Swami Vivekananda and his path

India owes in a great measure to the wisdom given by Swami Vivekananda and the path shown by him. Likewise in equal measure the western society also is indebted to Swami Vivekananda. Prior to the emergence of Swamiji the impression that west had about India was that it is land of snake charmers and poor mendicants. An eminent Englishman described the Hindu religion as ‘idolatry with all rabble of impure deities, its monsters of wood and stone, its false principles and corrupt practices and its lying legends and fraudulent impositions.’ You can imagine the state of mind of west from which Swamiji has transformed it. When Swamiji spoke at the world parliament of religions at Chicago, it was reemergence of Vedic Indian wisdom which swept the western world. They got a better and proper understanding of the Oriental Philosophy and Culture.   Swami Ranganathananda, a great saint himself and Former president of the Ramakrishna Mission says that, ‘Swami Vivekananda is the one person who stands as a golden link between India and the western world, and who promises to be such a link between India and the rest of the world as well.’ He further says, ‘the west will one day learn to feel proud of this Emissary of modern India and learn from him the philosophy of comprehensive spirituality and total life fulfillment and the way to its own redemption from a soul killing materialism.’  

As the present society veers away from the social and spiritual message of Swami Vivekananda, the message becomes more and more relevant. Arnold Toynbee the distinguished Historian said, ‘It is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a Western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it is not to end in self-destruction of the human race. At this supremely dangerous moment in human history, the only way of salvation is the ancient Hindu way. Here we have the attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together in to a single family.’ The Vedantic wisdom clearly stands as the antidote for the evils that plague the modern society. Swami Vivekananda who took this wisdom to the doorsteps of the western world stands as the modern day messiah.

V.V.Balasubramanian

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Swami Vivekananda: Very Special, Very Relevant…

The essence of India is its spirituality. Each and every century in India’s calendar has its own great seers and saints of that age. While spiritual  personalities are dime a dozen in this land of mystic charm, it requires more than some revelations and miracles, for a person to be revered and followed even after 100 years of his death. Every Guru and Saint is unique in his own way. But there is something which makes Swami Vivekananda special and very relevant even today. To know that we must know about the circumstances in which Swami Vivekananda grew up. Our nation was reeling under extreme poverty and hunger during the period in which he was born. Between 1850 and 1899, India suffered 24 major famines, a number higher than in any other recorded 50-year period, resulting in millions of deaths. Three years after his birth India suffered one of the worst famines ever. Nearly 10 million people died in Odisha alone during that famine. Bengal saw around 1.5 lakh people perish during that time because of that famine. Seeing all these sufferings of the poor around him impacted Narendranath Dutta, which later evolved into his wonderful exposition of Practical Vedanta when he became Swami Vivekananda. This also led Swami Vivekananda to lay more emphasis on social service. Swamiji was never interested in a world negating spirituality. He was one who didn’t want to disconnect himself from the sufferings seen around, in the guise of spirituality. 

Swamiji thought that it is a sin to preach religion to a man when he is suffering from hunger. He said,”I do not believe in a god who cannot give me bread here, giving me eternal bliss in heaven! Pooh! India is to be raised, the poor are to be fed, education is to be spread, and the evil priestcraft is to be removed”.  He insisted that, So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every person a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them!”.  So, for swami Vivekananda spirituality is not some elitist otherworldly idea, but a synchronization of that wonderful Realisation with the reality around us. He believed and rightly so, that the misery of our countrymen can be wiped off only with this kind of synchronization. 

With this undercurrent Swami Vivekananda went to the rock on December 25th 1892. He sat there on meditation for 3 days in order to find his life’s mission. He meditated on India’s past, present and future. During that meditation he got the vision that he should work for the resurgence of Dharma, which alone will make India come out of its pathetic situation and become great once again. It is this resolve and the work pursued thereafter which makes him special and very relevant. Not stopping with himself Swami Vivekananda created a monastic order which trains people for this onerous job of selfless service, and in the last hundred years many great monks have emerged from that Institution. This speaks volumes of his intense desire to awaken his Motherland from the slumber of ignorance. Swami Ranganadananda, another illuminating soul who got moulded in the Institution started by Swamiji feels that,failure of having this synchronization led to the social decadence and loss of political freedom. He says that, “We failed to stress this whole gamut of social virtues and graces, and to impart the relevant secular education which is the source of them. Instead we stressed an other-worldly excellence with its passive virtues, with inaction as its watchword; we failed to understand that social welfare comes from an activist ethics in the context of interaction with other members in society. The result was that we failed to achieve the more attainable ideals of character, work-efficiency, public spirit, and general well-being, while equally failing to achieve the high ideal of mukti and the virtues and graces associated with so great an ideal. The high spiritual inaction of the mukti path and ideal became deformed into laziness, inertia, and human unconcern, along with a type of worldliness, or “a piety-fringed worldliness” as I prefer to call it, more harmful than the worldliness of the modern Western type, which has at least character-efficiency and human concern to enrich it”. 

Those 3 days of meditation which paved way for India’s Freedom and awakening is celebrated as “Samarth Bharath parva”. A period to remind ourselves about the Great Monk, about the need to dedicate ourselves for the still unfinished work of social regeneration. Swamiji’s Vedanta starts with our self-purification through selfless service. When this purification happens, the detachment, which is a prerequisite for liberating ourselves from the bondages, will happen. It is not a detachment from this world, but being in this world by working to alleviate the miseries of poor and at the same time doing it as a sadhana, which is the essence of karma Yoga.

V.V.Balasubramanian

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To Rise up or not…

Last year Supreme Court had ordered cinemas across the country to play the National anthem before film screenings to encourage citizens to “feel this is my country and this is my motherland”. But this October they have reversed their stand by asking whether National anthem should be played in a place like Cinema theatre where the chances of National anthem getting disrespected is more. The sudden ‘U’ turn by the Apex court is surprising, but the excitement with which the so called liberals have welcomed this question is not a surprise though.  Debate shows are filled up by left weaning ‘scholars’ who repeatedly ask whether it is necessary for anyone to wear their patriotism on their sleeves. It was first said by Asaduddin Owaisi, a leader from the Hyderabad based Political party, and later echoed by all other ‘liberals’.

