Velandy Manohar, MD.,
Distinguished Life Fellow, Am. Psychiatric Association
I.
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan | Self-reliant India Campaign (investindia.gov.in) Essentially Swami Vivekananda spoke about Atma Nirbhar emphatically it can be summarized thus, “ Stand up on your own feet” Atma Nirbhar policy resonates with these verses from Katha Upanishad
a. First build up your own physique. Then only you can get control over the mind. “नायमात्मा बलहीनेन लभ्य:– this Self is not to be attained by the weak” (Katha Upanishad, I.ii.23).
b. उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्राप्य वरान्निबोधत,
क्षुरासन्न धारा निशिता दुरत्यद्दुर्गम पथ: तत् कवयो वदन्ति |Uttishta Jagrata Prapya Varannibodhata,Kshurasanna Dhara Nishita Durataya durgama Pathah tat kavayo Vadanti I.3.14
“Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn, Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path, so the wise say—hard to tread and difficult to cross.” Sri Shankara’s Commentary (Bhashya) translated by S. Sitarama Sastri
c. Srimad Bhagavad Gita Discourse II, V 1,2,3. Sanjaya said, ‘To him, who was thus overcome with pity and afflicted, and whose eyes were full of tears…the destroyer of Madhu spoke as follows. The Blessed Lord said, “Whence in this perilous strait has come upon thee in this weakness cherished by the unworthy, debarring from heaven and causing disgrace, o Arjuna,. “Yield not to unmanliness, O son of Pritha. It does not become Thee.” “…Cast off this base weakness of heart and arise, O ’ tormentor of foes.” Thus started the journey from Vishad that enveloped the mighty Arjuna to enlightenment and transcendence as preserved for posterity in Chapter XVIII is revealed in verse 72, when he answered Bhagawan Sri Krishna ‘s question in Verse 71, “… Has your delusion of ignorance been destroyed, O Dhananjaya, Arjuna recorded this uplifting grateful response from Arjuna which had profound influence on the course and outcome of Kurukshetra/Dharmakshetra.” Destroyed is delusion, and I have gained recognition through thy grace, O Achyuta. I am firm with doubts gone; I will do They word. Thus, the descendent of Bharata is ready to initiate and prosecute his Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan because his self-reliance has been restored and he is ready to do his [Arjuna’s ] duty as a warrior. These notations are derived from the translation of Adi Shankara Acharya Bhagavata’s Bhashya of Srimad Bhagvad Gita by Sri Alladi, Mahadeva Sastri.
d. The outside back cover of the Sri Ramanuja Gita Bhasya Translated by Swami Adidevananda has Verses 2 and 3 of the Second discourse of the Srimad Bhagawad Gita printed in Sanskrit with English Translation. That is remarkable in itself because these two momentous verses, the first two spoken by Bhagawan Sri Krishna addressing the Despondency of Arjuna were selected from the 700 total verses published in the aggregate in the full 18 Chapters. Swami Vivekananda was drawn to this and spoke about these concerns repeatedly as he addressed people all over the world and in all parts of India irrespective of the religious backgrounds of his audience.
e. Verse 37. Bhagawan Sri Krishna provides this injunction and offers advice on entering the battle and performing his duty as person of the Kshatriya traditions
हतो वा प्राप्स्यसि स्वर्गं जित्वा वा भोक्ष्यसे महीम् |
तस्मादुत्तिष्ठ कौन्तेय युद्धाय कृतनिश्चय: || 37||hato vā prāpsyasi swargaṁ jitvā vā bhokṣhyase mahim, tasmād uttiṣhṭha kaunteya yuddhāya kṛita-niśhchayaḥ
“Killed, thou wilt reach heaven; victorious thou wilt enjoy the earth. Wherefore, O Son of Kunti arise, resolved to fight. Srimad Adi Shankaracharya Bhashya. Translated by Alladi Mahadeva Sastry”
Bhagwan Sri Krishna offers the great descendent of Bharata Arjuna these supportive insights in Discourse II, Verses: 30. […the embodied Self can never be killed…] Verse 31 [… Regarding your own duty, thou ought not to waiver…] Verse 33. […then having abandoned thine own duty and fame, thou shalt incur sin.] Verse 34. [ … for one who has been esteemed, infamy is worse than death. These verses precede the powerful exhortation in Verse 37. These notations are derived from the translation of Adi Shankara Acharya Bhagavata’s Bhashya of Srimad Bhagvad Gita by Sri Alladi, Mahadeva Sastri.
II.
