Samartha Bharat Parva :Yuva Bharati January 2026

Samartha Bharat Parva is celebrated from 25^th December to 12^th January by Vivekananda Kendra every year. Samarth Bharat Parva is more to focus on the youth of India so that they are inspired about the greatness of India, the relevance of India in the contemporary context and also they take a resolve to work for India. Various activities are organised for the youth during Samarth Bharat Parva like, exhibitions telling about the greatness of India, youth camps, conducting workshops for youth, and also involving youth to reach out to different people to take the message of Swami Vivekananda and also of Bharat.

 

Samarth Bharat Parva is celebrated to cherish the meditation of Swami Vivekananda on the mid-Rock at Kanyakumari on 25th, 26th and 27th of December 1892. It was not an ordinary meditation, but it was the meditation in which Swami Vivekananda meditated to know what role he has to play to raise his nation, to raise his people because before that meditation, he had gone round the country and he had seen the poverty and ignorance that was afflicting his people. So his meditation was more to know ‘what should I do for my nation’, and Swami Vivekananda had also seen that India in spite of so many invasions and vicissitudes of life, kept intact great principles of existence, like we are all interconnected, interrelated and interdependent, each soul is potentially divine, the aim of life is to manifest that divinity within, diversity is the plan of nature. So to cherish, respect, accept the diversity by seeing the One which is beyond many and thus practising diversified unity in life. After returning from the affluent and technologically advanced West, Swami Vivekananda emphatically said, - ‘If there is any land on this earth that can lay claim to be the blessed Punya Bhumi, to be the land to which all souls on this earth must come to account for Karma, the land to which every soul that is wending its way Godward must come to attain its last home, the land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness, above all, the land of introspection and of spirituality — it is India. Hence have started the founders of religions from the most ancient times, deluging the earth again and again with the pure and perennial waters of spiritual truth. Hence have proceeded the tidal waves of philosophy that have covered the earth, East or West, North or South, and hence again must start the wave which is going to spiritualise the material civilisation of the world. Here is the life-giving water with which must be quenched the burning fire of materialism which is burning the core of the hearts of millions in other lands. Believe me, my friends, this is going to be.’

 

Swami Vivekananda felt that for the further evolution of human being for which all the civilisations of the world have contributed something or other, Hindu civilisation also has great many things to contribute, but for that India will have to first raise herself. In the past India contributed but she has a role even in contemporary as well as future world. We have to get back our confidence. We have to organise all that is good in us, in the service of the humanity. But to give that message, Swami Vivekananda needed a platform, a place, an occasion so that his voice can reach many. That is how sitting on the last bit of Indian Rock, Swamy Vivekananda took the momentous decision of his life that he would go and participate in the Parliament of Religions. He shall represent Hindu Dharma there, Hindu being a common name for all the spiritual traditions of India. Thus, his meditation of 25th 26th, 27th was a meditation in which decision was taken to raise India, to enable India to contribute to the whole humanity. 

 

Remembering that message of Swami Vivekananda and striving for applying it to our own life, Samarth Bharat Parva is celebrated by Vivekananda Kendra every year from 25th December onward till 12th January, which is the birth anniversary of Swami Vivekananda.

 

 Swami Vivekananda had meditated with this question that what is it that I should do to raise my nation.  In Samartha Bharat Parva, the youth, mainly and all the people in general are to be encouraged to contemplate and to find out in what way they can contribute for national resurgence. So Samarth Bharat Parva is a very important festival of Vivekananda Kendra, which culminates in Swami Vivekananda Jayanti on 12th January. During this Parva Bharatmata Poojan, Swadesh Mantra  and full Vande Mataramis organised. 

 

Swami Vivekananda not only awakened the nation and the national consciousness, but he united the nation by telling that it has destiny to fulfil, mission to accomplish, a message to deliver for the good of the humanity. Thus, the nation had a purpose, a larger purpose, not just for one’s own existence, but in the interest of the humanity. 