At this point we will have to remember the fact that this practice of playing National anthem in the Cinema theatres was first introduced after the 1962 India-China war. The whole of India was reeling under the sagging spirit after the terrible defeat in the war. Those were the times when we needed a succor of high national fervor. So the Government at that time decided that playing National anthem in Cinema halls, would instill that fervor. That practice was discontinued decades later because the generation which was ignorant of all these history, was not respecting the National anthem.  Later, while passing orders on a public interest litigation, On 30 November 2016, the Supreme Court said that the National Anthem must be played in public theaters across the country before a movie, without any dramatization. It also ordered that the national flag be shown on screen when the anthem is being played. The Supreme Court ruling invited sharp criticism, with many asking if patriotism can be forced upon citizens. Some critics pointed out the order was likely to embolden right wing groups pushing a strident brand of nationalism aimed at curbing dissent, while others said it raises questions on an individual's fundamental rights. It was under these circumstances the Supreme Court has given the above mentioned observations now. 

The majority in this country are not ruffled neither by the order to play nor by the order to stop playing the Anthem. But the people who orchestrate the protests in the name of liberalism are the ones who worry them. These are people who owe allegiance to ‘faiths’ and ‘isms’ which have committed pogroms and mass murders in the past. The leftists, for whom the term nationalism is a very bitter one, will conveniently hide the fact that people in china are convicted for disrespecting their National Anthem. And it is these people and their apologists who have filled up all the vantage positions in our country. Academia, literary field, cinema, arts and all other positions which will influence the public mind are held by these forces. So when these forces raise their voice against our National anthem, it is a matter of concern.  Students and academics who do not have a leftist bent of mind are being regularly victimsed by these comrades in their campuses. Any attempt to instill patriotic fervor among our people will be resisted by these groups as they dream of a pan national empire of their own ‘faiths’ and ‘isms’. 

These forces know very well that the purport of singing our National anthem or our National song is to raise the dormant spiritual energy which binds us together. It is exactly for that reason they oppose it. Let us  remember Swami  Vivekananda, who said,” For our national welfare, we must first seek out at the present day all the spiritual forces of the race, as was done in days of yore and will be done in times to come. National union in India must be a gathering up of its scattered spiritual forces. A nation in India must be a union of those whose hearts beat to the same spiritual tune”.

Patriotism is not just an emotional feeling. It is an expression of our solidarity and gratitude towards our hoary tradition which has given us our precious wisdom. This nation is a repository of that collective wisdom. Patriotism is a way by which we show our gratefulness to all those who have done immense sacrifice for the sake of protecting this Nation. Patriotism is an expression of harmony by the people, who otherwise have a lot of diversity. It is a way to show our camaraderie towards our fellow countrymen and instill the sense of belonging in all.   Patriotism is not an anti-thesis to humanism.  In fact it is the step which will lead us to that utopian ideal. 

V.V.Balasubramanian

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A feminist in the right sense.

We are naturally suspicious of all the ideas and people coming from the west. Though it is wrong to generalize and judge anything or anybody with a preconceived mind, there is also reason for this suspicion and hesitation. We have a history laden with treacherous bullies from west, who were bent on subduing us through crooked ideas. So when Sister Nivedita wanted to come over to India and serve her, Swami Vivekananda, had doubts whether she will be accepted wholeheartedly by our society. When Sister Nivedita came to India, Swami Vivekananda was a bit anxious how to make a place for her in Hindu society. But Holy Mother Saradama accommodated her in her own room. This made things easy for Swami Vivekananda as that action melted all the resistance which Swamiji perceived. That was a bold decision by Holy mother because that was a time when our society was sunk deep in its conservative attitudes. What we see in Sister Nivedita is all the reflections of the dynamism which holy Mother had in herself. 

Sister Nivedita’s view about Indian Womanhood was shaped by Holy Mother.  The exaltation of Motherhood is the bedrock of the Indian social structure. The west has idealized the wife, but India has exalted the Mother. It is this aspect of motherhood which was transmuted to Sister Nivedita by her Great Master and Holy Mother. She realized the high ideals of purity and chastity that lay unfathomed in the profound structure of the Hindu society. She took it as her duty to spread this light to the west in all matters with regard to India. She painted the immaculate purity of Sita, the undying fidelity of Savitri, the stead fast will of Parvati. The immortal women of India were painted with on a rich Oriental Tapestry, to remain as ideals for all the future generations. They have become sentinels directing womanhood in its march towards purity and perfection through Sister Nivedita’s pen. 

The modern day feminists, who believe that aping the maledom is all that which makes way for liberation,  should take a cue from her life.  An Indian woman modelled herself in the mould of Sita, will stand out as a thoroughly integrated, full-fledged and complete woman. Sister Nivedita’s love for this land was coupled with such ideals which this land fostered for ages. The ideals which made Motherhood, the axis around which the family, and its extension, the society spun. If we fail to exalt the Motherhood, we will also fail to see the Mother as the consciousness and force of the Divine. Both are inter related. 

V.V.Balasubramanian

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A String theory of our own…

Universal brotherhood is treating the entire creation as one with his own self.
It is a concept which makes you think that the whole world is just one big family.
Show empathy towards everyone and every being.
It is a notion which beckons peace and harmony for the entire Humanity.

If that’s the case one may wonder why even after advancing so much on the technological front, we have lot of reservation in embracing the idea of Universal Brotherhood. It maybe because of our instinct which often prevails over our intellect. We humans to defeat the idea of the ‘survival of the fittest’ have evolved this wonderful phenomena called civilization. Civilization is where people come together as families, families come together as communities, communities come together to merge as the society and all these without losing their own unique diverse identities, form a harmonious civilized whole. 

But after evolving and advancing as a civilized society, we still grope for that smaller identity from where we started. For example: When we visit another country, we will be happy if we see our countrymen. When we visit another state within our country we will be happy to converse with someone from our own state, if we are in our own state, then we will search for someone from our own locality. This will further shrink to our own caste till it reaches our family. It may be an insecured feeling which is at the root of this vain search. But this search for the lesser identity defeats the very idea of civilization. Our Indian society has long before unearthed a remedy for this insecured search, which is our Dharma. Dharma extols us to feel the entire creation as not just divine but one with our own self. Ishavasyam Idam Sarvam is a call to feel that oneness. It is the same Dharmic vision of oneness which made Swami Vivekananda give his clarion call to the Humanity during his epoch making address at the World parliament of religions at Chicago in 1893.

