WORLD THINKERS

ON

SWAMIJI

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The going forth of Vivekananda as the heroic soul destined to take the world between

his two hands and change it was the first visible sign that India was awake…

 He was a power if ever there was one, a very lion among men.

We perceive his influence still working gigantically in something grand,

intuitive, upheaving… - Sri Aurobindo.
Vivekananda said that there was the power of God in every man, that God

wanted to have our service through the poor. This is what I call real gospel.

This gospel showed the path of infinite freedom from man's tiny egocentric self

beyond the limits of all selfishness. This was no sermon relating to a particular ritual,

nor was it a narrow injunction to be imposed upon one's external life. Vivekananda's

gospel marked the awakening of man in his fullness…If you want to know India ,

study Vivekananda.
–Rabindranath Tagore
I have gone through his works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them,

the love that I had for my country became a thousand-fold.

–Mahatma Gandhi
Where can you find a man like him?

Study what he wrote, and learn from his teachings, for if you do, you will gain
immense strength.

Take advantage of the fountain of wisdom, of Spirit, and of fire that flowed through
Vivekananda!

- Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige, Vivekananda was yet modern

in his approach to life’s problems, and was a kind of bridge between the past of India

and her present … he came as a tonic to the depressed and demoralized Hindu mind

and gave it self-reliance and some roots in the past.”

 - Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

I cannot write about Vivekananda without going into raptures.

Reckless in his sacrifice, unceasing in his activity, boundless in his love,

profound and versatile in his wisdom, exuberant in his emotions... I can go on for

hours and yet fail to do the slightest justice to that great man. He was so great, so

profound, so complex. He was a Yogi of the highest spiritual level, in direct

communion with the Truth, who consecrated his whole life to the moral and spiritual

uplift of humanity.

- Nethaji Subhash Chandra Bose

“Swamiji harmonized the East and the West, religion and science, past and present.

And that is why he is great. Our countrymen have gained unprecedented

self-respect, self-reliance and self-assertion from his teachings.”

- Nethaji Subhash Chandra Bose

"He was so great, so profound, so complex. A Yogi of the highest spiritual level in

direct communion with the truth who had for the time being consecrated his

whole life to the moral and spiritual uplift of his nation and of humanity, that is

how I would describe him. If he had been alive, I would have been at his feet.

- Nethaji Subhash Chandra Bose

It is an undisputed fact that it was Swami Vivekananda who first held aloft the banner

of Hinduism as a challenge against the material science of the West.

It was Swami Vivekananda who first took on his shoulders this stupendous

task of establishing the glory of Hinduism in different countries across the borders.

And he, with his erudition, oratorical power, enthusiasm, and inner force, laid that

work upon a solid foundation. Twelve centuries ago Shankara was the only great

personality who not only spoke of the purity of our religion... but also brought all

this into action. Swami Vivekananda is a person of that stature.

–Bal Gangadhar Tilak

“Swami Vivekananda saved Hinduism and saved India. But for him, we would

have lost our religion and would not have gained our freedom. We therefore

owe everything to Swami Vivekananda.”

- Sri Chakravarthi Rajagopalachari

" I had the special privilege of being introduced to the writings, sayings, and life

of Swami Vivekananda and the Ramakrishna Mission. That was when I was

very small. In fact both my parents and specially my mother had very close

connections with the Mission. And I can truly say that the words of Swami Vivekananda

inspired the whole of my family, in our political work as well as in our daily lives."

- Srimathi Indira Gandhi

What new India has to say, has come out from the mouth of Vivekananda.

The direction, which New India was to take, was hinted clearly by Vivekananda.

Vivekananda is the bridge on which Old and New India embrace each other.

Vivekananda is that ocean in which go and merge all—religion and politics,

nationalism and inter-nationalism, Upanishads and science. . .

- - Ramdhari Singh Dinkar

The cyclone, which arose from the centre of English language and

European Intellectualism, and proceeded to swallow Hinduism, got subsided after

hitting the Himalayan chest of Swami Vivekananda. It is a solemn duty of Hindu race

that as long as it survives, it must keep the memory of Vivekananda with

the same regard, as with which it remembers Vyasa and Valmiki.’

The paragon of all Unity systems is the Vedanta philosophy of India ,

and the paragon of Vedantist missionaries was the late Swami Vivekananda

who visited our land some years ago. I have just been reading some of

Vivekananda's address in England , which I had not seen. The man is simply

a wonder for oratorical power...the Swami is an honor to humanity.

–William James, Harvard professor, philosopher and author

Swami Vivekananda will be remembered as one of the most significant figures

in the whole history of Indian religion, comparable in importance to such great

teachers as Shankara and Ramanuja. Since the days of the Indian missionaries

who traveled in Southeast Asia and China preaching Buddhism and Hinduism

more than a thousand years earlier, he was the first Indian religious teacher to

make such an impression outside India.

– Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Indologist.

It is very difficult to evaluate his [Swami Vivekananda's] importance in the scale

of world history. It is certainly far greater than any Western historian or most Indian

historians would have suggested at the time of his death. The passing of the years

and the many stupendous and unexpected events which have occurred since then

suggest that in centuries to come he will be remembered as one of the main moulders

of the modern world, especially as far as Asia is concerned, and as one of the most

significant figures in the whole history of Indian religion.

– Arthur Llewellyn Basham, Indologist.

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