Chandipur Ramakrishna Math organized a youth convention on September 25th 2011. Many students from surrounding schools in Chandipur, Nandigram, Bhagabanpur etc and few college students from neighbouring colleges attended this program.
We arrived late there. When we reached Swami Bhubaneswarananda-ji Maharaj was giving speech. Swami Sribasanada-ji Maharaj was anchoring the program. He introduced Swami Sunisthananda-ji with “vast experiences”. The topic of Swami Sunisthananda-ji was “Role of Students and Youths in Nation Building”. Following is what Swami Sunisthananda-ji Maharaj spoke to the audience and ignited them:
Swami Vivekananda said: “Men are required, only men. Rest of the things will be done automatically” [mannush chai, manush. Baki sab hoia jaibe]. In this world there is no country where democracy has been established just after independence except India. Even in America there was no freedom for the Blacks for several years after their independence.
There is a crisis in world wide. We do worship of great persons. But we do not implement their values in our lives.
A father gives a book, “The Gift Unopened”, wrapped in coloured papers to his beloved son. But his son is so busy in other things that he forgets to open the gift pack. Naturally, the father gets pain. So is Swamiji’s pain at our behaviour. The author Shankar (Mani Shankar Mukhopadhyay) has written series of books on Swamiji’s life (Ajana Achena Vivekananda, Abisashyo Vivekananda etc). What a severe struggle Swamiji had to face. Swamiji has gone to the foreign country with the instruction from his master (guru) Shri Ramakrshna, and the blessings of the Mother Shri Sarada Devi – but almost penniless.
Our nationalism is different from nationalism of other countries. There is something special in our tradition which is missing from other country’s nationalisms. Thankur said in a story: Everybody in a locality have been invited in an occasion. They have been served food. Curd (doi) is being served to the poor. The poor people asked: has the rich people taken it? (babu-ra ki kheyeche?). Similar is our story. We are blindliy following America.
Swami-ji is giving a speech in America. Sometimes he used to roam like a lion during his speech, when he used to be very much inspired. While answering to a question from the audience he said: “Prattle babes prattle, yours is just 200 years old civilization. Have a civilization as old as ours, and then only you will understand the true meaning of renunciation.” Only 100 years have been passed from then. During the visit to India, US President Barack Obama requested with folded hands to Indian industrialists for setting up new industries in US. USA government organizes several orientation programs every year in its schools. One event in these programs is to show documentary films such as “2 Million Minutes” which tries to stimulate its students and think on the following: what is your future? Would you spend your time in just enjoying life? Or you would like to lead a disciplined life like Indian or Chinese students. Many Indian and Chinese people are highly educated and occupying several key positions in US who led very disciplined life.
Students have to keep away from temptations. The person beside is not down with fever, but you are. That means his resistance power is more than yours. There will be always harmful elements in the society. We have to increase the resistance power.
Thakur said: manush-er maan jukto hoonsh thakte hobe. [A human should have sense with respect].
There are so many instances of corruption in our country. Anna Hazare is only VIIth pass. Father has died in his childhood. He was brought up in maternal uncle’s house. He joined army during Indo-China war. It happened twice such that all in his platoon died except himself. Then he realized that definitely there is a different plan of God for him. After retiring from army he was depressed. Thought to commit suicide and so he decided to give up his life in Delhi railway track. But the train was late by 40 minutes. So to pass the time he started to read a book by Swami Vivekananda in a railway book stall: You have spoiled so many of your lives for nothing. Why don’t you give me just one of your lives? [We get afraid that there will be nothing of me? Every thing to be given for our country?] Keep on trying to realize just one good idea. You will be turned into pearl… This changed the life of Anna Hazare.
He went back to his village. The village is just under a hill. So whenever there is rain the soil of the village gets washed away slowly. So agriculture was not profitable there. Villagers used to make country liquor and sell it to other villages. But side by side they also became addicted.
Initially, there were no fruitful results when he tried to convince the villagers. Then he began to knot them with a tree and beat them. Everybody began to criticize. But he used to say that these people didn’t study. They wouldn’t listen to words, but to pain.
When a tigress takes her claves for bathing, the calves don’t want to take bath. Then the mother tigress lifts the calves and throws them in water body. Similar is the story of giraffe. Giraffe is the tallest mammal in the planet. When the female giraffe gives birth to its calves, then calves falls at the land from the height of 6-7 feet. Right after that the mother giraffe goes on kicking its calves till they stand on their own feet. The mother giraffe does so to save their calves from the tiger etc animals. Giraffe calves are very delicious to eat for those animals.
Gradually Anna was successful to convince people. Few people came forward. They built a temple within the village. Anna used to live in the temple premises only. At the evening people used to assemble at the temple premises and discuss about things for betterment of the village. Villagers started to do shram-daan. They did a lot of plantation, so that soil erosion diminished and agriculture became reality. So the villagers gave up country liquor business. Due to Anna Hazare and his associate’s movement it’s now a reality in the state of Maharashtra that if 25% of women population in a village want some policy to be made, then the state assembly is bound to pass the corresponding bill.
The government is afraid of the movement by the Anna Hazare and his associates against the corruption. This movement has taken shape by the initiative from our society only.
Whoever has been stood up firm in this world, they have done so by their own inner strength, without the help from outside.
Swamiji has said that lower casts (shudra) are bound to revive. Then automatically there will be hate by the lower casts towards the upper cast people. Because the upper cast people didn’t help them to revive. The result will not be good. We can stop it if we take the initiative first and start helping them
Gandhi-ji used to love shram-daan (donating self-labour). We have to practice it in our home also. Help mother in her house hold work by shramdan. As a result we will be self dependent and our heart will expand. Whether a society will survive or not depends on how much we help each other.
Our blood corpuscles collect its food from what we eat. After blood donation, dextrose (sugar cubes) is added to the collected blood as a food of the blood corpuscles. Then these blood particles can live up to 21 days.
Think of the deserts of Rajasthan. Only sands there – no sign of lives. No soil is there. If soil is there then trees will be there. If tree is there then there will be sunlight, air, and rain.
We are thinking we are separate from the society. This is a disease. Take the case of lion. When lion haunts and eats the meat of haunted animal, doesn’t eat in excess. It stops eating the meat once its stomach gets filled up, even if some portion of the haunted animal is still left. The wolf, fox eat the rest of animals and the eagles wait above the trees. When the wolf, fox goes after eating the meat, the eagles started eating.
Many people wash their hands very often. There is no need, still they do so. This is a disease. There is no need of so much wealth – still some people go on accumulating the wealth.
In the district of West Medinipur there are many backward regions. Often one can see boys whose stomach is highly enhanced in these backward regions. They suffered from pleaha disease in their childhood.
Society - my self with all others. We get educated and think of only ourselves. If there is any extra growth in any parts of our body - it can be cancer.
In Midnapore town, there was an incident. People began to quarrel over a street stretch. The road got squeezed as some people have claimed in excess to their parts. They called up a meeting and they requested Swami Sunisthanada-ji to solve. Maharaj-ji said if there is any case of fire in any house, if someone gets very sick in a house then how would the ambulance enter into the area through the narrow lane?
Thankur referred to kumro kata bat-thakur (the elder man in a family who does not do any meaningful work, and ladies call him sometimes if there is a need to cut the pumpkin, as there is a proverb that ladies should not cut pumpkins) in one of his stories. There is no gain in society by being kumro kata bat-thakur. We have to study and have to take part in the service of the society. We have to work in small units. For it you don’t need to follow any ism.
This speech of Swami Sunisthananda Maharaj-ji was followed by a Question & Answer session which was also very stimulating.
