Many Paths, One Awakening: Vivekananda’s Call to Strength and Harmony

 

Many Paths, One Awakening: Vivekananda’s Call to Strength and Harmony

At just thirty years of age, Swami Vivekananda captivated the world at the World Parliament of Religions in Chicago. His address was not merely eloquent; it was a confident presentation of India’s spiritual inheritance, rooted in Vedanta and marked by an inclusive vision of life. He spoke of a civilization comfortable with diversity, where multiple faiths could coexist without conflict. To convey this spirit, he quoted an ancient verse comparing religions to rivers that rise from different sources yet ultimately merge into the same ocean—distinct in form, united in essence.

On the Parliament’s final day, Vivekananda reaffirmed a powerful principle: the freedom of belief. No individual, he insisted, should be compelled to abandon their faith for another. Each tradition must absorb the spirit of others while preserving its own identity and growing according to its nature. Following the Parliament, he spent nearly three years traveling across America, spreading these ideas before returning to India.

This philosophy is later distilled by Srinivas Venkatram in an illustrated work, Awakening the Nation , which curates Vivekananda’s thoughts drawn from his lectures “from Colombo to Almora.” Though deeply grounded in the abstract expansiveness of Vedanta, Vivekananda frequently spoke of the “nation”—not as territory, but as people. For him, national awakening meant inner strength and shared purpose.

A son of Bengal, Vivekananda also loved football and often used it to connect with young minds. His remark that one could come closer to heaven through football than through studying scripture was not irreverent; it was symbolic. Football represented strength—physical, mental, and moral. Weakness, he believed, made one vulnerable, while conscious self-strengthening opened limitless possibilities, both worldly and spiritual.

His stirring call to youth—“Arise, Awake!”—echoes the message of the Bhagavad Gita , where Krishna urges a despondent Arjuna to cast off weakness and stand firm. Vivekananda carried this message forward, urging young people of character to renounce selfishness, serve others, and work for a larger cause—thereby uplifting themselves and the nation alike.

Life after God

In Hinduism, the search for God has never been treated as an escape from life. From very early on—thousands of years ago—there was a deep understanding that even if one discovers the true nature of God, life does not stop. The body still needs food, cleanliness, shelter, relationships, work, and order. Enlightenment does not cancel living; it must coexist with it.

Because of this realization, Hindu thought did something very practical and visionary. It accepted that not everyone needs to search for God directly, and that society cannot function if everyone abandons worldly responsibility in pursuit of the absolute. So a system of living was created alongside the spiritual search.

A smaller group dedicated themselves fully to the discovery of truth and ultimate reality—those later known as Brahmins in the philosophical sense. Others were oriented toward protection and governance (Kshatriya), trade and sustenance (Vaishya), and service and skilled work (Shudra). This was not originally about superiority, but about distribution of responsibility, so that life as a whole could continue smoothly while spiritual inquiry remained alive.

The same balance appears in the four ashramas of life:

Brahmacharya – learning and discipline

Grihastha – family, work, society

Vanaprastha – gradual withdrawal

Sannyasa – renunciation and realization

This shows a profound understanding: God-realization is a stage of life, not a rejection of life.

Likewise, Hinduism defined the four aims of living:

Dharma (right conduct)

Artha (material stability)

Kama (joy and desire)

Moksha (liberation)

None of these are denied. Even liberation is placed after responsibility, not before it.

That is why Hindu wisdom says:

“Pray as if everything depends on God, and work as if everything depends on man.”

Because even if God is realized, the system of life still runs. One must still eat, bathe, earn, raise family, manage society. Discovery of God does not remove biology, psychology, or social structure.

This is also why Hinduism comfortably accepts wealth, family, learning, and even specialized “gods” for these aspects—not as distractions, but as acknowledgements that existence is layered.

Even when extraordinary experiences occur—miracles, visions, revelations—the Hindu mind does not abandon schools, science, governance, or daily order. The understanding is simple and mature:

Truth may be eternal, but life is continuous.

That is the core genius of Hinduism:

It never chose between God and life.

It designed a way to hold both together.

IF HE EXIST

I drive joy there was a doctor in Benaras who spent 7 minutes in the morning and evening for mediation on God. Knowing this, his colleagues and friends laughed at him. One day they argued that he was wasting 7 precious minutes on something, which he had been misled into believing. The doctor replied, “Well, if God does not exist, I agree that I am wasting 7 minutes a day. But, if He exists? I am afraid you are wasting your entire lifetime. I prefer to waste 7 minutes rather than a lifetime. Why should you grudge me the 7minutes joy that I derive 4m.-

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