Swami Vivekananda

opined, "If you want any good t,o come, just throw your ceremonials overboard

and workshop the Living God, the Man - God",'

Action is to be understood in its proper spirit ordinarily we work, being

Prompted by selfish desires, such selfish work is not be regarded as worship

of the life divine. I t is only that work done with a wholly unselfish motive

which is good and conducive to spiritual perfection. Indeed, action in itself

is neither good nor bad. It has no inherent moral qualities. It becomes good

or bad, selfless or selfish only due to the purity or impurity of motive form

which it springs. When the agent feels the want of Some material object, I

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Val VI., p.264.

desires it for his ow11 clijoymcnt and then strlves to get it, such action is

selfish, this type of action keeps the doer imprisoned in the ever-dark cell of

his own egoism. He is working all the tiine to satisfy his never-ending need

and due to his inform short sightedness, he fails to have a vision of his ow11

divine heritage. He does not even feel that he is greater than his multifarious

needs. Selfish Karma is therefore, regarded in our religion as a snare, as it

is polluted by narrow self-centredness and base emotions.

Selfless services or Niskama - Karma, on the other hand, is free

action, as it is never fet leieed to ally desire for personal material gain. Such

action really springs from the fullnes:; of heart which is an expression of bliss

or ananda. Selfless acl Ion is nothing, but spxitualization of service, effected

through the cultivation of d~sinterested devotion to the life eternal, If fact,

the pursuit of' Niskama - Karma lles in shifting the motive from narrow

egoism to the infinite Bliss that supports the whole world The true human

life is the life of the spirit. It is the nun-dual Atman which is manifesting

itself in thousands and thousands of forms. Ilence, it is a sin to remain

confined only to one's own narrow egoistic shell.

A man, to be really a man, should accept 'self-sacrifice' as the principle

of life. He should realize that ego-centric desires are not to be cultivated and

that he should always be prepared to work selflessly for the welfare of the

whole world. Earlier there is only one reality and the individual souls are

nothing but its manifestations, there is no real difference between individual

and individual. All life is one. So 'life for others' should be the motto o f a

follower of the Vedanta Ph~losophy .

Action performed with the attitude of humility, devotion and selfless

love for the whole universe is nothing but a form of spiritual practice

(Sadhana) which will lead us to our desired goal. In his eagerlless to prove

the efficacy of Karma, Swami Vivekananda has gone to the extent of

declaring, 'The Karma-Yogi need not believe in any doctrine whatever. He

may not believe even in God, may noi ask what his soul is, nor tihink of any

metaphysical speculation. He has got his own special aim of realizing

selflessness and he has to work it out hlrnselfY1 He further says, "Build up

your character and manifest your real nature, the Effulgent, the

Resplendent, the Ever-pure and call it up in everyone that you see"."

Swami Vivekananda has proved by his thought, word and deed that

spirituality never encourages inactivity and escapism, nor is it correct to say

that spirituality produces onIy a race of half-starved and half -naked

Sannyasis, who are interested wholly in activity and other worldliness.

Perhaps no one was ever more - concerned with the poverty and ignorance of

the lower classes, in this country than the great revolutionary Vedantist

Swami Vivekananda. According to him, progress in spirituality, divorced

from social consciousness and social progress is an impassibility. He says, "It

is an insult to a starving people to offer them religionu3. It is very difficult to

assent that spirituality is negation of life and activity on the contrary, it is

spirituality that makes a conscious of his noble heritage as a result of which

he can link his life with the life of God.

1. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol. 1, p.111.

2. Ibid., Vol.11, p.357.

3. Ibid, Vol.1, p.20.

According to Swami Vivekananda, spiritual ideal is for life and this

must be lived in all spheres, private, social and international. This gives him

strength and courage to face the world. His soul being purified by

spirituality, he returns to active llfe with a longing to do good t o the whole

of mankind. Such Karma-yogi alone sees everyone in himself and himself

in everyone.

Indeed, the life ill the world should not be neglected. We should always

try to harmonize it with the eternal. All our dealings should be grounded on

such moral principle as truth, equality, love, forgiveness, self-control and self-

sacrifice. The moral values should constitute the foundation - stone of the

social life, because these are values which are closely connected with the

purity and perfection of human character.

Vedanta in its Application t o Indian Life

The word Vedanta must cover the whole ground of Indian religious life

and being part of the Vedas, by all acceptance. It is the most ancient

literature that we have for whatever m~ght be idea of modern scholars, the

Hindus are not ready to admit that parts of tho Vedas were written at one

time and parts were written at another time. They felt, still hold on to their

belief that the Vedas as a whole were produced at the same time. Rather in

view of Vivekananda, they were never produced, but that they always existed

in the mind of the Lord. The Vedanta, according to him, that it covers the

ground of dualism of qualified monlsm and Advailism in India.

According to Vivekananda, every dualistic text is preserved a d every

text that speak of non-dualistic philosophy is tortured in any fashion he likes.

This Sanskrit language is so intricate, the Sanskrit of the Vedas is so ancient 4

and the Sanskrit philosophy so perfect, that any amouht of discussion call be

carried on for ages in regard lo the meaning of one word The pandit takes

it into his head, he can render any body's prattle into correct Sanskrit by

force of argument and quotation of texts and rules. These are difficulties in

our ways of understanding the Upanishads. It was givcn lo Vivekananda

to live with a man who was as ardent n dualist, as ardent an Advaitists, as

ardent a Bhakta, as a Jnani. First living with this man, he had to

understand the Upanishads and the texts of the scriptures from an

independent and better basis than by blindly following lhe colnmentalors.

Vivekananda opined that these texts are not at all contradictory.

Therefore, Vivelrananda finain the light of this man's life that the

dualist and the Advaitist need not fight each other. Each one has a place and

a @eat place in the national life. The dualist must remain, for he is as much

part and parcel of the national, religious life as the Advaitist. One cannot

exist without the other, one is the fulfilment of the other, one is the other the

fruit and so on. For Vivekananda, any attempt to torture the texts of the

Upanishads appears to very ridiculous. He find out that the language is

wonderful. Apart from all its merits as the greatest philosophy, apart from

its wonderful merit as theology, as showing the path of salvation to mankind,

the Upanishadic literature is the most wonderful painting of sublimity that

the world has.

According to Advaitist, evolution is in nature and not in the soul.

Advaitistts position with regard to evolution-evolution of nature and

manifestation of self within. It is unchangeable, the infinite Onel It was

covered, as i t were, with a veil, the veil of Maya and as this Maya veil

becomes thinner and thinner, the inborn, natural gloly of the soul comes out

and becomes more manifest. This is the one great doctrine which the world

is waiting to learn from India.

Our Upanishads says that the cause of all misery is ignorance and

that is perfectly true when applied to every slate of life, either social or

spiritual. I t is ignorance that makes us hate each other, it is through

ignorance that we do not know and do not love each other. As soon as we

come to know each other, love comes, must come, for all we not one? Thus

we find solidarity coming inspite of itself, Even in politics and sociology,

problems that were-only national twenty years ago can no more be solved on

national grounds only. They are assuming huge proportion, gigantic shapes.

They can only be soIved when looked at in the broader light of international

grounds.

