Swami Vivekananda: His Role To Rejuvinate Women-Power

Friends, the topic that we are going to discuss today is very important and relevant in today’s date. This is regarding Swami Vivekananda’s contribution to rejuvenate Women Power.

Swami Vivekananda understood very well that without the rise of women, no country can become great. He also believed and said that the downfall of India was due to the negligence of women.  At the same time, He has always said that the pride of ancient India actually lies in the knowledge of the Rishis, and women were also a part of it. In his lecture on Hinduism he said:

"The Hindus have received their religion through revelation, the Vedas.... But by the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws..... The discoverers of these laws are called Rishis, and... I am glad to tell this audience that some of the very greatest of them were women."

Swami Vivekananda knew very well about the cause and effect of neglecting women in all society. He once wrote in one of His letters:
“All nations have attained greatness by paying proper respect to women. That country and that nation which do not respect women have never become great, nor will ever be in future. The principal reason why your race has so much degenerated is that you have no respect for these living images of Shakti. Manu says, “Where women are respected, there the gods delight; and where they are not, there all works and efforts come to naught.” There is no hope of rise for that family or country where there is no estimation of women, where they live in sadness.”
 

This expresses His idea of the consequences of women degeneration in India. Although Swamiji was very much concerned about India as she was His own country, He was no less worried for the world. He knew that every nation needs to respect women if it wants to rise, and on the contrary, women in every country should keep their sanctity and purity to help a nation to be great. He did not like the way Indian women were treated at that time and He wanted Western Education to me implemented amongst them as well, but at the same time, he warned Western women about keeping their dignity while updating themselves with the modern era:
“I should very much like our women to have your intellectuality, but not if it must be at the cost of purity. I admire you for all that you know, but I dislike the way that you cover what is bad with roses and call it good. Intellectuality is not the highest good. Morality and spirituality are the things for which we strive. Our women are not so learned, but they are more pure.” 

What was Swami Vivekananda’s idea to rejuvenate women-power in India? Well, He spoke about women-education first. At his time, women were not educated enough and child-marriage was the norm. Swamiji found women in America to be very educated, and he expressed his idea in a letter to Alasinga Perumal on 2nd November, 1893:
"Every American woman has far better education than can be conceived of by the majority of Hindu women. Why cannot we have the same education? We must."

Education, Vivekananda realized, is the way to freedom and knowledge for women. "Total freedom and independence is the symbol of total womanhood", he believed. He wanted the women to be the seer of Supreme Being as men are. Once he said:

"If a man can be a knower of Brahman, why cannot a woman attain to the same knowledge? ...if even one amongst the women became a knower of Brahman, then by the radiance of her personality thousands of women would be inspired and awakened to truth, and great well-being of the country and society would ensue."

And this idea of Swamiji was definitely accelerated by a supreme personality, Sri Maa Sarada Devi, the Holy Mother. Being a woman of 150 years back from now, She was extremely modern and improved in her thought. At her time, child marriage was the usual custom, but Sri Maa always emphasized on women education. Once a devotee sought her blessing for her daughter's married, but Holy Mother knew that the daughter was a mere child and said:
"Why do you want to get your daughter married now? She is just a child! Send her to school, give her proper education."

Swami Vivekananda had immense respect for Sri Maa. Once He wrote to Swami Brahmanandaji in a letter:

 

"You have not yet understood the wonderful significance of Mother's life- none of you. But gradually you will know: without shakti (power) there is no regeneration for the world.... Mother has been born to revive that wonderful power in India, and making her the nucleus, once more Gargis and Maitreyis will be born into the world."

Swami Vivekananda always wanted women to come ahead and take part in social reformation same as men do. He also dreamt that the Women would take part in jobs and business like men. That's why we find many women in Swamiji's group of disciples.  Ms. MacLeod, Alberta Sturges, Besse Leggett, Mrs. Ole Bull, Sister Christine- all of them were women with sword and fire. And Swamiji's major general was again a woman- Miss. Margaret Noble who turned to Sister Nivedita with fiery zeal of Swami Vivekananda and sacrificed her life for India's freedom and education.

But what was the way a woman should portray herself as? Swami Vivekananda's ideal for women was purity and chastity. He said:
"The ideal of perfect womanhood is total independence. The central idea of the modern Hindu lady is her chastity."

What is the advantage of being chaste or pure? Being pure, one gets tremendous energy and power to think and do good. In terms of physics, the electrons in our body and mind get composed if we think pure, and we get the power to think and act better.

A perfect seer of the history of the universe, Vivekananda saw the world and prophesied:

"[Aryan] civilization has been of three types: the Roman, the Greek, the Hindu. The Roman type is the type of organization, conquest, steadiness — but lacking in emotional nature, appreciation of beauty and the higher emotions. Its defect is cruelty. The Greek is essentially enthusiastic for the beautiful, but frivolous and has a tendency to become immoral. The Hindu type is essentially metaphysical and religious, but lacking in all the elements of organization and work.
The Roman type is now represented by the Anglo-Saxon; the Greek type more by the French than by any other nation; and the old Hindus do not die! Each type has its advantage in this new land of promise. They have the Roman's organization, the power of the Greek's wonderful love for the beautiful, and the Hindu's backbone of religion and love of God. Mix these up together and bring in the new civilization.
And let me tell you, this should be done by women."

His words are coming true. Women are coming up to take part in changing the society. Following his ideal has been made Sri Sarada Math, a place of Spiritual movement for women. In politics and corporate, too, women are equally taking part. But with this, we need perfect purity, too. And men should help women to improve the society and vice-versa. If we all work together with purity, patience and perseverance, it’s certain that the discrimination between man and woman will be diminished, and also the society will be out of corruption and we will lead to make the world beautiful.

  

Jayatu Swamiji.