Vijayawada Lecture

How to harness youth power to rebuild India Om sthapakayacha dharmasya sarva dharma svarupine Avatara varishthaya Ramakrishnaya te namaha. I offer my pranams to the Revered Swamijis on the dais & in the audience. Seeking their blessings, I greet you to todays program as I begin my address today. Today I shall be discussing the topic of youth power & how it can be used to rebuild India. We will have to clearly understand two things for this: firstly, what is the power that youth have. Secondly, why & how should India be rebuilt? Let us deal with Youth Power first. Youth power: What is the power that youth have? You are surely aware that India has the largest population of youths in the world today. Everywhere in India we find youth organizations, youth movements; especially student organizations and student movements. I am not very comfortable speaking about student movements & organizations because I know that some way or the other they are politically inclined, politically backed, politically motivated and politically mobilized. I try to keep a safe distance from them. Today, youth power has become synonymous with strikes, violence, agitation and a ceaseless restlessness, a ceaseless cry for demands. I have worked in certain States in India where the entire state machinery is controlled by student organizations & student pressure groups. Swami Vivekananda spoke again and again of the immense power of youth. And believe me; what he meant was nothing of this kind. It is important for you all to know that since time immemorial India has recognized the possibility of utilizing this immense power lodged in youth & has developed an entire science of handling this power at an individual level. What exactly did Swamiji mean by the power of youth? There are at least two distinct aspects to this power. Firstly, there is the power of intense idealism in youth. Secondly, there is the power of raw mental and physical energy. The power of idealism needs to be connected with the highest ideals. The mental & physical energies have to be channelized & sublimated. We will speak about the science of dealing with this power a little later. Now, let us see what this whole idea of rebuilding India is. Rebuild India: Why rebuild? How can a Nation be rebuilt? Does India need to be rebuilt? If so, up to what level? Who will set the standard for our upliftment? Should we raise our country up to the social & economic standards of Europe or America? These questions have to be answered. We look at other prosperous countries in the world, like the United States of America, Germany and Japan. We are then tempted to change India into a prototype of one of these foreign countries. But we dont need to do that. Why?
Page 1 of 6

Vijayawada Lecture

Each nation has its own line of natural growth. Nations cannot imitate one another; just as individuals cannot imitate one another. Then, what does uplifting India mean? Each country has a unique destiny to fulfill. What is applicable to one nation does not apply to another. India too has a destiny to fulfill. What is that destiny? India has to create the ideal society that will help for manifesting all energies in individuals simultaneously with realizing all secular ideals in the community. Enabling our nation to fulfill this destiny is the meaning of uplifting India. Let me repeat. India has a destiny to fulfill. And that destiny is Atmano Mokshartham Jagaddhitaya cha. Enabling our nation to fulfill this destiny is the meaning of uplifting India. Now, if this is Indias destiny, why is it not achieving it? What is stopping it? Naturally there are some obstructions, some problems. Let us see what they are. What are the problems assailing India today? o Problems: Every Indian has his own unique reading and diagnosis of the problems that India has. The newspapers and magazines tell us that corruption, unemployment & an ineffective education system, utter disrespect for social law & order, growing insecurity of women & children, & nepotism at the local level, growing divide between the classes of people in society, and abject poverty are the main problems that India faces today. Then there are the reactionary political movements in our country that point out that erosion of democratic values from society, corruption, uncontrolled population explosion, lopsided development in urban areas and neglect of rural areas are the main concern for the nation today. What does Swami Vivekananda says about Indias problems? He has said sufficient things about the various problems that India is facing now. But what I am interested in pointing out to you today is his observation on the root of these problems. We must appreciate that Indias problems are not isolated issues. On the surface it looks as if they are all isolated, stand-alone issues. But deep down, they are all interconnected. Swami Vivekananda points this out with uncanny precision. He says with great candor, It is due to want of Brahmacharya that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country. I wish to point out one important trend in our country today. And that is we have neglected the message of this great visionary, Swami Vivekananda! Let me tell you a story. Once upon a time a person discovered a remote island on the Pacific Ocean and returned to his native village. He brought back
Page 2 of 6