Inspite of the greatlzess of the Upanishads, inspite of our boasted

ancestry of sages, compared to many other races, Vivekananda stated that

we are weak, very weak. First of all is our physical weakness that physical

weakness is the cause of our physical weakness. That physical weakness is

the cause of at least one-third of our miseries. We are lazy, we cannot work,

we cannot combine, we do not love each other, we are intensely selfish, not

three of us can come together without hating each other, without being

jealous of each other.

Vivekananda called ucon Y youngsters, "To be strong. Religion will

come afterwards. You will be nearer to heaven through football than through

the study of the Gita. These are bold words, but I have to say them, for I

love you. You will rl~tdersla~td the Gita better with your biceps, your

muscles, a little stroilgir. You will understand the mighlily genius and the

mighty strength of' Krishna better wit11 a little of strong blood in you. You

will understand the Ul~anishads better and the glory of' the Atman where

your body stands firm upon your feet, and you feel yourself as man. Thus we

have to apply these to our needs"'.

Neo - Vedantism

Neo - Vedantism, according to Swami Vivekananda is meant the new

Vedanta as distinguished from the old traditional Vedanta developed by

Sankaracharya. Sankara's Vedanta is known as Advaita or non-dualism, pure

and simple. Sometimes which is called Kevala-Advaita or unqualified

monism, it may be called Abstract monism in so far as Brahman, the

ultimate reality is according to it, devoid of all qualities and distinctions

(nirguna and nirvishesha).

The Neo-Vedanta is also Advaita as it holds that Brahman, the

ultimate reality is one without as second (ekam evadvitiyam). But as

distinguished from the i~aditional Advaita of Sankara, it is a synthetic

Vedanta which reconciles Dvaita or dualism and Advaita or non-dualism and

also other theories of reality. So also it may be called concrete monism in so

far as it holds that Brahman is both qualified and qualilyless (Sugulla and

Nirgune), it has forms and is also formless (Sankara and Nirakara).

The germs of Neo-Vedantism is also the rationale and beginning of its

practical application and are to be found in the life and teachings of Sri

1. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Vol.111, p.242.

~ a m a k r i s h n a . I t was left to Swami Vivehananda to develop them into the

philosophy of Neo-Vedantism and lay the foundation of practical Vedanta.

Of course, we do not deny that the fundamental principles on which Nee-

Vedantisrn and its practical application rest may be traced to the Vedas and

the Upanishads. But it was Sri Ramakrishna who demonsiirated and

synthesized them through his manifold spiritual experience. He also gives

them so simple, direct and unfailing expression as to dispel all doubts and

misgivings from the minds of the modern rationalists and unbending

unbelievers, even Swami Vivekananda not excepted, I t is i~nperalive t o

consider what these fundarnenla] principle of' Neo-Vedantism and its

application, as taught by Sri Ramakrishna, are and how Swami Vivekalianda

developed them into a philosophy of practical Vedanta.

Reconciliation of the Three Philosophies

It is imperative to consider how , Neo-Vedantism of Swami

Vivekananda have been reconciliation of Advaita, Dvaita and Visistadvaita.

God, according to him is personal and impersonal at the same time. Even

man may be said to be both personal and impersonal. Man as soul or spirit

is infinite and impersonal, but as living in a body or as embodied, he is a

finite person. 'The impersonal', for him is a living God, a principle. The

difference between personal and impersonal is this, that the personal is only

a man a-id the impersonal idea is that He is the angel, the man, the animal

and yet something more, because impermnality Includos iili pcr~onalities is

the total of eveNthing in the universe and infinitely XnOre b@~ides"*

1. Swami Vivekananda, Practical Vedanta, p. 50.

Advaita of Swami Vivekananda is friendly and not antagonistic to

Dvaita and Visistndvaita. These are accepied him 'not in a patronizing way,

but with the convictio~l lhat they are true manifestation of the same

truth and they all lead to the same conclusions as the Advaita has reachedJ1.

Swami Vivekakwanda further says that sometimes we may have even

contradictory ideas, ant1 yet they may all belong to the same great universal

tiath. Thus, if'a nlan j~ur~leying towards the sun takes a pllotograph of the

sun at every stage of' his journey, then it will be found that not two of the

photographs are alilre and yet we cannot deny that they are all photographs

of the same sun and equally correct pictures of it. Similarly, Advaita, Dvaita,

Vishitadvaita and other types of philosophy and religion give different

descriptions of reality of the Absolute from different points of view, But; they

are all descriptions of the same reality and are equally true as far as they go.

In view of Vivekananda, there are various grades and types of human minds

who requires different types of philosophy and religion, Hence, any

philosophy or religion must comprehend all other grades of human minds.

Such a philosophy or religion is the Neo-Vedanla of Swami Vivekananda.

Practical Application of Neo-Vedanta

It is imperative to know the practical application of such a highly

Abstract philosophy as Vedantism. Swami Vivekananda first points out

certain historical facts which clearly show how Vedanta was a practical

philosophy in the past. Many of the Vedantic thoughts emanated from parson

who lived the busiest lives in the wodd, namely, ruling monarch of ancient

2. Ibid., p. 96.

India. Swami Vivekii~limda lhink that the best part of the Vedanta

philosophy were not l l ~ c outco~ne ofmeditation in the forest only, but were

thought out and expressed by brains which were busiest in every day affairs

of life. Then there is that amazing fact that the Bhagavad-Gita, which is

the quit essence of Vedanta philosophy, was taught to Arjuna by Sri Krishna

in the battle field of Kurukshetra. AU this creates a strong presumption in

our minds that Vedanta can even now be a practical philosophy.

We find that what; the Gita primarily teaches is not inactivity or

cessation of practicaI activity, but incessant activity in a calm and passiol~less

spirit. We should not think that there cannot be activity without passion. If

we have violent passions, we lose balance of mind and that we can do more

work when our mind is fi-ee from passions. We should not also think that to

make the ideal of'the Vedanta practical means t o drag the ideal principle to

the level of our life of blind passions and animal impulses. It is just the other

way about. It really means that we are to make our ordinary life conform to

the ideal, to elevate it to the level of the ideal. As Vivekananda quoted, '(The

actual should be reconciled to the ideal, the present life should be made to

coincide with life eternal"'.

The central idea of Vedanta is oneness. 'There are two in anything,

no two lives. There is but one life, one world, one existence, everything is

that one, the difference is in degree and not in kind". It is the same life that

pulsates through all beings from Brahma to the amoeba, the difference is

only in the degree of manifestation. We must not look down with contempt

1, Ibid., ~ $ 1 1 .

2. Ibid., p.11.

on others but we should respect them. We are all moving towards the same

goal. We should help others to reach the goal and never do anything that

may hurt them or obstruct them.

'The Vedanta can be carried into our everyday life, the city life, the

country life, the national life and the home life of every nation". A religion

that cannot be put into practice, that cannot help man, wherever he may he,

is not of much use and value. Judged by this best Vedanta will be found in

practical.

According to Vedanta, first to know ourselves and to have faith

ourselves. Faith in ourselves will be everything. The traditional religions

said that those who did not believe in God, he was an atheist, the Neo-

Vedanta teaches that lze is an atheist who does not believe in himself. But

that faith is not selfish faith. It is not faith in little, limited self which stands

opposed to ourselves. It is faith in the universal self, the self that is in one,

that is in you, that is in all, it means, therefore, faith in all, beca~~se you are

all. Love for yourselves means love for all, for men, animals and everything

for you are all one.