From team building efforts of a sports unit or an organization, to the efforts to instill patriotism among fellow countrymen are all similar to this vision. But they have a limitation. They cannot transcend from their frontiers. This Dharmic vision of oneness is different from them as it transcends all barriers. It is a call to feel the entire creation as your own family, Vasudaiva kudumbakam. By making us realize that the entire creation is divine, it allows a seamless transition to the higher self from the lower one. This Ishavasyam Idam Sarvam, the vision to feel the divinity, to feel the oneness, is the string which attaches and carries all the lower identities without any sway. 

V.V.Balasubramanian

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Agnishikha Bhagini Nivedita

Shivo Bhutva Shivam Yajet

When Swami Vivekananda went to the west, he was there without friends, without money and without recognition. Only the knowledge and experience of Hindu Dharma was with him. After his exposition of Hindu Dharma in the Parliament of Religions held in September 1983 at Chicago, he was revered in the West for his knowledge and help came from all quarters, the disciples gathered from all directions. Thus when he returned to India, he was a world-famous Swami Vivekananda; the western disciples were with him. This visual had a great psychological impact on people of India. They could feel and their confidence grew in the greatness and relevance of Hindu Dharma. Epitome of this efficacy and relevance of Hindu Dharma and of the work of Swami Vivekananda in the West was Sister Nivedita.

Margaret Noble as Nivedita was called before was from the very race, which had robbed India of her wealth as well as of her confidence. But Nivedita came to India to live like us, to serve us and also to practice all that was higher and noble in our spiritual tradition. She could see beauty and wisdom in all walks of Indian life.

How could a proud and an accomplished British woman see the beauty of Indian life? She had to undergo a painful process of transformation. Margaret Noble came to India to serve Indians after she was totally convinced about the Vedantic Truth of Oneness. After the Consecration ceremony, she was given the name ‘Nivedita’ – ‘the dedicated’.  But just a new name was not going to erase all the assumptions and biases that she had cherished till then as Margaret Noble. Swami Vivekananda in his classes attacked mercilessly her deep rooted perceptions and misconceptions.

Imagine! Swamiji was the only person who was known to her in this vast and strange land and he appeared so harsh. The anguish that Nivedita felt was very great. But not once a thought of returning back or doubting the wisdom of her decision of accepting Swami Vivekananda as her guru came to her mind. Her only concern was ‘whether ever I shall understand what my master is trying to tell me’. Her sincerity of purpose and utmost efforts ultimately transformed her completely. She became one with India to serve in total surrender. It is said that to truly offer worship to Siva you have to be Siva. ‘Sivo Bhutva Sivam Yajet’. Nivedita so to say became one with Mother India. She understood India in all her dimensions and loved Indians with all their faults. 

Not only all modes of worship, but equally all modes of work, struggle, creation, become paths of realization 

It is this total transformation of Nivedita which is a great example for Macaulay Educated Indians. If a proud and accomplished British woman can burn to ashes all her prejudices, misconceptions and her western mind-set and if with total paradigm shift she could become a true Indian, a great admirer, worshiper and servant of Mother India, then why not we? We the Macaulay educated can also burn to ashes completely all our preconceptions and ignorance and become true Indians. When she could get insight into the depths of Indian wisdom why not we? When one wants to serve Motherland one has to change oneself so as to become the right instrument in the hands of God.  Sister Nivedita is thus an inspiration for all those who want to serve our society. 

Nivedita was so one with the people, their aspirations that her life, her actions, her words reflected that oneness which she experienced. She always said our people, our country. We see many a times that those who go to ‘serve’ the people in villages and in tribal areas with the sense that they are going to ‘civilise’ and to ‘develop’ these people use words like ‘this society’, ‘these people’. They force their ideas and world-views on those simple people. This is what Swami Vivekananda did not want to happen with his foreign disciples. He wanted them to accept India as she was; he wanted them to learn from India. Sister Nivedita internalized it so fully that Bipin Chandra Pal said, “Nivedita came to us not as a teacher but as a learner, not as an adept but as a novice and she loved India more than even we Indians love her.”  

She inculcated and internalized the Vedantic vision so well that she wrote, ‘If the many and the One be indeed the same Reality, then it is not all modes of worship alone, but equally all modes of work, all modes of struggle, all modes of creation, which are paths of realisation. No distinction, henceforth, between sacred and secular. To labour is to pray. To conquer is to renounce. Life is itself religion. To have and to hold is as stern a trust as to quit and to avoid.’ 

That is what she imbibed from Swami Vivekananda. Thus she wrote about him, “This is the 

realisation which makes Vivekananda the great preacher of Karma, not as divorced from, but as expressing Jnana and Bhakti. To him, the workshop, the study, the farmyard, and the field are as true and fit scenes for the meeting of God with man as the cell of the monk or the door of the temple. To him, there is no difference between service of man and worship of God, between manliness and faith, between true righteousness and spirituality. All his words, from one point of view, read as a commentary upon this central conviction. "Art, science, and religion", he said once, "are but three different ways of expressing a single truth. But in order to understand this we must have the theory of Advaita." (Volume I Page xiv to xvi) For Nivedita Vedanta became practical. Her spirituality thus expressed in her contributions to all walks of life. 

It appears that the legacy of fire that was within Swami Vivekananda was given to Sister Nivedita. The flames of burning love for India in Sister Nivedita were so great that Sri Aurobindo called her Agnishikha – the flames of fire. No field of national life was left untouched by her fire. Her topmost concern was the well-being of India and the awakening of Indian national consciousness whatever may be the field of action.  

Education should be not only national but nation making

In the field of Education, Nivedita wanted, “Indian educators to extend and fulfill the vision of Swami Vivekananda”. How would it be done? She explained, “This thought that education is not only good for child himself but should be more so for Jana-Desh-Dharma should always be present in the minds of educators. There is no fear of weakness and selfishness for one whose whole training has been formed round this nucleus. Each day should begin with some conscious act of reference to it. Education in India today has to be not only national but Nation-making. We must surround our children with the thought of their nation and their country. …The centre of gravity must lie for them outside the family. We must demand their sacrifices for India; Bhakti for India; learning for India. The ideal for its own sake! India for the sake of India! This must be as the breath of life to them.

