Modern World And Swami Vivekananda

Modern world, so far as its scientific and technological advancement is concerned, has reached almost its zenith, whereas in the domain of moral and ethical propriety, it has almost gone down to its nadir, as if it has lost human values.

- Subhrendu Bhattacharjya

Man is now ipso facto as bad as a beast, having no sense of discipline, decency and decorum. Paradoxically, we are now in dilemma and as such we are unable to make out what is just and what is unjust. Here it is pertinent to note that no nation in the world at present is absolutely safe and secured for human beings to live smoothly and peacefully. What a catastrophe! However, the main drawback of a modern state is that it lacks in irrestible strength to tackle the problems arising out of terrorism, fundamentalism, communalism, chauvinism, and jingoism. This apart, intolerance, apartheid or racial segregation, and religious and political aggrandisement affect us seriously.

Needless to say, some developed countries of the third world and so-called big powers are found to be determined to exhibit their strength, focussing on exhibiting nuclear arms and armament, so that peace-loving states may not take any action singly or even jointly. Therefore, it is now difficult for a democratic country to go towards self-perfection on the basis of dignity of each human being and equal opportunities for all in a humanist brotherhood. This is in short the present scenario of the modern world. It is, indeed, full of complexities.

Leaving this background aside for the time being, I intend to find if there is any panacea to eradicate ills of our society, root and branch. In this context, I like to point out some positive activities undertaken by Swami Vivekananda, a great spiritual leader India has ever produced and a realist par excellence. A great sage like the Swamiji is not born frequently on earth, rather born seldom. He within the span of his short life raised the status of India marvellously to the western people, particularly the Americans and subsequently the European and Asian countries. It is useful to mention here the names of Shankaracharya and Sri Ramakrishnadev to understand what the Swamiji exactly wanted to accomplish in his life.