The real practical side oENeo-Vedanta is to see-God in every thing and

as everything. The earth and heaven, fire, and sun, ihe moon, ills stars and

the water are all forms of Brahman. AU men and women and even animals

are forms of Brahman. We are all children of the irnmorl J, ever pure and

ever free. Nothing can find us, nothing can defile us. Thou art that (tat-

tuam-&), we are all that. We are not really the weak, sinful and rnismable

beings that we sol~lctiinos think ourselves to be. The Vedanta had not been

recognize sin. The highost prayer that the Advaita teaches is this, 'Rise, thou

effulgent one, rise thou who art always pure, rise thou birthless and

deathless, rise almighty and manifest they are true nature. These litle

manifestations do i lot befit thee".

Neo-Vedantis~n, Swami Vivekananda is the call to us to be first Gods

and then help others to be Gods. We should perceived upon every man,

women and everyone as Gad. So we are really to serve them and not help

them. But if it is to be good fortune to help any one of them, we should do it

as a worship. The destitute, downtrodden and the miserable people give us

opportunity to serve God c0rnin.g to us in the person of the diseased, lunatic,

leper and the sinner, It was this conviction that inspired one of Swami

Vivekananda's memorable utterances, "May I be born again and again and

suffer thousands of miseries so that I may worship the only God that exists,

the only God I believe in, the sum total of all souls and above all, my God the

wicked, my God the miserable, my God the poor of all races and of all species

is special object of my worshipv2.

h o t h e r significant practical side of Swami Vivekananda's Neo-

Vedanta is acceptance, not mere tolerance, of the forms of worship. In view

of Swamiji, other forms of worship, including the worship of God through

ceremonials and forms are not in error It is the journey from truth to truth,

from lower truth to higher truth. We should perceive others with eyes of

1. Ibid., p. 114.

2. Swami Vivekananda Centenary : parliament of %li&ns (1963-64) n- 213.

love, with sympathy, knowing that they are going along the same path that

we have truth. So the Acivaita of Swami Vivekananda not only tolerates, but

accepts and other religio~~s of the world as but diffe~ent paths that lead to the

same goal - God.

Such is Swami Vivekimanda's practical Vedanta, a living Vedanta and

not a d ~ y and dead tiieory oi'lbe Vedanta. It is the Vedanta entering into our

ordinary life and conduct.. It is the Vedanta that may influence our individual

life, social life, national tuid inte~national life. Swami Vivekananda wants us

to carry the eternal message of tlie Vedanta to every door and to every corner

of the world. His Vedanta gives of spirit to the Ramakrishna math and

mission and their vast and varied humanitarian activities.

Vedantic Socialism

Vedantic socialism, Vivekananda has not been used this expression in

his writings or in teachings when he had an occasion to explain his views on

either the Vedanta or socialism, But he preaches on Vedanta, particularly on

Advaita Vedanta in its application to life in society and on socialism which

can be put together as a complete statement of his idea of Vedantic socialism.

Swami Vivekananda had no intention to be a theoretician of socialism

for he did not mean to illvolve himself in the poliiical questions ofthe day.

He was an exponent of a non-political, which is moral and spiritual approach

to the problems of India and the world. Be spoke of socialism because he

discovered that it was an idealogy which concerned it~dfwiWl the masses and

the amelioration of their condition.

He was ealcgoric;llly dcnied to capitalism and to money power in

society. At the some ti~lle he urged social justice and social equality. He

denounced privilege of m y kind as an unmitigated evil. But he did not

invoke any philosophy oI dialectical materialism he presented in his ideas. He

acknowledges the object plight of the masses of India and while it touched his

heart it also struck him as a denial of the ideal which was the imperative of

his culture. That ideal was Advaita. He was a socialist because socialism

came nearest to the idea of Advaita when it was to be practised as a social

ideal. His socialism is not an economic doctrine or a social doctrine. It is

impertative his Advaitic philosophy of life According to him, socialism would

be permanently establislled in the world only when it was sustained by the

Advaitic idea of the oneness of the universe.

Vivekananda was determined to make a heroic endeavour to eliminate

misery of masses. He wanted to improve the living condition of poor and the

down~roddell and given appropriate skatus in society. But the masses

through a political revolution which can create a ruling class that would

indifferent to the masses, We cannot rendering real service by being

charitable to them because such charity can only degrade them further. It

would be absurd first to role a man and then be virtuous by giving him alms.

Neither political violence nor the tender virtue of charity can bring about a

social change which would give the masses their legitimate place in society.

What we need for such a social change is a new world view and a new

conception of human destiny in the universe, that is a new phil~soph~ of life.

Vivekananda found that philosophy in Advaita which he thought assured

social unity as only on expression of unity of the universe, the individuals

oneness wit;h the Absolute. . ,

According t , ~ a t ruo hdvailist all misery proceeds fmm man's dienation

from the Absohltc :\nd 111 iscy begins lo end as we move towards the Absolute,

Vivekananda was deeply concerned by Ulc miserable condition of our masses.

He deruandcd a new c~canomic clrder and new social structure for the

salvatio~i of the mnsn5s. Vivckuoanda was aware about the political

movemellls in Em.opt! ~ u t d Aiacrica towards such change. He had knowledge

of Ihe charities movcmeuI, in England, of the ideas of the Fabians, of socialist

thought in the Unitcd Stntcs. He was fully acquainted with the revolutionaxy

and refbrrnist nlovenletlts in the West which were inspired by the American

war of' independence and French Revolution. American war of independence

was for him more a prolnise than fulfilment.

Political revolution has been inspired by the ideals of freedom and

social justice was incapable of bringing about a stable world order

guaranteeing freedom and justice to the masses. The endeavour towards

that goal must be sustained by the deepest things of life, by some spirit that

cannot be vitiated by my partisan passion, love of power, by groups and

individuals, by internecine conflicts. An ideal, in view of Vivekananda would

be more radical the most radical of political idealogies. It must spring

from man's spirituai and moral nature, the deepest urges of his soul. He

quoted, "Violent attempts at reform always end in retarding true reform"'.

It is 80 because violent reform takes place before any reform of the mind. He

elucidates his idea of we Regardh~g reformation Vivekanmda S ~ Y ~ J

"TO the reformers I will point out that I am a @eater reformer than any One

of them. They want to reform only little bits. I want root and branch

1. Das Gupta, R.K.: Swami Vivekananda's Vedantic 190cidh~ Wakrishna Institute of Culture, Calcutta, p. 23.

Where we differ is in thc method. Thelr is ihe method of destruction, mine

is that of col~stsuction I do not believe in reforms, I believe in growth"1,

Actually the difference ill the metllod proceeds from a fundamental difference

in the substance of'reform. He lllade it clear that truc reforms is a reform

of the mind leading to all awakening of soul. True revolutioa, for him was a

spiritual and moral revolution creating new icleds governing human relations

and human institutions. He found the source of that true revolution in

Advaita.

The Advaita had not been presented as the foundation of a new

society, a new economic order and a new principle governing human

relations, particularly relations between the rich and the poor, between the

elite and masses. Tbe philosophers of the Advaita school were mostly

concerned with dialectical or the logical problems of the philosoplly and had

no hotion of its relevance to social change. Vivekananda strongly believed,

Advaita is an instrument of a social revolution, not violent revolution

effected by the use of ams, but a silent revolution in the mind of man giving

him a new realization of his spiritual and moral d ipi ty and of his highest

spiritual and moral goal.