 

Swami Vivekananda gave a clarion call, ‘Arise, O India! Let all your energies be united for the great cause of the regeneration of India.’ Swami Vivekananda also united our nation by pointing out the commonalities. These commonalities are the basis on which the great diversities of our nation have flourished.

 

To raise the nation, Swami Vivekananda felt the youth of India have a great role to play. We know by nature the youth is not calculative, is not stuck up only in the past, but also has dreams for future. But if the noble dreams are not given to the youth, then dreams of youth get limited to their own career and comforts. Swami Vivekananda expected the youth to have muscles of iron and nerves of steel in which dwells the mind that is made of that material with which thunderbolt is made. But that is not all. He also reminded us that, ‘India will be raised not with the power of the flesh but with the power of the spirit.’ He wanted our youth to have unshakeable conviction and faith in themselves and in our nation. He said, ‘The idea of true Shraddha must be brought back once more to us, the faith in our own selves must be reawakened, and, then only, all the problems which face our country will gradually be solved by ourselves.’

 

We hear voices that say Gen Z should protest, get angry to destroy the old. But Swamiji said, ‘I fully agree with the educated classes in India that a thorough overhauling of society is necessary. But how to do it? The destructive plans of reformers have failed. My plan is this. We have not done badly in the past, certainly not. Our society is not bad but good, only I want it to be better still. Not from error to truth, nor from bad to good, but from truth to higher truth, from good to better, best. I tell my countrymen that so far they have done well — now is the time to do better.’ 

 

Sri Rabindranath Tagore used to tell youth to read the works of Swami Vivekananda to know about India, as he felt, in Vivekananda "there is everything positive and nothing negative."

 

Swami Vivekananda by giving a greater, positive and constructive vision to the youth of India, also saw to it that if youth want, they can make their life meaningful, purposeful for all. How India would be raised? He envisaged, “A hundred thousand men and women, fired with the zeal of holiness, fortified with eternal faith in the Lord, and nerved to lion’s courage by their sympathy for the poor and the fallen and the downtrodden, will go over the length and breadth of the land, preaching the gospel of salvation, the gospel of help, the gospel of social raising-up — the gospel of equality.” He wanted us to take whole responsibility on our shoulders: “Stand up! Be bold! Be strong! Take the whole responsibility on your own shoulders.”

Swami Vivekananda was fearless like a lion. In the West he moved with them with all confidence and compassion for all. He was very fond of quoting the message of fearlessness of Upanishads. Though under British rule, he exhorted the youth, ‘Fear is the greatest sin. If you think yourselves weak, weak you will be; if you think yourselves strong, strong you will be.’

 

Taking inspiration from Swami Vivekananda, many persons, dedicated their life to get freedom for India or to serve the neglected parts of our society or went in the interior regions for serving our people. Swami Vivekananda felt that the Vedantic truth of Oneness has to be the contribution of India to the whole world, but at same time it is also a basis on which we all can work for the good of our nation, for raising our masses which we have neglected for too long due to uncertain social conditions in the colonial and in the period of invasions. 

 

It was the intense love of Swami Vivekananda for India that touched the hearts of the people then, as well now. It is that intense love that we have to feel in our heart when we set out to work for our people and our nation.

 

Sister Christine once told— "Our love for India came to birth, I think, when we first heard him (Swami Vivekananda) say the word, "India" in that marvellous voice of his. It seems incredible that so much could have been put into one small word of five letters. There was love, passion, pride, longing, adoration, tragedy, chivalry, and again love. Whole volumes could not have produced such a feelings in others. It had the magic power of creating love in those who heard it."

