SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT SHRI V.V.GIRI - 2

SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT SHRI V.V.GIRI ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE VIVEKANANDA ROCK MEMORIAL AT KANYAKUMARI ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1970 - 2

   As one who has spent a major part of his life in concern for the common man, very early in life, I was deeply struck with Swami Vivekananda's realization that it was absurd to present spirituality before hungry millions. Swamiji pointed out that what people needed first were food and employment and only then could any spiritual feeling be aroused among the masses. He said: "For the next 50 years, let all other vain gods disappear from our midst. This is only God that is awake, our own race. Everywhere his hands, everywhere his feet, everywhere his ears, he covers everything. All other Gods are sleeping. What vain Gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the God that we worship or Virat, of all those around us. These are our Gods, men and animals, and the first Gods we have to worship are our countrymen".
     His was the religion of the living for he concerned himself most with the problems that in reality afflicted the people – hunger, ignorance, poverty and destitution. He held every man as a traitor who did not pay the least heed to the sufferings of humanity. He summarized his concept of brotherhood of man as follows: "What good is it if we acknowledge in our prayers that God is the father of us all, and in our daily lives do not treat every man as our brother?"
     Swamiji stressed the cultivation of a power of introspection. He felt that unless man constantly developed an awareness and recollection of the ideal towards which he was striving, all work became mere bondage. He therefore, emphasized that one should work irrespective of the rewards, and he regarded work as the highest form of worship.
     I was struck more than anything else by the Swamiji's emphasis that one can remain in the world as a householder and yet attain highest goal. In fact, Swami Vivekananda put across the question: "Which is the greater man – he who gives up the world and becomes a Sanyasi, or he who lives in the world and performs his duties as a householder?" He always said that to be an ideal householder was much more difficult than to be an ideal Sanyasi. The True life of work was, indeed as hard as, if not harder than, the equally true life of renunciation.
     He emphasized that non-attachment is complete self-abnegation. The main effect of work done for others is thorough purification of ourselves. Doing good to others and constant realization that we are born in this world to serve our fellowmen will help us to become better individuals and overcome one's preoccupation with one's own self.
     Swami Vivekananda always referred to Buddha - the one who carried the teachings of "Karma Yaga" into perfect practice. Swamiji said that Buddha is the only Prophet who said, "I do not care to know your various theories about God. What is the use of discussing all the subtle doctrines about the soul? Do good and be good. And this will take you to freedom and to whatever truth there is'.
     Swami Vivekananda's concept of universality of religion was unique. He said that by the study of different religions, we find that in essence they are one. When he was a boy he was sceptic and therefore, it seemed for a time that he must give up hope of religion. But, fortunately for him, he said that he studied Christianity, Islam, Buddhism and other religions and to his surprise, realized that the same foundation principles taught by his religion were also taught by other religions.
     His religion is, to put in one word "humanism' embracing all religions of the world. He preached this great principle emphasizing the selflessness of the individual. He insisted on every individual acquiring character, integrity and truth, necessary for pursuing selfless service. He rightly said that the primary task was to develop individual character and if individual character was developed the character of the nation as a whole would automatically be built up. This is a lesson that we must remember every day of our lives. All our talk of establishing a society free from exploitation and want will be a mirage if we in our individual lives, whatever our position be and whatever our status be, do not adhere to certain fundamental values and norms that should guide our nation and thought.

--The main theme of my life is to take the message of Sanatana Dharma to every home and pave the way for launching, in a big way, the man-making programme preached and envisaged by great seers like Swami Vivekananda. - Mananeeya Eknathji

विवेकानन्द केन्द्र कन्याकुमारी (Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari) Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org Read Article, Magazine, Book @ http://eshop.vivekanandakendra.org/e-granthalaya Cell : +91-941-801-5995, Landline : +91-177-283-5995

. . . Are you Strong? Do you feel Strength? — for I know it is Truth alone that gives Strength. Strength is the medicine for the world's disease . . . This is the great fact: "Strength is LIFE; Weakness is Death."

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हमें कर्म की प्रतिष्ठा बढ़ानी होंगी। कर्म देवो भव: यह आज हमारा जीवन-सूत्र बनना चाहिए। - भगिनी निवेदिता {पथ और पाथेय : पृ. क्र.१९ }
Sister Nivedita 150th Birth Anniversary : http://www.sisternivedita.org
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SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT SHRI V.V.GIRI - 1

SPEECH OF THE PRESIDENT SHRI V.V.GIRI ON THE OCCASION OF THE INAUGURATION OF THE VIVEKANANDA ROCK MEMORIAL AT KANYAKUMARI ON SEPTEMBER 2, 1970 - 1

I am extremely grateful to the members of the Vivekananda Rock Memorial Committee for affording me this unique opportunity to be here today to inaugurate this Memorial in honour of Swami Vivekananda I deem it proud privilege to participate in this function as I claim in all humility that I have made my humble contribution by launching mass collection drives at Mysore, Delhi, Lucknow – to mention some. The construction of the Memorial at this historic spot is significant, for it was here that Swami Vivekananda derived inspiration and found answer to the problems tormenting his mind. It was after this, he undertook the historic journey to the United States of America to participate in the Parliament of Religions at Chicago.

