PM Modi’s Resolve Of Taking Bharat To New Heights
- By : Anirban Ganguly
- Category : Articles
From being a victim and creature of history, India is now emerging as a creator of history. It is an India that Swami Vivekananda had hoped for
In the summer of 2024, after a gruelling election campaign and polling, Prime Minister Narendra Modi visited the iconic Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari. The memorial stands on the historic rock on which Swami Vivekananda meditated, before he travelled to the West to address the World Parliament of Religion in 1893.
PM Modi spent 45 hours on the rock, contemplating, reflecting and meditating. As he completes an unprecedented and uninterrupted 11 years as prime minister of India, it will be relevant to revisit his contemplations on the Vivekananda Rock articulated a year back, when he was poised to win a third term as prime minister. That was a watershed moment as well.
The Vivekananda Rock Memorial in Kanyakumari, observes Swami Ranganathananda, one of the finest exponents of Swami Vivekananda’s thought, radiates a “new message of national and human fulfilment”. Of the Rock itself and of its significance in Swami Vivekananda’s life, he writes:
“Very few nations can get that privilege of having a national leader of the type of Swami Vivekananda, not only intellectually great, not only a man of tremendous character and will, but a man of supreme spirituality. He imbibed the entire spiritual history of India, the spirit of our culture, into himself, and then he went forth as India’s ambassador, spiritual and cultural, to the Western world. It was the first time in some hundred years that our India herself spoke to the world the authentic language of our own culture and spirituality. Swami Vivekananda decided to do this great work in the modern world after he had sat in meditation on the Rock at Kanyakumari, and discovered his mission in life. This Rock has, therefore, acquired a special significance.”
It was from this Rock that Vivekananda leapt into the world, carrying India’s message of liberation. It was on this Rock that the plan for India’s resurgence was revealed to him, as he famously wrote, “Sitting on the last bit of Indian Rock near Mother Kumari’s temple, I hit upon a plan…” It was an epic moment for India. The plan was two-fold, says Swami Ranganathananda—“uplift India and Indians out of backwardness, banish poverty, social injustice and oppression and preach those tested, universal, rational truths of Vedanta, of our own ancient Sanatana Dharma, to the rest of the world”.
The 19th century was a period full of challenges for India. The danger of India wallowing in stagnation, completely exhausted and exploited, was becoming evident. Scholar-diplomat KM Pannikar describes this grave challenge in his ‘The Three Determining Periods in India’s History’. Pannikar argues that the challenge was that “Indians, as a people, might, for all times, fall back in the race for progress and be reduced to a position of a semi-civilised, ineffective people with no contributions to make to the world”, leading to an age where, the “philosophies of ancient India might be studied by the curious and the scholarly as the ideas of the ancient Egyptians are studied today”.
It was Swami Vivekananda’s appearance in the “last quarter of the 19th century” as an “outstanding all India leader”, Panikkar observes, that ultimately “checked this dangerous tendency”. The Vivekananda Rock, thus, radiates a deep symbolism and has a unique historical significance in the annals of modern India. When looked at today against the backdrop of the aspiration of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ and of ‘Amrit-Kaal’, both of which signify an era of crystallised and consolidated aspiration for fast-tracking an integral national resurgence, the Vivekananda Rock assumes renewed significance. It symbolises the next phase of India’s rise, as an effective, self-confident, surefooted “Viswamitra”, conscious of her strengths. It signifies the rise of India as a compassionate republic, which knows when to wield power and force in defence of itself.
It was not Modi’s first visit to the Vivekananda Rock Memorial. As a pracharak, as a karyakarta, as a seeker, as an ardent devotee of Swami Vivekananda, as a political activist, as someone who has peregrinated across the length and breadth of India, Modi has visited the Vivekananda Rock Memorial numerous times in the last four odd decades. In fact, even when the Rock Memorial was being constructed in the mid-1960s, Modi, as he recalled, “had the opportunity to spend some time in Kanyakumari”. His association with the Vivekananda Rock thus is long and unbroken. The Vivekananda Rock and its symbolism is another constant in his life—as a seeker and a leader.