When we are asserting as a civilisation there are powers that cannot tolerate this. Either by suppressing or by deviating us from our roots, they want to obliterate our nation. Even there are efforts to divide us. But we should never forget what we stand for and should not succumb to few crumbs of comforts being offered to us by these powers. Swami Vivekananda has inspired us with these fiery words, ‘O India! Forget not that the ideal of thy womanhood is Sita, Savitri, Damayanti; forget not that the God thou worshippest is the great Ascetic of ascetics, the all-renouncing Shankara, the Lord of Umâ; forget not that thy marriage, thy wealth, thy life are not for sense-pleasure, are not for thy individual personal happiness; forget not that thou art born as a sacrifice to the Mother’s altar; forget not that thy social order is but the reflex of the Infinite Universal Motherhood; forget not that the lower classes, the ignorant, the poor, the illiterate, the cobbler, the sweeper, are thy flesh and blood, thy brothers. Thou brave one, be bold, take courage, be proud that thou art an Indian, and proudly proclaim, "I am an Indian, every Indian is my brother." Say, "The ignorant Indian, the poor and destitute Indian, the Brahmin Indian, the Pariah Indian, is my brother." Thou, too, clad with but a rag round thy loins proudly proclaim at the top of thy voice: "The Indian is my brother, the Indian is my life, India’s gods and goddesses are my God. India’s society is the cradle of my infancy, the pleasure-garden of my youth, the sacred heaven, the Varanasi of my old age." Say, brother: "The soil of India is my highest heaven, the good of India is my good," and repeat and pray day and night, "O Thou Lord of Gauri, O Thou Mother of the Universe, vouchsafe manliness unto me! O Thou Mother of Strength, take away my weakness, take away my unmanliness, and make me a Man!"

                                                                                             Nivedita Raghunath Bhide

Gita Jayanti 2025 :Yuva Bharati December 2025

 

This year Gita Jayanti is on Margasheersh Shuddha Ekadashi, by date on 1^st December 2025. Gita Jayanti is a festival on which we focus on the message of Sri Krishna. The message of Sri Krishna was not at all different from the Vedic vision. But the eternal principles as enunciated in the Vedas were explained in the then context by Sri Krishna in such a way that it has become an ever relevant message for humanity. He also synthesized the apparently varying dimensions in the Sanatana Principles of Vedas. Thus, the study of Bhagavad Gita gives us the integrated view of principles for life as well it shows us that how the dynamic re-interpretation of the principles like Dharma, Yagna, Yoga, Pooja etc are needed in every age.

As we know, this work of focusing on the relevant and deeper meaning of our age old tradition is very much required. Eknathji wrote about how Swami Vivekananda guided us in seeing God all around us and how to worship Him meaningfully by serving people selflessly. He wrote, "Swami Vivekananda was the foremost among the modern religious teachers who strove to take out religion from that static condition into which it had degenerated over the centuries, and drew the attention of the people to its real role. He pointed out in no uncertain terms that ceremonies and forms are not the essence of religion but that it lies rather in the realization of a higher life. He said, 'We may study all the books that are in the world, yet we may not understand a word of religion or of God. …Religion is not in doctrines or dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation. It is realisation in the heart of hearts; it is touching God; it is feeling, realising that I am a spirit in relation with Universal Spirit and all its great manifestations.' To those who lost themselves only in forms and rituals, turning their back on the people and the misery that had befallen them, he said, 'What vain gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the god that we see all around us, the Virat (Janata Janardan)? When we have worshipped this, we shall be able to worship all other gods.'

Today, Bhagavad Gita is also studied for using new paradigm for management in US and other European corporate bodies. There was a time when it was considered by Western scholars like Max Weber that India is backward because of her religion and culture unsuitable to present age. But today there are persons from India who are the leading management experts of America. They put forward the Gita’s perspective for management. The business Week in 2006 wrote an article about it. Thus Gita guides us in spiritual, social, professional and corporate world. Understanding Gita can also help for having a well-knit and harmonious family. If there is a proper grounding in Gita for the children in their childhood then in future it would help them socially, professionally and spiritually.

