The Great Nation.
- Our sacred motherland is a land of religion and philosophy - the birth place of spiritual giants - the land of renunciation, where and where alone, from the most ancient to the most modern times, there has been the highest ideal of life open to man. (CW 3.137).
- This is the theme of Indian life-work, the burden of her eternal songs, the backbone of her existence, the foundation of her being. The raison d' etre of her very existence the specialisation of the human race. (CW 4.315).
- This is the land from whence, like tidal waves, spirituality and philosophy have again and again rushed out and deluged the world, and this is the land from whence once more such tides must proceed in order to bring life and vigour into the decaying races of mankind. It is the same India which has withstood the shocks of centuries, of hundreds of foreign invasions, of hundreds of upheavals of manners and customs. It is the same land which stands firmer than any rock in the world, with its undying vigour, indestructible life. Its life is of the same nature as the soul, without beginning and without end, immortal; and we are the children of such a country. (CW 3.285).
- This nation still lives; the raison d' etre is it still holds to God, to the treasure - house of religion and spirituality. (CW 3.148).
- I consider that the great national sin is the neglect of the masses, and that is one of the causes of our downfall. No amount of politics would be of any avail until the masses in India are once more well educated, well fed, and well cared for. (CW 5.222-223).
- In India there are two great evils. Trampling on the women, and grinding the poor through caste restrictions. (CW 6.335).
- Without Shakti (Power) there is no regeneration for the world. Why is it that our country is the weakest and the most backward of all countries? because Shakti is held in dishonour there. (CW 7.484).
- Can you better the condition of your women? Then there will be hope for your well-being. Otherwise you will remain as backward as you are now. (CW 5.26).
- No man, no nation, my son, can hate others and live; India's doom was sealed the very day the invented the word mlechchha and stopped from communion with others. (CW 5.52).
- The one thing that is at the root of all evils in India is the condition of the poor...The only service to be done for oue lower classes is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality...They are to be given ideas: their eyes are to be opened to what is going on in the world around them; and then they will work out their own salvation. Every nation, every man, and every woman must work out their own salvation. Give them ideas that is the only help they require, and then the rest must follow as the effect. (CW 4.362).
- The chief cause of India's ruin has been the monopolising of the whole education and intelligence of the land, by dint of pride and royal authority, among a handful of men. If we are to rise again, we shall have to do it in the same way, i.e., by spreading education among the masses. (CW 4.482).
- Come, be men! Come out of your narrow holes and have a look abroad. See how nations are on the march! Do you love man? Do you love your country? Then come, let us struggle for higher and better things; look not back, no, not even if you see the dearest and nearest cry. Look not back, but forward! (CW 5.10).
- India wants the sacrifice of at least a thousand of her young men - men, mind, and not brutes. (CW 5.10).
- Who feels there for the two hundred millions of men and women sunken forever in poverty and ignorance? Where is the way out? Who feels for them? They cannot find light or education. Who will bring the light to them - who will travel from door to door bringing education to them? Let these people be your God - think of them, work for them, pray for them incessantly - the Lord will show you the way. Him I call a Mahatman (great soul) whose heart bleeds for the poor, otherwise he is a Duratman (wicked soul). Let us unite our wills in continued prayer for their good. We may die unknown, unpitied, unbewailed, without accomplishing anything - but not one thought will be lost. It will take effect, sooner or later. My heart is too full to express my feeling; you know it, you can imagine it. So long as the millions live in hunger and ignorance, I hold every man a traitor who, having been educated at their expense, pays not the least heed to them! (CW 5.58).
- India will be raised, not with the power of the flesh, but with the power of the spirit; not with the flag of destruction, but with the flag of peace and love, the garb of the sanyassin; not by the power of wealth, but by the power of the begging bowl. (CW 4.352).
- But mark you, if you give up that spirituality, leaving it aside to go after the materialising civilisation of the west, the result will be that in three generations you will be an extinct race; because the backbone of the nation will be broken, the foundation upon which the national edifice has been built will be undermined, and the result will be annihilated all round. (CW 3.153).
- Let foreigners come and flood the land with their armies, never mind. Up, India, and conquer the world with your spirtuality! (CW 3.227).
- Who will give the world light? Sacrifice in the past has been the Law, it will be, alas, for ages to come. The earth's bravest and best will have to sacrifice themselves for the good of many, for the welfare of all. Buddhas by the hundred are necessary with eternal love and pity. (CW 7.501).
- If you are really my children, you will fear nothing, stop at nothing. You will be like lions. We must rouse India and the whole world. No cowardice. I will take no nay. Do you understand? Be true unto death! (CW 5.62).
- Give up jealousy and conceit. Learn to work unitedly for others. This is the great need of our country. (CW 5.79).
- Feel, therefore, my would-be reformers, my would-be patriots! Do you feel? Do you feel that millions and millions of the descendants of gods and of sages have become next-door neighbours to brutes? Do you feel that millions are starving today, and millions have been starving for ages? Do you feel that ignorance has come over the land as a dark cloud? Does it make you restless? Does it make you sleepless? Has it gone into your blood, coursing through your veins, becoming consonant with your heartbeats? Has it made you almost mad? Are you seized with that one idea of the misery of ruin, and have you forgotten all about your name, your fame, your wives, your children, your property, even your own bodies? Have you done that? That is the first step to become a patriot, the very first step. (CW 3.225).
- The national ideals of India are RENUNCIATION and SERVICE. Intensify her in those channels, and the rest will take care of itself. (CW 5.228).
C.S. Chakravarthy
H. No. 12-13-302, St. No. 9,
Lane. No. 1, Flat. No. 203,
Satya Classic Apartments,
Tarnaka, Secunderabad- 500 017,
Telangana State, India.
E-mail: chakkuresearchscholar13@gmail.com
Cell: 09985732397.
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