The following quote by Swami Vivekananda has always been one that really interested and motivated me, though I think it is one that merits discussion:
“This life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive”
Tonight, I decided to find the context of the quote, so that it might provide some sort of background into what he meant.
The quote comes from a letter to the Maharaja of Mysore, in 1984, about his duty to the masses. Here is the text of the letter, as found in the Prose Writings section of Volume 4 of the Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. I have bolded portions that sparked my interest — I’m really interested in knowing what you all think of the passage!
Shri Narayana bless you and yours. Through your Highness’ kind help it has been possible for me to come to this country. Since then, I have become well known here, and the hospitable people of this country have supplied all my wants. It is a wonderful country and this is a wonderful nation in many respects …
Nowhere on earth have women so many privileges as in America. They are slowly taking everything into their hands; and, strange to say, the number of cultured women is much greater than that of cultured men … they require more spiritual civilization, and we, more material.
The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor. The poor in the West are devils; compared to them ours are angels, and it is therefore so much easier to raise our poor. The only service to be done for our lower classes is to give them education to develop their lost individuality. That is the great task between our people and princes. Up to now, nothing has been done in that direction. Priest-power and foreign conquest have trodden them down for centuries, and at last, the poor of India have forgotten that they are human beings. They are to be given ideas; their eyes are to be opened to what is going on in the world around them; and then they will work out their own salvation.
Every nation, every man, and every woman must work out their own salvation. Give them ideas – that is the only help they require, and then the rest must follow as the effect. Ours is to put the chemicals together, the crystallization comes in the law of nature. Our duty is to put ideas into their heads, they will do the rest. That is what is to be done in India. I could not accomplish it in India, and that was the reason of my coming to this country.The great difficulty in the way of educating the poor is this. Supposing even your highness opens a free school in every village, still it would do no good, for the poverty in India is such, that the poor boys would rather go to help their fathers in the fields, or otherwise try to make a living, than come to the school. If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him. There are thousands of single-minded, self-sacrificing Sanyasins in our country, going from village to village, teaching religion. If some of them can be organized as teachers of secular things also, they will go from place to place, from door to door, not only preaching, but teaching also.
Suppose two of these men go to a village in the evening with a camera, a globe, some maps, etc. By telling stories about different nations, they can give the poor a hundred times more information through the ear than they can get in a lifetime through books. This requires an organization, which again means money. Men enough there are in India to work out this plan, but alas! they have no money. lt is very difficult to set a wheel in motion; but when once set, it goes on with increasing velocity. After seeking help in my own country & failing to get any sympathy from the rich, I came over to this country through your Highness’ aid.
The Americans do not care a bit whether the poor of India die or live. And why should they, when our own people never think of anything but their own selfish ends? My noble Prince, this life is short, the vanities of the world are transient, but they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive. One such high, noble-minded and royal son of India as your Highness can do much more towards raising India on her feet again and thus leave a name to posterity which shall be worshiped. That the Lord may make your noble heart feel intensely for the suffering millions of India, sunk in ignorance, is the prayer of — Vivekananda.
What do you think of the passage as a whole? I tend to agree with Swamiji’s ideas of education — however, the quote that I for so long idealized seems to lose its power in the context of the passage. It seems like Swamiji only uses it to implore the Maharaja for support, which, for me, someone adds a different perspective to the quote itself.
At the same time, the words of Swami Vivekananda (for me, at least) are so powerful that even though in this scenario, they seem to have a specific purpose, they are still applicable even when pulled out of this context — the idea of selfless service as a duty, as the very nature of life is very morally appealing to me; and that makes me more comfortable with incorporating the idea into my life, even though the quote is a bit out of context.
What do you think?
Related posts:
One Comment
As I dissect this passage, I appreciate its pragmatic nature. Swamiji states very succinctly that while there may be tens of hundreds of men willing to educate the derelict masses, there must be a organization and resources to support the effort. And he admits plainly that he has come to America to ask for sympathy and seek help for his quest to help the poor. I find it fascinating the Swamiji points out to this reality of selfless service. While everyone on their quests for spirtual gain wishes to perform selfless service, the question that arises: is selfless service without appropriate resources and structure helping anyone at all?
As for the quote, I simply do not believe in context changing its meaning at all. Frankly, this quote meaning, like those of all famous maxims and adages that we use daily, remains completely the same, regardless of the passage surrounding it. The portion of this statement that appeals to me is “they alone live who live for others, the rest are more dead than alive.” While I may not agree exactly with those words, I do agree with Swamiji’s idea that life without a spiritual purpose is not really life at all.
Just some food for thought. I hope I have committed no major faux pas with my first comment on your truly scholarly blog. Keep up the good work.
Post a Comment