Swami Vivekananda “ Prime Minister Narendra Modi's source of inspiration

It's no secret that Swami Vivekananda is perhaps the biggest source of inspiration for Prime Minister Narendra Modi. In most of his interviews, you can see the statue of Swami Vivekananda placed somewhere in the background.As the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi had even launched Vivekananda Yuva Vikas Yatra to mark the 150th anniversary of the historic speech that Vivekananda had made in Chicago at the World Parliament of Religions in 1893. It's not that there was no political angle to this Vivekananda Yuva Vikas Yatra that passed through all 182 assembly seats.Narendra Modi had very deftly used this yatra to make inroads into the first-time voters of Gujarat and encourage them to join BJP in large numbers on the eve of 2012 assembly elections and he succeeded in his endeavor to a great extent as the assembly results showed.However, it's a common knowledge that Narendra Modi is inspired by Swami Vivekananda since his childhood days. Narendra Modi is known to be a deeply spiritual person and being a former RSS pracharak, his admiration for Swami Vivekananda is quite understandable.RSS is committed to cultural nationalism and Swami Vivekananda spent his entire life propagating the tenets of Hinduism what he called “Sanatan dharma”. Since RSS does not differentiate between “Hinduism” and “nationalism”, Swami Vivekananda obviously ranks very high in RSS list of icons.For RSS, Swami Vivekananda is obviously the embodiment of whatever it stands for in terms of cultural nationalism.In his book “Jyotipunj”, Narendra Modi has mentioned Swami Vikananda as one of the great men of history whose qualities are noticeable.What is the common chord that binds Swami Vivekananda and Narendra Modi together? A closer look at the lives of Swami Vivekananda and Narendra Modi shows that one thing that is common to both is their common belief in Indian nationalism. Swami Vivekananda was a true nationalist who inspired the people of India to believe in their abilities and reminded them that they belong to a culture that showed the way to the rest of the world in the past and was known as ‘Jagadguru (Teacher of the world)' in terms of knowledge.Swami Vivekananda's advocacy of nationalism was all inclusive although it was based on the rich cultural and spiritual heritage of Hinduism.Swami Vivekananda encouraged the youth to try their best in eradicating poverty and fighting evils like untouchability which he considered as the biggest bottleneck in binding together the Indian society. Swami Vivekananda travelled across the world spreading the message of ‘Sanatan dharma'.He was a true messenger for Indian nationalism as he reminded people of their strength and their glorious past.He was a very powerful orator and had the ability to convince people through his pointed and relevant arguments.Since he had got English education in his childhood and was well versed with basics of science, he could convince even those who were well educated and doubted the existence of God.Once Swami ji was explaining how God was both kind and cruel. A person from the audience asked how the God can be both kind and cruel at the same time.Swami ji told him that it's the same way both centripetal and centrifugal forces work simultaneously on an object. The difference is just of frame of reference.Although Swami Vivekananda never spoke upfront against the British rule in India, he was pained to see the hapless and poor people suffering under the oppressive regime of the foreigners.He always had this apprehension that physically weak Indians will never be able to fight the mighty British.That's why he indirectly encouraged Indians to acquire physical strength and reminded them that if you have to understand Mahabharat then play football in order to become physically fit.Swami ji said that only a physically strong person can understand “Mahabharat”.Coming across as a true Hindu monk, Swami Vivekananda never spoke ill of any other religion. In fact, Sri Ramkrishna Paramhansa, the guru of Swami Vivekananda, had gone to the extent of saying that all religions lead to the same path.Narendra Modi has also tried to define nationalism on the same lines. According to Narendra Modi, his idea of nationalism and secularism means “India First.” What it means is that every citizen who claims to be a nationalist or a secularist should put nation above everything else. Modi's opponents have accused him of usurping the legacy of Swami Vivekananda for political purposes but an undeterred Modi has stuck to his public display of respect for Swami Vivekananda who he considers as a source of inspiration.Since the 15th Prime Minister of India is hugely inspired by a monk who spent his life propagating the ideals and philosophies of Hinduism, world's ancient culture and way of life as defined by Supreme Court, it's time to take a look at the life and journey of Swami Vivekananda.Swami Vivekanand shot into fame after his historic speech at the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago in 1893. He represented India and Hinduism at the parliament. Swami Vivekanand started his address with “Sisters and brothers of America ...," and the benevolent salutation immediately caught the attention of the attendants.“I am proud to belong to a religion which has taught the world both tolerance and universal acceptance. We believe not only in universal toleration, but we accept all religions as true. I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all nations of the earth,” Said Swami Vivekananda in his welcome address.Swami Vivekananda was born in Kolkata on 12 January 1863. Narendranath's father Vishwanath Datta was a lawyer while his mother Bhuvaneshwari Devi was a pious housewife.Narendranath Datta was interested in spirituality since his childhood. He always thought deeply of God and developed doubts over his/her existence later on. A curious Narendranath met Sri Ramakrishna who was staying at the Kali Temple in Dakshineshwar for better clarity.Narendranath Datta asked Sri Ramakrishna “Sir, have you seen God?”Shri Ramkrishna Paramhansa replied immediately, “Yes, I have. I see Him as clearly as I see you, only in a much intenser sense.”It is said that Sri Ramkrishna got Narendranath to get a glimpse of the almighty and a totally floored Narendra accepted him as his guru.Things changed dramatically for Narendranath from 1884 to 1886. His father expired in 1884 while his guru Sri Ramkrishna expired in 1886 because of throat cancer.After the passing of Sri Ramkrishna, fifteen of his disciples under the leadership of Narendranath formed a new monastic brotherhood and in 1887 they took formal vows of Sanyasa and assumed new names. Narendranath Datta now became Vivekananda. Later on, he came to be known as Swami Vivekananda.Swami Vivekananda took the vow to spread the message of his guru and ethos of ‘Sanatan dharma' across the world and he spent his entire life doing the same. Swami Vivekananda passed away on July 4, 1902 at a young age of 39.