Vijayawada Lecture

enormous amounts of gold, silver and diamonds from that island. Overnight there was hope & development in his village. Upon returning, he sat down and drew a map. This map described details of the island. It also showed the route he had taken. Then he wrote down the dangers of the journey and the assistance that one could get on the way. All the people hailed him as a great hero. In due course, the intrepid explorer died. Then the villagers built a statue of that man in the main square. The maps he had drawn and books he had written were kept in glass cases and worshipped. Alas! No one bothered to study those maps, use the information in the books he had written and attempt to reach that island themselves! Similar is our story. We have started worshipping Swami Vivekananda. Please do not misunderstand me. I dont say it is bad. It is better than most of the foolish and useless things that todays youth are doing. But what is actually needed now is to study his life, lectures, conversations and letters. And when I say we must study Swami Vivekananda, what I mean is study as we do in school or college for our Board & University Exams; detailed study. We shall study, not for speaking or writing articles, but for understanding what he has said & for giving a direction for our own lives. AcchaaNow that we have seen the problems that India faces today, surely there must be some remedies too. o Its remedies: Again, as with the diagnosis, each person seems to have his or her own blueprint for repairing India. Read the newspapers and magazines and you will find this is true. Or speak to your friends and you will agree. Swami Vivekananda too has his own remedy for solving our national problems. He said, What we need today is Western Science coupled with Vedanta, with Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and Shraddha and faith in oneself. I repeat, What we need today is Western Science coupled with Vedanta, with Brahmacharya as the guiding motto, and Shraddha and faith in oneself. This is the remedy that will set things right in India today. Let us try to understand this statement. Since independence, we have institutionalized the teaching and learning of western science. That has been Pt. Nehrus greatest contribution to our country. Next comes Vedanta. Vedanta is freely available today in the form of easily accessible books, magazines and articles. What remains is to understand Brahmacharya and Shraddha.

Page 3 of 6

Vijayawada Lecture

Science of dealing with youth power: Brahmacharya As we have seen, the power of youth is enormous. It takes a lot of training to control and utilize power. So, is there a regular science with which this can be done? Yes. In India, we do have such a science. It is called Brahmacharya. The moment this word is heard, people get afraid. I have heard young people tell me that they are interested in religion and philosophy, but self-control doesnt seem attractive to them! Why are they not interested in Brahmacharya? Because self-control is not practical in todays world! They tell me this. What will friends say if you dont smoke, drink and socialize in todays modern world! They will tease you. This is what they tell me. But Swamiji has said categorically, Every boy should be trained to practice absolute Brahmacharya and then and then alone, Shraddha will come. Chastity in thought, word & deed always and in all conditions is what is called Brahmacharya. It is due to want of Brahmacharya that everything is on the brink of ruin in our country Please note Swamijis words. He says, It is due to want of Brahmacharya that everything in on the brink of ruin in our country. What an insight! It is true that we have a whole lot of problems like corruption and poverty and illiteracy, etc. But is this the actual disease or just symptoms of a major disease? Should we cure the symptom or cure the disease that is causing the symptom? It is because our youth are not trained to practice Brahmacharya that we have all these innumerable national problems. Listen to a story. There was a zoo in a city. There was a fruit-garden adjacent to this zoo. One day, the owner of the fruit-garden complained to the zoo authorities that the giraffe in the zoo was eating all the fruits of his garden. The zoo authorities held a meeting and decided that the compound wall would be raised to 20 feet. That would prevent the giraffe from sticking its neck into the garden. After some more days, the owner of the fruit-garden again complained that the giraffe was still eating the fruits. This time, the zoo authorities raised the compound wall to 50 feet. There was no chance of the giraffe sticking its neck even by jumping now! But, after some days, the owner of the fruit garden again complained that the problem was still not solved. This time, a committee was formed to study the giraffe day & night to determine how it stole the fruits. Do you know what the committee found? The gate between the zoo and the fruit-garden used to be kept open. The giraffe would simply walk into the garden, eat whatever it wanted and would come back! Similarly, while we are busy trying to apply solutions to Indias problems piece-meal, the main cause is left unattended. How will this ever make our nation better? You may ask If all of us practice Brahmacharya, then what will happen to the population? Who will produce children? I must point out that Swamiji has
Page 4 of 6