…It is a mistake to think that heroes are born. Nothing of the sort. They are made not born; made by the pressure of heroic thought. All human beings long at bottom of their heart for self sacrifice. No other thirst is so deep as this. Let us recognize this direct this towards single thought ie love for the country. …The universe is the creation of mind not matter. And can any force in the world resist a single thought held with intensity by 700 million of people? …How to do that? A national education then must be made up of familiar elements. Our Imagination must be based upon our heroic literature. Geographical ideals must be built up first through the ideals of India. Same is for history. All other histories should run around the Indian History.” The school that Nivedita run for the girls enshrined all these thoughts so well that when Sri Rabindranath Tagore wanted to start Shantiniketan, most of the lady-teachers were the former students of Nivedita’s school.

Greatness of Indian life depends on the place given to Women in social scheme

Sister Nivedita was so charmed by the womanhood of India among whom she lived in the lanes of Calcutta that her description about them are the best tribute. She says, “What differentiates the Indian training from others? I find one answer which outweighs all others in my estimate. It is this. The special greatness of Indian life and character depends more than on any other feature, on the place that is given to Woman in the social scheme. 

They say that Indian women are ignorant and oppressed. To all who make this statement we may answer that Indian women are certainly not oppressed. The crimes of ill-treating women is at once less common and less brutal in form here than in younger countries. And the happiness, the social importance, and may I say, the lofty character of Indian women are amongst the grandest possessions of the national life.

When we come to the charge that Indian women are ignorant, we meet with a far deeper fallacy. They are ignorant in the modern form, that is to say, few can write, and not very many can read. Are they then illiterate? If so, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana and the Puranas and stories every mother and every grand-mother tells to the babies, are no literature. But European novels and Strand Magazine by the same token are? Can any of us accept this paradox?

The fact is, writing is not culture though it is an occasional result of culture. The greatest literature occurs at the beginning of a literary age and so, to those who know Indian life, it is easy to see that an Indian woman who has the education of the Indian home, the dignity, the gentleness, the cleanliness, the thrift, the religious training, the culture of mind and heart, which that home life entails, though she cannot perhaps read a word of her own language, much less sign her name, may be infinitely better educated in every true sense, and in the literary sense also, than her glib critic.” 

Dream the dreams great enough and thoughts noble enough 

Writings of Sister Nivedita were a symphony of her insight in Indian wisdom and tradition, her intense love for India, her sharp intellect and her mastery over language. So beautiful, deep and moving were her writings that it is really difficult to translate those in other languages. May be that is the reason that most of her literature even today remains un-translated. Her literature has not only historical and literary value but are good guide in the task of nation-building too. 

For example: while comparing with other nations she sums up in few words the journey and contribution of Hindu Nation from antiquity to till now. She writes, “Let it be said that to every people who possess the elements of truly national existence, with the responsibility of facing the problems of a nation, this question sooner or later comes to be faced. Have we in the past dreamt dreams great enough, thought thoughts noble enough, willed with a will clear enough, to enable us to strike out new paths into the untried, without error and without defeat? And perhaps of all the peoples of the world only the Hindu people, to this searching enquiry can answer yes”. 

She was a regular contributor to over 20 magazines and the topic always was India. Therefore, not just because Sister Nivedita was a great example of transformation but we have to study her life and works also because, even today she can give insight to us - the English educated -about our own nation and its significance. 

The love of country and its people and hope for future will bring in such a  tide of art, science and religion that no man can stop

While she helped the country bent under the burden of sorrow whether during plagues or floods or freedom struggle, she lived completely merged in the essence of its freedom one day to come. Thus, she wanted the cultural assertion, the national expression in all walks of life. She stated, ‘The birth of the National Art of India is my dearest dream.’  She disliked the art students imitating the European subjects in their art. When India has such rich culture and history of art she felt why should Indian artists imitate Europeans styles and subjects. She exhorted and inspired the young artists like Avanindranath Tagore and Nandalal Bose to choose India as their topic for expression. She would perceive the beauty of old houses of Bagh Bazar, and ruined temples but detested the modern utilitarian buildings built in India. 

In the field of science, she felt Indians have great ability to contribute. When the British scientists tried to sideline Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose, she realized that Indians were not incapable but were incapacitated by British to achieve great heights. She came forward to help Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose. To make his work known to the world she worked along with him on his six books. Even though, she herself would be suffering for want of money; she saw to it that the work of Dr. Jagadish Chandra Bose would not suffer monetarily.  When the revolutionaries would go to jail or in exile to other countries, she would take care of their families. Not a field of national life was left untouched by her.

Nivedita captured the fire of patriotism set alight by Swamiji and took it to all fields

As it was required, Sister Nivedita actively participated and promoted the freedom movement. For that she had to resign from Ramakrishna Mission. Ramakrishna Mission -the fledgling organization to propagate the message of Sri Ramakrishna and Vivekananda was needed for India. And participation of Sister Nivedita in freedom movement and her active role in awakening national consciousness also was equally the need of the hour in the interest of India. Thus to protect Ramakrishna Mission and to promote the work of freedom of India, she resigned from Ramakrishna Mission. But, their relationships remained very cordial till end. 

Nivedita considered herself as part of the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda thought movement. Whenever she was sick, she was immediately attended to by Ramakrishna Math. In her work too the help was given by Ramakrishna Math and Mission in all possible ways. When she realized she would not live, in her will she donated all the money that she had got from Mrs. Bull just some time before her own death or from her books to Ramakrishna Mission as an endowment for the use of Sister Christine Greenstidel to run the school; though Christine had left her. Bitterness had no place in her heart. She associated with persons whom she thought would be useful in India’s interest. But she would also disassociate herself from them if she found it otherwise. For anything and everything in her life, the deciding touchstone was India and her well-being.

One of the foremost revolutionary freedom fighter, Sri Hemachandra Ghosh’s reminiscence about Swami Vivekananda and Sister Nivedita narrated to Swami Purnatmananda were later translated from Bengali to English by Prof Kapila Chatterjee and brought out as a book titled as “I am India”. In that he says, “It is very true that it was Nivedita who captured the fire of patriotism set alight by Vivekananda. She not only caught that flame, she also scattered the sparks of Indian patriotism and nationalism far and wide, across the length and breadth of India. Wherever Nivedita went, in any city or province of India, her flaming speeches and heroic calls to the Indian people spread the message of Swamiji, his ideals, his patriotism. Side by side, she spread the ideals, the culture, the glory of India, too. To speak frankly, we got to know Swami Vivekananda better through coming in contact with Sister Nivedita. I was with Swamiji for a very short time. But, I have been with Nivedita for a much longer period. Through Nivedita, we got to know Swamiji better and through her India also better. …What I feel about Nivedita is – Sister Nivedita played two important roles in spreading the message and deeds of Vivekananda – one was the role of Mahadeva, the other, that of Bhagiratha. She absorbed the terrific force and power of Vivekananda in her own person, and at the same time she carried the mighty current of that force and directed it along proper channels like Bhagiratha”.