While the function that you have organised today and the Memorial that you have erected here no doubt symbolise our keen and fervent desire to pay our tribute to one of the greatest sons of India, what is more important is that we should follow in our own lives, even if it is in a limited measure, what he had taught us. Otherwise, I am afraid all that we do will be a mere mockery and these monuments will remain nothing more than stone structures. We claim that ours is the land that has produced great savants and seers whose message transcended all barriers. We proudly feel that ours is the land that has produced Buddha, Shankara, Vivekananda and Gandhi. We sing their minstrels to the skies. We interpret and analyse their message of wisdom and knowledge, but if we fail to follow the true implications of this knowledge, if we do not live up to their teachings, we will but be poor inheritors of that great legacy. It is therefore of urgent necessity and a primary duty that we should search our hearts to see how truly we follow the tenets of these great seers and saints. What is required is a sincere determination that will translate the ideals that they have placed before us into practice. More lip-sympathy to noble values will not take us far. They have to be matched by action – positive and concrete action. Unless and until we learn to practice what we preach and preach what we practice, we cannot claim to be true followers of the great legacy about which we often talk. If great personages succeeded in whatever they attempted it was solely because there was no dichotomy or divorce between what they said and did. A nation is known to be great not only by the contribution of a handful of leaders, but also the masses of people and if our country is to occupy its rightful place and claim itself to be civilised, every individual has to perform his duty.

Swami Vivekananda's contribution was not only limited to a religious revival or a cultural renaissance in our country, but more in bringing about a salutary change in the attitude and approach of the people. In this, he was next only to Shankara and combined in himself the many dimensions of a philosopher, saint, patriot, thinker and reformer.

His approach to problems was not based on any dogma or superstation but firmly rested on rational outlook. No wonder his approach finds a greater acceptance than many others not only in India but even among those who do not practice Hinduism. His remarkable and noteworthy work of social emancipation of the downtrodden and the awakening of national consciousness among the missions inhabiting this vast subcontinent will ever stand out strikingly as the supreme testimony of a versatile master-mind at work. He was not a mere idle philosopher who speculated on the "beyond" or a saint who stressed on the negation of work and contemplation of the spirit but one who was deeply involved with the hopes and aspirations of the people. He ceaselessly endeavored to give a practical orientation to religion and made the ordinary man understand the meaning and relevance of religion. The message of Swami Vivekananda can be summed up in one single sentence: "Be a man". As he said, his religion was man – making. According to Vivekananda, "Atman" was not beyond definition or understanding but was a tangible manifestation of courage and valour and he said "Brahman" was fearlessness.

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The main theme of my life is to take the message of Sanatana Dharma to every home and pave the way for launching, in a big way, the man-making programme preached and envisaged by great seers like Swami Vivekananda. - Mananeeya Eknathji

विवेकानन्द केन्द्र कन्याकुमारी (Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari) Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org Read Article, Magazine, Book @ http://eshop.vivekanandakendra.org/e-granthalaya Cell : +91-941-801-5995, Landline : +91-177-283-5995

. . . Are you Strong? Do you feel Strength? — for I know it is Truth alone that gives Strength. Strength is the medicine for the world's disease . . . This is the great fact: "Strength is LIFE; Weakness is Death."

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Welcome address by President, Shri D.N. Sinha

INAUGURAL FUNCTION OF VIVEKANANDA ROCK MEMORIAL ON 2ND September, 1970

Welcome address by President, Shri D.N. Sinha:-

I shall however tell you in a very small compass, the story as to how Swamiji came to be associated with the rock, to enable you all the better to appreciate the gravity of the occasion and the grandness of the idea that lies behind this attempt to dedicate a memorial on the rock to Swamiji, to commemorate an unique spiritual experience of his, which has now become a part of history.

After the Maha Samadhi of Bhagawan Sri Sri Ramakrishna Paramahansa, and to carry out his last wishes, a group of his disciples, under the leadership of Swamiji took holy orders and the Swamiji started touring the length and breadth of India as a Parivrajaka.

It was during the Parivrajaka days of Swamiji, when he was touring southern India on foot, that he journeyed to Kanyakumari (Cape Comorin) the southernmost extremity of India. He had commenced his journey from the show-clad Himalayas and he had arrived at the southernmost tip of Bharatvarsha (India) after having visited the holy temple of Rameshwaram. The Swamiji had journeyed the whole length and breadth of India and when he visited the shrine of mother at Kanyakumari he fell prostrate in ecstasy before heritage. Worship finished, he crossed to the Rock which is separate from the mainland. About him the ocean tossed and stormed, but in his mind there was even a greater tempest. And here, sitting on the last stone of India, he passed into a deep meditation or Samadhi, upon the present and future of his country. He sought for the root of her downfall and with the vision of a seer he understood why India had been thrown from the pinnacle of glory to the depths of degradation.

