Swami Vivekananda (The Master Builder of Our Nation)

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SERVE MAN SERVE GOD

One of the rousing calls of Swamiji was to do service to the poor. He said that as long as there was one hungry being in the land the rest should consider themselves as traitors. He looked upon the have-nots as Daridra Narayana. He conceived of a service to them which was more akin to worship. Normally, where there is a giver and a receiver, the former feels himself a cut above the latter. By calling the poor and needy as Daridra Narayanas, Swamiji gave a new turn to the giver/receiver relationship by totally eliminating the feeling of superiority to giver, by equating "giving" to worship and the receiver to God himself. The giver was enjoined upon to feel grateful for the opportunity the received provided him to serve him. This ideal of selfless service was expounded by Swamiji in the light of the Vedic truth that it is the same God or Brahma that is present in other beings also as the Atman. He said, "Let the giver kneel down and worship. Let the receiver stand up and permit". Indeed, it was a bold sermon which might not be easily acceptable to an ordinary man. Such was the pure and exalted position that Swamiji had accorded to the idea of seva dharma. He stood against all religious superstitions and other social evils that had crept into our society. He taught his followers to oppose injustice with courage and to break down all barriers of caste and race which disfigured the human society. In this respect, Swamiji was truly the fore-runner of Mahatma Gandhi. He fed the hungry, nursed the sick, moved freely with families of outcastes, uplifted the down-trodden and the condemned. He truly believed in the existence of God in every human being and yearned to serve the sick and the needy, the affected and the poor. According to him, this was real service that one could render to the almighty.

 

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