Little Biley, born to a learned lawyer father Vishwanath Dutta and devout home-maker mother Bhuvaneswari Devi in Calcutta on the 12th of January, 1863, was a naughty kid who was hard to manage in his early childhood days.
His extraordinary restlessness which at times went beyond control, made his mother say, “I prayed to Shiva for a son and He has sent me one of His demons”.
When this boy, who is also known to the world as Narendranath Dutta, started attending school at the age of seven, he displayed exceptional intelligence.
As Narendranath grew older, a definite change in his temperament became noticeable. He showed a preference for intellectual pursuits.
Meditation was a constant in his life. Narendranath who came to be known as Swami Vivekananda stressed on practising meditation as it increases the power of mind “Meditation is a sort of prayer and prayer is meditation. The highest meditation is to think of nothing. If you can remain one moment without thought, great power will come” he said.
Vivekananda denounced bookish knowledge and information-gathering in the name of education and called for a “life-building, character-forming assimilation of ideas”.
He urged youngsters to play games more often than reading spiritual books. He had said, “You will be nearer to heaven playing football than through the study of Gita”. Swamiji’s message underlined the importance of sports and fitness in character building, instilling team spirit, optimistic attitude and build self confidence.
Swami Vivekananda said, “Strength is life, weakness is death”. Youngsters with strength of character will bring about progress of a nation in the future.
Swamiji’s teachings and thoughts are a guiding light for the youth. His famous message – “Arise, Awake and Stop Not Till the Goal is Reached” remains a clarion call for all times to come.
(Contributed by Sriyanka Chatterjee, PIB Mumbai)
MD/BPost/VII
ON THIS DAY 