infuence of ramakrishna vivekananda on 20th century indian thought

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the most influential socio religious movement within hinduism in the 20th century is the ramakrishna-vivekananda movement.it virtually saved hinduism from an extinction and paved the way for the global triumph that hinduism is witnessing today.

 

it all began with a man named gadadhar chattapadhyay(sri ramakrishna paramahamsa) who rose to the highest levels of self realisation and proclaimed the universality and authenticity of all religions.coupled with the fiery words of his favourite disciple narendranath(later swami vivekananda)ramakrishna's teachings contributed to the complete regeneration of the decaying hindu race.at a time when entire india was immersed in an ocean of ignorance and inertness ,their words of inspiration instilled in the hearts of indians a renewed hope of existence.

 

this was later acknowledged by numerous patriots and saints of modern india.

 

a religion that cannot adjust itself to the changing needs of time cannot survive.hinduism has been one of the most flexible religions in history and hence managed to survive for so long.swamiji understood the need to resurrect the true hinduism that was submerged under the pile of untouchability,ritualistic festivals and self deception.

 

in order to do so he broke away with a number of rules of orthodox hinduism.he travelled across the ocean,ate with all castes,and gave mantrasdiksha(mantra initiation) with pranava(om) to mlecchas(westerners).

 

another significant contribution of swamiji is institutionalizing hinduism.adi sankaracharya was the first to realise the importance of forming unified sangha to save hinduism from collapse from the mounting pressure of buddhism.after a millenia swamiji realised that proper institution is necessary to uphold the sanatan dharma.he founded the worldwide ramakrishna mission in 19th century,the first institution of its kind.many others have followed this concept ever since.

 

when swamiji saw the demoralised tragic condition of his countrymen he understood that a massive awakening is needed before religion can be taught to these ignorant masses.he begun his speeches of intense nationalism that would later serve as the main driving force behind the indian freedom movement.

 

seeing the numerous western converts like sister nivedita,aldous huxley,indians started feeling proud of their spiritual legacy for the first time.

 

but the most important contribution of ramakrishna is the concept of 'yato mat tato pat' .it says that all the religions pursue the same ultimate truth but through many different perspective and paths.ultimately all of them do coverge to the same truth. through this noble concept ramakrishna first propagated the concept of harmony of religions.

 

we can see the amount of intolerence,destruction and fanaticism that has been going on in name of religion in present day.realized mahatmas like ramakrishna could sense this and then according to the need of the hour preached his wonderful doctrine.this was way back in 19th century ,long before the western concepts of 'religious tolerance' surfaced.infact ramakrishna vivekananda philosophy dislikes the term "religious tolerance" tolerance means accepting with dislike.vivekananda taught not just to tolerate but to equally love all faiths.

 

ramakrishna vivekananda movement gave rise to what was called the bengal rennaisance.it acttracted the attention of world leaders and provided inspiration to countless other religious movements and acted as a role model to numerous religious institutions that would spring up in future india.

 

even today some movements anti to ramakrishna vivekananda thought continue to seek their expertise in managerial fields.

 

gandhi said,"the story of ramakrishna is a story of religion in practice.............vivekananda increased my love for my country tenfold times."

 

rabindranath tagore ,asia's first nobel laureate said"if you want to know india read vivekananda."

 

romain rolland the illustrious french thinker commented"ramakrishna's life is the culmination of 3000 years of spiritual sadhana of india".he described ramakrishna as "the epitome of the whole"

 

max muller revered him(ramakrishna) as an avatar.

 

aldous huxley the noted historian and christopher isherwood started to follow his teachings.

 

tolstoy qouted from ramakrishna's sayings and parables.

 

netaji subhas chandra bose said"i dont find any literature in this world that is superior to ramakrishna vivekananda books for formation of character.in them there is everything positive,nothing negetive."

 

aurobindo hailed ramakrishna as the avatar of dakshineshwar.

 

indira gandhi.sarvapalli radhakrishnan,nehru the list is endless.

 

 

ramkrishna preached self reslization as the highest object of human birth.but he condemmed narrow mindedness and derogating other faiths.its sad to see how some recent gurus with shallow intellectuallity and insufficient reading start to condem him and his words.

 

passing the test of time is one of the greatest challenges that a philpsophy or an institution can face.ramakrishna-vivekananda movement has proven itself to be succesful in this regard. debates continue to rage over their avatarhood even to this day.but avatar or not,undoubtedly they were the finest saints that 20th century indian soil has produced.