The message of Gita

The Eternal principals

mattaḥ parataraṁ nānyat kiñcid asti dhanañ-jaya

mayi sarvam idaṁ protaṁ sūtre maṇi-gaṇā iva

मत्तः परतरं नान्यत्किञ्चिदस्ति धनञ्जय ।

मयि सर्वमिदं प्रोतं सूत्रे मणिगणा इव ॥7.7

Everything is Bhagavan, therefore it is sacred and is to be respected. The whole universe is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent. Though all of us are apparently different, we are connected to each other by Bhagavan like a thread in a garland. No one can progress and be happy at the cost of others. In family, to enhance this interconnection, caring and sharing is to be practiced encouraged and internalised. In family the communication with each other should be more Deep and for whatsoever reason, communication should not be cut off but one should very openly, straight forwardly and with all love tell whatever he or she feels.

 

devān bhāvayatānena te devā bhāvayantu vaḥ

parasparaṁ bhāvayantaḥ śreyaḥ param avāpsyatha

देवान्भावयतानेन ते देवा भावयन्तु वः ।

परस्परं भावयन्तः श्रेयः परमवाप्स्यथ ॥3.11

Thus nourishing one another, caring for one another, attain the sustainable development and eternal happiness. As the existence is interconnected, interrelated and interdependent, so in family, each one respecting the other and thus strengthening each other should be imbibed by regular practice.

karmaṇaiva hi saṁsiddhim āsthitā janakādayaḥ

loka-saṅgraham evāpi sampaśyan kartum arhasi 

कर्मणैव हि संसिद्धिमास्थिता जनकादयः ।

लोकसंग्रहमेवापि सम्पश्यन्कर्तुमर्हसि ॥3.20

Whosoever has earned anything in life is because of readiness to work, to work in the interest of the people. This readiness to work to help others, readiness to work to improve oneself, readiness to work to maintain the harmony should become a habit since the childhood. The purpose of our birth is to help humanity to progress on spiritual path.

tasmāt tvam uttiṣṭha yaśo labhasva

jitvā śatrūn bhuṅkṣva rājyaṁ samṛddham

mayaivaite nihatāḥ pūrvam eva

nimitta-mātraṁ bhava savya-sācin

 

तस्मात्त्वमुत्तिष्ठ यशो लभस्व

जित्वा शत्रून् भुङ्क्ष्व राज्यं समृद्धम् ।

मयैवैते निहताः पूर्वमेव

निमित्तमात्रं भव सव्यसाचिन् ॥11.33

You are merely a chosen instrument of Bhagavan for spiritual evolution of humanity; so do whatever work you are expected to do. Unless we strive, we don't progress on the path. Having the conviction that Ishvara has chosen us to do good work, we should be always coming forward to perform our duty happily and efficiently.

The Way to live

klaibyaṁ mā sma gamaḥ pārtha naitat tvayy upapadyate

kṣudraṁ hṛdaya-daurbalyaṁ tyaktvottiṣṭha paran-tapa 

क्लैब्यं मा स्म गमः पार्थ नैतत्त्वय्युपपद्यते।

क्षुद्रं हृदयदौर्बल्यं त्यक्त्वोत्तिष्ठ परन्तप॥2.3

Never yield to weakness of heart. Exert yourself to do the right thing.  NO situation stays the same. So we should do our duty; the change will come. We should not get depressed and lose confidence. Bigger the difficulty more should be our enthusiasm to face it.

uddhared ātmanātmānaṁ nātmānam avasādayet

ātmaiva hy ātmano bandhur ātmaiva ripur ātmanaḥ 

उद्धरेदात्मनात्मानं नात्मानमवसादयेत् ।

आत्मैव ह्यात्मनो बन्धुरात्मैव रिपुरात्मनः ॥6.5

Lift up yourself with your own efforts. You alone are your friend and you are your enemy, too. None else. We should not have self pity or should be blaming our fate. With our own actions we can raise ourselves.

 

karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana

mā karma-phala-hetur bhūr mā te saṅgo ’stv akarmaṇi

कर्मण्येवाधिकारस्ते मा फलेषु कदाचन ।

मा कर्मफलहेतुर्भूर्मा ते संगोऽस्त्वकर्मणि ॥2.47

You have to choose that action which maintains the harmony of the collectivity around you, like the family, society, nation and universe. You have only the right to choose such action but not demand specific fruits of action. After doing your best, accept whatever comes to you as Prasada from God.