Vijayawada Lecture

prescribed Absolute Brahmacharya from childhood till one gets married, for all. He doesnt prescribe life-long Brahmacharya for everyone. Life-long Brahmacharya is meant for only a handful of people who wish to become monks & nuns. However, Absolute Brahmacharya is not a choice given to us. Swamiji is most categorical in this regard. He says that if all of us do not train ourselves to practice Absolute Brahmacharya during our youth period, no matter how many legislations we pass, no matter how many Parliament Bills we pass, no matter how many NGOs we start, no matter what we do, we will not achieve anything of permanence in this country! And this country is sure to go to dogs! Again, for your clarification, I will repeat what I said just now about Brahmacharya. There are two terms we have used in our country for thousands of years. Akhanda Brahmacharya & Naishtika Brahmacharya. Akhanda Brahmacharya is Absolute Brahmacharya. Naishtika Brahmacharya is Lifelong Brahmacharya. Absolute Brahmacharya means Chastity in thought, word and deed. Absolute Brahmacharya does not mean life-long Brahmacharya. Swamiji exhorts all youth to practice Absolute Brahmacharya until you get married. He prescribes life-long Brahmacharya only for the monks. So, up to now we have seen what Youth Power means, what rebuilding India means. Then we saw the problems that stop India from being uplifted. We then tried to understand the main remedy Brahmacharya that Swami Vivekananda urgently prescribes for us. The next logical point of our discussion will be when we use the youth power along the lines shown by Swami Vivekananda and solve our national problems, what sort of India will it result in? In other words, what is the vision of India that Swamiji holds before us as inspiration to move along this direction? Vision for the Nation Do you realize that a true leader has to spell out a vision for the nation? That vision is the direction we all have to take for the sake of our country. Today, our youth are unable to even understand this very basic concept. Anybody with sufficient vocal power seems to be able to turn the heads of our youths today and gets the title of Youth Leader. Unfortunate! Sometime back, some IAS Probationers visited our Ashrama in Arunachal Pradesh. I was there in the Ashrama then. I asked them whether they had any class during their training period where they discussed a vision for our country. They dont have any such training! And they are all going to look after the planning & administration of this great nation! Just imagine! Frankly speaking I have not been able to find even one decent leader in India today who has the intellectual capacity nor the sensitivity of heart to formulate a comprehensive vision for this most wonderful country, completely integrating its past history with its future destiny.

Page 5 of 6

Vijayawada Lecture

I will close my lecture by placing before you Swami Vivekanandas vision for India. He said, For a complete civilization, the world is waiting, waiting for the treasures to come out of India, waiting for the marvelous spiritual inheritance of the race. Whether you believe in spirituality or not, for the sake of the national life, you have to get a hold on spirituality and keep to it. Then stretch the other hand out and gain all you can from other races, but everything must be subordinated to that one ideal of life; and out of that a wonderful, glorious, future India will come I am sure it is coming a greater India than ever was. Sages will spring up greater than all the ancient sages, and your ancestors will not only be satisfied, but I am sure, they will be proud, from their positions in other worlds, to look down upon their descendants, so glorious, and so great. Let us all work hard, my brethren, this is no time for sleep. On our work depends the coming of the India of the future. Offering my pranams to the Revered Swamijis here, I close my address. Om shantih shantih shantih. Hari Om. Tat Sat. Sri Ramakrishnarpanam astu. *************

Page 6 of 6