Swami Vivekanmda contemplated a monistic orientation of socialislll

on two grounds. Obviously he had no theoretical interest in socialisnl or in

any ~ ~ ~ i o - e c a ~ ~ ~ i ~ doetrine, He mainly concerned on living conditions of his

own people in India. Then his interest expand, as it would in a man of God

into the larger interest of mankind as a whole. It was Jawaharlal Nehru who

stressed this internationalism of Swami Vivekananda in his '9% DiscoveV

1. Ibid,, p.23.

of India'. 'Progressively, Vivekananda grew more international in outlook',

he says in that work. 'There cannot be any progress', Vivelcananda says,

'without the whole world following in the wake and it is beeolliing evelqy day

clearer that the solution of any problem can never be atlnined on lacial,

national or narrow grounds. Every idea has to become broad till it covers the

whole of this world, every aspiration must go on increasing t~ll it has engulfed

the whole humanity, the whole of life, within its scope'.

Vivekananda's internationalism emerged out of his Advaitic

approach to the universe. Jawaharlal Nehru says that Vivekanunda's

internationalism 'fitted in well with his view of' Vedanta philosophy' But

it was not really a case of internationalism being consistent with Advaitism.

On the contrary it was his Advaitism which made him an internationalist.

And his idea of social equality and human unity too had its foundation in his

philosophy of Advaita. As Romain Rolland says, 'Vivekananda declai4ation

of equality between the humblest and the highest carries all the more weight

because it comes from the highest form an intellectual aristocrat, who

believed that the peak had scaled, the Advaitic faith, was the summit of a11 he

mountain in the world"'

Swami Vivekananda strongly believed that the socicty was the grand

reservoir of all new ideas, it was tlie creator of all new valu~s and he f'urther

believed that i t was capable of realizing these ideas and preserving those

values through its own institutions. The whole tragedy of socialism iks it is

being persued today is the it denies of existence of society and makes the state

the only social institution,

1. Ibid., p.25.

Social progress, according to Vivekananda was social unity, in society,

there was no social unity where the masses had neither education nor food.

He thought that the masses would get what they needed when they would

have education. 'Educate and raise the masses and thus alone a nation is

possible'. He meant a new civilization to emerge in society when the masses

receive education and make themselves active in a new intellectual

movement. This movenient can begin only when the upper classes realize

their responsibility in educating the masses. The only selviec to he done for

our lower classes', he said, is to give them education, to develop their lost

individuality, that is tlze great task between our people and princes'.

Social unity, in view of Vivekananda is the constituting a single society

by the idea of the mass and upper classes has been sustained in his

philosophy of the Advaita. He could not think a fragmented and plural

society because he believed in the unity ofAdvaita. Such a philosophical or

metaphysical foundation for social equality or social unity can have no

meaning for those who do not believe in the life of the spirit or in any ideal

that transcends the phenomenal world. But for Vivekananda, it was vital,

it was the very breath of his philosophy of social progress,

Vivekananda believed in love as the most durable socjal bond, an

unfailing guarantee of social equality and social unity andbe thought you

cannot have this love by promulgating it in a law and enforcing it by police.

He therefore contemplated a society which will achieve social equality and

social unity without affecting individual freedom. In a society such as this

spontaneity of consciousness will give what rigour of the law cannot amure.

It is a society of universally shared values which will create a social will which

will be a stronger force than law enforced by the state. Vivekanande saw the

possibility of such a society in his Advaitic philosophy of the oneness of

universe. For him, this idea of oneness was not a metaphysical abstraction.

It was not a transcendence beyond the comprehension of man. He aware that

it was not easy for the common man to master of philosophy and make it a

regulating principle in his social conduct. But he did believe that those who

are capable of realizing it are also capable of spreading the amongst the rest.

Vivekananda's faith in practical Vedanta was really a faith in practical

Advaita Vedanta. His philosopl~y of Advaita and its relevance to man's

social ideals have been Advaita foundation of social unity. Gerald Heard

says, "when we see all mankind as part of the divine body then and then only

will all, even the humblest, have the one true guaranty of their rights, the

right to be protected and to be helped develop to the highest"'. We can take

this state as the principle of Vivekananda's Vedantic socialism, that; is,

Advaitic socialism.

Humanism of Swami Vivekananda

In reality, the whole of the philosophical thought of Swami

Vivekananda is a gospel of unique divine humanism characterised by superb

rationalism and farely revolutionary activism. Vivekananda's humanism goes

deep into the essence of man and as such it has a unique universal

significance.

Vivekananda's humanlsm is in fact, the 'Bible of humanity' in which

it is declared that we never forget the glory of human nature and we are the

greatest God that ever was or ever will be. Here we get highest conception o f

1, Ibid., p.30.

man under which the dignity and glory oIman has reached inlinitely. He felt

that no other philosophy in which the man has been raised to this height.

Swami Vivekananda's gospel of humanism is gospel of revo1utional-y

activism-activism in its life and soul. In an lmmortal prtwer which is also

an anthem of activism. His revolutionary activism which is the note of

Vivelrananda's human] sm. Speaklng about Vivekananda's hurnanisln

Y. Chelysev says, "It possess many features of active hun3anism manifested

above all in a fervent desire to elevate man, to instill in hi~n a sense of his

own dignity, sense of responsibility for his own destiny and the destiny of all

people, to make him strive for the ideas of good, t n ~ t l ~ and justice to foster in

a man abhorrence for any suffering". He described his life as brief but

dazzlingly bright, full of indefatigable activity and an impassioned desire to

make his compatriots aware of their greatness and lead them unto the road

of a new life. As Romain Rolland says, "He was energy personified and action

was his message to man"'.

Regarding the indrvidual development, 'man is responsible to

determine his own destiny' - it is the key note or Swami Vivekananda's

philosophy of man. He says, "we are our own helps. If' we cannot help

ourselves, there is none lo help us":'. Referring to the Gita, he says, "Though

they self art they only friend, thou they-self they only enemy. There is no

other enemy but this self of mine, no other friend but mysel~". Thus man

is the maker of his own destiny, he is what makes himself.

1. Vivekananda centenary memorial, Calcutta, p.508.

2. Romain Rolland: The life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel, p.4.

3. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol.1, p. 478.

4. Gita, V1. 5,

It is apparent by now that Swami Vivekananda's gospel ofllumanism

is not a mere intelJectua1 exercise, nor mere spec~~lating, but a dynamic of

man-making on its practical side, the dynamic philosophy of Vivelrananda is

a doctrine of individualisin in the matter of man-making he was dead against

all attempts are regimentation. He conceived that one must develop from

where he is and according to his own inalienations, otherwise there cannot

be any growth at all. Hence, regimentation is against the concept of growth.

He says, "All must struggle to be individuals-strong, standing on your own

feet, thinking your own thouglits, realizing your own sell'"'. And i l l this

respect he made a very bold assertion, "You are quite as great as Jesus,

Buddha or anybody elseu2. The greatest religion is to be true to our own

nature. Hence, he upl~olds individuals right to retain his own individuality.

This is perhaps the highest conception of' individual liberty that has so far

been conceived. And as have seen already, he particularly emphasized the

need for emancipating man from the tyranny of the saviour-

His grand theory of individualism rests on two cardinal principles:

1. "Don't destroy - build, if you can help to build. But if you cannot,

don't interfere".