 

tasmād asaktaḥ satataṁ kāryaṁ karma samācara

asakto hy ācaran karma param āpnoti pūruṣaḥ

तस्मादसक्तः सततं कार्यं कर्म समाचर ।

असक्तो ह्याचरन्कर्म परमाप्नोति पूरुषः ॥3.19

Therefore, always employ yourself with all Shraddha and excellence, in the performance of action which is your duty.

 

yataḥ pravṛttir bhūtānāṁ yena sarvam idaṁ tatam

sva-karmaṇā tam abhyarcya siddhiṁ vindati mānavaḥ  

यतः प्रवृत्तिर्भूतानां येन सर्वमिदं ततम् ।

स्वकर्मणा तमभ्यर्च्य सिद्धिं विन्दति मानवः ॥18.46

The Bhagavan is everywhere; worship him by doing your duty to your family, society and nation and the whole creation as best as you can. Perform pooja of Ishvara by our Karmas. Everyday before going to bed offer the whole day's work at feet of Ishvara and also remind our selves that our purpose is to be instrument in the hands of Ishvara to protect the samashti.

 

asaṁśayaṁ mahā-bāho mano durnigrahaṁ calam

abhyāsena tu kaunteya vairāgyeṇa ca gṛhyate

असंशयं महाबाहो मनो दुर्निग्रहं चलम् ।

अभ्यासेन तु कौन्तेय वैराग्येण च गृह्यते ॥6.35

All this easier said than done. Mind is very difficult to discipline. The mind, which tends to be selfish should be brought back again and again to do karmayoga. It is undoubtedly difficult but by our constant practice and dispassionate awareness about this fleeting world, it is restrained.

 

yuktāhāra-vihārasya yukta-ceṣṭasya karmasu

yukta-svapnāvabodhasya yogo bhavati duḥkha-hā

युक्ताहारविहारस्य युक्तचेष्टस्य कर्मसु ।

युक्तस्वप्नावबोधस्य योगो भवति दुःखहा ॥6.17

For that being one with the Divine, we should be moderate in our food, recreation, work and sleep. We must teach children moderation.

 

mayi sarvāṇi karmāṇi sannyasyādhyātma-cetasā

nirāśīr nirmamo bhūtvā yudhyasva vigata-jvaraḥ

मयि सर्वाणि कर्माणि संन्यस्याध्यात्मचेतसा ।

निराशीर्निर्ममो भूत्वा युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः ॥3.30

Even if you have to fight with the forces that destroy harmony in the society, we should do this as a duty and do it without mental agitation.

Assurances by Bhagavan Srikrishna

śraddhāvāḻ labhate jñānaṁ tat-paraḥ saṁyatendriyaḥ

jñānaṁ labdhvā parāṁ śāntim acireṇādhigacchati

श्रद्धावाँल्लभते ज्ञानं तत्परः संयतेन्द्रियः ।

ज्ञानं लब्ध्वा परां शान्तिमचिरेणाधिगच्छति ॥4.39

Have Shraddha in the path told by me, be ever ready to learn and to practice self-control. You will surely get Jnanam.

kṣipraṁ bhavati dharmātmā śaśvac-chāntiṁ nigacchati

kaunteya pratijānīhi na me bhaktaḥ praṇaśyati

क्षिप्रं भवति धर्मात्मा शश्वच्छान्तिं निगच्छति ।

कौन्तेय प्रतिजानीहि न मे भक्तः प्रणश्यति ॥9.31

Know for certain that My devotee is never perished.

 

ananyāś cintayanto māṁ ye janāḥ paryupāsate

teṣāṁ nityābhiyuktānāṁ yoga-kṣemaṁ vahāmy aham

अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते ।

तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम् ॥9.22

Be steadfast in devotion. I shall look after your well-being. You shall always get whatever is needed for your further growth.