Her deep love for India was expressed in all walks of life –politics, education, art, literature, sociology, spirituality etc. A spiritual person is all dimensional. That is how Sister Nivedita was. She was a revolutionary, she was a Yogini too. She was an educationist and she was an art critic too. She was a writer and she was involved in rendering service to the people also, be at flood time or plague time. She was at once a child at the feet of Holy Mother Sri Sarada Devi and also a Lokmata to all as she was called by Rabindranath Tagore and above all she was Sister of all. 

Swami Vivekananda had said, “O you of great fortune! I too believe that India will awake again if anyone could love with all his heart the people of the country -- bereft of the grace of affluence, of blasted fortune, their discretion totally lost, downtrodden, ever - starved, quarrelsome, and envious.” Sister Nivedita was a person of that great fortune! She loved India and Indians with all their faults. 150th Birth Anniversary of Sister Nivedita is a good occasion to study and understand her life and work. May her life make us love our motherland and our people! May her life give us an insight in our own country and inspiration to work for Mother India!  

Nivedita Raghunath Bhide

Vice-President

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Society plays Geriatricks

Our society must make it right and possible for old people not to fear the young or be deserted by them, for the test of a civilization is the way that it cares for its helpless members.

                                              -Pearl S. Buck

By the year 2050 India will have the largest population of elderly people in the world, according to a projection based on the census taken in the year 2011.  Being a welfare state, our governments are taking all possible steps to ensure that the elderly are treated well and taken care off. Maintenance and Welfare of Senior Citizens and Parents Act 2007 is just a step towards that ideal. In 2014 the Standing Committee on Social Justice and Empowerment submitted its report, recommending the following:

Implementation of Existing Policies, i.e.:

- Maintenance of Parents and Senior Citizens Act, 2007,

- Setting up a helpline for senior citizens,

- Establishing a National Commission for Senior Citizens, and

- Establishing a National Trust for the Aged

Apart from these the Standing Committee in its report also recommended the formulation of new policies and laws for the welfare of senior citizens. Some of the recommendations made with this regard were:

- A comprehensive law on social security

- Pensions, health insurance and tax exemption schemes

- National Council for senior citizens

- Expansion of old age homes and geriatric facilities

- Formulation of standard norms and guidelines for old age homes

With the increase in life expectancy rates the elderly population across the world has increased and continues to. In India it is expected that by 2050, 20 per cent of entire population would consist of elderly people (60 and above). All the above recommendations appear to be on the right track, but the question which still remains elusive is whether these steps will ensure that the elderly are respected, loved and taken care off instead of being deserted by their own children. As a welfare state, our country has to ensure the welfare of elderly people, but at the same time we should also do an inquiry into the cause of this malaise. One main reason for the poor plight of elderly in our society is weaning away from the age old joint family system. Orphanages and Old age homes are something which are never heard off in our society before the advent of the colonial rulers. The colonial rulers saw that the strength of our society lies in the family system and they systematically planned to corrode this system which is the repository of all values. When people drifted from the Joint family system to the nuclear families the immediate victims are the elderly ones in the family. The most loved and revered ones became a liability over a period of time because in the nuclear family the economic burden is not shared. Parents have to shuttle between the houses of their children and many of them lost a permanent home. They lost their emotional connect with their next generation and were left to ponder when they will get relieved of this painful existence. A society which placed Mata and Pita in a higher pedestal than even the God himself, is now frantically searching for ideal old age homes to dump its parents. This fall is the direct result of getting alienated from our values. Schools nowadays teach children life skills like, how to face an interview, how to take part in a group discussion, how to address people, building their vocabulary etc. these skills are very important and vital for anyone who wants to come up in life braving all the challenges. But along with these if the children are also taught the most important values like empathy, sharing, sacrifice, honesty, respect to fellow human beings, love towards nature etc. that will not only ensure that they imbibe good qualities but will also pave way for society sans Orphanages and Old age homes. Major role in designing an ideal future society lies in the hands of present day parents. If they fail to impart values to their children then they will emerge only as educated zombies. They should make their children realize that life is not just about rights to enjoy, but a lot more about responsibilities and duties to fulfill.  Ideal society is not the one where there are adequate number of Old age homes with all the facilities, but the one which does not have the need to build Old age homes.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET

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Being Happy…

Every human being’s ultimate aim in life is to be happy. It is towards this ever eluding happiness all human endeavors are aimed at. Our Work, Business, Politics, Recreation everything is intended to provide this Happiness, not only to us, but also to all those who are around us. When the whole world is trying to reach this Mirage called Happiness, our country has devised its own unique approach to be Happy always. It’s a product of our very ancient Vedic Cultural Heritage, its Yoga. Yoga, as popularly misunderstood, is not mere Asanas and Breathing practices. Yoga is wonderful science, which uses our Body and Mind as a tool to get liberated from the very same Body and Mind complex.

Our scriptures say that we are embodiment of happiness. But to realize this, which is the core of our personality, we have to get detached from bondages. We will be able to see that the entire creation is divine once we get ourselves detached from our bondages. Seeing the entire creation as one is the path to the abode of Happiness. Swami Vivekananda said, “Religion is not in Doctrines, in Dogmas, nor in intellectual argumentation; it is being and becoming, it is Realisation”.

Yoga helps us to get this vairagya, which is essential for getting the detachment. If we cling on to the lower truths, our spiritual quest can never become true. Then happiness will forever be a dream to be achieved. In fact we cling on to the bondages because we think that they are the sources of happiness. We also misunderstand that happiness means enjoyment. And try to pursue Happiness through enjoyment. But how do we pursue happiness effectively? After all, some recent scientific research actually cautions us against the pursuit of happiness. For instance, a study led by Iris Mauss, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, found that people instructed to feel happier while watching a pleasant film clip actually ended up feeling worse than people who were instructed just to watch the clip. Findings like this are echoed in the popular press. Renowned Writer Ruth Whippman wrote in a recent New York Times article that the pursuit of happiness is a “recipe for neurosis.” But then is happiness a dream which can never be achieved? Are we doomed to fail at the pursuit of happiness? It depends. The difference between effectively and ineffectively pursuing happiness may all be in how we go about it. Research suggests that people who strive to feel happy all of the time may suffer disappointment, and people who pursue happiness as if it were the only thing that matters may, ironically, chase happiness away. It’s because we search happiness in material beings and forget the real source of happiness.

