Inspired Living - आत्म चिन्तन

12.01.25 08:58 AM

Swami Shantatmananda shares why he is inspired by Swami Vivekananda

Dhruv Tara
By Neha Phull from Bangalore
Can you wait, O’ hummingbird before you fly off to yet another branch, 
With wings as the motion of the ticking clock, 
You take flight when the pendulum strikes the hour… The moments are passing; it is time to feed, earn & rest… 
I ask you, O’ hummingbird, can you give me another hour at best… 
 There I see another book lying on my shelf, 
 It has the solemn words, the tales of a Hero, 
The tales that tell me of the Truths, 
Fundamental & profound hidden in plain sight, 
The truths that the heart has been unknowingly seeking all its life… 
 The heart is unfolding and there stands a manly figure, 
 Draped in simplicity, love and a vision that makes it shiver… 
That Hero has unpacked the very fabric of this world, Peeling layer after layer of truths, he has my heart in his fold… 
Introducing one to oneself, exclaiming aloud our divine nature, 
That Role Model is the subject of these books which the heart is yet to nurture… 
The heart’s yearning surges with the ticking clock, 
O’ hummingbird, you are time itself, can you not give me that hour? 
This short life is not enough, to know who that Ideal was, 
Where do I even begin to follow his footprints, 
Whose glories the world sings, still at the shores of this ocean I sprint… 
Dhruv Tara as I call him, 
If it wasn’t for him, I would still be wandering...

विवेक पथ
By Shipi Sharma from Gurugram
माना अंधकार घना गहरा है
भ्रम, माया का भी पहरा है
भय निराशा के बादल हैं 
अवसादों ने तुमको घेरा है 
ध्यान ,ज्ञान, अनुशासन बल से
निर्णय तुमको करना होगा 
विवेक पथ चलना होगा....
सुखद, सहज, सरल ना होगा 
मन इच्छित फल ना होगा 
है आज असंभव, दुष्कर लगता जो 
कार्य कठिन वह कल ना होगा 
त्याग कर निज स्वार्थ हितों को 
परमार्थ रत होना होगा 
विवेक पथ चलना होगा ....
नई चुनौतियां, नई विपत्ति
पल-पल बदले समय, स्थिति
साहस, धैर्य ,विश्वास ना खोना
है शास्त्र सम्मत यही सुनीति
सेवा- धर्म ही शाश्वत सत्य 
इनसें चरित्र घड़ना होगा 
विवेक पथ चलना होगा....

Water colour and charcoal sketch by Saswati Ghosh

Eternal Inspiration: My Ode to Vivekananda


By Saswati Ghosh from Delhi

When I began to teach, unsure and afraid,
Your words lit my path, the doubts allayed.
"Arise, awake," your call to the soul,
Ignited my heart, made my purpose whole.
“Each soul is divine,” you whispered to me,
And unlocked the teacher I was meant to be.
You taught me to serve, to strive, to inspire,
To nurture young minds with a sacred fire.
Today, on your day, I bow with my heart,
For you shaped my journey, gave it a start.
O Swamiji , your wisdom, your vision, your flame,
Forever will guide me to honour your name.
Swami Vivekananda has inspired great thinkers and doers. Can you guess who said this?
​(You can click on the tabs below to reveal the answer!)
"If you want to know India, study Vivekananda. In him everything is positive and nothing negative."

Rabindranath Tagore

“Twelve centuries ago Sankaracharya was the only great personality, who not only spoke of the purity of our religion, not only uttered in words that this religion was our strength and wealth, not only said that it was our sacred duty to preach this religion in the length and breadth of the world – but also brought all this into action. Swami Vivekananda is a person of that stature"

Bal Gangadhar Tilak

“I have come here to pay my homage and respect to the revered memory of Swami Vivekananda, whose birthday is being celebrated today. I have gone through his works very thoroughly, and after having gone through them, the love that I had for my country became a thousand-fold. I ask you, young men, not to go away empty-handed without imbibing something of the spirit of the place where Swami Vivekananda lived and died.”

Mahatma Gandhi

Who considered Vivekananda as his spiritual teacher? Who called Vivekananda a "full-blooded masculine personality – and a fighter to the core of being"?

Subhash Chandra Bose

"Vivekananda was a soul of puissance (a person who can jump over obstacles) if ever there was one, a very lion among men, but the definite work he has left behind is quite incommensurate with our impression of his creative might and energy."

Sri Aurobindo

Listen to a soulful rendering of a hymn inspired by Swami Vivekananda

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This song 'Vande Vivekanandam' is sung by Sritama Roy from Ranchi. Sritama writes, "This song has been composed by Pr. Satyabrataprana Mataji, Headmistress of Ramakrishna Sarada Mission Sister Nivedita Girl's School Secondary (5-12) section. The school is in Bagbazar, Kolkata, which was inaugurated by Shree Shree Maa in 1898, 13th Nov, in the presence of Sister Nivedita and Swamiji Vivekananda."

Attributions
  • Hummingbird flying towards a flower in search of nectar by Rohan Dahotre, for All About Beaks written by Rohan Dahotre, supported by Sofina Covid Solidarity Fund, published by Pratham Books (© Pratham Books, 2021) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in
  • Walking by Maithili Joshi, for অতিথি written by Rabindranath Tagore, published by StoryWeaver (© StoryWeaver, 2020) under a CC BY 4.0 license on StoryWeaver. Read, create and translate stories for free on www.storyweaver.org.in
  • Rabindranath Tagore - Cherishsantosh, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Bal Gangadhar Tilak - Paper Jewels, CC BY 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Mahatma Gandhi - google, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Subhash Chandra Bose - 2130779joshitha.n, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
  • Sri Aurobindo - Rudolf 1922, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

RKM GURUGRAM