Swami Vivekananda's Contribution to Humanity
Vivekananda’s contributions to World Culture
Making
an objective assessment of Swami Vivekananda’s contributions to world culture,
the eminent British historian A L Basham stated that “in centuries to
come, he will be remembered as one of the main moulders of the modern world…”
Some of the main contributions that Swamiji made to the modern world are
mentioned below.
New Understanding of Religion
One of the most significant
contributions of Swami Vivekananda to the modern world is his interpretation of
religion as a universal experience of transcendent Reality, common to all
humanity. Swamiji met the challenge of modern science by showing that
religion is as scientific as science itself; religion is the ‘science of
consciousness’. As such, religion and science are not contradictory to
each other but are complementary.
This
universal conception frees religion from the hold of superstitions, dogmatism,
priestcraft and intolerance, and makes religion the highest and noblest pursuit
– the pursuit of supreme Freedom, supreme Knowledge, supreme Happiness.
New View of Man
Vivekananda’s concept of ‘potential divinity of
the soul’ gives a new, ennobling concept of man. The present age is the
age of humanism which holds that man should be the chief concern and centre of
all activities and thinking. Through science and technology man has
attained great prosperity and power, and modern methods of communication and
travel have converted human society into a ‘global village’. But the
degradation of man has also been going on apace, as witnessed by the enormous
increase in broken homes, immorality, violence, crime, etc. in modern
society. Vivekananda’s concept of potential divinity of the soul prevents
this degradation, divinizes human relationships, and makes life meaningful and
worth living. Swamiji has laid the foundation for ‘spiritual humanism’,
which is manifesting itself through several neo-humanistic movements and the
current interest in meditation, Zen etc all over the world.
New Principle of Morality and Ethics
The prevalent
morality, in both individual life and social life, is mostly based on fear –
fear of the police, fear of public ridicule, fear of God’s punishment, fear of
Karma, and so on. The current theories of ethics also do not explain why
a person should be moral and be good to others. Vivekananda has given a
new theory of ethics and new principle of morality based on the intrinsic
purity and oneness of the Atman. We should be pure because purity is our
real nature, our true divine Self or Atman. Similarly, we should love and
serve our neighbours because we are all one in the Supreme Spirit known as
Paramatman or Brahman.
Bridge between the East and the West
Another great
contribution of Swami Vivekananda was to build a bridge between Indian culture
and Western culture. He did it by interpreting Hindu scriptures and
philosophy and the Hindu way of life and institutions to the Western people in
an idiom which they could understand. He made the Western people realize
that they had to learn much from Indian spirituality for their own
well-being. He showed that, in spite of her poverty and backwardness,
India had a great contribution to make to world culture. In this way he
was instrumental in ending India’s cultural isolation from the rest of the
world. He was India’s first great cultural ambassador to the West.
On
the other hand, Swamiji’s interpretation of ancient Hindu scriptures,
philosophy, institutions, etc prepared the mind of Indians to accept and apply
in practical life two best elements of Western culture, namely science and
technology and humanism. Swamiji has taught Indians how to master Western
science and technology and at the same time develop spiritually. Swamiji
has also taught Indians how to adapt Western humanism (especially the ideas of
individual freedom, social equality and justice and respect for women) to
Indian ethos.
Swamiji’s Contributions to India
In spite of her innumerable linguistic, ethnic, historical and regional
diversities, India has had from time immemorial a strong sense of cultural
unity. It was, however, Swami Vivekananda who revealed the true
foundations of this culture and thus clearly defined and strengthened the sense
of unity as a nation.
Swamiji
gave Indians proper understanding of their country’s great spiritual heritage
and thus gave them pride in their past.
Furthermore,
he pointed out to Indians the drawbacks of Western culture and the need for
India’s contribution to overcome these drawbacks. In this way Swamiji
made India a nation with a global mission.
Sense
of unity, pride in the past, sense of mission – these were the factors which
gave real strength and purpose to India’s nationalist movement. Several
eminent leaders of India’s freedom movement have acknowledged their
indebtedness to Swamiji. Free India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal
Nehru wrote: “Rooted in the past, full of pride in India’s prestige,
Vivekananda was yet modern in his approach to life’s problems, and was a kind
of bridge between the past of India and her present … he came as a tonic to the
depressed and demoralized Hindu mind and gave it self-reliance and some roots
in the past.” Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose wrote: “Swamiji
harmonized the East and the West, religion and science, past and present.
And that is why he is great. Our countrymen have gained unprecedented
self-respect, self-reliance and self-assertion from his teachings.”
Swamiji’s
most unique contribution to the creation of new India was to open the minds of
Indians to their duty to the downtrodden masses. Long before the ideas of
Karl Marx were known in India, Swamiji spoke about the role of the labouring
classes in the production of the country’s wealth. Swamiji was the first
religious leader in India to speak for the masses, formulate a definite
philosophy of service, and organize large-scale social service.
Swamiji’s Contributions to Hinduism
Identity
It was Swami Vivekananda who gave to Hinduism as
a whole a clear-cut identity, a distinct profile. Before Swamiji came
Hinduism was a loose confederation of many different sects. Swamiji was
the first religious leader to speak about the common bases of Hinduism and the
common ground of all sects. He was the first person, as guided by his Master
Sri Ramakrishna, to accept all Hindu doctrines and the views of all Hindu
philosophers and sects as different aspects of one total view of Reality and
way of life known as Hinduism. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in giving
Hinduism its distinct identity, Sister Nivedita wrote: “… it may be said
that when he began to speak it was of ‘the religious ideas of the Hindus’, but
when he ended, Hinduism had been created.”
Unification
Before Swamiji came, there was a lot of quarrel and competition among the
various sects of Hinduism. Similarly, the protagonists of different
systems and schools of philosophy were claiming their views to be the only true
and valid ones. By applying Sri Ramakrishna’s doctrine of Harmony (Samanvaya)
Swamiji brought about an overall unification of Hinduism on the basis of the
principle of unity in diversity. Speaking about Swamiji’s role in this
field K M Pannikar, the eminent historian and diplomat, wrote: “This new
Shankaracharya may well be claimed to be a unifier of Hindu ideology.”
Defence
Another important service rendered by Swamiji was
to raise his voice in defence of Hinduism. In fact, this was one of the
main types of work he did in the West. Christian missionary propaganda
had given a wrong understanding of Hinduism and India in Western minds.
Swamiji had to face a lot of opposition in his attempts to defend Hinduism.
Meeting the Challenges
At the end of the 19th century,
India in general, and Hinduism in particular, faced grave challenges from
Western materialistic life, the ideas of Western free society, and the
proselytizing activities of Christians. Vivekananda met these
challenges by integrating the best elements of Western culture in Hindu
culture.
New Ideal of Monasticism
A major contribution of Vivekananda to
Hinduism is the rejuvenation and modernization of monasticism. In this
new monastic ideal, followed in the Ramakrishna Order, the ancient principles
of renunciation and God realization are combined with service to God in man (Shiva
jnane jiva seva). Vivekananda elevated social service to the status
of divine service.
Refurbishing of Hindu Philosophy and Religious Doctrines
Vivekananda did not
merely interpret ancient Hindu scriptures and philosophical ideas in terms of
modern thought. He also added several illuminating original concepts
based on his own transcendental experiences and vision of the future.
This, however, needs a detailed study of Hindu philosophy which cannot be
attempted here.
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