If the families practice, live Gita, then as family is the basic unit of society, the result will be harmonious society.

The Result

yatra yogeśvaraḥ kṛṣṇo yatra pārtho dhanur-dharaḥ

tatra śrīr vijayo bhūtir dhruvā nītir matir mama

यत्र योगेश्वरः कृष्णो यत्र पार्थो धनुर्धरः ।

तत्र श्रीर्विजयो भूतिर्ध्रुवा नीतिर्मतिर्मम ॥18.78

Wherever is Krishna, the Lord of Yoga – the vision of Oneness of the universe-, wherever is Partha, the archer - men of action doing their duties-, in that society there is prosperity, victory, all round well-being and steady and sound policy.

Let us use the occasion of this Gita Jayanti to strengthen our Amrit Pariwar and also motivate our families to collectively study Gita everyday.

 

                                                                                                                          Nivedita Raghunath Bhide

 

 

Sadhana Diwas :Yuva Bharati November 2025

This motherland of ours has been charting her course to guide the humanity in spite of hundreds of years of persecution and foreign rule and oppression. Whenever the need arose, the deep conscience or the ethos of our Motherland responded to the peculiar situation or problem by bringing up a great personality or an organisation which gave the deeper interpretation and it’s application in life required at that time. Therefore, each national, cultural and spiritual organization of this land represents a specific response of Mother Bharat.

Vivekananda Kendra is celebrating Ma.Eknathji Ranade’s birthday as ‘Sadhana Diwas’. Let us see what was the thought of Ma.Eknathji, when he started the spiritually oriented service organization, Vivekananda Kendra. He said, “People of our country are, by tradition, religion-minded and this country is therefore described as a land of Dharma and spirituality. Swami Vivekananda used to say that the soul of our country is in Dharma. The highest and the ultimate goal, or Purushartha, aspired for by the people of our country is Mukti…

“If going to temples, visiting places of pilgrimage, participating in Bhajans, Yagnyas and Anusthanas as also listening to philosophical and religious discourses by millions of people, or the presence of numerous religious teachers, gurus and such other men of God all over the country are the manifestations of a growing religiosity, our country is, perhaps, more religious today than it ever was at any time in the past.”

“But, unfortunately, the natural impact of this apparent God-wardness of the general society is little in evidence today. Purposeful living, discipline, character, truthfulness, fellow-feeling, fearlessness, subordination of the self and a zest for works of public good, which are some of the traits that develop in a God-ward society and which, we have enough evidence to say, existed in good measure in our country in the past, are seen fast disappearing from our midst. Ironically enough, with the apparent religious fervour presently on the increase, general corruption, in- discipline and other kinds of moral degradation are also in the ascendant. How is this paradox to be explained?” 

"…Any discerning mind will be able to see that a distorted conception of Dharma is the root cause of most of our ills for the last several centuries, which persist even today. It is rightly said that Dharma is the soul of our country. But, as that itself is blurred, we have the sorry spectacle of deterioration all round.”

“Spiritual awakening means experiencing the presence of God in one’s own self and in the world. That makes one conscious of the divine within and urges him to work for its unfoldment and enables him to grow spiritually. Simultaneously, it generates in him a sense of oneness with God’s creation and, consequently, an intense fellow-feeling for the members of his own species – the human race – and prompts him to work with zest for human welfare and progress…  If, and as long as, the spiritual awakening intensifies on these lines, it is dynamic and full of tremendous potentialities for the transformation of humanity into higher and higher planes of existence. But, if it remains limited to rituals, forms of worship and offerings to God, or prayers and praises addressed to Him, it becomes static and has hardly any role to play in human advancement.”

