Abhigya Mahajan
Mundaka Upanishad categorises knowledge into two: Intuitive knowledge about God (Para-vidya) and Practical knowledge of the world (Apara-vidya). According to this, anything other than the intuitive knowledge about God (spirituality) belongs to Apara-vidya, i.e. sciences. Even the knowledge of the scriptures belongs to sciences only, since they talk about going to heavenly places, which are nothing but extensions of this world only. It implies that the true meaning and purpose of religion is to make a person divine, and everything else in religion is secondary. But can science make one divine? Going by the present definition of science, this seems difficult, since science is all about the world, and religion is all about transcending the world in its entirety. Science teaches us how to turn the wheel of the world, while religion teaches us how to stop our inner wheel. So, no advancement in science can ever encroach upon the realm of religion.
Swami Vivekananda, tried to bridge the divide between science and religion. Born as Narendra Nath Dutta on January 12, 1863 in Kolkata, Swami Vivekananda was a great Indian saint. He was a figure with ‘high thinking and simple living’. He was a great pious leader, a philosopher, and also a devout personality with great principles. It is through his works that one can feel the underlying unity between the two. During his stay in the West, he met and impressed with his views many leading scientists and inventors including Nicholas Tesla, Hiram Maxim (inventor of machine guns), Lord Kelvin and many several other great thinkers with his views. Nikola Tesla was introduced to the Vedas by Swami Vivekananda after he asked Swami to enlighten him on spiritual connections. Swami’s effect on Tesla was so great that he became vegetarian and began using Sanskrit words. In 1895, Swami Vivekananda shared with Tesla the idea of matter and energy to be one and suggested him to prove it through mathematics. Vivekananda also interacted with other giants of western science, namely William Thomson and Von Helmholtz in New York. Eventually after 10 years in 1905, Albert Einstein proved the oneness of matter and energy (E = mc2). These intuitive scientific proclamations are hard to be experimented to prove or disprove. But with the advent of Quantum physics, many gaps have been bridged. The famous Nobel winning Soeren Prell theory implies that at a deep and fundamental level, the separate parts of the world are connected in an intimate and immediate way as any change in one immediately and unmitigated causes changes in the other. More than a century after Swami Vivekananda’s short but extraordinary life, his intuitive words on science have left distinct mark on pages of world’s history of science and his words are even more relevant today than ever before. Nearly a hundred years ago Swami Vivekananda showed the close connection between culture and education. Wherever there is a great culture, you will find behind it, a highly developed system of education. Ancient India could produce a great culture because it developed a wonderful system of education. According to Swami Vivekananda, the basic purpose of education is the total development of human personality. Everyone is endowed with certain capacities, which remain dormant, although in a potential form. He said, ‘Education is the manifestation of the perfection already in man’.
Swami Vivekananda believed education is the process by which these inherent potentialities in human personality manifest themselves in completing his or her total development. This total development of human personality includes intellectual and moral development. Most of the present day school and college curriculum only aim at intellectual development. Another important aspect of Swami’s scheme of education is women’s education. He realised that if the women of our country get the right type of education, then they will be able to solve their own problems in their own way. The main objective of his scheme of women education is to make them strong, fear-less, and conscious of their dignity. He observes that although men and women are equally competent in academic matters, yet women have a special aptitude and competence for studies relating to home and family.
His famous quotations include, ‘Arise, awake and stop not till the goal is reached.’ He also added that anything making a child physically, intellectually and spiritually weak must be rejected as a poison. He also emphasized on an education that leads to character formation. His establishment of ‘Ramkrishna Math’ and ‘Ramkrishna Mission’ was a sign of ‘Guru Bhakti’, his sacrifice, austerity, and service of the poor and the downtrodden people of India. He was also a founder of Belur Math. Swami Vivekananda was a great spiritual man and philosopher around the world. He wanted global spirituality, harmony, universal brotherhood, and peace across the world. His teaching and philosophy still exists in the present day and guides the modern era youth. His founded organizations are spreading his teaching and philosophy and working for the improvement of society and the nation. He promoted Vedanta and many social services. He will be an inspiration for the youth of the world forever.