As a pracharak, Modi was well connected with the iconic Eknath Ranade, himself a pracharak, who had plunged into the mission of erecting a memorial to Swami Vivekananda on that same Rock. It was a historic mission which Ranade fulfilled.
But this visit by Narendra Modi, in the summer of 2024, was different. He was visiting it as the prime minister of India, who had already won two mandates and was poised to win a third mandate of the people of this vast and inspiring country—India, Bharat, Swami Vivekananda’s beloved motherland.
Having spent quiet hours on the sacred Vivekananda Rock at land’s end in Kanyakumari, where the three oceans meet and where stands the ancient temple dedicated to Bhagavati Kumari Amman, PM Modi expressed his innermost thoughts for India and her future.
He spoke of new ‘sankalps’ that emerged from his ‘sadhana’ in Kanyakumari and penned these thoughts during his return flight to Delhi.
He wrote: “Just as we utilised the fourth and fifth decades of the 20th century to impart a new momentum to the freedom movement, we must lay the foundation for a ‘Viksit Bharat’ in these 25 years of the 21st century. The freedom struggle was a time that called for great sacrifices. The present times call for great and sustained contributions from everyone.
“Swami Vivekananda had said in 1897 that we must dedicate the next 50 years solely for the nation. Exactly 50 years after this call, Bharat gained independence in 1947. Today, we have the same golden opportunity. Let’s dedicate the next 25 years solely for the nation. Our efforts will create a strong foundation for the coming generations and the coming centuries, taking Bharat to new heights.”
The many thoughts and hopes that Modi expressed emerged from a deep state of contemplation that he had undergone. As he sat on the sacred rock, it was the thought and vision of ‘Viksit Bharat’ that permeated his mind and his psyche. His meditation unmistakably evoked the resolve to initiate and realise that epochal vision of a resurgent India.
In the last 11 years as prime minister, Modi had already begun laying the unshakable foundations of ‘Viksit Bharat’. From Vivekananda’s rock in Kanyakumari, his call was to India, to young India, to all Indians, to firm up their resolve, to strive hard to realise the India of Swami Vivekananda’s hopes.
The governance vision and model that Narendra Modi has put into effect, combined with the resolve of his fellow Indians will be the principal drivers for realising that vision. Of the governance model and philosophy that is driving ‘New India’ and shaping ‘Viksit Bharat’, PM Modi wrote:
“Today, Bharat’s governance model has become an example for many countries around the world. Empowering 25 crore people to rise above poverty in just 10 years is unprecedented. Innovative practices such as Pro-People Good Governance, aspirational districts, and aspirational blocks are being discussed globally today. Our efforts, from empowering the poor to last-mile delivery, have inspired the world by prioritising individuals standing at the last rung of society.
“Swami Vivekananda’s vision ideal of Seva—of service—has been the foundation of this transformative governance vision and of action.”
The world of 21st century, PM Modi observed, was “looking towards Bharat with many hopes” and therefore:
“…it is essential that we understand Bharat’s internal capabilities. We must acknowledge Bharat’s strengths, nurture them, and utilise them for the benefit of the world. In today’s global scenario, Bharat’s strength as a youthful nation is an opportunity from which we must not look back.
And we will need to make several changes to move forward in the global scenario. We also need to change our traditional thinking regarding reform. Bharat cannot limit reform to just economic reforms. We must move forward in every aspect of life towards the direction of reform. Our reforms should also align with the aspirations of a ‘Viksit Bharat’ (developed India) by 2047.”
PM Modi’s words that were articulated after his meditation on the Vivekananda Rock need to be read and re-read. They need to be internalised and assimilated by anyone who wishes to work for the rise of a ‘New India’. He has demonstrated an indefatigable energy and an undiminished conviction in the rise of India in the last 11 years. He has ideated it, nurtured it, led it and effectuated it like few others have in the past. From being a victim and creature of history, India is now emerging as a creator of history. It is an India that Swami Vivekananda had hoped and aspired for.
