He was aware that India was fragmented and divided. This came in the way of her rise. He was convinced that India should end her fragmentation,

“For our national welfare, India must gather up of its scattered spiritual forces. India must be a union of those whose hearts beat to the same spiritual tune."

He had strong faith in the youth. To the young his advice was,

"When you are doing any work, Do it as worship, as the highest worship, and devote your whole life to it for the time being".

"Anything that makes you weak physically, intellectually and spiritually, reject as poison”.

“Do not lower your goals to the level of your abilities. Instead, raise your abilities to the height of your goals”.

“If you can think that infinite power, infinite knowledge and indomitable energy lie within you, and if you can bring out that power, you also can become like me”.

“Perfect sincerity, holiness, gigantic intellect, and all-conquering will. Let only a handful of men work with these, and the whole world will be revolutionised”.

“Jnâna, Bhakti, Yoga and Karma—these are the four paths which lead to salvation. One must follow the path for which one is best suited; but in this age special stress should be laid on Karma-Yoga”.

“Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life, think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. This is the way to success.”

How will India be built? He wanted Indians to dedicate themselves to the cause of the well-being of their countrymen. He had this to say,

"Then only will India awake, when hundreds of large-hearted men and women, giving up all desires of enjoying the luxuries of life, will long and exert themselves to their utmost, for the wellbeing of the millions of their countrymen".

His faith in India was unshaken,

“Let New India arise…let her arise-out of the peasant's cottage, grasping the plough; out of the huts of the fisherman, the cobbler, and the sweeper. Let her emanate from the factory, from marts, and from the markets and from groves and forests, from hills and mountains”.

How will the task of regeneration of India be achieved. He gave a roadmap:

•“Do not destroy… break not, pull not everything down, but build”.

•“Elevate the masses …the fate of a nation… depends upon the … condition of the masses…can you give them back their lost individuality without making them lose their innate spiritual nature”.

•“Know your past … out of the past is built the future. Look back, therefore, as far as you can, drink deep of the eternal fountains that are behind, and after that, look forward, march forward and make India brighter, greater, much higher than she ever was”.

•“Respect the great men of the country…we have to introduce the worship of the great saints… Shri Ramachandra, Sri Krishan, Mahavira, Sri Rama Krishana among others”.

•Education … the primary need … education, education, education alone! ... through education comes the faith in one’s own self, and through faith in one’s own self the inherent Brahaman is waking up in them, while the Brahaman in us is gradually becoming dormant”.

He realized that India’s strength lies in spirituality,

“The Indian nation cannot be killed. Deathless it stands, and it will stand so long as that spirit shall remain as the background, so long as her people do not give up their spirituality”.

He recognised that there were differences in the world but he believed that the differences can be overcome,

"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything".

He emphasised the role of education. He said,

"The very reason for nature's existence is for the education of the soul … If the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him”.

He knew that the future of India was in the hand of the younger generation,

“My faith is in the younger generation, the modern generation, out of them will come my workers. They will work out the whole problem, like lions”.

He had immense faith in the capability of women. He has this to say,

“Women must be put in a position to solve their own problems in their own way. No one can or ought to do this for them. And our Indian women are as capable of doing it as any in the world”.

Swamiji spoke about rejuvenation of India. India needs another round of rejuvenation. India should no doubt have material wealth and physical power; no one takes meek and weak seriously. But India’s confidence must come from its ancient civilisation and deep spirituality. Intractable problems of today can be dealt better if principles of spirituality were applied to these.

In Swamiji’s messages lies the secret of character building and nation building. They are as relevant today as they were in his lifetime. They were not esoteric and unintelligible. Swamiji laid down the essentials of success,

"Purity, patience, and perseverance are the three essentials to success and, above all, love."

(Views expressed are of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the VIF)