47 quotes by swami vivekananda - Bing images
Quotes by Swami Vivekananda
Swami Vivekananda spoke of the power of faith: ‘
He spoke of the power of faith: 'The history of the world is the history of a few men who had faith in themselves. That faith calls out the inner divinity. You can do anything. You fail only when you do not strive sufficiently to manifest infinite power. As soon as a man loses faith in himself, death comes. Believe first in yourself and then in God. A handful of strong men will move the world. We need a heart to feel, a brain to conceive, and a strong arm to do the work....One man contains within him the whole universe. One particle of matter has all the energy of the universe at its back. In a conflict between the heart and the brain, follow your heart.
Where will you go to seek Brahman? He is immanent in all beings. Here, here is the visible Brahman! Shame on those who, neglecting the visible Brahman, set their minds on other things! Here is the visible Brahman before you as tangible as a fruit in one's hand! Can't you see? Here — here — is Brahman!'
To these precepts I wish to add, Bapu’s Screening process: a. Before you do anything, stop and recall the face of the poorest, most helpless destitute person you have seen and ask yourself this, “Is what I am about to do going to help him.” b. “My notion of democracy is that under it the weakest shall have the same opportunities as the strongest…No country in the world today shows any but patronizing regard for the weak...True democracy cannot be worked by twenty men sitting at the center. It has to be worked from below, by the people of every village.” c” Even if you are a minority of one, the Truth is the Truth. Our Poojya Pradhan Mantri Modiji knows all about this last circumstances especially with respect to his interaction with the USA. He is the first and only Indian leader to address the Congress of the USA twice and is welcome as major protagonist for democratic nations of the world with the fifth largest Economy with fastest growth rate and over 3 Trillion economy. VM
III.
Why Swami Vivekananda's 1893 Chicago Speech Needs To Be Looked Up Today (ndtv.com)
Sisters and Brothers of America,
It fills my heart with joy unspeakable to rise in response to the warm and cordial welcome which you have given us. I thank you in the name of the most ancient order of monks in the world; I thank you in the name of the mother of religions, and I thank you in the name of millions and millions of Hindu people of all classes and sects.
"We believe not only in universal toleration, but accept all religions as true."
My thanks, also, to some of the speakers on this platform who, referring to the delegates from the Orient, have told you that these men from far-off nations may well claim the honor of bearing to different lands the idea of toleration. I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to Southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny. I am proud to belong to the religion which has sheltered and is still fostering the remnant of the grand Zoroastrian nation. I will quote to you, brethren, a few lines from a hymn which I remember to have repeated from my earliest boyhood, which is every day repeated by millions of human beings: "As the different streams having their sources in different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead to Thee." [This is similar to a verse from Shiva Mahimna Stotram] I will be glad to provide the text.VM]
When Swami Vivekananda quoted the Gita while talking about religion at the parliament: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him." Discourse IV, Verse 11.
The present convention, which is one of the most august assemblies ever held, is in itself a vindication, a declaration to the world of the wonderful doctrine preached in the Gita: "Whosoever comes to Me, through whatsoever form, I reach him; all men are struggling through paths which in the end lead to me." Sectarianism, bigotry, and its horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now. But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal.
Chicago, September 27, 1893
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world, it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written in spite of resistance: "Help and not fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."
IV
"Stand up and. . ." — Swami Vivekananda's Suggestions - VivekaVani
“Stand up and. . .” — Swami Vivekananda’s Suggestions
OCTOBER 4, 2019 By VIVEKAVANI
In this article you’ll find a collection of Swami Vivekananda‘s quotations where he asked to stand up and [. . . to do something]. All/most of these quotations are inspiring and motivational. Bhagwan Sri Krishna at the start of the Second Discourse addresses the challenge posed by deep despondency Arjuna had slipped into and left the chariot after dropping his mighty Gandiva Bow at the end of Chapter I.
• All power is there. Stand up and express the divinity within you.
• All weakness, all bondage is imagination. Speak one word to it, it must vanish. Do not weaken! There is no other way out…. Stand up and be strong! No fear. No superstition. Face the truth as it is! If death comes — that is the worst of our miseries — let it come! We are determined to die game. That is all the religion I know. I have not attained it, but I am struggling to do it. I may not, but you may. Go on!
• Arise! Awake! Stand up and fight! Die if you must. There is none to help you. You are all the world. Who can help you?
• Be strong and stand up and seek the God of Love. This is the highest strength.
• Have faith, as Nachiketa. At the time of his father’s sacrifice, faith came unto Nachiketa; ay, I wish that faith would come to each of you; and every one of you would stand up a giant, a world-mover with a gigantic intellect — an infinite God in every respect. That is what I want you to become. This is the strength that you get from the Upanishads, this is the faith that you get from there.
• Strength, O man, strength, say the Upanishads, stand up and be strong. Ay, it is the only literature in the world where you find the word “Abhih”, “fearless”, used again and again; in no other scripture in the world is this adjective applied either to God or to man. Abhih, fearless.