But in yogic lore Santhosha which is the term many people misconstrue for happiness actually means contentment. It is not about enjoying or possessing valuables but being content with what life has given to you. If our mind is tuned with the help of yoga to get this santhosha then as a natural progression we will be able to get Ananda, the real happiness.

We, as a society, once gave this unending elixir of happiness to the humanity. Now, once again it is our responsibility to remind the world and also us, that the search for happiness can end with realizing that Ananda, which comes through proper understanding and practice of this wonderful Vedic technique called Yoga.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET

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Choke them…

Another ambush, another round of condemnations, another reprisal will not see the end of the Naxal menace in our country, the tribal areas of which have become the hotbeds of secessionist activity. If the country has to see a lasting solution to these kinds of insurgent attacks, then it has to carry out combing operations not just in the Naxal infested tribal areas but also in the varsities known to be the breeding centres for these anti-national ideologies and activities. Maoists have long before captured many of the vantage positions in varsities like JNU and media where they continue their hoodwinking and influencing neutral minds without any check. These positions not only give them access to many young and fresh minds to be brainwashed, but also provide them their sustenance from the very state which they want to liquidate.  It is these breeding centres which incite innocent youngsters into fight against the Indian state. It is these breeding centres which with their contrived tales about our Ithihasas and Puranas, denigrate Hinduism, as they view it as their prime enemy. They foist tales to make Goddess Durga  as a scheming, fair-skinned, upper-caste woman who seduced a dark-skinned Dalit Mahishasura into defeat in a concocted festival that was named Mahishasur Shahadat Divas (Mahishasur Martyrdom Day). The unregistered union DSU does not only call for an armed rebellion against the Indian State. It also incites Dalit students for a civil war as much as it provokes the people of regions affected by Maoist terror. A poster it pasted prominently on the walls of some JNU hostels in 2015 reads: “Build a militant resistance against the mounting atrocities on Dalits.”

Maoist sympathizers and recruiters have time and again participated in programs conducted inside the JNU campus to instigate the student community to fight against the state. The administration of the varsities have turned a blind eye to all these kinds of unlawful and anti-national activities goes to prove our suspicion that this foreign funded menace has taken deep roots in our society. Many people think that the Maoist attacks are an uprising of the poor tribal against the rich political class who exploit them. But it is far from the truth. The poor tribal are forced to take up arms against the state by the Maoists. Maoists are against any development happening in the Tribal areas, as they want to stall the progress of our country. So they goad the villagers that their livelihood is being usurped by the development projects, but in reality it actually helps them in their livelihood. They want the tribal people to remain in their present miserable plight, so that they can continue their anti-national agenda by exploiting them. When the Maoists ask a villager to join their forces the villager has no other choice. Millions of tribal who doesn’t want to side with these anti-nationals have got displaced because of that in the last decade. Not many are fighting out of their own volition. If they refuse they will either be displaced or disposed. Fearing this many of the villagers join these Maoist insurgents. It is led by those who got infected by the Maoist plague in varsities like JNU. So choking the fountain head of this degenerate ideology is of utmost importance. All student bodies which identify themselves with the Maoist ideology should be banned and all the funding from foreign bodies to these varsities should be scrutinized and banned if needed. Those who eulogize people like Yakub Memon should be dealt with a stern hand. Along with the combing operations in the Naxal infested areas, these actions are also to be initiated to stop this menace from further bleeding our Nation.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET

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A Motion uncalled for…

The Canadian parliament passed a motion recently which curbs criticism of Islam as a religion. The anti-Islamophobia motion is also referred as the M-103 motion. It got a overwhelming majority of 201 votes in support against 91 who opposed it. This follows the weak kneed approach towards the refugees issue by many of the European countries. When the entire world is calling for a concerted action against the fundamentalist ideologies which threaten the humanity to its brink, this retrograde move comes as a shocker to the international community. This only emphasizes the fact that politicians are of the same ilk, wherever they are, acting against the interests of the humanity. Instead of safeguarding the victims they are siding with the aggressors, the kind of Dhimmitude, towards which all the aggressions are intended. 

Compare this with the plight which Hinduism faces in its birthplace. All sort of adverse inferences are cast against the country’s major religion by the so called liberal free speech votaries. This continues day in and day out, in all spheres and this goes very much unchallenged. In fact a similar motion is needed in our country, not to bar the criticisms, but only to save the much maligned religion, Hinduism from biased mudslinging. The oldest civilsation, is actually in a brittle condition due to continued smear campaign.

Years of exposure to this cesspool of lies have benumbed the general population of our country that they seldom react to such innuendos. Hence, a lie repeated several thousand times gets an exalted position equivalent to truth. Recently a report came about the maligning of Hindu gods in the text books for the fifth standard children, studying in kerala. There was no media discussion about that and as expected the social ramification in response to that report was an often experienced deafening silence. Thus these misdemeanors by the zealots go unabated with the support of media and the powers that be. Even in case  when any rare voice of assertion is raised amidst the stupor in which our society is drenched in, the liberals and the secular media will shout it down from the roof to ensure that such calls for real freedom of speech gets suppressed in the howling raised by them. Remember the noise raised when the name of a road in New Delhi was changed from Aurangazeb to Abdul Kalam? Though both were Muslims, Abdul Kalam was a nationalist and naming a road after him was much to the annoyance of the liberals, that too changing it from their favorite Bigot.  This kind of calumny has been going on in our nation for the last several decades without any opposition. But with the new changing world order a glimmer of light is seen at the far end of the tunnel.  Let our hopes become true, for the sake of Humanity.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET

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Mission has enough space to cover…

Last couple of weeks witnessed some unforgettable moments in our Nation’s history. Some are unforgettable because of the scar they have left and the lessons for the society which has seldom shown the needed alacrity to learn from its mistakes. The mockery of democracy during the course of the power struggle between the convicts and their erstwhile aides, is something which will remain undigested in our minds for a long time to come. The other unforgettable event that happened was the launching of 104 satellites in a single mission. This has shattered the previous record of 37 satellites launched by Russia by a mile.