2. "Take man as he stands, and from thence give him n lift"'

Growth has to individual since it means unfoldment of the latent

capacity of an individual.

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol. W, p.65.

2. Complete works of Vivekananda, Vol. I, p. 483.

3. Romain Rolland : The Life of Vivekananda and the Universal Gospel, p.268.

Vivekananda stated that all that one can do is to help others just as we

do when he puts protection hedge around a plant. The plant g o w s by itself,

only the abstracles have to be removed enough air and space have to be given,

This respect for the individual freedom is superh. Perhaps, it has no parallel

in any other humanistic philosophy,

Finally, Swami V~vekananda lays down one of the most vital truths of

human life, viz; all the response of goad and evil is un us. But what is new

in Vivekananda is what 11c considers this doctrine of individual responsibility.

To quote Vivekananda, "Of Good and evil is on you. Take the whole

responsibility on your own sl~oulders, and know that you are the creator of

your own destiny"'. Most emphatically conti~lues Vivekananda, "All the

streng%h and succour you want is within your selves, the infinite future is

before you"'.

His Theory of social revolution which is the culmination of his theory

of humanism is based on two Vedantic truths.

1. The divinity of man

2. The essential spirituality of' life.

From the two basic truths we come up on two other principle of great

practical significance.

1. Every society, every state, every religion ought to be based on the

recognition of this all-powerful presence latent in man.

1. Complete works of Swami Vivekananda, Val. 11, p.225.

2. Ibid, p. 225,

2. That in order to be fruitful, all human interests ought lo be guided and

controlled according to the ultimate idea of the spirituality of life.

It is evident from the above principle that Vedanta made practical

according to interpretation of Vivekananda has a social revolutionary impact.

The Vedanta doctrine of spiritual oneness of the universe according to

Vivekaiianda is the true foundation of equality of all men, of all classes and

of all nations.

Revolution is only practical or no revolution when if fails to touch the

essence of man and does not refer to his spiritual destiny. Neither Rousseau

nor Marx does root or the essence of man as Swami Vivekananda does.

Humanism therefore, in its uf!&~~atc analysis, a gospel of revolution of a

deeper significance that of polltical revolut,ion, which envisaged t o change.

The entire fabric of human life and aimed to usher in a new era and therefore

its'keynote is radical activism.

The best summary of Swami Vivekananda's humanism was given by

Vivekananda himself. In a letter to Sister Nivedif;a, he said, "b4y Ideal indeed

can be put into a few words and that is to preach unto mankind their divinity

and how to make it manifest in every movement of lifen1. This is the essence

of his gospel of humanism, activism and revoIution.

Service to Mankind-is Narayana Seva

The great religious and philanthropic institution, the Ramakrishna

Mission of World - Wide repute, founded by Swami Vivekanimda, is catering

1. Complete works of Vivekananda, Yol. VII, ~$498 .

to the needs of suffering humanity by secular education, spiritual knowledge,

medical and varied relief works. But all the activities are conducted in the

light of his enlightened, universal teachings - the ideas and ideals that moved

him. Swami Vivekananda said that before he established the spiriluaily

oriented philonthropic body, his whole ambition in life is lo set in motiail a

machinery which will bring noble ideas to the door of everybody and then let

men and women settle their own fate. And what he was preached noble

ideas, harmony of religions, service of God in man and perception of spiritual

unity in diversity.

As is well known, the Mission is engaged in conducting multifarious

activities like medical, educational, culture, relief and rehabilitation works

and others. And all these in the spirit of Narayana Seva, that is in holistic

spirit and attitude. This new kind of worship of Naayana in Nara involves

'seeing God and serving him in all human beings, the living and moving

temples of God'. Particularly, this holistic service (or worship) is to be

addressed to members of that awefully neglected section of our society the

poor and the downtrodden without regard to t h e ~ r caste, creed, race, religion

or gender.

According to Vivekananda, this synthesis of humanitarian work is

essential for the constitution of man, for the gradual process of self

unfoldernent from physical nourishment to the succour of the spirit. This

universal gospel of service embodies the future hopes and aspiration of

mankind and represents in a remarkable degree, the harmonious blending of

knowledge, work and worship (love). It is Vedanta in its applicalion to

practical life and is a distinct and unique contribution world - culture. The

highest Vedantio truth that, are treasured UP in the scripture6 cloisters,

heritage and mountain caves have been brought down for their application

to practical life.

Vivekananda's approach to religion I S faithfully reflected in all the

activities of the body named after him. When translated into practical terms

(practical Vedanta) of social coinmunity service his unprecedentedly broad

a n d liberal vision animates all its activities as all paths lead tc t,he same real

goal. Vivekananda's zeal for spiritual humanism is reflected in the motto he

bestowed upon the organisation, almano Mokshartham Jagad-hitaya Cha

"(For one's liberation and the good of the world)

Vivekananda's Spiritual Humanism

Spiritual humanism is the fundamental teaching of Vivekananda. We

don't think Vivekananda himself used the term spiritual humanism, But,

he lived and taught its reality and left to us to understand what it means and

how it effects our way of thinking and living our lives. The term spiritual

humanism is paradoxical. It is imperative, to take into account the standard

definitions of the words humanism and spiritual. We find that humanism is

concerned with distinctly human interests or ideals, particularly as contrasted

with religious interests, while spirituality pertains to sacred or religious

things and not to temporal things.

Humanism is associated with the idea of the value of the individual.

Pragmatism, self-effort and improvement, democracy and human

interrelatedness and solidarity. Spirituality generally brings in ideas of

idealism, transcending the limitations of the human condition, adherence to

a more or less authoritarian tradition, surrender to a high power and the

ultimate unreality of what religious people usually refer to us 'the world'. In

short, humanism is this worldly and spiritually is other - woddly. From this

standpoint, humanism and spiritual are words belonging to different

domains.

In this context, V~vekananda's attachment to spiritual humallism is to

be understood. It is due to the close association with Sri Ramakrishna.

However, this synthesis did not occur in a vacuum, for the whole of histov

up to that point may be said to have been a dialectic on the relationship

between this worldly and other worldly aspects of humanity. Spiritual

humanism of Swami Vivekananda were rather different an account of their

different histories, though both focused on the same problems. It was

natural, then, that he would present the idea of spiritual humanism rather

differently in East and West. In a general way, he emphasized that

humanism is traditionally 'spiritual'. India and spirituality in the resolutely

humanistic West.

The West was still firmly convinced that the pl~ysical world of concrete,

material things is really real, but at the same time, it was longing to find

something much more expansive and all-inclusive which would bring lasting

peace and happiness. Swami Vivekananda categoricall'y told those who were

serious about living spiritual humanism, "Instead of materinlisiilg the spirit,

that is , dragging the spiritual to the material plane as these folks do, convert

the matter into spirit, catch a glimpse a t least, every day, of that world of

infinite beauty and peace and purity the spiritual, and t o live in it day

and nighta. This injunction was typical of Vivekananda's app~oach. H@ laid

Complete work of Vivekananda, Vol.VI., p. 261-62

the responsibility on the individual to workout the implicat~on of spiritual

humanism in their own 'laboratory' and to find, through their own efforts,

he himself had grasped at his first Samadhi.

