FREEDOM – What does it mean for India?:Yuva Bharati August 2026

History of India is not history of defeats as generally shown to us. It is true that because of India’s tremendous treasury of wealth, the nation had to undergo lot of foreign invasions, like Mughals, French, British etc.. But yet, she has not lost her identity. Initially we might have lost, but never accepted our defeat.  Countless people sacrificed their lives for freedom, they dedicated their entire youth, spent their lives in prisons, and embraced the gallows, not for personal gains but for freedom of India, for the freedom of crores of people. We fought back and won our freedom. Thus, Mother Bharat struggled – not defeated - till she emerged victorious.

What could be the reason that India is able to keep its culture vibrant and intact, despite of these numerous invasions, when other old civilizations like Greeks, Romaniyan and African could not? It is the feeling of Oneness – despite the diversity spanning from Kanyakumari to Himalayas – that lies deeply rooted in the heart of every Indian. It was then the time that our freedom of speech and writing freedom – even to express this Oneness - were suppressed, selfless sacrifices and struggles of our freedom fighters secured our independence.

In the seventy-nine years since gaining independence, the question is whether we are truly making proper use of this freedom for our individual growth and the development of the nation. What should be this freedom be like? As we already know, each nation has a destiny to fulfill. Swami Vivekananda gave a rousing call, “Up, India, Conquer the world with your spirituality”. True spiritual conquest is not about dominion; it is about selfless service and elevating humanity by taking up the message of ‘Oneness’ throughout the world. Each individual has the power to be a beacon of light wherever they are to spread this message of ‘Potential divinity’ within us. “I shall inspire men everywhere, until the world shall know that it is one with God” declared Swami Vivekananda. The freedom that we got has to help us to achieve this Goal.

But today, as we are immersed in Western culture, we are thinking that freedom is for our self-enjoyment. Freedom is not for sense enjoyment or for an individualistic life at the cost of harmony to other collectives. That is no freedom at all. It turns out ultimately as being a slave of senses resulting in addiction, selfishness, non-contributory life. The freedom we are talking about is that freedom in which all freedoms are inherent and that is the freedom to choose the path by which a person can express best, contribute his/her best in the interest of the collectives like family, society, nation and universe.

Ours is neither political independence nor social independence like other countries, but spiritual independence i.e Mukti, becoming one with God. But, being immersed in the Western culture, we think that our freedom lies in individual freedom like eating whatever we want, dress in anyway, becoming addict to drugs, spending endless time with Mobiles, exploiting nature etc.. It is extremely dangerous to continue with this kind of freedom, even after witnessing the hardships ordinary people endure under regimes like the Taliban, including restrictions on education, imposition of religious doctrines, dress codes etc.. Similarly, it is extremely dangerous to continue exploiting nature without restraint, even after witnessing the sudden earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions, storms and cyclones occurring in all countries due to climatic change, which in turn is due to the exploitation of nature.

So, let us see the tasks we must undertake by properly utilizing the freedom, through which the vision of oneness and values are internalized and practiced and Mother Bharat becomes “Viswa Guru”:

·       Eliminating harmful foods and consuming traditional and organic foods which fosters a ‘Satvik’ state.

·       Both men and women should understand the concept of freedom in attire and avoid cloths that leads to cultural degradation.

·       Not becoming addict to TV, Mobile, Computer etc.. and use them solely as instruments for our mundane and spiritual progress.

·       Maintaining self and environmental cleanliness; Disposing garbage and wastes properly.

·       Preserving the family system and caring for parents. We have to understand that in no way our personal freedom is getting affected. In fact, the family system enables us to save on essentials such as food, clothing and housing. Studies confirm that the family system is the very backbone of our economic growth. The savings generated within joint families determine our nation’s overall economic progress.

·       “Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man” says Swami Vivekananda. True freedom lies in shaping our lives with the realization that we can achieve success in any chosen field, that luxury individual greed are not the goals of our nation, and that living for others is truly a means to bring out our divine nature. We must have freedom to choose our education accordingly.

·       In India, we have more than 7000 Castes (Jathis) and people from various religions. While we observe our own caste and religious identities, we also must refrain ourselves from interfering with the religious freedom of others or engaging in activities such as religious conversion etc..

If we utilize the freedom in the manner that is described above, there is no doubt that our culture will be preserved for ever and our country will soon become the ‘Vishwa Guru’, while simultaneously imparting the message of ‘ Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ (The world is one family) to humanity.

            

                                                                                                    A.P. Sundar

                                                                                                        YB-ET