This moment of national pride and importance was rightly explained by the scientist of ISRO, who said that they are aware that it is not a number game and they are aware that number of satellites launched is not comparable to the runs scored on the cricket field. Our media instead of detailing about the intricacies involved in carrying out such a challenging mission, hyped only on the numbers. There is a lot of engineering innovations required for stacking the tiny satellites in the available space and ejecting them sequentially in the desired orbits without colliding with each other. This is the achievement of ISRO's launch vehicle team that calls for celebration. Not only that, the money earned by carrying them almost halved the launch cost of the PSLV. Buoyant with this success the Chairman of ISRO also said that our country is now ready to setup a space station. It would indeed a real giant leap. All these are made possible by hard working men and women who have nothing else in their pursuit other than excellence. 

See what Sri Sujit Menon, a scientist working with ISRO, has to say about his colleagues. ‘Most of the ISRO employees are ordinary Indians. Most of them did not attend an Ivy League University. Most of them have not graduated from the IITs or the NITs. Most of them do not even have a doctorate. Many of them are from middle class families. Some are even from poor households. I have personally worked under the person responsible for creating ISRO's supercomputer, the SAGA-220 housed at the Vikram Sarabhai Space Center. He has a BSc degree in Mathematics. That's it. No B.Tech, No M.Tech, No PhD, No Post Doc. I have a degree from IIST, a reputed national university. But I'm awestruck at the depth of his intellect.  I asked him how he was able to achieve so much in his career and rise to the highest of ranks. His answer was simple, Perseverance’.

The success of PSLVs, GSLVs, Chandrayaan, Mangalyaan etc that most Indians see on their television screens has been made possible by the consistent hard work of many such individuals. Ordinary people with extraordinary dedication. May their tribe increase.

V.V.Balasubramanian

YB-ET

The Marina Breach…

The Jallikattu protests by the students started of just like the people against corruption movement started By Sri Anna Hazare at New Delhi, and it veered off like just that movement. This should be a lesson for the youngsters who started this with good intentions. It is not just enough to start a movement, but sustaining it in the same avowed path is also more important. The chances of such movements getting hijacked by vested interests are more and those who were in the forefront should have been careful about this. Anybody who has witnessed such democratic protests being exploited by vested interests earlier, like the one happened at Jantar Mantar, New Delhi, would have said that this will also follow suit. The indications were very obvious from the beginning and any sane mind would have recognized it easily. First and foremost was the fact that Jallikattu is a Hindu Tradition, part of the Hindu Festival Pongal, which is also celebrated as Makara Sankaranti all over India was never told by the people who were protesting. They wanted to whip up the linguistic passion of the people of Tamilnadu and were terming this as a Thamizhan Tradition, meaning Tradition belonging to Tamils. They chose to hide the Hindu identity to get support from the Pseudo secular media and the fringe elements. Never ever there was any voice raised against the cattle trafficking which is the reason for the dwindling number of the native cattle in our country. Ban against Cow Slaughter was not a demand by these misguided youths who were protesting. Ban against Cow slaughter is an inherently important issue upon which hinges the future of our Native cattle breeds. The fact that they didn’t do these also gives rise to the doubt whether these anti national elements who hijacked the movement were there right from the beginning, and whether it was they who goaded the youngsters to drop the Hindu identity from their protest. 

This sinister looking start to the movement meant that it surely going to get deviated at a later stage when the anti-national elements feel that they can carry it on by themselves. The mass hysteria of the people of Tamilnadu, who were ignited by the pseudo pride and linguistic jingoism paved an easy way for anti-nationals to percolate inside and poison the crowd. Many Hindus felt that these protests would enable for a concrete action from the government to bring back Jallikattu, which they dearly wanted. So they too turned a blind eye to the dropping of Hindu identity. When the issue was heading towards a plausible solution, the ugly heads of these poisonous minds started showing up. The state government drafted an ordinance, and it was given assent by the Home ministry and then by the Hon’ble president. At that time these usurpers of the movement started asking various other demands which were not there in the beginning. The people who started the movement also resigned themselves from the protests and were booed for that. Slogans against the central and state governments, especially against our Prime Minsiter were raised much to the anguish of the youngsters who were watching all these helplessly. All these could have been avoided had they not shunned their Hindu identity in the beginning, because these anti nationals are also virulent anti hindus and they would never work for a Hindu cause. It was an unholy alliance formed by the leftists, Missionaries, Jihadis and the Pseudo rationalist tamil Jingoists, trying fish in the troubled waters. It is a lesson learnt in a terrible manner for the Hindus in Tamilnadu. But it has also brought out in the open who their enemies are. Hindus have a weird tendency not to learn any lesson from history. Let’s pray to that almighty that it doesn’t happen this time.

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Samartha Bharat

We celebrate Samartha Bharat Parva from 25th December to 12th January. Swami Vivekananda had started his historic meditation of three days on the future of India at the mid-sea rock at Kanyakumari on 25th and 12 January is Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. Swami Vivekananda had harped on the fact that India has to become capable of fulfilling her destined role of guiding the world in spirituality. Therefore, we celebrate this period from 25th December to 12th January as Samartha Bharat Parva focusing in the strength and capability of India and the ways to further enhance it. Samartha Bharat Parva culminates in grand celebration of Swami Vivekananda Jayanti. 

Swamiji said, “The whole world requires Light. It is expectant! India alone has that Light, not in magic mummeries, and charlantism, but in teaching of the glories of the spirit of real religion-of highest spiritual truth. That is why Lord has preserved the race through all its vicissitudes unto the present day. Now the time has come. Have faith that you are all, my brave lads, born to do great things! Let not the barks of puppies frighten you-no, not even the thunderbolts of heaven-but stand up and work… 

Give and take is the law, and if India wants to raise herself once more, it is absolutely necessary that she brings out her treasures and throws them broadcast among the nations of the earth, and in return be ready to receive what others have to give her. Expansion is life, contraction is death. We commenced to die the day we began to hate other races, and nothing can prevent our death unless we come back to expansion, which is life. We must mix, therefore, with all the races of the earth. …Let us calmly and in a manly fashion go to work, instead of dissipating our energy in unnecessary frettings and fumings. I, for one, thoroughly believe that no power in the universe can withhold from any one anything he really deserves. The past was great no doubt, but I sincerely believe that the future will be more glorious still. May Shankara keep us steady in purity, patience and perseverance….