Spiritual humanism, according to Vivekananda, the soul is God and

every human being has perfect divinity within him (or herself), and each

must show his (or 11er) divinity sooner or later. Here we find, in a more or

less formal way, that human soul is ultimately God, an idea established in

the Upanishad, transnlitted and amplified through Sri Sankaracharya's

teaching and now, in the hands of Swaini Vivekananda, becoming a call to

process of active and co17scious self-transformation in our everyday world.

According to Vivekananda, everything that is good and powerful in

human nature which is the out7ome - of (human) divinity. Although potential

in many, there is no difference between man and inan essentially, all being

alike divine. Therefore, the Vedanta lays down that each man should be

treated not as what he manifests, but as what he stands for, Each human

being stands for the divine and therefore, every teacher should be helpful, not

by condemning man, but by helping him to call forth the divini.ty that is

within him.

In the West, the theme of Swami Vivekananda was ever and always,

the power of ideas and principles to transmute life and to evolve higher and

higher states of being if we commit ourselves to them and become appropriate

vehicles for their manifestation, The unfamiliar meaning of practical was

brought out and amplified by Carl Jung, tile Swiss psychialrist and mystic.

He remarked, ressan considea psychical realities as mere abstractions

such as God for which there can be no physical evidence. But if YOU have the

~ s ~ c h l c a l experience, ii' the psychical fact forces itself upon you, then

understand it and it becomes a fact"' Jung considered the capacity to

concretize any conclusion of abstraction to make it almost audible or visual,

that one can almost touch the genius of the Eastern mind and one that the

West is yet to develop, though he was convinced that every human being,

whether Eastern or Western, has the capacity to do so.

The application of spiritual humanism, in view of Vivekananda is this,

if we are talking about the evolution of' humanity to spirit [or and away the

most practical is to open ourselves up completely to the truest, noblest and

highest ideas and facts and make ourselves ready to be transmuted by their

power into Christs and Buddhas, the high-water mark of spiritual humanity,

Vivekananda emphasized, the tremendous suppo1.1; Sri Rarnakrishna

had received from the tradition which he developed as a human being. The

Vedantic tradition had concretized concepts in the way we have just discussed

and was consciously geared to the evolution of the highest human types and

ideas. Historically it had provided innumerable institutions and incentives

to that end in India. The implication seems to be that it is high time for the

West to start working on creating. Such a culture, from which Ramakrishna

and Vivekananda will emerge in due course and that not occasionally, but in

large numbers. Quite a different meaning of 'practical', certainly one that

lays on all of us the urgent need to make Vedantic ideas 1Mng, breathing and

supremely effective in changing our culture root and branch.

1. Sonu Shamdasani, C.G. Jung: The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga, p.66.

According to Vivekananda, Vedanta teaches the God that is in

everyone, has become everyone and every thing. There is a chance of

Vedanta becoming the religion of this country because of democracy. But it

can become SO only if you ca11 and do clearly understand it, if you become real

men and women, nol people with vague ideas and superstitions in your

brains and if you want lo be truly spiritual'. Here Swami Vivekananda is

challenging us to introduce into our unique, humanistic institution of

deinocracy the ideal of lit~inan divinity, the f~.i1da1nental basis Lor the equality

of human beings. This brings to its conclusion the steady convergence of

humanism and spirituality which we are tracmg.

Here Swami Vivekananda is byding over to us the very core of the

Vedanta he received from Ramakrishna. When one touches this level of

consciousness one becomes, like Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda, 'All

things t o all people', accepting them as they are, serving them unselfishly,

loving them unselfishly, loving them unconditionally, never seeing them as

anything but pure, radiant spirit and always and ever knowing them as our

very own selves. This is the acme of spiritual humanism, the only way to

resolve the tremendous clashes of our contemporary world. And, in order to

attain to this, we need to special equipment. All that is needed is the

commitment to the ideal and determination to work it out to its lo&dcal

conclusion.

Vivekananda and Contemporary Humanism in India India is a unique country in the sense that she has almost all distinct

characteristics of the modern world. The clashes between tradition and

1. Ibid, Vol. WII, pp. 125-6

modernity, capitalism and socialism, hardcore nationalist and liberal internationalist which are common global trends today, are found in India,

Though Indians stick to religion, they have opted for secularism. They are

trying to blend democracy with socialism. While most of the Asian - African

and Latin - American countries, after gaining freedom from imperialist

clutches have failed to highlight the democratic split, India is still the largest

democratic cauntry in the world. While most of the counlries illcIuding the

super-powers went for either capitalislic or socialistic econo~nic measures,

India choose mixed economy, a trend which even Russaia and USA are

slowly accepting along with many other developing countries now-a-days .

The Indian experiment sliould be watched wil;h special interest, because she

is trying to solve these problems through democratic means.

Humanism - Religious and Secular

The concept of humanism can be divided in two main groups - religious

and secular. Religious humanism worked for the amelioration of the common

people. The Buddhist monks, Christian missionaries and other religious men

and women in various countries not only educated the common masses hut

also inspired them lo build up a new social order. And so did secular leaders

like Rousseau, Voltaire and M m . Apparently lhese two views differ because

they look at the world from different standpoints. Their philosophies are

different.

Religious humanism is chiefly God - orionled. (Buddhist case is

different, we agree. What we mean here is that most of ihe relidons ore God

- centred). The basic principle of religious humanism is that, all the people

r e created by God or are children af God, Therefore, they are brothers. As

we all are brothers, God 1s our Odher. We must be guided by his injunctions

which are written in the scriptures.

On the other hand, secular humanism stress free thinking. According

to the secular humanists, we should frame only those laws which will help

people in the practical or even political sense. We all have to live in tihis

world and so we should not come into conflicts, but try to find some common

codes applicable to all. Both of these concepts have helped humanity as we

have noted earlier. At the same time both secularism and religious

sentiments give rise to fanatism and fundamentalism how to solve this

problem.

Vivekananda and Synthesis

RUSS ia had Stalin and Kampuchea Pol Pot. So can not; say that atheist

are4always better then theocratic rulers. Some middle east countries have

today highly fundamentalist leaders. As both the sides have produced equally

good and bad men, we have to go deep, the good side of both can be

synthesise for a better India.

Swami Vivekananda, as a student of philosophy, studied Hegal who

spoke about thesis, antithesis and synthesis. An idea comes first, then

observing its loopholes another idea which is opposed to that is grown and

that is antithesis. Lastly, a synthesis is found out by blendingthe good sides

of both. Besides, Swamiji had a guru like Sri Ramakrishna who synthesised

various religious faiths,

Swami Vivekananda could realize, as an ardent student of history and

from his practical experience, the practicality of both religious and secular

humanism. Both of' theac enriched huinan civilization and 110th the vjews are

essentially hulnanc. TI^ modcrn India both are exerting their influenee in

their own way. Religious fundamentalism is there, but at Ule same tiine we

notice that religious people sland for peace and helping the poor and the

oppressed, irrespective of their religious beliefs. Secular or atheist

revolutionaries also fight for the common people. Many secular organisation

champioiled the cause ol the liberation of the masses. Apparently they differ

in their outlook, yet one feels one can initiate a dialogue hetween them.

