Saturday, September 29, 2018

Root-and-Branch Reform

To the reformers I will point out that I am a greater reformer than any one of them. They want to reform only little bits. 
I want root-and-branch reform. Where we differ is in the method. Theirs is the method of destruction, mine is that of construction. 

I do not believe in reform; I believe in growth. 

I do not dare to put myself in the position of God and dictate to our society, "This way thou shouldst move and not that." 
I simply want to be like the squirrel in the building of Rama's bridge, who was quite content to put on the bridge his little quota of sand - dust. That is my position. 

This wonderful national machine has worked through ages, this wonderful river of national life is flowing before us. 
Who knows, and who dares to say, whether it is good and how it shall move? Thousands of circumstances are crowding round it, giving it a special impulse, making it dull at one time and quicker at another. Who dares command its motion? 
Ours is only to work, as the Gita says, without looking for results. Feed the national life with the fuel it wants, but the growth is its own; none can dictate its growth to it. 

                     - Swami Vivekananda, 
                      Address at Victoria Hall Madras, 
                     Lectures From Colombo to Almora


No comments:

Post a Comment