We want thousands of men, and thousands of women, who will spread like wild fire from the Himalayas to Cape Comorin, from the North Pole to the South Pole- all over the world. It is no use indulging in child’s play-neither is there time for it. Let those who have come for child’s play be off now, while there is time, or they will surely come to grief. We want an organization. Off with laziness. Spread! Spread! Run like fire to all places. Do not depend upon me. Whether I live or die go on spreading yourself …When death is so certain it is better to die for a good cause”. 

Thus in the celebrations of Samartha Bharat Parva, we have to organise various functions / camps / exhibitions / programs to reach the youth to give this message. The youth who come in contact with us through written cultural examinations also are to be motivated to celebrate Samartha Bharat Parva or at least the Swami Vivekananda Jayanti in their colleges. By this, they get associated with Kendra. Thus Samartha Bharat Parva is very important period for us to involve all the newly contacted persons in our work and hence, we have to plan properly. 

While sitting at the Rock at Kanyakumari, Swamiji realised his mission of life as to awaken the Hindu Nation which had lost confidence in itself. He decided to talk to the American people about Vedanta, so that if West appreciated it then the educated in India too would turn to it. Due to exploitative British Rule, the people of India were too poor. His compassionate heart also wanted to start some work to help them. Thus, he first went to America with the idea of participating in the Parliament of Religions and for collecting the money for starting some work for the poor in India. The American people responded with great enthusiasm to his exposition of Vedanta. Because of his triumph in America the missionaries undertook vigorous campaign against him. Though it did not affect his popularity, it affected his fund collection. He wrote to Nanjunda Rao, “But you must not depend on any foreign help. Nations like individuals must help themselves. This is real patriotism. If a nation cannot do that, its time has not come. It must wait.” 

But then he found that though his efforts to raise money were frustrated, his triumphant work in America had raised the confidence of India. He observed how West achieved many successes because of organized efforts. He wanted that, rise in self-confidence in India, not to be effervescent but, should lead to some concrete work through organization. For the organization, right types of men are needed. To mould the men to carry forward the work in America he found that he has to put the Vedantic truths in such a way that it moulds character. That was a difficult job. He wrote, “I have succeeded now in rousing the very heart of the American civilization, New York, but it has been a terrific struggle… I have spent nearly all I had on this New York Work and in England. Now things are in such a shape that they will go on. Then you see, to put the Hindu ideas into English and then make out of dry philosophy and intricate mythology and queer startling psychology, a religion which shall be easy, simple and popular, and at the same time meet the requirement of the higher minds - is a task only those can understand who have attempted it.” 

While attempting to take the Vedanta to the modern mind higher purpose of his birth as hinted by Sri Ramakrishna became clearer to him. In one of his letters he wrote about it- “The dry Advaita must become living -poetic- in everyday life; out of hopelessly intricate mythology must come concrete moral forms; and out of bewildering Yogi-ism must come the most scientific and practical psychology-and all this must be put in a form so that a child may grasp it. That is my life’s work.”

It is this work of Swami Vivekananda of ‘making Vedanta practical’ that we are carrying forward. Vivekananda Kendra has to do this work of Swamiji to spread the message of Practical Vedanta. Practical Vedanta in other words is the Yoga way of life. Therefore, Mananeeya Eknathji chose Yoga as the core of Vivekananda Kendra as said in our Prarthana - Karmayogaikanishtha. Our Kendra Prarthana enshrines most of the key points of how Vedanta can be practiced. Eknathji founded Vivekananda Kendra to focus on these life-giving principles and work accordingly in life. 

The prayer starts with Jaya Jaya Paramatman – victory to God. At every moment in our life, we have to choose. Our each action either elevates us or makes us more selfish or narrow. Jaya Jaya Paramatman means exercising our choice of action in the interest of the Samashti i.e. collectives like family, society, nation and the whole creation in such a way that we are elevated; the Divinity in us is more evident. Swami Vivekananda said in ‘Common Bases of Hinduism’, ‘And then comes the most differentiating, the grandest, and the most wonderful discovery in the realms of spirituality that has ever been made. Some of you, perhaps, who have been studying Western thought, may have observed already that there is another radical difference severing at one stroke all that is Western from all that is Eastern. It is this that we …hold in India that the soul is by its nature pure and perfect, infinite in power and blessed.’ This is what we remind ourselves in our prayer as ‘Vayam suputra amritasya noonam’. We can see that each line of our Prayer is to focus on the great Vedantic principles which Swamiji wanted us to practice. Thus not mere chanting the prayer everyday but also contemplating on it and practicing it in our life would make our society strong and capable to fulfill the purpose of India. 

During Samartha Bharat Parva, the Kalpataru Day is also celebrated on 1 January the day Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa granted his devotees whatever they wanted. Swami Vivekananda says that Sri Ramakrishna was born to protect our Hindu Dharma and Hindu society. Therefore, our society should emerge as Kalpataru, which would fulfill the needs of all the individuals. And what is methodology? Our prayer gives it beautifully – Jeevane Yavadadanam syat pradanam tatodhikam Let give far more than what we receive. 

Swami Vivekananda awakened the soul of India. When Swamiji returned from America in 1897, he was given a rousing welcome, - a welcome no one has received till now. It was as if the soul of India had returned to moribund Indians. Today we need to give a rousing welcome to his ideas in our heart and raise our land through organized work, to make India a capable nation – Samartha Bharat. We have to make the Vedanta simple and practical. Being one with the Chaitanya / Divinity pervading everywhere and employing the body-mind complex in the service of the divinity expressed through family, community, society, nation and the whole creation – Nishkama buddhyaarta vipanna seva vibho tav aaradhanam asmadiyam- is the meaning of Practical Vedanta or Yoga way of life. This is what we are working for raising the world to the higher consciousness for spiritual evolution. Today, this work initiated by Swami Vivekananda is the need of the hour for the whole world. Therefore, our celebrations of Vivekananda Jayanti, which is the concluding program of Samartha Bharat Parva, should be a very grand and purposeful involving many persons at all strata of the society. 

Nivedita Raghunath Bhide