"Swami Vivekananda was the foremost among the modern religious teachers who strove to take out Dharma from that static condition into which it had degenerated over the centuries, and drew the attention of the people to its real role. He pointed out in no uncertain terms that ceremonies and forms are not the essence of Dharma but that it lies rather in the realization of a higher life. He said, 'We may study all the books that are in the world, yet we may not understand a word of religion or of God. …Dharma is not in doctrines or dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation. It is realisation in the heart of hearts; it is touching God; it is feeling, realising that I am a Atman in relation with Paramatman and all its great manifestations.' To those who lost themselves only in forms and rituals, turning their back on the people and the misery that had befallen them, he said, 'What vain gods shall we go after and yet cannot worship the god that we see all around us, the Virat (Janata Janardan) When we have worshipped this, we shall be able to worship all other gods.”

Does it mean that we need not follow our rituals, do Pooja etc. it does not mean that but limiting ourselves to our god will not be enough. The real spirituality is in living in interacting with others with all compassion, kindness and love. To be able to do that, one needs to do some Sadhana and that is what our shastras had prescribed as some Pooja, Upasana etc so that we are capable to render service to our people. Then only the practice of Dharma is complete. This complete meaning of Dharma needs to be taken to the people.

Ma.Eknathji wrote,  “A Two-pronged Movement - The Need of the Hour: The remedy for the ills of our country, therefore, lies in launching a mighty movement of right thought sweeping the entire country. It has to be a two-pronged move. On the one hand, it is to be aimed at (1) transforming our people’s inherent God- wardness into the right spiritual urge rising out of the teachings of the Upanishads, namely, (a) each soul is potentially divine and (b) faith in God, in turn means faith in one’s self, i.e. in one’s potentiality to rise to divine heights. On the other hand, it is (2) to convert the spiritual fervour thus released into works of national reconstruction”. 

Thus, Vivekananda Kendra works with the twin ideals of Man – making and Nation-building. Man - making means giving confidence, aspiration to a person to rise to divine heights and work for the nation with a feeling of Oneness. Nation building is possible only by creating teams of such men of evolved consciousness who would take up the work of national reconstruction to fulfil the mission of Bharat of guiding the world in spirituality. Thus, the service activities of Kendra do not depend on poverty of the society or the occurrence of cyclones, earthquakes, famines etc. Ma. Eknathji says in 'Sadhana of Service', "If we are merely a service-oriented organization, we will have to pray to God to create cyclones, floods, famines and accidents to provide us opportunities of service. Service with a spiritual orientation results in man making, which is invariably and inseparably connected with nation building. It is the core of all our thoughts behind this organization.”

Real service is awakening a person to his potential divinity and making him realise the purpose of life. The purpose of life also has to be the fulfilment of the mission of this nation. The mission of this nation has been to help man to evolve with higher consciousness so that a caring, considerate and well-knit society based on the vision of Oneness is built. This spiritually oriented service is what Kendra intends to do.

Eknathji says in ‘Sadhana of Service’, “That service is the best and the noblest which is performed with the attitude of total surrender to God. …It is the divine design that I should render service on His behalf. He desires the betterment of the world and I am being used as a tool or a means to carry out His design. I am just an instrument in His hands …the action must be performed without any attachment but sincerely and honestly to the best of our ability with an attitude of being a tool only. We have been called upon to execute whatever is essential and possible as willed by God. This is SERVICE. We are doing His work. Such work elevates us and leads to Self-realization, which is the supreme goal of human life.” 

As the service rendered with this bhava of being the instrument in the hands of God leads to self- realization, it is termed as “spiritually oriented service”. Such surrender helps the karyakarta to merge with the organization and thereby strengthens it to carry out work of national reconstruction. To see Mother Bharat seated on her eternal throne, rejuvenated, more glorious than she ever was, the Sadhana needed at this hour when Bharat is making a mark at global level, is to render such "spiritually oriented service". 

Sadhana Diwas is a day when we focus on whether each day we are becoming better and better with our inner development, whether our capacity to face the situations with courage and conviction to proceed confidently in our work is increasing. 

                                                                                                   

                                                                                                                 Nivedita Raghunath Bhide