It was a vision indeed! Before him was arranged all the centuries, all the potentialities of the Hindu religion and culture. He saw the whole of India organically and synthetically as a master builder sees the whole architectural design. Most vividly did he realise in the silence of his heart – "India shall rise only through a renewal and restoration of what highest spiritual consciousness which has made of India, at all times, the cradle of the nations and the cradle of the faith." He saw her weakness as well, the central evil of which was that the nation had lost its individuality. The only hope was, to his mind, a restatement of the culture of the ancient Rishis. But this was not all. His soul was flooded with infinite compassion and anguish over India's miserable poverty. He saw India as consisting of two hundred million beggars. And of what use was religion to the masses, oppressed and downtrodden by foreign conquerors, the autocracy of priesthood and the despotism of caste? He seemed to have entered into the warp and woof, the very being, of the teeming millions of India and he shared their agony and suffering. Months later he wrote in a letter –"In view of all this, specially of the poverty and ignorance, I got no sleep. At Cape Comorin sitting in Mother Kumari's Temple, sitting on the last bit of Indian Rock, I hit upon a plan: we are so many Sanyasins wandering about, and teaching the people metaphysics – it is all madness. Did not our Gurudeva use to say, - 'An empty stomach is not good for religion? That those poor people are lending the life of brutes is simply due to ignorance. We have for all ages been sucking their blood and trampling them under foot."

It is then that Swamiji clearly saw that the remedy lay along the twin paths of renunciation and service. If the national life could be guided through these channels, India would again revert to her pristine greatness.

From such thoughts came the seeds of the Ramakrishna Mission and the wonderful centers founded in India and abroad for the propagation of Vedanta and the Hindu religion. In a sense, this temple is a reminder of that epoch – making and luminous vision. Swamiji and his fiery inspiration marked the commencement of a movement of liberation, which has culminated in the Independence, of India. But also let it not be forgotten that inspite of twenty years of independence, we have failed to solve the problem of ignorance and poverty. We have tried to resuscitate our stupendous inheritance in matters of the spirit, as contained in the Vedas, the Vedantas and the Indian philosophies. But we have failed to fully solve a single problem, whether economic, political or religious. Our masses continue to be miserably poor, insufficiently educated and there has been no emancipation in their spiritual life. Thus the supreme vision of the Swami is already fading, and if it goes on like this it will soon be forgotten. It was therefore necessary to create a reminder of that stupendous vision, so that men, in the direst hour of their travail, might be reminded of it and gather hope once more. This temple shall be a reminder that a man of God had a holy vision here, but that vision has not been redeemed yet and it behaves upon such one of us to do our uttermost to redeem it.
  
It is this spirit of limitless love for the poor, the down trodden the inarticulate millions in India that swept us ultimately into independence. It was he whose heart bled first for the masses and it was he who wept to see their miserable condition. He said, "Do you feel? Do you feel that millions and millions of the descendant of Gods and the sages have become next – door neighbours to brutes? Do you feel that millions are starving to-day and millions have been starving for ages? Does it make you sleepless? Has it gone into your blood, coursing through your veins, becoming consonant with your heart-beats? Has it made you almost mad? Are you seized with that one ilea of the misery and ruin, and have forgotten all about your name, your fame, your wives, your children, your property and even your bodies? Have you done that? That is the very first step to become a patriot …. So long as the millions strive in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor, who having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them. I call these men who strut about in their finery having got all their money, by guiding the poor wretches, so long as they do not do anything for those two hundred millions who are now no better than hungry savages. We are poor my brothers, we are nobodies but such have been always the instruments of the Most High". And to-day we the poor and nobodies have gone round with our alms-bowl and built the monument to commemorate the splendid spiritual vision of Swamiji. Let us all join to-day in praying to God that the memorial that you Mr. President will inaugurates to-day will be our pledge that we shall not forget the wishes of Swamiji, and that we shall work unceasingly for its fruitions.

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The main theme of my life is to take the message of Sanatana Dharma to every home and pave the way for launching, in a big way, the man-making programme preached and envisaged by great seers like Swami Vivekananda. - Mananeeya Eknathji

विवेकानन्द केन्द्र कन्याकुमारी (Vivekananda Kendra Kanyakumari) Vivekananda Rock Memorial & Vivekananda Kendra : http://www.vivekanandakendra.org Read Article, Magazine, Book @ http://eshop.vivekanandakendra.org/e-granthalaya Cell : +91-941-801-5995, Landline : +91-177-283-5995

. . . Are you Strong? Do you feel Strength? — for I know it is Truth alone that gives Strength. Strength is the medicine for the world's disease . . . This is the great fact: "Strength is LIFE; Weakness is Death."

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