In Swami Vivekananda we find a down-to-earth approach because he

could realize, by his direct contact with human suffering, I l~e need of a multi

-dimentional humanistic approach to solve our problems. As a humanist he

could not ignore anything evolved or thought of by the mankind. He said

that religion, science and fine arts were expressions of the same truth. It was

a unique Vedantic interpretation in the sense that in sciel~ce, arts, or religion

men always tried to express their immense possibilities. Through these

various means they were trying to transcend their limitation of the senses - finite men trying to be infinite.

Difference between the two views

We have earlier discussed that religious and secular bunlaniam differ

because of the difference in out look. What are the main points of difference.

At the first place a secularist says that men and society are always changing.

People's aspirations, norms of behaviour, relationship, views towards the

world and himself all are changing wlth the passage of t ime. Their field of

observation is expanding always as there i s constant $rowth in science,

sociology and the pattern of life. So we cannot stick to the norms evolved a

thousand or two thousand years ago which are written in the old scriptures.

New concepts are coming up. Values are changing the problems we face

today are quite different from those in ancient days. We need new ideas, new

values and rules to solve the problems of the modern world. On the contrary,

religious people argue that if the rules and values are always in a flux, if

everything is temporary, people will not be ahle to cope up with their

changing forms will malie Inen immoral and sick psychologically.

The next point is that inan is a social being and so there must be

some well defined basis or human relationsliip, Religious people say that we

are children of God and our relationship is God - centred. But a secularist

says that we all are soclal beings and the society is the basis of our

relationship. They want social aspiration and working norms and not God,

to be the basis of our relationship. Moreover, a secularist raises the objection

that since there are different concepts of God m differed religions, there

cannot be any unanimous view and similar practices among all the religions.

Different religions prescribe different codes of conduct. So God or religion

cannot be the basis of human relationship. Similarly, though religions differ

in their views, there are some eternal values common to all religions on the

basis of which problem can be solved.

These two chief argumentscreate a rift between the religions and

the secular humanism. Swami Vivekananda was aware of these two ways

of thinking and he tried to find a solution. When he spoke about

Yuga-Dharma, it meant that the scripture injunction are of' two classes.

One class speaks of the eternal truths. The other prescribe the temporary

sets of values applicable to a particular space - time. 9ri ~amakrishna said

that in the scriptures one finds both sugar and sand, but he should give UP

the sand and accept only the sugidrar. Though human nature has changed with

the passage of time, yet there are some common abiding characteristics

which are the common eternal truth of all religions.

Meeting Points

Ideas of Vivekananda can draw some conclusions about the meeting

ground. First, according to Vedanta man is all-powerful. The Upanishadie

precepts like Aham Br:lhmasmi, Tattvam AS1 - emphasis that man has

infinite possibilities. Scope should be given to him tu develop these

possibilities. A secular end rational humanist can easily accept I his Vedantic

view.

Man, though a sznall creature apparently can win over the external

nature. Thus the central teachings of history and science are just an echo of

the Vedantic truth, man is the creator of his destiny. Accordi~lg to most of

them man is the creation of God. If so, God's creation must be perfect

because He, the most perfect one, cannot create anything imperfect. The

imperfection that we see in human beings is therefore only apparent and

man is essentially perfect.

Second, human development was possible only becausc men raised

many fundamental questions and tried to solve them. A hulllanist shows

respect to this human. endeavour. Respect for mankind a114 a spirit of

questioning, these two are to he acccptcd. One should hc aware of human

contribution through the ages. K he does not accept these mu1 t idimensional

expression of the human spirit, he will become dogmatic on the contrary, one

should be aware of diverse expression of human aspirations. Human dignity

and freedom must bc accepted Vivekananda emphasized that if one is not

allowed to p e w to a li011, one will become a fox.

Third, man has two aspects like individual and social. He is basicdly

a social being and hc mtist help the society. At the same time he should be

allowed individual freeciom. Swam1 Vivekananda quoted that in the West

people are socially individualistic, but they are spiritually communistic. They

are spiritually individualists. But in social life they are chained by rigid social

laws and customs, they are socially communists. Vivekananda wanted ideal

society where spiritual illdividualism of the East is combined with the social

individualism of the West.

Fourth, human development should include all the three planes - physical, mental and spiritual. Food, clothing, shelter and other basic needs

are to be fulfilled. Education and culture help him to grow mentally.

Spiritual practices are needed to make him rise above inner tensions, fears,

temptations and failures.

Fifth, people should be made aware of the fact that reward and

punishment cannot be the motive of work. The aim is creative development.

They should be good people not because of the fear of police. Goodness must

be spontaneous and effkctive. One should do thrngs not because of reward

or to avoid punishment, but because right, unselfish, altruistic and moral

actions lead to more of strength, joy, success and manifestation of one's

innate possibilities.

Indian Culture The most important feature of Indian culture is the synthesis of

different ideas. In ancient India the Aryans and the non-Aryans accepted

each other views and thi ~s accommodated diverse ideas - After Ihe Buddhists

movement there was : I synthesis of the Buddhist and Nan-Buddhist

philosophies. When the bIusIims came, Nanak-Kabir-Dadu-Chaitanya along

with the sufi-Muslim saints worked again for this kind of synthesis. During

the British period, the then great leaders like Raja Rammohan, Vidyasagar

and others tried for the same, inorder to absorb the good qualities of the

West retaining the Indian heritage.

For Vivekauanda, this synthesis reached culmination. In his message

science shook hands with philosophy. Religion was wedded to reason and

become a science of religion. 121 him the infinite spiritual possibilities of man

combined with infinite humility, service and sacrifice. According to him, the

best elements of the West combined with the best elements of East. In him

Advaitic mysticism was combined with down-to-earth action of practical

Vedanta. Bhakti was combined with Jnana. The sacred was accepted along

with secular, both serving to manifest the essential divinity of human life.

Vedanta as PoliticaI Ideology - The Passion of Vivekananda

Most of the important philosophers in the West have dwelt on the

importance of the state as a regulative norm in the daily lives of the

individual citizens. It is significant, in contrast that the thinkers in the

Vedic tradition have paid scant attention to the state as an ontological reality.

The Smrti writers have indeed considered the art of Government as an

integral part of Dharma. The Ramayana and the Mahabharata represent

successful persuations in bringing home to the individual citizen that what

counts most in social life is the public morality that favours Ule self-futfibnt

of each. While religious practices retain their relevance their

particularities within the economy of the famliy it has always been Dhama,

that the Vedic tradition has regarded as essential in the relationship which

We individual entertains with others in civilized society.

Poverty and Spirituality

When one reads the life story of Sri Rarnakrishna one does not colne

across any indication of his being aware of the extreme poverty into which the

rule of the British had sunk India, in particular of Bengal where he lived.

One may be tempted to attribute this indifference to his lack of formal

university or college education and to the consequent lack of understanding

of the political and economic effects of alien rule on the daily lives of the

Indians. According to Vivekananda, one echo of anger or resentment with

the nefarious and ruthless economic harshness imposed upon a weakened

population by alien rule. Indeed, he was the first to transform the ideal and

the practice of Sannyasa by integrating it with the idea and practice of

Karma Yoga.

Perhaps for the first time in the history of India, Vivekananda sends

out the Sadhus into the streets to carry out relief work when plague or

cholera, or floods struck at the defenceless poor. Yet he does not call for

revolt against the aggressor. His call does not extent the message of those

who staged the frst war of independence. There is nothing of the heroism of

the Jhansi Rani, or of Bhahadur Shah Zdar's lament over the failure of

his revolt, in Swami Vivekanands's stirring call upon the people to raise and

affirm themselves.

