THE PROPHET AND THE PATRIOT ... 1
Netaji was the spiritual disciple of Swami Vivekananda at a distance and his contact with the thought of the prophet-patriot seems to have ignited his love for the motherland which eventually, through sustained and ever-increasing devotion to the Swami, grew into a veritable conflagration of patriotic fervour that consumed the Empire and reduced it to ashes. Likewise, Mahatma Gandhi, Aurobindo Ghosh, Lokmanya Tilak, Bagha Jatin and countless others, not to forget the redoubtable Sister Nivedita, were all inspired in varying degrees by Swamiji into revolutionary action against the British, although, Swamiji himself remained far above the politics of the day, so to say.
But these were turbulent times, a moment in history when civilisation is at the crossroads of its evolutionary path and humanity must decide which way to go. Materialism was at war with spiritualism, colonialism in conflict with the human aspiration for freedom everywhere and nationalism on a vicious rise that culminated in two cataclysmic World Wars within the span of four decades in early twentieth century.
And, as is the case, every human awakening comes in the wake of human spiritual erosion when the seeds of thought earlier sown by the seminal sages of the age sprout and the efflorescence is the onset of a new civilisation amid the chaos of the conflicting forces in mutual resolution. The thought of the age seeks expression in action and so it was in this unfolding era of the modern civilisation when a new world order emerged in the wake of the enlightenment that began at Dakshineshwar where the peerless Paramahamsa and his protege spearheaded its motion and set the wheel of virtue, the dharmachakra, rolling. It was but natural that the best minds of the day would be caught in its web and add momentum to the movement, and one such was Netaji and the other, of unique prominence, Gandhiji.
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
Netaji was the spiritual disciple of Swami Vivekananda at a distance and his contact with the thought of the prophet-patriot seems to have ignited his love for the motherland which eventually, through sustained and ever-increasing devotion to the Swami, grew into a veritable conflagration of patriotic fervour that consumed the Empire and reduced it to ashes. Likewise, Mahatma Gandhi, Aurobindo Ghosh, Lokmanya Tilak, Bagha Jatin and countless others, not to forget the redoubtable Sister Nivedita, were all inspired in varying degrees by Swamiji into revolutionary action against the British, although, Swamiji himself remained far above the politics of the day, so to say.
But these were turbulent times, a moment in history when civilisation is at the crossroads of its evolutionary path and humanity must decide which way to go. Materialism was at war with spiritualism, colonialism in conflict with the human aspiration for freedom everywhere and nationalism on a vicious rise that culminated in two cataclysmic World Wars within the span of four decades in early twentieth century.
And, as is the case, every human awakening comes in the wake of human spiritual erosion when the seeds of thought earlier sown by the seminal sages of the age sprout and the efflorescence is the onset of a new civilisation amid the chaos of the conflicting forces in mutual resolution. The thought of the age seeks expression in action and so it was in this unfolding era of the modern civilisation when a new world order emerged in the wake of the enlightenment that began at Dakshineshwar where the peerless Paramahamsa and his protege spearheaded its motion and set the wheel of virtue, the dharmachakra, rolling. It was but natural that the best minds of the day would be caught in its web and add momentum to the movement, and one such was Netaji and the other, of unique prominence, Gandhiji.
End of Part 1
To be continued...
Written by Sugata Bose
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