• The awakening of the soul to its bondage and its effort to stand up and assert itself — this is called Life.
• The Bhakta should be ready to stand up and say, “I do not want anything from you, Lord, but if you need anything from me I am ready to give.
• The Gita opens with this very significant verse: “Arise, O Prince! Give up this faint-heartedness, this weakness! Stand up and fight!”[ Discourse II. Verses 2-3 SBG
• The greatest sin is to think yourself weak. No one is greater: realise you are Brahman. Nothing has power except what you give it. Teach the Godhood of man. Deny evil, create none. …We forge the chain, and we alone can break it.
• What makes a man stand up and work? Strength. Strength is goodness, weakness is sin. If there is one word that you find coming out like a bomb from the Upanishads, bursting like a bomb-shell upon masses of ignorance, it is the word fearlessness.
• You are all Sons of God, immortal spirit. “Know”, he declared, “the Kingdom of Heaven is within you.” “I and my Father are one.” [Jivo Brahmaiva Naparah. Adi Shankaracharya] Dare you stand up and say, not only that “I am the Son of God”, but I shall also find in my heart of hearts that “I and my Father are one”? That was what Jesus of Nazareth said. He never talks of this world and of this life. He has nothing to do with it, except that he wants to get hold of the world as it is, give it a push and drive it forward and onward until the whole world has reached to the effulgent Light of God, until everyone has realised his spiritual nature, until death is vanquished, and misery banished.
Another concept that moves my decisions and choices: अष्टादशपुराणेषु व्यासस्य वचनद्वयम् ।परोपकारः पुण्याय पापाय परपीडनम् ॥ Paropakara Punyaya, papaya pari pidhanam: Aṣṭādaśapurāṇeṣu vyāsasya vacanadvayam | paropakāraḥ puṇyāya pāpāya parapīḍanam || In the course of the eighteen Purāṇas, the sage Vyāsa has made two (very fine) statements: doing help to others results in religious merit, doing injury to others brings about sin
V.
Main article: “Stand up on your own feet”
Stand up on your own feet”
• All must struggle to be individuals— strong, standing on your own feet, thinking your own thoughts, realising your own Self. No use swallowing doctrines others pass on—standing up together like soldiers in jail, sitting down together, all eating the same food, all nodding their heads at the same time. Variation is the sign of life. Sameness is the sign of death
• By education I do not mean the present system, but something in the line of positive teaching. Mere book-learning won’t do. We want that education by which character is formed, strength of mind is increased, the intellect is expanded, and by which one can stand on one’s own feet.
First make the people of the country stand on their legs by rousing their inner power, first let them learn to have good food and clothes and plenty of enjoyment — then tell them how to be free from this bondage of enjoyment.
The Five S’s campaign of Mahatma Gandhiji identified the and addressed this deep dire need. Swaraj, Swadeshi, Satya, Satyagraha, and Sarvodaya steadfastly securely, and unwaveringly anchored in A-hinsa [Non-violence] in one’s life can engender the darshan of Mahatma Gandhi. I had spoken about these at the Mark Twain House on Sunday May 21st while speaking in your gracious presence Hon Consul General R. Jaiswal
VI.
Arise, Awake, And Stop Not Till The Goal Is Reached - VivekaVani
The verse Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached has its origin in Katha Upanishad. In Katha Upanishad, chapter 1.3.14, we see Yama suggesting Nachiketa—
उत्तिष्ठत जाग्रत प्रपश्ये वरान्निबोधत,
क्षुरासन्न धारा निशिता दुरत्यद्दुर्गम अथ: तत् कवयो वदन्ति |It means—
Arise! Awake! Approach the great and learn.
Like the sharp edge of a razor is that path,
so the wise say−hard to tread and difficult to cross. 1.iii.14 Katha Upanishad.
We find this verse many times in the works and writings of Swami Vivekananda. Now, let’s make a collection of Swami Vivekananda‘s direct quotes on Arise, awake, and stop not till the goal is reached.
You are the Pure One; awake and arise, O Mighty one, this sleep does not become you. It does not befit you. Think not that you are weak and miserable. Almighty, arise and awake, and manifest your own nature” “Address the Imperishable Brahman within you and manifest that True nature, which is omnipresent, omniscient and omnipotent. “VM.
VII
Swami Vivekananda's Quotes On Katha Upanishad and Nachiketa - VivekaVani. Very helpful notes on the Katha Upanishad. VM
I humbly offer these great truths which have been very nourishing to me. I welcome your responses.
More related posts are accessible on my website: velandymanoharmd.com
Velandy Manohar, MD.,
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