Vivekananda emphasized that India. was one, ~ ~ o l f i c d ill (,he

integrative vision of the Vedic Seers. He sees m the exprcsslon, Ekam - Sad- Vipra-Bahudha-Vendanti ('Reality is one, the learned speak of it as

manifold'), the fundamental justification of Vedic tolerance, divinity in the

Hindu tradition is not a tribal concept. It includes all articulations of' man's

relations to the ultimate, the forms vary, but the essence which thcy ~nanikst

is the same. Just as the social structure of castes recognises hierarchy and

difference in daily life, but each being is tlie same in ~ t s metaphysical reality,

so do all religions constitute the various forms of the same I-eality,

Many Indians - especially during the period or the struggle for

independence from British rule, felt that their country had become weak and

got conquered on account of the dommance of the Vedanta in Indian culture

and especially on account of its concept of' Maya. Vivekarlancla provides a

refreshing view of Maya. He unambiguously defines it as a statement of tho

fact of this universe, of how it is going on. He says animals are living upon

plants, mean upon animals and worst of all, upon one another, the st~ong

upon the weak. This is going on every where and this is Maya. We hear

every day many explanations and are told that in the long run all will be

good. Why cannot good be done through good, instead of through these

diabolical methods. The descendants of the human beings of today will be

all this suffering now there is no solution. This is ~ a ~ a ' .

One can find in such statements the precedents of Mahatma Gendhi's

insistence on the necessity of the means to be as pure and good as the end.

But the interpretation which Vivekananda &ves to the term 'Maya' is drawn

Wulr('9

1. The complete A of Vivekananda, Vul. 11, p. 94.

from his perception of the prosperity of Chr~stian nations being the out come

their preying on non-Christian nations. Without saying at directly he argues

that 'Maya' is a form of exploitation, of the oppression of the weak by the

strong, of the applicatioll of 'matsya - nyaya' on a global scale. He argues

that if all nations become Christian then there will no more be any non-

Christian nation to prey upon and accordingly the argument of prosperity

being inseparable from being Christian destroys itself. He harks back to the

man in the forest, who does not know how to be jealous, to be in law courts,

to pay taxes, to be blamed by society, t o be ruled over day and night by the

most tremendous tyranny that human diabolism ever invented, which pries

into the secretes of every human heart1.

Indians Weakness

Swami Vivekananda is perhaps the only social reformer in the

twentieth century to have used oratory as the oi-ily effective means to rouse

the Indian elites from their slumber. He constantly emphasises, lies in the

collective forgetting of the Leaching of the Vedas and of spirit of the Vedanta.

He calls to the people to rise, not in revolt against the foreign oppressed, but

in revolt against their awn self-alienation, to reposess, not the wealth of the

nation, but the wealth of the spirit lost. He says, "Stand and die in your own

if there is any sin in the world, it is weakness, avoid all weakness,

for weakness, is sin, weakness is death"'.

1. kid , Vol. 11, p. 96.

2. Ibid., Vol. III., p. 241-242+

Vivekananda's View of Progress

Vivekananda categorically denied the Western idealog- of linear

evolution and Progress by using the vantage point of the doctrine of Maya,

There is intrinsic evolution in the sphere of Maya. That is not 8 reality on

which one must build one's vision of man's destiny. What counts ultimately

is the manifestation of self within. At the time of Vivekananda flourishing

the positive science were triumphant. The first world war had not yet loomed

above the horizon, the belligerent preparations of delcasse and Kaiser Willzeln

being not apparent even to the well - informed public. The West was

intoxicated with the triuphalism of science and of its successes, in biology,

physics, chemistry and in medicine. The idea of progress which the

philosophers of the eighteenth century had elaborated as the triumph of

reason was well entrenched and even adopted by the new Westernized elites

of India. Against such a background Vivekananda's denunciation of the

Western idea of evolution and of progress must have been act of significant

courage.

Vivekananda indeed, calls for a revolt, a revolt of the spirit. The

Hindu is a spirit which the sword cannot cut, the fire cannot burn, the water

cannot melt, the air cannot dry words and phrases borrowed from the 'Gita'.

But he invests them with the immediacy of his own immediate experience and

the spontaneity of his conviction.

The Idea1 Man

In Vivekanands's spiritual and moral perspective iL is only in the Vedic

scriptures that one can come across the exact definition of the perfect man.

The Hindu is a child of immortal bliss, he is naturally holy and perfect, it is

a sin to call a man a sinner when he is actually a divinity on earti:. Swami

Vivekananda resolutely, without any hesitation and with infinite self-

confidence crisscrosses the sub-continent with the rallying call for the re-

discovery of the great religion bequeathcd by the ancient rsis. The Vedanta

suddenly becomes a v ide ideology, a Purusakara, that invites Ihe

imagination to recapture the unique and soul-elevating message that the

ancient seers gave on the basis of their own experience. Trldians should rely

that experience, that they do not realize the urgency of this task is because

they have allowed thenlselves to forget what should have never been left in

the dark alleys of history.

Vivekananda does not believe that humanity is evolving towards the

attainment of an apocalyptic fulfilment in a cosmic omega point. Futurity

has no relevance to the virile self-fulfilment which he advocates. The

Upanishadic fulfilment cuts through the guardian knot of the Maya-

moment in a vertical, complete appropriation of self-knowledge and selfless

action in a now-eternity. He further appeals for an inner transformation, for

a return to the anthropological authenticity as defined by the ancient texts.

Let the Indian return to his roots, let him be himself, let him realize himself,

and all the national and social prohlenls would be solved. It is spiritual

decadence that had brought India into such a pitiable state.

The timeless realization of truth rejuvenules, iL is not conditioned by

evolution, or by progress, or by history, or by becoming. 'Tmth does not pay

homage to any society, ancient or modern society has to pay homage to

truth'.

The Downfall of India

Vivekananda has a strange, arresting explanation for the down fail of

India. He attributes it to the separation between Buddhism and Hinduism.

The Buddhist cannot stand without brain and philosophy of the Brahmins,

nor the Brahmins without the heart of the Buddhist. That is why, he

further adds, "The country is populated with three hundred millions of

beggars, and that is why India has been the slave of conquerors for a

thousand years"'.

We find that Vivekananda's Karmayoga of entire programme which

was later to implement by the Mahatma Gandhi during the forty years of his

campaign for independence. The Gandhian ethos evlnces some insistence of

the purity of means to match the purity of ends. Vivekananda refers to a

Yogi, a muni, who did not speak and did not teach anyone. But during a

conversation the yogi once told him the secret of work. ' Let the end the

means be joined into one'2. That is, when one works, one must not think of

anything beyond.

Historically, Gandhiji is not originator of the insistence on the

spiritual essence of man. He made that aspect of the Upanishadic

teaching the mainstay of his non-violent struggle. Beside it is the belief in the

omnipresence of the Atman in all beings that Gandhi with heroic persistence

and undiminished perseverance, avoided conflid with the Muslims and with

the Brjtish rulers. Gandhi's nationalism was already spelled out by

Vivekananda several decaddearlier.

1, Ibid, Vol.1, p.23.

2, Ibid., Vol.1, P. 71.